When we sit together at night, talking about nothing and everything I feel like I've finally found a place where I belong. " Her breath trembled. "In that storm when I thought I might not make it back. " His voice dropped. "It was your face I saw. Your voice I heard, pulling me home. " His fingers tightened slightly around hers. "You understand me without asking.
You see the parts of me I've tried to hide. And you don't turn away. " A tear slipped down her cheek. "And when you look at me I don't see the past anymore. " He stepped closer. "I see a future I never believed I deserved. " Silence. Then "I love you, Alona. " Not loud, not dramatic, but steady.
Real. The kind of love that grows slow, like roots sinking deep into the earth. The kind that doesn't break. He drew in one last breath. "Will you marry me? " For a moment, she didn't move.
Then the tears came. And she threw her arms around him, holding on like she'd waited a lifetime. "Yes," she whispered. "Yes. A thousand times yes.
Yes. I've loved you since the day you risked everything for us. " Alona whispered through tears. "And that love it never faded. It only grew stronger with time. " Thorn held her close. And for a moment, the world narrowed to just the two of them.
Then Bidzial and Ayanna stepped forward. No hesitation. No bitterness. Only truth. The four of them came together, arms wrapping around each other in a quiet, powerful embrace.
There were tears. But there was laughter, too. Acceptance. Something deeper than any one choice. We are sisters.
Bizelle said firmly, her voice steady. That doesn't change. She looked at Halona, then at Thorn. She holds your heart. But the three of us we gained something, too.
A brother. A family. Ayanna smiled, her eyes soft but bright. That's right. And we'll be back often.
One day your children will call me aunt and I'll fill their heads with stories they'll never forget. Thorn let out a quiet laugh shaking his head through the emotion. You're already planning my children? Halona smiled. Warm, radiant.
A healer always looks ahead, she said gently. The days that followed were filled with movement, purpose and something new. A future taking shape. Bizelle made her choice first. I'm heading back, she said one morning.
I've got trails to follow, lambs I haven't seen yet. I'll become what I was meant to be. A tracker. A wanderer. Free.