For several seconds, we simply stared at one another. Then we started laughing. Not because anything about what had happened was funny. We laughed because we were still breathing. Because we had survived.
Because Boon Voss would never hunt her again. And most of all, because after everything the desert had thrown at us, we were still together. The treasure, Seiya said after a while. It's gone. I know.
All that gold, all those riches are buried forever. I studied her face. Do you regret it? Seiya held my gaze. No, because something far more valuable made it out of that place.
What? Us? A smile broke across my face. You're right. I pulled her into my arms.
There in that hidden valley, beneath the endless blue Arizona sky and surrounded by mountains, we kissed with all the fear, tenderness, and relief we had been carrying inside us. We had lost the gold, but we had gained something worth infinitely more. We had found each other, and that was worth more than every fortune buried beneath the earth. Let's go home, I said. Sea blinked.
Home? Yes, my ranch. I smiled. Our ranch. Her face softened and tears filled her eyes.
Our ranch, she'd repeated quietly. I like the sound of that. We climbed to our feet and began the long journey back. We carried no coins, no gold bars, no precious stones. But we were taking home something no thief, outlaw, or treasure hunter could ever steal from us.
Love, freedom, and the promise of a future we would build together. 3 weeks later, we finally reached the ranch. We were exhausted, covered in trail dust, and our clothes looked as though they had survived a war. But we were alive. We dismounted side by side.
Seiya stood there for a long moment, looking at the old wooden house, the barn, and the cattle pens as though she were seeing them for the first time. Home, she whispered. I looked at her. Yeah. Then I smiled.
Home. We stepped inside. Everything was exactly as we had left it. Seiya gave me a tired smile. I need a bath.
I laughed softly. So do I. I heated water. She washed first and I followed afterward. That night we sat together at the kitchen table and ate a simple supper of bread, cheese, and a little wine.
We didn't need anything more. After a while, Seiya looked across the table at me. "What do we do now?" "What do you want to do?" she hesitated. "I want to stay here." Her eyes searched mine. "With you, if you still want me here, I reached across the table and took her hand.