“I suppose you’re right,” I said, nuzzling my face into the top of her head. “Thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome,” she answered with a giggle. We stood together in the field for a time, quietly enjoying each other’s warmth until Lia broke the silence. “Are you sure we can do this?”
“Yes, I am,” I replied confidently. “They have no idea what we’re capable of, and I’m going to show them.” After a final squeeze, I took a step back and looked at her with determination. “After tomorrow, they’ll never try to harm our family again.” She gave me a small nod, but her downcast eyes told me there was more on her mind. “Are you scared?”
“No. Well, yes, but that’s not…” she trailed off as her brow furrowed in deep thought. “There’s always a chance that something could go wrong tomorrow, but I know we’re strong enough to get through it together.” She reached out and took my right hand in both of hers, holding it out gently between us. “I’m worried about you. Are you going to be okay? Are you going to stay...you?”
My heart sank as I saw a spark of fear in her eyes. “Lia...I can’t make you that promise, because I don’t understand all of this myself. If I had a choice, I would never use that power again.” I looked away, full of shame as the memories of my rampage in the plaza filled my mind. “I can promise you this, though: No matter what happens, I’ll always come back. As long as you’re around, I’ll never be lost for long. I know it’s not enough, but it’s what I can—”
She lunged forward and hugged me tightly, knocking me back a step. “I’ll always be here to bring you back. Always.”
I fought back against the lump that formed in my throat as I embraced her in return. “Thank you,” I whispered. I waited until I felt confident my voice wouldn’t break before speaking again. “Just one more day until we’re rid of this place. One more hurdle between us and the rest of our life.”
Lia looked up at me with a smile. “Nothing is going to stop us now. You still owe me my adventures; the Primes themselves couldn’t stop me from getting those now.” I saw Marten and Hana emerge from the wagon through my Detection as they began to prepare for dinner, and judging by the apprehensive expression on Lia’s face, she saw it, too. “I guess I should go apologize now.”
“The sooner the better, I think,” I replied. I could still feel the anxiety through her extended mana, and I formulated a quick plan to cheer her up. “I’ll stay here to give you a few minutes of privacy. Good luck,” I said, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. She took a deep breath, then nodded and turned to head back towards camp. When she was a few steps away, I crouched down and silently packed a snowball, then stood and threw it at the back of her head. It exploded with a satisfying spray of snow and left her black hair shimmering with icy crystals.
Her head whipped back to look at me and sent another flurry of snow from her hair to the ground. Her mouth was open in surprise, and her eyes burned with a playful fire. “What?” I asked, hiding my hands behind my back. “To be fair, you started it.” In response, she charged across the field and dove towards me, tackling me to the ground. With remarkable speed and efficiency, she mounted my chest, using her knees to pin my arms to the ground and scooping up a large handful of snow to dump unceremoniously on my face.
“Alright, okay, I yield!” I sputtered through the onslaught of snow. When I finally managed to sneak an arm out from beneath her knee and brush off my face, the back of my neck and the hood of my cloak were soaked with melted snow. She leaned back and let out a triumphant laugh; the movement shifted her center of gravity enough to allow me to rock her forward into my arms and flip her onto her back, reversing our positions in mere moments. I paused with my face and chest suspended just a few inches above hers. “You know, I could dump snow in your face, too, but I’m choosing not to because I’m such—”
My sarcastic remarks were interrupted as she stretched up and kissed me. For a brief moment, I forgot how we had ended up entangled on the ground or what waited for us in the future; the only thing that mattered was her lips pressed against mine, her hands running through my hair, and the radiating warmth of her body beneath me. My mind threatened to shut down entirely as I felt her aura intermingling with mine, and her consciousness filtered into my head and sent another wave of overwhelming emotion through me.
I managed to break away from her long enough to catch my breath and laugh. “I think you should, uhm…” I trailed off, distracted by her suddenly sultry eyes and wicked grin. Shaking my head, I wedged my arms under her shoulders and flipped us over once again, landing on my back with her resting comfortably on my chest. “What were you going to do, again?”
“I can’t remember, I got distracted,” she said with a breathless voice before leaning in for another kiss. I laughed again and felt her lips smile against mine. My worries about our inevitable encounter at the Mountain Gate seemed so small and insignificant against the mountainous love I felt for her. Whatever soldiers waited for us, whatever preparations they had made, or whatever darkness sat dormant within me waiting for its next chance to take over didn’t matter: our bond would shatter them all.
After another blissful moment in the snow, I pushed us up into
