She needed time.
But Goddess help me, I wanted to shake her awake and tell her exactly what she meant to me.
I wanted to whisper against her lips that she was mine. That she would never be alone again. That I didn’t care how long it took—I would wait for her, I would fight for her, I would burn the world down if it meant keeping her safe.
And when she was ready, when she finally accepted what was already written in the stars—
I would spend every moment proving that she was loved beyond reason.
That she was home.
---
I must have drifted off at some point, my body finally giving in to exhaustion. When I woke, the first thing I noticed was her scent—warm, like embers and something sweet beneath the smoke. It wrapped around me, grounding me in a way nothing else could.
Th
