29. Hanna

Itake his hands, his fingers wrapping around mine.

"I can tell it's breaking your heart to leave, Kazrith. It's breaking mine too. I can't bear to watch you go, not after all we have been through together."

"But the mission is over, Hanna. It is time for me to go. What more is there to do?"

His shield is clearly some type of mental front to protect himself. But it won't stop me from getting through to him.

"This," I say, pulling his lips to mine.

I kiss him, feeling his hands pull my waist closer. Our lips part but our foreheads stay touching.

"This isn't quite the place I had in mind to tell you how I really feel," I whisper. "But I guess my life likes throwing surprises at me, like it did when you came my way."

"Hanna," his voice quietly says, smooth like silk. "I feel the same way about you, but isn't returning home with your father what you wanted?"

"I thought it was, but I really just needed to see him safe, to know we could both go on without Zathex hunting us down."

"Something changed your mind when you were with me, didn't it?"

"Yes." I smile. "I realized I belong with you, Kazrith. You made me see my real worth. My whole life, I've fought, bled, and cried for my wings, but never have I felt more alive than when I was with you."

I raise my head, as does Kazrith. He lays his palm against my cheek, stroking my chin as I speak.

"That's not a life I want to leave behind. Sometimes, I found myself wondering if you felt the same way."

Kazrith smiles, his eyes gleaming with a love that fills my heart with joy.

"The longer we spent together, the harder it was to ignore how you made me feel," he says. "I couldn't bear to think of the mission's end."

"So that makes the two of us," I joke.

"Oh, Hanna," he says. "You're a wonderful woman, one I never thought I deserved. The truth is that I love you. More than anything else in my life."

I bite my lip in excitement, my skin erupting in an electric feel of warmth that makes its way to my heart.

"I love you, too, Kazrith."

We throw ourselves into each other, an embrace that quells all the troubling thoughts I ever had about a future together.

"You saved me," I whisper.

"No, we saved each other."

We both turn in amusement when my father clears his throat. I almost shrink in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I believe we ought to be going if we're to avoid the xaphans once morning comes."

"Yes, you're right. Hanna, take him, and I'll lead the way out of this forsaken shit hole."

I throw my father's arm around my shoulder. He winces with every couple of steps, but like the strong man I know him to be, he bites the pain, knowing the worst is far behind him now.

We stay a few meters behind Kazrith as he guides us through the xaphan territory, going back the same route he and I took.

By the time we clear ourselves from their controlled grounds, the dawn has broken. The journey home is slower on behalf of my father's condition, but I don't care.

I'm elated to have him back. The sight of our home in the distance is a sight for sore eyes. I almost thought we'd never come back here together after that fateful day when Zathex took me.

I hope you rot in the afterlife, you sick son of a bitch.

"Home, sweet home," my father says as we enter. "Lay me down on the bed."

"I'll stand guard," Kazrith says, taking a place by the window. "Just to watch for any xaphans, but I don't expect any to come."

I tend to my father's wounds. As I do so, he tells me the details of what Zathex did to him, details I wish I could soon forget.

"Shit!" he blurts as I dab a cleaning solution on his cuts. "Sorry, that really hurt."

"I wish I could say a xaphan wouldn't do such things to humans, but I've seen many human trainees like me go through something similar. Some haven't lived to tell the tale."

"None of that matters now, my dear. I don't care if you got your wings, you showed your strength by surviving."

"I'm glad you're proud of me," I say, trying to hold back the tears.

"Your mother would be too. I know she's smiling right now, wherever she is."

His words are enough to let the tears loose. My father hugs me as I cry. I feel like a child again in his arms. I see my mother's smiling face when I close my eyes.

"I'll just wrap your bandages, then you should be fine," I say, wiping under my eyes.

"The two of you will probably get going soon, right?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Kazrith answers.

"Before you go, let me fix you both a meal. It's the least I can do."

I look at Kazrith.

"I'd like to stay for that if you don't mind."

"Of course not," he says. "It'll give you a chance to say your goodbyes."

I help my father cook one last time. During the whole meal, not once do I think I might not get to do this again for a long time.

It's only when the meal concludes that it begins to hit me.

"Thank you for the food, Thomas. It was delicious," Kazrith says.

"Don't mention it. Hanna, are you alright?"

"I just… I don't know when I'm going to see you again."

Kazrith lays a reassuring hand on the small of my back as my father nods.

"Me neither, but I want you to go with Kazrith. It's what your heart is telling you to do, isn't it?"

I look at my lover, meeting his gaze.

"I can tell from the way you two marvel at one another," my father quips. "You both should go out into the world and seize that happiness you've found."

"Your father's right," Kazrith agrees. "Are you ready to do this, Hanna?"

I nod, surer about this than anything else in my life.

"Yeah," I answer. "It's time I start making my own desires a priority, and that starts by embarking on my next adventure with you."

I pack a bag with my most treasured belongings. The sight of my now empty childhood bedroom is heart-wrenching, but I know the time has come for me to move on.

I look at Kazrith standing at the door as he talks to my father. I think of the irony, how I trained so long for a pair of wings, only to bring a literal demon home.

I approach, my chin held high as I ignore the feeling of nervousness in my stomach.

"Ready to go?" my father asks.

"Yeah."

"I want you to take this." From his pocket, he pulls out a necklace, silver in color. "It belonged to your mother. I want you to have it."

"Father?"

"Turn around," he says.

I don't think I can cry anymore, but the next onslaught of tears pours down my face as my father fastens the necklace around me. Kazrith beams down proudly.

I turn around and embrace my father, probably for the last time in a long time.

"Will you be alright?" I ask.

"Of course, I will. Don't worry your pretty little head about me."

"I'll do my best to visit, though I don't know when," I whisper.

"It's quite alright," he says before turning to Kazrith. "As for you, promise me you'll protect my daughter and love her as she deserves to be loved."

"I swear on my life," Kazrith remarks, his hand on his heart as he subtly bows.

"Well, this is it then."

My father's tears start shedding when I walk out of the doorway. I look at him for as long as I can while walking backward, waving goodbye. I don't stop even as he grows smaller in the distance.

And then he finally disappears. The weight off of my shoulders is gone.

Kazrith takes my hand.

"Shall we?" he asks with a smile.

"Yes," I say firmly.

Together, we make way for the docks, where the next chapter of our lives awaits us.