7

Outside the lighthouse amid the late morning, the two ready themselves to walk wayward roads anew. Sol is brushing their stallion's mane, when he catches a glimpse of Yohan overlooking the cliffside in the corner of his eye. "Yohan?"

Sol calls out as he squints. He observes his beloved, who watches the waves— the castle's silhouette —from afar, a solemn look sprawled all across his features. He's wearing that expression again, except… Sol has no doubt about it now, there is definitely something more to this than he had thought.

"O-Oh—"

Yohan takes a hesitant step away from the cliffside, then rests a hand against the back of his neck. "Sol, you…"

He stares at Sol and a rather forced laughter escapes him. "You startled me."

As Sol walks toward him with a gentle stride, he rests his palm atop Yohan's shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

Waves crash into the rocks below, the sun's warmth pierces the clouds above and creates an oceanshine sheen that ripples across deep blue. "I…"

Yohan takes a deep breath. "I don't know."

As his chest heaves upward, he blinks a few, rapid times as he continues to stare into the ocean. Sol has rarely heard him sound so uncertain. "It is so strange,"

Yohan motions to the world around them, "to be here. " He points toward the castle. "And not there. And, I—" His shoulders tense, as he shakes his head. "Around this time, I would have usually started making plans for the journey back to the castle…" There is a smile that briefly appears across his lips, yet, the corners of his mouth tug downward all the same and his face trembles, grows red. "But not this time."

Tears line Yohan's eyes. "I can scarcely believe it,"

he whispers; his arms fall down to his sides; he is still staring at the castle's tall, imposing silhouette. "I am free. Truly, I…"

Sol reaches for his hand and squeezes. "Yohan…"

he says as his eyebrows arch, tight with tender concern for his beloved.

"Sol, I—"

Yohan's breaths quicken, a gasp escapes him as his eyes widen. He turns to Sol, the pain of a century flashes through his gaze at last. "I won't need to kill another man if I can help it, nor will I wake for the sole purpose of answering anyone's orders again, I…"

Yohan's lips remain parted as they shake, "I can finally cry."

The knight's eyes gloss upward to the parting clouds, his cheeks damp with his relief. With his hope. "I am free, I—" As he squeezes Sol's hand in turn, Yohan says it again, "I'm free."

He drops to his knees, still holding onto Sol's fingers, Yohan's shoulders shake with the sob that escapes him—a sound that he had been holding in for far too long. "You couldn't take me…"

the knight cries, as his entire body trembles, his voice is hoarse, when he shouts words to the past. "You could not break me—I was stronger than you all! Stronger than the destiny you had cursed me to live!"

He sniffles, his tears staining the wet rock below. Yohan's voice breaks. "I will never let you take me again. Never, "

he whispers with a whimper, one final cry against a night that has finally come to its end.

When Sol rests a palm against the crown of Yohan's head, the knight breaks down and clings to Sol's robe. He wraps his arms around Sol's waist, and buries his head into the soft fabric.

Sol runs his fingers through Yohan's hair, and hushes him gently beneath the sound of the waves. "I'm here, Yohan,"

his voice is soft, as he brushes the knight's hair, he tells him, "You're right. It's over."

Sol presses a kiss to Yohan's temple and slips his arms around Yohan's shoulders, embracing all that he is, his pain and his dreams. "You won't ever have to go back again."

They linger by the lighthouse for another moment, where Sol lets Yohan cry for as long as he needs, holding his beloved through each and every feeling he'd kept locked away for so long.

"Thank you, Sol. "