The rain came down harder as Ren Zian stood beneath the ruined arches of the old sanctuary, Lyra at his side. Her cloak was soaked through, her silver-blonde hair clinging to her cheeks, but her voice didn't waver.
"You never answered me, Ren," she said quietly. "Back then, before everything… did you ever love me?"
Ren's hand tightened around the hilt of his blade. The question didn't strike like a weapon — it struck like truth.
"I didn't know what love was," he admitted. "Not until I lost you the first time."
Lyra looked away, blinking rapidly. "So you did."
"I still do."
Silence fell between them. Just behind them, the others waited — Arin sharpening his daggers, Nyelle tending to Maelin's wound. But this moment felt suspended, untouched by time.
Lyra stepped forward. Her hands trembled slightly, but she placed them against Ren's chest. "Then why did you let me go?"
"Because I thought loving you meant keeping you safe. Even if that meant pushing you away."
Her breath caught. She tilted her head back to look into his eyes. "I'm not asking for safety, Ren. I'm asking for you."
He leaned closer, forehead nearly brushing hers. "You still want me?"
She nodded.
Ren hesitated only a heartbeat before pulling her into him. Their lips met in a desperate, rain-soaked kiss — not just of desire, but of remembrance. Fingers curled into wet fabric, skin against skin where cloaks fell open.
His hand slid along her back, drawing her impossibly closer, until her breath was his and his was hers. She gasped as he pressed his palm over her bare skin beneath the cloak — heated skin meeting the storm's cold, and the world forgot to breathe.
"Ren—" she whispered.
His lips brushed the curve of her jaw, his breath warm. "We waited too long for this."
But he pulled away slowly, breath ragged. "Not yet. Not here. When I claim you… it won't be rushed. You deserve more than a stolen moment."
Her eyes searched his face. "Then don't wait too long."
He smiled faintly. "I won't."
Thunder cracked above, shaking loose a stone from the archway. They both turned instinctively as Maelin shouted, "We've got movement!"
Nyelle's eyes flared with divine light. "The Fifth Flame has shifted. It's leaving the Astral Garden."
Ren sheathed his blade and offered Lyra his hand.
She took it.
Together, they stepped into the night. The ruins behind them echoed with memories. Ahead, destiny awaited — as volatile and beautiful as the storm that surrounded them.