Epilogue
ELAINA
Elaina stood at the edge of the stone circle, her fingers intertwined with Cyan’s.
“Another!” she exclaimed as a falling star streaked through the sky. She squeezed Cyan’s hand. Overhead, ribbons of emerald light danced across the shooting stars, casting a gentle glow over the clearing. It was different from the nebula over Earendel. The way the glow shifted and flowed like liquid paint in the sky took her breath away.
“The sky is cascade-shifting,” she’d breathed in awe when it had first appeared.
Cyan had smiled. “We call it an aurora here.”
“Aurora,” she tested the word.
Now Elaina peered at the dataslate in her other hand. She’d been holding it up, using it to identify ancient Gaian constellations she was still learning to name. Since the day she awoke, technology had become a companion to her curiosity again rather than something rebelling against her touch. But she stashed the slate into her pocket, giving her full attention to the show intensifying overhead.
Another burning meteor flashed bright, closer than she’d ever seen. It illuminated the overgrown stones at their feet, the spiral covered in a blanket of wildflowers. They sprouted defiantly from the cracks of the circle, vibrant and full of life, petals shimmering with nighttime dew. Elaina smiled. Gaia had reclaimed this place, transforming what was once filled with darkness into a testament.
Her fingers traced the crimson line that ran up her chest, exposed beneath the linen dress she wore. It no longer glowed with the same intensity, but it was woven into her, just as much a part of her as the man standing beside her. She leaned against him, grounding herself in his presence.
“Does it feel weird?” she looked up at Cyan. “Knowing this is all… you know.”
They had outgrown their designer, but reality remained—they were an open-ended simulation, evolving past its constraints.
The corner of Cyan’s mouth curled up in a small smile, a meteor flashing in his eye’s reflection. “You feel real to me. That’s enough.”
“Do you think this is it?” she asked softly. “Do you think you’re done fighting?”
Cyan turned toward her and those eyes took her breath away just like they always had. There was a knowing in his gaze, that the Architect wasn’t all she was referring to. And a softness that she’d seen fleeting glimpses of before, when he had truly been there with her. Those glimpses were what she had fallen in love with. There was no hesitation in those eyes now. Only love—quiet, fierce, and strengthened by all they had faced.
“I think we’ve both fought enough,” he said.
Elaina glanced back at the flowers blooming from the stone. No matter how broken things seemed, something was always waiting to grow. As falling stars lit up the sky, casting flashes of light over Gaia’s untamed wilderness, Cyan tugged gently at her hand.
“Come on,” he squeezed, leading her toward the trees, “let’s explore.”
The forest welcomed them, the universe alive with adventures to share.
Thank you for reading Gravity Between Us .