EPILOGUE
I’m sitting next to Ragnar on a sandy-grassy dune overlooking a black beach below Batman Mountain in Iceland.
For the past few weeks, he and I have been riding his bike across every corner of this island, my favorite stop on our ten-month journey so far.
We've been to continental Europe before, but the wild, raw beauty of Iceland feels like something pulled straight from a fantasy novel, or maybe historical, with Vikings sailing drakkars on the horizon.
Every day, we discover something new. Just the two of us, soaking in endless hills, sheer cliffs, rolling meadows, crashing waves on black sand, and the long tongues of glaciers reaching into the lowlands.
Sometimes we sit in silence, just breathing it all in. Nature heals like nothing else. Well… except for our Bond.
But now, our time in Iceland is slowly coming to an end.
We’ve been staying with Ragnar’s parents, using their new home as our base for exploring. They welcomed me into the family with open arms, practically glowing with elation after finding out about our True Mate status.
Now it’s almost time to head back to the States for my brother Rain’s upcoming wedding. So our adventure on this chilly yet stunning island is wrapping up, and for the first time, I feel it: something inside me is settling. Closing… in the best way.
I lean against Ragnar’s warm, solid shoulder and whisper, "I’m actually looking forward to going back."
Ragnar glances at me. His mismatched eyes are calm and almost three-dimensional, like all those hours watching epic spacious landscapes have filled him with serenity.
"Feels like something’s shifting?"
I nod. "Yeah. The past few months, I was just… running. Both of us were. As far and fast as we could, trying to forget, trying to heal. But maybe… maybe it’s time for a little pause?"
He raises his eyebrows slightly.
"A pause in our journey?"
I smirk a little. "Not permanently. Just… a trial test. A few weeks of staying in one place. See if the road still calls to us… if it tugs us back out again."
Ragnar smiles. Dear Fate, he looks so at peace.
Since we left, he’s been exactly what I hoped he’d be from the moment I saw him: a tree to rest under, strong and steady. His nature—what his brother once called ‘simple’—feels like exactly the kind of grounding I need to balance out my own, somewhat chaotic energy.
"Sun, where you are… there I am."
I pretend to pout. "But I’m not ready to settle down for good! I just… can enjoy some downtime for a while."
I open my mouth to say more, but Ragnar’s gaze shifts past me, toward the shoreline.
I turn.
"What is it?"
"There’s something on the beach," he murmurs.
I squint, and yeah… there’s a pale shape maybe fifty yards down, lying on the dark sand. It looks like it’s slightly moving.
"Wanna check it out?"
"Sure."
We get up and walk hand in hand—our favorite way to move through the world—down the beach toward it.
As we get closer, I realize it’s a bird of prey.
It flinches and tries to flap away as we approach, but something’s wrong. One wing is twisted at a strange angle.
"Careful," Ragnar murmurs. "I think it’s a gyrfalcon. They’re rare. Actually Iceland’s national bird. Biggest falcons in the world, but the Icelandic population is unique and really limited now…"
"Oh no," I breathe out.
The bird is stunning. Pale, almost white chest, wings speckled with fine dark dots, sharp black eyes watching us warily, mighty talons.
Its injured wing flutters weakly. It’s clearly exhausted from pain and panic.
I crouch nearby and glance up at Ragnar.
His silver-golden eyes meet mine, as if waiting for something.
"I don’t know if I can… if I’m ready," I whisper, lips trembling, doubts filling me.
Ragnar kneels beside me and takes my hand gently in his.
"Take your time, Sun. You can give it a try. If it doesn’t work, that’s okay. You’ll know you just need a little more training."
I look at the falcon. It’s the embodiment of freedom and resilience, made to survive harsh climates. But even it can fall, can make a mistake. Like we all .
Did it fight another falcon? Get thrown against a cliff by the wind? A hunting accident?
"I want to try. Can’t hurt, right?"
Ragnar nods. "Right."
His smile is full of gentle support, and that’s what helps me break through the hesitation.
Carefully, with respect, I reach toward the gyrfalcon.
I feel Ragnar tense a little, probably expecting it to snap at me. But… it doesn’t. It calms down. That’s always been a thing with me. Animals never seemed afraid of me, tough I could never explain it. It just felt like I instinctively knew what kind of energy to carry so they’d feel safe.
I place my hands gently on its wings, turning the bird so its head faces the sea. Slowly, I run my hand down the injured wing, guiding it into what feels like the right position, acting on instinct alone, willing, with everything in me, for it not to hurt.
It doesn’t flinch or fight.
It lets me touch the wings.
Its powerful talons rest calmly in the sand.
I glance at Ragnar.
"I… I don’t really know what to do next," I murmur, embarrassed. "I want to help, but… I don’t know how to begin."
Ragnar tilts his head. "Your dad said that when you were little, you explained it like this: ‘ I really wanted to fix that butterfly.’ Maybe that’s all it takes? Just wanting it enough."
I hesitate. Then an idea comes to me.
"Put your hand on my shoulder. Maybe your aura will help me focus?"
I say it half-jokingly, but Ragnar doesn’t laugh or brush it off.
Instead, he nods seriously, and his big, warm hand settles gently on my shoulder.
The moment Ragnar touches me, calm pours into my body, like a raging river finding its course, gently guided into a peaceful bed.
I know it’s kind of a shortcut, leaning on our Bond instead of finding that stillness on my own, but maybe I still need that little extra help, at least for the time being.
After all, I’m just a newbie healer.
Silence settles around us, and the steady peace flowing from my True Mate lets me sink deeper, pulling me inward toward hidden layers of my own energy.
It’s like reaching blind beneath the surface of a lake, brushing my fingertips along the bottom, searching for treasure. Hoping. Trusting.
This beautiful, endangered creature deserves to be saved.
My heart fills with a longing to help it, and I let myself imagine the falcon in flight, rising into the sky, riding warm currents above the ocean on broad, unbroken wings.
I let the image take over, lift me up.
In my mind, the falcon climbs higher and higher, chasing freedom in the endless blue above.
My chest expands, stretching wide enough to hold the bird’s whole wild soul. I feel it, its need for open space, for height, for the infinite sky and powerful updrafts.
That instinct to soar, to disappear into the vastness, unbound.
I don’t know how long I drift like that, flying with it through the clouds, spinning with joy in a sky with no limits.
Eventually, I open my eyes.
I’m exhausted. My body feels heavy and spent. I take a deep breath.
Ragnar watches me with that soft smile of his.
"You’re so beautiful. Inside and out."
I frown. I still don’t believe it. "That’s not true… and I don’t think it worked."
I pull my hands back. The gyrfalcon is still there, crouched in the sand. Not moving. Not flying.
Is it in pain?
"Nothing changed," I whisper, disappointment creeping in. A quiet sigh escapes me as I look down at the bird, a bitter ache curling in my chest.
But when I try to stand—wobbly, like my limbs forgot how to work—the falcon flinches.
It shifts. The wing doesn’t seem to be dragging anymore. It’s holding it closer to its body.
"Look!" I whisper, tense with hope. "The wing looks better, almost normal!"
We both rise slowly. Ragnar takes my hand, steadying me. My whole body feels strangely weak.
"Let’s give it a little time. Maybe it just needs to catch its breath."
His voice carries the same hopeful edge as mine.
We watch. A minute, maybe.
And then, out of nowhere, the falcon shakes itself, turns, and meets our gaze.
Those dark, intelligent eyes lock on us for a breathless second.
Then it jumps, pushes off the ground, and launches into the air!
I cry out, barely thinking, and leap like I might take off too, forgetting about exhaustion.
"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" I scream like a lunatic, laughing, yelling, flailing my arms.
Ragnar bursts out laughing too, loud and full and honest.
"You did it, Sun! You actually did it! There’s no one like you!"
He grabs me, lifts me off the ground, spins us around in a wild circle.
I shriek with joy and clutch him tightly, trying to soak in his strength.
He presses a kiss to my temple and whispers, "Dear Fate! I wanted this so badly for you. I just wanted… to see you happy. I’ve never wanted anything more than that. Your happiness!"
I pull back from where I’ve buried my face in his neck and look up.
He’s staring at me like I’m his whole world. And maybe I am? And he’s mine!
His eyes are shining with so much joy and tenderness it breaks something open in me.
"I love—"
"I love—"
"—you."
"—you."
We say it at the exact same time.
Silence follows. Soft and vibrant, broken only by our breath and the sound of the vast ocean.
Steel-colored waves crash against the dark sand, and high above us, the falcon circles in the sky, calling out in wild, echoing cries: ua-uaaa-uaaa, kaaaa, kaaaa.
"It took us a bit…" I whisper, shy and smiling, fingers tracing gently along Ragnar’s neck, making him shiver.
"Well, we proved the saying right, huh? It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey," he says, winking.
We both lift our eyes to the bright shape of the gyrfalcon soaring above.
"You know," I murmur, "I used to think we’d start a gardening business together. I still want that. But… maybe I could help Moon, too?"
Ragnar’s eyebrows lift.
A lot’s changed in the past few months.
After everything that happened with the Ferros, Luca and Moon came out of hiding, and Ragnar and Summer were finally able to reunite with their lost brother. It was… emotional. A tidal wave of tears and long-overdue hugs.
Moon decided to use part of Ferro’s bloody fortune for good, building a network of animal shelters and supporting the creation of the country’s largest free veterinary clinic.
"Maybe… a gift like this shouldn’t be wasted," I whisper. "Or used selfishly. Maybe I should try to use it to help the weakest, the ones who need it most. The ones nobody sees."
Ragnar stays quiet. And then, I think I see it.
His eyes… are they shimmering?
"I… Sun, you have no idea how much that means to me. This is what I’ve always wanted too. To help. To protect the helpless. That’s why I enlisted, even if it wasn’t always bloodless…"
He trails off. Then smiles.
"We really are True Mates. Because you have that same fire, the need… to help those who can’t help themselves."
"I’m just freshly finding it out in me. But I vibe with the idea so much," I whisper. "I know all too well what it is to be helpless, and without hope."
A moment of silence.
"Sooo…. When our travels finally come to an end," I add quietly, "we’ll come back to the States.
Maybe even build ourselves… a little nest." I peek at him shyly. "In the meantime, I’ll keep training, keep practicing… until I’m strong enough to heal more than just one in need. Without it draining me."
Ragnar nods, flashing that bright, proud grin.
A gust of wind hits us.
Summer is only just beginning in Iceland. The sun hangs low on the horizon, the water gleaming like liquid gold.
"Look," Ragnar says, pointing upward. "The gyrfalcon, he’s flying so high…"
We watch the white shape rising into the wide sky.
He turns to me with a smile that lights up his whole face.
"It almost looks like he’s trying to follow the sun…"
Then he looks at me. And that's everything.
I'm a whole world again.
THE END