Epilogue
Nolen
Six months later.
The lush green hills greeted us as we stepped out of our car.
Another sign our world was healing and would soon be back to how it once was.
Aiden and Derek stood at either side of me, all of us comfortable in the silence.
Ever since we dreamed of this place, I knew I had to bring them here for real someday.
The yellow flowers bloomed and fit perfectly against the vibrant green grass. The sun was high up in the sky, warming our skin as we stood and just breathed in the fresh air.
“It’s beautiful,” Derek whispered, tugging on my hand to move. I let him lead us into the field, stepping on the delicate flowers as he found a spot we could lay on.
Aiden let out a sigh of relief as he laid down, closed his eyes, and smiled. Derek and I followed his lead and with me in the middle, I cuddled them into my sides, holding each of my mates close as we enjoyed nature together.
“Are you glad we came?” I asked Aiden.
He scoffed. “Fine, I’ll admit nature can be cool.”
“Cool?” I laughed.
“You know what I mean! As long as there’s no bugs and creepy crawlies, then I’m good.”
“Aha,” I pretended to agree.
“It’s true!” Aiden defended. “I can do outdoorsy shit.”
The fact he rarely left our house proved that to be a lie, but he was adorable, so I could let it slide.
“Maybe we should try camping?” Derek suggested, his tone both amused and excited.
“Hey, now,” I grinned. “What an amazing idea!”
“I hate you both,” Aiden grumbled.
“Nah, you love us,” I teased, holding him closer to me.
“Sadly, I do,” he admitted with a sigh.
“So, was that a no on camping?” Derek asked, this time his tone was all humor.
“Definitely,” Aiden muttered.
Derek let out a deep sigh. “That’s too bad. I wanted a romantic getaway with campfires and snuggling in a tent.”
He sounded so sincere when he said it, I couldn’t help but ask, “Do you want that?”
I felt him shrug against me. “I mean, it does seem romantic.”
“Then we’ll do it. I just need to buy us some bug spray beforehand,” I decided, grinning at the thought of cuddling with my mates under the stars somewhere.
“Fine,” Aiden huffed. “But it better be the good stuff! I don’t want them anywhere near me.”
“I thought you went camping with your dads?” Derek questioned. “Daddio told us how they tried to teach you to fish while camping.”
“And I hated every second of it,” he responded. “Just not the smores, I looove those. But fishing is icky and so is getting sucked dry by mosquitoes.”
“I’m certain you’ll love it with us,” I stated confidently.
I knew my mates well already, and Aiden was always a tad reluctant to try anything unless he’d thought long and hard about it first. The only times he’d been spontaneous had been when he’d travelled before meeting me, and then when he kissed me for the first time.
“As long as you promise to protect me against bears,” he sighed dreamily and snuggled further into my side.
“Always,” I promised with a fond smile.
Derek
Four months later.
“Stop biting your nails!” Aiden chastised me, slapping my hand away from my mouth.
“Sorry,” I said, feeling nervous and then stupid for being nervous.
It was a whole mess.
“It’s gonna be fine!” Aiden assured me, holding my hand in his as we watched the clock tick down to midnight.
“Of course it is,” Nolen’s calm voice reached us from the kitchen. “Remi and Juno will be here any minute and I know Remi will be nervous, too.”
“But he isn’t green in this world career wise,” I argued.
I knew Nolen and Aiden were just trying to help, but this was my first app launch in this world. Remi had helped me with the whole using-magic-to-tech-thing, but even with his help, I felt like I wasn’t good enough, that I should’ve lived here for longer before launching anything.
“Hush,” Nolen demanded kindly. He came over with a plate of cookies and smacked a quick kiss on my lips. “Have a cookie, they heal mind, body, and soul.” I snorted, but took a cookie. Anything that could keep my mouth occupied.
Remi came flying inside without knocking, Juno right behind him. “Did you see it?!” Remi squealed.
“See what?!” I demanded, my nerves rising.
“It’s already mentioned online!”
“But it’s not out yet?!” I sounded just as horrified as I felt. Was it good, or bad? Would Remi lie to my face? I kinda hoped he would if it was bad…
“They love it! People got their hands on it early because of the different time zones.”
I had completely forgotten about that… Gods… “Does that mean we already have reviews on it?!”
“Only two,” Remi was quick to answer, holding his slate out and there the two reviews were, both good ones, thankfully!
I’d loved coding and creating apps back in my old world, so Remi had asked why I’d stopped.
It hadn’t even occurred to me that I could do that here, but Remi had assured me this world could use all our experience from our world, and with magic to guide me, it had gone rather smoothly.
This app was for the portals, since we had so many now that stood open permanently, an app with each location marked and where it led, plus a few key facts about each location, and then bam, an app was formed.
“All my students are eager for it,” Juno said, clapping my shoulder. “It makes their job so much easier while they explore and hopefully find their mate.”
Even though the rulers had said that another case like the one my father had created was unlikely to have happened, some had made portals before him, meaning other mates on completely different worlds were a true possibility and many older people from this world had joined the teams in the hope of finding their mates, Yaz included.
Many of them had thought they’d been punished by fate for still being alone, but with this new information, they suddenly felt eager to leave this world behind in the hope of finding their forever person.
“I added a feature that lets users add information to the app, helping it expand with information and facts quicker,” I informed the room. “The teams that travel and explore can add whatever info they find directly into the app, making it ready in seconds for others to see and learn from.”
“That’s amazing,” Nolen said, forever my hypeman.
My slate—which was now in its laptop shape—dinged, alerting the room that it was now midnight. My app was available everywhere in our world now.
Juno cheered and opened a bottle of something bubbly, Nolen and Aiden hugged me from both sides.
And I was left so damn exhausted. I’d done it. I’d created something useful for this new world I was living in, helping the people in the small way that I could.
When Nolen, Aiden, and I, had sat down and actually discussed our future, it became clear that Aiden would prefer to stay at home and keep it running, I, however, couldn’t just do nothing with my time, and so, when Remi had brought up coding, I’d started doing that again.
Nolen was employed by the rulers once again, but this time as a chef.
He worked from home most of the time and made lunch and breakfast for their employees.
Someone, often Oliver, drove by and picked up the food and then delivered it to the castle.
Grovar had retired from being a ruler, but not fully, and could still be found working alongside the other rulers from time to time, which was why Oliver had chosen to help out with the food.
We knew Nolen hoped to someday create more elaborate dishes for work, something that inspired him and made him happy, but for now he felt fulfilled working for the rulers, and he would continue doing that until it bored him.
“So,” Juno began, handing me a glass of the light pink bubbly drink. “What’s the next app gonna be?”
Aiden
Two months later.
It was finally time!
After having to wait for way longer than planned to visit my dads, all because of the slight chance me and Derek weren’t ready to travel yet, it had taken us a year before Mindy had allowed us to go.
At first, they were comfortable with us leaving right after we’d woken up from our long sleep, but while Derek and I had healed completely, our bodies still had to play catch up, and so, one night, I’d fainted after doing an intense deep clean of the house.
My body simply wasn’t ready for that kind of exercise, and so we were forced to stay in this world for a year until we could visit my dads.
Better safe than sorry, I guess.
“Nervous?” Derek asked, eyeing the portal with the same level of excitement and trepidation as me.
“A little,” I admitted.
We’d briefly said our goodbyes to the rulers before entering the room, and now that we were left alone, it felt sort of scary, walking through some magical portal thing. The only time I’d travelled through it, I was unconscious. Now, I was very much awake and aware.
“We’re doing it together,” Nolen assured me, his hand tightening in mine, showing me I wasn’t alone.
“I know,” I said, swallowing my nerves and stepping forward.
“Together,” Nolen said, holding on to both Derek and me as we let the portal engulf us.
Somehow my eyes had closed while in the portal, and now I could feel the sun warming my skin. The birds were chirping away in happy tunes and the scent of pine reached me.
A blanket of calmness came over me. This was the world I’d grown up in. A world I knew and had missed.
Opening my eyes, I found both Nolen and Derek staring intently at me. I jerked back, not expecting the intensity of their full attention.
“What?” I demanded.
“You feeling okay?” Nolen checked.
“Yeah,” I shrugged, feeling a tad silly. “Just needed to take it all in.”
“I can understand that,” Derek agreed, taking in the forest. “I hadn’t realized how much I missed this world until now.”
“Right?” I said, looking up at the clear blue sky.
“With you both feeling okay after travelling, we should be able to visit as often as you’d like,” Nolen offered.
“Really?” Derek and I said simultaneously, both of us clearly excited about it.