Chapter 54 Nova
NOVA
The sky's on fire in the best kind of way.
Golden-pink streaks chase each other across the horizon, fading into lavender just above the landing strip.
The wind smells like hot tarmac, fresh-cut grass, and whatever snack Dar left under the seat of our skiff again.
The engines in the distance hum like a lullaby—cadet class doing their final run of the day.
Dar’s already bolted ahead, arms out like wings, his little starship clutched in one hand and his voice carrying in a never-ending stream of sound effects.
“Zzrrmm! Incoming! Red three on your six! Crash landing! I need backup!”
Kaz chuckles beside me, his thumb brushing slow circles on the back of my hand. He’s not rushing me, but I feel the hum in his bones. This place charges him, stokes whatever fire survived all the wreckage and wormholes and scars.
It charges me, too. But quieter.
We stand at the edge of the field, just behind the orange marker cones, watching the students overhead. Bright white flashes of training ships zip against the twilight like fireflies trying to outrun the dark.
They’re messy. Eager. Hungry.
They remind me of us.
One of them banks too hard and almost skims the line. Kaz mutters, “That one’s mine.”
“I told you she was yours,” I smirk.
“She’s gonna kill us all.”
“She’ll be the best pilot on this rock in a month.”
Kaz shakes his head, still watching the sky, eyes reflecting the light. “Think they’re ready?”
“Not a chance.”
He laughs. The kind that comes from deep in his chest. The kind he only learned how to do recently.
I lean against him, shoulder to shoulder, and we sway together like trees in a wind we both trust.
Behind us, Dar cartwheels onto the grass and yells, “We’re under attack! Take evasive maneuvers!”
Kaz breaks from me to scoop him up, spinning him once in a wide arc that earns a delighted shriek.
“Commander Dar!” he announces, “You’ve violated three airspace regulations and nearly collided with two dragon ships. Explanation?”
Dar presses a finger to his temple. “I was busy saving the galaxy.”
“Strong excuse.”
“I know.”
I watch them and can’t believe this is my life.
That I get this.
I walk toward them slowly, the sun setting at our backs, drenching everything in gold.
Kaz sets Dar down, and Dar immediately picks up a handful of grass and launches it at us like a grenade. “Ew! If you kiss again, I’m moving to Verzius’s house!”
“Again?” Kaz says, grinning.
“Ever!”
I lean in and kiss him anyway.
Slow and certain.
Not desperate.
Not rushed.
Just home.
Kaz hums into it. I feel him smile. And for a second, we’re the only two people left in the whole wide sky.
Dar groans, exaggerated and long-suffering. “Adults are so gross.”
Kaz pulls away just enough to whisper, “Don’t worry. He’ll understand someday.”
I shake my head. “He already does. He just doesn’t want to admit it.”
The sun kisses the edge of the horizon, and shadows stretch long across the grass. Dar runs ahead again, chasing something invisible. We let him.
Kaz slips his hand into mine.
We walk forward, toward the hangar, toward tomorrow, toward whatever wild thing waits next.
I don’t look back.