46. Epilogue Always, Forever
Haera
“What would happen if I tossed myself over this cliff?” Haera asked, giggling through the question as Theos slowly quirked a brow upward.
They were back at their secret waterfall, now her second favourite place in the entire universe. Flashes of her past life slipped through her mind’s eye even as she waited for Theos to answer her. The first time they’d come here, she’d been trembling, afraid of the slightest wind, and partially denying the feelings she’d been developing for Theos. Now that life felt like five thousand light syrises ago.
“Why don’t you jump and find out?” Theos egged.
Her jaw unhinged. “Really? It’s been a few mohns and you’re trying to get rid of me already?” she teased. Nothing in her body thought for a moment that Theos was getting rid of her. If anything, it was the opposite. He couldn’t get enough of her. He never let her out of his sight, and she never grew tired of his gentle attention.
She broke gaze with him, turning her attention out to sea. Just like the first time they’d come here, as soon as her focus settled on the waves, the noise of their crashing grew louder. They rolled over each other while her eyes raised to the line where the blue sky met its crashing.
“My favourite colour was blue, and now it’s you.” The bond trembled with the memory of his words. She turned to look back at him, finding his eyes fixed on her. This beautiful, all-powerful god was her mate. They were bound together for the rest of the eternities, and he was determined to heal her. The thought of it made her giggle. Silly god. He already had.
Theos raised a brow in question, and she smiled, canines glinting. Then, turning on her heel, she ran towards the edge and leaped over it, screaming and giggling as she dived towards the spray of the ocean and the rocks below where the steep drop of the mountain met the sea.
The wind whipped her hair around her face wildly and her giggling turned into bubbling laughter when Theos appeared next to her, casually standing in free fall as they plummeted. And then, something strange. Her limbs slowed until she was almost standing still. She was hovering, no, she was moving upwards.
Her eyes bulged out of her head. Of course, she’d expected Theos to catch her, but if this was what she thought it was, this was –
“Theos, am I flying?” she asked, her voice squeaky and high-pitched.
His grin was maniacal. “Indeed, you are.”
“Oh my gods !” she shrieked, bouncing up and down in the air while Theos threw back his head and laughed. “What else can I do?” she turned her pleading gaze on her mate, who walked over to her slowly, tilting her face up to his while the surf crashed against the rocks far below them.
“There are a million things left to discover,” he whispered, his eyes searching hers. “And we have all the eternities left to find each one. But there is something I want to show you – something I made specifically with you in mind.”
Haera let Theos turn her around so that her back was pressed into his chest. In the distance, something was happening on the horizon.
“What is that?” she asked, squinting her eyes as it came into view.
“While you were unconscious – while I healed the worlds, you were the only thing I could think about. While I reformed the arctic poles and recharted the ocean’s currents, it rained. It was a downpour like any other – one I couldn’t quite understand. It was only after, when I returned to your side and you woke up, that the rains stopped.”
Haera sensed the hesitance in Theos’ voice. Whatever he was showing her was making him nervous, and it was sweet to imagine that the god who’d created the entire universe could feel worry at whether she’d like whatever he’d created.
“The Earth had been raining so heavily because it missed you, Haera. It was worried, and sad, and couldn’t get over its sorrow until your eyes opened again. Your connection to this planet is deep, and precious. It responds to you in ways that I could never have imagined.” Theos took a deep breath. “So, I made you this. ”
The wavy air in the distance that Haera had been squinting at suddenly erupted into colour. The coloured light banded across the entire horizon, as far as her eyes could see in a sweeping arc. She stared, transfixed, at the multi-coloured ring of light.
“Theos,” she whispered, pouting as tears slipped down her cheeks. “It’s beautiful.”
He hummed happily, pressing a kiss to the shell of her ear. “It’s a rainbow, and I’ve made it specially for you. It’ll always show up on the horizon after it rains, as a promise both to you, and to the Earth, that nothing harmful will ever again happen to you.”
Tears pooled in her eyes, and she tore her eyes away from the brilliant light to whirl around and face him. “I love it. It’s so pretty.”
Theos’ smile made her heart soar. “It is. And yet, not nearly as pretty as you are. Everything pales in comparison.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead, sighing with obvious satisfaction.
“I love you, Theos,” she whispered, reaching up to slide her arms around his neck and bury her tear-stricken cheeks into his neck.
“The universe will never be able to contain the depth of my love for you, Haera,” he whispered, pressing feather-light kisses to her cheeks, nose, and lips. “You have me. Always. Forever .”