The kiss did not end so much as it softened, becoming a gentle press of foreheads, a shared breath in the tranquil air. The world, which had seemed to hold its breath, exhaled with them. The gentle luminescence of the flowers and grass seemed to pulse in a slow, contented rhythm, and the whisper of the waterfalls wove a soundtrack around this sacred moment they had carved from time itself.
They stood like that for a long while, wrapped in the quiet and in each other, the barriers of warrior and mentor, of princess and guardian, completely dissolved. Here, in this impossible garden, they were simply Alex and Saeko.
Eventually, he took her hand, his fingers intertwining with hers in a gesture that felt both new and as familiar as his own heartbeat. "Come with me," he murmured, his voice a low vibration that resonated deep within her.
