[Ovelia's POV]
I wiped the last traces of tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand, the salt mixing with the lingering sweetness of cotton candy on my lips. The cool night air felt refreshing against my damp skin.
"That grumpy fairy certainly got you there," Lady Firera's voice chimed in my mind, carrying a note of dry amusement.
"Yes…" I replied silently, a small smile touching my lips despite the lingering rawness in my chest.
I looked up at Gale. He was staring ahead, his gray eyes fixed on the crowd, that perpetually furrowed brow giving nothing away. But I could feel him—a faint warmth through our bond, a flicker of something that might have been satisfaction beneath his prickly exterior.
"Gale," I said softly.
He glanced down at me, wary.
"Thank you." The words felt small, inadequate, but they came from somewhere deep. "And… I want you to express your feelings more to us, too. You don't always have to be so… grumpy."
