Esperanza insisted, once Elena and Jaime emerged from sweeping the ashes from her burned-out bedroom, that they take her room for the night.
"I've, ah… been sleeping with Juan anyway."
Elena blinked at her daughter, a brow rising, the ghost of a smile tugging at her lips. Jaime coughed into his hand to stifle his laughter.
Esperanza went scarlet, stammering, "I-it's because he was injured, Mama! He needed constant healing, and Titi Aurora really needed a break, so I stayed and I swear it's not- "
Juan only grinned, unashamed, as he clapped a hand gently over her mouth. "We'll be heading to bed now, Mama, Jaime." His cheeks flushed, but his eyes danced with mischief as he guided Esperanza away, her muffled protests trailing down the hall.
Elena, for the first time in over a month, threw her head back and laughed- a sharp, barking laugh that startled her own ears. The sound cracked something open inside her, something she hadn't realized had calcified in grief. Her hand found Jaime's arm as she steadied herself.
"Dios mío," she muttered, shaking her head, still smiling. "I guess it's time for the talk."
Jaime was smiling too, sheepishly, watching her face glow in the firelight. The laughter softened her features, made her eyes shine brighter, made her seem younger. Elena turned to him then, her violet eyes shimmering like stormclouds lit by lightning.
She stepped closer, cupping his cheek. He leaned into her touch as if he'd been waiting for it all his life. He kissed her palm, lingering there, his lips warm and steady.
"I… don't know what to say," Elena whispered, her voice trembling. A flush colored her cheeks, the firelight reflecting the strange, divine hues of her eyes. "We… we're bonded now."
Jaime nodded, his turn to close the space between them, his ocean-blue eyes searching hers like tides reaching for shore. Elena's breath caught. She muttered without meaning to, mortified the words slipped free:
"I'm getting lost in those ocean eyes."
Jaime chuckled lowly, a sound that rumbled through her chest. His scarred hand, shining faintly pearlescent, rose to cradle her neck. She leaned into him instinctively, and the current of magic between them sparked like a storm meeting the sea.
Elena didn't even try to resist. She kissed him. Soft at first, trembling, testing the bond. She poured into that kiss her grief, her want, her fear of breaking all over again. Jaime met her lips with steady reassurance, his own devotion weaving into her. The kiss deepened, became something more- a conversation of mouths and breath and unspoken need.
"I think this bond is going to make everything more intense," she breathed against his mouth, her eyes fluttering up to meet his.
Jaime's hand slid down her waist, pulling her against him. "Gods, I want this so bad…"
The bond between them was like a storm surge- wild, unstoppable, divine. But under it all, there was something tender, painfully human: a hunger for comfort, for release, for closeness after too much death and loss.
His voice deepened, Coatriskie slipping through for just a moment:
You know you want to.
Elena's eyes flared indigo lighting as Guabancex hissed, amused:
This will heal you both.
They froze, panting, their foreheads pressed together, their hearts pounding in sync. And in that silence, Elena felt something strange: not a command, not possession, but permission. The gods, storm and sea, quieted inside them, as if bowing their heads and stepping back, granting this moment to the two of them alone.
Hand in hand, they walked into Esperanza's room.
The door had barely closed when restraint shattered.