“Oi! Get up!” A loud voice rudely jolted me out of my sleep and I jumped up, daggers at the ready. Whoever or whatever was chasing me now, would regret waking me up from my first proper night of sleep.

“Relax, it’s just me.”

“D-Darren?” I stared at the familiar face of my friend, wondering if somehow I fell from one dream into the other. I lowered my weapons and shoved them back in their sheaths. “W-What are you d-doing here?”

With a scoff, he kicked an empty barrel, nearly toppling the thing. “What are you doing here? Sleeping in the hay? Traveling the world on your own? Did you lose your mind?” he growled, grabbing a fistful of my shirt. The fabric shrieked as he tugged me closer so he could hiss in my face. “Are you crazy?”

I pushed Darren’s hands away and annoyed, I shoved him backwards. What was he even doing here? If he abandoned Danny, I would kick his ass. He was supposed to be protecting her, and I doubted he’d be able to do that while standing next to my bed.

“I-I had some t-things to deal with,” I defended myself, my voice raspy from the abuse I suffered. A little guilt bubbled up as I stared at my friend’s face and I knew I should’ve said goodbye to them as well, but I was sure Danny explained it better than I could. Words weren’t my friends.

“Yeah, I get it. We’ve all been there and we deal with stuff together,” Darren huffed, kicking the bunch of hay I slept on. The dried grass fluttered up in the air, dancing with the first rays of sunlight. It was early, far too early for Darren to be even awake. He hated the morning with a passion, and yet, he was standing here and screaming in my face. Maybe he hadn’t slept yet?

“I h-had to do t-this by myself.”

“You’re an idiot! Now get up and let’s go.”

“I-I can’t.” I fell back into the hay, the sun tickling my face. After leaving Danny, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to face her. Even if I knew it was for the best, she wound up broken-hearted and disappointed. From all the years we’d been together, this was easily the most selfish thing I decided. Without consulting Regan or Darren, without taking Danny’s wishes in consideration. But if the Butcher had got his nasty hands on her, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself. Her safety was worth everything, even if it meant that she’d never look at me the same. I just wasn’t sure if I actually wanted to experience that. The broken look in her eyes and the hurt in her voice

“You look awful. What happened?”

Gingerly, I poked the swollen patches and bruises on my face. It couldn’t look worse than it felt. “R-Ran into a g-ghost.”

“The ghost sure got you good. Now get up, we can’t leave Danny alone for too long.”

I shot up, anxiety coursing through me. “Regan is h-here too? Y-You left Danny on her own?”

He threw me a dirty look and cocked an eyebrow like only he could. “You’re one to talk. But yes, Regan is outside watching the horses.”

“W-Where’s Danny?” Panicked, I scrambled to my feet and swung my heavy backpack over my least painful shoulder. I gritted my teeth as the sack scraped against the fresh wounds, but I ignored the stinging and burning. If my two friends were here, she was all by herself. Just because Chesca was no longer a threat or the war was over, didn’t mean that she was safe.

“Danny can take care of herself, you know that.” Darren grabbed my pillow-jacket and dusted the hay off. “But let’s go before she realises we’re gone.”

“W-Wait… Danny d-doesn’t know you’re here?” I grabbed his arm, wondering why they didn’t tell her.

“No, she is far too stubborn and respects your wishes.”

“Ah…”

“But Regan and I don’t. You idiot, why didn’t you let us go with you!” He punched my shoulder and a jolt of electricity shot through me. I tried to hide the pain, but Darren caught on. “What’s going on?”

I stared at him, hoping he would let it go. But the determined stare made me realise I wouldn’t get off without an explanation. Reluctantly, I tugged my sleeve up and revealed the scattering of red scuff marks and blue bruises.

“JP?! What did you get yourself into?”

“J-Just some b-business I n-needed to take care of,” I muttered, hiding the reminder of my encounter under my shirt. The memory of the Butcher haunted me enough as it was, I didn’t need to see it drawn across my skin. It was already under it.

“Business? Who did this? What’s going on?” Darren stared at me with big eyes and a protective growl rolled from the back of his throat. A tone he usually reserved for Danny and I could only be honoured to be the recipient of it this time. I shrugged, hoping to change the subject, but I knew just how insistent Darren could be.

“F-Fine… The B-Butcher.”

His mouth made a perfect circle and his face fell as he realised what it meant. And he didn’t even know how bad it was, not to the full extent. But then again, nobody did. Nobody apart from the late Butcher and I.

Darren gently touched my shoulder. “Why didn’t you let us help?”

I smiled and told him the same thing as Danny. “N-Not your fight.”

“Neither was my issue with my Father. Or Regan with his parents. But we help each other. We are family.”

“T-Thanks. But I’m o-okay now.”

“Right. Anyway, let’s go.” Darren pulled my bag from my shoulders and swung the door open. Regan peeked inside, breathing a little cloud of cold air.

“You coming?”

I stared at their expectant faces and a warmth spread through me, wiping the pain and sorrow away. They came back for me. I could return, to my friends, to my family, to Danny. Home.

Indescribable gratitude surged through my veins and put a new spring in my step. I willed my beaten body to move and limped towards my two best friends. Regan nodded in acknowledgement, shooting me a look that didn’t need words. It was a non-judgmental welcome back. Grateful, I tugged my lips up in a wry smile and accepted the reins from one of the horses. Both excitement and dread filled me as I thought about facing Danny. I just hoped she wouldn’t be too mad at me, but even if she was, I would make it up to her. I knew I did right by protecting her from the Butcher’s wrath.

Every part of my body protested as I tried to climb on my horse. As much as I wanted to combat the stress I endured, it felt as if I was made of string. So much strength sapped from my muscles, I couldn’t even pull my own weight up to get in the saddle.

A little ashamed, I accepted Darren’s help and used his folded hands as a step up. A bit in the same fashion as children would get up, but I really didn’t have the energy to protest. With sweat dripping down my face and my heartbeat thundering through my ears, I managed to clamber up on the speckled mare. I swung my battered leg over the leather saddle, took the reins in my trembling hands, and promptly slid down the other side. Spots danced in front of my eyes as I hit the cold ground. A nagging pain took over my senses and curling up in a ball seemed to be the only thing stopping me from crying out.

“Shit, sorry!” Darren called, quickly running towards me. My whole body protested as he and Regan helped me back to my feet. How pathetic, I couldn’t even ride a horse to save my life.

“Guess you’re riding with me,” he said, climbing up on the mare instead. This time, Regan helped me up on the horse and I wrapped my heavy arms around Darren. Too exhausted and beaten, I rested my chin against his back. It was a little weird to be this close to him, but it was no different than sleeping squashed in the same tent.

Regan grabbed the reins of the spare animal and with a nod, the two men spurred on the horses. Every hobble and bobble was painful, but the thought of having Danny’s arms wrapped around me kept my mind sane and attentive. I would see her soon, far sooner than I ever expected.

I just hoped she wasn’t too mad.

The horses neighed softly as Darren and Regan tied them up in front of the barn they were staying in. I wondered why they weren’t resting in the inn, but figured they might have had good reasons not to.

“Shhh,” Darren gestured, tip-toeing inside the barn. The sun was barely crackling through the windows and illuminated a shape sleeping soundly in the hay. The light played with her red hair and made it glimmer like beautiful rubies. She was beautiful, hauntingly beautiful. And right now, while asleep, I could pretend that nothing had changed. That I never left. That she was still mine.

And if I woke her up, the illusion would shatter. She would open her eyes and I would find something in them that would break my heart the way I broke hers.

I stretched out my hand, hovering it above her sleeping figure. Maybe I didn’t need to disturb her. Maybe I didn’t have the right to be back here. Maybe I should just slip away, vanish into the early morning, and leave her with just the ghost of my memory. Maybe that was for the best after all.

“Hmmmhmmm...” she murmured, tossing and turning in the golden hay. She was restless, far more than usual. The sun moved from her fiery hair to the delicate features of her face and it took my breath away. With her soft skin, her sharp jawline, and eyes that I knew would shine bright like diamonds when she opened them, she was so beautiful it ached. It was unbearable how much I loved her. And I couldn’t go, not now. Not again.

“Danny,” I whispered, my throat restricted and dry from all the emotion I was trying not to show. Anticipation swirled through me like the wildest of rivers, clashing against the walls of fear I built to protect myself. Hoping, begging, that when she opened her eyes, I wouldn’t see what my nightmares wanted me to believe.

“Hmmmm.” My beautiful redhead curled into a ball and fluttered open the windows to her soul, stopping the fantasy and starting reality.

Truth time.

“JP?” she whispered, her eyebrows coming together in a frown that froze the heartbeat thundering through my ears. No nightmare, no devastating fantasy, no song of demons could be worse than the cold reality of Danny rejecting me. And the worst part was that I deserved nothing less than the hardest, cruelest pain I could imagine. Because I inflected the same sorrow in her when I turned my back and left her standing on the banks of the river. Alone.

“H-Hi,” I breathed, fear captivating me in a grip I never experienced before. Not when I ran for my life, not when I fought Chesca, not when I faced the Butcher. I had managed, all of the tragedies, all of the pain, all of the heartache, all of the grief. I survived because I had Danny by my side. Because I had something to protect. Someone. But now that my fight was over, I needed her more than ever. Not to protect, not to have, not to guide, not to survive. Just to love. I simply wanted to love Danny, in a way that nobody without a soulmate could understand.

“I-I’m back,” I gulped, bracing for words that could end my world in the beat of my heart. I was ready to take it.

Her dark eyes bore into me, with an intensity and fierceness that would’ve scared the Great Spirit himself. She really was a force of nature and I was in no position to stop her.

“Are you here to stay?” she asked, breaking the silence and tension with words that came out a lot softer than I imagined she intended them to. The softness, the vulnerability, the hope smashed the fears, shattered the glass, and chased the whispering demons away.

“I-If you want m-me to stay?” My breath hitched in my throat as I waited for her answer. Time ticked away, the cruel companion that never let up, the bitter taste in my mouth never leaving until she moved.

Until she breathed. “Yes.”

And in this moment, in the briefest of time, in the warmest of life, I found the one thing I never knew I was looking for. Right until I thought I lost it.

Peace. A perfect end to an imperfect journey. A beautiful story, with even more beautiful people, and adventures wild and experiences shared. A tale I would be retelling to my children one day, when they were ready to learn about the horrors of the world, but also the blessings in life.

I glanced at Danny, my Danny, and reached out for her hand. Gently, firmly, reassuringly, I resonated my feelings through the contact of skin. An unspoken promise, an unbreakable pledge, a vow for life.

The sun moved as the new day started and even with the rubies disappearing from her hair and the shadows painting figures on her skin, her eyes shimmered brighter than the sun could ever do.

She was mine and I was hers. Forever.