CHAPTER 292: 292: THE HEART TOUCHING REUNION

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"I never doubted you. Not for a second. Miryam kept watching the sky. Shadeclaw kept training. We all knew. I... I knew. I felt you in my bones."

Tears fell freely from her eyes. Luna added, "I missed you so much."

"I know." Kai replied. "I missed you too."

The link pulsed once more. Then faded. But the warmth remained. Luna stood, wiping her tears and straightening her cloak. Then she smiled. She already knew what was coming.

She turned to Miryam. "He is coming."

Miryam stretched her legs once and nodded without a word. The wind shifted again. This time it did not carry sorrow.

It carried feathers. It carried fire. And it carried a king who was coming home.

(Now. Back to the time when Kai arrives.)

The sky split with a thunderclap as Alka dove down from the clouds, wings flared like blades of living wind. Her vast silhouette tore through the mist like a falling comet. Each beat of her wings churned the air with the weight of return and the roar of something big coming with a king. A Lord coming back home. Her screech rang across the valleys, not as a warning, but as a declaration. The king was back.

On her back stood Kai.

His cloak billowed around him, tattered from battle and storm, yet proud and unbroken. His white silver hair shimmered like liquid light beneath the high sun, framing a face that had seen blood, talk with a god, and survival. And yet, it was his eyes that carried the weight of it all. Those red, burning eyes that now softened only for one thing.

As he saw her. LUNA.

The woman who had waited. The one who had suffered loneliness.

Luna took one step forward, the air thick in her chest, her ears twitching in disbelief. Another step followed, quicker, driven by instinct and memory and longing.

And then she ran.

She ran as if time itself had returned to her. As if every second without him had gathered in her legs and pushed her toward him. The wind whipped around her, but she did not feel it. Her eyes were locked on him. Her heart pounded like war drums in her chest.

Alka landed with a soft tremor, her claws digging gently into the stone. Dust curled upward in waves of warmth.

Before it had even begun to settle, Kai leapt from her back.

He landed lightly, effortlessly, and barely had time to steady himself before Luna crashed into him.

She hit his chest with the force of her whole soul. Her arms wrapped tightly around his torso, her face buried in the space between his neck and shoulder. She said nothing at first. Her body trembled. Her breath came in shaky bursts. Tears soaked on his collar. She clung to him like she was afraid the world would steal him, her husband again.

Kai froze for a heartbeat, and then his arms closed around her.

Strong. Firm. Safe.

His hands moved instinctively, one cradling the back of her head, the other wrapping around her waist and pulling her even closer. He held her like he never intended to let go again. His chin rested gently against her hair, and his eyes... his war born eyes finally closed in relief.

She breathed him in. The scent of ash, sweat, forest wind, and something uniquely his. Like home.

"You are home," she whispered, barely audible, her voice breaking like dawn through frost.

"I am home," he answered, his voice low and rough.

"You promised."

"I always keep my promises."

Her fingers curled into the back of his cloak, gripping tight. The fabric bunched under her grip. It did not matter if the world ended now. He was here. And he was hers.

He held her like the earth held mountains. Steady. Unmoving.

She wept softly into his shoulder, no longer from fear or loneliness, but from joy too large for her heart to hold alone. The pain of waiting turned into the bliss of reunion, flooding through her like a tide.

Then, a familiar thump reached Kai’s side.

Miryam waddled over on her stubby legs, eyes fluttering, tail trailing behind her like a ribbon of pride. She gave a small growl and gently bumped her forehead against Kai’s cheek with a mixture of affection and unspoken complaint.

Kai smiled, eyes glinting as he bent down to scoop her into his arms.

"You are heavier," he said with soft laughter in his chest.

The little wyrmling snorted proudly, her tiny claws gripping his arm as she nestled in against his chest. Her eyes closed, but the corner of her mouth curled up in smug satisfaction.

She had waited too. She had grown in his absence. And now she had what was hers.

Kai held her close, one arm wrapped around her, the other still holding Luna. He looked up and met Luna’s eyes again. And for a moment, he forgot every scar on his body. Every wound. Every shadow.

His smile softened. "I missed this more than I knew."

Luna tried to speak, but emotion clogged her throat. Instead, she nodded quickly, her lips trembling with both joy and the weight of everything she had been holding in.

"Then don’t ever leave again," she finally managed.

Kai gently touched her face. His thumb brushed away a tear from her cheek. "I will try."

Then, without hesitation, he leaned forward and pressed his lips softly to hers.

It was not a kiss of passion, or hunger, or even apology. It was a kiss of return. A kiss that said, I was lost. But I came back.

She returned it without a word, her arms tightening around him again, her whole body aching to absorb him. To remind him that he was loved, needed, and never alone.

When they parted, Kai turned and placed a gentle kiss on Miryam’s brow as well.

His adopted daughter. His first wife. He kissed them both. And for the first time in over twenty days, his world was whole again.