“You don’t belong here,” she added, not unkindly. “Not forever.”
He dragged a hand through his hair. “I thought about staying. I wanted to. I really did. But… I couldn’t do that to my parents.”
She nodded, her gaze drifting up to the star-strewn sky. “They must miss you.”
He followed her gaze, his heart aching at the sight. The stars seemed different here. Brighter. Closer. Or maybe it was just that everything about this place had become sharper—more vivid—with her in it.
“Tell me what flying through space is like,” she said suddenly. “The way we flew together… is it like that?”
He smiled, a wistful tilt of his lips. “It’s different. Not better. But there’s something magical about it. The silence. The infinite sky. You look down and realize how small everything is—but how connected, too.”
“Like the isles,” she said. “Except yours are stars.”
“Exactly.”
She was quiet for a long moment. The moonlight cascaded over her as her tail shimmered and shifted, folding into long, graceful legs. She stood and held out her hand to him, her eyes shining with tears that hadn’t fallen yet.
“Take me flying,” she requested in a quiet voice. “One more time. Before you go.”
His breath caught.
He rose slowly, never taking his eyes off her. His hand found hers—warm, slender, strong—and he held it like a lifeline.
Then he stepped back, called his dragon, and shifted in a shimmer of sapphire, silver, and heat.
She gazed at him with eyes filled with wonder.
With ease, she climbed onto his back, slipping into the space just in front of his wings like she belonged there.
Because she did.
He jumped, and his wings beat the air, lifting them off the dock, away from the village, and into the sky.
They soared.
He wove between the lanterns, his dragon dancing among them like a living blue flame. Jewel’s laughter rang out, sparkling like starlight. Below, the lake shimmered, dotted with boats and celebration, the scars of the past slowly fading beneath the glow of hope.
Jabir’s dragon purred, soaring higher.
Faster.
Freer.
And all the while, he held the memory of her laughter in his heart, sealing it away like treasure.
Because he knew—no matter how far he flew, across galaxies or time—he would never forget her.
The siren who taught him what it meant to be brave.
To be whole.
To love.
Jewel.
His Jewel.
His first, unforgettable love.
