Page 67 of Lunar Bound
“Should I do something?” Her hands reached toward Lunar in hesitation.
"Not yet," Eclipse cautioned. "The process must complete naturally."
They watched as Lunar's essence continued its remarkable recovery. The star patterns within his darkness pulsed and swirled with increasing vigor, his form becoming more solid with each passing minute. Poppy never took her eyes off him, afraid that if she looked away even for a moment, he might fade again.
The subtle thrum of energy faded as the carefully maintained environment dissipated. For one terrifying moment, nothing happened. Then, slowly, Lunar's fully reconsolidated form drifted up from the ground.
"Poppy," he said, her name carrying all the emotion his shadow essence could express.
"Lunar," she whispered, tears filling her eyes as she reached for him.
His darkness enveloped her instantly, cool and familiar and perfect. The star patterns within his essence swirled rapidly where they touched her skin, creating those beautiful ripples of sensation she'd missed so desperately. The resonance between them, once stretched across impossible distances, now hummed with immediate connection.
Eclipse and Solar quietly withdrew, leaving them alone in their reunion.
"You came back." Poppy’s hands passed through his darkness to find the more solid core beneath.
"I promised," Lunar replied, his form solidifying further at her touch. "Though the probability of success was significantly below optimal parameters."
Poppy laughed through her tears, the familiar clinical phrasing so perfectly Lunar that it made her heart ache with joy. "Just say it was nearly impossible and you did it anyway."
"Nearly impossible," he agreed, his essence rippling with what she recognized as his version of amusement. "Yet here I am."
"Here you are," she echoed, still not quite believing it despite the solid evidence of his essence wrapped around her.
"Permanently," Lunar answered without hesitation.
“Forever,” she agreed.
Lunar's essence shifted, forming a more solid manifestation of his humanoid shape. The star patterns within his darkness aligned into a configuration she'd never seen before, creating a symbol that glowed.
"On Zorveya, shadow-dwellers do not speak of emotional attachments," he said, his voice taking on a formal quality. "We communicate through energy patterns. This is the pattern of permanent connection, of chosen resonance."
Poppy traced the glowing symbol with her fingertips, feeling the energy respond to her touch. "It's beautiful. What does it mean, exactly?"
"In Earth terms," Lunar said, wrapping more tightly around her, "it means I love you, Poppy Jensen. Not as a tactical advantage or a statistical anomaly, but simply, completely, as one being to another. I love your perception, your courage, your warmth. I love how you move through darkness without fear, how you reached for my shadows when others would have recoiled."
The words she'd been waiting to hear, expressed with a poetry she hadn't known he possessed, brought fresh tears to her eyes. "I love you too. So much that I felt you across the stars. So much that I never stopped believing you'd find your way back."
Their energies merged in the perfect harmony they'd discovered in the desert nights so long ago, shadow and warmth creating something greater than either alone. This time, there was no fear of separation, no countdown to extraction, no Milano forces pursuing them. Just the promise of a future together.
"What happens now?" Poppy asked when they finally separated enough to speak again.
"Now," Lunar replied, "we adapt to new parameters. Together."
Chapter 19
Epilogue
The Milano story broke across all major news networks the following morning.
Poppy sat with the others in the cabin's main room, listening to an old radio as Rowan's journalist contact presented the evidence they'd compiled.
"Director Vega of Milano Enterprises declined to comment on these allegations," the journalist reported, "but sources within the government confirm that a joint task force has been assembled to investigate the company's activities."
"It worked," Dani said, grinning at Rowan. "Your media contacts came through."
“Thanks to the information Eclipse saw when he was at the facility,” Rowan said.
