Impractical (Complete)

Epilogue

Distancia was not like Xera. The people were friendlier and as the continent had never been torn apart by war, they were more trusting. With no money or supplies, Fox and Aiyana had arrived hand in hand on the docks, still hurting.

Yet, as Fox found work in the farmlands and Aiyana managed to start helping with the fishing industry at the docks, both washing dishes for meals to share, she stopped hurting so much. She remembered their first night on the ship as they fled what had once been their home. She remembered the endless kindness Fox had for her when she woke up with nightmares, after only four days of knowing her. She recalled his respect when she felt broken after Arkin's betrayal. She learned that he was the one who helped her fix all her pieces.

As they made a life together in Distancia, spending frugally with the hopes of earning enough to disappear to Wintuva, leaving their fear of being caught, they grew closer. One day, she was able to tell him that she loved him too. What Aiyana never worked out was that she had once been cursed but when she had heard Zahra sing a long time ago in Glacio, it had been lifted by the magic that had been embedded in the voice of the Rovan Princess. That was why it had hurt so much when she left Arkin. In the end, however, she realised that she was only in love with the idea of him and maybe she had been in love with Fox all along.

Their first kiss was on a crowded street where Aiyana had been pushed around so much that she felt bruised. People didn't seem to see her. They were taller than even the people in Glacio. She grasped Fox's hand tightly, trying her best to stay next to him. When she felt her hand slipping, he stopped, hooked his arms around her shoulders and knees, and lifted her with ease. She looped her arms around his neck and whispered her gratitude in his ear.

When she drew back, she realised that he had turned into a quieter road but he wasn't putting her down. He just continued to stare at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the whole world, adoration in his eyes. Then, he was leaning forward and their lips met.

The moment they kissed, Aiyana felt like she never wanted to stop. When Fox reluctantly pulled away, they smiled. She tucked her face into his neck and laughed and he carried her the whole way home, stopping only once to kiss her again.

Distancia never became their home. Instead, when they curled up next to each other every night in their shabby one-bedroom apartment, they knew that their homes were in each other.

They made friends but Aiyana couldn't trust anymore. Only Fox knew everything about her. He taught her all he knew about sailing and stories about magic and they talked for hours on end about all their endless thoughts and plans. Aiyana taught him the best ways to gut fish and chicken, how to shoot an arrow and walk on a tightrope. They coordinated their spending money, planning ways to maximise their spending. Certain foods filled them up quicker and were more nutritious. In winter, they left for the forest and picked so many winter berries, that they had jam to last them at least two months and to sell. They smartly changed the hiding spot of their combined money every few days so that the chances of it being stolen were lower. People remarked that they were insanely practical.

They also remarked that they had never seen two people more in love. On their days off, Aiyana and Fox explored Distancia, their palms never leaving each other. On rainy days, Aiyana pulled Fox underneath an umbrella of one of the outside seats at a restaurant and kissed him very gently. They danced in the rain and they made each other laugh. She soon worked out that Fox was ticklish and he realised that she loved it when he played with her hair, which she had since let grow out. They knew each other inside out and were so in love that people thought they were oblivious to their surroundings. Despite that illusion, they never stopped looking over their shoulders for assassins and recognisable faces from Xera.

One day, when the street, though bathed in warming sunlight, sparkled from a recent downpour, Fox squeezed Aiyana's hand, bringing her to a stop. He looked directly into her eyes, noticing immediately that since they had met, laugh lines had been permanently etched around them. Then, they danced until darkness had settled, talking and bantering. Instead of streetlights, little lanterns decorated the street, glowing softly. Aiyana tipped her head to the sky and looked at the stars, brighter than anywhere in Nasta. When she looked back down, Fox was on one knee, asking to marry her. He did not have a ring, for he could not spend their precious money and he looked abashed and unsure of himself.

Aiyana smiled so widely as she got down on her knees so that they were almost eye level. She told him she didn't care that he didn't have a ring, she just wanted him. She leaned forward, kissed him gently, and said yes.

On their wedding day, the only thing they wished they could do was to tell their parents. Long ago, Fox accepted that he would never see them once he left Tequas and they had both been so sick. Aiyana's were dead, taken by the first Nastanese war. They promised themselves to each other and they promised that if they had children, they would always be there until their children were ready to take on the world.

They were ready to start a new life in Wintuva, specifically Florentina, just three years after endless hours of work in Distancia. They didn't look back and they forgot the war in Xera. The people of Distancia only had fond memories of Aiyana and Fox, two souls who had been so in love. They would forever be remembered as two incredibly practical people who loved each other impractically.