Paradoxon [Kaeya x Reader]

10. Epilogue: Declaration

"Hmm... " He gently squeezed your hand and looked up into the night sky again. "I do."

You couldn't stop the corners of your lips from rising into a huge smile. "This is the first time you didn't tell me to not trust you," you exclaimed, "or that it's stupid."

"I guess you just proved it time and time again, and now I can't deny it any longer."

Both of you turned towards each other at the same time, slowly inching closer, and met in the middle for a kiss.

"I'm glad we finally agree," you told him after you pulled back. His gaze met yours, his fingers interlocked with yours and his smiled answered to yours. He spoke your name softly.

"Hm?" you asked him, but he had already turned his face back to the sky.

"Ah, forget it," he told you, riling up your curiosity.

"But now I wanna know!" you told him insistently, shifting to your knees and leaning towards him. But he didn't look back at you and answered with his usual grin, "I forgot what I wanted to say."

"You can't fool me, Kaeya!" Again, you changed your tone to serious, crawled onto his lap, grabbed his face with both your hands and forced him to look you into the eyes. "Tell me what you're thinking!"

Kaeya's smirk still rose butterflies in your belly, even after you had gotten to know him so intimately. Again, you blushed, especially at his playful reply.

"I'm thinking about how good that sex just now was," he answered your question with information that was obviously not what you were looking for. "And how I'm getting hungry, and if there is some left of that delicious stew you made earlier!"

You couldn't deny that you were getting a little frustrated. "Kaeya, that's not what you meant!"

With a pouting face, he continued, "Also, I'm thinking about how I will cope without your cooking for the next two weeks!"

With a sigh, you finally relented. There was no way you'd get a serious answer out of him if he didn't want to give what you wanted. So you just turned around in his lap to look up to the stars, just like him. Kaeya immediately hugged you from behind.

"I'm gonna miss you too," you told him. "But you're going to kick those hilichurls' asses and be back in no time, I just know it."

"Obviously," he replied cockily and pulled your back closer into his chest. Together you watched the blinking stars, and enjoyed the cool breeze.

The night sky was still the same as it had been months ago, but it still felt so different to watch it from where you were in life now. You had come incredibly far in all this time. The dread, the fear, the hope for a new start, all those emotions from the very start of your journey to Mond you could still vividly remember. The wind of this country and its people had blown them all away. Now, finally, you were at peace. Happier than you had ever been in your whole life. Filled with determination for a positive future. No matter what challenges life would bring, you knew that you could get through it, not only because you had become stronger personally, but also because of all the friends that you had gained, supporting you through every hardship. You were not alone anymore.

You were not running anymore.

Instead, you faced everything head on.

Kaeya's embrace tightened a little bit before his hands searched for yours and intertwined your fingers. His breath was tickling your neck. You wiggled even closer into him. Silently, but still perfectly audible to you since he was so close to your ear, he spoke.

"I love you."

Turning around as far as the embrace allowed you to, you kissed him on his cheek, then laid your head back into the crook of his neck and looked back up into the night sky.

"I love you too."

For a while, the two of you just watched the stars together, both unable to stop smiling. Then, suddenly, there was a shooting star. Your eyes followed it for the few seconds it was visible until it finally disappeared between the lights of the stars. With closed eyes you made a wish. Kaeya's slight squeeze of your hand told you that he probably wished for the same thing.

Again, the embrace tightened.

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And thus, this story has come to an end!
It was a long journey for me (over a year!) as I often took breaks in between writing chapter, but my goal was always to finish this one day! I'm really happy I finally did, and it is thanks to YOU that I managed to keep going. So without further ado:

Thank you to everyone who read and reread my story and to everyone who voted! I really, really hope you enjoyed the stuff my brain spat out! 🥰

Especially I want to thank each and every one who left even a single comment! Those comments are my bread and butter, they often made me jump up and down and squeal, laugh out loud, agree wholeheartedly or grin like an evil witch because you reacted exactly the way I wanted you to. I can say for sure that it was only thanks to all your comments that I managed to finish this book! So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I love you all very much! ♥️