[ The wave of relief crashes into him like a shore on a stormy night, and he huffs out a small breath of laughter, tinged with both sorrow and joy. He closes his eyes and rests his head against hers, taking in the feeling of her next to him, her warmth that he was so cared to lose. He breathes in her air for another moment, and then pulls away, just enough to look at her eyes — beautiful like freshly fallen snow — and then he reaches up to cup her face, leaning into kiss her, chaste but meaningful. ]

I love you, Jill, [ he says against her mouth. ] I won't leave you again. I swear it. Where you go, I will follow. Always.

[ He will always mourn Joshua. He will always mourn Dion, and his father, and Cid, everyone he's lost on the course of this journey. But the sun has risen after the long, dark, night. A new day has dawned for them all. There is no path to tread except the one they choose to, and his choice, right now, is to be with her. It's the quietest his life has been since he was born, the creak of the wood and the noise of their breath the only sound.

He huffs a laugh. ]

In another life I could have courted you properly.