"Where have you been?" Iyana choked out. Her voice broke at the edges, trembling with disbelief. Her arms reached for him as if afraid he would vanish again like a dream.
But he didn't vanish.
Vyan ran to her without hesitation, without a second thought, and dropped to his knees before her like gravity had finally pulled him back to where he belonged.
She clutched him with every shred of strength she had left, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his shoulder. Her fingers gripped his coat tightly, as though to make sure he was solid, real, here. Not another memory. Not another hallucination born of longing.
And then she broke.
All the emotions spilled out from months of grief and sleepless nights and unanswered questions. Her shoulders shook as sobs escaped from her chest, raw and loud, soaking into the fabric of his collar.
"Where have you been all this time?" she cried again, broken, breathless. "I've been waiting for you."
