DEAREST

PART 7: TWIRLING HUG, End.

I open my eyes, and I let myself be caressed by this breeze for a few seconds, waiting for her soothing touch to cleanse me.

We are back in the villa. The waning moon, in the sky, has moved a bit since I last saw it, although I can't pinpoint the time that has elapsed.

I sit on the floor. The Crystalline Dimension now seems like a vague memory, and inside my stomach this truth flutters.

By my side, Luciana. I bring my hand to her cheek, and the touch wakes her immediately. Like me, she lets herself be caressed by the breeze in silence.

Suddenly, my stomach tingles, and I laugh in response to the sensation. Luciana watches me with a small smirk on her face. I can see her face tired from the battle, and it gives me great tenderness.

"Come closer," I say, standing up. "I have something to tell you."

Luciana obeys me in silence, standing up and tilting her head towards me. I can't get more than two or three inches over her shoulder, so I must stand on my tiptoes. I cup my hands around her ear, and bring my lips close.

"I think I've fallen in love with you too."

I turn my face away immediately to see her reaction.

Her eyes are stuck looking at the space of air in front of her with one hand at the height of my cheek and her fingers holding a lock of my hair. After a moment, she lets out a brief exhalation from her mouth, and then she looks at me shyly. Even though the night light is dim, I see that she has blushed, and I feel that I blush too.

It's funny, but as I contemplate how she seems to have run out of words, I have a huge desire to cry. Of happiness.

"Oh," she says, finally, and swallows right after.

She tries to look me in the eyes, but she doesn't make it, and then her pupils emit a sudden shine. I try to smile, but, at the same time, tears sprout in my eyes and her face is illuminated in a twinkling aura.

We are both crying, trying to laugh between tears, not knowing very well why.

Since she seems too shy to look me in the eyes, she hugs me. For a moment, her hug is soft, but then she presses me a little closer against her, and then she lifts me off the floor. I can hear her joyful sob in my ears.

We begin to twirl. At first, slowly, and then, when the sobs have disappeared, we twirl faster.

Now there is only laughter, because we are alive and together.

The end.