"Good evening, Islanders, and welcome to the finale," Arielle grinned. They cheered and stood up as she made her way over to them , then stopped unexpectedly on the grass.
"But first, I thought you'd like to say hello to some old friends." Past Islanders stormed into the villa as a stampede.
They were wearing their finest clothes and excited grins. Fatima's heart pounded with happiness as all their friends appeared before their eyes.
From Savannah and Jacob to Bianca and Pen. 14 of our their Islanders appeared in front of them. Caro was about to bawl from the excitement.
OLD ISLANDERS REMINDER :
Casey,Jacob, Bianca, Savannah,Kyra, Sergio, Yamen, Penelope, Amber, Breanna, Derek,Josh, Que, Taylor,
"Bianca!" Caro & Fatima screamed from the top of her lungs, nearly shattering the villa windows. The three friends hugged.
They swung each other around and laughing. "Hey, y'all," Casey appeared in front of us, lacing her fingers with Jacob's .
"Oh my gosh," Kyra grinned and wrapped her up in a tightly hug. "I'm happy for you, Cass." "Thanks, T." Casey smiled.
Across the garden, the original boys were slamming each other into rib-crushing hugs, trying to maintain their balance of masculinity and affection.
Tre, Daniel, and Jacob looked the happiest to see each other. Yamen looked over and saw Zac and bounded over. "Lookin' good, Zac!" He said, giving his friend a playful punch.
"Thanks," Zac nodded. "I've been doing what you said... lots of protein!" "Did you guys miss me?" Savannah shouted over the noise as she waltzed through the group.
Oddly enough, they did. She went straight to Kyra and pulled her into a hug and she hugged her back. "How've you been?"
Fatima asked as the girls pulled away from their embrace. She looked delighted to be talked to.
"I'm good, actually. My Instagram followers are blowing up like never before. You should see your account, Fatima!"
"I'm afraid to look," Fatima laughed. "Mind if I have a chat?" A familiar accent caught Heather's attention and nearly drained the blood from her body.
They turned around to see Derek, as properly dressed as ever. She was nervous to see him, but his eyes reflected nothing but kindness.
"Oh my god!" She smiled and hugged him tightly. "It's so good to see you," he laughed, hugging her back.
"I've been watching I'm just happy to see you so happy." "Thank you!" She smiled up at him. The two never discussed their bond from Casa.
It was a feeling like no other, to have all the people that loved each other and shared this experience with being in one place.
They circled each other in a swarm, pulling people aside for hugs and well-wishes, making sure everyone knew how badly they missed them.
"Alright Islanders," Arielle's voice emerged over the ramblings of the friends. "Are you ready for the finale?"
They prepared for the final results. Zac and T stood between Caro and Riles couple, with all of their past Islanders watching intently from several yards away.
Fatima's heart began to pound in her chest. "The couple coming in fourth place is... Nate and Riley," Arielle announced.
They kissed briefly before taking their seats beside some old islanders which was a mixture from casa and the villa. "Third place, Heather and Daniel."
They took their seats as well, they clapped and were happy that they even made it this far into the game. Everyone was just happy to be together.
"And finally... we're down to two couples. Caro and Tre, and Zac and Fatima. America has seen both of these couples go from friends to official couples who've both declared their love for each other. That means that tonight, all of you are winners. Both of these couples came to Love Island and succeeded in the very purpose of the villa: to find love, and make connections. But there can only be one winner. The winners of this season of Love Island are..." Arielle paused for dramatic effect, suspending us in silence.
"Zac and Fatima." Zac nearly blacked out at the sound of his name. Fatima pulled Zac in for a celebratory kiss as the Islanders cheered.
Then they made our way to Tre and Caro, giving them hugs and kisses on the cheek as they made their way to join the group.
Zac held tight onto Fatima's hand. "Congratulations, Zac and Fatima. But your Love Island adventure will end with one last challenge."
Arielle gestured to a podium in front of us. "Please stand on either side of the podium." They did as she said, waiting for the next instructions.
"Your final test. On that podium are two envelopes. One contains $50,000 and the other contains nothing. You will each choose an envelope. Whoever holds the envelope containing the $50,000 must decide whether they're going to keep it all, or split it with their couple. This is when you find out, was your couple playing with you to get to the cash? Or is the love you share real?"
Zac and Fatima looked at each other briefly before choosing their envelopes. She held mine tightly in her hand.
"Zac, Fatima, go ahead and open your envelopes," Arielle instructed. Fatima peeked into hers. Empty. She unfolded it and showed the rest of the Islanders the results.
Zac stood on the opposite side of the podium. In the center of his unfolded envelope, the prize money was printed as a symbol of his victory.
"Zac, you chose the envelope containing $50,000! You can now decide if you want to keep it, or split the earnings with Fatima and walk away with $25,000." Arielle backed up as Zac pretended to make his decision on the spot.
"No contest. Her love is worth more than $50,000. We're gonna split it," Zac announced, causing another celebratory uproar from the Islanders in the gallery.
She walked over and hugged him, giving him a long kiss as confetti was shot out of cannons sitting on the roof and sprayed over the garden.
"Into the pool!" Sav shouted. She led an army of Islanders to jump off the concrete and into the swirling pool water.
Others followed, jumping one-by-one in celebration. Zac reached out and took her hand. "Ready?" he asked.
His words had a double meaning, signifying their readiness to jump into the pool, as well as start their new life together.
"Ready," She had confirmed. The two of them took a running leap and splashed into the pool. The love island 2023 winners wow.
Fatima emerged from the water's surface as a confident woman, a best friend, a girlfriend, and a winner of Love Island.
