Memory Lane

Epilogue

Thank you so much for reading. Here's an epilogue for you.

What a journey this fic has been. I never expected it to reach 227 pages!

E P I L O G U E

"You don't forget the face of the person who was your last hope."

― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

With Catrin asleep and their family departed, Gwyn and Azriel finally retired to bed. A comfortingly normal and familiar activity.

    Climbing onto their mattress, Azriel again recalled which side of the bed was his. He recalled that he slept with one pillow, and Gwyn slept with two.

    "You worried me for a moment," Gwyn said, reclining to look at him where he lay on his side next to her. "I thought I was going to have to convince you to fall in love with me all over again."

    "You should've known better, Berdara," tsked Azriel, arching a brow. "We always find each other in the end."

    Her beseeching look faded into an easy grin. "We really do, don't we?"

    Smiling to himself, Azriel placed one of his palms over her abdomen, the silk of her little, lilac nightgown soft against his skin. "I was surprised when I woke up, that I had a mate. One who stood outside the door so fiercely demanding that she see me. I wondered to myself: who is that female outside berating Cassian?"

    Gwyn laughed, her teeth gleaming in the warm light of the oil lamp by their bed.

    His fingers splayed over the material gently. "Even then though, Berdara, even when I saw you and had no clue who you were, I knew you were made for me."

    Gwyn sniffed, one of her hands coming to rest over his on her stomach. She leveled him with a teasing smile. "Well, you have to say that now because you're embarrassed."

    "No, I don't," he replied resolutely. "And I'm not saying it was love at first sight, but I saw you and whether I realized it or not, I was going to do whatever you asked of me." Azriel snorted as this morning came back to him and his cheeks heated. "And then our daughter came in. Now, that one was more difficult to reconcile. That I was a father."

    "You are a fine father, Shadowsinger," Gwyn said sharply, voice brokering no room for argument. "Better than me or your mother or any of your family could have anticipated." Her tone softened, "And despite the tough time I gave you, you've proven yourself to be ready for a second babe."

    The embarrassment ebbed away, and in its place, Azriel's chest pinched. His ocher gaze drifted to their hands, staring at where life grew within his mate. "Little Valeria," he whispered.

    Gwyn hummed in agreement. "And if they'd prefer it to sound less feminine or somewhere in between, Vale or Val for short."

    He looked back up at her, his smile somber. "You were right, you and Rhys both. Those were a rough five years, but they were well worth what I gained."

    Relief, peace, love... the shadows crooned.

    Sure enough, he could read those emotions clearly in Gwyn's teal gaze. In the way she stared at him with such resilient affection – affection that had broken a curse. She inclined her head, pecking his lips. "I think so too."

    Azriel didn't let her get far, ducking his head to slant his mouth over hers and claim a longer, deeper kiss. Then he said, their noses brushing, "I never said thank you, did I? For all that you've given me."

    Gwyn's gentle laugh made her nose scrunch in that breathtaking way that had stolen his heart so many years ago. "I think you have, although maybe you've just forgotten." An uneasy sigh. "Don't do that again. Forget things."

    He chuckled against her mouth. "Never again, Berdara. I couldn't forget us if I tried."

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Thank you so Jen for giving me the idea to have Rhys act as a conduit.Thank you to Heather, Lauren and Violet for always being there to "oooh" and "aaah" at my snippets -- y'all keep me going istgThank you to Millie who got me hooked on this seriesThank you to Taylor who commissioned the art that inspired the pegasus proposal and for pushing me to write thisThank you to KB for always listeningThank you to Kyla who has insisted this needs to be my last Gwynriel fic so I can finally write my own bookAnd thank you to my husband who is actively interested in everything I do even if he has no idea what I'm talking about. Who encouraged me to starting writing in the first place.