Loving Rain (Watty Awards 2011)

Chapter 43 - The End

Here it is, guys. I finished it today and didn't want to keep it from you. I hope you enjoy it. 

Please remember I'm in the Watty Awards, and that each vote on each chapter, each comment on each chapter, each fan, each everything, counts. And if you love my story as much as I do, you can understand why I'm so desperate to see it succeed. You guys are the way for my story to reach more people, and without you, I don't know if Rain, Cian, and Alan ever would've gotten their story told. 

Thank you all. 

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Loving Rain - Ch. 43

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               I think I fell to my knees when Cian’s voice actually sounded, because his hands were on me in an instant and I was being lifted back up. My eyes were stuck on Kai, the way he smiled, and the way he was so wrapped up that he could hardly move. Was he really here? Was this merely an illusion?

               But then Cayla heard the commotion and came running out of the carriage at a lightning speed, her feet barely touching the ground as she ran into his arms; she only paused for a brief second to note his injuries before her arms were around him and he was spinning her through the air. His face looked slightly pained, but it was covered up by the joy that flooded his whole body. The tears I had never stopped flowing, and through the blurriness I could see Cayla begin to cry as well.

               “Kai, I love you,” were the first words spoken after Cian had recognized him, and to me there could not have been words more perfect. He looked deeply into her eyes and brushed some of her blonde hair out of her face before leaning in and whispering,

               “I love you, too,” right before he planted a kiss onto her lips. It was the gentlest kiss I’ve ever seen, and somehow it showed more passion and care than anything I had witnessed before. Only three or so seconds long, the kiss still portrayed every amount of joy that either Cayla or Kai were feeling, and if my heart was filled half the amount that theirs were, they must both be bursting with it. He pulled away and, in a manner that was so entirely Kai, looked over at Cian and me, who were holding hands, and said, “Well, at least you got the girl. I guess I didn’t die for nothing.”

               We both laughed, and then Cian turned to me and I couldn’t help but have the biggest smile on my face. Then in a split second I ran to Kai as well, and Cayla stepped back a fraction of an inch to barely give me room to squeeze in a hug. While my head was at his shoulder, I leaned in closer to his ear and whispered the only words I could say, hoping that they were able to convey every emotion I was feeling right now. “Thank you.”

               The way his body stiffened under mine, and then relaxed again, let me know that he knew exactly what I meant. I was thinking him for risking his life, for risking his wife’s happiness and the childhood of his child, for laying everything he had or cared about out on the line for me. Because I knew there was no way I could ever deserve the care he had shown for myself and my love, but that still never stopped him from giving it. He never even hesitated to throw himself into harm’s way. And I owed him more than could ever be repaid; Cian’s life was on his hands, and that was one thing that mattered the most to me in this entire world. I would give my own life for him, because I loved him with all of my heart, and Kai, who couldn’t have any connection like that to him at all, did it without even blinking. The courage that took…

               “The only reason I could possibly do it,” he whispered back, “is because I knew you would let Cian save her. Because she’s all that matters to me, and I knew if I couldn’t take care of her, he could. And you, in your own way, could take care of him.”