“You don’t have to be okay right now,” he murmured against her hair. “You just went through something that would have killed anyone else. You’re allowed to not be okay.”
“What if I’m never okay again?” Her voice was muffled against his shirt. “What if I wake up every day for the rest of my life reaching for something that isn’t there? What if I can’t be who you need me to be anymore?”
Ben pulled back slightly, tilting her chin up so she had to meet his eyes.
“Sidney, listen to me.” He kept his voice steady, even though his heart was pounding. “When I came to Silver Hollow, I wasn’t looking for a superhero. I was looking for answers — about the white horse, about the strange things people had seen in these woods. And then I walked into your shop, and you were standing there behind the counter looking at me like I was the most suspicious person you’d ever seen, and I thought….” He paused, remembering the day when he’d seen her for the first time, when he’d looked at her beautiful crystal-gray eyes and luminous skin, at her unexpected loveliness. “I thought, ‘This woman is going to be trouble.’ And I was right. You’ve been nothing but trouble since the day I met you.”
A small smile touched her mouth. “Is this supposed to be making me feel better?”
“I’m getting there.” He brushed his thumb across her cheek and marveled at the velvety softness of her skin. “The point is, I didn’t fall in love with the woman who could sense ley lines and talk to mythical creatures. I fell in love with the woman who sat next to me in that portal clearing and talked about time dilation and parallel dimensions like they were the most natural things in the world. The woman who made me coffee in the morning and stole all the blankets at night. The woman who would do anything to protect the people she loved, even if it cost her everything.”
Sidney’s eyes glistened, tears forming that weren’t quite ready to fall. “That woman might not exist anymore.”
“She’s right here.” Ben pressed his forehead against hers, the way he’d done a hundred times before, drawing comfort from the simple contact. “She’s tired and scared and grieving, but she’s here. And that’s enough for me. You’re enough for me. Powers or no powers, scars or no scars — you’re enough.”
She was quiet for a long moment, her breath warm against his skin. When she finally spoke, her voice was a small whisper.
“What if I can’t believe that yet?”
“Then I’ll believe it for both of us until you can.” He kissed her forehead, gentle and unhurried. “We’ve got time, Sidney. The world isn’t ending anymore. We can figure the rest of it out together.”
She let out a shaky breath and relaxed against him, some of the tension draining from her body. They lay there together as the afternoon light shifted and changed, the old house creaking softly around them, the sounds of movement from downstairs a reminder that they weren’t alone — that family and friends and allies were gathered in the rooms below, all of them recovering from the longest night of their lives.
“Rebecca came by earlier,” Ben said after a while. “She’s handling the cleanup — the mercenaries, Rosenthal, all of it. She said Eric’s flying down this afternoon to check on the portal site.”
“And the other guardians?”
“Starting to head home. Brigid and Kenji were organizing travel arrangements when I came upstairs. Your grandmother was helping them coordinate.”
Sidney nodded slowly. “Good. They should go back to their own thresholds and make sure everything’s stable on their end.”
“They wanted to say goodbye first, though,” he told her. “They wanted to thank you for bringing them here, for giving them a chance to be part of something bigger.”
“I should go down.” She started to push herself up from the bed, but Ben gently pressed her back against the pillows.
“You should rest. They’ll understand. Everyone understands.”
“But — ”
“Sidney.” He met her gaze, letting her see the concern he’d been trying to hide. “You almost died. Multiple times. Your body needs to heal, and that’s not going to happen if you push yourself to be the hostess right now. Let other people take care of things for once.”
She looked like she wanted to argue, but exhaustion won out. She settled back against the pillows, her eyes already growing heavy.
“Will you stay?” she asked in that same almost-whisper.
“Always.” He stretched out beside her and pulled the blanket up over both of them. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She was asleep again within minutes, her breathing slow and even, her face peaceful in a way it hadn’t been for weeks. Ben watched her sleep, the way he’d watched her so many times before — in the aftermath of battles, in the quiet hours before dawn, in all the small moments that had added up to a life shared.
The world was different now. Sidney was different. Their connection had been burned away along with her abilities, leaving only the ordinary bonds of love and commitment and choice. No more glowing scars or telepathic resonance, no bioelectric fields syncing in moments of intensity.
Now they were just two people who had chosen each other again and again, through impossible circumstances and unimaginable loss.
Ben supposed there were worse foundations for a future.
Chapter Twenty
Two weeks later