suddenly, vargas and elysia are thrown back from a loud blast. the rocks rumbled underneath them as elysia is thrown off balance, but vargas holds her steadily in his arms. she raises her head to see nova and victor on the ground.
        "nova!" elysia cried, immediately wrapping her arms around her and shielding her face from everyone. "oh my god."
        she smiled and pulled away from her, staying close as victor and vargas stood behind them while looking up to the sky. the yellow and blue hues of each stone mixed together, sending lighting strikes to each cloud above them.
        the lighting caused the clouds to fuel, and rain poured down onto them. elysia gasped as she held her hands out. she hadn't felt rain in ages from the drout and now with the water to━━
        grow the orchard!
        cheers erupted around them as elysia giggled, twirling around as it pattered against her skin. the roots chymed.
        victor and nova bounded up the stairs and looked out the cracked rock window, where the bloodfruit freshly bloomed on the millions of dead branches.
        "we did it!" she exclaimed. "we healed the orchards!"
        "hell yeah!" vargas whooped, picking elysia up and spinning her around again. this time, her leg didn't hurt when he put her down, but he did it gently anyway. electricity is blooming through her chest as if there were dead branches inside of her. ones that we're being put back together and growing into something beautiful.
        she blinked up at him, cheeks wet with tears and rain. her heart's racing as his hands lingered at her waist just a second longer than they needed to.
        thunder echoed in a fierce blast as zed laughed too. he was okay! "and the orchard healed us!"
        "all monsters are connected by the moonstones," willa said. "you kept your moonstones apart for too long ━━ it caused your orchards to die. and the pulse that was released affected all of us."
        "our ancestors, they built this place together." victor cheered.
        "for both our towns ━━ all of us!" nova did too. "once a year, we'll come to camp and we'll bring ourselves together. we'll bring balance to our orchards and our worlds."
        it was meant to be them all along ━━ vampires and daywalkers.
        her and vargas.
        her mind drifts to the wind that pulled her to the sky, where she felt so free, knowing vargas could take her anywhere and he'd be by her side. it was a risk but she was willing to take it, and. that confirmation of the moonstones made her want to fly even further, wondering where the wind would take her.
        she tested that right now.
        breathlessly, she cupped his cheek as his eyes flickered all around her face in question. like he was waiting for her to do what he was at that field that night ━━ the same look in his eye.
        it was the comfort he got when he was beside her. the happiness that exploded in his chest when he saw her smile, and the safety he could feel being vulnerable with her, knowing he had someone to relate to.
        "you're an idiot," she laughed, high on his scent ━━ seeing his lips ━━ everything. maybe she wasn't fully in her head; she was dazed.