Under the Moonlight

**Shaira's POV**

The silence of the jungle was deep, almost overwhelming. Only the whisper of the wind through the leaves and the gentle murmur of the river broke the calm. My steps were heavy, the adrenaline from the escape beginning to fade, leaving behind an exhaustion that weighed on my bones. I walked alongside Angro, our eyes meeting occasionally, but neither of us spoke a word. We didn’t need to talk. We had escaped, and for now, that was enough.

Still, something bothered me. Zania. I hadn’t seen her for a while. I stopped and looked around, searching for any sign of her, but the dense vegetation concealed everything. Angro stopped too, frowning.

“Zania?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

He shook his head. “She must have split off to distract any possible pursuers.” His tone was serious, but not surprised, as if he had expected her to make that decision.

I remained silent, processing what that meant. I knew Zania was strong and could take care of herself, but the thought of her being alone out there filled me with unease. Still, Angro was right. We couldn’t stop, couldn’t search for her. Zania had made her choice to protect us, and we had to keep moving.

We walked until we found a small refuge, a cave on the edge of a river. The cave was spacious enough for both of us to rest, and most importantly, it was hidden. We sat at the entrance, where the moonlight filtered softly through the leaves, casting dancing shadows on the ground.

I was overwhelmed by exhaustion, but my mind wouldn’t stop spinning. Everything that had happened in the last few hours was too much to process all at once. I felt like I had been running nonstop since this whole ordeal began. But now, in this small bubble of calm, I realized just how close we had come to not making it.

“Thank you, Angro,” I whispered, breaking the silence. I didn’t know what else to say. Everything he had done for me, everything he had risked... Words felt insufficient.

He looked at me, his expression always serious, but there was something in his eyes, a softness I hadn’t seen before. “You don’t have to thank me, Shaira. I did it because...” His words trailed off, and for a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to continue. But then he took a deep breath. “I did it because I couldn’t leave you behind.”

His honesty hit me like a warm wave. I knew Angro was a man of few words, someone who preferred action over speech. But now, here, alone under the moonlight, his words carried a weight I couldn’t ignore.

“I...” I began, but I didn’t know how to continue. There was a lump in my throat, a mix of gratitude, fear, and something else, something I hadn’t had the courage to admit until now.

We stayed silent for a moment, and the air between us felt charged, but not with tension. It was something different, something deeper. Angro sat next to me, so close that I could feel the warmth of his body. My skin tingled, aware of every inch that separated us, but also of the strange sensation that the space between us was disappearing.

I turned my face toward him, seeking his gaze, and when our eyes met, I felt a rush of emotions coursing through me. It was as if all the distance, all the time we had spent avoiding the inevitable, crumbled in that instant. There was no fear in his eyes, only an intensity that enveloped me.

“Angro...” His name slipped from my lips before I could stop myself. I wanted to say so many things, but I couldn’t find the right words. Maybe they weren’t necessary.

He leaned toward me slightly, as if waiting for my approval, as if he didn’t want to cross a line without my permission. But I wasn’t going to stop him. Not this time. Slowly, I lifted my hand and placed it on his face, feeling the rough texture of his beard beneath my fingers. It was a simple gesture, but it carried so much meaning. His eyes closed for a moment, as if he were absorbing the contact, and then I knew. This was what we had both been waiting for.

The outside world vanished. The fortress, the soldiers, even Zania no longer mattered. In this moment, it was just him and me. And for the first time in what felt like an eternity, I allowed myself to feel. I allowed myself to acknowledge what had always been there, latent, waiting for the right moment.

Without saying a word, Angro took my hand, lowered it from his face, and held it between his. The warmth of his skin mixed with mine, and the electricity of the moment enveloped us. Our gazes remained locked, and the silence was all we needed to understand each other.

“I’ve loved you for a long time,” I whispered, finally giving voice to what I had been hiding inside. “But I was afraid... afraid of what it meant. Afraid of what I would lose if I admitted it.”

Angro didn’t respond immediately. He just looked at me, as if he were processing every word. Then, with a tenderness I never expected from him, he leaned toward me and brushed his lips against my forehead. A small gesture, but full of a tenderness that left me breathless.

“You don’t have to be afraid anymore,” he said, his voice low and rough. “Not as long as I’m with you.”

I let myself be carried away by those words, by the promise they held. We had faced so many things, had survived the unimaginable, and now we were here, together. This moment was ours, and nothing and no one could take it away from us.

The space between us disappeared completely. We found ourselves in a warm, silent embrace, where words were no longer needed. For the first time in a long time, I felt at peace. I felt safe. With him.