Chapter Text
The power that had burned through her moments ago suddenly waned, leaving her feeling drained, hollow. Her legs trembled. The cold finally seeped into her bones.
And then, before she could steady herself, strong arms wrapped around her.
Ruby.
Lula let out a soft breath as Ruby pulled her in, her grip tight, almost desperate.
The scent of leather and snow clung to her, the warmth of her body cutting through the cold like fire.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then, Ruby pulled back just enough to look at her, her breath warm against Lula’s lips.
“Are you hurt?” she asked, her voice rough.
Lula shook her head. “No.”
Ruby’s hands tightened on her arms. “You scared the hell out of me.”
Lula let out a weak laugh. “I think I scared them more.”
Ruby didn’t smile. She searched Lula’s face, something unreadable in her gaze, something raw and tangled.
Then, suddenly—
Ruby kissed her.
Hard. Fierce. Desperate.
Lula inhaled sharply, her body going still for half a second before melting into it.
Ruby’s hands came up, framing Lula’s face, her fingers threading into her fiery hair, holding her close as if she might disappear. Her lips were warm, insistent, moving against Lula’s with a hunger that stole the breath from her lungs.
Lula’s hands curled into Ruby’s coat, pulling her closer, her heart pounding against her ribs.
The snow swirled around them, the wind singing through the trees, but neither of them cared.
In that moment, there was only heat. Only breath. Only the taste of each other and everything they had been holding back for months.
When they finally broke apart, their foreheads pressed together, Lula let out a shaky breath, her fingers still tangled in Ruby’s coat.
“Was that… your way of saying thank you?” she murmured, a teasing edge to her voice.
Ruby huffed a quiet laugh, her thumb brushing over Lula’s cheek. “Shut up.”
Lula smiled.
But then, Ruby’s expression grew serious again, her blue eyes dark with something deeper.
“I thought I lost you,” she admitted, so softly it was almost lost to the wind.
Lula’s breath caught.
For all Ruby’s sharp edges, all her walls, all her careful distance, there was no mistaking what this was.
Not just relief.
Not just heat.
Something else.
Something Lula wasn’t sure either of them were ready to name.
So instead, she just kissed Ruby again.
This time, softer. Slower.
A promise.
And Ruby kissed her back.
They didn’t let go of each other for a long time.
The cold bit at their skin, the wind howled through the trees, but none of it mattered. Not when Ruby’s hands were still in Lula’s hair, not when her breath was still hot against her lips, not when the taste of her lingered like something Lula wanted to chase forever.
Eventually, Ruby pulled away, just enough to look at her, her blue eyes searching. “We need to go,” she said, voice still rough from the kiss, from everything that had just happened.
Lula swallowed, nodding. She glanced at the bodies in the snow, already being buried beneath the shifting drifts, their weapons frozen to the ground. They wouldn’t be found anytime soon.
She could still feel the power humming beneath her skin, the remnants of the storm she had called, the way the world had bent to her will.
She had done that.
And Ruby had seen it all.
She half expected her to look wary now, maybe even afraid. But Ruby just looked at her like she always did, sharp and steady. Like she had known all along what Lula was capable of and had never doubted her.
The thought sent something warm curling through her chest.
“Come on,” Ruby said again, tugging her toward the cabin. “We can’t stay here.”
Lula blinked. “You think there are more of them?”
Ruby didn’t answer right away. She was already moving, picking up her knives, securing them back into their rightful places. She was fast, methodical, like she had done this a hundred times before.
Lula crossed her arms, watching her. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
Ruby glanced at her, lips twitching. “No.”
Lula huffed but didn’t argue. Instead, she turned toward the house and lifted a hand.
Magic swirled through the air, invisible but strong. The wind died almost instantly, the snow settling, the energy shifting as Lula pulled her power inward, back into herself. The storm obeyed, just as it had before.
By the time they reached the cabin, the wind had gone still, leaving only silence in its wake.
Ruby hesitated on the threshold. “You’re going to burn it, aren’t you?”
Lula raised a brow. “Do you want me to?”
Ruby’s jaw worked. She glanced inside, where the fire still crackled in the hearth, where the blankets on the bed were still rumpled from the last time Lula had curled up in them.
There had been safety here.
Warmth.
But that safety was gone now.
Ruby exhaled, rolling her shoulders. “Yeah.”
Lula nodded.
She lifted her hands.
The fire leapt from the hearth as if answering her call. It twisted, climbed the walls, crawled across the wooden beams like a living thing. Within moments, flames consumed the little cabin they had called home.
Ruby watched it burn without flinching.
Lula did the same.
It was a clean ending. A fiery one.
Neither of them looked back when they walked away hand in hand.