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The wedding reception was about as lively as any other formal event Callum had seen, but with a lot more twinkling lights. Humans and elves mingled and laughed, and of course many people were telling Queen Janai and Amaya "congratulations" on their marriage. Everything was beautiful. There was just one thing missing.
"Hey, Corvus? Have you seen Rayla?" Callum asked Corvus, who was taking a break from playing his cello. Soren sat beside him, cramming jelly tarts into his mouth.
"Over that way, the last I saw her." Corvus responded, tilting his head to the right. "She may be hard to find. I think she's trying to avoid the crowd."
"Sounds like her," Callum said. "Thanks." He smiled at them, then looked away and wandered off into the outskirts of the crowd, searching for Rayla. He slipped past the clusters of people, mumbling "excuse me, sorry" and "sorry, mind if I cut through here?"
Finally Callum's eyes found Rayla, leaning against a tree with her arms crossed over her chest. Her hair was down, and she was wearing a loose red dress – much like Callum's outfit, meant to match the flowers Janai had chosen – with long flowy sleeves that hung off her shoulders, trimmed with gold here and there. And she didn't look like she was having a good time.
"Hey, Rayla!" Callum called out as he approached her. Rayla glanced over at him, all worries fading from her face in that moment.
"Are you alright?" Callum asked her.
Rayla nodded, not wanting to ruin the wedding mood or worry Callum. "Just not used to being around so many people I don't know. But I'll be fine."
"I understand. I don't know most of the people here, either."
Rayla smiled meekly, but averted her eyes. Callum raised an eyebrow, wondering to himself what he could do to help Rayla feel better. It was only a moment before he had an idea.
"Wanna get out of here?"
He said it with such a sweet gentleness, and it made her feel like she was going to melt. Her face went warmer. "Sure," she said, with what little composure she could manage.
Callum led her away from the noise of the wedding guests and into the surrounding woods.
"Sorry," Rayla murmured. "I didn't mean to drag you away from–"
"Don't apologize," Callum insisted.
"It's not that I'm not happy to be here. I just feel nervous around all these strangers."
"Hey, don't worry about it. I get it." Callum glanced over his shoulder at Rayla as he trudged over the dirt and moss. His lovestruck grin and puppy-dog eyes gave her butterflies. "It's okay. There's no one else over here. It's just you and me."
Rayla's meek smile changed to one that was much more genuine. "Thanks."
The pair reached a clearing and stopped walking. Callum turned to Rayla.
"You look beautiful, by the way," he said. "I mean, you always do. I just, uh–"
Rayla giggled. "Thank you. And you look lovely, too."
"Thanks," Callum blushed.
In the distance, Corvus's sweet cello music resumed. The pair could only barely hear it, and the crowd was but a whisper, quiet enough to let the cello reach their ears. Both of them stood there, wanting to say the same thing, but waiting for the other to make their move.
“Dance with me?” Callum asked, his hand outstretched to her.
He'd asked it so casually, his voice so full of hope and love. It made her heart flutter– it always did.
Rayla's gaze softened, her eyes shining under the moonlight. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd love to."
She took Callum's hand. Callum held his free hand up, then stopped. "I'm assuming we were taught to dance in different ways… How do you do it?"
"Oh." Rayla blinked. "Well, lots of ways. We sort of just hold each other's hands and sway back and forth, kind of turning as we go… Or I've also seen moonshadow elves in the silvergrove just doing whatever looks cool. How do you do it?"
"Okay… So, humans have one person put their hands on their partner's waist, and their partner puts their hands on the others shoulders."
"But then you're all closed in. How do you do twirls?"
"Like this!" Callum lifted Rayla into the air by her waist and spun her around, looking up at her with an adorable smile.
"Whoa!" Rayla laughed. Callum brought her back down.
"Sorry, I hope I didn't startle you too badly," he said sheepishly.
"No, it's fine," Rayla replied. "I kind of love when you sweep me off my feet." She placed her hands on Callum's shoulders, smiling brightly.
"Since when do you say things that are so cheesy?"
“Since now. I have to keep up with you."
Callum giggled. "Anyway, as much as I loved spinning you in the air like that… Your way seems fun. Let's try it." He suggested.
"Alright. Take my hand… And just follow my lead."
Grasping Callum's hand, Rayla stepped back and twirled, then lifted her arm to let Callum spin around. He wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her off her feet, pivoted and sent her pirouetting across the forest floor. This was followed by a series of more twirls and twists and turns. Rayla found herself with her back toward Callum, and she settled against his chest.
"Do you think I'm getting the hang of it?" Callum asked.
"Yeah, actually. How about you take the lead from here?"
Callum suddenly looked nervous, going red in the face. "Uh– okay, sure," he stammered, regaining his composure. "Challenge accepted."
He slowly brought his arm forward, taking hers with him, and nudged her into another spin. But after that, Rayla faced him and stopped, placing her hand on Callum's cheek.
"I should warn you– you may want to brace yourself in a second." Callum said.
Rayla nodded. "Okay."
"You trust me, right?"
"Of course. You sweet dork."
Callum held Rayla by the shoulder and dipped her towards the ground. She gazed up at him for a moment, then he lifted her back onto her feet. The two of them laughed merrily. Rayla leaned in and pressed her forehead against Callum's. She could feel his breath against her face.
"I love you." Rayla whispered.
Callum paused for a moment. Rayla raised her eyebrows, anxiously waiting for Callum to respond. When he didn’t, she worried for a moment. Was that too much?
Instead of saying something, he closed his eyes and pressed his lips to hers. Rayla closed her eyes too, relief flooding her senses as she smiled into the kiss.
Once they pulled apart from each other, Callum rested his forehead against hers. "I love you too." He smiled warmly. “I don’t think you realize how much I really do love you. It's more than I can put into words. I hope you know that.” Callum pulled back slightly to look Rayla in the eyes.
“I know,” Rayla reassured him, a melancholy expression on her face.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Rayla looked away in shame. “I– nevermind. It’s nothing,” she responded, inching away from Callum.
“It’s not nothing if it’s bothering you," Callum said. “Talk to me, Rayla? Please?”
"It's just… Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve how kind you are to me. How much you love me."
"What are you talking about?"
“I… I’m sorry,” Rayla's voice cracked. "I'm really sorry. For leaving you. Hurting you. And I don't know how I can make it up to you, but I'll never stop trying."
“Rayla.” Callum cut her off, his voice strong and steady. "C'mere."
She looked up at him again, tears welling in her eyes.
“I love you. And I forgive you,” he said, holding her shoulders. "And I won't say it didn't hurt or I wasn't upset, because it did and I was. But that doesn't mean I stopped loving you. I never stopped loving you, Rayla. I’m always going to love you. And nothing you've done makes you undeserving of that. You're still Rayla. You're still the brave, selfless, strong, amazing person I fell in love with two years ago."
"I should've been stronger. Fought harder for us instead of leaving you behind."
"You wanted to keep me safe. You didn't go about it in the best way, but we're past that. We know better now. We're stronger together. We can protect each other. We will protect each other, so long as we're both still in this world together."
Rayla let out something that sounded like a laugh and a sob, and she wrapped her arms around Callum, burying her face in his shoulder, crying happy tears.
“I love you.” Her voice was muffled, but he still heard her. “I love you so much, Callum.”
He closed his eyes. “I love you too, Rayla."
Rayla lifted her head from his shoulder. They glanced at each other for a moment, but it wasn't long before they returned to each other's arms again, and they swayed together under the moonlight. And though this wasn't the place that either of them had been raised or lived in for most of their lives, they finally felt like they were home.