Chapter 20: When the Wind Calls Your Name

The night was slipping toward dawn, the air still cool, carrying the scent of roses and earth. The world around us felt untouched, as if it had paused just for us, waiting for whatever came next. But there was no rush, no urgency only the steady rhythm of our breaths, the quiet certainty of this moment.

You leaned against my shoulder, your warmth settling into me, your presence something I had long stopped questioning. It was strange how love could feel both like a wildfire and a whisper, how it could consume and comfort all at once.

"The wind speaks," you murmured, your voice almost lost to the breeze.

I tilted my head slightly, catching the distant echo of leaves rustling, of petals shifting under the touch of an invisible force. "What does it say?"

A pause. You closed your eyes as if listening, as if letting the wind carry something only you could hear. "It calls my name," you finally said, "like it's trying to remind me of something I've forgotten."

I watched you, the way the moonlight kissed your skin, the way your lips barely moved as you spoke. "Maybe it's not reminding you," I murmured. "Maybe it's asking."

You opened your eyes, meeting mine, something unspoken passing between us. "Asking what?"

I exhaled, feeling the weight of this moment settle deep into my bones. "If you'll follow it."

Silence stretched, but it wasn't empty. It was filled with the wind, with the night, with the thousand things neither of us had to say out loud. And then, slowly, you reached for my hand, intertwining your fingers with mine.

"I already have," you whispered.

And as the wind wove around us, carrying our names into the night, I knew whatever path it led us down, whatever places it carried us to you would always be there. Because no matter where the wind called, it would always lead me back to you.