October 16th, 12:15 AM - After Surviving.
The relief of midnight passing had left Xavier trembling in Nana's arms, his tears soaking into her hair as he held her desperately. She was alive. Had survived October 15th.
The curse was truly, finally broken.
And now, in the quiet aftermath of terror-turned-relief, Xavier became aware of other things.
The warmth of Nana's body pressed against his. The way her hands had started running soothingly through his hair. The soft sound of her breathing. The fact that they were alone, in their bed, in their house, with no curse looming and no death threatening and nothing standing between them anymore.
His wife. His Starlight. His Nana.
Finally, completely, devastatingly his.
Xavier pulled back slightly to look at her face, illuminated by moonlight streaming through their window. Her eyes were still wet with tears—happy tears, relief tears. Her lips were slightly parted. The star necklace he'd given her glinted against her collarbone.
"Nana," Xavier breathed, and his voice had dropped lower, rougher, full of everything he'd been holding back.
She must have heard the change in his tone because her breath caught, her eyes widening slightly as understanding dawned.
"Xavier—"
He kissed her. Not gentle this time, not sweet. This kiss was desperate and hungry and full of a century of denied desires. His hands came up to cup her face, angle her head for deeper access, and nana gasp in suprise before she responded with equal fervor.When they broke apart, both breathing hard, Xavier's forehead rested against hers.
"I want you," he said roughly. "God, Nana, I want you so much. We were married four months ago but I've been too afraid—too terrified something would happen—but now—" His hands were shaking where they held her. "Now you've survived. You're safe. And I want—I need—"
"Yes," Nana said simply, pulling him closer. "Yes, Xavier. I want this too. Want you. We've waited so long—"
"Century," Xavier agreed, kissing down her jaw to her neck. "Waited a century. Across five lifetimes. Nana—Starlight—I need to love you properly. Need to make you mine completely. Can I? Please?"
His desperation, his need for explicit permission despite being married, despite everything—it made Nana's heart clench.
"Yes. Yes. Xavier, I'm already yours. Have been since Philos. But—" She tugged at his shirt. "Show me. Prove it. Love me like you've wanted to for a hundred years."
Something in Xavier snapped—all the careful control he'd been maintaining for months, all the fear that had kept him from fully claiming his wife, all of it shattered in an instant.
He kissed her again, deep and consuming, as his hands worked at the buttons of her sleeping shirt. Nana's fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer, gasping against his mouth when his hand found bare skin.
"Beautiful," Xavier murmured against her lips, his voice reverent even as his touch grew bolder. "You're so beautiful. Always have been. Every lifetime, every version of you—beautiful."
Nana was already tugging at Xavier's shirt, wanting it gone, wanting nothing between them. Xavier helped her, pulling the fabric over his head and tossing it somewhere across the room.
Her hands immediately went to his chest, his abdomen, squish his broad shoulders,exploring, and Xavier groaned at her touch.
"I've dreamed of this," he admitted roughly, his own hands mapping her body like a precious artifact.
"Since Philos when we were too young. Since the Valley Kingdom when you were my princess. Since the Qing Dynasty when we were married but you didn't remember—" His voice cracked. "God, that lifetime. Being your husband but knowing you didn't understand, didn't remember our love. It killed me."
"I remember now," Nana said, pulling him down for another kiss. "I remember everything. And Xavier—" She looked up at him with eyes full of love and desire. "This time I choose you. Fully conscious. Fully remembering. This is real."
"Real," Xavier repeated like a prayer. His hands were trembling as they traced patterns on her skin.
"You're real. You're here. You're alive. You're mine."
"Yours," Nana confirmed. "Always yours. Now stop talking and love me properly, husband."
The word—husband—said with such certainty, such desire—destroyed Xavier's last shred of control.
He loved her thoroughly, worshipfully, desperately. Every touch was reverent. Every kiss was grateful. Every whispered word was a confession of love that had survived death and rebirth and impossible distances.
"I love you," Xavier gasped against her skin. "Loved you for so long. Through so much. Nana—Starlight—you're everything. Everything."
"Show me," Nana breathed, her hands pulling him impossibly closer. "Show me how much. Show me what a century of waiting feels like."
Xavier did. He showed her with his hands, his mouth, his entire being. Showed her devotion that had spanned lifetimes. Showed her desire that had been building for decades. Showed her love so complete, so consuming, that it felt like drowning and flying
simultaneously.
They came together with whispered confessions and gasping breaths and tears streaming down both their faces—joy tears, relief tears, love tears. Xavier was crying as he loved her, overwhelmed by finally—FINALLY—being able to do this without fear of loss, without curse hanging over them, without anything but pure love and desire.
"I've got you," Xavier whispered as Nana trembled beneath him. "I've got you, Starlight. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Never leaving you again."
"Never leaving," Nana agreed, her voice breaking. "Xavier—oh god—I love you. I love you so much."
"Show me," Xavier echoed her earlier words. "Show me. Let me feel it."
She did. She showed him with the way she held him, touched him, whispered his name like a prayer. Showed him that she was his just as completely as he was hers.
That their souls had been bound across five lifetimes and nothing—not death, not curses, not cosmic forces—could sever that connection.
When they finally came together completely, when they were joined as husband and wife in the truest sense, both stopped moving. Just held each other, breathing hard, tears falling freely.
"We're doing this," Nana whispered in wonder. "We're actually doing this. After everything—after all the waiting and dying and searching—we're here. Together. Alive."
"Alive," Xavier agreed, pressing kisses to her face—her forehead, her cheeks, her eyelids, her lips. "Alive and together and finally, finally whole."
They moved together slowly at first, savoring every sensation, every touch, every moment.
This was what they'd been denied for so long. What death had stolen four times.
What curses had prevented.
What distance had made impossible.
But not anymore. Now they had this. Had each other. Had forever stretching ahead of them with no tragedy looming.
"Xavier," Nana gasped as sensation built.
"I'm—I can't—"
"I've got you," Xavier promised, his hand finding hers, their fingers interlacing.
"I've got you, Starlight. Let go. I'm here. I'll catch you. Always catch you."
Just like he had when she'd fallen from that tree in Philos. Just like he'd done across five lifetimes—catching her, holding her, loving her even when it ended in heartbreak.
But this time there would be no heartbreak. This time they got to keep it.
They fell together, crying each other's names, holding on like lifelines, overwhelmed by pleasure and emotion in equal measure.
Xavier collapsed against her, careful not to crush her with his weight, his face buried in her neck as he struggled to breathe.
"I love you," he said when he could speak again. "I love you. That was—you were—"
He couldn't find words. Just held her tighter.Nana ran her fingers through his hair, her own breathing still uneven.
"I know. I felt it too. Xavier, that was—" She laughed wetly. "That was worth waiting a century for."
Xavier pulled back to look at her face, and the sight nearly destroyed him again. She looked radiant—flushed and satisfied and happy. So beautifully, wonderfully happy.
"Again," he said roughly. "I want to love you again. And again. Want to make up for five lifetimes worth of lost time."
"We have all night," Nana pointed out, but she was already pulling him closer. "We have forever."
"Forever," Xavier agreed, kissing her deeply. "But I'm starting now. Making up for every moment we were apart. Every lifetime we were denied this. Nana—" His voice cracked. "Let me love you properly. Let me show you what you mean to me. Please."
"Yes," Nana said simply. "Yes. All night. Every night. For the rest of our lives. Yes."
So Xavier loved her again. And again. Each time different—sometimes desperate and fast, sometimes slow and tender, always emotional and overwhelming. They cried through most of it, overwhelmed by finally having this without fear.
Between rounds, they lay tangled together, touching constantly, talking softly.
"In the Qing Dynasty," Xavier said, his fingers tracing idle patterns on her skin, "we did this. But you didn't remember our past lives. Didn't understand why I looked at you like you were my entire world. And I—" His voice caught.
"I knew it was temporary. Knew the curse would take you at 22. So every time I loved you, it felt bittersweet. Beautiful but tragic."
"This isn't tragic," Nana said firmly, kissing his jaw. "This is happy. Pure joy. No curse. No death coming. Just us."
Just us," Xavier agreed. "And this time you remember everything. Choose me with full knowledge. That makes all the difference."
"I chose you even without memories," Nana pointed out. "My soul recognized you even when my mind didn't. But yes—" She cupped his face. "This is better. Being fully aware. Fully present. Fully yours."
"Fully mine," Xavier repeated possessively. His hand moved to her stomach, pressing gently. "And someday—hopefully soon—you'll carry my child here. We'll have the family we lost in the Qing Dynasty. The baby we never got to meet."
Nana's eyes filled with tears. "You want children? Really?"
"Want everything with you. Children, grandchildren, a whole dynasty of star-blessed babies with your eyes and my hair."
Xavier smiled through his own tears.
"Want to watch you pregnant and glowing. Want to hold our baby and know they're safe. Want to give them the life our first child never got."
"We'll try," Nana promised. "After we're more settled. After my gallery exhibition. But yes—I want that too. Want to fill this house with children. Want to be parents together."
Xavier kissed her deeply, gratefully, lovingly.
"Thank you. For surviving. For searching for me. For choosing me. For—" His voice broke. "For being my Starlight. My everything."
"Always," Nana promised. "Always your Starlight."
They made love through the night, desperate to make up for lost time, overwhelmed by finally having this without fear. By the time dawn broke, both were exhausted and sore and completely satisfied.
Xavier held Nana as she dozed against his chest, her breathing even and deep.
The morning light painted her in shades of gold, and Xavier thought she'd never looked more beautiful.
His wife. His Starlight. His Nana.
Finally, completely, devastatingly his.
And this time—this time he got to keep her.
.
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⭐⭐⭐
To be continued __