Finally

One morning, the day had taken it's time pursuing the darkness of their valley. They pushed passed the curtains and stepped into the only place for hundreds of miles, untouched by dawn. The boundless shadow they stood under made it possible for them to view the extent of the land without a squint. They relished in the sanctity of drawing breath amidst the focal depth of a silhouette. Everyone but Charlotte and Henry continued on. She turned around and curled up as he pulled her in. They stayed close until the light crept upon Charlotte's wild curls. Her hair burned a fiery brown, nearly red in the direct sun. He studied her shadowed profile that fluttered in the terrains low current. He began to speak raw thoughts before his doubt could pull them back.

"You resemble that of a bride my dear." he impetuously slipped in the midst of his trance. And that she had, as a veil of unearthed fleks joined her surrounding glow to illuminate the girl so clearly in love. His eyes widened as he'd realized what he'd said. He waited anxiously for a reaction only to receive an angels smile. She said nothing but her face read of pure joy. She had enough wisdom for the both of them, so if she thought well of the idea, he was going to see to it.

"How do you feel about that?" he said scrunching his face as he hoped to affirm how she felt. She kissed him on his cheek, then his other cheek, his forehead and temple, not leaving an inch of his face unkissed.

"Is that a yes?"

"Well.. nothing has ever felt more right to me because I have never loved a person or thing in this universe more than I love you and I couldn't leave you because I would be nothing without you and I have dreamed about belonging to you since the day I could first dream."

"I'm gonna take that as a yes."

"Wait, really?" she said pushing away to look at him. He studied her face with a smile of his own.

"Of course. We were always gonna be together forever. I was always gonna marry you." Before he finished, she jumped with joy, wrapping her arms around him.

"Today?" she said through a giggle.

"Schwoz is ordained, isn't he? I don't wanna wait another second." His candor had caught her off guard as she tried to read his face, finding only honesty.

"Then I have to go." she said seriously.

"What.. why?"

"I can't wear this!" she said chuckling and running away. His hand found his heart as he watched her leave. He couldn't stop from beaming for the whole of the day. Henry spent it discussing everything with Ray, while Jasper left to help Charlotte get ready and bring her a letter from Henry.

"Meet me at the peek of the tallest dune. Find me there my love."

Lilies lined the shore as he searched for her silhouette along the intricately crafted hills. He met her sight in awe as he began to scale the steep mount. His face dripped of tears as his eyes laid over her exceptional majesty. Beaded gold trails of flawless embroidery poured over the drapery that wrapped her figure. The sun lit a fire in the honey brown within her blended irises. They hid beneath a veil of virtue as they swore upon vows. As he lifted it, they became one. They walked on air the next couple months and found their purpose as they slowed down into married life.

Every hour of every day turned their sights on the joys of the future and left all individual worry behind. Their days were fulfilled by minutes in the dead of night when he'd find her awake and kiss her deeply, early morning talks in the water and escapes to the city.

She sat still in the warming light before dusk. Hours before she usually went to bed, she was overcome by the urge to close her eyes. A gust through the door urged her toward the fire. She crumpled up beside it, resting her head on her arms that crossed over the heated stone. Her skin felt so smooth and hot and the comfort of the flames set her mind content. The sleepiness was unexpected and hit her fast and hard. Two hours later, a careful hand on her back and a voice in her ear brought her into wake. She creaked upward in surprise of the extremely deep sleep. Her face was wrinkled by the cloth on her arm and smeared the speckled charcoal that floated toward her. She looked up to Henry and behind him to the other boys.

"Oh.. I'm sorry." she said in a small tone of surprise and a hand on her cheek.

"I don't know what happened, I.. oh the dinner, I forgot," she said leaping up to find long burnt fish above the fire. Her voice was scratchy and meek, her expression heavy with intercepted thoughts and foggy eyes. She gasped, running over to the dough she had rising near the fire.

"Good, its not burnt.. Oh gosh, I didn't get the water," she said with a running step out the door when Henry gently stopped her.

"Char," he quietly spoke as his touch brought her down to Earth. She looked into his eyes with every bit of sincerity and innocence that made them break for her.

"Go to bed." he slipped into a whisper, "It's alright."

Without a word between them, he slid his hand down her arm and led her by the hand to their bed. Ray extinguished the candles and Henry wrapped himself around her. She sunk herself into his torso and clung to him through the whole of the night. When she woke up it was five hours passed their usual wake up call. Henry was sitting up, long awake. He leaned against the wall, deep in a book. She rolled over and looked at him. An intense wave of sourceless emotion filled her chest. She tried to diagnose whether it was good or bad but all she came back with was that it was heavy. She looked up at him, trying to hold back tears that she had no reason for. He looked down to meet her with a beautiful smile. She bunched up his shirt in her hand and laid her head on him. She closed her eyes in the intensity of feeling that pushed for a cry. She took a breath to suppress it and let one tear escape.

"Hey," he said through his smile. He urged her upward and turned her face toward his. His face fell at the sight of her.

"Wha.." he uttered as he wiped it away, holding her face in his hands.

"I have no idea why." she said with a shrug as she studied the stray thread she fiddled with. His confused face only contorted more as he moved the hair from her face and tried to find her eyes. She noticed the shadows of the room and knew it had to be late.

"What time is it around?" she asked in a squeak. His answer lagged as he searched for the next right thing to do.

"Um.. we let you sleep cause uh.. Are you sure your ok?"

"I promise." she said staring at the face she loved more than life. She smiled at every feature she'd memorized and kissed him. Not a quick peck but a kiss he'd have stuck in his head all day. He shook his head perplexed as she shot up and began cleaning.

"It's real late actually, I was kinda worried about you. Maybe talk to Schwoz, give you a once over or something." he mumbled as he smashed down the billowy bedding, trying to fold it.

She nodded her head with another shrug. After tidying up she left to seek out Schwoz. She found him pretending to work as he sipped from a coconut.

"Hey Doc." she joked as she examined the table of tools in his "office".

"Ah, finally, a patient!"

"Do you have a little time?"

"For you? All the time in the world!" he said drawing a slash through his schedule that was clearly empty.

"What seems to be the problem?" he said leading her to a lone, rusty chair.

"Just little stuff, I don't know." she said bashfully.

"Come now," he began kindly.

"You've been fatigued, yes? Weary, heavy feeling, maybe a little emotional, hmm?" he said scanning her with patched up devices. She nodded with surprise at his insight.

"Ok," he said as he leaned back. "Just as I suspected."

"What?" she inquired.

"You don't know what it is?" he asked like he didn't believe her ignorance.

"Should I?"

"Don't you?" he replied in accusation.

"No.."

"Are you sure?" he said taking off his glasses and crossing his arms.

"Ok.. uh maybe I do, just tell me."

He mockingly cradled an invisible baby only to receive an annoyed swat from Charlotte.

"Schwoz!" she said as she began pacing in distress despite his chuckles.

"Hey don't worry, you have the best doctor in the world! You'll be ok."

She paused with a frantic search behind her eyes. His words brought comfort but worry still filled her every fiber.

"What do I do?" she said as she bit her nail nervously.

"Just relax, we'll take care of ya." he said taking another sip.

"What about the work load, I can't have you guys picking up my slack!" she said, massaging her temple.

"You might end up bed ridden, you don't know. You can't predict anything, so just sit back and relax. It's best you don't worry about it."

"Yea ok." she said taking a seat.

"I gotta tell Henry.." she muttered to herself.

"You mean him." said Schwoz pointing up into the trees. Just as she looked up, the three other boys came hurdling down. After a good minute of groaning and rolling around in pain, Henry stood up to look her in the eye.

She was covering her mouth and shaking her head in disappointment that she wasn't even surprised.

"We were picking coconuts and I couldn't stop listening cause it got really good." goofed Henry.

"Yea... What do you think?" she said looking up at him, again biting her nail.

"I think," he said as a smile took over his face, "I think it's a dream come true. Some scary stuff I'm sure your already stressing about, but everything will happen the way it's meant to. Kay?" he spoke calmly, easing her mind. He held her face and kissed her forehead as his smile only grew.

"Also, I have to admit, I kinda knew."

"I guess I did to." she said smoothing out his collar.

He leaned in close to speak so only she could hear while the others were distracted anyway.

"Take the day. Were gonna finish up and then we can do whatever you want. Or we can do whatever you want now, I don't really care." he said picking up his bag.

"No you go, I wanna finish up with Schwoz."

He nodded and took her hands up to kiss lovingly. That always gave her butterflies, and was obvious on her face. Jasper and Henry joked to each other as they ran down the shore, laughing and punching each other.

She slowly turned back around and sat down as she stared at the ground blankly while thoughts ravaged her inexperienced mind. She twirled her hair as Ray and Schwoz watched over her.

"What are you thinking?" asked Ray cautiously. She looked up like she forgot she wasn't alone.

"Oh well.. I was just thinking.." she gathered the scrambled thoughts as she tried to communicate.

"Just everything I guess. You can imagine what I must be thinking." she expressed simply.

"Tell us anyways." Ray said as they both sat forward with open ears. She took them up on the offer as she expressed every worry. They listened quietly as she released her stresses, not without a little blubbering.

"..and yea, that's everything. Ok, I'm gonna go make some stew." she said through tears as she stared upward, trying to push them back. She stood up to leave as she mustered any remaining composure.

"Charlotte.." began Ray with a hand at her fingertips to stop her.

"I'm not even sad, I don't know why I'm crying." her last word hitching on the tears that crept down her throat. Just as Ray opened his arms, she buried her tears in his shirt like a daughter running to her father for comfort. He had restored her faith in having a father, eclipsing the memory left by the one she'd known by blood.

Later that night, Henry laid on his side with eyes wide open and only a few hours till daybreak. He took in a sigh and rolled over to observe who conquered his thoughts. There she lay, eyes open as well. Their eyes locked and surprised chuckles lit up their faces. They stared lastingly as they relaxed into soft smiles.

"I love you." he mouthed. She returned the secret sentiment and ran her fingers through the shaggy tufts on his temple the way she did when they first kissed. He wanted to remember as well as he inched toward her. He took his time closing the space despite the conductive pull between them that weakened their defenses to the lure. When he finally met her skin they felt the roll of thunder and eruption of fire, only able to be kept secret by the asylum offered in the deep of night.