Page 26 of Battle of Hearts

“Come on,” she said, her voice low but firm. “Let’s go outside.”

Mirren blinked, slightly surprised by the suggestion. “Now? I know the storm has died down, but it’s still freezing out there.”

Sawyer’s grin was mischievous as she rolls out of bed, already reaching for her heavy coat. “Exactly. It’s beautiful. And besides.” She raised her brows. “It’s not as if we’re strangers to this kind of weather, right?”

Mirren watched her for a second, bemused, before sighing and following her lead. “You’re impossible,” she said with a shake of her head, though her smile betrayed her affection. “All right. Let’s go. I can’t say I won’t get a bit of PTSD from this, though,” she teased.

As she pulled on her own coat and boots, she realized part of her was excited by the idea. The thought of stepping out into the cold, crisp night air with Sawyer by her side felt right—like a perfect way to seal the moment they’d just shared.

Once they’d both bundled up, they quietly slipped out of Sawyer’s quarters and made their way to the roof of the base. The stars stretched endlessly above them, brighter and clearer than they’d ever been, framed by the snowy landscape that stretched as far as the eye could see. The chill in the air was biting, but there was something exhilarating about it, too—about being out in the open after everything they’d been through.

Mirren shivered slightly as they stepped onto the roof, but it wasn’t from the cold. The beauty of the night took her breath away. “Wow,” she murmured, staring up at the sky in awe. “It’s…incredible.”

Sawyer stood beside her, looking up at the stars with a quiet sense of reverence. “It’s why I love this place,” she said softly. “The wilderness. The cold. It makes you feel…small, but in a good way. Like you’re part of something bigger.”

Mirren turned her gaze to Sawyer, studying her profile in the dim light. There was something about the way Sawyer spoke—about the way she looked at the world—that was so different from anyone else Mirren had ever known. It’s what had drawn her to Sawyer in the first place, she realized. The strength, the resilience, the quiet intensity that lay beneath the surface.

“Do you think you’ll stay here?” Mirren asked after a moment, her voice barely above a whisper. “In Alaska, I mean. After all this?”

Sawyer was silent for a long time, her gaze still fixed on the stars. “I don’t know,” she admitted eventually. “I used to think this was it. The wilderness, the missions—it felt like my whole world. But now…”

She glanced at Mirren, and there was something vulnerable in her expression, something raw and real that Mirren hadn’t expected to see. “Now, I think maybe there’s more out there for me. More than just the next mission.”

Mirren’s breath caught in her throat. Her heart pumped fiercely in her chest, blood rushing through her veins. She took a small step closer to Sawyer, her hand finding its way to hers. “You’re not alone anymore,” she said softly. “We can figure it out together. Whatever that looks like.”

Sawyer’s grip tightened on her hand, and for a moment, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the gentle rustling of the wind through the snow and the steady rhythm of their breathing.

“Together,” Sawyer echoed after a beat, as if the word felt unfamiliar on her tongue but not unwelcome. She turned to face Mirren fully, her green eyes bright in the starlight. “I like the sound of that.”

Mirren smiled, her heart swelling with warmth despite the cold surrounding them. “Good. Because I’m not going anywhere.”

They stood there for a while longer, hand in hand, staring up at the stars and the vast expanse of the wilderness around them. It felt like a moment out of time—a pause, a brief respite from the chaos of their lives, where the future appeared wide open and full of possibilities.

Eventually, Sawyer broke the silence, her voice low but steady. “What do you want, Mirren? For the future.”

Mirren blinked, taken aback by the question. “What do I want?”

Sawyer nodded, her gaze steady. “Yeah. What are your dreams?”

Mirren let out a soft laugh, glancing back up at the sky. “I guess I never really thought about it before. I’ve always been so focused on my work, on getting through the next storm, the next forecast. But now…I don’t know. Maybe I want a little more than that.”

Sawyer raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

Mirren paused, considering her words carefully. “I want a life,” she said slowly. “A real one. With you. Really…that’s all I want. All I care about right now.”

Sawyer’s expression softened, and she stepped closer, her hand gently cupping Mirren’s cheek. “You have no idea how much I want that, too,” she whispered.

For a moment, they just looked at each other, the weight of everything unspoken hanging in the air between them. And then, without another word, Sawyer leaned down and kissed Mirren softly, the cold forgotten as their lips met in a tender, lingering embrace.

The night stretched on around them, vast and full of stars, but for now, all that mattered was the warmth they’d found in each other.

“I love you, Mirren,” Sawyer said as she peered deep into Mirren’s gaze, causing the younger woman to smile widely.

“I love you too, Sawyer,” Mirren said softly in response.

EPILOGUE

5 YEARS LATER

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