Then I turn my back to it. “You did this forme. You took me here, showing me the greatest humiliation of your life, just because I want a dry place to stay. Even though seeing this thing makes you furious and it reminds you of terrible things.”

He looks away. “Well, youaremy wife.”

I embrace him and look up, my vision clouded by tears. “Forever. And I’m very happy I am.”

He puts a hand on my shoulder. “You can open the door and look inside. Maybe you can learn to fly it. Or we can live here. It will be our home.”

“No.”

He looks down on me, puzzled. “It’s dry inside. And clean. Comfortable, I’m sure.”

I smile up at him. “I’m sure it’s perfect. But you hate this thing. You’re my husband, so I hate it too. I don’t want to live here. I understand what you wanted to do for me, Praxigor. And I love that you did it. I loveyou. Now let’s leave.”

His blowtorch eyes pierce me for a moment. “Are all marriages like this? Where both love each other with such…ferocity?”

“Only the best ones,” I tell him. “Let’s go. We have to find a home. At least for tonight.”

He Changes and we fly away.

I don’t give the saucer a second look. It will keep.

We fly through the air, having no particular destination except that we’re flying back into the night.

I lean back. “There’s the moon. If someone looks up, they’ll see our silhouette against it. Do you think they’ll know we’re in love?”

Of course. Our love is obvious to all. Even to me, now.

I squeeze his neck. “Took you long enough.”

He chuckles.Better late then never, as they say.

The wind rushes past as we soar higher, the jungle stretching endlessly below us. Praxigor’s wings beat steady and strong, carrying us forward—toward what, I don’t know. A home, a future, something we’ll carve out together.

I press a hand to his scales, feeling the steady warmth beneath. No matter where we land, no matter what comes next, we will face it together.

A dragon and his wife. An Earth girl shaman and her husband. It’s a love that defies every convention, every expectation. And we both came out on top.

I grin into the wind. “You know what, my love?Thisis the win-win I meant.”