Chapter 159: Celebration - Leah
# We Celebrate on the Seventh Anniversary
Seven years since I shot Kael in that alley. Seven years since he saved me from the shadow monster. Seven years since the de Noct family mark showed up on my wrist and turned everything upside down.
Seven years of love. Of fighting. Of new life. Of building connections.
The party is... crazy.
Kiran set up sword dancing performances—pretty cool, except he slips on some C-side moss and lands flat on his butt. Avi's got a medical tent ready for when people get hurt. Xiao Qi's handling security. Xiao Ba wrote a song—an actual song with verses and everything, all about our family.
The twins perform it. Adrian's voice is deep for a kid his age, with this shadow echo to it. Ophelia's is high and bright, like light turned into music. When they sing together, they hit these notes that make the tree light up and the door hum along.
The green visitors brought food—fruit that tastes like memories, like hope, like the feeling of spring coming.
The refugees are dancing. Human moves mixed with Side A's formal steps mixed with C-side's swaying beats. Messy. Happy.
Dr. Chen 2.0 is working the grill. He's actually pretty good at it. "Science and cooking aren't that different," he says. "You need the right temperature. Good timing. And you have to be okay with messing up until you get it right."
Kael holds me close. We watch everything. The chaos. The love. The beautiful mess of it all.
"Happy anniversary," he says.
"Happy anniversary."
"Would you change anything?"
I think about it. All the pain. The fear. The times we almost died. The times people actually did die, friends and enemies both.
"No," I say.
"Not even the burnt oatmeal?"
I laugh. "Especially not the burnt oatmeal."
He kisses me. Under the tree, in front of our family, our world, our whole universe.
"I love you," he says.
"I love you too."
"Imperfectly."
"Completely."
The twins run over. Adrian grabs onto my legs. Ophelia wraps her arms around Kael's middle.
"Group hug!" they yell.
So we hold each other tight. The four of us. The center of everything.
Around us, the party keeps going. The song plays on. The tree keeps growing. The door keeps humming.
Life goes on.
Not perfectly.
But good enough.
Forever.