If he had any heart left, it would’ve broken again, splintered into unrecognizable pieces. Ironically enough, Jaya had accomplished her mission after all.

As he watched her go, climb back down the way she’d come, her shoulders shaking, Grey understood that this was it. This was the memory he’d have with him as his life ended. He looked up at the sky. There was light creeping in at the edges, day slowly erasing night. His heart began to pound.

It’s okay, he told himself. It was okay because he’d been prepared for this his entire life. Maybe he should thank his father for that. There was a distant comfort in knowing that, no matter what you did, life worked out the way it was meant to. There was no point thrashing against the hands of fate. Grey sat back down on the boulder to wait.

Jaya

Tears flowing unstoppably down her face, Jaya stumbled a little bit farther down Mount Sama, her breath hitching. The only sound she heard was the crunching of her own boots and nothing else. He’d given up on her. And maybe that was what she deserved. But worst of all, she had the sinking feeling that he’d given up on himself.

She walked to a small boulder and sat on it, not even bothering to sweep the snow off. Everything felt raw and painful; it felt like the entire world was on fire.

It was over. She couldn’t believe it; it was over. Grey was waiting so fearfully for the sun to rise, for whatever fate had in store for him, and she wasn’t even with him. He didn’t want her with him.

“Jaya?”

She blinked and looked up, through her tears, to see her sister’s concerned face peeking out of the hood of her parka. Isha was walking up to her, her hands buried in her pockets. “What are you doing here? I thought you and Daph left.”

“Daph did,” Isha said, looking over her shoulder down at the path below them. “But I couldn’t. I wanted to wait for you, just in case…” She let her words trail off, her face anguished. “He didn’t listen?”

Jaya shook her head and bit her lip, and tears coursed down her face. “It’s what I expected,” she said bravely, but her voice broke, betraying her.

Isha sat next to her on the boulder and put her arm around Jaya’s shoulders. “I’m sorry.”

They sat together for a long minute, feeling the wind whip around them. Then Isha said, “Are you…? The engagement’s still on?”

Jaya wiped her face and frowned at her sister. “Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I just thought, after talking with Grey…” Isha shrugged.

Jaya straightened her shoulders. “No. Nothing’s changed. I still need to do this.”