Sunshine and Rainbows

[Author's Note: This chapter rewinds a bit to before the storm begins.]

"You should let the others go," Penelope hummed, drawing circles on Zagan's stomach as she laid next to him under the lotus.

He was on his back, staring up at the bright blue sky and the rainbows that danced around them, absorbed in the thunderous beat of his heart and the warmth of Penelope curled into his side. Had that just happened? Had that… all… just happened?

His chest was sore from the heart that was thrumming along there, having established a consistent rhythm now. His… everything was sore. And for the first time, he felt a delicious kind of pain. And there was a fullness within him that was so unlike the hollow abyss in which he existed before.

"I am truly alive," he whispered to himself, rubbing the skin over his own heart. "I can feel blood running through my veins. Not simply a filling that then slowly dissipates. It is regenerating itself."