Chapter 23:

Sky

While I Chase The Sky

Kaihi

Mazel sits quietly on the dispersal area at the base, her familiar shape bathed in soft morning light. I run my hand along her nosecone, over the smooth, warm leading edge. She feels solid. Comforting. Constant.

I climb onto her wing just as an ambulance rolls up nearby. My chest tightens. The back doors swing open and Zyla emerges, supported on either side by two nurses. Machines follow on trolleys, wires and tubes trailing from her body, disappearing beneath her clothes like lifelines unraveling.

She sees me - and smiles.

I swallow hard, forcing the tears back down. I slide the canopy open. She knows what this flight means. She knows the radiation at that altitude will end her life in minutes. And still, she smiles.

She’s chosen her sky.

Zyla stops beside Mazel. The nurses work slowly, methodically, disconnecting the hospital equipment one line at a time. The machines are wheeled away, until only one remains - the box. The one from Trpimir. With a quiet motion, she reaches up her sleeve, unclips the final tube, and lets it fall. It hits the tarmac with a dull clatter.

She stands, alone, untethered. Free.

I reach out. She takes my hand - cold, trembling. But strong. Together, we shuffle along the trailing edge of the wing. I help her up, gently, guiding her toward the rear cockpit. She sighs as she sinks into the seat, her hand patting the canopy rail.

Home. For her, this cockpit has always been home.

I squeeze her other hand - the one still resting in mine - and then let go. My fingers linger for just a second too long. I want to remember this moment forever.

I climb into the front seat and settle into the padding. Fiya says nothing, respectfully silent. Even she understands.

Breathe, Kaihi. In. Out.

Okay.

I prime the engine. That beautiful whine builds, the blades starting to spin - slow at first, then faster, overlapping into a blur. The slicing scream rises, familiar and fierce. It sings in my bones.

I scan the instruments. All green.

Outside the canopy, I see them. The entire base has turned out. Mechanics, officers, pilots, friends, strangers. All standing in silence. Watching. Bearing witness.

Zyla waves gently, and I lift my hand and salute.

As one, they return it.

I ease the throttle forward. We roll away from the dispersal area and onto the taxiway, the canopy still open, letting in the wind, the sun, the scent of earth. I glance back - I can just see the soft sway of Zyla’s red hair behind me.

I weave gently left and right to keep the path ahead visible beyond Mazel’s tall nose. We move slowly. I want this moment to stretch forever.

We reach the runway. I line up carefully on the centerline. And stop.

The radio crackles.

“Callsign Arkar, you are cleared for takeoff. Blue skies, Zyla. See you soon, Kaihi.”

I say nothing. Just open the intercom.

My voice wobbles.

“Are you ready?”

Her reply comes, weak but smiling. Full of warmth.

“Always.”

I slide the canopy closed.

Throttle forward.

The engine roars. The propeller hums deep and strong. Mazel surges ahead, shaking with life. I keep the nose down. The tail rises.

And then - gently - I pull back on the stick.

The ground falls away.

Airborne.

I shove the throttle forward - hard.
The engine screams, a high, keening wail as the air tears past. Beneath it, the deep buzzing thrum of the propellers pulses like a war drum. I bank gently, staying low. Mazel responds with ease.

Then I trigger the afterburner.

The propellers fold away with a clack. The speed dial jumps. In less than ten seconds, we punch through the sound barrier, a thundercrack in our wake as we skim just above the ground - fast, but not reckless. Not yet.

I pull her around, feeling the Gs crush me into the seat. Zyla doesn’t speak. I hope she’s smiling.

The afterburner roars at full power. We climb to Mach two in twenty seconds more. Everything blurs - the horizon, the controls beneath my hands, my thoughts. My body vibrates with the speed, the strain, the emotion.

I bank hard - so hard the earth tilts steeply in the canopy, the ground close enough to touch. We scream over towns and treetops, rattling windows and startling civilians. Somewhere below, people stop what they’re doing and look up.

The afterburner cuts.

The scream fades. The propellers redeploy with a sharp, metallic snap. Our speed bleeds away in layers as I ease her around toward the runway again.

My heart beats faster than the blades in front of me. Louder, deeper. Like thunder in my chest.

My mind races.

Everything we've been through-
Everything we're about to do-
Everything I'm about to lose.

Kaea

Mazel approaches the runway at high speed - so fast there's no sound.

She must be flying faster than the air can carry her.

Even though I’ve never met her, I know who she is.
From everything Kaihi told me, Zyla is his everything.
His hope. His strength. His anchor in a world that kept taking.
And now, he’s about to lose her too.

In just three years, he’s lost his family. His home.
Now, his fiancée.

I can’t imagine what that must feel like.
I don’t think anyone can.

Mazel rockets past us, a blur of silver and sorrow-
And then, just as she reaches the crowd, she pulls up sharply, almost vertical, and vanishes into the sky.

A split-second later, the sound catches up-
A single, piercing bang that echoes across the base.

The final journey has begun.

Kaihi

The Gs slam me back into the seat.

8G. 9. I don’t hold it long.
We rocket upward, the engine screaming, tearing the air apart.

The ground falls away like a fading memory.
We punch through the cloud layer in seconds, the throttle still wide open - 1200km/h.

My heart hammers. My blood surges.
My skin prickles, face numb.
My throat burns, begging to let something - anything - out.

But I hold it in.
This isn’t about me.
This is for her.

The altimeter climbs past high altitude.
My thoughts scatter. My mind can’t keep up.
All I can do is stare ahead as the sky begins to shift-
from bright azure
to dark indigo
to something deeper still.

The stars blink into view.

Beyond the sealed canopy lies death-
thin air, cold void, no forgiveness.
But inside, it’s warm. Still.

The Earth curves away beneath us.
A world we’re already leaving behind.

And then, across the intercom-
faint, soft, and full of wonder-
her voice.

“It’s beautiful.”

Zyla

My breathing is slow. Uneven.

I can feel myself shutting down.

But as I look out through Mazel’s canopy, I feel… happy.
Peaceful.
Light.

My life flashes before me - not as a blur, but as a tapestry.
The racism. The hate.
The silence that came with separation.
The warmth of my parents’ love.
The quiet devastation of my mother’s death.
The long, lonely stretch of isolation.
The sickness, creeping in like winter frost.

Then, a flicker. A spark.
The promise of a cure.
The war beginning.
The plan-
To get me out. To get me help.

The panic, the desperate flurry,
My father scrambling for answers year after year.
And then-
Just over a week ago-
A miracle.
A saviour.

Kaihi.

I knew it was too late.
I didn’t tell anyone.
I just wanted to fly.
To taste the sky before it was gone.

And Kaihi gave that to me.

I fell in love with him.
I made rash choices.
I probably shouldn’t have asked him to marry me.

But I’m glad I did.

Even though it broke my heart,
Even though it shattered his-
That moment sparkles like crystal in my memory.

My heart beats slowly now. But it still beats.

In such a short time, I lived a full life.

I crossed nations.
I flew faster than almost anyone alive.
I tasted grief. Hopelessness. Chaos.
I stood in the shadows of war, horror, torment.
I saw the worst of humanity.

But through it all-
Wrapping the hatred in shimmering gold-
Was my love for him.

And his for me.
Our bond.
Our impossible, beautiful story.

I couldn’t have asked for anyone better.

And so, as the colours fade,
as the sky grows dark,
as my eyes flutter closed-

I smile.

Kaihi

As the air thins, the engine begins to fade.

Power drains. The speed drops.
I ease the nose down. Mazel enters a wide arc.
The rate-of-climb display ticks lower.
40m/s.

30.

15.

And then, just as we crest the sky, the intercom flickers to life.
Zyla’s voice, soft and trembling, reaches me.

“I love you, Kaihi.”