The Coastal Express – Part 2: Northern Lights
Mature & Silver·EN·2 min read·Published 2026-11-07, updated 2026-11-07·Part 2 of 2
By the sixth day, they had a routine. Breakfast together. A walk on deck at every port. Evening in the lounge, with Henrik's thermos and her notebook, trading stories.
On the last night, the ship was far north of the Arctic Circle. The air on deck was bitter, clean and enormous. The aurora rose over the black mountains in great shimmering curtains of green and violet, rippling and unfolding as if the sky were breathing.
Judith stood at the rail in her heavy coat, a borrowed pair of Henrik's gloves swallowing her hands, her mouth open.
"I have never," she said, "seen anything like this."
"No one has seen it enough."
"My husband would have cried."
"Then cry," said Henrik, gently. "It is allowed."
She cried a little, quietly, her breath fogging, and he stood beside her, shoulder to shoulder, saying nothing, steady as a pier. After a while, the tears slowed, and in their place came something warm and strange and light.
"Thank you," she said. "For this week."
"Thank you. I was lonely, too."
She turned. Green light moved over his weathered face. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yes."
"May I kiss you? I haven't kissed anyone in a very long time."
"Yes," said Henrik, very softly. "And if you say stop, you must come back next winter and watch it again with me."
"That's not a punishment."
"No. I was hoping."
She kissed him, tenderly, her gloved hands against the front of his coat. He kissed her back with a careful, grave sweetness, tasting of coffee and cold, the aurora spilling above them like a banner of colour.
When they parted, both of them were smiling.
"Green?" he asked.
"Green," said Judith. "Very green."
She went home to Lyon, and he went home to Tromsø. In December, she took the train north.
More mature romance stories: Autumn in Quebec · The Quilting Circle · The Silver Ballroom
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