UNTIE ME

JULIETTE

The sun was dipping below the horizon, the colours outside bleeding into each other, like the sky was torn in two. It should've been beautiful, but all I could see were the edges, the cracks, the places where everything had once shattered.

I didn't even realize I was staring until Aaron's voice cut through the silence.

"Ella."

I didn't respond at first. I couldn't. His voice always had this way of reaching me, but today, my thoughts were too loud. Too heavy. Too much. He knew me too well. I could feel him standing there, just behind me, his presence like a quiet storm waiting to break.

"Ella," he repeated, and I finally turned.

He was leaning against the doorframe, his eyes always steady, always knowing. Always there, even when I didn't want him to be. His gaze softened when it met mine, but there was no hiding the urgency in his tone. "We have a meeting in five."

I sighed, the sound barely escaping. "Can't it wait?" I was so tired. So tired of meetings, of plans, of always being 'on'. Of always having to carry the weight of it all. Even after 20 years I've never gotten used to the work. If i could explain it in one word that word would be,

Alot.

His lips quirked in that way he had when he was trying not to smile, trying not to soften me too much. "No. You know better than that." His eyes never left mine, steady, constant. The anchor I needed, whether I liked it or not.

I rubbed my temples, willing the headache away, willing the thoughts to quiet. But they never did. They never stopped swirling around in my head. What if? What now? How much longer?

"I know," I said quietly, my voice rougher than I meant it to be. My gaze shifted back to the window, to the city that sprawled out before me, so vast, so full of possibility, and yet so broken. It was a lie, wasn't it? The peace we had fought for. The world didn't look as free as I wanted it to look. Not when I could still feel the remnants of the fight in my bones.

"Ella," Aaron said again, and there was something different this time. A quiet command. His voice softened, but there was no mistaking the weight behind it. "It's not just about the meeting. It's about keeping it all together. We've been here too long to let it slip through our fingers now."

I hated when he was right.

I hated when he was always right.

But he was. He was right. Again.

The world had changed, yes, but had it really? Had we really changed? Ignoring the physical change of a few hidden gray hairs on Aaron's head or my hair dyed with blond highlights or how James is an adult now. Or, were we just pretending, trying to force a life into something that didn't fit, something that couldn't last?

"We're a team," Aaron continued, and I felt him move closer, just a little, but enough for me to feel the pull. "You don't have to do this alone. We're all here."

I closed my eyes. I know. I know. But that didn't make it easier. That didn't make the weight any lighter. It didn't stop the quiet panic that threatened to choke me every time I thought about what was still out there.

The enemies. The problems. The past we couldn't outrun.

I opened my eyes, met his gaze again. There was something in his eyes now, something that softened, just the slightest bit. "I'll be there," I whispered, more to myself than him. "I just needed a moment."

He gave me that small, reassuring smile, the one I never deserved but always appreciated. "Take your time. But not too much. The world won't wait."

The world won't wait.

I repeat in my head,

The world won't wait.

I watched him walk away, his footsteps echoing in the empty space between us, and for a moment, I let myself breathe. But only for a moment. Because I couldn't keep pretending. Not when the world still needed me. Not when the fight was never really over.