The night after the battle in the Infernal Cavern was quiet, the kind of stillness that left the Guardians with nothing but their thoughts. The campfire crackled softly, casting flickering shadows across their tired faces. Most of the group had settled in for the night, their exhaustion outweighing their usual banter.
Zane sat apart from the others, perched on a jagged rock at the edge of their campsite. His pocket watch hung from his hand, the rhythmic ticking the only sound in the otherwise silent night.
Jasmine watched him from her spot by the fire. He had fought with his usual precision, his calculated actions saving them more than once during the battle, but something about him seemed even more distant now. She had noticed the way his hand lingered on the watch after the fight, how his gaze seemed lost in a memory.
She got up, brushing ash from her hands, and walked toward him.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked softly.
He didn't look up. "Do what you want."
Taking that as a yes, Jasmine sat on a rock beside him, keeping a respectful distance. The silence stretched between them, but she didn't rush to fill it. Instead, she watched the stars, letting the calm of the night settle over them.
After a while, Zane spoke, his voice low. "You're not going to ask me why I'm over here?"
She smiled faintly. "No. You'll tell me if you want to."
He glanced at her, a flicker of surprise in his otherwise stoic expression. "You're not like the others."
"Neither are you," she replied, her tone gentle.
The Story Behind the Watch
Zane turned the watch over in his hands, the polished surface catching the firelight. "This belonged to my father. He gave it to me when I was five."
Jasmine waited, sensing there was more.
"He told me time was the one thing we could never control. Ironic, isn't it?" Zane let out a bitter laugh. "A week later, he and my mother were gone. A carriage accident. I survived, but... they didn't."
Her heart ached for him, but she didn't interrupt.
"I keep the watch to remind me," he continued. "Of how fragile everything is. How easily it can be taken away."
"Is that why you keep everyone at arm's length?" Jasmine asked carefully.
He stiffened, the mask slipping back into place. "It's easier that way."
"Maybe," she said, her voice soft. "But it's also lonely."
His gaze flicked to her, the faintest crack in his cold front. "Loneliness is... manageable. Losing someone isn't."
"But you're not alone anymore, Zane," Jasmine said, leaning forward slightly. "We're a team. We have to trust each other, rely on each other."
"Trust gets people hurt," he said flatly.
"Maybe," she admitted. "But it also makes us stronger. You've seen that, haven't you? When we fight together, we win."
A Moment of Understanding
Zane didn't reply immediately, his gaze drifting back to the watch. The steady ticking seemed to echo her words, each second a reminder of the fleeting nature of time.
"I didn't ask for any of this," he said finally. "The powers, the responsibility. I never wanted to be a part of something bigger."
"None of us did," Jasmine said. "But here we are. And maybe... maybe it's not about what we wanted. Maybe it's about what we can do with what we've been given."
He looked at her again, and for the first time, the guarded edge in his eyes softened.
"You're... persistent," he said, almost grudgingly.
She smiled. "I've been told that before."
For a moment, the tension between them eased. The silence that followed wasn't heavy or awkward, but calm, like the stillness before the dawn.
A Step Forward
As the fire began to die down, Jasmine stood. "You should get some rest. We've got a long journey ahead."
Zane hesitated before nodding. "Maybe."
She turned to leave but paused, glancing back at him. "You're not as cold as you want people to think, Zane. There's warmth in you, even if you don't see it yet."
His expression flickered, but he didn't respond. As she walked back to the camp, he sat there a while longer, staring at the watch.
For the first time in years, the ticking didn't feel like a reminder of what he had lost. Instead, it felt like a rhythm—steady, constant, and alive.
