The fall

Epilogue

Penelope

A year later.

I tilted my head back, watching the vast expanse of the evening sky. The stars, scattered like silver dust, shimmered against the deepening hues of dusk. There was something soothing about the way the sky remained constant, even when everything else in my life had changed.

I wished I could remember—remember who I was before, remember what it was like to look at the sky and not feel like a stranger beneath it.

The past year had been difficult. Waking up without my memories had left me adrift, a ghost of the person I had once been. But Blake had been there, always patient, always kind. He had spent hours telling me stories of the past, filling the gaps with his voice and his warmth.

He spoke of Gabriella, my best friend, who had died in battle a year ago. It was strange to grieve someone I couldn't remember, yet when I looked through the old photographs of our academic years, I felt the weight of loss pressing against my chest. The girl in those pictures—laughing, bright-eyed, arms thrown around around Gabriella in a carefree embrace—felt both familiar and distant.

It hurt, not knowing that version of me still existed.

Richard, the commander of Valort, had loved Gabriella deeply. That, too, made me ache in ways I didn't understand. To think I had been a part of their lives, witnessed their love, and now I was only left with only secondhand memories.
Richard was a good man, carrying is own grief with quiet strength. I had seen the way his eyes softened when her name was mentioned, the way his hands curled into fists as if holding onto something invisible.

We were all holding onto ghosts in our own way.

And then there was Lucian, Blake's little brother. Meeting him again had been an odd experience, like stepping into a story I hadn't read but was expected to know. He was kind, with a bright, curious spirit, and despite the strangeness of it all, I had found comfort in the way he spoke to me like nothing had changed.

Him, Blake and I; we all live together now, a makeshift family piecing together the past and moving toward an uncertain future.

I heard footsteps behind me and didn't need to turn to know who it was. Blake settled beside me, his warmth bleeding into the cool evening air. For a while, we sat in silence, watching the sky shift above us.

"What are you thinking about?" Blake finally asked, his voice low, gentle.

I glanced at him, studying the familiarity of his midnight blue hair to his the steady certainty in his gaze. "The future."

He nodded, as if he had been expecting that answer. "What do you want to do?"

I hesitated. There were a million things I didn't know, but one thing had become clear in these past months. I turned fully toward him, my heart fluttering in a way that felt both foreign and instinctual. "I want to be with you."

Blake's breath hitched, just barely, but his eyes softened. He reached for my hand, his fingers wrapping around mine as if making a silent promise. Then, with a tenderness that sent warmth curling through my chest, he lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against my knuckles.

My heart raced.

Blake chuckled softly. "Even now, after everything, I can still make you nervous?"

I exhaled a quiet laugh. "I don't know if its nervousness or something else. But when I'm with you, I feel... right."

He squeezed my hand. "That's all I want for you. No pressure, no expectations. Just us, figuring things out together."

I looked back up at the sky, the weight in my chest easing just a little. "Do you ever think about leaving? Starting over somewhere new?"

He was quiet for a moment before he answered. "I used to. After everything that happened, I thought maybe running away was the answer. But now..." He looked at me. "Now, I think anywhere can be home, as long as you're there."

I swallowed, emotion rising thick in my throat. "What if I never remember everything? What If the person I was before is gone?"

Blake's gaze softened, his fingers tightening around mine. "Then I'll love who you are now. I don't need the past to know how I feel about you."

Tears burned behind my eyes. "But it feels like a part of me is missing, and I don't know if I'll ever get it back."

Blake lifted a hand, brushing a stand of hair from my face. "Then we'll make new memories. You don't have to be the person you were before, Penelope. You're still you. And I love you for who you are today."

A tear slipped free, and I let out a shaky breath. "That's terrifying."

Blake smiled, tilting his head slightly. "Yeah. But I'd rather walk into the unknown with you than live in the past without you."

I let out a trembling breath, staring at him. "Why?"

His expression turned serious, his thumb brushing against my hand. "Because I love you, Penelope. I have loved you for as long as I can remember. Even though you forgot everything, even when you looked at me like I was a stranger, I still loved you. And I would do it all over again."

My breath caught. "Blake.."

"I don't care if you never remember the past, because every moment with you now is enough. You are enough. I don't love you for the memories we had—I love you for who you are, for who you're becoming. And I will stay, always, as long as you want me to."

Tears slipped down my cheeks, and I gripped his hand tighter, overwhelmed by the weight of his words. "You're sure?"

Blake let out a soft laugh, shaking his head. "Penelope, I have never been more sure of anything in my life."

A sob caught in my throat, but It wasn't sadness—it was relief. It was the feeling of being anchored in a storm I had been lost in for too long. "Then promise to never abandon me," I whispered. "Promise me."

Blake cupped my face, his fingers warm against my skin. "I promise."

And then, as if sealing the promise, he kissed me—not with desperation, not with the weight of the past, but with the quiet certainty of a man who had chosen me, no matter what.

Even though I didn't remember, being with Blake felt right.

And for now, that was enough.

The end.