To Remember

1

The smell of burning wood, sweet and rich. The crackle of the fire, sharp but pleasant. Feeling the warmth surround my body almost made it impossible to wake up, but the voice of a familiar someone did. I take a deep breath as my eyes slowly start to let light in. It was something I haven't seen in a long time and could say was something I almost forgot existed.

"Thomas."

I slowly look over to my right following the sound of the voice.

"Long time no see."

Sitting down was a man, his blonde hair was long and disheveled. If it wasn't for his beard and the little boy sitting on his lap I would say that the man sitting next to me was someone I knew.

"Hi uncle Tommy." Said the little boy. He glanced excitingly to his father and me.

Uncle Tommy? Why would he call me that? I don't think I've ever seen this boy in my life. I kept looking at them both, my mind trying to connect where I have seen them both in my life. I don't doubt it was the confused look on my face that made the man take the boy off his lap.

"Roman why don't you go find the others and tell them your uncle Thomas is finally awake."

"Okay daddy."

He kissed his son on the top of his head before saying "Alright, off you go then."

The little boy took one last look at me and smiled. I smiled back before he ran out of the room, still confused as ever. After watching his son leave the man turned to look at me. I studied his face carefully and imagined his hair shorter, his face clean shaven. I did know this man. "Newt? Is it you?"

A big smile came to his face and I noticed his eyes started to get glossy. "Yes Thomas it is. You have no idea how happy I am that you recognized me."

Without realizing I tried getting up but as soon as I did I felt pain shoot across my body. My arms started shaking I felt dizzy, I was weak.

Newt came rushing towards me. "Easy there mate."

He eased me back into laying down on the bed. I took a couple of deep breaths taking in my surroundings. I was in a room with giant glass windows all around draped with long white curtains. A fire place to my left. In front of me was the open door, I could see a beach and it's beautiful sunset . Pink and orange covered the sky. A place as beautiful as this must be a dream.

I look back to my friend who still seems like a stranger and ask, "Where am I and why do you look so old?"

He pulls up the chair closer now and takes a seat. He scratches his beard thinking carefully. "What's the last thing you remember Thomas?"

"What do you mean? I remember..." Truth be told I was having a hard time. Everything was coming back to me slowly in different parts. "I remember the maze, Wicked, the scorch." I struggled.

"Alright don't hurt yourself. You remember main events that's good." He reassured. "What's the absolute last thing you remember?"

"I'm not really sure. Why can't I remember Newt?" I said quickly. Panic was taking over immediately.

"Hey it's alright, just focus on breathing." He told me as he put his hand on my shoulder. "Close your eyes, take your time and just think. No rush."

I did as he said. As I closed my eyes and took a few seconds to regain myself. Then I remembered.

"Tom?"

It was Teresa.

"If you're here to kill me I'm just letting you know I'm not going down without a fight."

"I'm so sorry Tom. They said they'd kill you if we didn't do everything just like they told us. No matter how horrible. I'm sorry Tom. I told you to trust me."

"I-I don't know what you want me to say let alone think Teresa. You jacked me up bad."

"It was all an act. I had to do it, for you."

"Put yourself in my shoes! How do you except me to believe everything you say when I expect you to lie to me every second? I don't. Not anymore."

I wanted to believe what I was recalling was a just a figment of my imagination my mind just forcing an answer for Newt. But her face, her voice, it was all too real.

"Teresa's betrayal." I said quietly as I opened my eyes once again.

"Thomas it's been a while since that has happened." Newt told me.

Despite not wanting to know I asked. "How much exactly is a while?"

"5 years. Tommy"

A/N: Here it is everyone! The third and final book to my fanfic series. Thank you so much for putting up with my super slow updates. I'm happy to say that Understand Me reached #11 in the Thomesa tag and I couldn't be happier. Please feel free to let me know on how I'm going about this book and what you think. It going to be a bit different this time around. Feedback is much appreciated.

See you real soon.

KB