“Thank you,” she said, “for Rome. For the Colosseum. For saving me,” she said. “If you hadn’t had arrived when you did, I don’t know what would have happened.”
She turned and looked at him, suddenly unsure. “Do you remember?” she asked worriedly.
He turned and looked at her, and nodded, and she saw that he did. She was relieved. At least, final y, they were on the same page. Their memories were back. That alone meant the world to her.
“But I didn’t save you,” he said. “You handled yourself quite wel without me. On the contrary, you saved me. Just being with you—I don’t know what I would do without you,” he said.
As he squeezed her hand, she felt her entire world slowly become restored within her.
As they ambled through the gardens, she gazed in wonder at al the varieties of flowers, the fountains, the statues….It was one of the most romantic places she’d ever been.
“And I’m sorry,” she added.
He looked at her, and she was afraid to say it.
“For your son.”
His face darkened, and as he looked away, she saw genuine grief flash across it.
Stupid, she thought. Why do you always have to go and ruin the moment? Why couldn’t you have waited for some other time?
Caleb swal owed and nodded, too overcome with grief to even speak.
“And I’m sorry about Sera,” Caitlin added. “I never meant to get between the two of you.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he said. “It had nothing to do with you. It was between her and I. We were never meant to be together. It was wrong from the start.”
“Wel , final y, I’ve been wanting to tel you that I’m sorry for what happened in New York,” she added, feeling relieved to get it off her chest. “I would have never stabbed if I knew that it was you.
I swear, I thought you were someone else, shapeshifting. I never in a mil ion years thought it was real y you.”
She felt herself tear up at the thought of it.
He stopped and looked at her, and held her shoulders.
“None of that matters now,” he said, earnestly. “You came back to save me. And I know that you did so at great expense. It might not have even worked. And you risked your life for me. And gave up our child for me,” he said, looking down again in momentary grief. “I love you more than I can say,” he said, stil looking at the ground.
He looked at her with wet eyes.
At that moment, they kissed. She felt herself melting into his arms, felt her entire world relax, as they kissed for what felt like forever. It was the greatest moment she had ever had with him, and in some ways, she felt like she was getting to know him for the first time.
Final y, slowly, they pul ed out of it, looking deeply into each other’s eyes.
Then they both looked away, demurely, took each other’s hands, and continued their walk through the gardens, alongside the river. She looked at how beautiful, how romantic Paris was, and realized that at that moment, al of her dreams were coming true. This was al she’d ever wanted out of life. To be with someone who loved her—who really loved her. To be in such a beautiful city, such a romantic place. To feel like she could have a life ahead of her.
Caitlin felt the bejeweled case in her pocket, and resented it. She didn’t want to open it. She loved her father very much, but she didn’t want to read a letter from him. She knew right then that she didn’t want to continue on this mission any longer. She didn’t want to risk having to go back in time again, or to have to find any other keys. She just wanted to be here, in this time, in this place, with Caleb.
In peace. She didn’t want anything to change. She was determined to do whatever she had to to guard their precious time together, to truly keep them together. And a part of her felt that that meant giving up the mission.
She turned and faced him. She was nervous to tel him, but she felt that she had to.
“Caleb,” she said, “I don’t want to search anymore. I realize I have a special mission, that I need to help others, that I need to find the Shield. And it may sound selfish, and I’m sorry if it does. But I just want to be with you. That’s what’s most important to me now. To stay in this time, and in this place. I have a feeling that if we continue to search, we’l end up in another time, in another place.
And that we might not be together next time…” Caitlin broke off, and realized she was crying.
She took a deep breath in the silence. She wondered what he thought of her, and hoped that he didn’t disapprove.
“Can you understand?” she asked, tentatively.
He stared off into the horizon, looking concerned, then final y turned and looked at her. Her own concern mounted.
“I don’t want to read my dad’s letter, or find any more clues.
I just want us to be together. I want things to stay exactly as they are now. I don’t want them to change. I hope you don’t hate me for that.”
“I would never hate you,” he said, softly.
“But you don’t approve?” she prodded. “You think I should continue with the mission?”
He looked away, but didn’t say anything.
“What is it?” she asked. “Are you worried about the others?”
“I guess I should be,” he said. “And I am. But I, too, have selfish reasons. I guess…in the back of my mind I was hoping that if we found the Shield, it might somehow help bring my son back to me. Jade.”
Caitlin felt a terrible feeling of guilt, as she realized that he equated her giving up the mission with letting his son go forever.
“But it’s not that way,” she said. “We don’t know that if we find the Shield, if it even exists, that it wil bring him back.
But we do know that if we don’t search, we can be together.
This is about us.
That’s what matters most to me.” She paused. “Is that what matters most to you?”
He looked off at the horizon, and nodded. But he didn’t look at her.
“Or do you only love me because I can help you find the Shield?” she asked.
She was shocked at herself, that she actual y had the courage to voice the question. It was a question that had been burning in her mind ever since she’d first met him.
Had he only loved her for where she could lead him? Or had he loved her for her? Now, she had final y asked it.