Chapter 8: Goodbye, In Reverse
Elaine had never walked backward through time before—not literally, of course. But emotionally? Every day felt like peeling off a memory she wasn't ready to lose.
The worst part was that with every shared laugh, every almost-kiss, every quiet moment full of meaning and maybes, she was being dragged toward the beginning.
Toward forgetting.
Toward losing him.
And he didn't even know it.
"I found a map," Lior announced as he stepped into her chambers like personal space was merely a rumor.
Elaine blinked. "A map of… what? Where they hide the good tea?"
"The tunnels under the western tower," he replied, unfurling an old parchment. "You told me we hid something important there. Figured we should check it out before we both forget what it was."
Forget. The word hit like a dropped stone.
She stared at him—this man who made her laugh when she shouldn't and ache when she did. "You found the map for me?"
Lior shrugged, like it was no big thing. "I find things. That's kind of my whole deal."
Elaine smiled despite herself. "What else can you find?"
He hesitated. "Maybe something I shouldn't."
And just like that, the air shifted. That unspoken thread between them—the almost-love, the maybe-someday—pulled taut.
They snuck out after midnight, cloaks drawn tight, the spring wind pulling at their hoods. The western tower stood like a forgotten monument, and the crumbling stone stairs groaned as they descended into the dark.
It felt like the climax of a story—only they weren't walking toward it. They were unraveling backward. Back to the moment before things had a chance to matter.
The tunnel smelled of damp stone, dust, and something older. Lior's torch flickered off the walls as they found the hollow behind a loose panel.
A small chest waited, rusted but intact.
He knelt and picked the lock with practiced ease—like he'd done it before, in a life he couldn't quite remember.
Inside: a pale blue ribbon. And a letter, folded once, sealed with wax.
Elaine froze.
Her ribbon. From the night she confessed her feelings.
The letter. The one she had written after Lior forgot her the first time.
She had hidden it here in desperation, not knowing whether he would ever find it. Not knowing if she would ever be brave enough to hand it to him directly. Just a hope tucked into a chest and buried with the timeline they no longer followed.
"You okay?" Lior asked, voice soft, as if he already knew the ache she carried.
Elaine nodded, though the weight in her chest told a different story. "No. But I'll get there."
She picked up the letter, thumb grazing the seal. She didn't open it.
She didn't need to.
"Lior," she whispered, "if you could change anything about your story… what would you change?"
He looked at her, torchlight catching the worry in his eyes. "I used to want to change everything. But then you came in, messed it all up… and somehow made it better."
Tears prickled behind her eyes. "That's entirely too heartfelt. Please be more emotionally distant."
"You have awful taste in men."
"There we go."
But the joke didn't land this time. Not really. Because beneath it, they both knew the truth.
They were running out of time.
Not in the dramatic, end-of-the-world way. In the quiet, tragic way where he would forget and she would remember. Where all their shared moments would belong to her alone.
They walked back in silence, the tunnel no longer mysterious—just sad.
At her door, Lior lingered.
"You're different," he said. "Not just because of where you're from. Because of who you are. But somehow… you still fit. In this story."
Elaine swallowed hard. She wanted to tell him. About the timeline unraveling. About how they were moving toward a moment where this would all be undone.
But she didn't.
Instead, she cupped his cheek, leaned in, and kissed it.
A soft kiss. A quiet one. Not a beginning.
A memory.
"Goodnight, Lior."
He blinked, surprised. His fingers brushed the spot she touched, like it burned.
Then he smiled.
"Goodnight, Elaine."
She closed the door and leaned against it, pressing her forehead to the wood.
And cried—for a goodbye that hadn't happened yet.
But was already echoing through her heart.