· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
▎𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐈𝐑 ▎
»»————- 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦: 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘵𝘩🕊️
𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝚈 𝚃𝚆𝙾 — 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝙵𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚏𝚎
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭
𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦,
𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴
𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴...
— ᴺⁱᶜʰᵒˡᵃˢ ˢᵖᵃʳᵏˢ, ❝ᵀʰᵉ ᴺᵒᵗᵉᵇᵒᵒᵏ❞
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WAKING UP AFTER A BLISSFUL SLUMBER, Y/N INSTINCTIVELY TURNED TO FIND HER LOVER'S COMFORTING EMBRACE, only to be met by an empty space and a cold pillow. Confusion clouded her groggy mind as she muttered a half-hearted greeting to the vacant side of the bed. Sitting up abruptly, her heart sank as she realized he was gone. Memories of their passionate encounter flooded back, but now she was left questioning if it had all been too much, too soon. Had he fled in panic, overwhelmed by the intensity of their connection? The lingering doubts gnawed at her, casting a shadow over the warmth of the previous evening.
Before succumbing to the urge to unleash her frustration by screaming or breaking something, a fluttering piece of paper drew her attention. Resting by the open window, it appeared to be a letter weighted down by an object to prevent it from being carried away by the breeze. 'Heh, hormones...' She rolled her eyes, understanding how moody and dramatic she tended to be in the morning, especially when hungover, starved, sweaty, and deprived of some real strong coffee. Wrapping herself in a blanket, since the remnants of her clothes were scattered around the room, the y/h/c settled at the table, and began reading the letter left behind by Gale.
𝑀𝓎 𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓎/𝓃,
𝐼 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁. 𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒶 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓇𝒶𝑔𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓅𝓊𝓉 𝓅𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓅𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝓀𝑒𝓅𝓉 𝒷𝓊𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒻𝒶𝓇 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒'𝓈 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝓎, 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒶𝓅𝑜𝓁𝑜𝑔𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓈𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓅...
𝐹𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝑜, 𝐼 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝒶 𝒹𝑒𝒸𝒾𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓊𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒹𝒶𝓎. 𝐿𝑒𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑜, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒶 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓉 𝑔𝓃𝒶𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓁. 𝐿𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒹𝒾𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝐼'𝒹 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓋𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓎.
𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓂𝒶, 𝓂𝓎 𝓇𝑜𝒸𝓀, 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒸𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓇𝑒. 𝐼𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝑔𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒻, 𝐼 𝓇𝒶𝓃... 𝑅𝒶𝓃 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈, 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓂𝓎 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓅𝑜𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒷𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒶𝓁𝓁, 𝐼 𝓇𝒶𝓃 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓇𝓊𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝑔𝑜 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎; 𝒾𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓈𝑒. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓌𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝑒, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓁𝑒𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒹𝑒𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒.
𝒴𝑒𝓈, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝒾𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝒹𝓊𝓂𝓂𝓎.
𝐼 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝓂𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓏𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉.
𝒴𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒹𝒶𝓎, 𝒶𝓈 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝓇𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇'𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝓂𝓈, 𝒾𝓉 𝒻𝑒𝓁𝓉 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒶 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒿𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓃𝑒𝓎. 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒, 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓉𝑜𝓊𝒸𝒽, 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝓂𝒾𝓁𝑒 — 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈. 𝐼𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝒷𝒾𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓌𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝒾𝓁𝓉 𝓉𝑜𝑔𝑒𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇.
𝐼'𝓂 𝓈𝑜𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝓃𝑒𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓈𝒶𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹𝒷𝓎𝑒. 𝒟𝓊𝓉𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒹, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓃𝓈𝓌𝑒𝓇, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑜. 𝒲𝑒'𝓇𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝐵𝓇𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒰-𝒷𝑜𝒶𝓉𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝒻 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹.
𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝑒𝒷𝒾𝑒-𝒿𝑒𝑒𝒷𝒾𝑒𝓈, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌. 𝐼𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃'𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝐼 𝒹𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹'𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓋𝒾𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓌𝒶𝓎. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓃𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝑜𝑜... 𝓌𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒, 𝓉𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝓃.
𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓈𝒶𝓎: 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓇𝒹 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒'𝓈 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓂.
𝒦𝓃𝑜𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒, 𝒻𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝓂𝑒, 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑒𝓃𝑔𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓌𝒶𝓎. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑒, 𝓌𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝑒... 𝒾𝓉 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒾𝓋𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒶 𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓉.
𝒜𝓂𝒾𝒹𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝑜𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝒶𝓇, 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒸𝒽𝑜𝓇, 𝓂𝓎 𝑔𝓊𝒾𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈. 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓇𝒶𝑔𝑒, 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓈𝓈, 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓊𝓃𝓌𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝑒𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 — 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝒶 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓂𝒶𝓃, 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓇𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓌𝑒𝒹 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑜𝓁𝓋𝑒. 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝒾𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒷𝓎 𝓂𝓎 𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼'𝓂 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝒷𝑒𝓎𝑜𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒.
𝐼'𝓂 𝒶𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒, 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓊𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝑒.
𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝓎, 𝒷𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝓊𝓉, 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁𝒾𝑔𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒, 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝒾𝑒𝓇𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓅𝑒𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒾𝓃𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝒶𝒷𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒫𝐵𝒥𝓈 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝒶𝒹... 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝒻𝑒𝓌 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝐼 𝒻𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊.
𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝓂𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝑔𝑒𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒶𝒻𝒻𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑒𝒶𝓇. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒶𝓇 𝒾𝓈 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝐼 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒶 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓁 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒, 𝒶 𝓈𝓅𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈 — 𝒶 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓃𝓈𝑒𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒷𝑒𝑔𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜𝑔𝑒𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇.
𝒰𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃, 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉, 𝑔𝓊𝒾𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎 𝒹𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓂𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉.
𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒,
𝒢𝒶𝓁𝑒 𝒞𝓁𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃.
𝓟.𝓢. 𝓢𝓸𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓻𝓲𝓹𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝔂𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓭𝓪𝔂... 𝓘𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓵𝔂 𝓪 𝓶𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓹𝓲𝓮𝓬𝓮, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓮𝓭 𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓲𝓽, 𝓲𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝓸𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓸𝓷. 𝓐𝓷𝔂𝔀𝓪𝔂, 𝓘'𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓼𝓴 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓬𝓻𝓮𝔀𝓶𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓾𝓷𝓲𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓶 𝓫𝓮𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓵𝓾𝓷𝓬𝓱. 𝓑𝔂𝓮 𝓫𝔂𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝔀!
As she wiped away a few stray tears, a chuckle bubbled up from deep within her. The girl couldn't help but marvel at the twists and turns life had thrown her way, leading her right back into Gale's arms. In that moment, the state of her dress didn't matter. What mattered was the overwhelming gratitude she felt for having Buck in her life, for knowing that his feelings mirrored her own, and for the chance to rewrite their story together. With a heart full of joy and anticipation, she couldn't wait to see where this new chapter would take them.
Whatever challenges lay ahead, she knew they would face them together, hand in hand, stronger than ever before. With a smile on her lips and love in her heart, she whispered a silent thank you to the universe for giving her a second chance at happiness with the man she loved more than anything in the world. But as the details of the cursed mission sank in, a wave of worry engulfed her. Her heart clenched with fear as she imagined Gale facing the dangers that awaited him in Bremen. The thought of him risking his life filled her with a sense of helplessness, knowing that there was little she could do to protect him from harm.
She paced back and forth, her mind racing with worst-case scenarios. Every creak of the floorboards echoed like a drumbeat of anxiety in her ears. She longed to be by the Major's side, to offer him comfort and reassurance in his time of need. But all she could do was wait, her thoughts consumed by the uncertainty of war and the ever-present fear of loss. She prayed to whatever higher power might be listening, begging for the blonde's safety, promising anything and everything if only he would come back to her unharmed. In that moment, the weight of their love felt heavier than ever before, a bittersweet reminder of the fragility of life and the preciousness of every moment they shared together.
And as she waited for news, her only solace was the knowledge that their bond was stronger than any obstacle they might face, and that no matter what happened, they would always find their way back to each other...
***
Back at Thorpe Abbotts, however, the scene was rather grim. Only 13 out of 24 forts had survived, 3 of them mechanical before they even set out to Bremen, which meant that the Bloody Hundredth had just lost 8 ships — that's 80 men. Kidd, Blakely, Demarco, Buck... Even the most skilled Navigator of the entire group, Crosby, was nowhere to be seen. Devastated by the aftermath of the day's commission, Lemmons let out all his frustration on a toolbox, the very toolbox he used to fix Gale Cleven's aircraft, in fact. The remaining survivors were taken to interrogation without further ado; the air was somber and dense.
Having flown through a literal wall of flak, all of the fortresses were brutally damaged. As the lead of the 350th went down, wiping out the entire first element, havoc wreaked the unforgiving skies. Blakely's aircraft dropped out somewhere over the IP, the rest of the crews surpassing the target due to lack of visibility... Only four chutes were seen, none of them were Gale's... As the reality of the day's tragedy weighed heavily on everyone's hearts, they knew that each name represented a life cut short, a family left grieving, and a void that could never be filled. No one was safe from the clutches of death, not even the most skilled bunch of the lot.
The main question however, wasn't what they'd do without Major Cleven's leadership, but rather who'd break the news to two of his closest friends.
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