Three months.
That's how long Nana and Zayne had been partners now. Three months of fighting side by side, sharing supplies, watching each other's backs as they moved through Avalon's dying districts.
And somehow, impossibly, Nana found herself... happy.
Not the naive happiness she'd felt in Linkon City before any of this started. Not even the desperate, fragile joy she'd experienced during their brief time together in previous timelines.
This was something different. Something built on trust earned through action rather than memory. Built on inside jokes and comfortable silences and the simple pleasure of having someone who chose to stay beside you in hell.
They're had been a good day. They'd stumbled across a demon pack—six of them, all weakened by starvation but still dangerous—and Nana had insisted on taking them down herself.
"I need the practice," she'd said, twirling her twin axes with a grin that made Zayne's eyebrows rise.
"You're going to get yourself killed showing off," he'd replied, but he'd taken up a position with his crossbow anyway. Ready to provide backup if things went wrong.
Things hadn't gone wrong.
Nana had torn through those demons like a force of nature, her aether core blazing blue as she enhanced her speed and strength. She moved like a dancer—spinning, striking, ducking under claws and pivoting away from teeth with a grace that seemed impossible for someone so small.
Zayne had watched with something that might have been pride. Or admiration. Or something else he didn't quite have words for yet.
When the last demon dissolved into black mist, Nana had turned to him with the biggest smile he'd ever seen on her face.
"Did you see that?! I got all six without taking a single hit!"
"I saw." He'd allowed himself a small smile in return. "Very impressive. Terrifying, but impressive."
Now, as they walked through the ruins toward their current base, Nana was practically bouncing beside him. Her energy was infectious—the kind of enthusiasm that made the world feel a little less grey, a little less hopeless.
She grabbed his hand without asking. Just reached out and interlaced their fingers like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Zayne heart did that stupid fluttering thing it always did when she touched him. He'd given up trying to understand it weeks ago. His body just... responded to her. Recognized her on some level that his conscious mind couldn't quite grasp.
"You know what we should do?" Nana said, swinging their joined hands between them. "We should celebrate. Find some chocolate or candy or something actually edible instead of the usual protein bar garbage."
"Celebrate surviving another day in hell?" Zayne's tone was dry. "How festive."
"Exactly! We have to find joy in the small things. Otherwise this place wins." She tugged him toward a building that looked like it might have been a convenience store.
"Come on. Let's go shopping."
"Shopping implies paying for things rather than looting."
"Fine.Let's go looting. Better?"
Despite himself, Zayne felt his lips twitch upward. "Much better."
They were searching the store—Nana dramatically narrating her "shopping experience" while Zayne tried not to laugh—when she suddenly spun and pinned him against the wall.
His back hit concrete. Her hands pressed to either side of his head, caging him in. She was standing on her toes to reach, her face inches from his, and those dark eyes were sparkling with mischief.
"Nana, what are you—"
She kicked his leg—not hard, just enough to make his knee buckle slightly so he bent lower. Bringing his face level with hers.
Then she kissed him.
Really kissed him. Not the brief, chaste thing from weeks ago when she'd first done this and left him completely flustered. This was deeper. Deliberate. Her lips soft against his, one of her hands sliding from the wall to cup his jaw.
Zayne's brain short-circuited. His heart was pounding so hard he was sure she could feel it. His hands hovered awkwardly at his sides, not sure if he should touch her back or—
She pulled away with a grin that was absolutely wicked. "Found candy!"
She held up a package of strawberry candies triumphantly, completely ignoring the fact that she'd just kissed him senseless.
Zayne stood there, back still pressed to the wall, trying to remember how breathing worked. His face felt like it was on fire. His ears were definitely red—he could feel the heat spreading.
"You..." he managed. "You can't just..."
"Can't just what?" Nana's expression was pure innocence. "Kiss my partner? Why not? Friends kiss sometimes."
"That's not—friends don't—" He cut himself off, unable to form coherent thoughts.
She laughed and tossed him the candies. "Here. You looked like you needed something sweet to recover from that shock."
Zayne caught the package automatically, staring at the strawberry design on the wrapper. Something about it felt... familiar. Like a memory he couldn't quite reach.
"Come on, slowpoke!" Nana was already heading for the door. "We should get back before dark. And you're carrying me because I'm tired from all that demon-slaying."
"I'm carrying you?" Zayne followed, trying to ignore how his heart was still racing.
"Yep! Piggyback ride. It's in the partner contract."
"There's no partner contract."
"Sure there is. Paragraph seven, subsection B: 'The taller partner must provide piggyback transportation when requested.' Very official."
"You're making that up."
"Prove it." She turned and hopped, clearly expecting him to catch her.
Zayne sighed but moved to catch her anyway, adjusting her weight so she could wrap her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She was lighter than she should be—too light, really, even accounting for her small frame. Avalon's chronic food scarcity affected everyone eventually.
"Comfortable?" he asked dryly.
"Very!" Nana rested her chin on his shoulder, her breath warm against his neck. "Now walk, noble steed!"
"I'm not a horse."
"You're right. Horses are probably more obedient."
Despite himself, Zayne laughed—an actual laugh that felt rusty from disuse. When had he last laughed before meeting Nana? He couldn't remember.
They walked through the ruins like that, Nana piggyback-style, chattering away about random topics. Eventually, she started talking about Linkon City.
"It's beautiful," she said softly. "Or it was, before I came here. Tall buildings with lights everywhere. Coffee shops on every corner. People just... living normal lives. Going to work, meeting friends, falling in love."
"Falling in love?" Zayne repeated, ignoring the weird twist in his chest at those words.
"Mmhmm. I actually fell in love with someone there. Before all this." Her voice went distant, nostalgic. "A boring doctor who talked like a robot and carried strawberry candies specifically for me."
Zayne's steps faltered. "Strawberry candies?"
"Yeah. He was always so serious, you know? Clinical and precise. But he kept these candies in his pocket, and whenever I'd pout or complain, he'd give me one."
She laughed softly. "It was the sweetest thing. Made me feel special, like he was thinking about me even when I wasn't around."
Something uncomfortable twisted in Zayne's stomach. Jealousy, though that didn't make sense. Why would he be jealous of some doctor in a city he'd never been to?
But the strawberry candies felt familiar. Like something he should remember.
"Was he..." Zayne paused, then asked the question before he could stop himself.
"Was he handsome?"
Nana burst out laughing so hard she nearly fell off his back. "Are you seriously asking if another man was handsome?"
"I—no—I just—" Zayne could feel his ears burning again. "Forget I asked."
"Oh no, this is too good." Nana was still giggling. "The great stoic Zayne, jealous of a doctor from my past."
"I'm not jealous."
"You totally are! Your ears are red!"
"They are not—"
"They are! And it's adorable." She hugged him tighter, pressing her cheek against his.
"But don't worry. That doctor... he was incredibly handsome. Tall, broad shoulders, these gorgeous hazel eyes that looked like a forest in morning light. Perfect jawline. Hands that were both gentle and strong. Pretty much the most beautiful man I'd ever seen."
Zayne's grip on her legs tightened involuntarily. The jealousy was getting worse, which was absurd. He had no claim on Nana. No right to feel possessive over her past relationships.
"And his personality?" he asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.
"Oh, terrible," Nana said cheerfully.
"So serious all the time. Never smiled. Talked about medical procedures like they were the most fascinating thing in the world. Completely oblivious to flirting."
"Sounds awful."
"Yes.Absolute worst." But her voice was so fond it made something ache in Zayne's chest. "But I loved him anyway. Couldn't help it. He was just... he was everything, you know? Smart and caring and protective even when he was trying to be professional. And those candies..."
She trailed off, and Zayne felt her arms tighten around his neck.
"Do you still love him?" The question came out before he could stop it. "This doctor?"
Nana was quiet for a long moment. Then, so softly he almost missed it: "Yes. I think I'll always love him. Even if..."
"Even if what?"
"Even if he's gone now. Even if I can never see him again." She pressed her face into his shoulder. "Love doesn't just disappear because someone's not there anymore, you know?"
Zayne didn't know what to say to that. Didn't know how to process the complicated emotions churning in his chest—jealousy of a man who might be dead or lost, sympathy for Nana's obvious pain, and something else. Something that felt almost like recognition.
"I'm sure he loved you too," Zayne said finally. "Anyone would be lucky to—" He cut himself off. "I mean. You seem like someone worth loving."
Nana lifted her head, and when Zayne glanced back at her, she was smiling. But there were tears in her eyes.
"Thank you," she whispered.
They walked in silence for a while after that. The sun was setting—or whatever passed for sunset in Avalon's eternal twilight—painting everything in shades of red and gold.
"Zayne?" Nana said eventually.
"Mm?"
"Did you ever... I mean, do you remember loving anyone? Before you woke up here?"
Zayne thought about it. Tried to reach back into the blank space where his memories should be and found nothing. Just emptiness and fog and the faint impression that something important was missing.
"No," he admitted. "I don't remember anything before Avalon. No people, no places, no relationships. Just... nothing."
"But sometimes," he continued slowly, "when I look at you, I feel like I should remember something. Like there's something important right there, just out of reach. Do you know what I mean?"
Nana's arms tightened around him again. "Yeah. I know exactly what you mean."
"It's frustrating," Zayne said. "Feeling like I'm forgetting something crucial. Someone crucial."
"Maybe you are," Nana said quietly. "Maybe your soul remembers even if your mind doesn't. Maybe that's why you trusted me so quickly when I approached you. Why being partners with me feels... right."
"Maybe." Zayne adjusted his grip on her legs, acutely aware of her warmth against his back, her breath on his neck, the way she fit perfectly against him like they'd done this a thousand times before.
"It does feel right. Being with you. Fighting beside you. This whole... partnership thing."
"Good." She rested her head on his shoulder again. "Because I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me until we escape this place. Both of us. Together."
"Both of us," Zayne agreed. And found that he meant it.had happened in his past—whoever he'd been, whoever he'd loved—none of it mattered as much as the small, fierce woman on his back who'd tracked him for weeks and then kissed him against convenience store walls and made him laugh in the middle of hell.
She was his present. His partner. His... friend.
And if that jealousy he felt about her doctor was actually jealousy of his own past self—well, he didn't need to examine that too closely right now.
"Hey Zayne?" Nana said as they approached their base.
"Yes?"
"That doctor I told you about? The one with the strawberry candies?"
"What about him?"
She grinned against his shoulder. "He also had this really cute habit of blushing whenever I flirted with him. His ears would turn bright red and he'd get all flustered. Reminded me of someone."
Zayne's ears immediately heated up. "I don't—I'm not—"
"See? Just like that." Nana laughed.
"It's almost like you two are the same person."
She said it so casually, like it was a joke. Like she wasn't actually hinting at something impossible.
But Zayne felt his heart skip anyway. Felt that sense of missing something important get stronger.
"Maybe in another life," he said quietly.
"I would have liked to meet him. This doctor you loved."
"Maybe you already have," Nana whispered.
Zayne didn't know what to say to that.
So he just held her a little tighter and kept walking toward home.
.
.
.
.
.
To be continued.