Chapter 2

He leaned in close, his eyes full of scrutiny.

I could almost smell the familiar note of mint on him, the cologne Marlin always liked.

For an instant my breath caught, and a chill spread down my back.

This was the third time Marlin had come back through time.

He and I were college sweethearts, the clichéd kind of love at first sight. He chased me for two years before we ended up together.

There was no melodrama of cheating, no scheming other woman worming her way in.

After graduation we married and became a happy young couple.

But five years ago, a car crash destroyed everything.

In that horrific crash, Marlin's parents died on the spot, and I was left paralyzed from the waist down, sentenced to spend my whole life in bed.

Marlin nearly went mad. He cared for me while running everywhere to find doctors, hoping someone could save me.

One night, through the thin door, I heard him kneeling in front of a doctor, breaking down, sobbing until his voice cracked:

"She's only twenty-five. Why? Why wasn't it me who died…"

Later, he suddenly told me, all secretive: "Carrie, I have a way to cure you! And if it works, I might even be able to bring my parents back."

That was when I learned he'd been bound by a time-traveling system. As long as he completed his missions, he'd be given rewards.

His first wish was for my body to be whole again.

Two months later, feeling suddenly returned to my body, and I could actually get up and walk. Everyone called it a medical miracle.

And Marlin, who had been missing for those two months, suddenly reappeared.

He gripped my hand tightly, his face lit with excitement: "The system was telling the truth!"

Only then did I understand that during his two missing months, he'd followed the system through time, crossing into another era to carry out a mission.

"Just two more, and I can bring my parents back."

Marlin held my hand, his eyes shining, and I couldn't help sharing his joy.

The second time, he was gone a full year before he reappeared, and the next day his mother was there in the house.

It was as though no one remembered the crash at all.

Marlin was elated, already preparing for the next crossing.

I felt a flicker of unease. I held his hand and asked, as if to make sure:

"Are you really certain it won't be dangerous?"

Marlin reassured me: "There's difficulty, of course. There's no free lunch in this world. But I believe that if I try hard enough, I can get it done."

"Look, didn't I bring you and Mom back safe and sound?"

"Don't worry. No matter what, I'll finish the mission. I can't bear to lose you."

The promise weighed heavily. My unease only grew, but I knew I couldn't stop him from going to save his own father.

After that, he left, and this time he was gone for three years.

The memories were painful, no question. I lifted my eyes to the man in front of me and said:

"I just miss Mom and Dad a little."

If Marlin's mission had failed, then Dad probably couldn't have come back either.

The man across from me froze for a moment, then nodded:

"You're right, we should go see them."

The car moved slowly along the road.

Standing at the door of Marlin's parents' home, I felt a moment of nerves.

"Knock, knock, knock…"

"Coming, coming."

The door opened.