[PIERSON ISLAND]
Since they had been out in the "wild" all night, all the curtains in Zoren and Penny’s room were closed. The room had beco dark, with only a little light filtering through the small gaps in the sides of the curtains. Zoren lay flat on his back, staring at the ceiling motionless.
"Penny," he called quietly, turning his head to where she lay. Just like him, Penny was lying on her back, staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. "Aren’t you going to sleep?"
Penny humd. "I want to, but I can’t."
"Do you want to talk?"
"..." Penny didn’t answer imdiately. She cast him a sidelong glance, then rolled onto her side. The injury on her leg ached slightly with the movent. Propping her elbow on the bed, she blinked a few tis. "Did sothing happen?"
Talking until they fell asleep was a habit they had eventually picked up in this marriage. They didn’t know when or how it started, but they always chatted before sleeping. In other words, Zoren proposing it shouldn’t be suspicious. But sohow, she felt her husband had a lot on his mind. Especially now that everything was over, and it was just the two of them.
"Mhm," Zoren humd in return, moving until his back rested against the headboard. "Back there, when you were dragged away, Glenn and I had a brief conversation."
Penny blinked, eyes on him. "About what?"
"The money, the island, the business, and life," Zoren shrugged. "The conversation isn’t worth rembering, though. It was just words from a man whose views are so twisted, he’d rather twist the truth than admit his mistakes."
"Then why are you bringing up that guy?" she asked, purely out of curiosity. "I know he’s the worst kind of human sewage, but... why are you bothered by him?"
This ti, Zoren took his ti before speaking. "Rember that ti I told you I asked soone to hypnotize ?"
"Mhm." Penny nodded. "And I told you not to do that again. It’s dangerous."
"For so reason, I saw myself again — the younger , when Glenn smashed the vase over my head."
"What?" Penny pushed herself to sit up, moving closer to him. "Did you see and rember anything?"
"..." Zoren kept silent, staring at his wife.
Seeing his reaction and the lack of response, her mouth fell open slightly. He didn’t answer, but she already knew.
"Penny," Zoren breathed out, reaching out to hold her hand. "Let’s stop the treatnt."
"What? Why?" Penny knitted her brows, her smile faltering. "Renren, you’re getting better after so long. We can’t just stop the treatnt—"
"I burned down the house."
The rest of her words caught in her throat as surprise and confusion washed over her face. "What... what do you an by that?"
"That woman... it wasn’t her who set the house on fire," Zoren said quietly. "It was . And with this piece of mory vivid in my mind, I’m starting to get worried. Let’s stop the treatnt. I don’t want to get better just to ntally decline again."
Deep down, he knew he was better off this way. Not that he was sick. Tonight, he proved he was already better. He was able to fight, and his reflexes had returned. He could now act on his muscle mory without feeling weak.
His body, mind, and soul were screaming that this was as far as he could go. Going further might end in disaster, and he didn’t want to screw it up. If getting better would only tornt him and everyone around him, then he’d rather stay where he was and not move another inch.
"I’m scared, Penny," he confessed, his quiet voice sohow echoing. He squeezed her hand, but sohow, it trembled and felt cold. "I’m scared of what kind of mory I’ll rember, and what kind of person I truly am. I don’t want to lose you."
Penny opened her mouth, but the words didn’t co out. Or, to be precise, there were no words she could say. All she could do was stare into his dark eyes, which swirled with all sorts of emotions, but uncertainty and confusion were the most distinct.
"In my first life, I almost killed soone by slitting her throat with a blade from a toothbrush." After a mont, the words slipped from her lips before she could think about it. She paused, pursing her lips, and moved closer to him. "Before my incarceration, I was just Penelope Bennet — the unwanted child of the Bennet family, the overworked researcher of a miracle drug, and a foolish woman who allowed others’ opinions to have more weight than her own."
"But in prison, I was just called the crazy bitch from a wealthy clan," she continued with a light shrug. "I was already rock bottom, but prison showed that there’s a place beyond rock bottom — much darker, lonelier, and scarier. I beca soone I couldn’t recognize. I beca soone even I was scared to face in the mirror. You’ve t her — drunk Penny. That was her tad. She could be worse."
Slowly, Penny reached out to him, wrapping her arms around his body. She rested her chin on his shoulder while brushing his broad back.
"When I woke up after my execution, I’ve always wished to not rember that Penelope Bennet. I wished every single night to forget everything: the pain, the disappointnt, and how this world had wronged . I wished for it to disappear from my mind, and when it didn’t work, I simply tried to make my head busy to forget," she whispered. "But after everything, I’m grateful I didn’t forget. Rembering what I am capable of taught to be headstrong so as not to fall for the sa traps again. Along the way, I learned to forgive myself and open my heart to those who once wronged ."
Penny drew her head back slightly, offering him a subtle smile as she cupped his face. "Then I t you, who made my heart beat so fast just because you did that little trick with . Back then, I never would’ve fathod that you’d make trust soone more than myself. But... because of you, the lingering bitterness in my heart that kept distant from my family disappeared without a trace."
"Because of you, I could finally say with certainty that I forgave myself and entrusted a piece of my heart to you, hoping you wouldn’t crush it." Her eyes softened as she brushed his cheek with her thumb. "We all have demons within us, Renren. I think I have twelve of them, but keeping them at bay isn’t so hard anymore with you around."
"So, whatever demonic entity is within you, I won’t fight him. Rather, I’ll dance with the devil gracefully... just like how you danced with mine so elegantly." Her smile stretched, nodding reassuringly. "We’re a team, and tonight, that pretty much proved we really are a good pair. If there’s anything I learned tonight, despite the horror that ca along with it, it’s that there’s nothing we couldn’t overco together."
Zoren slowly touched her face with the back of his hand before pulling her gently into his embrace. Resting his jaw on her shoulder, his embrace tightened a bit. His wife was just too calming, and with her, all the tangles in his mind untangled on their own.
He closed his eyes briefly before partially opening them. "Penny."
"Hmm?"
"There’s one more thing I’m concerned about."
"What is it?"
Zoren carefully released her and looked her in the eye. "I’m concerned that if I get all better, I’ll rember my past life."
"Huh?"
"I think, just like you and Finn, I, too, once had mories from my past."
"..." Penny blinked rapidly before her eyes slowly widened in realization. She gasped. "Eh?!"
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