Jaguar headed up to the room, his steps heavy after a long, agonizing wait downstairs. He knocked, called her name, but was met only with a deafening silence. With every passing minute, anxiety gnawed at his heart until it turned into absolute panic; Fati had completely vanished! The hotel was turned upside down in a frenzied search until the security cameras were finally checked. There, Jaguar stood frozen, his face turning pale as he watched her on the screens, stepping out of the hotel, boarding that bus, and driving out of his life.
The receptionist was brought in for questioning immediately, explaining in a trembling voice, "She asked for a bus heading to the city." But the strange, baffling part was that Fati hadn't boarded the bus to their own city; instead, she had taken one bound for a small, remote town the exact same town where Kylo lived!
Meanwhile, Fati sat on the bus next to an elderly woman, resting her head against the window, watching the mountain peaks begin to loom in the distance with majestic pride. She glanced at her phone, her chest tightening as she saw the battery icon flashing, signaling it was about to die. Realizing the journey was taking much longer than expected, she turned to the lady beside her and asked in a low voice,
- Excuse me, ma'am... where exactly is this bus heading?
The kind old woman looked at her and smiled,
- It's heading up to the volcanic mountain peaks, to a town called 'The Springs.' We're almost there, my dear. Just half an hour or a little more left.
The elderly woman gently reached out, offering her a meticulously hand-embroidered cotton handkerchief.
- Your tears have been falling throughout the entire journey, my dear,
She said softly. Fati took the handkerchief gratefully, wiping her cheeks only to realize with a pang of shock that she had been weeping unconsciously. Had the sheer horror of discovering her marriage was nothing but a cruel act of revenge stripped her of her senses? Her mind was a whirlpool of unanswered questions, but she knew no answers.
- Thank you,
She whispered, trying to return it, but the woman gestured for her to keep it.
Fati relapsed into a heavy silence, trembling with the shocking realization that her sheer terror had driven her onto the wrong bus. In the old days, the "old Fati" would have struck up a warm conversation with the kind lady and made a friend, but that girl was gone. This current Fati had changed completely; she no longer spoke to anyone, curling into herself like a wounded bird, distancing herself from anything that reminded her of who she used to be. She returned to watching the towering mountains, noting how the trees grew sparse as the altitude rose.
Finally, the bus ground to a halt in the center of the town. The moment Fati stepped outside, the biting, freezing air hit her like a physical blow. Snow was falling heavily at this time of year; they were indeed high up in the volcanic peaks where winter never truly ends. Fati turned around in disbelief to look at the departing bus, only to freeze as she saw the stripes on its side they were orange, not red. Her fear and tears had blurred her vision at the station, causing her to mistake one color for another, leaving her standing entirely alone in the freezing snow, without a coat, and without a plan.
The elderly woman lingered for a moment, asking gently,
- Do you need any help, my dear?
Fati didn't understand why a refusal slipped so quickly past her lips; the deception of the person closest to her had planted a terrifying dread inside her, forcing her to build high, protective walls around her soul. She watched the woman walk away, leaning on the arm of her daughter who had come to collect her. A burning ache gripped her chest as she thought: If my mother were alive, she would be around this woman's age... and I would be leaning on her right now.
Fati glanced at a nearby, cozy cafe and thought of going inside for a hot cup of coffee to chase away the freezing cold, but she instantly remembered she didn't have a single penny. She stood there in the falling snow for what felt like an eternity, completely lost, with no idea how to get back to her city.
In the depths of her despair, a sudden thought crossed her mind: Should I call Jaguar? She was struck with self-loathing and disbelief. Was it possible that she had no other options left in life except him? Why was he always the very first person to spring to her mind whenever she was in trouble? She felt utterly pathetic for even thinking of him, knowing the poison he harbored toward her.
But right then, amidst her bitter internal struggle, a deeply familiar voice pierced through the freezing air from behind her a voice that instantly brought warmth to her weary chest and restored life to her senses:
- Fati?! What a wonderful surprise
Fati turned around slowly, her eyes meeting Kylo's, who stood there with absolute shock written all over his face. He gazed at her with a disbelief that soon turned into a bright smile, asking hopefully,
- Fati?! Are you really here to visit me?
Out of pure joy at seeing a familiar, trusted face in this remote, isolated corner of the world, she forgot her defenses and whispered with immense relief,
- It's you... Kylo
Kylo studied her closely, instantly noticing her violent shivering and how her lips had turned pale from the biting cold; she was quite literally freezing. He furrowed his brows and asked in deep concern,
- Why aren't you wearing clothes to protect yourself from this freezing cold?
- I didn't know it was this cold here,
She replied, her voice trembling and faint.
Without a second thought, Kylo slipped off his heavy, warm coat and draped it over her small shoulders despite her weak attempt to refuse.
- Come on,
He said with a firm yet gentle, brotherly tone.
- Let's get into somewhere warm immediately.
Taking her gently by the arm, he guided her inside straight into the very same cafe where, just minutes ago, she had stood wishing she had the money for a single cup of coffee. It was as if destiny had decided to send her warmth in the form of a friend.
Jaguar stormed out of the hotel after finalizing the check-out procedures, his eyes burning with suppressed rage. He stepped into the car after his belongings and those of his wife, Fati, were placed in the trunk the very bags she had abandoned just to save herself.
Jaguar remained confined behind the dark tinted glass, watching her hand bag as his mind swirled with questions that devoured his pride: Did she escape the hotel specifically to come and meet Kylo? But why did she run away in the first place? Does her broken heart think only of the one she loves when she is wounded? Was Kylo really the first person to cross her mind when she decided to flee? Or did she simply prefer to be with him in her time of distress? Did her helplessness bring her to him? Did she look at him as her family when she lost the thread that led to her own? And the most bitter realization of all: Why Kylo... and why not Jaguar?
The driver asked cautiously,
- Where to, sir? Home.
- To the town of 'The Springs, there lady need her bags
Jaguar replied with a chilling coldness.