Chapter Text
Tian-Chen's house was filled with a deafening silence. Where laughter and conversation once echoed off the walls, now there were only reminders of those who were no longer here. After his mother's death, Kenny decided to move to the colony. She didn't blame him; this house was no longer a home. Just another place in this hell.
And everything was darker, more depressing, and emptier. Right now, leaning on the kitchen table with her elbows, all she could think about was her husband at the stove cooking something for dinner. Tabitha placed her fingertips over her trembling lips, and a torrent of tears soaked her face. Now she could do it; Julie and Ethan had gone to the colony, so Tabitha took the opportunity to break down.
This is all her fault. If she had stayed put like Jim asked, if she hadn't dug into his past… he would still be alive. Instead, she chose to go along with it and play detective with Jade.
Jade.
Jim wasn’t very fond of her spending time with him. He said he didn't like the way he looked at her and that they spent so much time alone together at the bar. She brushed it off and said he was imagining things, then she left the house to meet up with Jade. They talked about their visions, the children, the tunnels, the bottle tree, how she managed to escape and reappear here, Tabitha's call to her mother, Jade’s chronic insomnia because of the symbol, the constant nightmares…
They spent hours there. Because she wanted to get out of here, and she had the feeling—she knew—that Jade was the key to her freedom, to her children's. Somehow their stories fit together…she needed to get to the bottom of it all. Because every time she spoke with Jade, something new shifted; she felt it like a force pulling her deeper within her. And toward him as well.
Talking to him was like constantly having the word on the tip of your tongue, like when you try to recall an image of a memory but can't. She only got glimpses of something bigger. Every time she sat down in her bar chair, Tabitha hoped she'd uncover more… but she could never shake off that feeling.
“It has to be here. The answer, the way out…” he would always say with his nose buried in the papers.
She always told him he needed to get up and take a break. He would laugh and say something like "Just because it's not obvious doesn't mean it's not here; you just have to be a really clever guy to see it."
Jim was right.
And Tabitha had been aware the whole time of how Jade looked at her. Sometimes he hid, though she always felt the warmth of Jade's gaze and pretended not to notice. Just because she lingered in that heat. But when she told him something, and had no choice but to look into Jade's eyes, they shone with something unnerving. No one had ever looked at her like that, and yet… it was something so familiar.
She always berated herself for it, but she always went back to hear him say her name. Jade was always on edge with everyone; he had no problem being an asshole. Yet when he called her to share another impossible theory, his voice was soft and warm. It made Tabitha's heart race for a few moments before she punished herself for daring to feel that way about anyone other than Jim. The love of her life…
And now he was dead; he'd never know how sorry she was for betraying him like that. They had a chance to make things right, and she fantasized about the touch of another man.
Jade.
Even under the bottle tree with her husband right there, after they remembered, Tabitha felt an immense relief beneath the confusion, anguish, and fear. An uncomfortable yet comforting blanket; she wasn't alone in this. He was here with her, suffering the same painful fate. How many times had they met? How many times had they remembered who they truly were? Did she always feel this way?
And now with all this stuff about the dolls, the nightmares coming true… all she wanted was for Jade to hold her in his arms. She hated herself for it, but she couldn't take it anymore. It was exhausting lying to others, but it was even more exhausting lying to herself.
She couldn't even hate herself for having remembered; she was very clear that the fire had started burning a long time ago, and she did nothing to put it out.
Tabitha was trembling on the table, sobbing with her head resting on her arms, when a knock on the door interrupted her. Her breath caught in her throat, and she jumped up from her chair. She cleared her throat once before raising her voice as she slowly approached the entrance.
"Who is it?"
“Tabitha”
Her feet rooted to the wooden floor, and she stood motionless, watching the shadow cast beneath the door. A familiar electricity surges through her fingers, her hand reaching for the doorknob, but fear paralyzes her once more.
"Please"
The velvety tints of his voice caressed Tabitha's ears, and her body relaxed enough for her to wipe the tears from her face and finally open the door. Jade appeared in the doorway of her porch, head bowed, nervously fidgeting with her fingers, gathering the strength to lift his gaze and accept that he was really standing before Tabitha. He hadn't thought about the details; he'd just rushed out of the bar to see her, and even then, he doesn’t have the courage to do it.
"Jade”
Like a puppy whose leash is being tugged, he finally raises his head and meets the eyes he dreams of so often. Something hangs suspended between them; they simply gaze at each other, recognizing one another, analyzing when the moment is right to speak. Tabitha's eyes are red and swollen; she's been crying. Jade remembers why he's doing all this:
“We need to talk”