Year: 2024
The late afternoon sun hung low over the city, casting a warm, amber glow across the streets as Marcus maneuvered through traffic, glancing at the clock on the dashboard with a familiar pang of urgency. He’d hoped to leave work early today, but a last-minute request from his boss stretched his afternoon into the evening. Now, he was racing the clock to make it home on time. Today was important; he couldn’t be late.
Today was Emmeline’s birthday. She was turning six, and this morning, he had kissed her on the forehead as she sat at the breakfast table, smiling up at him with the pure, uncomplicated joy only a child could show. Beside her, her older brother Alex, all of eight years old, tried to play it cool, teasing her and rolling his eyes at the fuss over “just another birthday.” Marcus had seen Sophia’s smile from across the kitchen as she poured his coffee, and he felt a wave of warmth rise within him, more powerful than any feeling he’d known in his former life. Twenty-four years. Could it have been that long?
In the rearview mirror, he caught a glimpse of himself, a face lined by years of quiet joys and hard-earned peace. This was a different man from the one who had arrived in this world in the year 2000. Back then, Marcus hadn’t been Marcus at all. He had been someone else—someone who knew only battle, a soldier whose name was Eirik, shaped by a lifetime of bloodshed and betrayal. When he’d been pulled into Earth’s world, spat out by the System after centuries of violence, he’d found himself in New York City, overwhelmed by the strange, blinking lights and roaring noise of Times Square.
At first, he had tried to blend in, a foreign entity wrapped in a human shell, struggling to make sense of the peace surrounding him. It had been painful, in a way, to shed his armor, to trade his weapons for a regular life. But for months, he kept trying, forcing himself to work a simple job and learn the peculiar rhythms of this world. He tried, truly, to believe in the idea of an ordinary life.
And then, in a single morning, everything changed. Just over a year later, in September 2001, he’d watched with the rest of the nation as towers crumbled and the world he’d just begun to understand erupted in fear and fury. As the country turned its gaze to war, something old and familiar woke up in him. It felt inevitable, almost instinctual, when he answered the call for soldiers. He had joined the ranks of those bound for a war against an enemy they barely understood. Before he knew it, he had found his way into the the dark, shadowed world of United States special operations. He was almost back into his familiar old self in a life filled with violence and purpose.
But years of missions blurred into one another, until finally, he felt the weight of it all settle over him, a heaviness that had nothing to do with age or time. After over a decade, in 2014, he retired, stepping out of the shadows and away from the life that just felt so comfortable and familiar.
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That was when he met Sophia. She was a nurse—a quiet, steady presence who healed more with her warmth than her hands. They’d met by accident, two people at a crossroads, and he remembered thinking he could lose himself in her kindness. She never asked questions about his past, never pried into the unspoken parts of him, and he never offered. She knew enough from what he didn’t say, and with her, he found something he hadn’t expected to—a sense of peace, and perhaps, a chance at redemption. Within a year, they were married, and soon afterward came Alex, then Emmeline. With them, he found himself slipping into a new life, one that was ordinary in the best ways, filled with laughter, scraped knees, bedtime stories, and a happiness he hadn’t thought he deserved.
Finally, he turned onto his street, pulling up to the house as the last rays of sunlight dipped below the horizon. He reached over to the passenger seat, grabbing the small, gift-wrapped box he’d carefully chosen, and stepped out of the car. As he approached the door, he took in the homemade birthday banner swaying gently in the breeze, a soft, colorful welcome that seemed to tug on something deep inside him.
When he opened the door, laughter and the smell of freshly baked cake greeted him. Sophia was in the kitchen, lighting candles, her hair catching the light as she glanced up and smiled. “There you are,” she said, her voice warm with that familiar teasing tone. “Just in time.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he replied, handing her the box. She peeked inside, gave him an approving nod, and motioned toward the living room where Alex and Emmeline were waiting.
“Happy birthday, Emmeline!” he called out, and his daughter ran over, her face lighting up as she threw her arms around his waist.
“Daddy! You’re here!” she beamed, looking up at him with wide, happy eyes.
“Of course,” he chuckled, hugging her tightly. Alex, trying to look nonchalant, gave him a quick smile from where he was sprawled on the couch, only to grin wider as Marcus ruffled his hair.
“Here,” he said, handing Emmeline the box. “Go on, open it.”
Emmeline’s face glowed with excitement as she tore open the wrapping, revealing a delicate charm bracelet with tiny, animal-shaped charms. Each one had been chosen carefully—a lion, an owl, a bear—symbols of courage, wisdom, and strength. Traits he hoped she would carry with her always.
Emmeline held it up, her eyes shining. “It’s beautiful, Daddy. Thank you!”
Sophia brought out the cake, and the four of them gathered around as the candles cast a warm glow over the room. They sang together, their voices blending into a single, soft harmony. As he joined in, Marcus felt a wave of gratitude wash over him. He had lived lifetimes, fought battles beyond counting, and yet he knew, deep down, that *this* was what he had been fighting for all along.
For a moment, as they sang, he let his eyes close, feeling the memories of his past lives brush against his mind. Faces of those he had fought beside, brothers who had fallen, flickered in his memory, along with places he had left behind. He opened his eyes to find his family there, the weight of his past receding into shadows as he looked at their bright, familiar faces.
He had traded power, left behind a life that had once been all he knew, to find himself here. To become a father, a husband, and someone who could finally find peace in something as simple as a quiet home and a warm embrace. And he knew, as he watched Emmeline’s face light up with her wish, that it had all been worth it.