Alice met Tim when they were in college. They were from different cities growing up and ended up attending the same college right after high school. Alice was studying pre-med and Tim pre-law. After they met in sophomore year, they quickly started dating and the rest, as they say, is history. They were both smart, ambitious, and kind. That is what they liked most about each other.
They made sure to apply to a lot of different schools so that they could both attend one in the same city. After they graduated from college, they got accepted into their respective law schools and med schools. They decided to move in together.
From that point forward, they were no longer just boyfriend and girlfriend. They were a team. Their family was hundreds of miles away from where they lived so they had to take care of each other. Alice was a planner; Tim was a doer. If Alice was sick, Tim would take care of her. If Tim didn’t have enough money to make rent, Alice would cover for him that month. If Alice needed to pull an all-nighter studying for an exam, Tim would clean the apartment and make sure Alice was fed. They were an amazing team. It was them versus the world, and they won.
A few years passed and both achieved their dreams. Tim opened his own practice and was doing good for himself. Alice became a doctor and quickly found a job at the hospital. Alice did not like the calm life that owning her own private practice would mean. She was still young so she wanted the chaos the hospital would bring.
Yes, they both chose their careers because it was a smart move and they would be secured financially, but they also genuinely wanted to help people. Tim’s practice would take a fair share of pro-bono clients, and Alice worked at the ER. They were both, at least to their capacity, helping people. They admired each other for that.
At home, they would love to watch the same TV show over and over again before falling to sleep. On the weekends, Alice would drag Tim out of the house to go on hikes, and Tim would force Alice to play video games with him that same night. Tim would cook. Alice would clean. They would both take care of each other.
They were a happy couple, so they decided to get married. They planned their wedding so that it would take place before Alice started her job at the hospital. They figured the working hours would be crazy at her new job, so they planned the wedding and honeymoon just before she started. The wedding was beautiful. All of their family and friends were there. They danced, they laughed, they drank a little too much.
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Then, they went on their honeymoon. They visited many different countries during their travels. Alice was able to take hikes in beautiful places. Tim was able to try all sorts of different foods. They enjoyed each other’s company as much as they possibly could. Their honeymoon was something that they would always remember and cherish together.
Once Alice started her job at the hospital, everything changed. Days became shorter. Alice became busier. Her time at home was less and less as the months went by. Tim decided to focus more of his time on his firm. They became adults. They still loved each other; neither of them doubted that. They just became busier. That is what happens to adults. Other things become a priority over your relationship, and you never seem to get enough time in the day to be with each other. Relationships are fragile no matter what stage of the relationship you are in. You must nurture relationships, or else they will fade away eventually.
Tim and Alice were distracted. They were busy. They had other priorities. They were taking each other for granted. They were at a point where the relationship had not taken any heavy hits yet, but they were heading to a path that did not look pretty. They both could feel it. They could feel it at the quiet dinners, at the laughless moments. They could feel the resentment that each of them was starting to harbor for each other. For not being there when you needed them, for no longer making you feel loved, for no longer making your favorite dinner. Resentment is the cancer of every relationship. Once it spreads, it’s really difficult to get rid of.
Then one day out of nowhere, Alice got magically teleported to Sfiraz by what seemed to be an accident. Taking away her chance at making things right. At making things better with Tim. At making things how they used to be. Taking away her chance to spend more time with her husband. Taking away her chance at growing old with the person she chose as her life partner. All of that was gone; it was ripped out without notice. One day out of nowhere all her plans were gone.
It should not have been me. I do not belong here. I do not know what I am doing here. It should have been you, Tim. You would know what to do. You would find a way home in an instant. Please help me, Tim.
This was what Alice was thinking that night. The night she cried herself to sleep. The night Tim was no longer by her side. The night she realized that her whole life had fallen apart. The night she no longer had a plan. The night she found comfort in her familiar. The night she decided she would make Tim proud. The night she decided that she would continue to save lives.
This had been Alice’s hardest moment in her life so far, but like metal coming out of the forge, she woke up stronger and with an unbreakable resolve. She decided to become an adventurer capable of saving lives. She decided she would do everything in her power to live a life Tim and she would be proud of.