Access Point

Alice woke up, her mind a mess as she looked at the surrounding.

The sight that greeted her was a misty waterfall, falling in a clear pool. The rocks and trees surrounding to form a graceful audience. All seen through the light of a campfire with a dark sky speckled with stars as a background.

She looked at the person who was holding her, she recognized him in a heartbeat.

'Noah? Why is he here?'

She could tell he was saying something but couldn't tell what. A bottle was brought up to her mouth which she drank from instinctively. Then soon she was being fed some type of fruit and fish.

Noah looked at her with care, love and warmth something she had always wanted to see.

'Ah! I should be dead by now. Maybe this is my final dream before I go.'

She felt like she was in paradise. In a scenic place being fed and cuddled under a campfire with the person she loved, it was like her last wish had been fulfilled.

After she had eaten she was still tired, she squeezed next to Noah and got into a more comfortable position and closed her eyes.

'It was over, everything was finally over.'

...

Noah saw that Alice fell asleep again. He didn't want to disturb her so he also fell asleep with her.

In the darkness, Noah was on the bridge again as the rain fell he saw Alice climb up to the railing, he tried to run after her but he couldn't his feet were stuck. Alice turned her head, giving him one last look, then jumped.

Noah woke up, heavily breathing.

'A nightmare.'

He checked the time on his watch and saw that he had barely slept for 20 minutes.

He looked at Alice and felt better, he hugged her tightly and closed his eyes but couldn't fall asleep.

...

The sun had risen and Noah hadn't slept through the night. He simply hugged Alice and had her presence comfort him. He simply kept his eyes close.

Alice woke up again as well. She saw the same scene she had seen in the night. But now she was aware of her energy less body and throbbing head.

'I'm alive? How?'

She saw Noah, who she thought was just a figment of her imagination was actually there.

'He saved me? But why did he save me now, after everything was over.'

Seeing Noah was sleeping, She tried moving away from Noah's hand but couldn't, it was locking her like a steel bar. So she had to struggle out of his grasp. She got up using a rock as support, slowly standing with its help. But her body felt so weak, her legs gave out and started to fall.

Noah who was pretending to sleep got up and caught her.

She looked at Noah with surprise.

'You were awake, yet you still held onto me so tightly.'

"Where do you want to go? I'll take you?"

Alice was mad at him and turned away. She didn't want to look at him or talk to him.

Noah picked her up in a princess carry and sat back down with her in his lap. He then rested his head on her shoulder and hugged her. He couldn't face her but didn't want to let go.

"How have you been the last four years?"

Alice looked at Noah like she had heard the dumbest question she had ever heard.

'Does he actually expect me to answer that?'

With no answer, he changed questions.

"Alice do you hate me?'

'Yes, I abhor you with passion! go back to where you came from and let me die in peace.' She answered internally but didn't say anything to him. She just looked away, with her lips zipped.

"I'm sorry... I'll never be able to apologize enough. I didn't attend the funeral. I wasn't there for you when you were left suffering all alone. I still can't accept father-in-law and mother-in-law died. When I came back to country S, I had expected something. At most I expected that our parents were in an argument and that's why they cut off contact with each other, I didn't expect this."

Alice felt her heart tingle as she heard him but she wasn't going to break so easily. She had long since accepted her parents' deaths and she didn't care about Noah's apology. It wasn't going to change anything that had happened.

"Alice, can I still be with you? Can I still stay by your side? I won't leave again." He pleaded softly.

'Just leave, I know I'm not good enough for you. There are plenty of others who want to be with you, so it won't be hard to replace me with someone better.'

"I'll count to three, if you don't answer I'll take it as a yes."

Alice wanted to answer but before she could say anything.

"1, 2, 3!" Noah smiled as his mood boosted, "So it's a yes! I won't leave you again."

She looked at him and saw his bright smile and laugh. It was like her day had just gotten brighter and she also felt like she was in a better mood.

'No, stop it! Don't show weakness, don't let Noah back in.'

Not knowing of Alice's inner turmoil, Noah got some of the fruit he had picked earlier. He cut it up into pieces and peeled off the cover. "Alice have some of this."

As he gave it to her, he got up to get his clothes. He had forgotten to wear his clothes after leaving them to dry.

Alice sat with her knees up and arms around as she watched Noah. Her gaze stuck to him as she reminisced about the last time she had seen him. He had grown up to be even more handsome than when he was younger. She wasn't unfamiliar with his looks since she had seen all his movies multiple times but seeing him in person was a different experience.

Noah was packing things back in the bag, he currently wasn't wearing much so she could see his body in all its glory. His lightly tanned skin and toned muscles were in full view.

'The camera doesn't do justice, he looks so much better in person. I have seen that smile thousands of times on screen but I didn't think it was that bewitching!'

Noah noticed that Alice was watching him so he didn't look towards her and kept himself busy in checking whether the clothes and towel had dried. He was used to people starring at him, but it usually made him uncomfortable but Alice starring at him was completely different and he didn't mind it.

Noah finished what he was doing and sat down with her. Now fully dressed, he put his arm around and snuggled up to her.

"Are you disappointed that you can't see anymore?"

Alice flushed in embarrassment, Noah knew she had been ogling at his body for the last minute.

'Does he have eyes on the back of his head?'

She couldn't face him again. Noah simply watched her and Alice stared at everything else other than Noah.

Alice put a piece of the fruit Noah had cut into her mouth and her eyes lit up.

'How is it so sweet?'

...

Time passed, Noah spent it finding and giving food to Alice, while Alice spent it eating.

Alice eventually stopped opening her mouth when she was stuffed. Noah who had been feeding her understood she was done and got up.

"Do you want to wash up?"

Alice nodded. Her whole body felt icky as she felt her clothes stick to her skin. She tried standing up but Noah came and carried her. He placed her gently down next to the stream with her feet in the water. He removed the bandages around her feet, her injures were light and had mostly healed.

Noah saw Alice was having a hard time taking off her clothes so he started to help. As he pulled off her right arm out of the long sleeve. He saw her wrist. It was covered in scars. As he took her shirt off he saw a large burn mark on her back.

He put his hand on and felt the altered skin. He could tell it was caused by someone pouring boiling liquid on her.

Alice noticed the change in expression as Noah took off her clothes. Expecting his reaction.

At this point, she didn't care if he was disgusted. He was the one that wanted to be with her, this is what she was.

Noah slowly looked at Alice's as body as he wiped it. It was thin and weak, she had to be starving herself. It was a miracle that she survived the fall from the bridge, he could see each bone of her ribcage as her belly caved in.

His hands started to shake. He put the shirt down slowly and wrapped his hands around her. he pulled her close to his chest and just stopped for a moment. He couldn't comprehend how things could reach such a point. He felt all he could do was apologise.

But he knew he wouldn't b able to make up for it. In the end, it was Alice's decision whether she wanted to stay with him now. He had already lost all the alright to be by her side.

He closed his eyes trying to breathe, emotions he had never felt before were surfacing.

Immense rage, helplessness, sadness flipped through his mind like a book. He was angry at the people who pushed her so far, he was angry at the people who watched and he was angry at himself for not knowing what she was going through. A type of anger that was enough to kill someone, he was ready to have them suffer from hell on earth. He wanted to grind their bones into dust and curse them to eternal damnation.

After the anger, helplessness came. He felt useless and pathetic, he couldn't protect the one person promised to protect. Why did he learn martial arts? Why did he try so hard when he wasn't even going to put them to use.

Finally, sadness, went down from his mind to his body making it weak. He put his head against her back hiding his face. The emotion focused on his eyes as they started tearing up. This had been the first time he had cried in his life.

He had cried on TV as he acted. But this was his first time truly crying. Tears quickly poured down his eyes. He didn't want to cry, but he couldn't control it. His mouth sealed as he made sure to stay silent, he didn't want Alice to see him cry.

Alice wondered what Noah was doing. He suddenly stopped and wordlessly hugged her, extremely tightly as well.

It took him a few minutes and he was able to settle himself again.

"I'm sorry, I should have come sooner…" Noah said lightly.

Alice had taken off her clothes and even started taking her underwear off. Noah turned away and grabbed his jacket which was lying nearby.

"You can wear my jacket, after taking everything off. It's waterproof and comfortable." He gave it to her not looking.

Alice saw Noah's reaction and noticed what she had done. She had just wanted to take them off since they annoying her.

She put on the jacket. It was extra large for her size and went till her knees. It covered her just as much as her clothes did.

Noah took off the clothes he had worn earlier and helped her into the water. He then carried Alice deeper into the pool of water allowing the water to cover most of her body.

Alice hadn't said anything throughout the soak she just focused on the waves and fish that swam by.

Alice who was moving forward in small steps stopped and looked up.

Noah who was moving while holding her staggered and then took a step closer to her. He felt his feet step on a smooth stone slab.

As he looked down he heard a computerized ding!

He also looked up from where the sound came to see what seemed to be a floating holographic notification.

[You have found an Access Plate!]

[You will be teleported soon to the eternal battlefield.]

[Number of people who have registered using the plate (⅖)]

"That's a hologram? How can we see it without smart glasses? We should go back."

The sign said it would teleport them somewhere, although he was sceptical, he wanted to move away.

He pulled Alice into his arms and started to make his way to shore.

It was on his fifth step, the world turned completely white and then black.