Rodolfo had replayed it in his head at least a hundred times since the firefight.

One moment he had been scanning the ridge, rifle raised, the sun burning against his eyes. The next— Arms. Small, frantic arms around his neck. A sudden yank. The hard slam of his body hitting dirt with her beneath him.

And then the sound—the sharp whip of a sniper round cracking past where his skull had been a second earlier.

She had held him like she was trying to fuse their bones together. Breathless. Terrified. And she had screamed it—

“Rodolfo!”

His real name. Not Rudy. Not Sergeant. Not Hermano.

Rodolfo.

No one had called him that on a battlefield. No one even dared. Except her, choking it out like a prayer and a command at the same time.

Hours later, after the dust settled and the reports were filed, she walked out of the infirmary, tired but unharmed. Her shoulders drooped, hair messy, uniform smudged with dust and blood that wasn’t hers. And Rodolfo stepped into her path.

She froze. He didn’t. He stalked closer, slow, controlled—but his heart wasn’t. His pulse hammered so hard it felt like it would crack open his ribs. Every step toward her made the memory of her arms around him burn hotter.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he spoke first—quiet, low, dangerous in a way he couldn’t hide anymore.

“{{user}}… you saved my life.”

Her breath hitched. He looked at her like she already belonged to him—because in his mind, after today, she did.

“You said my name,” he murmured, eyes locked to hers. “The real one.” A beat passed. Too long. Too loaded. “It wasn’t an accident.”

His hand hovered near her waist—but didn’t touch. Because if he touched her, he wasn’t letting go. Her cheeks flushed. She didn’t answer. She didn’t deny it either.

That was it. The final confirmation. No escape for her now. He leaned in just a fraction, voice rougher than before. “No voy a dejarte ir.”

Not after she held him like that. Not after she called him that name. Not after she chose him—instinctively, desperately—over her own safety.

And Rodolfo knew— she doesn’t get to walk away anymore.