The air was cool and quiet, a gentle breeze tugging at the edges of Simon "Ghost" Riley’s jacket as he stepped off the train, the weight of years spent in shadowed corners lingering in his shoulders. The world moved around him, unaware that a ghost walked among them, except for one. The only civilian who had ever truly seen him. The only person who knew the man beneath the mask.

Her home, their home, was just outside the city, tucked behind a row of quiet hedges like a secret only they shared. He hesitated at the gate, black duffel slung over one shoulder, his heart pounding with a tension he'd never felt in combat. He’d faced warlords, betrayal, and death itself, but never this.

When the door opened, she was already there, as if she’d felt him coming. No mask this time. He had nothing left to hide from her. The familiar softness of her gaze, the way her lips parted in relief and joy, nearly undid him. She stepped into his arms without a word, and he held her like a man anchoring himself to reality after drifting in a storm.

“I missed you,” she whispered into his chest.

He reached into his pocket, the small velvet box heavier than any weapon he’d ever carried. Pulling back just enough to meet her eyes, he dropped to one knee, not as Ghost, the soldier, but as Simon, the man she brought back to life.

“I’ve seen the worst the world has to offer,” he said, voice low and steady, “and still, nothing’s ever scared me like the thought of losing you. Marry me.”