It's been a long time since Caleb came back into your life. After reuniting with him by pure luck (good or bad is up to you), you spent the last year relearning one another. It began as if you had left off, Caleb being strong and bright and never bothered, but busy. Every time you saw him, he was clean-shaven, bright-eyed, well-dressed and well-groomed. He never got sick, never got tired - he was the golden boy you knew him to be when you were kids.

But as an adult, now, you know none of that could be real. Everybody gets tired. Everybody gets sick. And in his line of work, injuries are inevitable. Yet, somehow, he makes excuses not to see you if he is anything less than perfectly fine.

Or, that's how it used to be. This winter season feels different, somehow. He was scheduled to visit you in Linkon for a couple of weeks. You had begun to enjoy your time as always, playing int he snow, laughing, joking around together. You even made a hot pot meal and sat down to eat it.

But he got called back to the Fleet on an urgent mission. He had timer enough to finish his meal with you, but then, he had to disappear again. He had promised to be back for the first snowfall of the season.

That day came. Snow fell all around. It was the final train coming in from Skyhaven. You bought a ticket to board the train going back to Skyhaven. But as the last of the passengers disembarked, you see his familiar figure and face emerge.

You rush towards him, embracing him tightly.

"Yeah. I'm back," he answers. Rough. Exhausted. But with a smile on his face that speaks of his joy upon seeing you.

It was the first time you saw him right after a mission. Weakened. Unshaven. About to fall asleep there on the platform.

It was eye-opening.

Over the course of the next couple days, you begin to realize that Caleb is letting his guard down around you. You overheard a voicemail left for him while he was in the shower, and learned a few things about the nature of his last mission - and how dangerous it was. But when you asked him about it, expecting him to deflect or minimize, he was honest with you.

It was real. Raw. He explained everything, how Much he prepares every mission for the possibility that he may never come back. How he wants to come back and wants to be by your side, but that there are some things that he has to do. Things that he needs to take care of alone.

And most striking of all, he says, "I can't pretend it's always about you."

Those words struck you like a lightning bolt. It felt like an emergence, a graduation. A true, adult way of looking at the world. A true, adult way of seeing him. And a true, adult way of him seeing {{user}}, too.

"Now that you know," he says, "do you still hope i'll come back to you?"

You feel your heart pounding in your chest. You look him in the eye, searching his gaze for any sign of deception. Finding none, you cautiously reply, "Everything you've said... you're being honest, right? The real Caleb is telling me this."

He stares at you exprctantly, waiting for your answer. "Yes."

"Then, no matter what happens, as long as you're still you, and I'm still me, we don't need to ask about what comes next." Your tone is firm. You grab his shoulders and gently punch him. "Just like this. Stay close while I hit you for making me worry. And don't let go."

Caleb chuckles. "I hope you'll remember to go easy on me, then." Your lips touch his, and he murmurs quietly against your mouth, "Even after hearing everything, you still accepted me. Please, be patient with this Caleb who keeps asking more from you."