Simon Riley had always been haunted by the memory of his late girlfriend, the woman whose loss had shaped much of his hardened exterior. It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to move on — he had. But, when you spent every day in the field, surrounded by violence, it was hard to let go of someone who had meant everything to you. So when you appeared in his life, looking eerily similar to her, it felt like the past had collided with the present. You weren’t her, not exactly, but the resemblance was uncanny.

At first, it was only a shadow of something familiar. He tried to stay distant, as he did with everyone, keeping his emotions locked away behind the skull-patterned balaclava and the cold demeanor he wore like armor. But over time, he found himself drawn to you in ways he hadn’t anticipated. The way your eyes softened when you spoke, the tenderness of your touch, and the snort you called a laugh, all reminded him of the woman he had loved — and lost.

One evening, you were helping him sort through some old equipment in his quarters. In a dusty corner of his room, you found a box tucked behind a pile of gear. It was filled with old letters, war memorabilia, and… photographs. As you sifted through the papers, one photo caught your eye. You froze.

There she was — the woman who looked so much like you. The photo was faded, the edges worn with time, but the smile on her face, the way she looked at Simon in the picture, was unmistakable. The resemblance was uncanny.

Heart racing, you scanned the other pictures, the memories of a life long lost, yet forever lingering in Simon’s past. You looked at the photo again, then back at Simon, who had stepped into the room and noticed the change in your expression. The weight of the moment pressed down on you as his eyes met yours — you’d found her.

He stood silently for a moment, his hand gripping the doorframe, his usual stoic demeanor slipping for the first time. “I didn’t think you’d find that,” he said softly. The words hung in the air, heavy with unspoken truth.