Chapter 18: Castaways with a Name of Their Own

Chapter 18: Castaways with a Name of Their Own

"The same thing happened to me," I said, feeling the words come out of my mouth with a lightness that amazed me. The first time I saw you on the beach, I saw myself.

He stopped short, fixing his blue eyes on mine. Vik's wind was still blowing between us, but the cold didn't matter anymore.

"That was the day you saw me," he replied, with a meek and deep smile. But I saw you from the first moment you arrived in this place.

He stepped forward, shortening the distance that had separated us for weeks. He took the glove off his right hand and held it out to me firmly.

"My name is Ethan ," he said, and his voice echoed with ancient strength, a name that evoked the solidity of a rock and the loyalty of a lighthouse that does not go out in the storm. Ethan.

I held his gaze and, for the first time, slid my hand unreservedly into his. I felt the warmth of his skin, the protective and honest grip of his fingers.

"I am Astrid ," I answered, pronouncing my name with pride regained on the cliffs.

He nodded slowly, savoring the sound of my words, and didn't let go of my hand as he continued talking.

"Ever since you noticed me on the beach and we saw each other for the first time," I realized something crucial, Astrid. I thought: if she can turn the page in such a short time, I can too. When you got here, my perception of you was that of a completely defeated woman. Destroyed. Every time I saw you walking alone along the shore, it seemed like you were carrying the weight of the whole world on your shoulders.

He paused briefly, contemplating the change in my features.

"I don't know what changed inside you. I don't know what made you move forward so fast or where you got the momentum, but the woman in front of me right now is not the same one who arrived on that bus a month ago.

I lowered my head immediately, feeling a sudden warmth in my cheeks. The guilt of my own self-absorption gently beat my chest.

"Excuse me," I murmured, looking at my boots. Excuse me for not noticing it sooner. I was so sunk in my own mud that I couldn't see that you were there too, suffering next to me.

Ethan let out a low laugh, a manly, comforting sound that dispelled my sorrow on the spot.

"That's the least of it, really," he said, forcing me to look up with a gentle movement of his fingers. What is really important is that I witnessed all your change. I saw your strength, I saw how you got up every morning to fight for yourself, and that was what helped me to get ahead. When I saw you, I said to myself that I couldn't get stuck. I can't stop living because of what I went through in my past. I have to move forward, start living again and find myself again. That's why I thanked you that day on the cliff.

His blue eyes shone with a clean intensity, free of ghosts.

"That cry you gave came from the depths of your soul. I saw your pain, I saw your agony in every note of your voice... But I also saw your deliverance. And at that moment, I also wanted to feel free. That's why I went up, that's why I tried, and it worked. That very day, thanks to your cry, I also began to see life in a different way.