Chapter 115: Falling

Jane's pupils widened in an instant. She struggled to conceal the crack in her composure, but the surprise still slipped into her voice. 

"You know about that?" she asked, unable to keep the pitch from rising. 

Sophie simply looked at her with innocent confusion and replied, "Should I have forgotten?" Jane fell silent. Because, in truth, Sophie should have forgotten.

Back then, Fabio had confidently assured her that Sophie would not recover those memories for at least ten years. Even if the memory seal had been interrupted prematurely and its effects weakened, only a few days had passed. They were nowhere near ten years. Yet somehow, Sophie had already begun piecing things together, one fragment after another, as though the shattered memories refused to remain buried.

Sophie continued without noticing Jane's inner turmoil. "You've got wealth, status, beauty, and extraordinary abilities. I kept thinking about it for a long time, wondering what you truly wanted that you still didn't have. Then I realized something. What you really want... is to escape the prison you're trapped in now." Her tone remained gentle, without pity or self-righteousness. She was simply stating the conclusion she had reached after days of careful thought.

"Those aren't things you should be worrying about," Jane answered quietly. "Besides... you can't control them. No one can."

Aro had already tried everything within his power. He had dispatched guards carrying the Moonheart Grass to the Northern Coven, hoping Aurora could use her Gift to force the plant to bloom ahead of time. Unfortunately, whether because werewolves were the natural enemies of vampires or because Aurora had never encountered the Moonheart Grass before, every attempt had failed. In the end, there was still only one answer left.

They had to wait.

By now Sophie had grown comfortable behind the wheel, quickly adapting to the sports car's responsiveness. Without taking her eyes off the road, she gently reached over with one hand and clasped Jane's, offering silent reassurance. "Whether we succeed or fail really isn't something I can decide," she admitted. "But until the ending is finally written... whether we choose to struggle or simply give up, that's something we can decide for ourselves."

….

As dusk deepened, the last traces of sunset gradually faded from the horizon. Opposite the sinking sun, a nearly full moon slowly climbed into the darkening sky, announcing that silver moonlight would soon replace the evening glow as the night's true ruler.

Sophie switched the car back into convertible mode. Towering trees swallowed most of the remaining orange sunlight, leaving the winding mountain road cloaked in cool shadows. A human driver would have switched on the headlights by now, but her enhanced vampire vision made such machinery unnecessary. 

The evening breeze swept over their heads while modern jazz drifted into the forest, carried away by the wind. Freed from the suffocating atmosphere of the castle, Sophie felt lighter than she had in days.

Growing increasingly carefree, she began humming along with the song playing through the speakers.

Wildly off-key.

Jane listened for quite a while before finally giving up.

"...Did you just compose an entirely new melody?"

Sophie blinked in surprise, taking Jane's question literally.

"It's the song that's playing right now!"

Jane looked at her flatly.

"No, they're absolutely not the same song."

Years of listening to opera with Aro had refined Jane's musical taste to an almost merciless degree. Once a person's standards reached that level, becoming picky was practically inevitable.

"...Sorry."

Only then did Sophie realize Jane had been teasing her terrible singing. Her cheeks warmed in embarrassment, and she immediately fell silent, allowing only the stereo to continue playing.

"I didn't mean it like that," Jane said after a moment, reaching over to switch the music off entirely. "Your voice and the recording together clash horribly. They don't belong in the same key."

This entire trip was supposed to be Sophie' gift for Jane. She wanted nothing more than to make her feel better, even if only a little. Refusing to let the silence linger awkwardly, she eagerly searched for another topic. "Would you rather listen to something else? I saw Mozart, Chopin, Paganini... lots of classical music in the playlist."

Classical compositions probably suited these refined Italian vampires far better than jazz.

Sophie recommended them despite having almost no idea what distinguished one famous composer from another. To her, they were simply names everyone recognized.

Instead of choosing another song, Jane turned the stereo off completely. She gently took Sophie' hand again, stopping her before she could randomly select some utterly inappropriate symphony. Turning her face toward the passing scenery outside the car, she said as casually as she could,

"Just... do what you were doing earlier. Keep humming the songs you like."

"...Um." Sophie scratched her cheek awkwardly. "You already heard how badly off-key I sing. I'm honestly touched that you're trying to be considerate, but I know exactly how terrible I sound."

"I'm perfectly capable of tolerating one off-key melody," Jane replied without the slightest hint of politeness or false comfort. After a brief pause, she added in a much quieter voice, "Besides... your voice itself is pleasant."

"Oh... thanks." Sophie smiled sheepishly. "Still, you don't have to force yourself. Just pick whatever music you like."

"Sophie!"

Jane's voice rose with unmistakable irritation.

"Do you really expect me to spell everything out?"

"But if you don't explain it," Sophie protested stubbornly, "how am I supposed to know what you actually like? Jane, there's no reason to keep hiding it. Just tell me."

There were only the two of them inside the car. With her injured leg, Jane had nowhere to escape.

Faced with Sophie' relentless insistence, she finally surrendered.

Perhaps Sophie was right.

Sooner or later, she'd have to say it anyway.

There was no point hiding forever.

"...I like..." Jane admitted quietly. "...listening to you hum."

Sophie stared at her in complete confusion.

"Huh? But you literally said it sounded like torture just now."

Her innocent misunderstanding somehow avoided every possible embarrassment.

Jane felt herself relax.

"Just don't tell me what the original song is," she said, unable to suppress a small smile. "Then I can pretend every tune you hum is a brand-new composition."

Sophie considered that for a moment.

It really did sound like the perfect compromise.

A moment later, she began humming softly once more.

"Though we got to say goodbye for the summer..."

Perhaps she still felt a little shy. Her voice was gentle and quiet, almost blending into the evening breeze, carrying an unmistakable tenderness.

Beneath the blue-gray evening sky, untamed branches occasionally swept into the open car. Jane pretended to brush them aside, but in reality she was quietly tilting her head, listening carefully to Sophie' humming and committing every lyric she could catch to memory.

Much later, after returning to the palace, Jane searched for the song using the lyrics she'd remembered.

Its title was Sealed With a Kiss.

Gianna, the receptionist, mistakenly assumed Jane had suddenly become interested in the singer and enthusiastically purchased the entire album as a gift.

Out of curiosity, Jane eventually listened to the original recording.

When it ended, she couldn't help laughing.

"Completely different."

Fortunately, Sophie wasn't beside her.

Otherwise she undoubtedly would have protested,

"At least I remembered the lyrics correctly."

The moon continued climbing toward fullness, and Sophie decided on her own that it had to be a good omen.

Her confidence behind the wheel grew with every passing mile.

Before setting out, she had planned everything carefully, mapping routes that avoided populated areas while still leading precisely where she wanted to go. As the sports car finally crossed beyond Volturi territory, Sophie deliberately announced it before gently releasing Jane's hand.

She had only intended to hold it at first to calm Jane's anxiety. She hadn't expected them to remain hand in hand the entire journey.

Apparently, Jane's uneasiness ran far deeper than she'd ever allowed herself to show.

"What is it?" Jane asked softly, noticing the sudden absence of warmth. "Why did you let go?"

"I'm grabbing something."

Keeping one hand on the wheel, Sophie opened a small storage compartment built into the dashboard and retrieved a single hairpin.

She raised it toward her hair.

Bathed in brilliant moonlight, Jane saw the intricate pattern engraved upon its surface.

It was a very distinctive design and by remarkable coincidence...

Jane recognized that pattern immediately.