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happened in New York,” she added, feeling relieved to get it off her chest. “I would have never stabbed if I knew that it was you.
    I swear, I thought you were someone else, shapeshifting. I never in a mil ion years thought it was real y you.”
    She felt herself tear up at the thought of it.
    He stopped and looked at her, and held her shoulders.
    “None of that matters now,” he said, earnestly. “You came back to save me. And I know that you did so at great expense. It might not have even worked. And you risked your life for me. And gave up our child for me,” he said, looking down again in momentary grief. “I love you more than I can say,” he said, stil looking at the ground.
    He looked at her with wet eyes.
    At that moment, they kissed. She felt herself melting into his arms, felt her entire world relax, as they kissed for what felt like forever. It was the greatest moment she had ever had with him, and in some ways, she felt like she was getting to know him for the first time.
    Final y, slowly, they pul ed out of it, looking deeply into each other’s eyes.
    Then they both looked away, demurely, took each other’s hands, and continued their walk through the gardens, alongside the river. She looked at how beautiful, how romantic Paris was, and realized that at that moment, al of her dreams were coming true. This was al she’d ever wanted out of life. To be with someone who loved her—who really loved her. To be in such a beautiful city, such a romantic place. To feel like she could have a life ahead of her.
    Caitlin felt the bejeweled case in her pocket, and resented it. She didn’t want to open it. She loved her father very much, but she didn’t want to read a letter from him. She knew right then that she didn’t want to continue on this mission any longer. She didn’t want to risk having to go back in time again, or to have to find any other keys. She just wanted to be here, in this time, in this place, with Caleb.
    In peace. She didn’t want anything to change. She was determined to do whatever she had to to guard their precious time together, to truly keep them together. And a part of her felt that that meant giving up the mission.
    She turned and faced him. She was nervous to tel him, but she felt that she had to.
    “Caleb,” she said, “I don’t want to search anymore. I realize I have a special mission, that I need to help others, that I need to find the Shield. And it may sound selfish, and I’m sorry if it does. But I just want to be with you. That’s what’s most important to me now. To stay in this time, and in this place. I have a feeling that if we continue to search, we’l end up in another time, in another place.
    And that we might not be together next time…” Caitlin broke off, and realized she was crying.
    She took a deep breath in the silence. She wondered what he thought of her, and hoped that he didn’t disapprove.
    “Can you understand?” she asked, tentatively.
    He stared off into the horizon, looking concerned, then final y turned and looked at her. Her own concern mounted.
    “I don’t want to read my dad’s letter, or find any more clues.
    I just want us to be together. I want things to stay exactly as they are now. I don’t want them to change. I hope you don’t hate me for that.”
    “I would never hate you,” he said, softly.
    “But you don’t approve?” she prodded. “You think I should continue with the mission?”
    He looked away, but didn’t say anything.
    “What is it?” she asked. “Are you worried about the others?”
    “I guess I should be,” he said. “And I am. But I, too, have selfish reasons. I guess…in the back of my mind I was hoping that if we found the Shield, it might somehow help bring my son back to me. Jade.”
    Caitlin felt a terrible feeling of guilt, as she realized that he equated her giving up the mission with letting his son go forever.
    “But it’s not that way,” she said. “We don’t know that if we find the