Epilogue



One year later . . .



The sun was delightfully hot.

Lying on her stomach, Jules stretched out beneath the sun allowing it to warm her back, her eyes closing briefly in relaxation.

The sand was hard beneath her stomach but she didn't mind.

The wind was cool against her skin, everything was silent around her and she allowed her eyes to close for a few brief minutes as she relaxed.

After a few seconds, which could have been minutes, her break was interrupted by the gritty sound of a northern Irishman, Angus Brennan.

"Hey, Jules?" Angus called through the headset from his position a few hundred metres away, safely out of the blasting range.

Jules sighed as she leaned up on an elbow and glared at Angus in the distance, "What is it, Angus?"

"Are you going to be long?" Angus shouted, "Only they're having hot dogs back at base tonight."

Jules's stomach rumbled as she heard the word food and she really wanted to tell him to shut up, "Alright, bring them down. I'm nearly finished."

"Yes!" Angus exclaimed. Jules shook her head, chuckling to herself as she placed the last component on the dummy IED and sat back on her haunches, waiting for the newest Afghan recruits to arrive.

Dusting the sand off her front, Julia caught sight of the gold band around her finger and a smile came to her lips.

Jumping to her feet, Julia waved the men forward in eagerness. She wanted to get back to base as soon as possible.

It wasn't her turn to be out here today. She had been expecting a light patrol in the morning followed by an entire day of relaxation and rest with Marc but it seemed her plans had, once again, been thrown of the window when the resident bomb expert had gone out sick.

Julia was just giving the new recruits a crash course in how not to get blown up.

Jules did realise the irony of the situation.

As the small group of four Afghan boys arrived, each in their early twenties, Julia directed them to the bomb and told them each to take it in turns to try and disable it whilst she stood back and watched.

Angus had been joined to their unit a few months back. He was a handsome kid with ginger hair, a light beard, and an excitable nature.

Jules got the sense that he was always high on caffeine by the way he couldn't keep still.

Julia looked around them, keeping an eye out. This region was clear of Taliban and they weren't very far from base but she could never let her guard down.

Angus yawned beside her, "Is it always this boring?"

Julia thought about all the times she had been blown up, the bullets that had whizzed past her head and she thought about Abdul-Azim Farhat and Safia.

"Pretty much," Julia nodded when she spotted one of the new kids press something he shouldn't.

"BOOM!" Julia suddenly exclaimed, causing them all to jump.

The kid on the ground stared at her as if she was insane.

Julia simply smiled, "Boom, you're dead."

He glared at her.

"You cut the wrong wire. Next!"

This went on for the next three rounds until Julia had had enough. It was her anniversary and she wasn't going to spend it out here trying to diffuse a fake bomb.

"Okay," Jules stepped forward, "Let me show you."

After rushing through the procedure, knowing that they would be shown countless times in the future, Julia packed away their gear and headed back to the jeeps.

Angus jogged up to meet her, "I don't think that's how the bomb disposal does it."

Angus and Julia shared a smile, "If they wanted it done properly, they should have done it themselves."

He arched an eyebrow before he turned away and headed to the other jeep, "That teaches me to ask."

The drive back to base didn't take very long since Julia was driving.

Between her driving and her teaching skills she rather thought that she had ruined all of the new recruit's hopes about the army.

Right then she didn't care.

Beeping her horn, the gates to the base were opened and they drove through.

Julia didn't think she had seen anyone get out a vehicle fast enough.

She gave them a friendly wave, "Bye guys. See you tomorrow!"

The look of horror on their faces made her laugh out loud.

Carlos found her at the jeep and took the fake bombs from the back, "Still scaring the new recruits?"

"Of course," Angus fell in beside them, "I think that's her main job here."

"Hey," Julia complained, "Everyone knows my main job here is to sample all the food parcels."

Carlos and Angus laughed.

Julia touched his shoulder, "I do it because I love you."

Carlos grinned, "And you'll always have my gratitude for that."

Julia laughed, "Where's Marc?"

Carlos and Angus shared a look.

"What?" Julia narrowed her eyes, coming to a stop.

"Nothing." Angus replied too quickly, dodging her gaze.

"Angus," Jules tilted her head, "Are you not not telling me something?"

Angus squinted, trying to figure out what she said, "Um, No?"

Julia turned her gaze on Carlos.

"Marc's at the canteen."

Julia turned to leave but Carlos caught her arm.

"Before you go running off," Carlos dumped the fake bombs into Angus's arms with the order to put them away before she started to drag Julia towards her and Marc's tent, "Maybe you should freshen up."

"I don't see why-" Julia didn't get to finish her sentence because Carlos had already shoved her into the tent, his boot tapping against her bum with the order not to take too long.

Julia shouted an explicit back at him.

Ten minutes later and Julia had freshened up as much as she could.

She had washed the sand off her face, brushed her hair and re-tied it, and removed her body armour.

Re-emerging outside, Carlos was leant against the wall with his arms crossed over his body.

Julia tried to slip away but he caught her, his arm slipping around her shoulders, directing her through the base.

"You would be a rubbish spy, you know that?" Carlos laughed off her attempt to lose him.

"Or maybe I would be a brilliant spy and that was just a decoy," Julia winked.

Carlos shook his head as he turned them into the canteen and Jules paused.

This wasn't the canteen she recognized.

The plain wooden tables they ate off had been moved to the side until only one table remained, a red cloth draped over the top of it.

Yellow flowers, which are found by the roadside, had been stuck in a water bottle and placed in the middle of the table and pieces of the same red cloth had been draped over the lights to give a romantic setting.

Julia looked at Carlos in confusion but he simply extended his arm towards the back of the canteen where Marc suddenly appeared.

Jules, as always, instantly smiled when she saw him.

"Happy anniversary, Mrs Langdale," Marc stepped forward and gave her a single yellow flower. It wasn't exactly a rose but it was better.

Angus's head suddenly poked around the corner, "Do you like the flowers? I found them on patrol!"

Julia and Marc were staring at him as Steve appeared and dragged Angus back behind the curtain, apologising for the interruption.

"Carry on," Twitch grinned before marching off after Angus.

Julia and Marc laughed as he led her to the table.

"I think Angus was more excited about this than I was," Marc confessed as he took a seat beside her, his arm wrapping around her waist.

"It's beautiful," Julia smiled up at him, their lips touching softly, "Happy anniversary."

Marc's face was the picture of pure love as he lifted a hand and cupped her cheek, "I love you."

Julia nodded, "I love you too."

They kissed again when the sound of maracas and bad singing filled her ears and Julia spun in shock to see Carlos, Twitch and Angus dressed up as Mexican performers.

Julia burst out laughing at their appearance. They had cut holes in bed sheets to make ponchos and they had stolen straw hats from somewhere.

The maracas were simply empty water bottles with grains of rice inside. Their voices were off tune but they began to sing a bad version of 'Love is all around'.

Jules's shoulders were shaking from laughter, Marc's chest rumbling against her back as he couldn't believe how ridiculous it looked and yet it was amazing at the same time.

As they sang out of time with each other and mumbling the words they didn't know, two soldiers arrived carrying two plates of food.

When they were placed in front of them, Marc thanking them, Julia saw that it was hot dogs.

Julia smiled at Angus as the song began to end, the sound of their voices oddly soothing as Julia turned to Marc.

"I know that this wasn't what you expected for your first anniversary," Marc apologised, his hand fanned out across her lower back.

Julia shook her head, "This is better than what I expected. It's perfect."

And it was perfect because of the people that were there.

A nice quiet meal in a posh hotel would have been nice and pleasant but who else could say that they spent their first anniversary eating hotdogs and listening to their friends sing 'Wet Wet Wet's' song in a Mexican accent?

Yes, it may have been easier if Julia had never lost her memory but then she would have never had this. And given the choice, she would do it all again.

She would gladly sacrifice years of memories to get here again because, honestly, from what she remembered about her old self she was amazed anybody liked her let alone loved her.

She had been given a second chance and she was going to hold on to it with both hands.

"So," Marc wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing her back against his chest, his chin resting on her shoulder.

"So," Julia whispered, smiling as their trio of singers started to sing Celine Dion.

"Do you remember what I told you when we first met?" Marc whispered.

Julia sadly shook her head, her brow furrowing.

"Oh, don't get upset, it's good." Marc reassured her.

"Okay," Julia murmured, wondering where this was going.

"I said," Marc leaned in closer, his breath tickling her neck, "That I was going to marry you one day."

Julia turned and looked at him startled but his face was calm, relaxed.

"What did I say?" Julia frowned.

Marc laughed, bowing his head as he remembered.

"What?" Julia frowned, "What did I say?"

"You didn't say anything," Marc took a gulp of air before he smiled; "You punched me."

"Oh," Julia bit her lower lip, "Sorry?"

Marc shook it off, "I'm glad you did. Or else I wouldn't have been completely obsessed with making you fall in love with me."

"Well," Julia rolled her eyes, "It worked."

"It did, didn't it," Marc kissed her.

"I think I would have fallen in love with you anyway," Julia told him, "I did the second time around and you didn't try then,"

"Good point." Marc nodded, "Well, how about we make a new vow in addition to our marriage vows?"

Julia frowned, "What vow?"

"A vow to keep trying, to keep falling in love with each other all over again every day?" Marc arched an eyebrow, "How does that sound?"

"Hmm, I don't know, sounds tiring," Julia joked.

"It didn't take me that long to fall in love with you." Marc told her.

"It didn't?" Julia whispered.

"No," Marc's eyes sparkled with love, "All it took was 12 seconds."