Nora lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, her gaze drifting into the distance.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtidrePjKLT
Her hair fanned out across the pillow like ripples of soft golden waves.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6dZDePnHv
She didn’t move much—only her chest gently rose and fell with each breath.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaBBUeoBE0
She seemed to be spacing out, or flipping through some distant page in her mind.
Tim turned off the small bedside lamp, walked around to the other side of the bed, and lay down carefully.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiw1plWcph9
His arm naturally brushed against Nora’s, their body heat quietly connecting.
But Nora didn’t turn to look at him.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCC1UZ9UbO
Still staring at the blank ceiling above, she asked softly,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sX30MzJ4C
“Tim, don’t you want to ask me some questions?”
Tim tilted his head, his blue eyes resting on her profile.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQWfCZH8s2
Her tone wasn’t too light or heavy—like she was speaking to a stranger.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNIODoE9KI
Or maybe she was deliberately tossing a stone into his heart, just to see what kind of ripple it would cause.
He knew what she meant. About her past.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawJOUOmtM6
That past she’d never talked about—but one he had long suspected was far from simple.
Tim stayed silent for a moment, not answering right away.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxa64SNM5Rl
Ever since they got together, he had made a decision:78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjOGsXWEyR
If she wanted to talk, he’d listen.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqc1bfvRsB
But he wouldn’t pry.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡct9Msf9OS0
Because he could guess—it wasn’t going to be a fairytale.
And the fact that she made it here, stayed by his side—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcc4GCqPAl
It already meant that whatever world she came from… it didn’t have a happy ending.
His blue eyes hesitated as they looked at her, unsure how to begin.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4FRkfWO3P
Just as he struggled for words, Nora turned her head and met his gaze.
Her green eyes sparkled slightly—and then she smiled.
“Tim, you don’t have to be so cautious,” she said gently, as if finally opening a door in her heart.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HaTEgfqY8
“That part of my memory… it’s from a long, long time ago.”
She rolled onto her side, drawing closer to him, her voice dropping lower.
“The truth is, I believe in Batman more than you think.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopm0owS8ju
More than any of you think... maybe even more than he believes in himself.”
As the words left her lips, she sounded like she was twisting a tongue-twister.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFGzjptkYG
Or like she’d revealed too much too quickly, blinking in slight surprise.
Tim was stunned. He didn’t expect her to describe her connection to Batman like that.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0mQk6QXwg
He opened his mouth, but realized—he didn’t need to say anything.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHh7S1EnTf
Because in that moment, she had already told him more than he ever hoped to hear.
She trusted them.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe92JaKrI19
She chose to stay.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1Dm623PqX
And he would do everything he could to protect her present.
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78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNe1V1QWTLL
One Day
Nora was lying on Tim’s lap.
Tim: “Nora, are you sure you want to talk? You know Batman…”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAedm81Lo9K
Nora glanced up at him with those green eyes:78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW80qhu33c6
“You mean the cold, reclusive, control-freak part?”
She reached up and took his hand.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJgqwSH3QG
“Tim, I am trying to seduce Batman’s protégé here. The least I can do is tell a bit of the truth, right?”
Nora grinned mischievously.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeiL5XO0wd
Tim glared at her.
A few days earlier, Nora had suggested:78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE26r2MzhHs
“You ask, I’ll answer. I’ll try my best to tell the truth—and you can decide what to report to Batman.”
Tim had hesitated.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLTJ9WqnNd
But Nora said, “Let me guess—Batman asked you to write a report, right, Timmy?78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jJPM37cc8
If you don’t, he’ll come in person. I know that much.”
“About who I am…” she said, still staring upward,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mPEDHdxAq
“This is a story I never planned to tell.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz135dypuVU
But now… I’m ready.”
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Nora tilted her head slightly, as if drawing long-forgotten fragments from deep memory.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamerrhmjQm
Her tone carried a playful ambiguity.
“Just to be clear, I wasn’t born in Gotham with those memories.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30OuowkUP4
“I only remembered later—much later.”
Tim said nothing. Just listened intently.
“It all came back when I saw Batman for the first time. I was sixteen.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCx9frUNZXd
She chuckled. “I remember it was after a ball game. I came home late, took a shortcut—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxb8wsSA13z
and then I saw Batman and Robin.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEX5pBzkWyk
And I passed out.”
Tim’s expression changed.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡumxUj6sHIL
That long-buried memory—suddenly cracked open by her words.
He remembered that patrol.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bc4ZlUMrL
Not a particularly memorable mission.
A girl appeared at the end of an alley.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAXeD2QzZX
Blonde hair. Wide eyes. Frozen in place.
And then—she fainted.
He hadn’t even had time to say a word.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KoGQ3trBK
He caught her instinctively. She looked like any normal teenage girl.
He took her to the nearest hospital.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHpALSSkwU
At the time, he even told Bruce, “She probably just got nervous.”
Now, the blonde woman in front of him smiled gently.
“Yes, Tim. That was the first time we met,” she said softly.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMpKeVEjSR
“A flood of memories hit me all at once. My brain felt like it was exploding… so I fainted. Very dramatic, huh?”
Tim said nothing.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2Hf7qacNe
But in his mind, he could hear the rain from that night all over again.
“…Why would seeing Batman trigger your memories?” he finally asked, voice cautious.
Nora blinked, her smile widening.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7JtJsQkvj
“Ah ah, I’ll get to that~”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9SciQmRjN
Her voice teased at the end—like she was baiting an audience, or trying to make Tim squirm.
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78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0xWH15IZj
Nora’s gaze drifted into the distance, as if recalling memories from another lifetime.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3pb35ZHZ5
Her expression softened, eyes unfocused—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXbHh4unvT
As if looking through time and air, at a world that no longer existed.
Her voice was slow, almost like she was telling someone else’s story.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ837uWTpkCR
Or trying to comfort herself.
“In my previous life, I was born into a very ordinary family.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSLRzNyEkb
Just my parents and a sister.”
Her lips curled slightly, like the simple statement brought images to her mind—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgP742W1HT
the three of them making breakfast, watching cartoons on the couch.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7aSqf7ZBkv
Nothing dramatic. No sorrow. Just warmth, familiar and everyday.
“Our family had one special trait—probably written into our DNA.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡny3KBYeq29
We loved children.”
Her tone held pride.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDc8MF6XZz
Not about noble bloodlines or prestige, but a kind of inherited gentleness—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡim8UhFkliY
a deep affection for life, and an instinct to remain patient through both tantrums and laughter.
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“We ran a kindergarten. There were always kids around.”
She let out a soft laugh, part fondness, part exasperation—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSsduNOu45r
as if that school had been the center of her universe:78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUeFmmHOSV
laughter, arguments, the creak of rocking horses forming the soundtrack of her days.
“I was taking care of little kids from a very young age.”
Her tone was casual, but it carried a sense of responsibility and pride.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIY7Nqc9k9
She probably wasn’t even in grade school yet—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUv8ssrviB
but she already knew how to hold a crying baby, how to coax a fussy toddler into eating.
“Kids are the cutest,”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYVHnIpZgf
she said warmly—like the words came straight from her soul.
Her eyes softened. Her lips curved gently.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnucFdpS4H
A tiny glint sparkled in her gaze.
Nora squinted slightly, still lying on Tim’s lap,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Q79W4eas9
though her eyes seemed focused on the past—where there was no blood, no chaos,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6scaC9CY1X
just children running across rubber mats.
“Our world was peaceful.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRCVhG5XFtb
No crime. No supervillains.”
Her voice was calm—stating it as if it were the most natural thing.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlxNQUZwoi
A world without Gotham.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGkWWqHjHf
No blood-soaked nights.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewWDApO450
No alarms wailing.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1SvVNgtGT
Just a place where parents could safely let their kids climb slides and laugh freely.
“My sister, though… had a hobby you’d never guess, Tim.”
She finally looked at him again, her tone turning cheeky, a mischievous glint in her voice.
“My sister was a huge Batman fan.”
Equal parts exasperated and proud, she spoke like someone who’d been thoroughly indoctrinated.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48vbKKtvp0
She’d watched every movie, read every comic.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo75P2hFNPl
Nora, of course, got dragged along for the ride.
Tim blinked. “But… that makes no sense. No crime means no Batman. He wouldn’t exist.”
His voice faltered, like his logic circuits had jammed.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvodHRwi763
He furrowed his brows, trying to make her story fit his world—but it didn’t.
Nora laughed.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDF32ibpyuS
“Exactly, Tim. In my world, Batman is just a comic book character.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKDBaVhZcI
He’s a detective series, actually.”
She beamed at him, her tone teasing but affectionate.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRfwBokCzg
As if to say, “Yes, I came from a world you can't imagine—but I really did.”
“My sister loved Batman so much.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUgMwWLJI8
She watched every movie, bought every comic.”
Her words quickened, like she still remembered her sister yelling at the screen—"Bruce, stop bullying Robin!"—while munching chips.
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78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwKcqowS6W
“She rubbed it off on me. I couldn’t help it.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbC9phvsLT
With her raving about him daily, it was impossible not to start liking Batman too.”
She shrugged innocently, like trying to explain how she became a semi-Batfan by default.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4qjTm2mp0
But Tim could tell—she truly loved those stories.
“I could even name all the Batman actors in order,”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqMRjtFR8P
she added proudly, like it was a party trick, or a badge of honor.
Nora continued:78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCnjquIBMA
“At night, we’d put Batman movies on during dinner.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7kMD8S0raM
Imagine eating while hearing how high Gotham’s crime rate is.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjI0elNMHF
Then she chuckled. “My dad would always ask:78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDej10AyAtt
‘Does anyone even live in that city anymore?’”
Her voice softened with the memory—nostalgia for a world that felt so ordinary.
“From a young age, my sister collected all the merch—comics, figures, posters.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQBnaG1C5l
Her room was plastered with Batman.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WAmWT211R
Every morning I woke up to a black-suited man silently staring at me.”
She burst out laughing.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSb74TfPFB
A childhood trauma, perhaps—but clearly not one she regretted.
Tim suddenly thought of something. He asked softly:78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3F9qpRW59t
“Why did you write… fanfics about Batman?”
Still lying on his lap, she answered slowly:78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsfOMUBbLx
“I needed to muddy the water.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6MEIheHTs
Crystal-clear water has no fish.”
Tim’s eyes widened.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn33wop82MH
It clicked instantly.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYCDftCZzx
Nora had deliberately drawn attention away from the vigilantes’ true identities.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlo6d6TvnhP
By flooding the internet with chaotic stories, relationships, and drama—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47MINr406d
she distracted people from uncovering the truth beneath the masks.
She added,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkryS6Cgtq
“When I was just a small-time writer, my fluff had only two readers.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Zg4GeKAEO
That was no good… So I took the dark path instead.”
Her voice held resignation—and a bit of self-deprecating humor.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb70WLHzXjb
Like someone who only meant to cause a little confusion,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1pNe4cA62
but got dragged deeper and deeper into fandom, until there was no going back.
She looked at him seriously.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SvdR5Hehx
“You better not tell anyone.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdg0wSFlRtX
I never wrote about you, okay?”
Tim couldn’t tell if that was a plea… or a threat.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3zPP7Gm53
So he simply nodded.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nSTYmODa5
Tim looked at her, blue eyes focused.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dv3I0Dg7Y
He asked, voice quiet:
“So…78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQlXzvsqcR
Were you happy?78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlioaaMp7or
In that world?”
Nora nodded gently.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBf9oxT7Hb
Her tone was soft, filled with an indescribable longing.
“Mm.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSuL5DvN6E
Those were the happiest fifteen years of my life.”
But then—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDBnsMRHzvR
she turned her face toward his stomach, burying herself there.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9rAXVLvf3
Her voice came muffled:
“Too bad, Tim…78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ebgooPk6o
The apocalypse came.”
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgcKWzd8Zt
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMYpZhOwaSp
and then Add to home screen.