The scream echoed through her bones, even after her eyes opened.

  But the world around her remained untouched.

  Lanterns floated gently in the pastel sky, their glow steady. The meadows swayed with the breeze, carrying notes of distant music and the scent of blossoms. No panic. No shadow. Just calm.

  And yet, her heart pounded.

  Had she imagined it? A flicker of memory, not reality?

  She turned slowly—and there he stood.

  At the crest of the hill, the boy watched her with that same familiar warmth, his eyes full of something deeper. Recognition. Ache. A secret too long kept.

  He raised a hand. Not to wave, not to summon—but simply to be there. To let her know he hadn’t vanished like the rest.

  She walked to him. Her steps were hesitant, then urgent.

  “I thought I lost you,” she said.

  “You didn’t,” he whispered. “You just forgot.”

  Something inside her shifted.

  A crooked tree.

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  A shattered carriage.

  A scream in the rain.

  The memories scratched at the edge of her mind.

  He stepped back, gesturing toward the path of glasslike stones that led through the glowing forest. “Come with me.”

  They walked in silence through a realm that shimmered with soft magic. Trees with silver leaves stretched high, and glowing creatures fluttered between their branches. Everything here breathed gentleness. As if the land itself wanted to comfort her.

  Yet even in all that wonder, his silence pressed against her chest.

  By the time they reached a lake so still it mirrored the stars, even though it was day, she couldn’t hold it in.

  “Tell me,” she said.

  He knelt beside the water. “You were six when you lost them. Your parents.”

  The words rang too clearly.

  “There was an accident. A carriage overturned on a rain-slick road. We were nearby—my parents and I. We heard a scream… your mother’s scream.”

  Her lips parted, but no sound came.

  “You were thrown clear. I was the first to reach you. You clung to my hand… and then passed out.”

  Images. Sounds. The flash of lightning. His face in the storm.

  “When you woke up, everything before that day was gone. Your aunt claimed you. She made herself your guardian, praised by all for her kindness.”

  He paused.

  “But she wasn’t kind, was she?”

  She shook her head slowly. “She told me I was cursed. That I ruined everything.”

  “She said it enough times that the village believed her. Especially after… the fire.”

  She froze. “The school fire?”

  “She staged it. Blamed it on your magic. You were only seven, scared, confused—and suddenly feared.”

  A sharp breath left her lungs. “But… why did you leave?”

  “My parents were afraid. Not of you—of her. They thought she might come after us too. They took me away in the night.”

  Tears blurred the golden world around her.

  “I waited,” she whispered. “Every day. For you.”

  He smiled faintly, pain etched into his eyes. “And I searched. This place… called to me. Like it knew we were meant to find each other again.”

  She touched the pendant at her throat—a small, worn locket. Inside was the photo she found in the library.

  “I left that for you,” he said. “A whisper led me there. I didn’t know if it would reach you… but I hoped.”

  She looked at him, at this magical world that had embraced her when nothing else had.

  “Why does this place feel like home?”

  He took her hand, gently, like he had so long ago.

  “Because it is. And because you finally remembered who you are.”

  And in that moment, the breeze carried petals across the lake—glowing softly, falling like memories made real.

  She leaned into him, eyes closed.

  For the first time in years, she didn’t feel lost.

  But somewhere beyond the lanterns and music, something waited.

  A secret. A truth still buried.

  And a voice—hers—just beginning to awaken.

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