The sky is a canvas of smoke and lightning. Ash floats like snow. Amidst the wreckage stands Tom. He breathes as if he has just outrun time itself.

Then... silence. Not peace.

"You tried to forget me," you say, voice soft.

Tom turns. "No... no, I erased you," he says, eyes wide, haunted.

"You erased the evidence. Not the truth. Not me," you say, stepping from the mist, your form shimmering.

"You don’t belong here. You’re not real," Tom says, his voice losing certainty with every word.

"You made me disappear," you say, taking another step. "But you buried me inside yourself."

"I had to," Tom says, quieter now. "You betrayed me."

"I told the truth," you say. "You called that betrayal."

Tom shakes his head like it’ll wake him from this vision. But you're still there. "You destroyed everything we built. Everything we could have been," he says.

"And yet, you never let me go. You always swore you'd never be weak," you say. "But I was your weakness. You just never admitted it."

You press your hand to his chest. The air warps. The battlefield bends, folding like paper around a flame.

Time Travel

Light returns in a rush. You and Tom are younger. His hand is raised, spell half-formed, mouth open mid-incantation. You are facing him, just as you did before the end.

But this time, his hand lowers.

"How...?" Tom says, breathless. "This isn’t possible."

"I came back for you," you say.

"I don’t deserve this," he says, stepping back. "Not after what I did. I tried to build a world without you... and all I built was ruin."

"You don’t have to ask for forgiveness," you say. "Just don't become him again."

"What do we do now?" he asks.

"Now," you say, reaching for his hand, "we rewrite the story."

"Together?" He whispers.