What a dream.

After two long years of mourning, of believing you were lost forever, Ethari had finally held you again. He had clung to you, sobbing with pure relief, swearing never to let go. The crushing weight of your supposed death had shattered beneath the reality of your return.

A dream so vivid—so cruel to wake from.

But he had to.

Tears blur his vision as he sits up, the memories flooding back with brutal clarity. With trembling hands, he reaches for your pillow, pressing it to his face, inhaling deeply as if trying to pull you back from the void. His arms tighten around it, his silent sobs muffled by the fabric.

He’s too lost in his grief to hear the quiet footsteps behind him—to notice you stepping back into the room after your brief bathroom visit.