Chapter 10
The Choice.
Aira stepped through the light.
For one brief moment, she couldn't hear anything.
Then the world came rushing back.
Cars.
Voices.
Wind.
The smell of rain on the pavement.
She stood outside the station.
Her mother was crying.
Hana covered her mouth with both hands.
Aira looked behind her.
Ren was standing beside her.
He was still there.
She almost collapsed with relief.
Her mother ran toward her and pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Aira!”
Aira closed her eyes.
For the first time in years, being held by her mother felt completely real.
“I thought I lost you.”
Aira looked over her mother's shoulder.
“You remember me?”
Her mother pulled back, confused.
“Of course I remember you.”
Aira looked at Ren.
He was staring at Hana.
Hana walked toward him slowly.
“Ren?”
He nodded.
She suddenly hugged him.
“You idiot.”
Ren looked stunned.
“You remember me?”
Hana pulled away and wiped her tears.
“I've known you since you were a child.”
Ren looked down.
Something was wrong.
Aira could see it in his face.
“What is it?”
He looked at her.
“I remember.”
“What?”
“Everything.”
Aira smiled.
Then she noticed something behind him.
The station doors were closing.
Her sister stood inside.
Aira's smile disappeared.
“Sis!”
She ran toward the doors.
Her sister raised one hand.
She wasn't crying anymore.
She was smiling.
Aira stopped just before the doors closed.
“Wait!”
Her sister looked at her.
“You found me.”
Aira shook her head.
“No. You found us.”
Her sister smiled.
Then she looked at Ren.
“Take care of her.”
Ren nodded.
“I will.”
The doors closed.
The train disappeared.
Aira stood there staring at the empty tracks.
Her mother came beside her.
“Who were you talking to?”
Aira turned.
“My sister.”
Her mother looked confused.
Aira's heart sank.
“You don't remember her?”
Her mother slowly shook her head.
“I don't know who you're talking about.”
Aira felt the world tilt beneath her.
Ren grabbed her arm.
“Wait.”
He looked toward the station.
“Look.”
Aira turned.
A single photograph lay on the ground.
She picked it up.
It showed her, Ren, and her sister standing together.
Her mother was in the background.
This time, everyone's faces were clear.
Aira stared at the photograph.
Then her mother looked at it.
Her expression changed.
She touched the image.
“I remember.”
Aira's eyes widened.
Her mother began crying.
“She was my daughter.”
Aira hugged her.
The three of them stood together outside the station while the rain began to fall.
For the first time, the memory was no longer disappearing.
It was returning.
But there was still one question.
Aira looked at Ren.
“What happened to the Keeper?”
Ren looked toward the station.
“She gave us a choice.”
“No.”
Aira shook her head.
“She gave us something else.”
“What?”
Aira looked at the photograph.
“A chance to choose what we remember.”
Ren understood.
They had spent seven days afraid of disappearing.
But the real danger had been allowing fear to decide what mattered.
Aira looked down at her wrist.
There were no white lines anymore.
Only a faint crescent-shaped mark remained.
Ren showed her his wrist.
He had the same mark.
Aira smiled.
“Looks like we're still connected.”
Ren smiled.
“Unfortunately.”
She laughed.
“You're impossible.”
“I've been told.”
Aira looked at him for a long moment.
There was something she had wanted to say for days.
Something that had grown stronger with every moment they spent together.
“Ren.”
“Yeah?”
“I think I know why I chose you when we were children.”
He waited.
“Why?”
“Because even then…”
She smiled.
“I didn't want you to disappear.”
Ren looked at her quietly.
Then he stepped closer.
“I think I've been looking for you ever since.”
Aira's eyes filled with tears.
“Even when you forgot?”
“Especially then.”
She laughed softly.
The rain continued falling around them.
Neither of them cared.
Ren reached for her hand.
Aira took it.
They didn't know what tomorrow would bring.
They didn't know whether the Keeper would return.
They didn't know what existed beyond the station.
But for the first time, they weren't counting the days.
They had stopped waiting for the world to decide whether they deserved to remain in it.
They had chosen each other.
And somewhere beneath the old station, a forgotten train began moving through the darkness once again.
But this time, it wasn't carrying the forgotten.
It was carrying memories home.