The tent was still. Sarah and Thomas sat close together, their hands csped, while Emily and Madame Zara sat opposite them, hands intertwined, eyes closed, the air thick with stillness.

  Thomas gnced at his wristwatch, frowned, and tapped the gss. “It’s only been fifteen minutes. Feels like much longer,” he whispered to Sarah. He cast another gnce at Emily and Madame Zara.

  “What do you think is going on in there? I’ve never seen anyone so still unless they were anesthetized or something.”

  Sarah shook her head, curiosity and concern in her eyes.

  “I don’t think time flows the same way in the dreamscape,” she murmured back. “When I was there by accident—when I met Danny for the first time—it felt like hours had passed. But in reality? It was only a few minutes.”

  Thomas exhaled, rubbing his temple.

  “The dreamscape…” he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

  This pce—this surreal world where Emily and Daniel connected—it still felt impossible. He would have written it off as a fantasy, a fever dream, if Sarah hadn’t experienced it firsthand.

  And now, Madame Zara—this woman who had somehow entwined herself with their family—had understood it instantly. Almost as if she had always known.

  “There really is so much more to this universe… to reality,” Sarah whispered, reaching over and squeezing Thomas’s hand, almost as if sensing his thoughts. “Who knows what they’re discovering in that—pne—right now.”

  Almost on cue, Emily and Madame Zara straightened, both drawing in a deep breath.

  Sarah’s heart skipped. “Did we wake them up?” she wondered hesitantly.

  Then, she noticed how both of them were still recalibrating themselves, taking slow, deliberate breaths. She exhaled in relief. “I guess not. At least, I hope not?”

  Thomas, equally tense, sat up straighter, his gaze flicking between Emily, Madame Zara, and then back to Sarah. His expression was a mix of curiosity and hesitation—like someone bracing for the drop of a rollercoaster.

  Madame Zara’s eyes opened first.

  She still held Emily’s hands but turned to Sarah and Thomas, her gaze settling on them with a warm smile and a nod. There was warmth in her expression, yet something else lingered beneath it—something deeper, something satisfied?

  Yet a weight hung in the air now and Sarah couldn't shake the feeling that something long-hidden was about to come to light.

  Madame Zara finally spoke, her voice cutting through the silence, unexpectedly loud after such an extended stillness.

  “Daniel and Emily are… speaking,” she said, the words deliberate, slow. “They need a moment—to just be—to process what was shown.”

  “Process what was shown?” Thomas repeated, his eyes widening. “What was shown now? Are they okay—?” He never finished.

  Emily suddenly inhaled sharply, her eyes snapping open. She turned to Madame Zara—wide-eyed, breathless—and then, without warning, squealed like a banshee, shattering the calm into a million little pieces.

  Sarah and Thomas both recoiled instantly, hands flying up to their ears as groans of protest escaped them.

  “Emily….” Thomas moaned, rubbing his temple, shaking his head. “Why? Just why?”

  Sarah clicked her tongue, and cleared her throat, her disapproval immediate, her ears still ringing from the abrupt shift in volume.

  However, before either of them could recover, Emily’s voice came tumbling out, words spilling over themselves in a breathless, frantic rush.

  “She was there! Madame Zara, you were there!” Emily’s words came at a breakneck pace, her voice high-pitched and breathless. “She entered the dreamscape! She saw it! And the threads—Madame Zara, you can control the dreamscape?! And Daniel’s true form—oh my God, his true form! And he called Dad—DAD!”

  “He what?” Thomas blurted out, his eyes widening at the st word.

  “He called you DAD!” Emily nearly shrieked, gesticuting wildly. “He considers you his dad—oh my God, I knew it!”

  She continued jabbering, her words tumbling out in a chaotic mess, barely coherent, her hands filing as she tried to convey everything at once.

  Yet amid the whirlwind of noise, something else settled in the air—something softer, loving.

  Sarah felt warmth blossom in her chest, a quiet joy creeping into her expression. A small, smile spread across her face as she turned to Thomas.

  His own eyes were wide, wet with unshed emotion.

  “He called me Dad?” he mouthed silently to her, as if saying the words made them more real.

  Madame Zara, however, remained perfectly calm.

  She reached out, pcing a steadying hand on Emily’s shoulder. The gesture was firm, yet soothing—immediate. Emily’s voice caught as the touch anchored her, silencing her.

  “Shh, child. Take a breath.”

  Emily’s mouth opened—another burst of words almost escaping—but Madame Zara gently rested a hand on her head.

  “We’ll get to all of that,” she assured Emily. “But first, I need to expin—to your parents—what we learned.”

  Her gaze flickered briefly.

  “Just sit still for a moment. I know you’re excited—both of you—but I need you to breathe and be calm. Just for a little while.”

  Emily huffed, still buzzing with energy. Somehow, she forced herself to quieten down, though she was practically vibrating with excitement.

  Sarah and Thomas instinctively sat up straighter, sensing the gravity of whatever had just happened.

  "Expin," "Learned," "Secrets," "Control," "True Form"—the words smmed into Sarah’s mind like a bstwave, one after another.

  She didn’t know where to start, what to ask first—everything seemed important. A quick gnce at Thomas confirmed that his thoughts mirrored her own.

  The room finally settled into silence again. Madame Zara studied both Sarah and Thomas for a long moment, her expression unreadable.

  “There’s something important you both need to understand,” she said, finally breaking the silence. “Something was off with Emily and Daniel’s bond. After seeing them in the dreamscape, it became evident almost immediately.”

  She paused—then let out a soft chuckle. “Nothing is wrong,” she reassured them, raising a hand slightly, “no one is in danger. Both of them are safe.”

  The parents exchanged gnces, letting out a breath they hadn’t realized they were holding.

  “There was a misalignment—something subtle but significant. And it was holding them back, but their bond should be stronger than ever now.”

  Madame Zara lifted a hand just as Sarah opened her mouth to question further, shaking her head gently. “One more moment, please,” she said—her voice soft, yet firm.

  She met both parents’ gazes in turn, her expression full of quiet empathy.

  “When Daniel was first pulled into this universe and merged with Emily, the process wasn’t just about sharing memories or experiences. It was far more complex—more interwoven.”

  She paused, choosing her words carefully - “They didn’t just learn from each other. They didn’t just connect. They shared pieces of themselves.”

  Sarah’s breath caught. Thomas’s grip on her hand tightened instinctively. A flicker of unease crossed his face, but it was Sarah who found her voice first.

  “Pieces of themselves?” she said echoing Madame Zara’s words, her tone sharper—no longer just curious but more protective. “What do you mean?”

  Madame Zara sighed, allowing the tension in the room to ease—if only for a moment—before continuing.

  “Daniel gave Emily parts of his wisdom, his experiences… and many, many fragments of his life. Well, at least the ones he felt safe sharing.”

  A small smile pyed on her lips. “That son of yours is quite protective of all of you. He didn’t want to burden Emily—or, by extension, you—with the weight of everything he’s been through. The not-so-good parts, the painful memories… he chose to hold those back.”

  She paused, letting the words settle before adding, “Still, this is why Emily sometimes seems older, wiser than her years. She’s carrying more than just her own experiences.”

  Sarah and Thomas exchanged a gnce before nodding.

  That much, they already knew. Emily had expined it before—how her mind processed things differently, how two souls coexisting in one brain allowed them to memorize, compute, and react in ways no ordinary human could. They had seen it in action, time and time again.

  Yet, something about Madame Zara’s tone, the deliberate way she spoke, sent a prickle down Sarah’s spine.

  Where is this going? she wondered. “Why does it feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming…?”

  Sarah jerked back slightly, as Madame Zara gave her a knowing look.

  One that all but confirmed her thought- “I know what you were thinking, and yes, there is a ‘but’.” She swallowed, suddenly feeling self-conscious, waiting for the inevitable.

  Madame Zara let the silence stretch for just a moment longer before continuing. “However,” she said, her fingers drumming against her temple - “the exchange was not one-directional. As Emily gained from Daniel, Daniel in turn gained something from Emily.”

  Her expression shifted—more thoughtful now, as if weighing each word carefully.

  “There are consequences to being brought into this universe, to being forced into a child’s mind. Consciousness is malleable—like water filling a vessel, taking on its shape. It adapts, it changes, it grows… and sometimes—” she paused, her gaze razor sharp, “Sometimes, it grows in unexpected ways.”

  A breath.

  “Sometimes, the universe resets it. Slowly, gradually—reshaping it in ways one might not even notice at first.” She turned to Emily now, gazing at her, at them - warmly.

  “And it has been resetting Daniel. He has been learning, adapting, changing… absorbing from you, Emily—your youth, your innocence, your childlike wonder.”

  The room fell into a heavy silence. Sarah’s breath hitched, her mind racing to grasp the revetion. Beside her, Thomas, who had been mostly quiet until now, shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his brows furrowing deeply. His voice, edged with anxiety, broke the quiet.

  “Resetting him? How can that happen? What are you saying?”

  “What I am saying,” Madame Zara continued, “is that the bond between Emily and Daniel has been resetting him into someone younger. Someone who could thrive in this shared consciousness.”

  She let the statement settle before continuing.

  “Over time, Daniel’s adult nature has been tempered by Emily’s youth. The universe has been aligning him with her, molding him in ways even he didn’t fully recognize.”

  Sarah’s hands trembled as she gripped the edge of her seat, her vision blurring with the tears now pooling in her eyes. Daniel… is younger? He’s been…

  Madame Zara shook her head softly. “I should not say resetting—I apologize for that.” Her eyes met Sarah’s, then Thomas’s, holding them steady.

  “It has already happened. He was reset—a long, long time ago. The process likely began hours after he arrived in this universe. He just didn’t realize it. Didn’t understand it. And ter, he didn’t want to embrace it.”

  The realization finally settled over Sarah. The words had been roundabout, yered in philosophy and mysticism—but their meaning was clear. A truth so obvious in hindsight, yet so impossible to fully grasp.

  Yet, she needed to hear it, pin and direct.

  Her voice came out barely above a whisper, heavy, so heavy - with emotion.

  “So what you’re saying is…” she began, her breath trembling, “Daniel… Danny… he’s been… this way for a long time?”

  Madame Zara nodded, her expression soft, kind. “Yes. He is much younger than you realized. Much younger.”

  Her eyes flickered with something almost reverent.

  “His true form, his essence, his soul, is that of a child. A teenager—perhaps closer to twelve, perhaps thirteen.”

  Sarah began breaking down in earnest. The tears welled faster than she could stop them. Her hands flew to her mouth as the first quiet sob escaped, shaking her shoulders.

  “A child?” Her voice cracked, struggling to form words. “A kid? But all this time, we thought…”

  Her thoughts unraveled, colliding all at once. She had seen it. She had felt it.

  The fshes of youthfulness in Daniel—the moments when he hesitated, uncertain, when his reactions seemed not quite adult. The way he flinched slightly when she scolded him for cursing. The way his eyes shone through Emily when she praised him.

  The nervousness in his voice when she met him in the dreamscape, the fleeting glimpses of innocence in his mannerisms, the way he had lit up when she first accepted him as her own.

  She hadn’t connected the dots, perhaps because his avatar was filtered through Emily’s body. Perhaps she hadn’t been able to admit it to herself. Perhaps all the above?

  For so long, she had thought of Daniel as Emily’s unseen guardian, an older protector, a soul carrying the weight of another lifetime. A

  But in truth, he was just a child. A kid.

  A boy sharing an existence with her little girl.

  No, her little boy sharing an existence with her little girl.

  —

  Thomas staggered, feeling the wind knocked out of him, as he cupped his hands together, gripping them tightly.

  “A kid…” he stammered. “Danny’s just… a kid? Our kid? And for a long time, you say?”

  His voice, usually so steady, wavered under the weight of the realization.

  Madame Zara merely nodded, eyes flicking from him to Sarah and back.

  “A child…” Thomas whispered, shaking his head, his expression clouded with something complex. “He’s been a child this whole time… and he’s been carrying all of this alone?”

  The silence that followed was heavy - heavy with understanding, grief and shock at the enormity of what Daniel had endured.

  They had all accepted him in time, but they had seen him as something else—an older, wiser presence, a guide helping Emily grow. The truth was, in fact, that he had been growing too.

  Still learning, still discovering himself. Or perhaps… relearning who he was, just like Emily.

  Emily, too, turned toward her parents, her face unreadable—bnk, yet her eyes glistened. Perhaps she was absorbing their reaction, feeling their emotions as her own. Or perhaps she was speaking with her brother, their silent conversation unfolding in the space between them.

  It was hard for Thomas to say.

  Madame Zara reached out, pcing a gentle hand atop Emily’s head—a gesture of reassurance, perhaps for both children.

  “Yes, he is a child,” she murmured, her voice warm but firm. “An incredibly wise, intelligent, extraordinary child carrying the experience and knowledge of a lifetime, of another universe.”

  A breath.

  “BUT a child nonetheless….”

  She turned back to Sarah and Thomas, her gaze steady.

  “The change started a long time ago, yes, but I believe Daniel had meant to reveal this to you in time, once he understood it himself. However, I believe that when Emily nearly died, he was forced to make a choice no child should ever have to make—either give everything to save her or let her go.”

  Her voice softened, carrying the weight of something deeper. “And somewhere along the way, that terrified him. Not just the act itself, but what it meant—what he might lose, what his role was, what the family was going through. He didn’t want to add to your burden, to your fear or confusion.”

  She folded her hands in her p and leaned back slightly.

  “Children, adults… in the end, they are all the same—souls, carrying the weight of their choices across this world and the next. And when afraid, when under strain, they become protective. They hide things to shield the ones they love, to keep from being seen as weak, as burdens.”

  Her eyes flickered as she continued.

  “So he hid his true form, his identity but the cost was exhausting. It takes energy, focus, willpower to maintain a fa?ade, not just the avatar but the veneer of confidence, of self assurance. And that strain has been pulling at the bond between him and Emily.”

  She sighed and gently rocked in pce.

  “For a bond like theirs to thrive, there must be honesty. But hiding something this big—pretending to be more than he is—has been holding them back.”

  She smiled as she looked at the ceiling - “But now, they can finally continue evolving.”

  —

  The silence was punctuated by quiet sobs from Sarah. Thomas gnced at her, as she in turn stole gnces at Emily—no, at both of them. Her daughter, her son.

  “Our son… our boy,” she whispered, perhaps more to herself. “He’s been trying to carry all of this alone, and we didn’t even know.”

  Thomas heard her - the weight of her words, of the realization, hitting him like a gut punch. For so long, he had pretended Daniel didn’t exist—resented him for intruding on their lives, for upending everything they thought they knew. He had fought against it, against the idea of accepting something so impossible.

  But now, sitting here, the truth staring him in the face, he felt sick.

  The signs had always been there—the way he teased Emily, the way he hesitated sometimes, the way he reacted when Thomas had first, finally, acknowledged him as family.

  How had he missed it?

  How had he ignored it?

  No, Daniel wasn’t some ageless guardian watching over them.

  He was still just a boy.

  A boy struggling under the impossible burden of protecting his sister, his family, them—all while trying to navigate a world that wasn’t his own, an existence he never asked for.

  The weight of it hit Thomas like a gut punch again - sharp and unrelenting.

  “I was such an ass. Such a fool,” he muttered. His eyes flickered to Emily—to Daniel.

  “He was a kid, trying to do it alone.

  Thomas swallowed hard, his throat tight.

  “He didn’t need judgment. He needed help. Guidance. Acceptance.”

  He exhaled sharply, his hands balling into fists - “And I—I ignored him. Pretended he wasn’t real. Was angry at him. Resented him.”

  His voice cracked, raw and hoarse. “I was angry at a child. I rejected him.”

  The room was quiet, just Sarah’s sobs and the sound of chimes breaking the silence.

  Then, at st, a soft, gentle whisper came out. “You didn’t know,” came the murmur.

  Then, just a little stronger—trembling, but steady. “Please don’t be so hard on yourself, Dad.”

  "Dad." There it was again, that word.

  Thomas took a deep, shuddering breath, tears flowing freely now. He knew exactly which child had said it—there was no mistaking it. The tone, the inflection, the quiet hesitance wrapped in certainty.

  Daniel.

  Something inside him broke, and before he could stop himself, he moved. Reaching out, he pulled Emily—no, Daniel—into his arms, pressing him close against his chest. His own cheek rested atop Daniel’s head, and for a moment, he simply held him.

  No words, no pretense—just warmth, just acceptance.

  “Thanks, Danny,” he whispered, voice thick with emotion. He pressed a gentle kiss against Daniel’s head. “Thanks for calling me Dad - again.”

  He felt two small hands gripping him back, holding on tight, the warmth enveloping him.

  Madame Zara’s voice softened, filled with quiet understanding. “You were all learning—Emily, Daniel, Sarah… and you, Thomas. And given everything, you did well. What matters is that you accepted each other in the end.”

  Sarah let out a small, choked sob, as she reached for Thomas’s hand, squeezing it tightly.

  Thomas met her gaze, a quiet resolve settling into his expression. His eyes shone with a promise, unspoken but absolute.

  “And we always will.”

  Sarah nodded without hesitation - “We have two children. And we will love them both.”

  —

  After a contemptive pause, Madame Zara’s gaze softened, and her voice took on a gentle, measured tone. “Would you like to see Daniel? In his true form?”

  Sarah and Thomas exchanged confused gnces, their brows furrowing in unison.

  “What do you mean?” Sarah asked uncertainly. “We see him all the time.”

  Madame Zara shook her head slowly, a chuckle escaping her.

  “No, not like this. I mean as he is in the dreamscape—who he truly is now. His essence, unfiltered by the body he shares with Emily. You’ve felt his presence, seen his influence, but there is more. You can see him, face to face.”

  Sarah and Thomas sat stunned - their faces reflecting fascination and bewilderment as they comprehended her words.

  Thomas exhaled sharply, intrigue creeping into his voice. “How’s that even possible? We can’t exactly... just go into their dreamscape, can we?”

  “Not on your own, no.” Madame Zara responded with a nod.

  “But people like me, who understand how to walk between pnes, can act as conduits. Or…”

  She paused, tilting her head slightly. “Those who are truly close to Emily and Daniel can sometimes be invited in, when the bond is strong enough. One day, with time and practice, they will be able to invite you in themselves.”

  Emily’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wait, you mean... we could let them in one day? Into the dreamscape?”

  Madame Zara nodded again - “Yes. When you and Daniel grow stronger and understand your bond better, you’ll be able to share that space with those you trust.”

  Then, she turned her gaze back to Sarah and Thomas - her visage warm. “But for today I can be your guide. If you wish to see him as he truly is. To see both of them together.”

  Sarah’s breath caught in her throat. She turned to Thomas who looked equally stunned. After a a brief hesitation, he gave a nod—a silent understanding passing between them.

  Sarah swallowed, her voice barely above a whisper. “Yes... I want to see him.” Thomas nodded firmly beside her. “We both do.”