Madame Zara closed her eyes and extended a hand to Sarah and Thomas. The parents hesitated for a moment, exchanging a gnce before each pced a hand in hers. With her other hand, she reached out to Emily, who grasped it eagerly, her frame quivering with excitement.

  “Close your eyes,” Madame Zara murmured gently.

  Emily obeyed immediately, already accustomed to this, a small, eager smile pyed on her lips as she slipped effortlessly into a state of calm.

  Sarah and Thomas, however, took longer—both trying hard to steady their breathing, their minds still connected to the reality they knew.

  “I can feel your heart pounding, Thomas,” Madame Zara said with a quiet chuckle. “Breathe in for four, hold for four, release for six.”

  Thomas exhaled sharply, making a small, reluctant sound but complied. Gradually, his breath evened out, his heart rate slowing.

  “Close your eyes, Sarah,” Madame Zara instructed, this time firmer.

  Sarah let out a small, indignant squawk, earning a giggle from Emily.

  “Feel the space around you,” Madame Zara continued, her voice soft and hypnotic.

  “Feel the energy, the life force that surrounds us and flows within. Let go of what you think is possible. Open yourself to eternity.”

  The air shifted. A subtle hum began to pulse through the room—faint at first, like a distant vibration beneath their feet.

  “Keep your eyes closed,” Madame Zara whispered, her grip tightening slightly. “Let me take you to them. Trust the bond you share.”

  As they surrendered, the world around them began to slip away. The sounds of the fair—the ughter, the music, the crowds—faded away.

  Then, they felt it - a sensation impossible to describe, yet real. A pressure, like the pull of deep ocean water. The hum in the air grew louder, as if a vast engine was powering. The vibration intensified, wrapping around them, and then— there it was, the sudden shift. A low, ethereal buzzing filled their ears as the world dited and time warped.

  And just like that, at long st, the parents entered the dreamscape.

  For one of them, it was the first time. A long-overdue second return for the other.

  —

  Thomas was the first to open his eyes, his breath catching as he took in the world around him.

  “Oh my God!” he nearly yelled, his voice filled with raw astonishment, his eyes shooting above him. His eyes were wide, face flushed as he spun in pce.

  “This… this is it? This is real? We’re in a different pne?”

  The words tumbled out in a rush—excited, nervous, eager, and apprehensive all at once.

  He looked down at the velvety grass beneath his feet and pressed down experimentally, as if to confirm it was solid, the bdes springing back instantly.

  “This is… the dreamscape?” he finally whispered.

  His hands slowly lowered, as his gaze lifted to the endless blue sky, the zy clouds drifting overhead. He turned in a slow circle, wonder growing with every second. His mouth fell open in awe at the sight of a stream bubbling gently in the distance, its crystal-clear waters glistening like liquid light, mountains proudly standing in the distance.

  He closed his eyes, letting himself feel it—this world, this impossible, breathtaking world that his children had created. For the first time in a long time, he felt weightless, almost young again.

  He inhaled deeply, the air carrying the scent of wildflowers and something else—something familiar. He knew that scent, but from where? It was at the edges of his memory

  —.

  Sarah meanwhile stood still, her gaze sweeping across the ndscape, a soft smile pyed on her lips, as recognition settled in.

  This world—this impossible, breathtaking world—wasn’t just any pce.

  It was theirs - Emily and Daniel’s - the joint creation of her children, woven from their memories, their bond, their essence.

  “I forgot how beautiful it was…” she murmured, almost reverently, nodding to herself. “God… it’s perfect. Just…perfect.”

  Beside her, Thomas turned to her, seemingly puzzled, his expression still caught between awe and disbelief.

  She gnced at him, ughing softly - even that sounding different here—lighter, almost musical.

  “Tom,” she said, reaching for his hand, “I’ve been here before, remember?”

  She gestured to the dreamscape around them. “Honestly, if there’s a heaven, wouldn’t you say this is it?”

  A rush of nostalgia swelled in her chest, pressing against her ribs. She had seen this pce once before—long ago, when Daniel had first revealed himself, during the hospital stay.

  Thomas exhaled, his fingers instinctively tightening around hers. He smiled, though it was tinged with something uncertain.

  “This pce,it feels so real,” he admitted, his voice quieter now, reverent.

  “I know it’s a different pne, or dimension, or whatever, but…”

  He trailed off, inhaling deeply again. “But Sarah, what is that smell?” he muttered. “That flowery scent… I know it but I can’t pce it…”

  Sarah tilted her head, watching as he took another deep breath, a quizzical expression on his face. Then, gently, she tugged his hand and led him forward, guiding him as his gaze darted.

  And then, he saw it.

  There, in the distance, standing tall against the impossible sky, was the cherry blossom tree.

  Its pink petals fluttered gently in the breeze, before vanishing into the air with a spark.

  Thomas’s breath caught again , his body moving before his mind had caught up as he pointed at the tree - “That tree! I know that tree!”

  It was unmistakable—the very tree they had pnted together as a family, back when life was supposedly simpler. Before they understood the full extent of what Emily and Danny were going through.

  Before everything changed.

  It was completely grown here.

  Sarah exhaled, her gaze softening. “Yes… You and Emily—or you, Emily and Daniel—pnted that tree in the backyard.” She turned back toward it, watching as the petals swayed in the breeze, drifting downward before vanishing into delicate sparks.

  Madame Zara, who had been watching patiently, finally spoke - “Tom, this is more than a dream—it’s a reflection of their bond. The pces and memories they hold dear become part of this world,” she said, gesturing toward the tree.

  “That tree appears to be the beating heart of this pce. I believe it symbolizes how deep Emily and Daniel’s roots go—their intertwining nature. And your family’s roots as well.”

  Thomas swallowed, his throat tightening. His eyes shone, as he wiped them with his sleeve, muttering something under his breath as he followed Sarah and Madame Zara.

  —

  As the family approached the cherry blossom tree, they saw her.

  Their daughter.

  Emily stood with her hands on her hips, gazing up at the blossoms, a look of quiet contemption on her face. She slowly turned and spotted them, seemingly on instinct, her entire expression lighting up.

  "Mom! Dad! You made it!" she excimed.

  Before they could react, Emily was already sprinting toward them, arms outstretched, her joy radiating through the air.

  Thomas barely had time to react before she barreled into them, as he let out a soft ugh, wrapping his arms around her. Sarah followed, pulling them both into an equally tight bearhug.

  The dreamscape might have been unfamiliar, surreal, heck, impossible—but the feeling of their daughter in their arms? That was all too real.

  Emily bobbed and bounced as she pulled back, her face bright with excitement.

  "Look at this pce, Em," Sarah murmured. “It’s beautiful. The most beautiful thing I’ve seen.”

  Thomas released his daughter, as he looked up again, gazing at the beauty of the dreamscape.

  "It is, Em," he said, shaking his head in quiet amazement. "I never thought we’d be able to see this for ourselves, but it’s real. It always was."

  A pause.

  His gaze drifted across the ndscape, once again taking in the hues of the sky, the shimmering of the cherry blossoms, the ripple of the stream nearby. He exhaled slowly, absorbing the reality of it all once again.

  "I knew you could go here. I knew your mom had been here," he admitted, gncing at Sarah. "But seeing it with my own eyes? That’s… something else entirely."

  Emily pulled back, her eyes gleaming as she grinned at him.

  "Well, duh, Dad. Where do you think Danny and I keep disappearing to?"

  Emily spun around, gesturing at the vast dreamscape surrounding them.

  "This is our world! Everything we love, everything we remember—it can all be here."

  She paused and giggled - “Danny calls it spawning. Some computer game term.”

  She waved a hand dismissively. “But yeah, we can change things. You wouldn’t believe how much fun it is—everything I’ve seen from our universe, and everything Danny has seen from his. And a lot of stuff combined or created from our imagination.”

  Sarah smiled at the sight of her daughter’s excitement, but a quiet tension crept in. Her eyes connected with Thomas for a brief moment, the same thought reflected between them.

  “Emily…” she said hesitatingly. “Where is your brother? Where’s Danny?”

  Emily’s bright expression softened, the pyful energy shifting just a hair. Her gaze flicked toward Madame Zara, who gave her an encouraging nod.

  Emily cocked her head, pcing her hands on her hips looking quite pleased with herself.

  “Dummy’s feeling a little shy,” she said with a teasing smirk before pointing behind them in a slow, deliberate ‘turn around’ motion.

  “He’s been waiting for some time. Why don’t you turn around?”

  Sarah and Thomas exchanged a brief, uncertain gnce before slowly turning to see what—or who—was behind them.

  And there he was.

  Standing just a few feet away, in the soft glow of the cherry blossom tree, was their son.

  Daniel.

  Not the way they had imagined him—not the way they had been picturing him all this time. No—this wasn’t the older, wiser presence Thomas had envisioned. Nor was he the young man Sarah had met in the dreamscape before.

  He was younger. A teenager. A boy.

  His dark brown hair fell in a moppy mess over his forehead, partially covering his bright, wide, intelligent eyes—eyes filled with a mixture of nervousness and anticipation. He was nky, somehow caught in that in-between stage of growth, his limbs slightly too long, his posture unsure. There was a hesitance in the way he fidgeted with his hands, shifting his weight awkwardly from foot to foot, his hoodie and jeans, slightly too rge from his frame.

  His hand lifted instinctively to the back of his neck—his famous tic—as he rubbed at it, a shy, uncertain smile pying on his lips.

  Then he spoke - his voice was higher than Sarah remembered—lighter, more youthful, and nothing at all like what Thomas had expected. The careful confidence they had once associated with him was gone, repced by something uncertain, something vulnerable.

  "Hey, Mom… Dad," he said softly, nervously.

  —

  Sarah couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t move. Her heart pounded in her chest as everything she had felt for him—all the unspoken, buried, complicated emotions—rushed to the surface in a maternal tidal wave she could no longer hold back.

  Sarah’s voice trembled as she whispered, “Danny…”

  At the sound of his name, Daniel shifted again, his smile uncertain. He looked so much like the man Sarah had met but - not. His features were so much softer, so much more boyish.

  “Yeah…mom” he said softly. “It’s me.”

  It was all Sarah needed to hear.

  With a sob, she ran forward, wrapping him in a fierce, protective embrace.

  Her arms hugged him tightly, as if afraid he might disappear if she let go. For a fleeting second, Daniel stiffened, evidently startled by the intensity of it but then, slowly—hesitantly—she felt him melt and rex into the hug, clinging to her as his cheek pressed against her shoulder.

  “You’re real…” Sarah whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “You’re really here.”

  Tears streamed down her face as she pulled back just enough to cup his face in her hands, her thumbs brushing gently against his cheeks. She studied him, committing every detail to memory—the curve of his jaw, the warmth of his skin, the nervous flicker in his eyes. He was so real now, more tangible than he had ever been before.

  Her son. Her invisible son, now so real.

  Her fingers found his messy hair, and she couldn’t help but smile as she smoothed it down, just as she had done with Emily a thousand times before.

  A soft ugh escaped her lips.

  “Look at this hair…” she said ughing through her tears. “You’re just like your sister.”

  —

  Daniel’s heart skipped a beat at his mother’s teasing.

  He couldn’t help but smile—small, fleeting—but it was there. Pyfully, he batted her hand away from his hair, making a faint whining sound, but the truth was, he was overwhelmed.

  The emotions surged through him in waves, too strong to process all at once. He had dreamed of this moment—of having her back in their shared world, of her seeing him without filters, of feeling her warmth, hearing her voice say his name like this.

  However, nothing - no fragment of imagination, had ever prepared him for the raw reality of it. His throat tightened, his vision blurred, feeling the sting of tears as he felt reunited with his mom.

  Then his eyes met Thomas’s.

  They widened as they connected, and Daniel hesitated- his heart skipping a beat, caught in the weight of something that defied understanding or definition. Something beyond this world.

  Sarah paused and noticed the change. Without hesitation, she stepped back, nodding at Thomas, one lingering ruffle through her son’s hair. As she silently passed the moment, she stood, watching, smiling at both her boys.

  Daniel barely had time to start. “Hey, Da—”

  Before he could finish, Thomas moved, crossing the distance in a second. His face was a mixture of disbelief and something deeper—something beyond words.

  Slowly, he reached out, pcing a hand on Daniel’s shoulder.

  He had been watching, frozen, as Sarah reunited with their invisible son but Daniel could sense - something had cracked open inside his father’s chest.

  For a moment, the two of them simply stared. Then Thomas’s voice came out as a whisper, perhaps to himself.

  “You’re a kid. All this time…”

  He took a deep breath and shuddered as he exhaled. “My kid… my son.”

  There was another pause - a breath - and then Thomas’s tears finally broke through, his voice thick with emotion.

  “Danny…” he croaked, barely able to get the word out. Then, like a dam breaking, Thomas moved - pulling his son into a hug—tight, fierce, protective. It wasn’t awkward or hesitant - no, it was the embrace of a father finally holding the son he hadn’t even realized he’d been missing.

  “God… you’re real. You’re really here.” Thomas whispered as his grip tightened.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for being such a jerk, my boy.”

  Daniel stood still, frozen for a moment, his body tense again under the weight of emotion and rawness surrounding them.

  Then, the dam within him too burst, he let go of uncertainty, of fear, and leaned into the hug. His arms wrapped around Thomas, just as they had around Sarah, his head resting against his father’s chest as he happily hummed.

  “I’m real…” Daniel whispered, closing his eyes, as tears leaked out. “I’m really here.”

  He could hear it - he could feel it - Thomas’s heart beat, the deep, shuddering breaths, the warmth, the weight, everything.

  Then, quietly, half teasing, added - ““And you really gotta stop being so hard on yourself, Dad.”

  A sharp breath escaped Thomas at the word Dad—and he squeezed Daniel even tighter. His hand rested on the back of his son’s head, brushing it gently, tears shimmering in both their eyes as all of it sank in.

  For a long moment, the two of them stayed like that, wrapped in each other’s arms.

  No one spoke.

  No one needed to.

  Thomas eventually released Daniel from his embrace, and took a step back chuckling, wiping his eyes, one hand still resting on Danny’s shoulder. Daniel could feel his father’s eyes traced his face taking in every detail.

  “Your eyes… everything about you,” Thomas murmured. “You’re so much like Emily. And she is so much like you.”

  Daniel swallowed, shifting on his feet, unsure of how to respond.

  “I think mom said that too…” he mumbled self consciously.

  “But you’ve been through so much” Thomas added cupping Danny’s face. “I can see it..”

  Thomas shook his head, his grip tightening for just a second before he pulled Danny into another embrace. Just the quiet, steady certainty of a father holding his son.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Thomas said, his voice thick. “You’re ours. Both of you. We’ll figure it out. Together.”

  Daniel closed his eyes, his breath shuddering as those words settled deep inside him.

  For the first time in a long time, he felt whole.

  —

  As Sarah and Thomas continued to fuss over Daniel—brushing back his messy hair, wiping away smudges of dirt, Emily finally had enough.

  She grinned, eyes glinting with mischief as she squeezed herself into the hug, wrapping her arms around as much of the group as she could.

  "So…” Emily began. “Want to expin why you’ve been hiding this whole time, huh? All this time, acting like you’re some big, wise guardian, and it turns out you’re barely older than me?"

  Daniel chuckled nervously, biting his lip for a second before gncing at Emily sheepishly.

  “This? Again? Umm… well… I didn’t exactly know how to bring it up…”

  Emily pressed on, raising an eyebrow, arms crossed in exaggerated skepticism. “Uh-huh. Sure. Because, you know, it’s totally normal to hide that you’re actually a kid—or a teen, or whatever it is you are.”

  “We are in a literal dream world, Shrimp” Daniel muttered turning red. “What’s normal anymore.”

  Sarah released the hug, giving Emily a light nudge, her own grin tugging at her lips.

  Just as quickly though, her expression shifted. Her brow furrowed for a second, and she turned back to Daniel, her voice softer, more serious now—though still gentle.

  “Emily’s right…” Sarah began carefully. “Why didn’t you tell us, sweetheart? You could have told us. You didn’t have to be scared.”

  Thomas pulled back slightly, pausing for a moment before nodding quietly. He gave both his children a small squeeze on the shoulder.

  “We would’ve wanted to know,” he said, looking at Daniel first, then Emily. “You’re part of this family, kid. Both of you. You didn’t have to hide.”

  Emily watched as Daniel’s eyes flicked between her and their parents—uncertain, almost pleading, the weight of everything he’d bottled up right beneath the surface.

  True to form, however, he only shrugged. But his voice, when he spoke, carried a nervous edge.

  “Madame Zara covered it pretty well already. I... I didn’t understand it at first,” Daniel admitted, his voice unsteady. “It seemed so slow at first—the change, then when Emily first accepted me, it sped up. Something in me twisting, changing, I thought it was normal.”

  His eyes flicked toward Emily, almost pleading, like he needed her to understand.

  “But my avatar, or this dreamscape body or whatever—it seems to adapt automatically. I think it sort of represents who I believe I am. Who I know I am - my age, my soul, my consciousness. Sort of. I don’t entirely understand it. But for a while, I couldn’t hold it together. I thought something was wrong with me.”

  He hesitated, his fingers clenching at his sides.

  “I started noticing it. I started talking and acting more like Emily. Impulse control, boundaries, it all felt different, less complicated. I caught myself acting stupid a few times and didn’t know why. I felt lighter, happier, sillier, all at once, I wasn’t thinking so much all the time.”

  He took a deep breath.

  “I got suspicious, for a long time - I couldn’t believe something like this could happen. So one day, when Emily was sleeping, I let myself rex—really rex—meditate and all, when I was alone in the dreamscape. And when I did…” He gnced down at his hands as if seeing them for the first time. “I saw it happening. I knew what was going on, even if it felt so surreal.”

  His voice dropped to almost a whisper. “My avatar changed.”

  He swallowed. “I shrunk, I changed, I became…this. I couldn’t believe it.”

  He looked up at his parents, his eyes shimmering with fresh tears. “I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell you. But then Emily almost died, and I—I couldn’t. I just…got into my own head.”

  His voice picked up, strained, rushing forward anxiously..

  “She was going through so much. You all were going through so much. It just felt like the wrong time. And I thought I was supposed to be the adult. The protector. I mean, I barged into your lives, and suddenly you had to accept me. She almost died, and everything was just—SO MUCH. I didn’t want to freak you out even more byshowing that I wasn’t who you thought I was.”

  He turned back to Emily, his expression raw. “I made a promise to her. To myself. That no matter what, I’d make sure she got to be happy. To be the sassy, kind, gremlin of a sister she is.”

  His lips pressed into a thin line. “I didn’t know how to change that… dynamic.”

  His gaze dropped back to his hands. “So I hid it. I started masking my avatar—masking me.”

  He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “And it took energy. Focus. I had to use the dreamscape to morph me, like the sky, the tree, everything. Create a yer. But…the dreamscape needs honesty. This bond needs honesty. And I think that threw our dynamic off.”

  He looked up at Thomas for a brief second before giving a small, exhausted shrug.

  “Like a six-cylinder running on four. And the more I waited, the more I got scared of telling her, of telling you…”

  —

  Emily’s pyful teasing melted into something quieter. As she listened to her brother, the weight of his words settled in. For the first time, she saw just how much he’d been carrying.

  “Danny…” she murmured, nudging him gently with her shoulder, offering him a small, reassuring smile. “You didn’t have to pretend, silly. You’re my brother. We’re family.”

  Danny let out a breath, his shoulders slumping.

  “I know… I know,” he admitted. He hesitated, then let out a weak chuckle.

  “I mean, I would’ve given you sh—”

  He caught Sarah’s slight frown and quickly corrected, “Grief. I would’ve given you grief if the situation was reversed.”

  “But I think I was scared. Scared you’d freak out if you found out I wasn’t this older, wiser guy who had it all together. And it just got worse, I kept getting deeper into my own head.”

  A pause.

  “And maybe somewhere deep, deep down I thought if I showed you who I really was, you’d—” He swallowed, his gaze flickering between Emily and their parents.

  “No one would want me anymore, not even Mom and Dad. I mean it happened in my st life”

  —

  Sarah’s heart ached at his confession. Without hesitation, she pulled him in tighter, arms wrapping around him as if she could shield him from the fear he had carried for so long.

  “Oh, Danny…” she murmured, her voice unsteady.

  “We love you for you. Not for who we thought you were, but for exactly who you are.” She punctuated it with a gentle kiss on his head. “And I don’t know what happened in your st life, but you have us now. We are your mom and dad, forever and ever.”

  Thomas exhaled, nodding, his voice warm and steady. “I get it, kid. It’s complicated. You’ve been carrying so much on your shoulders, but you don’t have to anymore. You don’t have to pretend. You’re ours. No matter what.”

  Emily snorted lightly, her pyful side creeping back in. “Yeah, I mean, I give you grief, but you’re stuck with me. Whether you’re 14 or 40, you’re still my annoying older brother.”

  Daniel blinked, as if seeing them—really seeing them—for the first time. His lips twitched into a small smile as he looked at Emily, wiping his tears.

  His sister.

  His friend.

  His soulmate.

  Then, without warning, he lunged at her, wrapping her in a sudden hug.

  She let out a squawk, caught off guard.

  “Thanks, Shrimp…” he murmured against her shoulder.

  A pause.

  He looked up slowly to gaze at his parents - “Thanks Mom, Dad. Sorry it took so long.”

  Emily huffed but didn’t let go. “Yeah, yeah. Took you long enough, dummy.”

  Sarah cupped his face once more, eyes brimming with love. Thomas reached over and ruffled his hair, the same way he always did with Emily.

  Daniel groaned but didn’t move away.

  And just like that, the weight of everything Daniel had been hiding for so long—Emily felt it lift from their bond. A quiet, almost imperceptible shift. The tension was gone. The fear was gone. Their bond was…clean.

  He was seen. He was real. And he was loved.

  As they stood there, wrapped in each other’s embrace, it was clear—no matter how much had changed, they were family. And nothing could take that away.

  —

  For a few moments, they stayed like that—Sarah and Thomas holding onto their son as he slowly, but surely, let out everything he had bottled up for so long.

  Emily, of course, was watching all of this unfold. She felt a swell of protectiveness for her brother, but she also knew it was time to shift the mood - the imp that she was. She hesitated for only a second before giving in to her more mischievous tendencies.

  “Hey, big brother… I love you,” she said sweetly, smiling far too innocently.

  A pause.

  “But now, when you freak out over something anal retentive, I’ll know it’s because you’re just a grumpy, hormonal teenager.”

  Daniel froze mid-sniffle, blinking. For a moment, he simply stared at her.

  “Hormones don’t work that way for me, Shrimp…”

  Emily defted a little.

  Then, in a small, almost disbelieving voice, he added - “And who you calling grumpy, you emotionally stunted gremlin?”

  That did it - Emily’s grin widened.

  Bait taken, the game was on.

  “Gremlin? Says the guy who organizes MY school bag when I’m sleeping?” she retorted

  Daniel rolled his eyes.

  “It was just once. Because you load that bag like a cannonball and drop it on OUR FEET you caffeinated turd nugget.”

  Emily mock gasped.

  “Excuse you? Says the guy who has an existential crisis over…well, everything! Wires, coffee, dust in a computer!”

  “Whatever. You’re the reason childproof caps exist you ditz overlord.”

  Sarah, still sitting beside them, sighed deeply, although a smile still pyed on her face. “Alright, you two, let’s—”

  She didn’t even get halfway through her sentence.

  “OCD BABOON!” Emily blurted, pointing an accusatory finger.

  “Who needs to meditate because he can’t figure out how old he is?”

  “Maybe if you meditated, you wouldn’t act like a ferret on crack you overgrown goblin!” Daniel shot back.

  Emily gasped again.

  “GOBLIN? Says the guy who pretended to be, like, thirty-five for how long? Or was it fifty?

  Daniel shrugged. “Yeah, yeah, rub it in. At least I’m not, what, negative ten years old even with our combined IQ?”

  “Seriously, you two…” Sarah tried again, pcing a hand on each of them to try ending the battle.

  Neither even pretended to listen.

  “Negative ten? Figures…the guy who couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag can’t count!”

  “Oh I can count. That’s how I know you take AN HOUR deciding which pair of socks matches your scrunchie! ”

  “Oh ho ho we are now a temporal genius are we? Broody Wannabe Time Lord Cryptid!”

  “Pfft. Broody? Whatevs. Says the girl who has a meltdown every time her Tamagotchi dies.”

  Emily’s eyes went wide. “THOSE DON’T EXIST HERE YET!”

  Daniel smirked. “Apparently neither does Wi-Fi in your bass-ackward universe.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Fancy Tech, what do you name your Wi-Fi SSID? ItHurtsWhenIP?”

  “You wish! Just make peace with your oh so advanced CD pyer and abacus.”

  “Whatever nothing will stop you from strutting around like a sentient panic attack!”

  “And nothing will stop you from stealing mom’s coffee and puking it back you little ding dong drama queen!”

  “THAT’S IT!” Emily squealed in the highest pitch she could muster. “MOM! Danny’s making fun of me!”

  “Oh, two can py at that,” Daniel shot back, his own voice raising in amplitude. “DAD! Emily’s being a little screech grenade shi-!”

  Sarah’s hands shot out, grabbing each child by the ear and tugging hard.

  “That’s it! Enough! Both of you! BEHAVE!”

  Thomas, who had been trying (and failing) to contain his ughter, turned slightly red as he let out a deep chuckle. “Yeah, your mom will ground you in both the real world and the dreamscape.”

  Emily pouted, still straining against Sarah’s grip. “Grounded? Like that’s gonna stop him from calling 911 when the VCR clock is wrong Ow Ow…”

  Daniel squirmed, his own ear being pulled. “Grr - and knowing you, you’ll try feeding crayons to the same VCR OW! MOM NOT THAT HARD!”

  Sarah’s shoulders shook - she tried, really tried, to keep her stern expression but tears were streaming down her face from ughing so hard.

  “Alright, alright, that’s enough! You two are impossible! I swear, your bickering!”

  Thomas shook his head, stepping toward them with a grin.

  “So this is what it’s like having two kids,” he mused, watching them bicker. “I think they feed off each other, it’s like…a sugar high!”

  The banter did not stop. The teasing continued, the jabs bouncing back and forth.

  Beneath the chaos, beneath the ridiculous insults, however there was something else.

  Joy. Warmth. Honesty.

  A closeness that had always been there, but had never been so freely expressed.

  A closeness Sarah and Thomas were only now able to truly see in their kids - each in their own body for the first time ever. They saw the bond alive - in front of them, how each filled in for the other - two halves of the same.

  And now they finally understood - really understood - what Emily had been trying to expin for so long - that they were brother and sister - in every sense of the word.

  And for the first time, Sarah and Thomas saw Daniel exactly as he was—not just a protector, not just some wise figure from another world, but a young, spirited, messy, mischievous boy. The nervousness gone, the weight he had carried for so long finally easing.

  He wasn’t some distant, otherworldly presence anymore. They saw him as he should be.

  A kid. Their kid.

  Their son. Their child.

  Their gift from the universe.

  And they had never been more grateful for this strange and wonderful family they had found themselves in.

  –

  The family was deep in their own antics and celebrations when the dreamscape around them suddenly shimmered. The glow of the cherry blossom tree flickered slightly.

  Emily and Daniel immediately froze, their banter forgotten as they looked up in surprise.

  "Uh… this is new," Daniel murmured, his brow furrowing. He gazed at the dreamscape sky, puzzled. "I haven’t seen this before. It almost feels like…”

  "Like it's destabilizing," Emily finished, gncing between the tree and Daniel, her expression growing serious.

  She noticed it—the ripples in the grass, the way the colors of their surroundings shimmered.

  "I think… we've reached the end of our time here," she added, a hint of sadness in her voice.

  "That is correct," Madame Zara confirmed, stepping forward at st.

  She had remained silent until now, content to let the family have their moment of peace. But as the dreamscape flickered around them, she knew it was time to step in again.

  "The link to this pne is maintained by your and Daniel’s will—your stamina, so to speak," she expined, gesturing around her. "Your minds are the tether, shaping this space. But maintaining it while bancing three more people…"

  Emily hummed, pying with a bde of grass as she considered Madame Zara’s words.

  Daniel, meanwhile, slowly turned to his mother and father, with a deep sigh.

  Their expressions were filled with a quiet sadness, their gazes darting between their children and the shimmering ndscape. He could see they weren’t ready to leave.

  Not yet.

  Not after finally seeing both of their children like this.

  Sarah’s voice was soft, almost pleading. “We just got here… we finally saw you.”

  Madame Zara pced a gentle hand on her shoulder in reassurance.

  "Sarah, Thomas," she said, her tone warm. "This is only the beginning of this part of your journey. I promise, this won’t be the st time."

  She turned her gaze to Emily and Daniel, her expression filled with quiet confidence.

  "Give it a little more time. Now that Daniel isn’t hiding who he is, their bond will continue to evolve—become more stable, more refined. Soon enough, they’ll be able to guide you back here themselves."

  Thomas took in her words, the realization settling in. He wrapped an arm around Sarah, holding her close in comfort.

  “She’s right,” he murmured. “She said before that one day, Emily and Daniel will be able to invite those they trust into the dreamscape.”

  He looked at his children, his eyes warm, his voice steady despite the emotion behind it.

  "Let’s have faith in them. I know we’ll be back soon enough."

  Daniel took a step forward—his form flickering slightly as the dreamscape wavered again. He took a deep breath.

  “Dad’s right, Mom," he said, his voice steady, reassuring. "We’ll figure it out. I promise. “Shrimp and I just need a little more time to figure out the mechanics, that’s all.”

  Emily nodded, reaching for her parents.

  “Danny’s right. I think we’ll be able to pull you in again soon enough—be conduits. Just like when we learned to switch out who’s driving our body.”

  A mischievous grin spread across her face - “Now that someone isn’t blowing all his energy pretending to be a wise old adult.”

  She shot a pointed look at her brother.

  Daniel sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes.

  Sarah let out a soft ugh, shaking her head.

  The small moment of pyful banter brought a smile to Thomas’s face as well, and he pulled his entire family close.

  "You two better not take too long, okay?" Sarah said, her voice thick with emotion.

  “Yeah, we’ll be waiting,” Thomas added gently, winking at Emily.

  And as the family hugged—arms wrapped around each other, holding onto the moment—the dreamscape rippled one final time. The colors softened, the cherry blossoms faded, the sky melted into a soft, glowing light.

  And then, slowly, gently, they drifted back into the corporeal world.