A beginning after the end [1/2]

The woman in front of the boy, the one who called him her son, held him so tightly that, for a moment, it felt as though his body might break, crushed within her embrace.

"This woman… she's really strong…"

A small, involuntary smile appeared on his face, amidst the tears streaming from his left eye.

"I still don't know what this feeling is, but somehow… I can understand this woman's pain, even without remembering who she is…"

Her embrace was filled with love, but there was something more to it. Desperation. The fear of once again watching something slip through her fingers, unable to do anything to change it.

It was as though she were trying to chain him to herself with her own arms, ready to protect the boy from something that neither she nor he could understand, yet something that seemed determined to take him away, like a leaf breaking free from a branch and being carried off by the wind.

The boy couldn't even see her face, but her emotions were clear, betrayed by her shoulders, which wouldn't stop trembling.

"That crying… it doesn't seem to be directed only at me…"

His body, which had initially remained tense within her embrace, now accepted it completely.

And then, between sobs she could barely hold back, she finally found the strength to speak:

— M-my son… I'm sorry. This is my fault. All of it. — She struggled to draw a breath, trying to steady her trembling voice. — I-I… I couldn't do it. I couldn't stop this… whatever it is that's chasing us…

Her words came out broken, as though each one weighed more heavily than the last.

— I swear I tried so many times. I begged so much… All I ever wanted was a normal life for me and for you… but nothing worked.

Her red eyes, swollen and drenched in tears, slowly lifted to meet the boy's gaze.

At that moment, what the boy saw in that woman's eyes was neither disgust nor revulsion. It was guilt. A guilt too great to be put into words.

"Is she… really suffering this much because of me?"

That pain seemed to have taken root in her heart, as though the entire disaster, everything that had happened to him, now weighed upon her shoulders.

Her gaze wasn't searching for answers.

It wasn't asking for forgiveness.

It simply carried a burden she had endured for far too long. And now, at last, it had finally broken her.

— I made a mistake… I should have run much farther away.

Her hands trembled, and not just because she was crying.

"She looks like she's about to fall apart… What should I do?"

It was as though her own body were struggling not to give in completely.

— I-I should have known that simply putting distance between us wouldn't make this end…

"I don't understand… I'm sorry, but I can't remember."

The pain grew, spreading throughout his body, squeezing and suffocating him.

"It's so strange… I don't feel like this body belongs to me. But this… what is it?"

Amidst it all, a strange, faint, and unstable sensation took hold of the boy.

He didn't understand where it came from, much less where it would lead him. Even so, he accepted it.

"I guess that doesn't matter right now."

In the end, neither he nor she pulled away from that pure and sincere embrace.

Simply because, at that moment, staying was better than leaving.

But amidst that silent embrace, the little girl with blue eyes, who had been watching them, approached and squeezed herself between the two, wanting to be a part of it as well.

And then, with the simplicity of someone who had yet to learn the weight of every word, she exclaimed playfully:

— Nina sandwich!

Her shout echoed through the room, breaking the tension like a ray of sunlight piercing through heavy clouds.

At that very moment, their embrace loosened, bringing with it something even more inexplicable.

The smiles on both their faces.

Tears still streamed down their cheeks, stubbornly refusing to stop, but they no longer felt quite the same.

Amid quiet laughter and unsteady breathing, the woman whispered:

— You're here. No matter what happened or what you've lost, that's what matters.

Even with his mind drowning in chaos, the boy spoke for the first time since waking up, setting aside the strangeness of his own voice:

— M-mom… S-sis… thank you…

With those simple words, something finally stirred inside him. It wasn't enough to fill the emptiness or rebuild the missing wall in his heart, but it was a beginning.

As though the first brick had finally been laid, firmly placed before something that had once seemed impossible to rebuild.

— I'll… be counting on you, then.

— Yaaaaay! Leave it to me, big bro! — the blue-eyed girl shouted, bursting with enthusiasm.

— Then… s-sorry for asking this… but what are your names? — Louie asked, his shyness written all over his face.

The two in front of him exchanged glances and, without saying a word, burst into laughter.

— W-what? Why are you laughing? — he asked, confused.

— It's nothing, my son. We had simply forgotten about that. — the woman replied with an awkward smile.

— Me! Me! Me first! — the girl beside him shouted. — My name is Nina Kaede, and you're my brother, Louie Kaede!

— Nina… I see. That's a beautiful name. — he replied, unable to hold back his smile.

— And my name is Emi. Emi Kaede. — She moved closer and sat beside him, on the edge of the bed in that large, white room.

Her gaze was calm, yet it carried an inexplicable strength, like that of someone who had been through a great deal and, despite everything, had managed to remain standing.

— Louie… — she continued, her voice soft but firm. — From now on, I want you to know that you're not alone anymore. Whatever you need, no matter how difficult or silly it may seem, promise me you'll talk to us, okay?

— Okay… Mom. — he replied, almost in a whisper.

— Sooo… are we going home? Hmmm? — Nina asked impatiently. — I'm so excited to show big bro everything!

— Easy, Nina. He hasn't been discharged yet. — Emi replied, trying to contain the girl's excitement. — I've got it! How about we get something to eat? Let's go to the market and buy something for Louie. What do you think, Nina?

— Yeeeees! Let's buy coff—

Before the girl could finish her sentence, Emi quickly placed her hand over her mouth.

— Mmmph! Mmmph! — Nina struggled, trying to break free.

— Don't do that, Nina, or he'll go back to being that coffee addict… — the woman whispered, leaning closer to her.

— Did something happen? — the boy asked.

— No! Nothing at all, sweetheart. Isn't that right, Nina? — Emi replied hurriedly, taking her hand away from the girl's face.

— Hehehe, nothing! — Nina confirmed, flashing a huge smile.

And it was there, in that simple moment, that something inside the boy began to fall into place.

The emptiness in his chest hadn't disappeared, but little by little, it was beginning to make room for a new feeling. Something warm and quiet, something he still couldn't fully put a name to.

Even if that love was meant for the Louie who had come before him, for the person he had once been, for a moment, it seemed to reach him as well.

Even without his memories. Even without understanding everything.

He realized that maybe, just maybe, someday, there could be a place in this world that he could call home.