POV: Mira (Earth-21 / Nexus Primaris)
∎ Earth-21
Tokyo, 21:08 Local Time. The Night Everything Ended.
Mia Yamasaki had just kissed Aika goodbye.
Not a dramatic kiss. Not the kind movies obsess over.
Just a small one. On the cheek. Behind a corner. Hidden from the world.
Aika had smiled anyway—nervous and soft and beautiful.
Mia had promised, "Tomorrow. I'll bring the umbrella."
But tomorrow never came.
The train station trembled first—then screamed.
The flash tore through glass, skin, bone.
Mia's last thought wasn't of pain.
It was Aika.
Please let her live.
Then—
Silence.
Dark.
And cold.
∎ Nexus Primaris
Time: Unknown. Inside the Heartforge.
There was no breath in the glass.
But Mira dreamed.
At first, it was static.
Then voices. Then her voice.
Aika.
Not Mia anymore. Different. Changed.
Like Mira herself.
Her body tingled with heat and metal. Every neuron had been rewired, refracted across time. She was herself—and yet not.
She remembered:
The kiss.
The scream.
The feel of Aika's hand wrapped in hers, refusing to let go as the light swallowed everything.
I followed you through death.
That thought anchored her.
Then—contact.
Warmth. A signal. A hand on the glass.
Aika.
Mira's mind surged upward. Her soul resonated with the Omega-core, pulling her through light, time, and self.
She gasped.
∎ Now
Mira's eyes opened.
Her first real breath in this universe burned like starfire.
Aika stood before her—stronger, taller, glowing with purpose.
"Mia…?" Aika whispered.
Mira touched her face. "No. I was Mia. But I'm something else now."
Aika choked back a sob.
And Mira smiled through tears. "But I still love you."
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