White sat beneath the window in his room, pulling the blanket tightly around himself. He buried his head in his knees, feeling utterly helpless against the crushing weight of recent events. The mental anguish was suffocating, fueled by a relentless onslaught of flashbacks—memories of his past with his mother and the bitter final conversation they had shared.
If only I could undo that conversation...
he thought desperately.
Maybe if I had used a different approach, one that didn't drag up our past, things would have turned out differently.
He clenched his teeth. "Damn it."
If only Bell were here... I could wish for her to change everything.
"Papa..."
Bell's voice rang softly through the quiet room. White snapped his head up. She was standing right there, looking confused and deeply worried.
"Bell...?" he whispered, staring at her. He reached out a trembling hand, terrified she was nothing more than a cruel illusion born of his desperation. "Did you really come back to me?"
She nodded slowly, taking a hesitant step forward, clearly frightened by what White had become. "Hmm. Are you okay? Big Sis Aisha said you needed me."
"Ah... yes. There's something I need to wish for..." White tried to stand, but his legs were entirely numb. He collapsed back onto his knees, desperately crawling across the floor toward her. "Bell... you can undo time, right? There is something I have to change!" He dragged himself forward another step. "If I can just change how I tried to save Shu... I can save her! Please, grant my wish. Give me a chance to rewrite the past..."
He reached out to grasp her shoulder, but the moment his fingers made contact, the illusion shattered. Bell dissolved into a cloud of purple mist, leaving him grasping at thin air as tears finally spilled down his cheeks.
"Damn it!" he screamed at the empty space. "If only you were really here, I would have—"
"Even if Bell were here, you still wouldn't be able to change the past, White. Don't you remember?"
White gasped, turning slowly to find Aisha sitting quietly on his bed.
"Aisha? If you're here, then Bell must be..." He frantically scanned the room, searching for the little girl in a panic, but found nothing.
"Bell's existence is still incredibly fragile," Aisha said softly, her eyes sympathetic but firm. "I am hiding her from the laws of nature to keep her from being erased entirely."
"Then... if she isn't here, you can grant wishes, right? Just like before!" Hope flared in White's chest as he scrambled for a lifeline. "If you can, please, you have to help me—"
"Stop being stupid, White." Aisha's voice cut through the air, sharp and annoyed.
White froze.
"Just like I told you before, there are rules to this world that cannot be broken," she stated flatly.
"Don't give me that bullshit about rules!" White shouted, his voice cracking with a mixture of rage and helplessness. "You saved me once by breaking those exact rules, so don't tell me it's impossible! Just do it again!"
"Saving someone who wants to live and saving someone who wants to die are two completely different things," Aisha countered, her tone dropping to a heavy, serious whisper. "I saved you, yes. But in breaking that law for your sake, I was almost erased from existence myself."
"But... I know you can save her if you really want to!" White dropped his head, slamming his fist against the floorboards so hard his knuckles began to bleed. "Please, just do something. I'll pay any price you want... just this once."
Aisha let out a long, heavy sigh. "You're mumbling nonsense now, White." She looked down at him, her expression hardening. "I'm only going to say this once. It's going to sound harsh, but you need to hear it."
White braced himself.
"You failed this time, White. You completely failed to understand the situation. Your blind desperation to save Shu made you completely ignore the consequences of your actions, and now you are stuck in the exact nightmare you created."
White recoiled as if struck, the bitter truth of her words piercing straight through him. He opened his mouth to find an excuse, a defence, anything—but found absolutely nothing.
She's right, he thought, staring blankly at the floor. Everything that happened is my fault. If only I had done the right thing...
"As your friend, I am telling you this because you have to accept it," Aisha continued, her voice softening slightly. "A person cannot save everyone. Even if you sacrifice yourself, it won't change what's already done. So..."
She reached to pick something on bed. "Stop losing yourself in the past and blaming yourself for things you can't change. Look forward. You still have things left to do. And if you're feeling lost, maybe this will show you the light you're searching for."
She extended her hand, holding out a crumpled brown envelope.
Hesitantly, White stepped forward. With shaking hands, he took the envelope, tore it open, and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He began to read:
'Dear White,
By the time you find this letter, I will already be gone. I know you might think it was your fault that I took my own life, but you are wrong. I am doing this to atone for my sins.
I have wronged so many people in my life, and the crushing weight of that guilt caused me to lose myself entirely. I was drowning in a darkness where I found no one beside me. But when you were born, I felt that maybe, just maybe, you would fill my world with color. Yet, before I could save that world, I destroyed it myself.
I am so incredibly sorry for what I did to you. I was a monstrous mother who left her own child alone on the streets to die. By the time I realized the horror of what I had done, I tried to find you, but I failed. I lost my only beacon of hope that day.
I have wronged Miku and Shu as well... so a punishment like this truly suits a monster like me. I am enclosing another letter with this one. I know I should be the one to give it to those two, but I simply don't have the courage to face them now. I want you to give it to them when the time is right.
Before I end this letter... I know I am asking far too much of you, but I beg you, White... please save them. Save my children from a pitiful future...'