White light swallowed everything.
My ears rang.
My heartbeat crashed against my ribs.
My arms tightened instinctively around the little boy.
And when the light finally dimmed—
We were back.
Back in the real world.
A cold street.
Shattered lampposts.
Glitching shadows on the walls.
Wind cutting across my skin like knives.
I gasped.
"How—how did we get here?"
The boy didn't answer.
Because someone else did.
A familiar voice behind me.
Low.
Sharp.
Almost shaking.
"Anshu."
I turned.
It was him.
The stranger.
Standing in the middle of the road, chest rising and falling, hair messy, eyes—
Not angry.
Not relieved.
Something worse.
He saw the child in my arms—
And his knees nearly buckled.
"Put him down," he whispered.
It wasn't a command.
It was fear wearing a human voice.
The boy clung to me tighter.
"No," he whispered.
"You won't hurt my mama."
The stranger froze.
His jaw clenched so hard his teeth almost cracked.
"I would never hurt her," he said quietly.
The boy's eyes narrowed.
"You did before."
My stomach dropped.
"B-before…?" I stammered.
The stranger took one slow step toward us.
"Anshu… give him to me."
"No," I said instantly, stepping back.
Some instinct inside me—
something primal—
told me not to let go.
The stranger swallowed hard.
"Anshu… he isn't supposed to exist here."
The boy trembled.
"Mama, don't."
I held him tighter.
"Stop calling me Mama," I whispered weakly. "I'm not— not your mother."
His tiny fingers curled into my shirt.
"But you were," he said softly.
"In a timeline someone broke."
The stranger flinched like the boy slapped him.
I didn't miss it.
"Is it true?" I asked him.
He didn't answer.
Which meant yes.
My voice cracked.
"You— you erased his timeline, didn't you?"
The stranger closed his eyes.
"I had no choice."
The boy pointed at him.
"You killed our world!"
The wind howled.
The streetlight flickered with violent static.
The stranger groaned softly, running a hand through his hair.
"You don't understand—"
"THEN MAKE US UNDERSTAND!" I screamed.
My voice echoed off the buildings.
The boy trembled in my arms.
The stranger looked at me like seeing me hurt was killing him.
"I didn't do it to harm him," the stranger whispered.
"Then WHY?!" I choked.
His eyes—beautiful, haunted, breaking—met mine.
"To save you."
Something inside me cracked.
"Save me from WHAT?"
His voice lowered.
"From yourself."
The boy shivered.
"She didn't destroy the world, you liar."
"I didn't say she did," the stranger muttered.
"You implied it!" the boy yelled.
The stranger's jaw flexed.
"That's because the truth would break her."
I snapped.
"WE ARE DONE WITH HALF-TRUTHS. SAY IT."
The stranger inhaled sharply, his voice shaking for the first time.
"You… didn't destroy the timeline."
My heart froze.
He looked at the boy.
"He didn't either."
Silence.
Then—
The stranger whispered:
"The one who destroyed that universe…
was her."
My blood turned cold.
"The other me?"
"Yes," he said quietly.
"She killed him. She killed the world. And she was coming for you next."
The boy's eyes widened.
"That's why you erased everything," he whispered.
"To keep her trapped."
The stranger nodded.
"And it worked… until she woke."
My knees weakened.
"But… why erase their world?" I whispered.
"Why erase his memories? His life?"
The stranger's voice cracked.
"Because you died in that timeline."
My breath stopped.
He continued.
"And when you died… she took your place."
I staggered back.
My voice barely a whisper.
"What does that mean?"
The boy answered softly.
"It means… the other you only exists because the real you died."
My chest caved in.
The stranger stepped closer, eyes pleading.
"I wasn't protecting her from the world, Anshu.
I was protecting the world from her."
I hugged the boy closer.
Shaking.
Breaking.
"Then why… why does he remember me as his mother?"
The boy looked up at me.
His voice tiny.
"Because you were."
My vision blurred.
"In one timeline?"
"Yes," the boy said.
The stranger swallowed hard.
"In the timeline before she took your place."
My heart shattered.
Piece.
By.
Piece.
Tears finally spilled down my cheeks.
Not because of fear.
Not because of confusion.
But because—
A small boy was looking up at me with pure love,
calling me Mama…
And somewhere inside me—
the part I never remembered—
recognized him.
A distant memory flickered at the edge of my mind:
A soft laugh.
A tiny hand in mine.
A lullaby I didn't know I knew.
A voice calling:
"Mama…?"
I gasped.
A sharp pain ripped through my skull.
"A—AHHH—!"
The stranger ran to me instantly.
He grabbed my shoulders.
"STOP! YOU'RE REMEMBERING TOO MUCH!"
The boy clung to me.
"Mama, don't cry—"
The pain intensified.
Thousands of broken memories crashed behind my eyes.
A home.
A cradle.
A man kissing my forehead.
A fire.
A scream.
A woman with white glowing eyes—
And then—
The child's voice.
"Mama, run."
Darkness exploded.
And I collapsed.
---