"Time is running out," Tomorrow warned.
Three voices pulled at me:
"Choose me," the Other Anshu whispered, power crackling around her.
"Choose me, Mama…" the little boy begged, his tiny hand shaking in mine.
"Anshu… don't let yourself disappear," the stranger pleaded softly, eyes raw.
My heartbeat was a trapped bird slamming against my ribs.
How do you choose between:
A child calling you Mama,
A man you loved in another life,
And the version of yourself who wants your life back?
You don't.
You choose something else.
My breath trembled as I whispered:
"I choose… myself."
The entire alley fell silent.
Tomorrow blinked.
The stranger froze.
The boy gasped.
The Other Me laughed — a sharp, broken, almost delighted sound.
"Oh.
You really ARE me," she whispered.
Tomorrow stepped forward, intrigued.
"That is a dangerous choice."
I wiped my tears with shaking hands.
"You told me to sacrifice my connection to one of them," I said, voice cracking.
"You never said I had to choose THEM."
Tomorrow raised an eyebrow.
"So you choose the version of yourself that exists now?"
"I choose the version that isn't controlled by trauma," I said.
"Not her. Not the past me. Not the erased me."
I pointed at the Other Me.
"YOU are pain."
I pointed at the boy.
"YOU are a memory of love I lost."
I pointed at the stranger.
"YOU are a love I wasn't allowed to remember."
My voice steadied.
"I won't die for any of those versions.
I choose the me standing here. Right now."
Tomorrow tilted her head, expression unreadable.
"Then you accept the consequences."
"What consequences?" I asked.
Tomorrow lifted her hand — and the world bent toward it.
Like time itself bowed.
"Choosing yourself means letting go of any identity tied to others."
The stranger stiffened.
"What does that mean?" he asked, panic rising in his voice.
The little boy clutched me.
"Mama…?"
The Other Me smirked.
"Oh, she has NO idea what she just did."
Tomorrow continued:
"When you choose yourself, you sever every timeline that claims you."
A crack tore through the air.
Sharp.
Bright.
Final.
The boy suddenly yelped — not in pain, but in fear — as his body flickered.
"Mama— I'm fading!"
My heart dropped.
"No— NO! Not him! Not him!"
I tried to grab him, but my hand passed halfway through him like he was turning to smoke.
Tomorrow spoke gently.
"He is a memory of a life you did not choose.
Releasing yourself means releasing him."
My voice broke violently.
"I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO LOSE HIM!"
"But you did choose without him."
The boy reached for me, his fingers half-transparent.
"Mama… don't let me go…"
My throat closed.
I couldn't breathe.
Couldn't think.
The stranger moved toward us, eyes wide.
"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" he shouted at Tomorrow.
"He's innocent—"
Tomorrow's voice didn't soften.
"Innocence doesn't anchor existence."
The boy took a shaking step toward me.
"Mama… I don't want to forget you…"
I fell to my knees.
"No— please— please, don't take him— PLEASE—"
He hugged me.
Or tried to.
His arms went through me like fog.
His last whisper cracked every bone in my chest:
"I'll wait for you in the next timeline."
Then he was gone.
Vanished.
Erased.
No sound.
No light.
No goodbye.
Just gone.
I collapsed forward, a scream I didn't recognize tearing out of my throat.
The stranger ran to me.
He grabbed my shoulders, voice cracking:
"Anshu— Anshu, breathe— BREATHE!"
"I KILLED HIM," I sobbed. "I CHOSE MYSELF AND I KILLED HIM—"
"You didn't kill him—" the stranger tried to say.
But the Other Me stepped in.
"Yes she did."
Her tone wasn't mocking.
It was cold, quiet truth.
"You severed your connection to him. The universe removed him accordingly."
I shook my head, choking.
"No… no… I didn't mean— I didn't WANT— I didn't—"
The stranger pulled me into his arms.
And even though he didn't remember our past,
his body remembered how to hold me.
Strong.
Steady.
Protective.
I cried into his chest until the world blurred.
He whispered into my hair:
"I'm not letting you fall apart alone.
Not again."
Tomorrow watched silently.
"You still have two connections left," she said.
The stranger stiffened.
The Other Me smiled.
Tomorrow raised her hand to the sky.
"The next consequence begins."
A second crack ripped through reality.
This time —
aimed at the Other Anshu.
She glared at me.
"You chose yourself?" she whispered.
"Then I'll choose FOR you."
Her eyes glowed white-hot.
She lunged—
Not at me.
At him.
The stranger.
Her voice echoed across the alley, furious and broken:
"IF YOU WON'T LOSE YOURSELF—
THEN YOU'LL LOSE HIM."
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