"You finally came back."
I stared at the little girl.
She had my face.
My eyes.
My smile.
But there was something different about her.
She looked peaceful.
Too peaceful.
"Who are you?"
She tilted her head.
"You already know."
I shook my head.
"No. I don't."
She smiled.
"You forgot me."
Shawshank stepped in front of me.
"Stay behind me."
The girl looked at him.
"You always do that."
Shawshank froze.
"What?"
"You always stand between her and danger."
She smiled sadly.
"But you were never the danger."
I looked at Shawshank.
"What does she mean?"
He didn't answer.
The little girl reached for my hand.
"Come."
I hesitated.
"Where?"
"To the beginning."
I looked at Shawshank.
He nodded.
"I'm coming."
We followed her.
The darkness around us slowly disappeared.
Then I saw it.
The first world.
It was beautiful.
There was no sea.
No sky.
No land.
Everything existed together.
Water floated through the air.
Stars grew from the ground.
Trees carried glowing fruit.
There were no borders.
No kingdoms.
No queens.
No wars.
I stared in disbelief.
"This was real?"
The little girl nodded.
"You made it."
I laughed nervously.
"I couldn't have."
"You did."
"How?"
She looked at me.
"Because you were the first."
I felt a strange pressure in my chest.
"First what?"
"First heart."
She pointed toward the center of the world.
A golden tree stood there.
Its roots stretched across everything.
Its branches held five glowing stones.
"The first world lived through you."
I walked toward it.
The moment I touched the tree, a memory struck me.
I was young.
Much younger than I had ever remembered.
I was standing beside the tree.
The little girl was there.
Nerath was there.
Lyra was there.
And Shawshank…
He was there too.
But he wasn't the Shawshank I knew.
He was younger.
Different.
Still smiling at me.
I watched the memory.
Young me pointed toward the sky.
"I don't want anyone to fight."
Nerath laughed.
"Then don't let them."
"I don't know how."
He knelt beside me.
"You will."
I looked at Shawshank.
"You'll stay with me, right?"
Young Shawshank smiled.
"Always."
My chest tightened.
The memory changed.
The five worlds began separating.
People screamed.
The golden tree cracked.
I saw myself standing in the middle.
Crying.
"I don't want this!"
The First Mother appeared.
"Bjei, you must choose."
Young me shook my head.
"No!"
"If you don't choose, everything will be destroyed."
I looked at Shawshank.
He was bleeding.
Nerath was screaming.
Lyra was crying.
The worlds were collapsing.
Young me whispered,
"I choose him."
Everything went silent.
Then I saw what happened.
I didn't sacrifice myself.
I didn't destroy the worlds.
I split them.
I divided the first world into five pieces.
Sea.
Sky.
Land.
Fourth world.
Fifth world.
And I hid my own memories inside each one.
I gasped.
"That was me."
The little girl nodded.
"You were trying to save everyone."
"But why did I forget?"
"Because you asked us to make you forget."
I turned toward her.
"Why?"
She looked at Shawshank.
"Because you were afraid."
"Of what?"
She whispered,
"Of remembering what happened to him."
Shawshank stepped closer.
"What happened to me?"
The little girl looked at him.
"You died."
Silence.
My heart stopped.
"No."
She nodded.
"During the first war."
I looked at Shawshank.
He looked just as shocked.
"You died protecting her."
The little girl continued.
"And Bjei couldn't accept it."
Tears filled my eyes.
"So I…"
"You broke the world."
My knees weakened.
"I broke the world because he died?"
"You broke it because you loved him."
I looked at Shawshank.
He was crying now.
"You brought him back."
"How?"
The little girl pointed toward the golden tree.
"You took the part of the first world that still remembered him."
The tree began glowing.
"And you gave it a body."
I stared at Shawshank.
His eyes widened.
"Me."
I nodded slowly.
"You created Shawshank."
The little girl smiled.
"Not because you wanted a guardian."
She looked at him.
"You wanted him to live."
My tears fell.
"So all this time…"
I walked toward Shawshank.
"You weren't created to protect me."
He shook his head.
"You created me because you couldn't let me die."
I touched his face.
"I brought you back."
He covered my hand with his.
"And somehow…"
His voice broke.
"…I found you again."
I cried.
"I thought I was losing you."
"You never lost me."
The little girl stepped backward.
"Now you remember."
I looked at her.
"Wait."
She stopped.
"Who are you?"
She smiled.
"The part of you that stayed behind to remember."
Then her body began turning into golden light.
"No!"
I reached for her.
She smiled.
"You don't need me anymore."
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
Her light entered my chest.
The moment it did, I remembered everything.
Every world.
Every life.
Every beginning.
Every ending.
Every time I had found Shawshank.
Every time I had lost him.
Every time I had chosen him.
I fell to my knees.
Shawshank held me.
"I remember."
"What?"
"Everything."
He hugged me tightly.
Then the first world shook.
The golden tree cracked.
Shawshank looked up.
"What is happening?"
I stood.
"The first world is dying."
The five stones began falling from the tree.
I caught them.
The First Mother appeared behind us.
Her expression was terrified.
"Bjei…"
I turned.
"What?"
"You remembered the beginning."
"Yes."
She looked at the stones in my hands.
"Then you also remember the final rule."
My blood ran cold.
"What final rule?"
She whispered,
"If the first world dies…"
The ground split beneath our feet.
"…you die with it."
I looked at Shawshank.
His face went pale.
"No."
The First Mother lowered her eyes.
"And this time…"
She looked at me.
"…there is no world left to save you."