Aria stepped through the glowing crack that had opened in front of the clock tower.
For a moment, she felt weightless — like she was falling and floating at the same time. Colors swirled around her, too bright and too soft all at once, until finally her feet touched solid ground.
She blinked.
The place was unlike anything she had ever seen. It wasn't just a world — it was a mosaic of memories. Fragments of houses, streets, and trees floated in the air like shattered glass, yet each piece shimmered as though alive. Some showed her childhood bedroom. Others showed her favorite bakery corner. And some… some showed moments she had never remembered before.
Her breath caught when she saw a little boy and a little girl sitting under a huge oak tree. The girl laughed as she offered him a small piece of bread.
"You always eat too fast," the little girl giggled.
The boy smiled shyly. "Because your bread is the best, Aria."
Aria froze.
"That's… me," she whispered.
Her heart pounded as more fragments drifted by. She saw the same boy and girl building wooden toy boats near a river. She saw their parents chatting warmly in the background. She saw them promising, under a pink sunset, that they'd never forget each other.
But then came the fragment she hadn't expected.
The two children being separated. The boy crying as he was led away, clutching a small wooden carving. The girl reaching out, tears streaming down her face, whispering, Don't forget me.
Aria's chest tightened, her eyes burning with tears. She had forgotten. Somehow, all those memories had been buried deep inside her.
"Asher…" she breathed.
And then, as if the world had heard her, the fragments shifted again.
She followed the glowing pieces of memory until she reached a clearing. At the center, standing beneath the same oak tree from their childhood, was Asher.
He looked older now, just as she remembered him yesterday, but his smile was the same as the boy in her memories. Soft. Warm. Real.
"Asher," she whispered, her voice trembling.
He turned slowly, his eyes widening as if he had been waiting forever for this moment. "Aria?"
For a heartbeat, the world around them seemed to pause. The broken fragments stilled, the air holding its breath.
Aria took a step forward, tears spilling freely. "I remember… everything. We were friends… we were family. I thought I lost you, but—"
Asher's smile deepened, though his eyes glistened. "I thought you'd never remember."
She wanted to run into his arms, but before she could move, the fragments around them began to tremble violently. The cracks of light widened, threatening to shatter the memory-world itself.
Aria reached out, her hand desperate to touch his. "Hold on! I won't let this world take you again!"
Their fingertips brushed—warm, real, alive—
And then the world exploded in blinding light.