Haru opened his eyes.
He was floating.
Not in water. Not in air. In something between — a space that felt like waiting, like potential, like the moment before an answer arrives.
The device was gone.
The pain was gone.
The weight he'd carried for so long — the weight of worlds, of choices, of loss — it was still there, but different now. Lighter. Like a scar rather than an open wound.
He looked around.
Nothing but soft light in every direction.
Then — movement.
A figure, approaching through the glow.
Haru's heart stopped.
Green eyes.
Familiar smile.
Joceka.
But different now. More solid. More real. Less like a reflection and more like a person.
He stopped a few feet away, studying Haru with those gentle eyes.
"You made it."
Haru's voice came out as a whisper.
"You're here."
"I'm always here." Joceka smiled. "Just... differently now."
They stood in silence for a moment, the space between them filled with everything that had happened — every battle, every loss, every moment of understanding.
Joceka spoke first.
"I remember fragments. The mirror. The axe. The monsters we faced together." He paused. "But there's so much I don't remember. So much that faded when I started becoming... this."
He gestured at himself — more solid, more real.
Haru stepped closer.
"That's okay. I remember enough for both of us."
Joceka's eyes glistened.
"Do you?"
Haru nodded.
"I remember the first night you spoke to me. When I was so alone I thought I'd break. You said, 'You're not alone.'"
Joceka smiled softly.
"I remember that."
"I remember the battles. The rope-axe. The moment I realized the monsters were people."
"I remember that too. Faintly. Like a dream."
Haru took another step. They were close enough to touch now.
"I remember Narka. How you helped me accept him."
Joceka's expression flickered — pain, then understanding.
"He was part of you. The part that hurt most."
"And you helped me heal him."
Joceka was quiet for a moment.
"I think... that's why I'm here now. Because you healed. Because you accepted."
He reached out — slowly, carefully — and touched Haru's hand.
Warm.
Real.
Haru's breath caught.
"You're really here."
"I'm really here."
They stood like that — two boys who had shared a world, holding onto each other in the space between everything.
Finally, Joceka spoke.
"What happens now?"
Haru thought about it. About the doctor's sacrifice. About future Haru's peace. About the glitch's final smile. About Monica's fading form.
"We go home," he said. "Together."
Joceka nodded.
"Together."
The space around them began to shift — not dissolving, but focusing. Concentrating. Becoming something new.
A door formed in the light.
Not violet.
Not white.
Simple wood. Familiar. Like the door to Haru's room.
Joceka looked at it, then at Haru.
"Ready?"
Haru squeezed his hand.
"Ready."
They stepped forward together.
---