Twilight
The garden was quiet now.
Alya stared at the spot where Jayden had stood, where he had faded into the light. Her knees gave out and she hit the grey grass hard, her hands digging into the soil.
"No," she whispered. "No, no, no."
A sob tore out of her, then another, until she wasn't whispering anymore. She was screaming into the dirt, her whole body shaking.
She'd known he was a nomad. She'd told herself he would leave one day, wander off to wherever nomads wandered.
She never thought he would just stop existing.
Warm arms wrapped around her from behind.
"I'm here," Sapphire said softly. "I'm here, baby."
Alya turned and buried her face in her mother's shoulder, crying so hard her whole body trembled. Sapphire rocked her gently.
Footsteps rushed in. Her half-siblings dropped down beside her, wrapping their arms around whatever part of her they could reach. The youngest, a small girl with brown curls and Sapphire's same grey eyes, reached up and wiped Alya's tears with her sleeve.
"Don't cry," she whispered. "You're home now."
Sapphire's partner knelt beside them too, resting his hand on Alya's back.
They held her like that for a long time, a tangle of arms and grief… and family.
But even surrounded by them, Alya felt the hollow place where Jayden should have been.
After a while, Sapphire led her inside, one arm still around her shoulders.
Alya had expected straight hallways, but the interior spiraled upward, branching off into rooms without a single sharp corner, every surface curved like the inside of a hive. Veins of soft gold light ran through the walls, pulsing steadily.
"It's beautiful," she breathed.
"Wait until you see yours," Sapphire said.
Alya stepped inside. Her room curved around a crescent window, under a ceiling that bowed high overhead. Empty alcoves carved into the walls stood waiting for a life she had yet to live.
Then the thought of Jayden seeped into her mind. He should have been standing beside her, complaining about the cold or teasing her about the strange house.
Her face fell.
She walked over and sat at the edge of the bed.
Sapphire sat beside her, then lay back, patting the space next to her.
Alya lay down too.
They talked through the night.
They cried more than once. Sapphire cried the hardest, her voice cracking every time she thought about the years she'd lost, the chores, the cruelty, the years Alya spent thinking no one wanted her.
"I'm so sorry," Sapphire kept saying. "I'm so sorry, Alya."
"It's not your fault, Mum."
"Your grandfather took everything from me." Her voice broke. "He took you. He took Jonathan."
Alya reached for her hand.
They laughed too, eventually. Sapphire told her stories about Jonathan, the times he used to burn every meal he tried to cook, the terrible nicknames he gave her when they first met. Alya laughed until her stomach hurt.
Then Sapphire lifted her hand toward the ceiling.
Threads of light poured from her fingers, filling the ceiling with a universe of blue and silver, and stars slowly spinning in orbit.
"Whoa," Alya whispered.
"Everyone's powers look different," Sapphire said. "We all pull from the same moon. But what we make of it is ours alone."
Alya watched the stars turn above her, then turned to look at her mother.
"Will Jayden come back?"
Sapphire's smile faded.
"I don't know how to answer that," she said carefully. "I've never seen anything like what you did, Alya. Our gifts let us move things, heal things, shape what already exists. What you did was different. You didn't shape him. You made him."
"I don't know how I did it."
"I know." Sapphire brushed the hair from Alya's forehead. "The moment I saw him, I felt it. That same pull the moon gives all of us, but running through him like it was his own. I've never felt anything like it. No one has ever made something so alive."
Alya's throat tightened. "Then how do I get him back?"
"I don't know, baby."
It wasn't the answer she wanted, but the exhaustion finally caught up to her. As Sapphire pulled her close, the heavy warmth of her mother's arms slowly drowned out the grief, lulling Alya's eyes shut.
The sound of Sapphire's gentle breathing faded, replaced by heavy silence.
When Alya opened her eyes, the bedroom was gone. She was standing in a white, wall-less room.
"Jayden?"
He turned. When he saw her, he smiled, the same one she'd fallen for on the dancing streets of Solara, a moment that felt like a lifetime ago.
"You found me, Alya."
"Yes I did." Her voice shook. "But I don't know how."
"I told you." He held out a hand. "I'm part of you."
She started walking toward him, then broke into a sprint with tears running down her face.
Behind him, a black hole punctured the light. It expanded rapidly, releasing a low, pulling hum.
Jayden glanced over his shoulder at it. When he looked back at her, his smile was gone.
"I have to go now."
"No."
"I need to tell you something, Alya." His voice cracked.
"Wait!" she screamed, sprinting the last few feet between them. He reached for her. She reached for him.
Their fingers were almost touching when the darkness pulled him backward, swallowing him whole.
"JAYDEN!"