Darkness.
That was all I felt at first.
No pain. No sound. No rushing horns or cracking bones. Just… emptiness.
For a moment, I wondered if I had simply fainted. If I'd wake up in the hospital, my dad scolding me for being reckless, my mom holding the newborn I was dying to see.
But then, the flashes came.
Faces. Voices. A thousand moments in the span of a breath.
"Lawrence, hurry up or you'll be late for class again!"
"Don't slack off, son, you've got a future waiting."
"I'm proud of you, big brother."
And then…
A smile.
Tiny. Pure. Fragile. A baby's smile.
I didn't understand it. I had never met her, never held her, never even seen her face—and yet, I knew instantly. That was her. My baby sister.
The one I had rushed out of school to meet. The one I thought I would protect, guide, tease, and grow up with.
And here she was, smiling at me in the darkness.
Something cracked in my chest. My breath—if I even had one anymore—caught in my throat.
"I… I don't want to go yet."
The words slipped out of me, though no sound came.
I wasn't ready. Not when I had finally been given the chance to be a big brother. Not when Dad's voice—the last thing I heard—was shaking as he said it would be okay.
What a lie.
It wasn't okay. It would never be okay.
I wanted to cry. But there were no tears here. Only that smile, glowing faintly in the dark, pulling me forward.
And then—light.
Blinding, warm, almost suffocating. My body lurched, twisting, squeezing through something too tight. A scream—no, my scream—echoed around me.
The air burned my lungs. My skin felt raw, damp. I thrashed, but my arms… they were so small. My legs, weak.
What—what was happening?
"Oh, Zack! He's beautiful!"
The voice was soft. Feminine. It rang in my ears like a lullaby.
I blinked against the blur of tears and light. A woman's face hovered above me—young, radiant, with hair clinging to her forehead from sweat. She cradled me close, her eyes shimmering with love I had never seen before.
Beside her, a man leaned down, his grin wide and stupid and perfect. "He's strong, too. Look at those lungs! Welcome to the world, Zack."
Zack?
Wait. No. That's… me?
I glanced down—or as much as my tiny head could move. Chubby fingers curled in front of me. A soft blanket wrapped around my fragile body.
No. This couldn't be.
I wasn't Zack. I was Lawrence. Sixteen. I had dreams, regrets, a sister waiting for me in another world—
And yet, the warmth of the woman's arms, the steady hand of the man stroking my head, the way they looked at me as if I was their entire world…
It shook me.
I was… reborn.
I didn't need anyone to explain it. I knew. My life as Lawrence was over. My new life as Zack had begun.
And just beyond the couple, three young girls peeked into the room. Sisters. My sisters.
The eldest, her sharp eyes glowing with curiosity, adjusted her glasses and whispered something I couldn't catch. The second clapped her hands with excitement, bouncing on her toes, her long hair swaying. The youngest tugged nervously at her dress, half-hiding behind the doorframe.
Sisters.
Just like before.
Only this time, I wasn't the big brother. I was the baby.
I wanted to laugh. Or cry. Or scream that it wasn't fair. But all that came out was a tiny, pitiful whimper.
The woman—my new mother—gently rocked me. "Shh… it's okay, Zack. We're here. We'll always be here."
Her words settled into me like an anchor. Heavy. Comforting.
Maybe this was fate's twisted way of giving me a second chance.
Maybe… just maybe… I could live again.