Lyra didn’t look away.
For a moment, everything around her faded into the background, the conversations, the movement, the low hum of voices blending into something distant and unimportant. All she saw was him.
Daniel.
Standing exactly where she had imagined he would be.
But different.
Not in a way she could easily explain, just… settled. Like he had already adjusted to this new reality in a way she was only now being forced to confront.
He didn’t step forward immediately, but his attention stayed on her, steady and unreadable. The woman beside him followed his gaze, her eyes landing on Lyra with quiet awareness, as if she already knew who she was.
Lyra felt it, that brief tightening in her chest, but she didn’t let it show. She straightened slightly, grounding herself before taking
