Souta is returned to the world of Amakusa.
In this specific instance, Aqua, Ruby, Yume, and even Ai are with us.
They walk through the frozen park.
Everyone inside smiles.
But the triplets do not smile back.
Ruby reaches out to touch a laughing child who is mid-giggle.
"This is not peace. It's a cage."
Aqua glares at Amakusa.
You didn't construct a paradise. You constructed a cemetery.
Yume raises her voice—just a whisper—and the wind shatters the illusion.
Fractures extend throughout the icy world.
Amakusa falls onto his knees, holding his chest.
"I… I just longed so desperately for the sensation of being loved forever, endlessly."
Souta embraces him.
Begin by loving and embracing the world as it is, appreciating it as it is presented to you.
And the false paradise collapses.
In the real world, normalcy reasserts itself.
Amakusa disappears from the public eye.
His devotees remember him affectionately—but not the bizarre perfection. It disappears, like a dream.
Souta walks home with Ai.
"If I were to ask you once more… about the idea of forever…"
She gives a friendly smile, softly stroking his hair away with her slender fingers.
"I'd still say no."
Well, if you were to ask me
"I'd say thank you for offering. And then I'd kiss your forehead and tell you to go live."
The family gets together again, having overcome their fear of passage of time.
Aqua reads off a script.
Ruby dances with Yume in the kitchen.
Ai gently hums a soothing melody, embracing her three cute triplets with loving arms.
Souta slowly shuts his eyes and starts listening—not for all of time or to become powerful—but for this very moment which lies ahead of him.
His teddy bear is next to him, worn and cozy.
And for the first time in each of his two separate lives, he makes an important discovery:
Love does not have to last forever for it to have everlasting meaning.
It's late.
They are all asleep.
The house is still shrouded in a deep silence, the only noises piercing this quiet being the soft hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen and the soft, almost-whispering breath of the night wind as it rushes past the window.
Souta is seated cozily in the corner of his little room, hugging his dear teddy bear, Happy, tightly against his chest with a tight grip.
His expression is blank.
His eyes—wet.
And then, barely above a whisper:
"Would you despise me…"
He swallows.
Would you hate me if you were able to talk and let me know how you feel? If I were to offer you something as deep as a soul?
He looks at Happy—worn, stitched, and loved.
"You were the sole friend I had during that period of my life. You were the only one who stayed with me and did not desert me." And I've always been left wondering the question.
His fingers tremble.
"Did you stay in this relationship because you really loved me, or did you stay because you were unable to leave?"
The next day, Souta is utterly quiet and does not utter a single word to his siblings whatsoever.
But at dinner, he's uncharacteristically quiet. No clinging. No joking.
It is first noticed by Ruby. She looks at Aqua, and Aqua gives a nod.
Once dinner has concluded, Ai discovers him on the floor in the hallway, curled up tight and clutching his stuffed animal, Happy, while he remains wide awake and aware.
"Sweetie, are you okay now?"
Souta says nothing prior to responding slowly.
Then—
"Mama… do you believe that whoever decides to stay with me really wants to be here?"
Ai is sitting directly beside him.
"That certainly is a strange question to be asking."
I'm afraid. I want to leave Happy a will. Let him speak, think, feel like a human being. But. what if he says he never loved me?
Why on earth would you ever think that?
"Because back then… I was awful. And even now, sometimes, I still feel like I'm pretending to be this 'happy brother'."
Ai wraps him in her warm, affectionate arms in a tender hug.
Souta. You are not your past.
And Happy remained because you never let him go. You were in love with him first. That matters.