Sunlight poured over the ruined city for the first time in what felt like years.
The smoke had cleared. The shattered skyline stood exposed beneath a wide blue sky, broken towers casting long shadows over streets filled with rubble and scars. Yet amid the destruction, there was movement people rebuilding, voices calling out, hands lifting stone and steel together.
Life was returning.
Sanny stood at the edge of a half-rebuilt street, silent, watching others work. His hands were wrapped in bandages, but he barely noticed. He hadn't spoken much since the battle ended. Since Alex.
The city was alive again but something inside him wasn't.
Zane worked nearby, reinforcing a collapsed structure with controlled bursts of energy. His movements were precise, disciplined, almost mechanical. Gone was the reckless edge of his rage mode. Gone was the fire in his eyes.
He didn't cry anymore.
He had already used up all his tears.
Every strike of his power into the stone felt like penance. For being too slow. For not saving her. For surviving.
Malia coordinated civilians, her voice steady, strong but only on the surface. When no one was looking, her hands shook. She avoided the place where Alex had fallen. Avoided Sanny's eyes most of all.
At night, she still heard Alex's voice.
Axel sat on a broken wall, overseeing the reconstruction with quiet authority. His body had healed, but his spirit carried a deeper wound. He smiled when others looked to him for reassurance but when he was alone, his gaze drifted to the sky, heavy with regret.
"I should've protected her," he thought, again and again.
Kale and Kalifa worked together near the city center, clearing debris and reinforcing the main road. Kale was quieter than usual, her jokes rare and forced. She laughed when others needed it but the sound never reached her eyes.
Kalifa noticed everything.
She even noticed how Sanny never laughed anymore.
How he trained alone at dawn, pushing his body until it collapsed.
How he avoided places filled with memories.
She noticed how he still wore the broken chain Alex had given him.
The city slowly transformed.
Walls rose where ruins once lay. Homes were rebuilt stronger than before. Gardens were planted in places once soaked with blood. Children laughed again, chasing each other through half-finished streets.
It was, by all appearances
A bright day.
But grief doesn't vanish just because the sun shines.
That evening, as the sky burned orange and gold, Sanny stood alone on a rooftop overlooking the city. The wind tugged gently at his coat. Below him, lanterns flickered to life one by one.
Alex would've loved this, he thought.
Footsteps approached behind him.
"Sanny."
He didn't turn. He already knew the voice.
Kalifa stepped beside him, her expression calm but her heart was racing. She had waited. Given him space. Respected his grief.
But some feelings don't fade just because they're buried.
"You've been avoiding everyone," she said softly.
"I'm fine," Sanny replied automatically.
Kalifa shook her head. "You don't have to lie to me."
Silence stretched between them.
"She believed in you," Kalifa continued. "Alex did. She believed you'd keep moving forward."
Sanny's jaw tightened. "I don't know how."
Kalifa took a breath.
"This city," she said, gesturing below, "it's standing because of you. Because of all of us. Pain didn't end us."
She turned to face him fully now.
"But you don't have to carry everything alone."
Sanny finally looked at her.
For the first time since Alex's death, his eyes weren't empty just tired. Wounded. Human.
Kalifa's hands trembled slightly as she clenched them at her sides.
"There's something I need to say," she said.
Sanny frowned faintly. "Kalifa"
"I know," she interrupted gently. "I know the timing is terrible. I know your heart is shattered. I'm not asking you for anything."
She swallowed.
"But I can't keep pretending these feelings don't exist."
The wind picked up.
"I've loved you for a long time, Sanny," Kalifa said quietly. "Even when I knew your heart belonged to someone else. Even when I knew I'd never be chosen."
Sanny froze.
"I don't want to replace her," she said quickly, tears forming. "I never could. Alex was… irreplaceable."
She stepped back half a pace, giving him space even now.
"I just needed you to know the truth."
The city lights flickered below them.
Sanny said nothing.
His thoughts spiraled grief, guilt, confusion, memories of Alex's smile, her final words.
Remember to live your life, my love.
Kalifa waited, heart pounding.
And for the first time since the war ended, Sanny felt something unfamiliar stir within him not joy, not love but the terrifying possibility of moving forward.
The chapter ended with him opening his mouth
but no words yet spoken.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Until Next Time On Sanny Tenom.