"Elesch," Nova repeated, still having trouble believing that the young woman standing before him was the person he knew.
She smiled and moved closer, raising both hands to his cheeks. Her touch was warm, and for the first time since he had awakened in the strange darkness, he felt something familiar. The place around them remained impossible to understand, but the girl in front of him was real. He knew her voice, her expression, and the delighted look in her aquamarine eyes.
"Welcome, big brother," she said. Her voice carried through the Void without losing its warmth. "I missed you!"
Nova laughed softly. "I missed you too, Elesch. Though I wasn't expecting to see you here. I wasn't expecting to see anyone, actually."
"Well, you looked like you needed help. And I wanted to see you, so here I am." She spoke as though visiting someone beyond space and time were as ordinary as walking into the next room.
