For a few seconds, Rin forgot how to breathe.
His mother's arms were around him.
Warm. Real. Not a memory. Not a dream.
Not another fragment stolen from a life he could no longer remember.
Real.
Rin closed his eyes. A strange ache filled his chest.
He had imagined this moment so many times without realizing it.
Sometimes he imagined running toward her. Sometimes he imagined asking why she had left. Sometimes he imagined being angry.
But now that she was actually standing in front of him, all those words disappeared.
He was just Rin. Her son. The woman holding him trembled.
"You're really here."
Her voice broke.
Rin tightened his arms around her.
"Yeah."
She pulled back slightly and touched his face. Her fingers traced his cheek as though she was afraid he might disappear.
"You're older."
Rin laughed weakly.
"That's usually what happens."
She smiled through her tears. For a moment, neither of them said anything.
Then her eyes moved past Rin.
