Emma looked past him at the others. Zoey and Stella. Grace and Natalie. Each of them radiant, relaxed, changed - but still entirely themselves . And yet… something more shimmered beneath their skin.
Sophie cupped Lucy's face, searching her eyes. "You left me."
"I didn't mean to," Lucy said. "But I had to see. I had to feel it. I never stopped loving you. You're still part of me."
Sophie's jaw clenched, but she didn't pull away. "I don't understand any of this."
"You don't have to yet," Zoey said, approaching them. "But you will. You'll feel it. Like we did."
"I don't want to feel what took you all away," Sophie snapped. "I want to know you're still you."
Stella moved between them gently. "We are. We're just… more whole."
Emma turned to Jude. "Tell me what happened."
He nodded slowly. "There was a heart beneath the island. Alive. Watching. Waiting for us. The singing, the rituals… it all led there. When we joined, it awakened."
Emma's brow furrowed. "You joined ?"
