Tasha's Apartment – Morning.
Rin sat at the edge of the bed tying her shoes. Her fingers were slower than usual. Thoughtful. Tasha leaned in the doorway, sipping coffee, watching her.
"You sure you wanna do this today?" Tasha asked.
"I'm not walking in there to start a fight," Rin said.
"Then what are you walking in for?"
Rin looked up. "To see if I still belong in the story."
Boston Medical – 10:17 AM.
Liana was adjusting a monitor when she spotted Rin at the end of the hallway.
She paused. The recognition hit fast. Not from introductions—but from observation.
She stepped out into the hallway.
"You here for Amara?" Liana asked gently.
Rin nodded. "I texted Nova. She said it was okay."
Liana smiled, warm and calm. "She's in the rooftop garden. You know how to get up there?"
"I'll find it."
Liana watched her walk away.
She didn't say it aloud—but she thought it clearly:
"This ain't gonna be easy."
Rooftop Garden – 10:24 AM.
Amara sat on the same bench she always did, sketchbook open, half a drawing of hands reaching for one another but never touching.
She heard the footsteps behind her. Didn't look up yet.
She waited.
And then—
"Hi," Rin said softly.
Amara turned.
The air between them wasn't tense. It wasn't violent.
It was careful.
Like walking barefoot over broken glass in the dark.
They sat. Two women with a history neither wrote but both inherited.
Rin was the first to speak.
"I don't know what I expected. But it wasn't this."
"This?" Amara asked, closing her sketchbook.
"You. Alive."
Amara smiled, but it was tired. "Sometimes I still have to remind myself I am."
Rin nodded slowly. "That doesn't surprise me."
A pause.
Then:
"You scared?" Rin asked.
Amara looked at her.
"Of you?"
"Of this."
Amara considered. "I'm scared of forgetting who I was. And I'm scared of trying to be her again."
Rin looked out over the city. "He talks about you like you're a storm that passed and left everything too quiet."
"And he talks about you?" Amara asked.
"Like you never left," Rin whispered.
Amara's voice softened. "I never hated you, Rin.
Not once.
Even when I imagined the worst, I hoped… if he found someone, it was someone who didn't make him feel like I was missing."
Rin blinked hard. Looked away.
"I tried to be enough."
"You were." Amara's voice cracked. "You are."
They sat there, letting the weight settle.
Neither reached for the other.
Neither ran away.
They just stayed.
Nova's Apartment – Midday.
Nova sat on the floor, papers and photos spread around her again.
Detective Kade stood nearby, arms folded, reading over a file.
"You think we missed something?" Nova asked.
Kade nodded. "Not think. I know we did."
He passed her a photo—grainy, old, slightly warped.
"Dominic Rayner," he said. "Dropped out two months before Amara vanished. No arrests. Clean record. But his background—it's full of places that don't line up. Moved addresses. Changed emails. Ghosted online."
Nova stared at the photo. "He planned it."
"And if he's still out there…" Kade said, "He might not be done."
Nova's chest tightened.
"Then we're not done either."
Selene's Bar – Afternoon.
Eli sat at his usual corner, not drinking this time. Just tracing the rim of a shot glass with his finger.
Nari leaned over the bar. "You look like a guy writing a breakup letter to a past life."
Eli smirked without looking up. "That obvious?"
"You always wear it in your hands," she said. "That tension."
He finally looked up. "You ever love someone who made you feel like you were worth something… then left without warning?"
Nari tilted her head. "Yeah. I just called him my father."
They both laughed, low and real.
"You ever gonna tell me why you come here every week and never tell me what really hurts?" she asked.
Eli leaned back, mouth half open like he might say it.
But he didn't.
"Not today," he said. "But maybe… soon."
Back on the Rooftop.
Rin stood slowly. "I don't know what comes next.
But I needed to see your face to know I wasn't just filling your shadow."
Amara looked up at her.
"You're not in my shadow.
You're the reason he still knew how to feel."
They didn't hug.
They didn't cry.
But they left the rooftop less heavy than when they found it.