In the ephemeral plane between dreams and death, ‘she’ stirs. Keiko’s breath hitches in her chest, faint and slow. Her fingers twitch, her lips part. Yet she speaks no words. There’s only darkness, endless and muffled. A fractured space between worlds, but something pierces it. A deep feeling.
‘Shino’. The girl’s sorrow rushes through her like a current of pain, fear and longing. It’s more than a mother’s instinct. It’s a soul-bound tether being tugged hard from the other side. Keiko gasps softly. "Shino…?" She turns in place, weightless in this void, reaching through the fog of unconscious thought with her mind, her heart and her will. "I’m here!" she calls. "Shino? Baby, are you alright?" But another voice answers. Smooth. Calm. Soothing. The same one as always.
