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𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐢 i held her close, her warmth against me a stark contrast to the coldness that usually clung to my bones. this dream she had—it was like a lifeline, something tangible to grasp in the darkness. the idea of us, together, with a son... it was something i hadn't allowed myself to imagine, but now, i wanted to know more.
"tell me about him," i murmured, my voice barely audible. "our son... what did he look like?"
she smiled softly, as if the memory of the dream was still fresh in her mind. "he looked like you," she whispered. "a carbon copy, really. he had your eyes, your smile. but his hair... it was white, like yours before that day."
white hair. i felt a pang in my chest at that. i hadn't been born with white hair—that was something that came later, after the flames had taken hold of me. "and his quirk?" i asked, curious. "did he have one?"
"yes," she replied, her voice full of warmth. "he had elemental manipulation—he could control fire and ice. it was like he got the best of both of us, and he also inherited wind and water from my bloodline. he was... truly perfect."
i felt a small smile tug at the corners of my lips. "sounds like he was something special," i said, trying to imagine this boy—our boy—who had my quirk, my eyes, that unmistakable white hair, and the power to control all the elements.
"he was," she agreed, her voice full of affection. "he was everything i ever wanted. and you... you were different too, touya."
i frowned slightly. "different how?"
"you weren't hurt," she said softly, her fingers tracing the lines of my scars as if to emphasize her point. "you didn't have the burns, the pain. it was like your body had learned to withstand your quirk. and your hair... it was white, but it wasn't because of your ice biology. it was just... you."
i swallowed hard, the lump in my throat growing as i tried to process what she was saying. a version of me that wasn't scarred, that didn't carry the pain and the burden of the past. it was hard to imagine, but as she spoke, i could almost see it—the boy i could have been, the man i could have become if things had been different.
"and you?" i asked, needing to know more. "did you have a quirk?"
she shook her head, her smile bittersweet. "no," she answered quietly. "i was still quirkless in the dream. but it didn't matter. we were happy, touya. we had everything we ever wanted."
i let out a breath i didn't realize i was holding, the weight of her words settling in my chest. a life where i wasn't damaged, where our son had inherited the best parts of us, where we were just... happy. it felt almost too good to be true, like a cruel joke the universe was playing on us. but at the same time, it was comforting—a glimpse into a world that could have been.
"you know," i murmured, my voice thick with emotion, "i can almost see him. that kid of ours... he sounds like he would have been amazing."
"he was," she whispered, leaning into me, her breath warm against my neck. "he was perfect, touya. just like you."
those words—just like you—hung in the air, resonating deep within me. she still saw me, the real me, buried beneath the scars and the anger. and for the first time in a long time, i let myself believe that maybe, just maybe, i wasn't completely lost.
"what do you think he would have been like?" i asked, my voice almost hesitant, as if speaking the words might break the fragile spell we were under.
she smiled again, a soft, wistful smile. "i think he would have been kind, like you were before everything happened. smart, like you too. but with a bit of mischief in him—he'd get that from you as well."
i chuckled softly, the sound foreign to my own ears. "sounds like a handful."
"he would have been," she agreed, her fingers tracing patterns on my chest again. "but we would have loved him all the same."
the image she painted was so vivid, so real, that for a moment, i let myself believe it. a son with white hair and a mischievous grin, who could control fire, ice, wind, and water. a life where i wasn't broken, where we weren't doomed to be torn apart by fate and circumstance. it was a beautiful dream, and as we lay there, lost in the possibilities of what could have been, i felt something i hadn't felt in years—a sense of peace.
"maybe in another universe," i murmured, "we really did get it right."
she looked up at me, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "i'd like to believe that," she whispered. "i'd like to believe that somewhere, we're living that life."
i tightened my hold on her, my heart aching with the weight of everything we'd lost. "maybe we are," i said softly, my voice rough with emotion. "maybe somewhere, we're exactly where we're supposed to be."
as the silence enveloped us once more, i closed my eyes, letting the image of our son, of our life together, fill my mind. it was a life we would never have, a dream that would never come true, but in that moment, it was enough. because as long as i had her in my arms, as long as she was here with me, i could hold on to that hope, no matter how fleeting it might be.
