It's a peaceful evening.
The triplets are sitting through a repeat of one of Ai's past concerts, snuggled up on the living room couch.
Ai has just finished a recording, her hair pulled back, her eyes warm but weary.
Yume has dropped by with homemade treats. They all laugh together. For once, no drama, no cameras, no stress.
Just family.
Souta suddenly utters:
"If I asked you something insane… would you tell me the truth?"
The room freezes.
Ruby blinks.Aqua scowls slightly.Ai tilts her head.
"Of course," she says.
Souta glances at them all.
His voice is gentle—too gentle for how weighty his words are.
"Do you want to live like this forever?Remain this way… as a family, never growing old, or dying, or being parted.I can do it. I've worked it out."
Silence.
Not shocked, not bewildered—but actual silence. The kind that precedes something holy.
Ruby speaks first. Her tone is guarded:
"You mean… like being immortal?"
Souta nods.
"I wouldn't alter the world. Nobody else would be aware. It would only be us. The house. Our history. We could freeze here… this instant. Forever."
Aqua squints.
"And what about everyone else?"
Souta responds quickly.
"They continue. The world doesn't wait. Just… we just leave it."
Ai finally speaks.
"Why, Souta?"
He regards her. And for the first time in some time, he is not smiling.
"Because we're happy. We're safe. We're… complete. And I'm scared that time is going to shatter that."
Ai approaches him and goes down on her knees. Her hand cradles his cheek.
"Souta. Darling. I adore you. I adore you more than all the stars in the universe.But we're not supposed to be stuck."
He bites his lip.
"Why not? You told me you wanted this. That you'd sacrifice anything to remain like this."
Her eyes shine.
"I did. And I would still.But love is love because it has an end.We embrace each other tightly because we know we can't cling forever."
She places her hand on her heart.
"I want to watch you grow up. Fall in love. Have your heart broken. Heal.I want to get old knowing that I've raised three of the most compassionate kids this world's ever known."
"Even if it's goodbye?"
Ai nods slowly.
"Yes. Because goodbyes mean we were real."
Ruby, however, doesn't see eye-to-eye.
She jumps up from her seat suddenly, wide eyes shining with tears.
"Why can't we do it?! We've suffered enough!"
She turns to Souta, pleading.
"I'll do it. I want to. I want to keep us together."
Aqua holds her wrist.
"You're mourning. Don't say that now."
"No! I'm feeling! For once, I feel safe.I don't want to lose that again!"
Souta stays silent.
Ai gets up and hugs Ruby.
"Then let's maximize the time we do have.Let's not hide in it."
Souta sits on the rooftop that night by himself.
He clutches his teddy bear—tattered, worn, but still filled with memory.
Yume comes to sit beside him.
"You're not going to do it, are you?"
"No. Not now. Perhaps not ever."
"Why?"
"Because I figured something out."
He holds the bear close.
"If I froze this moment, I'd never get to see what's next.I'd never know how much more I'd be able to love them."
Yume puts a hand on his shoulder.
"That's the most human thing you've ever said."