68: The Pond Where It Began

“…You’re the suspicious man who keeps showing up in this park, aren’t you?”

The woman took a wary step back, clearly on guard against the man in front of her.

“Hmm. I suppose given the situation, that’s a fair assumption.
But even if you don’t know me, I know you.
This is the place where we first… no, where we truly met, wasn’t it?
Rena.”

“H-How do you know my name!?
You’re wearing all black… You’re a stalker, aren’t you!?”

“Your reaction is perfect—as always.
Surely you’re not acting right now, are you?
But let me be clear, this is the real world.
There’s no fisherman with a rod around.
Maybe the timeline got a little scrambled, though.”

“If you don’t leave right now, I’m calling the police!”

“Then call them, if you like.
Use that ridiculous little device you invented in the picture book world… what was it called again?
A smartphone?”

“A smart-what?
I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

Watching from within the Mirror World, Rena tried to make sense of the surreal conversation.
She held Tom’s note again, reading it with fresh eyes.

There’s a page in my memory… one I can’t erase.
I want you to be the one to close it.

This clue was all she had to go on.
She needed to fulfill Tom’s wish—no matter what.

“I came here today to give you something.
Please, accept it.”

Dan’s voice turned gentle, almost coaxing.
He stepped closer, reaching into the pocket of his dark suit.

“Tomorrow is your wedding day, isn’t it?
I, Dan, have prepared the perfect gift for you.
I promise you’ll love it.”

Those words sent a shock through the Rena observing from the Mirror World.
She remembered now—back at this very pond, a different Tom, one seemingly under someone else’s control, had spoken of a wedding too.

You disappeared so suddenly.
The day before our wedding…
And they found you here.
In this park… in this pond…

It all clicked into place.
This was the moment—the tragic memory that Tom couldn’t erase.

Rena had lost her life here, at Dan’s hand.
The twisted timeline made sense now.
And to stop Dan from hurting her older self again, Rena gripped the golden axe tighter.

“…So that’s it.
The page Tom wants erased is this very moment—
The moment I was taken from him.
Then I’ll do it.
I’ll tear that page apart myself.”

With calm determination, Rena raised the golden axe.
This was it—the final strike.
She locked eyes with the Dan inside Emma’s mirror and took aim.
As the woman in the vision fled and put distance between herself and Dan, Rena hurled the axe with all her strength.

“You’ve thrown the axe, have you?
Tell me, girl—how was my performance?”

Dan turned his head sharply toward Rena, as if he had known she’d been watching from the start.

The golden axe pierced through the mirror’s surface, flying straight at the Dan within the vision.
But instead of striking him, it passed through his body—continuing on until it splashed into the waters of the pond.

Dan vanished like mist.
Yet Rena felt no disappointment.
Instead, a quiet sense of peace filled her.

Something had changed.

The golden axe sank slowly to the bottom of the pond, returning once more to the waters of the parallel, real-world timeline—where it would rest again.

***

The woman, breathless, sprinted to a nearby phone booth.
She picked up the receiver, inserted coins, and dialed with trembling fingers.

“Tom!? There was this stranger in the park—he tried to approach me near the pond!
He knew my name!
He said he had a gift for me!”

“The pond? Rena… what are you talking about?
Are you messing with me while I’m at work again?
Tomorrow’s our wedding day, you know.
And… the pond? Why are you there?”

“I… I don’t know. I just couldn’t wait for tomorrow, I guess.
I was feeling restless.
And then I remembered—I dropped my plush toy in this pond when I was little.”

“Oh… right.
The little onigiri one?
Didn’t I fish that out for you?
Got myself soaked in the process.
But hey, aren’t you supposed to be working right now?”

“What? Oh… yeah, I skipped work today.
Couldn’t come up with any new ideas.
Designing’s tough, you know…
But never mind that—
That guy was totally a creep! He was stalking me!”

“…Pfft. Sorry.
That was actually supposed to be a surprise.
I asked one of my coworkers to play a little prank on you.
Did you open the box yet?”

“Box? What box!?”

“The ring box.
I bet you thought there’d be a ring inside, right?
Surprise—it’s your favorite little frog!”

“…What!?
Tom, that’s awful!
Seriously, you’re the worst!
But… your coworker, Dan—he was an amazing actor.
Didn’t flinch once.”

“Dan? Who’s Dan?
I asked Charlie to do it…
Wait, what…?
Well, whatever.”

The woman sighed in relief and slowly hung up the phone.

But then she murmured softly:

“…Strange.
How did you know I was at the pond?”

***

It was my surprise.

The whisper drifted to Rena, leaning against the frame of the Eternal Mirror.
Beyond the swirling old books, a swing slowly emerged—glowing with soft pastel light.
Seated on the swing was Tom, still in his school uniform, waving at her with a gentle smile.

“Tom… is that really you?”

Rena stepped forward, unsure whether to believe her eyes.

Our story… it’s written in this place.
Even the scenes you forgot—
You’ll remember them here.

The swing creaked gently as it rocked back and forth.

A page fluttered from Tom’s hand, drifting into the hands of Rena’s uniform-clad self.
It was a fragment of their memories, now returned to her—warm and whole.

Smiling softly, Rena took a seat on the swing beside him.
Together, they watched the rest of the story unfold.