“I already looked into it back in the hospital. The mind reader, right? Technology of that caliber is restricted or banned from being developed or transported across dimensions based on the Opal Treaty. So we can’t acquire it for Vasi.

“And trying to move her through an Opal in her current state to World 2 is too risky. I couldn’t find any research papers on the topic in the first place, and the government page didn’t have information on it either. I also don’t think the few private Opal companies that exist would allow it.”

Riel kept thinking. He had to. It was unfair for his friend when he has access to a universe like his but can’t offer any solution.

Forti felt like she was wading chest-deep in mud and sinking further and further the more she thought about how to wake her sister. The one contraption that could help was barred from her, and the person who knew so much could only offer so little. 

She grit her teeth.

There exists something that can wake Vasi in one of the dimensions my world has access to. And if Riel can’t tell me any other option, then that mind reader is what I’ll bet on.

Not wanting either of them stewing in this misery any longer, she nudged his shoulder.

“Let’s dream of something comforting tonight.”

The sunny smile she wore squeezed Riel’s heart.

I’m sorry, Forti, he thought. As long as it’s within the limits of your world, I’d find out anything for you. I’m sorry.

Forti took the initiative to transmute the dreamworld into an enormous stretch of wheat fields, inspired by her friend’s hair.

Taken by the hand, Riel followed behind. 

The reverie sun shined kindly, streaking strands of Forti’s fluttering hair in amber. For a while, he was enchanted by how her hair swayed like the ocean of prairies they traversed, fumbling with the start of another apology under his tongue.

Just as he had it between his teeth, she turned around.

“Walk next to me,” she said. 

They strolled side by side through imaginary paradise under a cloudless sky, unburdened by anything or anyone. 

Up ahead, the grasslands dipped into a clearing by Riel’s making, similar to the meadow of the Zhunseban, but sprinkled with a variety of wildflowers, like daisies, dandelions, primroses, and chicories. Blossoms he remembered from seeing Forti’s world and thought were the prettiest. 

“Come on,” Riel urged excitedly, tugging his dear friend’s hand. At the center of it all, they sat down. 

He plucked a dandelion, and as he held it, Forti watched its thin yellow petals close in on itself, the sepals dry and peel off, and cloud-white fluff burst open into a ball. He handed it to her, and she admired the flower before blowing a wish for her sister to wake up. The seeds drifted away. Neither watched for whether they would land.

After talking about what it meant to be happy, whether illusions are better than lies, and the mystery of Riel’s world having no animals, where Forti made playful but merciless fun over his fascination with beetles that had him clutching at his gut for laughing too hard at himself, they laid on their sides, facing each other.

“Is this a dream?” Forti asked.

Riel giggled, and wanted to indulge her.

“No.”

“Can I touch you?”

“Please.”

Fingertips danced to brush hair away, gracing his forehead lightly, from eyes heavy with adoration. Riel dove in.

She became his everything, the only thought in his head that blinded him with all of her, like the mother sun heralding spring, and his mind was crowded with more flowers than he could fill in their shared, infinite space because infinity had an end.

Forti’s hand traced down his cheek to his jaw, lightly thumbing it, and he clenched it subconsciously. He yearned for her hand the moment it lifted. He was about to drag it back, but it returned as soon as it left to his delight, the back of her finger gliding down the bridge of his nose before its pad pressed gently upon his lips, feeling curvature and softness and devotion. It was as if she were memorizing his face by touch, sensing every detail to etch into her mind for the future, so that if someday she were stripped of her sight, if she lost her hands, if the sky fell and Riel was far away, she could relive this moment.

“You’re beautiful,” she said breathlessly, like a secret. His heart stuttered. In his ears, her voice was as melodious as a symphony of light and all good things, and in his mind, her words were commandments to heed and cherish, even if he could not follow them all. But if a deity can forgive a sinner, then he believed in Forti to forgive him for his heathen ways.

You’re divine, he thought.

Realizing he was holding his breath the whole time, Riel chuckled.

The grass was a bed Forti never wanted to leave. The air was infused with trees, dirt, and him, and the blue sky brushed a gentle wind upon them, lightly rustling his hair. There were only them in the universe, and it overwhelmed her to think this was real. 

They floated into the atmosphere, unafraid and free, and wished for forever. For this moment to freeze in place and let them lie in peace.

It was as if heaven made a home on earth and they both met an angel.