Ethan sat in his dimly lit room, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts. Down the hall, his younger sister hummed as she worked in the kitchen, the smell of dinner drifting in through the crack of his door.

After talking with her, he’d been hit with an undeniable realization. This wasn’t some weird dream or hazy memory. No, this was real. He had somehow, impossibly, returned to the past. But the realization did not answer any of his questions. If anything it only made him more confused.

"How?" The question echoed in his mind, over and over. How did this happen? Who could’ve done this?

He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. He was grateful for this second chance, no doubt about it. But how could he enjoy it fully when so much was left unexplained? He kept searching for answers, trying to connect the dots, but every thought felt like a dead end. No explanation made sense whatsoever.

"Wait… what about that voice?", he leaned forward as he remembered. He tried to recall its words, its tone, the strange pull it had on him. But the memory slipped away as quickly as it came.

Before he could dive deeper into his thoughts, a voice cut through the silence.

"Why are you still sitting there? Dinner’s almost done, and you haven’t even left your room," Elise’s voice echoed from the kitchen, sounding half amused, half annoyed.

He blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. Standing in the doorway, Elise was doing that thing she always did when angry—hands on her hips, her eyes narrowing like she had every right to order him around.

"When are you going to bathe? Don’t even think about skipping it. I won’t feed you if you don’t."

Her tone was playful but firm, and Ethan couldn’t help but smile. She might have been younger than him, but when it came to bossing him around, she had always been the expert.

"I’m giving you fifteen minutes," she continued. "Get up. Bathe. Help me with dinner. Now!"

It was hard to feel too serious with her in full-on ‘big sister’ mode.

"Yeah, I’ll think about all this later.", he thought with a grin.

He stood, stretching out the tension in his body as he stood up. But before leaving the room, he reached out and pinched her cheek, his voice dripping with playful teasing.

"Alright, your majesty. Your wish is my command."

His laughter followed him down the hallway, light and free.

"Stop teasing me! If you don’t stop, there will be no dinner for you!" Elise’s voice rang out, a mock warning that couldn’t quite hide the affectionate edge to it.

Her face flushed, but there was a sparkle in her eyes, one that reminded him why things felt a little more normal, even though everything had changed.

"Listen to me, brother!!!" she called, her voice trailing off as he walked toward the bathroom.

Warm water dripped over Ethan’s face as he leaned back, allowing himself a rare moment of peace. The water was a comfort, the steady stream washing away the tension, the weight of everything that had been swirling around in his mind. Each drop felt like it was melting away just a little bit of the worries he’d been carrying. For once, he allowed himself to just be—no past mistakes, no fear, no regrets. For this one fleeting moment, there was only the now.

As he finished rinsing off, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His body was tall, but it felt oddly thin. No scars, no muscle tone, nothing that felt like it belonged to the man he once was. "Looks like I’ll have to start from scratch again," he thought quietly, examining the reflection that felt so unfamiliar.

There was an uncomfortable feeling in his chest. "This time," he promised himself, his hands clenching under the water,

"I won’t fail. I won’t let her go through that again."

Once Ethan was dressed, he joined Elise in the kitchen. For the first time, he looked at their home with clear eyes—not with caution, but with awareness. The house was in shambles. Cracks ran along the walls, leaks dripped from the ceiling, and the place felt more like a ruin than a home. The only redeeming quality of this house was the size of it.

It was hard to ignore the disrepair, but somehow, there was still life here. Despite the brokenness, it didn’t feel cold or empty. No, there was still a sense of warmth—faint, but real.

And then there was Elise. Despite everything that had happened, despite all the things falling apart around them, she’d kept the house in order. There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere, nothing out of place. It was like she’d taken all the chaos, all the hardship, and tried her best to make things feel 'Normal', to make their home feel like home. Ethan couldn’t believe how blind he’d been to this before. "She’s been holding it all together," he thought, feeling the weight of regret settle in his chest. And I never even noticed.

The food in front of him tasted bland. He ate in silence, his mind lost in the thoughts that refused to leave. "If I’d paid attention earlier… would things have been 'Different'? Could I have stopped her pain?"

Elise noticed the change in him immediately. Her eyes softened with concern, and before he could hide it, she spoke up.

"Brother, are you okay? You’ve been acting strange since this afternoon. Did you not find work? Or… is your health getting worse again?" Her voice was gentle but full of worry.

Ethan felt a pang of guilt. He was doing it again, wasn’t he? Letting her shoulder his worries, carrying the burden for him. How could he expect things to change if he kept repeating the same mistakes from his past life?

He clenched his fists. Shaking his head, he raised his hands and slapped his cheeks as hard as he could, jolting himself back to reality.

"Focus on the now, Ethan. No more regrets. No more mistakes."

"Brother?!! What are you doing?" Elise shouted with shock.

Before she could panic more, Ethen reached out and pinched her cheeks. " Sorry. I was just lost in thought." He gave a small smile. "Don’t worry, I’m fine."

"Alright, I get it. So, remove your hand already. You will permanently change the shape of my face if you keep pinching me like that. ", she complained, swatting his hand away, though she couldn’t hide the small smile on her face.

Ethan gave a light laughter. "Sorry. For some reason I just felt like pinching it." Ethan took a small bite of the food, now finally able to feel the flavor, before asking, "So tell me, how was your day today? Are you studying properly?"

Elise hesitated for a moment, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her plate before she finally spoke, her voice soft but steady. "Same as always. School, grocery shopping, coming home…"

Ethan nodded, the faintest smile pulling at his lips. "That’s good then. Make sure to take care of your health too. School is important, but nothing is more important than your health." His eyes softened as he spoke, the concern he felt for her clear in his voice.

But there was something else behind her silence. He noticed her discomfort, the way she couldn’t quite look him in the eye. She was fidgeting, hesitating, and Ethan could sense that it wasn’t an easy thing for her to say.

"What’s wrong?" he asked gently, putting his spoon down and looking at her.

Elise seemed to gather herself, then spoke, her words coming out a little slower than usual. "Well… I was thinking about something." She glanced at him, her eyes searching his face. "How about I quit school and work with you? I know you’ve shot this idea down before, but I’ve grown up now. I should start making my own money."

Ethan didn’t respond. He just kept eating, his thoughts drifting, unsure of how to react. The quiet between them stretched, and Elise couldn’t stand the silence. "Are you mad, brother?" Her voice cracked slightly. "Why aren’t you saying anything?"

He put his spoon down, finally meeting her gaze. "You already know what my answer will be." His voice was firm "You’re only sixteen. You don’t need to start working now. Your focus should be on your studies, not on earning money."

Her expression twisted with frustration. "But you started working when you were twelve."

Ethan sighed, his expression softening. "That was different. It was a necessity. You don’t need to worry about money right now. I’ll take care of it. You just need to focus on your future." He returned to eating, trying to avoid the weight of the discussion, but Elise wasn’t having it.

She slammed her hands onto the table, making the silverware rattle. "But how long can you keep this up?!" Her outburst startled him, but he didn’t flinch. _"You already work so many jobs, just to keep us afloat! If I keep going to school, how will you manage? You’re going to collapse at this rate! So if I—"

Before she could finish, Ethan flicked her forehead gently.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" she snapped, her frustration bubbling over.

Ethan’s eyes were hard now, his tone sharp, though there was a tenderness beneath it. "Stop worrying about money. That’s for the grown-ups to handle. You need to focus on your studies. This conversation is over."

Her voice trembled with a mix of anger and hurt. "What ‘GROWN-UP’ are you talking about?!" she yelled, her pain slipping through the cracks of her tough exterior. "You’re only two years older than me! You’ve done everything for me, sacrificed so much. How much more do you have to suffer? How much more are you going to give up?!"

Her words struck Ethan deep, but before he could respond, her voice cracked, and her eyes filled with tears. "You were so brilliant, smarter than most by far. The whole world was in awe by your presence. But now… now you’re stuck working yourself to death! Why? Why do we have to carry the weight of something we didn’t even do? Why do we have to suffer?"

Ethan’s heart clenched, and without thinking, he stood up and reached for her. He wanted to hold her, to make her feel safe. But she pulled back, her voice rising in frustration. "No!" she shouted, her chest heaving with emotion. "How long are you going to pacify me like this? How long are we going to hold back our anger? How long do we have to carry this burden, this weight, for something we didn’t even do? FOR HOW LONG?!"

"I don't want to lose you too," she shared with a voice full of fear and sorrow.

Her words echoed in the room, and Ethan felt like the walls were closing in on him. But he couldn’t run from it. He couldn’t escape it. This was the pain they both shared.

He reached out again, this time more firmly, pulling her into his arms. At first, she resisted—her fists weakly pushing against him, her body tense—but slowly, her resistance crumbled. She melted into him, her sobs breaking free, as though for the first time in ages, she could let go of the anger, the hurt, the fear. For just a moment, she didn’t have to carry it anymore.

Ethan wrapped his arms around her, holding her as if she might shatter into pieces in his embrace. Her tears soaked through his shirt, each drop a painful reminder of the agony he’d failed to protect her from before. But this time—this time, he would not fail. Not again. He couldn’t bear the thought of her facing this darkness alone.

With a quiet breath, he pressed his cheek against her hair, his voice barely a whisper, but steady with unspoken promise. “I won’t let you suffer anymore. I swear to you, I won’t let you cry in despair again. Not as long as I’m here.”

He felt her trembling in his arms, but the words were already spoken, a vow sealed deep within him. The weight of his promise didn’t scare him—it only made him more determined. No matter what it took, he would be the strength she needed, and he would carry the weight of her pain for as long as she needed him to.

“Even if I have to steal, fight, or sacrifice everything I am—I will change this future,” he vowed silently to himself, knowing that nothing, not even his own fears, would stop him from keeping his word.