Chapter 1562
Just a wide pool of still silver water, and above it, a dome of living branches whose leaves shone with a constellation of every night they’d ever seen.
Sophie gasped. "This is..."
"The island’s heart," Rose said softly.
Lucy floated her child to the water’s edge. "They wanted us to see this."
The children hovered, one by one, around the pool. Then - together - they drifted over it, glowing brighter with each breath. The water stirred. Reflected them not as infants, but as futures. Twelve figures of radiant light, tall, graceful, powerful.
The mothers held their breath.
"They’re showing us what they’ll become," Emma whispered.
Jude stepped to the water’s edge and gazed at their reflections.
He saw a world where love ruled without shame. Where families were bound by choice and trust, not law or blood. Where islands bloomed under the feet of the brave, and hearts spoke louder than war.