"Huh…?" Emma's eyes widened in disbelief, her lips parted but no sound came out.
Yet, as Nyx's arms wrapped around her, a strange warmth spread through her chest — a feeling so familiar it almost hurt. She couldn't explain it, but deep inside, she knew this embrace. It was the embrace of a mother. Her mother.
"M-Mom…?" Emma whispered, her voice trembling, the word foreign on her tongue yet somehow right.
"Yes… it's me, my dear Emma. It's Mom…" Nyx said softly, nodding as tears spilled down her cheeks, her smile tender but trembling.
When Emma slowly pulled back, her face was a mix of shock and confusion. She stared at Nyx, struggling to believe that the mother she thought dead was standing alive before her eyes.
"But… how? That day… I saw you get stabbed. I thought you died before those scum dragged me away from you…" Emma's voice cracked, shrinking with every word until it became a whisper.
