***
In another life — or perhaps in the unwritten margin between lives — there was a train station at the edge of the city. Gray stone columns, iron arches stained with rust, and the smell of coal smoke hanging heavy in the winter air.
A place meant for meetings, for goodbyes — and for promises.
Ciel stood on the platform, scarf pulled tight against the cold. In his pocket: a folded letter, words scrawled in hurried ink.
"Meet me Tuesday. Platform nine. We'll remember together."
The clock overhead ticked louder than his pulse. Each minute felt heavier, pressing against his chest.
People came and went: hurried travelers, families clutching suitcases, lovers tangled in whispered farewells.
But not her.
He paced the length of the platform, breath fogging in the cold air.
"She'll come," he whispered. "She always comes."
Trains rattled in and out, iron wheels screaming on steel tracks. Steam rolled across the platform, curling like ghostly hands.
At every hiss of brakes, his heart leapt — only to fall again when the crowd parted and her face wasn't there.
At last, the station bell tolled noon.
The letter in his pocket felt heavier than iron.
Maybe she forgot. He thought, a pit opening in his chest.
Or worse:
Maybe this time, we missed each other entirely.
He waited until dusk turned the sky to ash and ember.
Only when the lamps along the platform flickered to life did he finally turn away, legs stiff with cold.
Far away, in a dim rented room, Elara sat at a wooden table, letter open before her.
Her brow furrowed in confusion.
"Platform nine… Tuesday…" she whispered, voice thin and breaking. "Why do I feel like someone's waiting?"
The memory hovered, just out of reach — like steam dissolving in winter air.
She pressed a trembling hand to her chest, trying to calm the ache she couldn't name.
"I'm sorry," she whispered into the empty room, though she didn't know to whom.
By the time she finally rose to go, the train had long departed.
And in the cold heart of the station, Ciel's promise hung unfinished —waiting on an empty platform where no one came.
***