AS THE SMALL CHILD DOZED OFF, a warm light enveloped them. They slowly opened their eyes and found themselves in a strange yet familiar place.

Sunlight seeped through the blinds of four-pane windows and the sound of an orchestra could be heard from the T.V. across from them. Bookshelves near an open doorway were filled with various recipe books and wooden figurines.

Kou felt a soft hand brush through their hair. They looked up and saw an all too familiar face to them. Long, light brown hair that was braided into a fishtail and kind haze; eyes followed by a warm smile. They weren’t blurry or a silhouette like all the other figures the small child saw before. This time the person before them was seen with such clarity that tears of joy and happiness welled up in Kou’s daylight eyes.

The same person that always cared for the small child since the day they were born. Kou sat up and quickly hugged their mother. The child wanted to say so much about the world they saw as if it was all just one bad dream but nonetheless, they knew they couldn’t even if they tried.

Their mother hugged the small child tightly and rubbed their back as the tears flowed like a never-ending waterfall. Kou wanted to savor the moment as much as they could before such a pleasant dream has the chance to reach its end.

They let go of one another as Kou wiped the tears away with their sleeves. Their mother picked up several familiar drawings and held them up to the small child.

Kou stared down at the first drawing where the doodles were colored in with crayons. They recognized the figure in the yellow raincoat almost instantly.

No words were exchanged between mother and child as the bond between them was more than enough for Kou to understand and nod. The next doodle had the two siblings of pink and blue. Kou recognized the duo and nodded again.

The third and final doodle was held over the previous two as it portrayed a massive tree and a winged figure standing in front of it. The White Rabbit knew right away.

The mother gently placed the child’s drawings down as the next second, the Black Rabbit, Tsukiko, was fast asleep with her head resting on her lap like a pillow.

“Go,” she mouthed without an audible voice. “Come home safe and sound,” she slightly leaned forward and kissed Kou’s forehead, leaning back afterward with a warm smile.

Kou couldn’t stop the waterworks and hugged her one last time.

“Kou? Are you okay?” Mania’s voice called out to them.

The small child slowly opened their eyes as they heard her. Kou looked around, only to see the library around them once again.

Mania sighed. “I can’t ever ignore a child in need,” she said as she hugged back and they both saw a ring of light pulse outward from them.

Kou wiped the tears away once more and hugged tightly as Mania felt her everlasting guilt slowly fade but not completely disappear.

The pulse of light expanded and swept out of the library and beyond the boundaries of the iridescent tree, causing the distant storm with powerful, swirling winds to slowly force its way through the forest of ash.

Kou let go as Mania held a content look on her face.

“Thank you, Kou,” she stood up as Kou hopped off the bench. “I hope you’re well rested now because your journey ahead may come to an end soon.”

The double doors of the library were suddenly opened and an old man in a yellow raincoat stood in the doorway, out of breath while Ehno and Fia were on his shoulders.

“Abraham…” Mania ran up to him as Kou gently followed from behind. “You mustn’t push yourself, especially at your age.”

“Don’t worry about me, Miss,” he said and tried to catch his breath. “I came to warn you,” the old man noticed the small child next to her and sighed. “All of you.”

The Elkhi siblings hopped off of his shoulders and fluttered their wings as they hugged Kou, “Glowy one!” Ehno and Fia said in unison as Kou patted their heads.

“A storm?” Mania seemed puzzled. “There hasn’t been one in our lands for years.”

“There was one a few days ago back in the flooded city.” Abraham pointed out. “And another in the Elkhi swamplands when the young’un first appeared. Now, I saw it with my own eyes, but this storm is different from all the rest.” He unhooked the spyglass from the waist of his coat and extended it. “You’ll have to see it for yourself,” he led Mania out onto the balcony and looked through the spyglass into the distance as he saw the oncoming storm. He handed it to her, “You hve to get everyone to evacuate.”

Looking through it, Mania couldn’t believe what she saw. “Impossible,” she returned it as he clipped it back onto the waist of his coat. “We can’t leave the last tree of synesthesia.”

“Well, I’m saying all of you must go in order to survive,” Abraham said with a stern look.

“If the last tree of Synesthesia falls” —Mania shook her head at the thought of it— “Oasia’s iridescent forests will never flourish again.”

As the adults bickered between each other, Kou and the Elkhi siblings heard a pop sound come from the direction of the clay pot near them. The trio peeked at it and they saw a green bulb with large, black beady eyes staring back at them. It had two small leaves that it was able to move freely as if they were arms.

The trio tilted their heads in a puzzled manner and the small plant copied their movements. It flailed its leaves and pointed at the bickering duo on the balcony duo on the balcony. Kou appeared confused as the tiny plant curled its leaves around one eye as if it was trying to look through something.

After a few seconds of thinking, Kou figured out what the tiny plant was trying to say and ran up to Abraham, grabbing the spyglass and extended it.

“What— Kou?” said the old man surprised. “You could’ve just asked in some way.”

The light from Kou’s eye was amplified through the spyglass as if a spotlight scanned the desolate forest of ash. Soon enough, Kou spotted the storm slowly approaching. They peered closely and saw a small, yet faint silhouette of the Black Rabbit behind the powerful winds.

Kou gulped and handed the spyglass back to Abraham. The small child silently shuffled back into the library, leaving the adults speechless for a moment.

“If you’re not going to evacuate your people,” he glanced bat Kou and sighed. “You’ll have to send the White Rabbit into the storm.”

“I refuse,” Mania said outright. “To send a child into the midst of a storm is insane, even for you.” She was surprised to hear him even suggest it.

As they continued their bickering once again, Kou returned to the siblings and the tiny plant. The small child couldn’t figure out what to do next other than to save the Black Rabbit but how?

The tiny plant flailed its two leaves and caught the White Rabbit’s attention. It pointed one of its leaves toward a shelf and moved the tip of a leaf in circles.

Ehno and Fia checked behind it and pulled out a thin log that was carved into a huge hook with a seat above the curve. Three layers of a few massive leaves were tied to the top of it and spun when the crank on it was turned.

“Ah!” Ehno realized what they pulled out. “A toy for small flying ones!”

“Fia always wanted to play with this but it’s always too high for an Elkhi,” Fia exclaimed as she slightly trembled. “Like super high!” She couldn’t even reach the seat.

The tiny plan flailed its leaves once more and swayed side-to-side as it caught Kou’s attention again. It first pointed at the strange toy then pointed at the bench dangled by the wires going upwards into the leaves of the iridescent tree.

Kou nodded and took the toy in hand. The small child rushed over to the bench and tugged on one of the wires, strangely causing it to ascend high and past the glowing, golden leaves in the center.

Abraham and Mania walked back into the library and right away, the Harpy noticed the White Rabbit was nowhere in sight.

The old man sighed and kneeled in front of the siblings. “Ehno, Fia, where’s Kou?”

“Uhm…” The Elkhi siblings said in unison.

Mania noticed the tiny plant staring up at her. “Sentiana?”

The plant saluted and continued to sway side-to-side.

“This was your doing, wasn’t it?”

The miniature Sentiana nodded enthusiastically as if it was showing happiness.

“Where’s the White Rabbit?” Mania asked, squinting her eyes.

Sentiana pointed at the door to the balcony.

Mania rushed outside, frantically looking around the balcony but to no avail, there was no sign of the small child. Abraham and the two Elkhis stayed in the doorway. She turned toward them with a worried expression on her face, but the old man casually pointed up at the sky in the distance with a chuckle.

They saw the small child on the strange toy, gliding through the wind and toward the oncoming storm.

“Kou!” Mania yelled at the top of her lungs as her voice barely reached them.

The White Rabbit pulled up their sleeves and continued to move the crank, causing it to not only move toward the storm but glow as bright as sunlight ever could.

Mania spread her wings was about to take flight, but the others quickly latched onto her, preventing her from doing so.

“Kou has to do this on their own, Mania!” Abraham struggled to hold her back as he felt the struggles of his age get to him.

“But—” Mania stared helplessly up at the small child entering the powerful storm. “No buts, if any of us wants to see the light of the day again…” He released his grip on the Harpy’s wings. “Then we have to trust Kou.”

Mania stopped struggling and lowered her wings. She walked up to the balcony’s railing with the siblings clinging onto her shoulders. “Save the Black Rabbit, Kou,” she mumbled beneath her breath.

The strong wings reached out from the depths of the storm itself as though it was trying to grab the White Rabbit out of the sky. Kou could barely keep the mechanism steady.

A sudden, heavy gust of wind forced the small child out of the contraption. They tumbled through the air as they fell quickly, their descent slowed with the assistance of the wind. Confused, Kou gently landed with the soles of their shoes planted firmly on the ground in the eye of the storm.

Kou saw nothing but the swirling wind around, except for a lone figure in a Black Rabbit coat before them. Their eyes of moonlight immediately met the gaze of sunlight. Tsukiko and Kou, the Twin Rabbits were reunited.