Chapter 5 THE FOREST IN BETWEEN

Juliette couldn't shake the dream.

All day, her thoughts drifted back to the forest-the hush of it, the way the mist curled like whispered secrets between the trees, the startling clarity of Ren's face just before she woke. It hadn't felt like a dream at all.

It had felt like a memory waiting to be remembered.

She returned to the mirror just after sunset. The Paris sky had blushed into lavender, and the first stars blinked faintly overhead. She lit a small candle and set it near the frame, its flame flickering like an offering.

Ren appeared almost instantly. He was already writing.

> Did you see the forest too?

Juliette's heart jumped. She nodded quickly, pressing her answer against the glass.

> You were there.

He smiled, but it was a quiet, puzzled smile.

> I don't think that was just a dream.

For a moment, neither of them moved. The mirror, usually just a surface between them, felt deeper tonight-more like a doorway.

Then Ren did something strange.

He pulled out a small notebook, flipped to a sketch, and held it up to the mirror. It was the forest. The same curve of trees. The mist. Even the shaft of light that had broken through the canopy.

"I drew it when I woke up," he said aloud, knowing she couldn't hear him but hoping she'd understand.

Juliette stared, stunned.

She turned, pulled her own sketchpad from beneath a stack of books, and flipped to a hastily drawn image. Her forest. She held it up beside his.

They were nearly identical.

Juliette whispered, "What are we stepping into?"

That night, they didn't laugh like usual. They spoke less, but felt more.

Ren wrote:

> The mirror is waking up.

Juliette responded:

> So are we.

---

The days that followed blurred like watercolor. Each night, they met at the mirror. Sometimes they simply sat and watched each other in silence. Other times, they compared journal entries, dreams, memories. More forests. More echoes.

They began calling it The Between.

A place that didn't belong to either of their worlds-but welcomed them both.

One evening, Juliette noticed something different. The mirror's glow wasn't just pulsing softly-it was spreading. The shimmer spilled beyond the glass now, curling faintly along the edges of her desk, like fingers reaching outward.

And her reflection... wasn't always just hers.

Once, as she passed the mirror during the day, she caught a glimpse of someone behind her-Ren, standing in the forest. She spun around, but of course, he wasn't there.

She touched the mirror.

It was warm.

---

In Kyoto, Ren felt it too.

The mirror had begun humming on its own. A soft vibration in the air, like the beginning of a song. His grandmother noticed.

"You've been quiet lately," she said one morning, watching him over tea.

He hesitated. Then: "Have you ever... seen something in the mirror that wasn't there?"

She froze. Slowly set her cup down.

"When I was a girl," she said softly, "I caught my reflection looking back at me... but it wasn't my face."

Ren's chest tightened.

"It smiled," she whispered. "And I felt peace. Like someone was watching over me."

Ren said nothing, but when he returned to his room, he stood before the mirror with new reverence. He pressed his palm flat to the glass and closed his eyes.

"Juliette," he whispered.

---

That night, the forest returned.

But this time, it wasn't just mist and trees.

It was clearer. Solid.

They stood across from each other-closer than ever before. Ren's breath curled in the cold air. Juliette could smell the pine. She looked down and saw footprints in the soil-hers, and his.

She stepped forward.

So did he.

This time, their hands didn't pass through each other. They clasped.

Real. Tangible.

The world stilled.

No words passed between them. None were needed. The air was thick with something ancient and holy.

And when the moment broke-when the forest faded and they awoke in their separate rooms-their mirrors were different.

Juliette's had a new crack-tiny, silver-fine, running along the base like lightning frozen in glass.

Ren's glowed faintly, even after the dream ended.

And on both mirrors, a new phrase had appeared:

"To love across time is to defy time itself."

Juliette stared at the words, a single thought blooming in her mind like fire:

This was no longer just a connection.

This was a calling.