He took a step forward, and with that single motion, the world around him changed again. He was no longer above the city. He was within it. The streets stretched before him, the hum of life surrounding him, yet no one seemed to notice him. He moved through the crowd, unseen, untouched, as though he were a shadow cast by something greater.
Then, a voice.
Familiar. Grounding.
"Jude?"
He turned, and for the first time since returning, he felt the weight of reality truly settle.
Lisa stood before him, eyes wide, breath caught in the moment between recognition and disbelief. She was real, solid, unchanged, and yet, something in her gaze told him she knew.
"You were gone," she said, her voice quiet but firm. "Not just missing. Gone."
Jude did not deny it. He could see the unspoken questions in her eyes, the search for an answer that could make sense of what had happened. But how could he explain? How could he put into words something that existed beyond them?
