The silence of the jet cabin was interrupted only by the gentle hum of its engines as it descended toward California.
Leonardo DeMarco stared out the window, watching the vineyards and winding roads of home stretch out below. The storm of Rio was over. Reyes was dead. Vince was gone. Dom and Brian had gone their separate ways for now, each carrying the weight of what they had done.
But Leonardo? He needed time.
He remembered Dom's nod before they split. The kind of nod that said everything without needing words—gratitude, trust, and farewell… for now.
He leaned back in his seat.
"Home," he murmured.
The DeMarco estate stood untouched, timeless.
Alfred greeted him at the private landing strip with his usual calm professionalism.
"Welcome home, Master Leonardo," he said. "Your mother is waiting for you."
She met him at the veranda, dressed in soft blue, her eyes lighting up the moment she saw him. There was no judgment in her embrace, no suspicion in her smile—only relief.
She didn't ask where he'd been. She believed the story he had planted: a long-needed sabbatical, with Alfred managing the business and Koko providing support in the background.
Koko, whom his mother believed was his girlfriend.
He didn't correct her.
That night, Leonardo stood alone in his study, looking over the estate through the balcony window.
He was surrounded by peace. Luxury. Family.
And yet, something buzzed within him—like a frequency he couldn't ignore. A hum that never left.
The vault beneath the east wing called to him.
He descended the stairs.
Inside the vault, lit by cold steel lights and secured against the world, Leonardo stood before a drawer set in reinforced plating.
The envelope was still there. The Summon Ticket, untouched since the system upgrade.
He took a deep breath and pressed his thumb against the shimmering card.
"One being, one bond. One pull beyond the veil."
A pulse exploded outward. The air turned white.
Alarms began to blare.
Alfred was already halfway down the hallway with a shotgun in hand before Leonardo could even move.
She didn't enter the world quietly.
She burst into existence like a chaos bomb—riding bunny-eared propulsion boots, wearing a silver lab coat over a tight pink-and-white bodysuit, and announcing her arrival like a Broadway finale.
"TADAAAA~!"
She landed in a spin, arms wide. Purple hair bounced as she posed dramatically.
"You! You're my summoner! My master! My fated link across dimensions!"
Leonardo blinked.
She blinked back.
"…Also, you're suspiciously handsome. Like, is that skincare or genetics? Be honest."
Leonardo opened his mouth to speak—
Alfred appeared in the doorway, tactically prepared, eyes scanning the vault.
"Sir," he said, voice steady. "Is this one of those moments?"
Leonardo sighed.
"Put the shotgun down, Alfred."
Tabane Shinonono beamed.
Later That Night
Leonardo sat across from her in the garden, a pot of tea steaming between them. The evening was quiet. Stars glimmered overhead.
Tabane had already disassembled and rebuilt three of his encrypted hard drives, treating them like puzzle toys for children. She had done so while giggling and humming a tune, seated upside down on the garden bench.
"Your encryption protocols are adorable," she said, sipping her tea. "Like an old teddy bear trying to be intimidating."
"They're military-grade."
"Mmhmm. In this world."
Leonardo studied her. Chaotic. Hyper. Brilliant beyond logic.
He finally asked the question lingering in his mind.
"Why me?"
Tabane paused. Her eyes, usually sparkling with mischief, settled into calm intelligence.
"Because someone thought you'd need me. And I decided to stay."
"You could've left?"
"Easily. I could've built a dimensional portal, jumped out, vanished. But I didn't."
"Why?"
She smiled softly now, genuine.
"Because I don't follow gods. I follow people who make the world bend around them. And you, Leonardo DeMarco… you are gravity."
Silence stretched between them.
Then she reached out and flicked his forehead with her finger.
"Also, I really like your face. But mostly the gravity thing."
He smiled despite himself.
The Next Morning
Tabane had built a floating lab in the garage.
Not just a workspace—an energy-stabilized, vibration-free, AI-assisted, floating lab.
Leonardo stood before it, baffled.
"Why is it hovering?"
Tabane beamed. "Because brilliance needs altitude. And you're going to build again."
"I thought I was on a break."
"You are," she replied, handing him a scanner with what looked like alien circuitry. "But breaks don't last. Brilliance doesn't rest forever."
He stared at the device.
"You're insane."
She smirked. "But I'm your insane."
Later That Week
Koko met Tabane.
The initial encounter was a cold chess match. Glances. Sarcasm. Passive-aggressive compliments.
By the end of the day, they were sharing a bottle of wine and debating the philosophical ethics of arms dealing in emerging economies.
"She's trouble," Koko said that night to Leonardo, watching Tabane from across the garden. "The kind I like. She stays."
He nodded.
In just a few days, Tabane had improved the estate's energy grid, created two new inventions he didn't fully understand, and reverse-engineered a piece of alien tech he had locked away in a sealed case.
And she never once questioned his past. Never tried to breach the rules he quietly set.
That night, standing on the upper balcony beside him, she said:
"Whatever war comes next… I'm already yours."
Leonardo looked at her.
And for the first time in a long time… he believed it.
He wasn't alone anymore.