It was a soft morning. The sun filtered through the window in golden stripes, and birds chirped outside like a song on repeat. Suvo lay in his cradle, eyes half-lidded, mind drifting as it often did.
His new mother, Lisa, was humming as she folded small clothes. Her movements were quiet, careful — as if afraid to wake him, though he was already awake.
Then he heard it again.
That name.
"Suvo, my little Suvo," Lisa whispered, smiling at him.
It wasn't new. She had said it many times now. But today, for the first time, it struck him deeply.
"Suvo... she called me Suvo."
"But... that's my name."
Not the name of this body. Not a new identity. His true name.
He didn't know the language they spoke, not fully. But names — they carried across barriers. And that one word felt sharp, clear, and familiar.
"What are the odds...?"
A chill ran through his small frame.
"Why didn't it change?"
"Why... is it still me?"
It wasn't just a name. It was a sign.
A thread of fate refusing to be severed.
Later that day, Lisa held him in her arms as she sat on the porch. His sister, Lili, was playing nearby, giggling with two other children.
The girl was bold and loud, her hair tied in messy braids. She chased Lili through the grass, calling out in laughter. That was Prit, the neighbor's daughter — just as energetic as Lili, and just as fearless.
Crawling in the grass nearby was a chubby little boy with wide eyes and soft black hair. He babbled nonsense sounds, pounding the dirt with his fists. That was Liam, Prit's baby brother.
Suvo stared at them quietly.
They were young.
Normal.
Innocent.
Nothing like the Raksa. Nothing like his old world.
He watched his sister tug on Prit's hand and run, their joy spilling into the open air like sunlight.
He watched Liam fall face-first into a pile of grass and cry, only to be picked up by his mother from next door.
"Is this what peace looks like?"
"I... don't belong here."
And yet...
Lisa gently brushed his hair back, her hand soft and warm.
She smiled down at him again, unaware of his thoughts.
"Suvo," she said with a chuckle. "You're so serious, little one."
He blinked.
The world slowed.
He didn't know what the future held. He didn't even know this world's name yet.
But he knew one thing:
"My name... was never supposed to remain."
"And yet, it did."
A seed of understanding took root in his heart. Maybe he was not meant to forget. Maybe this world hadn't given him a new beginning.
Maybe it was simply... the next chapter.
[End of Chapter 5]