The night was as still as water, and Wayne Manor slept within the boundary where shadows and memories intertwined.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4KHtrBcikH
Jason sat in a chair, stiff, not looking away for even a second.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfqv0p88xh
The girl on the bed had her eyes closed, her breathing steady, as if she'd just fallen asleep—except this sleep had lasted six years.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdvoR5Hjgeb
He never imagined he’d see her again. Not like this.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90S1QHmn5z
And now, he had brought her back to his own room.
A room that had always held only himself and his shadows.
Nana’s old room was now Stephanie’s. That girl, who always came and went like the wind, had somehow become the most space-consuming presence in the entire manor.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bhIIRsWsO
Jason’s own room, though he’d been gone for years, was still kept perfectly in order by Alfred—as if he had never left.
Jason leaned down and gently smoothed out Nana’s black hair. Her long hair was like ribbon, falling across the pillow strand by strand. He carefully spread it out, like preparing a sacred object for a ritual. Then he sat back in the chair, quietly keeping watch.
Six years.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mlMCurjG9
He closed his eyes and asked himself: what had he done in these six years?209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3BDoD7f6b
He smoked. Drank. Fought.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrDOrB0pBDL
He yelled at the world and drowned in himself.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0AF1lq3cj
“…What the hell have I been doing all this time?”209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLyHeDSaQU
He didn’t speak aloud—just let his gaze lightly rest on her face.
The communicator buzzed, breaking the silence.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANFHWGJJ7L
Batman’s message was short and cold: “Down to the Batcave. Now.”209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1SqvE9uwN
Jason turned for one last look at Nana lying on the bed. She didn’t move, as if that moment had been sealed in eternity.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHf52VhSIW9
He quietly shut the door behind him.
Hours later, the door opened again.
Jason had only meant to come in quietly, to sit back down beside the bed, to continue whispering his prayers to this miracle.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzSs7G9mfn
But as soon as he stepped into the room, he froze.
There were two extra people in the room—two little troublemakers.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxpnCm5GyM
Cassandra and Stephanie were “decorating” Nana’s long hair like they were wrapping a present.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAILQmacWc
They sat on the edge of the bed, braiding her hair into intricate plaits and clipping in pearl-like ornaments.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAz7EoG8MKf
She looked like some goddess of flowers from mythology being adorned for a festival.
Jason’s eyebrow twitched.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdWiQ9ElQD
“…What are you doing.”
The two girls glanced at each other and smiled like kids caught sneaking candy.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3yrA4krTB
“Pretty, right?” Stephanie clapped her hands and stood up.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzQlYfIF9S
Cassandra quietly packed up the accessory box, her movements swift and efficient.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGoND0YcaL0
“We’re leaving now,” Cassandra said softly, nodding to Nana as if saying goodnight.
Just as they reached the door, Stephanie suddenly turned around, flipped her hair, and smiled with a mischievous glint.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5MYNe3xpj
“Oh, right. Congrats, Jason, you finally broke our prediction.”
Jason: “…What prediction?”209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqt97s0kbuP
Stephanie said it seriously, “We all thought you were gay. I mean, you hadn’t been near a woman in years.”
Jason’s eyes widened.
“But you’ve made me believe in love again.” She made a heart gesture with her hands.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykr0yLd1RI
“—Get out!”209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECtwL7doZp
Jason roared and slammed the door behind them, shaking the frame.
The room was quiet again.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinoCgMiqjs
Jason returned to the bedside, looking at the sleeping girl, as if he could hear her dreams through time.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHBc3STG1p
She remained still. That loud slam hadn’t stirred her at all.
——The door opened again.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsymnJ9Orr
“Hey, forgot to say,” Stephanie poked her head in, looking innocent, “All the missing words in the scrapbook have reappeared.”
Before she even finished, she closed the door again herself.
Jason took a deep breath, staring at the closed door with a twitching mouth, but didn’t curse aloud.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMCXXLoq0T
He turned around and pulled out the familiar scrapbook from the bedside drawer.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QLI8dDZse
The cover was already worn, but he remembered every page she had collaged, every article she had clipped, every handwritten note she left.
He flipped it open—209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoY0xrSTmHY
The words were back.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdTKJeLj0R
The annotations that had once vanished into thin air, the traces of love and memory, were now neatly printed on the pages again.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMC6Ih5VaF
Jason flipped through slowly, letting his fingertips brush each word.
Sunday was still two days away. And to Jason, those two days felt endless.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYREdaV46SQ
Though Nana was still asleep, the atmosphere in Wayne Manor was like a festival, making it hard for him to breathe.
The two little troublemakers—the girls who treated Nana like a life-sized doll—came in almost every day, crouching at the bedside to whisper, bringing hair clips, ribbons, glitter, satin… as if they were dressing up the sleeping princess from a fairy tale.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ045JEPosBg
They seriously discussed which hairstyle would best suit “the future-awake Nana,” even saying things like, “We should reserve her style early, or it’ll be a waste if she wakes up with messy hair.”
Dick wasn’t much better.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3eWy3CMgLs
If he wasn’t coming in for selfies, he was trying to record a “Welcome Back” video, muttering things like, “She’s my little sister, of course I have to post about it—well, anonymously, on the Gotham Observer fan account.”
Batman and Alfred, on the other hand, simply sat by the bed in silence, just watching, saying nothing.
Tim came and went, notebook in one hand and recorder in the other, like he was conducting some kind of informal interview.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHZEZtXXLT
He asked Jason a bunch of questions—about Nana’s temperature, aura fluctuations, whether new words had appeared in the scrapbook.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdeYVvkcsO
Jason tried to be patient, but eventually he lost it and yelled: “She’s not awake yet! What the hell are you even recording?!”
Damian was perhaps the most infuriatingly simple.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSBRIUhTNp
He walked in, glanced once, stared at Nana’s thin wrists and delicate collarbones, and coldly muttered, “Weak.”209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdMysLtBDu
Then he walked out.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IEk3BCnXl
Like a hawk evaluating prey, losing interest and turning away.
Jason watched everyone come and go like they were touring an attraction, and his unease grew.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcW6Mgyz00V
Nana was his.
He brought her back—pulled her from the seams of the world.
This half-hearted contact made him uncomfortable to the core.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgKzA3uE6r7
If it weren’t for the people here helping care for her, Jason would’ve taken her away already.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCJkFKoRRM
He wanted to hide her—wanted her to wake up only in front of him.
Finally, Sunday arrived.
Wayne Manor put on what could only be called a miraculous team performance.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ81DXawxSF
Everyone acted like a brand-new person, as if they had truly become devout Christians.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCKij0dCYk
They woke up early, washed up, put on formal suits or dresses.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuDRcFm41T
Jason even saw Damian tying a tie—without insulting anyone.
At the breakfast table, they opened a freshly bought box of Bibles, flipping through them like students cramming before an exam.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAQN44dOr6
Pages rustled, and people argued over which verse would catch a god’s attention best.
As for donations—209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mJLiWJPWu
That turned into a full-on farce.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsghU9cna3
Stephanie had prepared a thick stack of cash in a handbag, saying “Gods deserve style.”209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzOR4serTq
Alfred stopped her just in time, insisting they could only bring coins.
The whole mansion was ransacked like it was doomsday prepping—coins turned up from sofa cushions, behind bookshelves, even from the bottom of Damian’s weapon crate.
Finally, the group set off.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XB0wvEu2E
Each of them holding a Bible, dressed neatly, solemn expressions on their faces.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlh4afQsmh
Like they were headed to face divine judgment.
When they entered the church, they weren’t the Batfamily anymore.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrtd9u3PF6
They were Gotham’s most un-Gotham-like believers.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLQHjbQ3k3
Singing hymns, listening to sermons, bowing and kneeling—they fully embraced their roles.
As they walked out of the church, sunlight streamed down in a perfect golden slant.
“To be honest,” Dick said, loosening his tie, “That was kinda refreshing.”209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDW1ko3vf8
Stephanie clapped, “Is this the new Wayne family bonding activity? Can we do a prayer marathon next time?”209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81fFd1VRGz
Tim murmured, “So… did it work?”
Just as everyone was still teasing, still wondering whether the gods had sensed anything from them—209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvm7iebFlJb
Alfred’s message came in.
“Everyone, I have good news. Miss Nana is awake.”
For a moment, the entire scene froze.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Hz8ionyUK
“What?!” Dick nearly dropped his phone.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbSJtQwXag
Jason read the message and didn’t say a word.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZG0WZV41N
He ran straight for his motorcycle.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡel3ofXyv1f
A second later, there was only the sound of the engine and dust in the air.
Batman furrowed his brow and asked quietly,209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GhHu7TjrN
“Alfred… so what’s the bad news?”
“The bad news is… Miss Nana cried alone in her room because all her believers had vanished.”
Everyone: ???!!!
“Well, just hurry back.”
The team instantly fell apart.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMzIKZZRG4
A group of church-dressed individuals, still smelling of incense and guilt, scattered like lightning toward their vehicles.
Gotham’s goddess had awakened—209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xTDURLEiy
But her very first tear…209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvhz5bJTYX
Was because her believers had all disappeared at once.
Everyone’s guilt went through the roof.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPB8NA7qfqX
and then Add to home screen.