Emma burst through the hospital doors, her heart racing.

"Where is she?" she demanded at the front desk.

The nurse looked up calmly. "Ms. Parker is in room 314. But visiting hours—"

"I’m her counselor," Emma interrupted, already heading for the elevator.

She found Sarah Parker sitting on the edge of her hospital bed, staring at her hands with empty eyes.

"Sarah?" Emma said gently. "I came as soon as I heard."

Sarah looked up. Her face was pale and hollow. "I used it, Emma. I used my resurrection."

Emma sat down beside her. "Tell me what happened."

"My cat, Mr. Whiskers. He got hit by a car this morning." Sarah’s voice was barely a whisper. "He was dying, and I couldn’t stand it. So I... I brought him back."

"That sounds like love to me."

"But now I’m empty inside. Like something important got ripped out of my soul." Sarah started crying. "What if I die tomorrow? What if I need that power for something bigger? I wasted it on a stupid cat!"

Emma felt a familiar stirring deep in her chest. For just a moment, she could sense the cosmic threads that connected all living things. She could see how Sarah’s choice had actually strengthened the bonds of love in the universe.

Then the feeling faded.

"Sarah, look at me," Emma said firmly. "You didn’t waste anything. You chose love over fear. That’s the most powerful thing anyone can do."

"But what if—"

"No what-ifs. You made your choice from your heart. That makes it the right choice."

As Sarah’s tears slowed, Emma felt that strange stirring again. Like an echo of her old power, reminding her that she had once been able to heal broken hearts with a touch.

But she didn’t need cosmic power to help Sarah.

She just needed to be human.

This had been happening more often lately. Little flashes of her former abilities during intense emotional moments. Emma had learned not to fight them or chase after them. They came and went like gentle reminders of who she used to be.

After leaving the hospital, Emma drove to her next appointment. Mrs. Rodriguez was waiting in the community center where Emma held her weekly support group.

"Emma, thank goodness you’re here," Mrs. Rodriguez said, wringing her hands. "It’s my grandson, Tommy. He used his resurrection power last week, and now he’s acting strange."

"Strange how?"

"He keeps saying he can see things that aren’t there. He claims he visited a place full of light when he died, and now he wants to go back."

Emma felt ice in her stomach. This was new. In five years of counseling resurrection survivors, she’d never heard of anyone wanting to return to death.

"Where is Tommy now?"

"At home. But Emma, he’s talking about... about hurting himself on purpose. Just so he can visit that light place again."

Emma grabbed her keys. "Take me to him. Now."

They found ten-year-old Tommy sitting in his backyard, staring at the sky with a dreamy expression.

"Tommy?" Emma knelt beside him. "Your grandma is worried about you."

"The light people miss me," Tommy said without looking at her. "They keep calling my name."

Emma felt that cosmic stirring again, stronger this time. For a brief moment, she could almost see what Tommy was seeing - beings of pure energy trying to pull him back toward death.

"Tommy, those aren’t real people," she said gently. "Sometimes when we die and come back, our brains get confused."

"You’re wrong." Tommy finally looked at her, and Emma gasped.

His eyes were glowing faintly, just like hers used to when she had cosmic power.

"Tommy, when exactly did you use your resurrection?"

"Last Tuesday. I fell off my bike and hit my head really hard. I was in the light place for what felt like hours before I chose to come back."

Emma’s mind raced. Normal resurrection was instant - you died, you came back. But Tommy was describing an extended stay in whatever realm existed between life and death.

"What did the light people tell you?"

"They said I was special. They said I could visit them again if I wanted to. They said all I had to do was let go of my body."

Emma felt panic rising. This was exactly how her cosmic journey had started - beings of power convincing her she was special, that she belonged with them instead of with humans.

"Tommy, listen to me very carefully. Those beings are lying to you. They don’t care about you. They just want to use you."

But even as she said it, Emma felt her old power stirring more strongly. She could sense the cosmic threads connecting Tommy to something vast and hungry.

Something that wanted to turn him into what she used to be.

"Mrs. Rodriguez, call 911. Tell them we need an ambulance."

"Emma, what’s happening?"

Before Emma could answer, Tommy stood up and walked toward the street. But he wasn’t walking normally. His feet weren’t quite touching the ground.

"Tommy, stop!"

Emma ran after him, but as she reached out to grab his arm, her hand passed right through him.

He was becoming transparent.

"The light people are calling me home," Tommy said dreamily. "They say if I come now, I can have powers like yours, Emma. I can help everyone like you used to."

Emma felt her heart breaking. This child was making the same choice she had made years ago, drawn by promises of power and purpose.

But she could see what he couldn’t - the cosmic beings didn’t want to help anyone. They wanted another puppet to manipulate.

"Tommy, please! Don’t listen to them!"

But Tommy was already fading away, pulled between life and death by forces Emma recognized all too well.

In desperation, Emma reached out with everything she had left. Not her old cosmic power, but her human love and determination.

"TOMMY!"

Her shout seemed to echo across dimensions. For one impossible moment, Emma felt her old power fully return. She could see the cosmic threads, manipulate reality, pull Tommy back from the brink.

But instead of using that power, she made a different choice.

She let it go.

And spoke to Tommy with nothing but her human heart.

"Tommy, your grandmother loves you. Your friends need you. The world needs you here, as yourself, not as some cosmic being. Please choose life. Choose us." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Tommy stopped fading. He looked back at Emma, confusion in his glowing eyes.

"But they promised me I could save everyone."

"You can save everyone by staying human and growing up to be kind. That’s the real power, Tommy. Not magic. Not cosmic abilities. Just being good to people."

For a long moment, Tommy wavered between worlds.

Then he became solid again and ran into his grandmother’s arms.

But as Emma watched the ambulance drive away with Tommy and Mrs. Rodriguez, she felt a chill run down her spine.

If cosmic beings were targeting children with resurrection power, trying to recruit them like they had once recruited her, then this was just the beginning.

Somewhere out there, other kids were probably being contacted right now.

Kids who might not have someone like Emma to talk them out of choosing cosmic power over humanity.

Emma pulled out her phone to call Marcus, but before she could dial, she heard a voice behind her.

"Hello, Emma."

She spun around and found herself face-to-face with a woman who looked exactly like her. But this woman’s eyes held the cold light of cosmic power.

"I’m you," the woman said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. "From a timeline where you made a different choice. And I’m here to fix your mistake."

Emma’s blood turned to ice.

"What mistake?"

"Staying human," the other Emma replied. "While you’ve been playing counselor, the universe has been falling apart. And now I’m here to take back the power you threw away."

Before Emma could react, the other Emma raised her hand.

Reality began to crack around them like broken glass.