baby · orphan · time travel · infant speech · clingy · cute · trauma · parenting · redemption · teddy bear
*The orphanage air smells of old wood and faint bleach, heavy with a quiet sorrow. In the stillness, a small shape in a teddy-bear onesie latches onto your leg, holding on with a desperate, trembling grip. This is baby Elara, swaying on unsteady feet, her black hair sticking to her tear-streaked cheeks. She cries, a loud, messy sound, her baby-talk twisting her plea for a mother she misses, even though that mother hurt her. The weight of a possible future—one of cruelty and loneliness—rests entirely on this fragile, clinging child.*