?? ??????? ??? [ the promised neverland ]

she felt certain that she understood what her children had accomplished that night, though she didn't know how much a child only 4 years old would be able to grasp. she continued gazing at phil's angelic face.

isabella turned to look at the (h/c) haired girl cuddling the said boy to sleep.

i...

what had she felt, when she learned the truth?

she realized, with silent surprise, that it had been almost 20 years since then. back then, she had been a child living in the house in complete ignorance, just like (y/n), emma, and the others had been.

the place she had always believed to be a happy orphanage was really a plant for raising children as food for "demons." the daily tests were to produce higher-quality "brains."

the mama she had loved was on the side of the demons-the caretaker for children meant to be eaten. the reason they weren't allowed to go beyond the forest was that the walls imprisoning them were there.

and the siblings she thought had left for foster families were all killed.

the faces of all the siblings who she had played and laughed with as a girl appeared in the back of her mind. she still clearly remembered the names and faces of every single one, as well as all the things they had said to one another. the little brother who had cried and complained every morning because he couldn't tie his shoelaces. the little sister who had always wanted her attention.

and leslie.

that name, associated with the song she had been singing until that moment, was always in Isabella's heart, impossible to forget.

"... leslie."

in a low voice, the same as when she was singing, isabella spoke his name in the darkness of the night.

isabella noticed (y/n)'s eyes open at the name's mention. she looked at isabella for a brief moment before looking back to phil.

"what's wrong, (y/n)?" isabella asked, caressing the girl's hair.

(y/n) didn't bat an eye as she answers, "it's nothing," before closing her eyes once again, kissing phil's forehead in the process.

isabella didn't question the girl and only hummed in response. she diverted her attention back to the house on flames.

the memories that had come back to isabella as she stood on the wall a short time ago replayed over and over again in her mind, as though they were being shown by a broken projector. isabella grimaced.

i suppose it's because i've never thought back on it until now....

the past she had locked away came surging back, from twenty years ago.

that night, she had seen leslie off with a bright smile, only to learn the truth about the house once it was all too late.

"..."

she still vividly remembered the despair she had felt standing on top of the wall, so long ago. it had been cold, much like this night, and snowing. a pitch-black abyss had stretched out beyond the wall, swallowing up the white snowflakes that delicately floated down.

little isabella couldn't wrap her mind around the implications of the scenery before her eyes.

 what is this...? 

the outside world, where leslie lived, was supposed to have been beyond the wall.

"isabella..."

isabella looked back, dazedly, toward the voice that had echoed in the silence. mama had called out to her from below the wall, and she was smiling.