He realized that his time started changing once again. Once he was inside, Akio decided to check on the time again. It was moving fast and eventually slowed down. He watched the wall clock for a while until eventually deciding to place it on the table face down in frustration.

The encounter he had earlier reminded him of the old pocket watch inside the drawer. He decided to take a look at the watch again, even if it could have stopped working. At that moment, he saw an engraving on the cover that wasn't there before;

It was always yours, Akihiro

However, his grandfather's name was crossed out. The pocket watch had his name now. It was always yours, Akio.

"It was always... mine," he said with uncertainty while tightly gripping the watch in his hands

"It was always mine."

He kept repeating these words silently, like a prayer, hoping to understand its meaning. He needed someone to explain what it meant, but at that moment he only had himself.

"But this watch is not—"

"This watch is—"

"It's not the watch," he thought.

Then, it dawned on him who the time traveler was, and that he did reach his destination, and that they will meet once again. The strange man he met at the park will eventually become someone who knew Akio more than anyone else. More than anything else, he wanted to meet him one more time.

He heard his grandfather's voice once again and he recalled what he said to him on the last summer night they spent together.

"There are things you'll need to find on your own. Before you do, and even after that, remember that nothing has true or absolute value."

"Then that's not a good thing, right? You mean everything is a lie," Akio said

"No, that's a good thing. Because you can decide what everything means for yourself. You can choose how everything is used or spent," his grandfather replied.

Then, he continued hammering nails into an unfinished chair without speaking word while Akio watched silently.

He finally opened the old watch. It seemed worn but the clock still worked even if the watch was decades old. He felt a strange grip as he looked at it. After a long time, he felt calm in the same way he did when he was beside the fireplace with his grandfather amidst a snowstorm. He didn't know what was happening but somehow, he understood what his words meant, and that he is unsure but not unsafe. It was always yours, Akio.

In the bitterly cold wind, Akio found himself back in spring once again as his grandfather's old pocket watch briefly glimmered. He saw himself as an infant in a cradle, and his grandfather was gleaming at him. In his grandfather's right hand was an old pocket watch, almost exactly like the one Akio himself had on his hand too.