Boston Medical – 6:47 AM
The city hadn't fully woken up yet. The light outside was pale, still pressing gently against the skyline like it wasn't sure it belonged.
Kael sat in the rooftop garden with a paper cup of hospital coffee, coat wrapped loosely around his shoulders. He hadn't slept. Not deeply, anyway.
Amara was still in her room. He hadn't gone in yet.
He was waiting.But for what, he didn't know.
Footsteps behind him.
A nurse—Jordan, mid-30s, kind eyes and a quiet face—appeared carrying a folded blanket.
"She said you'd be here," Jordan said. "Told me you forget to keep warm when your thoughts get too loud."
Kael smiled faintly. "She's not wrong."
Jordan draped the blanket over his shoulders and didn't linger. "She asked for space this morning. Didn't say why. Just said she needed time before speaking."
Kael nodded once. "Okay."
"She's stronger than she knows," Jordan added, pausing at the door. "But maybe she's still figuring out if she wants to be that strong around you."
Amara's Room – 7:11 AM
Amara stood in front of the mirror, brushing out her hair slowly. Each movement was careful—calculated, like she was afraid of breaking something invisible.
She wore soft blue pants, a black long-sleeve tee, and no makeup. She hadn't looked this much like herself in five years. And yet… she didn't recognize her own reflection.
Nova sat on the bed behind her, legs crossed.
"You sure you want to see him today?" Nova asked.
Amara nodded once.
"I'm not ready for love," she said, voice low. "But I'm ready to know if it can sit in the same room with me without asking me to hurry."
Nova smiled gently. "Then don't rush. Let it sit. Let it earn you again."
Selene's Bar – 11:22 AM
Eli was seated at the far end of the bar, scribbling into his notebook. Real this time. Not fake lines or pickup lines or hollow verses—real thoughts.
Nari leaned over from the sink, drying a glass, watching him.
"Second day in a row," she said. "This a streak?"
He looked up, eyes clearer today.
"I guess I like talking to someone who doesn't expect me to lie."
She smirked. "You always this charming after trauma?"
He leaned back, arms spread across the counter.
"No. Sometimes I'm worse."
Nari laughed—low and soft. She walked over, set down the towel, and stood across from him.
"Alright then, Eli," she said. "Why don't you write me something about who you are when no one's watching?"
He nodded, flipping to a new page.
And for the first time in years, he actually tried.
Downtown – Café Balcony – Noon
Rin sat at a quiet outdoor café with Tasha. The wind moved her curls gently. Her eyes were fixed on the street—watching strangers pass like she was trying to figure out what being "okay" looked like on other people.
Tasha stirred her tea.
"You haven't said much today."
Rin blinked, sipped her own.
"I said goodbye to a future I built out of someone else's ashes," she said. "Now I'm trying to figure out if there's any part of me that wasn't shaped by his grief."
Tasha exhaled. "That's not nothing."
"I don't want to be angry," Rin added. "I want to be new."
Tasha reached across the table and took her hand.
"Then let's build her," she said. "From scratch."
Boston Medical – Rooftop – 1:37 PM
Kael was still sitting when Amara finally walked out.
She didn't speak right away. Just lowered herself onto the bench beside him, hands tucked in her lap.
Kael looked over but didn't push.
"I had a dream last night," she said after a long stretch of wind. "That I was back in that place. But this time… I could scream. And someone heard me."
Kael's hands clenched slightly.
"Was it me?"
"No," she said. "It was me. I heard myself."
They sat in silence.
Kael finally spoke. "You're not the same. And I'm not the man you used to love. But I'd be lying if I said the space between us feels empty."
Amara met his gaze.
"Then don't rush into it like we're supposed to pick up where we left off. Let's sit in the space. Let it tell us what it wants to become."
Kael nodded.
"Start from the beginning?"
She held out her hand.
"I'm Amara Lys. I draw the things I'm too scared to say out loud."
He took it gently.
"Kael Revenhart. I ruin coffee but sketch decently under pressure."
They both smiled.
And just like that, something began—not again… but anew.
Nova's Apartment – 4:03 PM
Nova was pacing.
Kade sat on the couch, flipping through the file of Dominic Rayner's history. The more they found, the less it made sense.
"Look at this," Kade said. "He changed IDs. Enrolled in schools under aliases. He wasn't just hiding—he was training for something."
Nova stopped. "Training for her."
Kade nodded. "He studied her. Knew her routines. Her past. Her circle."
Nova's voice was ice. "And we let him slip through because he was quiet."
Kade looked up at her. "You ready to go hunting?"
She nodded.
And this time, there was no shake in her voice.
"Let's bring the nightmare into the light."
Hospital Garden – Sunset
Amara and Kael now sat side by side, both drawing. No words. Just pencil on paper, the scratch of lead, the breeze moving hair.
A little girl with a bandage on her arm—Janelle, maybe six or seven—walked past holding her dad's hand. She slowed, glancing curiously at their sketchbooks.
Amara looked up and smiled. "Want to see?"
Janelle nodded, wide-eyed.
Amara turned the page and showed her a drawing of the city from above.
The girl gasped. "That's here! That's where the birds are!"
Kael chuckled softly. "You've got a sharp eye."
Janelle pointed at Amara's pencil. "Can I try?"
Amara handed it over without hesitation.
"Go ahead. Draw what you see."
The moment lasted only a few seconds—but it was real.
For a minute, Amara wasn't a survivor. She was an artist. A mentor. A person fully here.
And Kael saw it.
Eli's Apartment – 7:12 PM
He sat at his desk. Pages torn out and scattered. The one in front of him?
It read:
I used to think love meant waiting for the other shoe to drop.Now I think love might just be someone steady enough to hold you when it finally does.
He didn't send it.
But he folded it.
And set it in an envelope labeled "Nari."