Cassian's POV.
I held Aria’s hand as we walked, our fingers slowly intertwining, twisting together like they’d been made to fit. She laughed at something I said...a soft, airy laugh that pressed against my chest and made my chest tighten in a way I hadn’t expected. She was here, really here, not just standing beside me but moving through the world with me again. She was shaking off the shadows, starting to smile like herself, starting to breathe without holding the weight of everything inside.
“You’re too dramatic,” she said, her eyes glinting, a hint of that playful mischief that made my heart race. “I wasn’t going to fall in the mud.”
“You were about to, and you know it,” I teased, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her hair smelled faintly of shampoo and something warme
