The days passed with a quiet rhythm Celeste hadn’t felt in a long time. It wasn’t perfect,some mornings still felt heavy, and some nights she stared at the ceiling too long,but there was something healing in the routine.
Work at the diner with Victoria remained a constant. They laughed over pancakes and spilled syrup, shared late-night music after closing shifts, and found comfort in their shared silence. Some evenings were spent strolling through street markets and bookstores, while others were nothing more than the two of them wrapped in blankets on the living room floor, watching movies and sipping cheap wine. Life, for once, felt soft.
And in between it all, Celeste took a quiet, personal step: she started training again.
Not in the wild, brutal sparring of her old life,but in the m
