The house was quiet after Rey left.
Aurelina sat on her bed, her knees pulled to her chest, holding the envelope that had no name — just two simple words written in handwriting that trembled slightly:
> "For You."
She had read the letter twice.
Then again.
And again.
Every line felt like a crack in the wall she had unknowingly built around herself.
> "I wasn't there for your first breath,
But I've dreamed of you with every breath I've taken since."
She couldn't explain the ache in her chest. It wasn't pain.
It wasn't anger.
It was something softer — something like the sound of a memory forming, even though it had come too late.
---
The next day, she found Rey sitting alone at a coffee shop not far from school. She walked in without saying a word and sat across from him.
He looked up slowly. His eyes widened, surprised — but he didn't smile.
Neither did she.
> "I read it," Aurelina said quietly.
Rey nodded, swallowing hard. "I wasn't sure if you would."
She placed the envelope on the table between them. "I don't want an apology. I'm not ready for that. But… I need to know something."
He waited.
> "Do you want to be in my life now? As what?"
Rey's throat tightened.
> "Not as a replacement. Not to take anything from you or your life. I just… I want to be there. In whatever way you'll let me."
> "Even if I'm angry?" she asked.
> "Even if you hate me," he answered, voice steady.
There was a pause. She looked down at her hands.
> "I don't hate you," she whispered. "I think I just… missed something I didn't even know I had. And now it's here, and I don't know what to do with it.
Rey nodded.
> "Then maybe we don't do anything yet. Maybe… we just start with coffee."
Her lips twitched slightly — not a full smile, but something like the beginning of one.
> "Okay," she said.
---
Across town, Aurel sat in her room, staring at the photo Rey had left behind — the one from their youth, long before the world turned heavy.
In that photo, she was laughing, eyes full of reckless hope. Rey was beside her, still wearing that same watch.
She touched the glass gently, whispering:
> "You came back. But everything's changed."
And yet, deep inside, something stirred. Not a wish to go back — that was impossible. But maybe… a longing to make peace with the pieces still left.
---
Later that evening, Rey walked Aurelina home. The street was quiet, bathed in soft gold from the setting sun. They didn't talk much — only a few short questions about books, writing, music.
But there was something sacred in the silence. A new rhythm. A fragile trust beginning to form.
When they reached her gate, she turned to him.
> "Do you think… if we'd met like this from the start, you and me — just as strangers — we would've liked each other?"
Rey looked at her for a long time.
> "I think I would've loved you either way."
She blinked, startled. Then smiled. A small, real smile.
> "Good night, Mr. Rey."
> "Good night… Aurelina."
She walked into the house, and Rey stood there a while longer, watching the lights turn on one by one.
---
> "Sometimes, what's broken doesn't need fixing — it just needs to be held gently, as it is."
— Chapter 33