Lunara didn’t rember walking there.
But there she was, standing at the top of the hill her mother used to take her to when she was a child. She hadn’t been back in years.
The wind was calr here. The city noise below barely reached her. In the distance, the sa view she used to sit and stare at beside her mother stretched wide, quiet houses, narrow roads, and the line of trees marking the edge of the forest.
Her mother used to bring her here every spring when she was a kid.
A small picnic basket. Warm blankets. Just the two of them.
On days when life felt heavy, Lilith would say, "Co on, baby. Let’s go breathe a little."
And here they would sit, breathing, laughing, doing nothing at all.
It had been years since Lunara last ca, but her feet rembered the path. Her heart rembered the silence.
She stood there, still in her coat, her shoes damp from the grass. The city noise was a distant hum, muffled under the weight pressing down on her chest.
She didn’t cry. She just stared. Eyes blank. Heart ringing with a silence too loud to ignore.
The wind picked up.
And in it, she almost heard her mother’s voice.
"This will always be our place."
She could imagine her mother’s hand in her hair, soft and steady.
"And rember, Lunara... if one day I’m gone, rember to find my friends. My very best friend..."
Lunara’s eyes snapped open. Her brows furrowed.
She rembered the words. Her mother had said them. She was sure of it. But the na... the na was gone.
She stood still, as if afraid any sudden movent would scatter the fragile thread of mory she was clinging to.
"Why?" she had asked her mother once, probably around ten, her head resting on Lilith’s lap as they sat under the tree that shaded this very hill. "Why would I need to find your friend?"
Lilith had smiled then. A quiet, tired smile.
"Because I left sothing with her... sothing important. Sothing you’ll need, one day. My last gift for you."
Lunara squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push through the fog clouding her thoughts. She could almost hear her mother’s voice again, as clear as the day they sat on this hill, as if Lilith were sitting beside her now.
"I’m sorry, Lunara," her mother had said softly, her voice trembling just a little. "I’m sorry for what I did. For the choices I made for you, for us."
Lunara had frowned, confused. "What do you an? You’ve always been here for ."
Lilith paused, her fingers stopping in Lunara’s hair for a mont as if she was choosing her words carefully. Then she spoke, a note of regret in her voice.
"When I found out I was pregnant with you... I thought marrying Gideon would be the best thing for you. At least then you’d have a father. I thought... I thought it would give you a chance at a better life."
Lunara didn’t fully understand at the ti. She was too young. But she could feel the heaviness in her mother’s words now, in this mont, as she stood on the hill, the mory of her mother’s regret echoing in her mind.
"I didn’t know what I was doing. I thought I was doing the right thing. But I was wrong, Lunara. I know it’s because of that you’ve had to carry so much. You didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry, my love."
The words pierced through Lunara’s chest now, and she had to blink back tears. She had always wondered why things had turned out the way they did, why her mother had made such choices. But now, standing here on the hill, she understood. Her mother had thought she was giving her a better life. She had hoped Gideon’s presence in their lives would sohow make things easier, give Lunara sothing to hold on to, sothing stable.
But all it had done was trap them both.
"I just wanted sothing better for you," Lilith had whispered, as if to herself. "I didn’t want you to feel alone, like I did. But I’m sorry... I never ant to hurt you."
Lunara closed her eyes, rembering her mother’s face as she said that, the sadness in her eyes now clear in a way that it never had been before. She hadn’t wanted the life they had, but she had done what she thought was best at the ti.
"I’m sorry, Lunara. I didn’t want you to carry the weight of the choices I made..." Her mother’s voice was a distant whisper, full of regret.
"Find her... my best friend... the one who knows... everything."
Her heart raced as she tried to focus, as though forcing herself to rember sothing vital, sothing she had long forgotten. She had been so young when her mother had spoken to her about the importance of finding this friend, this woman. But the na... the na always seed just out of reach.
Lunara swallowed hard, trying to clear her mind, to bring the fragnts together. But the mory kept slipping away, like sand through her fingers. Why was it so hard?
She shook her head, pressing her hand against her forehead, trying to block out the confusion. Then, for a mont, the fog lifted, and a flash of clarity hit her.
Her mother had said the na once... or maybe twice?
Once, in passing, when they were sitting in here, on the hill the sll of the grass was heavy in the air.
The second ti, it ca back to her.
It was the night after her high school graduation. Their apartnt had been dim and cramped, the celebration nothing more than leftover noodles and a small store-bought cake. Lilith had been quiet that evening, watching her daughter with a kind of sadness in her eyes that Lunara hadn’t understood at the ti.
"If anything happens to , if you ever feel lost... find her. She’s the only one I trust. She’ll know what to do."
She’d said the na then too. Lunara hadn’t listened properly, too busy texting friends.
But now, standing alone on the hill, it hit her.
Her head turned sharply, as if the mory had yanked her back.
She whispered it first. Then louder, as though saying it out loud gave it weight.
"Regina."
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