Luna's carefully constructed mask cracked.
Not completely. Just hairline fractures that let something through.
She looked up at Ren, meeting his eyes directly for the first time in weeks.
And found something there that made her throat tight. Not anger like she'd feared. Not hurt or accusation or any of the things she'd dreaded seeing.
Just understanding and acceptance. And something else she didn't have words for but recognized anyway because it reflected what she'd been trying to suppress in herself.
"Hi," Ren said softly.
One word, simple and ordinary… But carrying a weight that made it feel like so much more.
Like an acknowledgment that they were finally here, together.
Her mask was still cracked. Her walls were still failing. But maybe, just maybe, that wasn't entirely a bad thing.
Before she could even push her own "hi" out of her shrunken throat…
