FIA
The darkness gave way to gold.
It was warm and it felt soft. Afternoon sunlight filtered through leaves above me. I blinked and the world came into focus. A garden stretched out before me. Rows of herbs and flowers I half recognized. The scent hit me next. The earth... green things and something else. Something that made my chest ache.
I knew this place.
"Fia, come here."
My head turned toward the voice. My body moved before my mind caught up. Small steps. Child steps. I looked down and saw my hands. Tiny. Unmarked by scars or years.
Mother knelt between two raised beds. Her hair fell loose down her back. No pins. No careful arrangement. Just her. The sun caught in the strands and turned them copper.
She smiled when she saw me. That smile I'd almost forgotten. The one that reached her eyes and crinkled the corners.
"Look at this." She gestured to a plant with silver-green leaves. "Do you remember what this is?"
