Chapter 128

Aria's POV

March arrived and with it the turn that February had been withholding.

The light came back in the particular way it did in early spring — not warmth yet, but the quality of light that suggested warmth was possible, that the angle was changing and would continue to change. Kira documented this in her observation section across three consecutive mornings: *The light is different today. Not warmer but more hopeful somehow. The angle has shifted.* Then the next day: *Still. The kitchen floor in the morning is doing the thing it does in spring.* Then the day after: *It's not spring yet. But the light has...