For some, it would arrive with fanfare and fireworks.
For others, it would arrive when least expected. After a subtle look. A bright smile. Or after sharing the softest of giggles.
But for one little guide, once known as defective, it hit him in the most ironic of places.
The Medical Bay.
Once a great source of anxiety, fear, and distress, it was now filled with a shine that Luca never expected to see.
A place that had once made his heart race from dread now made it race for a completely different reason.
He was shaken to the core, not by equipment, not by needles, not by memories of what was once past, but simply by looking at a face.
That face.
The soft beeping of monitors barely reached him against the pounding of his own heart. The antiseptic scent, always a reminder of impending discomfort, was nothing compared to the scent that surrounded him now.
All because of him.
Radiant.
Tender.
Sincere.
