Celeste smiled faintly, watching Nana's eyelids flutter again. Her breathing had slowed, like her body was getting tired of pretending it could keep up.
"I wish I could've met you sooner," Celeste whispered.
Nana didn't open her eyes this time, but she smiled. "You met me when you were meant to."
"I don't know how to do this," Celeste said, barely breathing the words. "Letting go again."
"You don't have to let go," Nana murmured. "You just have to carry me forward. In how you love yourself, and him. In how you live your life from now on."
Celeste leaned in, forehead brushing Nana's frail hand. "I will."
A soft breath. Then silence.
Then Nana said, almost too softly to hear, "I'm not afraid."
Celeste's throat closed. "I am."
Nana's hand gave one last squeeze. "That means it mattered."
Her eyes fluttered closed again, this time longer. Her chest rising and falling like waves slowing before the tide retreats for good.
