Aria's pov
I started crying, my mind instantly transformed to that time when I was little, when my mother said she was coming back and she never did.
The pain of that moment surged through me as if it had just happened yesterday. I could still the moon that night and her words echoing in my ears, promising a return that never came.
It had taken years to stitch my heart back together, and now, with her here, those stitches felt like they were unraveling.
Clutching at her clothes, I shook my head furiously. "You're not leaving me again," I yelled, my voice cracking under the weight of my desperation.
Tears streamed down my face, blurring the image of her in front of me.
She patted me on the head gently, a sad smile playing on her lips. "I'll be right back, sweetheart. This is all in your head," she said softly, but her words did little to soothe the storm inside me.
