Legitimacy isn't conferred by permission.
It's accumulated—quietly, stubbornly—until denying it costs more than accepting it.
The city felt different the morning after the inquiry stalled. Not triumphant. Not relieved. Just… settled into itself. Like a body that had learned where its weight belonged and stopped shifting.
People arrived early.Not to claim space.To keep it.
Arjun noticed it first."They're guarding nothing," he said."And somehow, that's working."
"Yes," I replied."Because nothing here needs guarding anymore."
✦
The clinic street ran on muscle memory now. No posted rules, no center. Just practiced motion. Someone took notes on a clipboard that belonged to no one. Someone else tracked time on a wristwatch older than the canopy ever was.
Mistakes happened.They were corrected.No spectacle followed.
The girl watched a volunteer redirect a confused newcomer without asking anyone else."She didn't check first."
"No," I said."She knew."
✦
