Shuyin closed her eyes briefly, letting the sound settle into her chest, pressing it deep into memory where it could be retrieved during harder moments that would inevitably come. For the first time since returning to the estate from imprisonment, the property no longer felt like a cage wearing familiar walls. It no longer felt like enemy territory where she had to guard herself constantly. It felt like something waking up after long dormancy. Like potential waiting to unfold. Like a home beginning to remember what it was meant to be.
She opened her eyes and picked up her shovel again, feeling the weight of the tool settle comfortably in her muddy hands. "Come on," she called lightly to the children, her voice carrying across the busy garden. "We still have an entire garden to bring back to life. An entire history to resurrect from soil that's been waiting to grow the right things again."
