Salvia didn't think she had done anything brave.
If anything, she thought she had overreacted.
That was the feeling that followed her home that day.
Her cheeks felt hot, embarrassment crawling up her neck, her brain replaying everything in the most humiliating way possible.
"No way I grabbed a stranger's shirt and assumed the worst! That's so embarrassing!"
She thought to herself.
What if he wasn't going to jump?
What if he was just… standing there?
Why did she always do this? Jump to conclusions. Feel too much, too fast. Act before thinking it through.
By the time she reached home, she had almost convinced herself that she had imagined the danger. That she had turned nothing into something dramatic, like she always did.
And yet,
His voice wouldn't leave her head.
Deep. Calm.
"What's your name?"
Why did he asked that?
That part made no sense to her. People didn't usually ask for names in moments like that. They either say thank you or file a police complaint for assualt.
So, why did he ask her name?
And why did she want to know his?
She hadn't even seen his eyes properly. She didn't know his face. She had covered her own on purpose. She had done everything she could to make sure this moment stayed small and forgettable.
So why did it stay with her?
Maybe because he was good looking.
That was the only possible explaination for her.
A few weeks later, the question changed.
It wasn't why did I do that? anymore.
It became: What if he actually was going to jump?
That thought refused to leave her alone.
So she went back to the bridge.
Not because she wanted to see him again, she told herself that firmly but because she needed to know. She needed proof. Proof that she had been wrong. That she had embarrassed herself over nothing.
She stood there for a long time, heart tight, eyes scanning the edge.
He wasn't there.
Relief and shame hit her at the same time.
See? she thought. He's fine. You made a big deal out of nothing.
But then, on the night before her grandmother moved in with them, she went back once more.
She didn't plan it. She just found herself there.
This time, he was there.
Standing. Alive. Not leaning forward. Not disappearing. Just… breathing.
Her chest loosened.
She stayed far away. She didn't want him to see her. She didn't want him to recognize her voice, or her face, or anything at all. She just wanted to know he was okay.
And when she saw that he was, she left.
That was the last time she ever went to that bridge.
After her grandmother moved in, life changed quietly.
Different routines. Different responsibilities. Less space to wander into thoughts that scared her.
Salvia had always struggled with how she looked.
Her body felt loud. Too loud.
Everything noticeable in wrong ways, too obvious that she wanted to disappear. So she learned how to pretend. How to act confident. How to joke first so no one could point things out before she did.
Inside, she was always adjusting herself. Fixing angles. Cropping emotions.
That was why animation felt natural.
In animation, nothing had to be perfect. You could redraw. Erase. Try again. You could create characters who felt deeply without apologizing for it. You could give them courage even if you didn't always have your own.
So she chose it. She got accepted to an art school. Quietly. Like it had always been waiting.
Time passed...
And then there was a face everywhere.
Ezra.
Salvia's best friend- Avs loved him. She talked about him constantly. He was an A-list actor who was popular for his groundbreaking performance and unreal looks. Avs played his interviews in the background while Salvia worked. Gushed about his acting, his smile, his voice.
Sometimes Salvia would glance at the screen and feel a strange pause in her chest.
He looks like that boy, he even sounded like him, a thought would rise.
"Is that him?"
She always pushed it away.
That was impossible.
She hadn't saved an A-list celebrity. She hadn't saved anyone important. She had just panicked on a bridge one afternoon.
Life didn't circle back like that.
But it does. Well, in her case it did.
The fansign happened because Avs didn't want to go alone.
Salvia went because she always did things like that for people she loved.
She didn't expect anything.
And then she saw him.
Up close. Real. Breathing.
The certainty came before the shock.
She knew.
The posture. The voice. The quiet weight beneath the fame.
Her heart skipped, not in excitement, but recognition.
You lived, she thought.
When it was her turn for the fansign, she gave her name...
"My name is Salvia."
She was sure he wouldn't remember.
And she didn't want him to.
Because some moments weren't meant to be returned to.
She had stepped in once.
That was enough.
"You... "