He watched her walk out of his hospital room, and he let her go. He told himself it was mercy.

It was a drawing of a kite. A torn, frayed kite, but it was no longer at the mercy of the wind. It was tangled in the strong, slender branches of a flowering tree, grounded, safe. Below it, in her familiar handwriting, were the words: "The kite doesn't need to fly to be beautiful. It just needs to be found."

He always promised. And for three years, he kept that promise. He was there for her first gallery show, standing stiffly in a blazer that felt like a straitjacket, prouder of her than of any medal. He was there when her father fell ill, a quiet, solid wall of support. He was her constant in a world of variables.

He squeezed her hand, the first real smile in two years touching his lips. "Traffic," he said. "The wind was strong."

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