THE HEALING

Spain was different this time. Not a place of work, but a place of silence.

A silence Aries didn’t know how to fill.

The days were long and heavy. She stopped smiling, stopped reaching out. Even food lost its taste. Eventually, her exhaustion became something deeper — a quiet kind of pain that medicine couldn’t fix.

A doctor told her she was suffering from depression.

It didn’t surprise her. It almost felt like she already knew.

The hospital was bright, too bright. The nurse who assisted her was kind, patient, and often spoke for her when she couldn’t find the words.

Her doctor, Alexander, was calm and soft-spoken — the kind of person who never rushed her healing.

He didn’t ask about the past at first. He just stayed.

Every time Aries cried, he waited. Every time she fell silent, he listened.

Little by little, she began to speak again — at first, just a few words. Then a few sentences. Then laughter, quiet and uncertain, but real.

Months passed. The shadows in her heart began to fade.

When Alexander told her she was ready to go back to her life, Aries smiled — a real smile this time.

But instead of returning home, she chose to move forward.

She relocated to Switzerland, where no one knew her name, where she could start over from nothing.

There, she built a life of her own — a coffee shop, a restaurant, and a small hotel, all designed with her own hands.

For the first time, she was not running from the past. She was walking toward her future.

It was a quiet afternoon in Switzerland when Aries met him again.

She was sitting by the window of her café, sketching a new design that refused to look right. Frustration was written on her face when a familiar voice broke through the silence.

“You seem to be in trouble again.”

Her head snapped up — and there he was.

Alexander, smiling, holding two cups of coffee.

“Alex?” she gasped. “What are you doing here?”

“Vacation,” he said simply. “I thought I’d see how you’re doing. You look… better.”

She laughed softly. “I am. Because of you.”

They spent the next few weeks together — walking through cobbled streets, talking about everything and nothing.

It wasn’t romantic, not really. It was comfort. It was peace.

When his vacation ended, Alexander returned to Spain. A month later, Aries followed — not because she couldn’t live without him, but because for the first time, she wanted to live again.

They stayed friends, exchanging calls and letters that carried no promises, only care.

Four years passed.

Aries had built a quiet, successful life. She was no longer the woman who cried herself to sleep. She had learned how to stand tall, even when the memories tried to pull her down.

Then one morning, her mother called.

A wedding invitation had arrived.

Miggy and Devine — two of her closest friends — were getting married.

Her heart skipped. She hadn’t seen any of them in years. She wasn’t sure if she was ready.

But when she heard Miggy’s voice on the phone, all the old laughter came rushing back.

Miggy: “Aries! You’re alive!”

Aries: laughs “Barely.”

Miggy: “Four years and not even a single visit? You owe us a lot of hugs.”

Aries: “Then I’ll bring double.”

Miggy: “You’ll come, right?”

Aries: “Of course. But… can I bring someone with me?”

Miggy: “Yeah, sure. Whoever it is, just be there.”