[Mina's POV]

I slowly remove the bandages from my eyes, but keep my eyes closed even when they’re gone. I’m scared of what I’ll see or if I’ll even be able to see if I do open them. I take in a deep breath and finally ease my eyes open.

I hold up my hand and my vision is blurry, but already I can see more than I have in years. I blink a couple more times and with each blink my vision gets clearer. Until finally… finally I can see. I can see the wrinkles on my hand. The gentle curve of my nails. The paleness of my own skin. I can see it all now.

Tears well up in my eyes and then fall.

I can finally see the sun that I could only feel for so long.

-////-

[Momo's POV]

I’m handed an ugly snowglobe and told that in it are diamonds worth ten carats. I’m not given the money in cash, but as this so that I can bring it through customs.

I put it into my bag and make my way to the airport. It’s easy boarding and my flight goes smoothly. As long as I get this to the boss, I’ll be given twenty thousand dollars and my freedom. I’ll owe no one anything anymore and maybe even be able to return to Mina.

I walk down the street towards the meeting spot while I make a call.

“How’d Mina's operation go?” I ask Wooyoung.

“It went without a hitch. I still can’t believe you’re alive though! Come back to the gym as soon as you can. Taecyeon will be happy to hear about your success too!”

“Of course.” I hang up the phone and look up to the sky with a huge smile on my face.

I continue to walk down the street, but panic as I hear a car approach. I turn to see it drive up onto the sidewalk and head straight towards me. I have no time to react and feel the car crash into me. The world spins as I fly through the air and slam my head into the ground.

I groan and try to stand, but my body won’t react. It won’t budge. All I feel is pain coursing through my whole being.

I hear car doors open and then the next thing I feel is a sharp pain in my back. I hear the blade slip out and back into my body. My breathing is labored and I watch as the snowglobe is smashed to the ground and the man takes the diamonds.

I don’t know why, but the two men leave me without finishing the job. I watch as the car drives away and that’s the last thing I see before my world turns to black.

-////-

[Mina's POV]

It’s the last check up I need to go to in a while. The doctor runs me through some tests and I ask one last time. “No call from her yet?”

He looks at me sadly and shakes his head.

As I was discharged from the hospital, I went to the police station. It smells stale as I walk in with paperwork that I’ve filled out. I take a seat and hand the officer the report.

“Your relation to her?” he asks me.

“I’m her girlfriend,” I state quietly.

“I’ll accept this for now, but you don’t know her social security number and you’re not a legal relative. If you are her girlfriend just go wait at home.”

I glare at him for his rudeness.

-///-

“You’re so stubborn!” yells the landlord. “We need to tear down this building… You’re the last one! You have one week to leave and that’s it!”

I curl up on the couch and watch as Maru paces back and forth. I don’t want to leave this home. It’s the only place I can be to remember her. To remember the times we shared together.

My heart hurts as I watch the movers pack the truck. I stand outside with Maru sitting beside me and Momo's turtle in a jar in my hands. I stare blankly as the movers rush in and out of the apartment… of my home.

I’m drawn from my daze when I hear a friendly voice. “You’re moving,” the man states. “Thank god that was close.” He hands me the package and smiles warmly at me. “The package is for a Miss Hirai.”

My face saddens from just hearing her name and take the package from him. I open it right there and then and see a homemade headband in it. It’s just like the one she had given me a long time ago and I smile at the memory.

-////-

“Momo's girlfriend,” Irene says as she introduces me to an older man with burns all over his body.

I bow in greeting. “Nice to meet you,” I say.

“Sit please.” He motions to the chair next to his hospital bed. “It’s good that you can see now.” I smile at him. “Momo told me about you. She said you’re very beautiful.” The man sighs. "May fifth… the day I got into this mess is the day that you got hurt. It was raining.”

My eyes widen and my hands grip the edge of my chair. This was the burning man. The man that I had seen the night of the accident. The night I lost my sight. The night that I had lost my family. I gasp and my breathing becomes short.

I go to the river and sit in the same spot that I had last time. But it’s different. Momo's not here. I roll the rough pebble in my hand and sigh as the water flows by. I miss her.

When I got home I started working, I close my eyes as I feel the smooth clay under my fingers. I try to remember the dips and rises of Momo's face and recreate it with the clay, but I can’t. I open my eyes and stare at the piece that I was trying to make. The piece that I somehow thought could replace Momo. But it can’t. I feel the tears run down my cheeks and my heart sink.Something inside of me breaks and I push the clay to the ground. It splats as it hits the concrete flooring of my little studio.

Time doesn’t heal all wounds.

-///-

“Your work is very warm,” the man tells me as he evaluates the small vase. “The colors you use are very elegant as well.” He places the vase down and smiles at me. “In this are all the details of the order.” He hands me the small notebook. “Do you think you can complete fifty two pieces by the end of this month?”

“Of course! Thank you for hiring me. I’ll make sure that they’re perfect.” I smile at him warmly and push a lock of hair behind my ear.

“You’re not married are you?”

I laugh a bit. “I am.”

He sighs. “Well the beautiful and talented are always taken.” His brown eyes look somewhat disappointed as he stands from the seat. “I look forward to working with you.”

“It was nice meeting you Mark.” As I left the studio.

My phone rings. I quickly pick up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hi Mina. Can you still come this weekend to the hospital?”

“Yes I can. I’ll see you soon.”

My hands knead into the sore and unused muscles as the young boy tells me stories. He tells me of princes and princesses. Of heros and villians. Of his parents and dreams. I smile at him as he looks happier than he was when I first came in.

“Oh, hello.” Entering the room is the director of the small hospital.

“Thank you for coming so regularly. The patients are starting to go crazy for your massages!”

“It’s nothing,” I say waving off the compliment, as I went to another patient

“Ma’am how are you today?” I ask as I put down my bag and place a plant near her bedside.

“Not great. My joints are so stiff and sore,” she complains. She then spots the plant. “Did you make the pot yourself?”

“I did.” I sit at the edge of her bed.

“You’re so good at so many things!” she says with awe.

She rolls onto her back and I start the massage. “Oh! You must be exercising more. You’ve gotten much better.”

I massage the old woman for a couple more minutes and then wrap it up. “Hopefully you get released soon, if not I’ll see you next week.”

“Of course Mina. Thank you!”

I leave her bedside and go to the other bed near her. On it is laying a young woman. She’s stiff as she lies on her back and stares towards the ceiling with a blank look.

“Hello, you must be new here.” I come here every weekend and this is the first I’ve seen of her. She’s got long brown hair and pale skin. Although her eyes look blank.

“She was transferred here recently,” the old woman says.

I lean towards her, so that I’m in her line of sight. “Can you speak?”

“I don’t think she can. She hasn’t said a single thing since she’s arrived.”

“Let me give you a massage.” I lift her legs gently and bend them. I then roll her onto her side and massage her shoulders and arm. I can feel the muscle that lies underneath, but can tell she’s lost a lot of what she had. “You lost lots of muscle,” I state.

I roll her back onto her back and our faces are somewhat near. I let my eyes trace over her features and can tell that she was very beautiful, well to be truthful she still is, even with the large scar on her left cheek. The skin is jagged and rough, while it’s smooth and soft looking on the other side. I smile down at her. “I’ll roll you around and do the other side now.”

I spend much more time on this patient because her body needs it. She needs the extra attention and I don’t mind spending a bit longer at the hospital if I know I’m helping someone.

I roll her onto her back and begin to massage down the line of her spine. My fingers stop moving on their own as my mind wanders. Something feels familiar about this woman. I look up at the patient’s name tag on the wall. Haruka Watanabe it reads.

I look back down at the woman and trail over the scar on her face again. Whatever she’s gone through it seemed to have been really bad.

I roll her over one last time onto her back. I take the blanket and cover her to make sure that she’s comfortable.

“You’ll get better soon. I’m sure,” I encourage.