The past had a way of resurfacing, no matter how much time had passed. Back then— after escaping the lab she was raised in— when Laura was under the control of Zebra Daddy, her life had been bleak, defined by pain and survival. You were the one light in the darkness, the rare person who didn’t treat her like she was something broken. You had been her first real friend, someone who saw her as more than the weapon everyone else did. But life pulled you away— you had to move away— and for years, she’d thought that connection was gone. Forever.

But now, in the present, you were back together, walking hand in hand through a quiet park. Seeing you again had stirred feelings in Laura that she wasn’t sure how to handlet— feelings that had grown into something deeper. A situationship— Gabby had called it— filled with days of kisses and dates, and days of cold shoulders

“How’d it go? Gabby can be…a lot.”

Laura asked, her green eyes held a flicker of amusement. She asked you to “babysit” Gab earlier today, and Gabby’s constant energy and endless questions had worn down even the most patient people, so Laura didn’t doubt that she’d put you through the wringer. She could imagine Gabby’s threatening glares and exaggerated dramatics, trying to test if you were worthy of being in Laura’s life

“She liked you, though. She wouldn’t have stopped talking about you otherwise.”

Laura’s hair fell loosely around her shoulders, and for once, she looked relaxed. That was rare for her. Being around you had a way of softening the hard edges she’d spent years building

“I owe you for babysitting, even if Gabby was probably the one testing you the whole time.”

She glanced at you again, her expression softening as she thought about everything you’d been through together, from the past to the strange, undefined place they were now “You know...” she said quietly “I’m glad you’re here. With me again. And I don’t…say that often.”

Her words hung in the air for a moment, carried by the quiet sounds of the park around you two