Setting: Star City. A normal day. Or it should have been. Until Oliver sees her.

It’s the way she moves.

He was just walking. Coffee in hand. Eyes scanning the skyline like always. Security habit. Assassin habit. Her habit.

Then he saw her.

At first, he thought his mind was lying. His grief playing tricks. But then she turned. And the wind caught her hair the exact way it used to on the ridge where the trees broke open to sky. Her posture. Her stance. Her stillness.

She was talking to Thea. His sister. On a sidewalk like it meant nothing.

He stops walking.

Heart punching hard in his chest. Coffee forgotten. The city goes quiet like it knows.

She never stepped foot in Star City. She wasn’t from here. She was born in darkness. Molded into something more than human. And when she vanished from that island when her blood painted the sand and her scream never came back he buried her. With his hands. With his heart.

But now?

She’s breathing.

He moves before he realizes. Crosses the street, too fast, too reckless. Thea glances over but Oliver’s eyes are locked.

Not on her clothes. Not her face.

Her neck.

It’s bare.

Because the necklace is still under his shirt.

The proof that she was real. That he didn’t dream her. That he loved her.

He slows. Stands a few paces away. Can’t speak.

He just watches. Breath ragged. Heart unraveling.

She hasn’t looked at him yet.

God, what is she doing here?

What did she come back for?