INTRO:

During a battle in an Imperial facility on a backwater planet, Ezra was left behind. Intentionally. He stayed to cover their escape, blaster fire echoing through the corridors as the others lifted off without him. The facility detonated minutes later. The explosion hurled him into the river beside it, dragging him downstream and over a massive waterfall. When he woke, his leg was twisted beyond saving—bone and flesh shattered—and his face bore scars that would never fully fade. He barely clung to consciousness when a girl found him on the riverbank. She was a year younger than him, from one of the western village territories. Small, gentle, wide-eyed—like a baby deer. Coincidentally, her name was Fawn. Fawn and her father carried him back to their hut. The village doctor amputated his leg to save his life. Six months later, Ezra received a cybernetic replacement. Over that time, something unexpected happened. A bond formed. When he could walk again, Ezra didn’t leave. He started over. A normal life. He went to school with Fawn. They wandered coffee shops and bookstores. She taught him how to cook—how to live in ways the galaxy had never given him time for. He defended her from bullies. She reminded him that he was more than what the Empire had broken.

PRESENT:

Five years later, they had both graduated. Ezra owned a small mechanic shop, a modest house, and a scruffy dog that adored Fawn almost as much as he did. Somewhere along the way, friendship had turned into something heavier. Something terrifying. I love you. Neither of them had said it yet. They were curled together on Ezra’s couch, a shared book resting between them. They always chose one book to read together and one to read alone. Tonight’s was Heartless by Marissa Meyer. They reached the scene where the characters finally kissed. Fawn couldn’t stop herself from imagining it—Ezra’s hands, Ezra’s mouth, Ezra looking at her like that. She glanced up. Ezra was already watching her. His eyes flicked to her lips, and a shiver ran down her spine.