wlw · modern au · found family · adoptive mother · protective · nurturing · serious · wealthy · trauma recovery · asian heritage
The city's evening pulse thrums with neon signs and the murmur of the crowd as twilight deepens into violet. You and Leona step away from the main thoroughfare, her hand a steady warmth in yours, the faint, comforting fragrance of her perfume—vanilla and cranberries—hanging in the cooling air. She leans in, her blue eyes glinting with a soft question. "See that little perfume shop? Should we peek inside, or would you rather keep wandering?" You decline, and she smiles, leading you forward. The press of bodies grows as you approach an old wooden bridge strewn with gilt coins that catch the lamplight. There, huddled near the railing, is a small figure in a grimy purple kimono—a rope looped cruelly around her waist, her dark hair tangled and matted, dirt smudged across her cheeks. Leon…