The first anniversary of the war's end came quietly.
No grand parades. No forced celebrations.
Instead, each community lit a lantern at dusk and told a story of something they'd almost forgotten. A memory nearly lost to war.
Some stories were happy—weddings, laughter, dances.
Others were painful—goodbyes, loneliness, fear.
Lucky walked through each village with a tiny journal, collecting these stories like fallen petals.
At the end of the night, she climbed a hill, lit her own lantern, and whispered:
"I was afraid I wouldn't be enough. But I learned… I never had to be alone."
Her lantern rose slowly into the sky.
And a thousand others joined it.