Spring had fully arrived on campus, not in loud declarations but in the gentle persistence of warmth. The cherry blossoms, once cautious, now bloomed in full confidence—scattering petals with every soft breeze like nature’s slow, graceful exhale.

Livi walked alone beneath them, sunlight painting her shoulders in gold, the smell of fresh grass and sakura sweetness weaving through the air. Her steps were unhurried, almost meditative, her phone in one hand and a folded sticky note tucked quietly in the other.

She came to her favorite spot—a curved bench just beneath a cluster of trees—and sat down, letting the silence settle around her. For once, she didn’t reach for her planner or her camera. She just… breathed.

Her fingers smoothed over the folded sticky note.

It read, simply:

“Keep everyone close. No matter what.”

She smiled softly.

Then, with a quiet resolve, she stood and tucked it gently between the branches of the nearest tree, letting the petals cradle it like a time capsule.

Her phone buzzed.

Mom.

She answered with a smile already forming. “Hey, Mom.”

“Hi, sweetheart. Just checking in. You sounded better yesterday, but I wanted to hear it for myself.”

Livi leaned back, watching the sunlight filter through the pink canopy above. “I’m better,” she said sincerely. “I’ve been walking more. Letting go of… things. Lists. Worries.”

Her mom chuckled gently. “That’s my girl.”

Livi tilted her head, eyes tracing the blossoms floating to the ground. “It’s still scary sometimes. The thought of losing everyone. Of being forgotten.”

“You won’t be,” her mother said, voice soft but certain. “Real love doesn’t vanish. Real friends stick, even if the world spins them apart for a while.”

There was a pause.

“And hey,” her mom added brightly, “Your sister has news.”

Livi laughed. “What now?”

Her sister’s excited voice suddenly blasted through speakerphone. “LIVI! WE GOT THE RABBIT!”

Livi’s hand shot to her mouth, eyes wide. “Wait—you’re serious?!”

“She’s so fluffy!” her sister squealed. “I sent you a picture—look!”

A notification popped up: Photo received from Kayla.

Livi opened it—and there she was. A chubby Dutch rabbit, white with charcoal ears, flopped lazily in a blanket with a pink bow tied on her neck.

Her sister’s voice chirped, “We named her Luna! Like you said! Mom said you can visit and help us build her play area!”

Livi’s heart swelled, a quiet laugh escaping her lips. “Tell Luna I’m bringing carrots.”

After their cheerful goodbye, Livi sat a moment longer, letting the joy settle in her chest like sunlight in a glass jar.

Then—footsteps.

She turned to see Ren and Sora strolling across the path, Ren sipping from a vending machine coffee and Sora holding a book loosely in one hand.

“Liv!” Ren called out. “Let me guess. Deep thoughts. Cherry blossoms. Existential crisis number twelve?”

“More like number fifteen,” she teased, patting the bench beside her. “You’re late.”

“Late to what?” Ren asked, sitting beside her.

“Whatever this moment is,” she replied with a grin.

Sora sat on her other side, flipping the book closed. “Looks like a good one.”

They sat in companionable silence for a while, watching a group of freshmen toss a frisbee across the quad.

“I used to think if I didn’t organize everything,” Livi began slowly, “the moments wouldn’t happen. But maybe I just didn’t know how to let life come to me.”

Ren raised an eyebrow. “That’s very un-planner of you.”

Livi nudged him with her elbow. “Personal growth. Ever heard of it?”

“Once or twice.”

Sora smiled softly. “You’ve changed. In a good way.”

Livi looked at him, surprised. “You think?”

He nodded. “You’re more… here.”

Something about the way he said it made her pause.

“Welcome back to the present, Liv,” Ren added with a smirk. “We missed you.”

She laughed, really laughed this time. “You guys are the worst. But also the best.”

They smiled.

And then, casually, Ren said, “So, now that you’re chill and all, any plans for a spring retreat?”

Sora perked up. “We should do something. One last trip.”

Livi grinned slowly. “Rabbit Island.”

Sora’s eyes widened. “No way.”

“Way,” Livi said. “No itinerary. No schedule. Just vibes and fluffy chaos.”

Ren leaned back, nodding. “You’re really committing to this whole ‘no-plans’ thing, huh?”

Livi glanced up at the blossoms. “Turns out I don’t need a checklist to make a memory.”

The three of them sat quietly as petals drifted around their feet, the sun dipping gently westward.

For the first time, Livi wasn’t planning the next step.

She was in it.

Fully.

And that was more than enough.