Lyra had spent the entire day holding other people's fears and lives in her hands.

By the time her shift in the emergency department finally ended,her shoulders felt heavy with a kind of exhaustion sleep alone could not fix. She changed in the staff room, taking off her white coat and blue scrubs, and carefully placing her name badge back inside her locker along with her personal belongings. She let out a deep breath.

Another long day had come to an end.

She put on her jeans, a comfortable white tank top, and her long brown jacket. By now, the motions had become mechanical, a small daily ritual that separated the hospital from the rest of her life. She grabbed her bag, said goodbye to two colleagues who were just starting the night shift, and stepped outside.

At the far entrance, she saw two ambulances that had just arrived. Doctors and nurses had rushed out. They had a long night ahead of them.

The air was cold. She shivered, pulling her coat tighter around herself. It was early spring, but winter had not completely left yet.The wind carried that thin chill that gently stung her cheeks as she walked toward the bus stop.

The city lights had that tired orange glow that made the apartmentbuildings look emptier than they really were. Her shift had dragged on.

There had been two last-minute admissions.

An elderly woman who would not stop holding her hand and asking if she was going to die tonight, and a young man who had fallen off his motorcycle and kept trying to make jokes while he trembled...

Even now, the smell of disinfectant and coffee clung to her clothes.

She reached the crowded bus stop a little early, and while she waited for her bus, she took her phone out of her bag to check the day's messages.

An advertisement from her phone carrier about some new plan,social media notifications, a few people had posted new stories, and notifications from her favorite game... These were a reminder for the daily login and rewards... She smiled faintly.

Of course.

Even after days like this, she always logged in for a little while.

She played some music through her earphones and slipped the phone back into her bag before getting on the bus that had just arrived.

The ride had its usual noise. Some people were talking and laughing with one another. Others, with tired faces, had their eyes closed, while some stared out the windows or down at their phones,wearing earphones. It was the end of another day and the journey home for most of them, a night out for some others.

Lyra looked out the window. Cars and motorcycles rushed past. The world, she thought, never calmed down.

She looked up.

The moon was clearly visible in the sky tonight. There was an astrange glow around it, forming a triple ring. She remembered hearing at work that there was going to be an eclipse today. Some rare celestial event was supposed to take place, and many people would probably head to higher places again to watch it.

Not her.

For a moment, as she gazed at it from her seat, she felt the world around her fall silent, her body losing its balance for a second. But she quickly came back to herself. She decided she was simply too tired today and could not wait to get home.

Lyra reached her door a little after ten o'clock. She opened it slowly, stepped inside, and immediately took off her shoes by the entrance. She left her keys and bag on the kitchen table and stood still in the living room for a few seconds, feeling the quiet of the apartment ease the weight of the day from her shoulders.

Only the low hum of the refrigerator filled the apartment. She let the air slip slowly from her lips.

"One hour. Just one hour," she whispered to herself.

She took a quick shower, changed into a long, loose T-shirt and gray shorts, and gathered her almost-dry hair into a messy bun. She took a glass of water from the refrigerator and sat down in front of her computer.

The screen lit up her face, pale and tired in its glow. The bright login screen was familiar, almost comforting.

Echoes of Aether.

Her game. Her happy place.

Windstadt was waiting for her on the screen, just as always, clean and bright, with the great windmills turning rhythmically on the digital horizon.

Heroes and dialogue. Places that took her breath away and carried her far into adventures and stories that sometimes moved her and other times filled her with awe.

She completed the daily quests mechanically, did a little exploration, played a few of the mini-games from the current event,and then headed toward the square. She liked simply standing there.The view of the city relaxed her.

She stood with her favorite character near the enormous statue of the angel that rose proudly in the center of the square and let the familiar sight calm her, the way it always did when she needed her mind to fall silent.

And then her gaze lingered a little longer on a thought she always tried not to hold on to for too long.

Why couldn't he be real? The Lord of the Northern Wind. The Grand Master of the Knights of Ventus.

Valir.

A name that had carved itself into her from the first moment he was released. With his twin swords, he had mastered the powers of wind and fire. His enemies had no hope against him.

The strongest man in the world.

But he had another side, too. The side that cared, that would do anything for the city and its people. The side that made everyone see him as part of their family. Father, brother, loyal friend, to everyone, he meant something different. And yet, despite all that, he always stood alone.

Alone, he carried all that responsibility on his shoulders.

She had spent hours looking at his figure. Blond hair fell messily around his face and down to his shoulders, and his build stood apart from the usual character designs. Tall, with broad shoulders and sturdy muscles. It was clear he had been designed to show the weight of the world he carried.

She half-smiled at the comfort that somewhere, something so steady and strong existed, even if it was only inside a game.

"Why can't you be real..." she murmured softly.

It was not admiration. It was longing, silent and stubborn, like awish she never said out loud because then it would sound foolish.

A wish that something impossible could become real. That someone strong and steady could exist outside the screen.

For her.

She glanced at the clock.

It was almost midnight.

She let out a small sigh. Time had passed too quickly, and she had to go to sleep again.

She quietly shut down the computer, plugged her phone in to charge beside the nightstand, and lay down in bed, staring at the ceiling until her eyelids grew heavy.

"Here we go again..." she thought, just before surrendering to the world of dreams.

What she did not know was that the next day would bring her a different beginning.

An entirely different one, for some wishes are meant to be heard.

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Thank you for reading "Rookie of the Wind".