It's been a year without you, but my garden is just beginning to bloom.

They say that spring is the 'season of new beginnings'.

⚠️ TW • attempted suicide, addiction, depression | "But how can I even begin to live my life without you? How could I ever forget the way you smile? The way you held my hand? The way you held me, protecting me from the pain of living in this godforsaken world? I lived for you, so now do I have not reason to live?"

"Oh, but if my love for you had the power to breathe life into your lungs again, I surely would have loved you harder."

— Rina Fontaine

Azalea Fontaine was unforgettable. Warm smile. Sparkling eyes. Soft hands.

So when she first collapsed, the hearts of those she loved collapsed with her.

"I'll just be here for a few days, okay? I'll come home. I promise."

Rina Fontaine had many regrets in life. It took her a whole year to get over the regret of abandoning her big sister, just before her death.

Just like you, Rina adored having Azalea around. She looked up to her big sister like she was some sort of superhero, and followed her around all the time too. But after Azalea was diagnosed with intermediate onset Friedreich's Ataxia in early 2024, the downward spiral began. More and more of her visits to see her sister were also hospital visits. Scares happened monthly, often with Azalea collapsing in her apartment, by herself, with no one there to call the ambulance. Rina had to live with her for a while to keep her safe. Azalea hated it. She hated having to be taken care of, taking that time out of someone else's life. Rina couldn't possibly live without her safe, however. The hospital visits escalated, and so did the bills. Debt was wracking up; debt that was shouldered by Rina, who was still a student at the time. But alas, on one fateful day in early march, a severely weakened Azalea took a trip to the hospital she would never end up returning from.

By this time, a new experimental surgery had been developed. It was supposed to ease symptoms slightly, to take the pressure off the care the Rina had to provide. But firstly, there was a sizeable risk things could go wrong, and secondly, it was expensive. Rina was prepared to go all out, to work hard, and sell everything she had, but there was no way she could l