The seasons in KwaZulu shifted like the turning of a great page. The mist that once blanketed the grasslands had thinned, replaced by winds carrying the heat of summer. Days grew longer, shadows shorter, and the grasses turned from tender green to brittle gold. Thabisa, no longer the timid fawn of before, had grown taller, her legs stronger, her eyes sharper. Yet within her heart still lived the soft ache of loss—and the quiet wisdom that had bloomed from it.