Azure stepped out of her shower, steam surrounding her and filling up her bathroom.
She walked to the mirror and wiped the condensation off it with the back of her hand, revealing her reflection staring back at her. The image was a familiar one, yet it felt like she was looking at a stranger. She traced the outline of her face with her fingertips, then looked down at the rest of her body.
Tattooed from head to toe. Her skin was a canvas adorned with a tapestry of ink, each design telling a story of its own. Azure retraced that one tattoo.
The one that hurt the most.
It was a simple design, a single name etched into her skin with painstaking precision, yet its impact was immeasurable;
"Gabriella".
Azure closed her eyes, her fingers moving against her inked skin.
She remembered the sensation of the needle on her collarbone. She remembered how much she would have given for it to sink through her skin and bones, to dig deeper and deeper until it reached the core of her being. Until it unearthed the pain and longing buried deep within her soul. How much she would have given for it to go lower and lower, tearing apart her skin and bones. Until it punctured her lung and made her gasp for air.
Until she died.
When she opened her eyes again, it took her all the strength in the world not to punch the mirror with her fist, her own reflection sickening her.
The reflection staring back at her seemed to mock her, a cruel reminder of everything she had lost and everything she had become. The face that once held so much promise now bore the scars of a life lived on the edge, of battles fought and wounds inflicted, both by others and by her own hand.
With a trembling hand, Azure clenched her fist, her nails digging into her palm as she struggled to contain the storm raging within her.
"Fuck you, Azure."
The words escaped her lips in a whisper, barely audible against the backdrop of silence that enveloped her. But they echoed in the confines of the bathroom, reverberating off the walls like a mantra of self-loathing and despair.
Fuck you, Azure. Fuck you for being so weak, so broken, so utterly incapable of moving on. Fuck you for allowing yourself to be consumed by grief, for letting it define who you are and who you could become.
Fuck you.
