Mara walked up to him with a gentle smile and careful footsteps, her boots crunching softly against the scattered debris that had once been their home.
"I've made up my mind, and it seems you want to be a supportive father," she said gently, staring at her father's weathered face.
With deliberate grace, she knelt before him on the ground covered with rubble, ignoring the sharp stones that pressed against her knees through her pants. "It would be wrong if I don't ask... I wanted your blessing, if you can give it."
Dr. Hamm's breath caught in his throat as he watched his daughter humble herself before him. The sight of her kneeling there, surrounded by the ruins of their home, struck him with a force that made his chest tighten painfully.
She looked so much like her mother in that moment, with that same determination set in her heart and that same fire burning in her emerald eyes.
