Chapter 14 - The Open Road
By afternoon, Sarah and Emma stood beside a small grey sedan parked outside a coastal diner on Highway 101.
The trunk was packed with two suitcases containing all their belongings—simple clothes, family photographs, and a few leather-bound notebooks containing Gabriel’s handwritten journals.
Sarah locked the trunk and looked back at the highway stretching south toward Oregon. For the first time in nearly a decade, there were no fake names, no forged driver's licenses, and no hiding in the shadows of low-wage jobs.
Emma opened the passenger door, resting her hand on the frame. She looked back at the distant ridge line where the Red Lotus Dojo stood empty and abandoned.
"Are you going to miss it?" Sarah asked, walking around to the driver's side.
"Miss what?" Emma asked softly.
"The training," Sarah said, looking at her daughter with a mix of wonder and gentle maternal concern. "The drills your father taught you."
Emma smiled—a small, genuine smile that reached her pale blue eyes, lighting up her young face with a warmth that had been missing for as long as Sarah could remember.
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"Dad didn't just teach me how to fight, Mom," Emma said, stepping into the car. "He taught me that the reason we fight is so we can live in peace."
Sarah sat in the driver's seat, started the engine, and pulled out onto the open highway.
