Sunlight filtered boldly through light wispy clouds as a familiar little car zipped along the roads just outside of town.  Racing along a familiar path, Katherine made her way through the streets of Los Angeles.  Coming to a stop on the side of the road in the spot she had deemed to be her parking spot, she let herself out and wandered right into the grass and into the adjoining field as if she owned the place.  Perhaps in some ways she did… 

Walking through the grass, she approached a familiar place in the field where a lone training dummy stood.  “I spent a lot of time here too…”  Spinning around, Katherine went quickly for her gun only to find that it was missing.  Her gaze fell upon a petite woman with long blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail.  Bright blue eyes gazed back at her full of amusement and fire.  Hanging over her shoulders were a pair of sky blue boxing gloves that shimmered with glitter.  She knew that face…  Only from pictures but they were pictures she had seen many times before. 

“You’re…”

“Eleonora Luciano.”  The woman smiled warmly to Kat as she gazed at her with a slackened jaw, amazement dancing in those eyes. 

“But how?  You’re…  Am I…” 

“You’re not dead Kat…  If that’s what you’re asking.”  Eleonora’s laugh lifted with a carefree tinkle and she shook her head a little.  “You’re doing good you know…”  Katherine pulled a slightly sour face before looking off to the side.  “Seriously…  I know what you’re thinking.  I’ve been there.”  A soft giggle sounded off to the right and Kat watched as a girl with fiery red hair performed a quick cartwheel.  The girl didn’t look like she could have been more than seventeen, and as she finished her turn, she looked back and waved happily to Katherine.  Kat waved hesitantly back, but returned her smile.  Eleonora looked upon her fondly.  “Sairia Shalai…  You won’t have heard much about her, but she’s responsible for a lot of the reason we’ve all walked this path.  She’s where our story began…  Her sister…  Kenzi…  Her light, joy, and resilience is something we aspire to.”  Kat’s gaze followed Eleonora’s as she looked over to a dark haired beauty who’s eyes danced with so much joy it was nigh painful.  “In her we learn to love…  In her time, she saw the rise and fall of many families before she too met her end.” 

Before Kat could respond, a tiny rodent scrambled boldly up her form to her shoulder chittering away in her ear.  Kat giggled and shied away a bit, but reached up to stroke the little creature who nuzzled her hand in a loving and playful manner.  “Ellie…”  A clear fondness colored Eleonora’s voice as she reached out to carefully take the ferret.  “She showed us that anything is possible.  Even an acting Godferret…”  Kat’s giggle tinkled forth as she reached over to pet the head of the tiny creature before she suddenly darted down and took off again through the grass.  “We all came before you Kat…  But if you listen, you can still find evidence of our lessons.”  Eleonora moved quietly to the training dummy, touching it lightly with her fingertips, a certain fondness in those eyes.  “Learn from them, remember them…  Be better than those that came before and you can count your life successful.” 

Kat moved closer to Eleonora, eyes drinking in the sight around her.  These people…  Yes even the ferret…  She recognized them from the tales she had heard…  They were people that came before her.  Eleonora smiled warmly at Kat as she digested this in silence.  “When all seems lost…  Be the light and the hope that you want to see in the world.”  Eleonora…  Perhaps she spoke the clearest because of all of them she was the one she felt she knew the best.  But she was not the only one of whose journals she had discovered. 

“Hope…  You’re all here but there is someone missing…  Where is Hope?”  Another woman that Kat felt she knew quite well from the journals she had read, but she had not seen the one called Mama Phoenix…  Looking around as if she expected her to come walking over the next hill, Eleonora shook her head with a knowing glance. 

“Kat…  Kat… Kat…” Katherine looked at Eleonora in confusion.  “Kat… Kat…”

“Come on Kat you fell asleep working again.”  Warm brown eyes batted open quickly and the slightly amused face of her beloved right hand swam into focus.  “I swear you write half these things in your sleep.”  Katherine chuckled and pushed herself upright. 

“We have to be the hope we want to see in the world…”  She murmured softly, almost intelligibly. 

“What?”  Thomas inquired curiously, watching his boss carefully for a moment.

“Nothing…”  Kat smiled warmly to the man before her shaking her head a little before pushing up from her desk, a new perspective to explore, a new outlook to pursue.  “Ready?”  She grinned over at her dear friend and he merely nodded.  A new day, a new adventure, a new fire kindled within.  Katherine knew those who had come before her and knew that even greater would come after…  But today was what mattered, so today would be where her focus would lie.  Learn from the past, dream of the future, but remember to live today.