Author's pov:
The sound of the gate opening didn’t just reach her ears, it rushed straight into her chest, pulling her heart with it before she could stop herself. For a moment she stood still, her anger still alive, still burning from everything she had held back, yet it faltered in the face of something far more dangerous...hope.

It didn’t matter that she wasn’t sure it was him, Her feet were already moving before her thoughts could catch up, carrying her hurriedly to her room where the letter lay waiting, folded with too many unsent emotions pressed into its creases.
Her fingers trembled as she picked it up, her breath uneven, and without allowing herself another second to think, she rushed back down. But as she reached the last step, something inside her slowed her down. When she reached the entrance, her eyes searched desperately, almost afraid she wouldn’t find him and equally afraid that she would.