All because of what he said...

He told her.
and she LEAPT for JOY!
ME! ME! How could this BE!
She smiled the loudest smile she had, the one with all the teeth and the waves and waves of
pleasure
happiness
awe
euphoria

AND
she put her hands down from over her head and she sighed, the biggest sigh she could muster.
The one that let out all the pain,
all the hurt,
all the residual memories that plagued her.
She looked at her own reflection and said

YOU! YOU! YOU deserve this my darling! You have earned this a thousand times over. Wash your face and put on that dress you have, for you are beautiful!
and then she made PLANS!

she dusted off the dreams she had left broken on the floor of her wounded youth. She dusted them off and she put them on the wall right next to the picture of her pretty face and her healing heart, and the one of the flower, plucked to the last bud.

She closed her eyes and smelled the air, she listened to the silence. It would be a memory she would never let
get any further than the front of her mind.

and all of this she did,
because he told her
I LOVE YOU. (and she knew he meant it)