What about them? The scenario you provided sounds like a perfectly valid fit for the circle he’s describing. In the end, your hero now has a newfound responsibility to maintain the good. That’s huge. How did she come to that realization? The “Return” phase is precisely where she would process that discovery.
“For some characters, [7. Return] is as easy as hugging the scarecrow goodbye and waking up. […] or in a love story, having realized what’s important.”
Based off your description, I’m imagining a heartwarming and simple story about a scientist who wants to find a cure for cancer:
1. ESTABLISH A PROTAGONIST: We meet her in college.
2. SOMETHING AIN'T QUITE RIGHT: We learn that her brother has cancer, and that she wants to cure it.
3. CROSSING THE THRESHOLD: She gets hired at a prestigious cancer research lab.
4. THE ROAD OF TRIALS: Night after night, she stays up late pouring over data.
5. MEETING WITH THE GODDESS: She finally discovers a cure for cancer.
6. MEET YOUR MAKER; The late nights have taken their toll and she’s exhausted, but she’s overwhelmed with happiness that her hard work has paid off.
7. BRINGING IT HOME: She begins to feel the weight of how important her work will be for both her brother and humanity at large.
8. MASTER OF BOTH WORLDS: She accomplishes what she set out to do; cure her brother’s cancer. She also sends the entirety of her research to universities, science journals, and news outlets the world over, ensuring that no single company can own the manufacturing process of this cure.
You can do anything with story as long as you write it well.
If you know you're not going to be writing it especially well, use the tropes.
One of the problems with US television in the broadcast and early cable age was that all television series were 22-26 episodes long. Another was that after the first air date, viewers would be likely to encounter them out of order.
As a direct result, television series avoided having one episode refer to another. The major exception were soap operas, which often ran 4-6 episodes every week and specifically maintained continuity -- there are/were digest magazines devoted to catching watchers up on current storylines.
“For some characters, [7. Return] is as easy as hugging the scarecrow goodbye and waking up. […] or in a love story, having realized what’s important.”
Based off your description, I’m imagining a heartwarming and simple story about a scientist who wants to find a cure for cancer:
1. ESTABLISH A PROTAGONIST: We meet her in college.
2. SOMETHING AIN'T QUITE RIGHT: We learn that her brother has cancer, and that she wants to cure it.
3. CROSSING THE THRESHOLD: She gets hired at a prestigious cancer research lab.
4. THE ROAD OF TRIALS: Night after night, she stays up late pouring over data.
5. MEETING WITH THE GODDESS: She finally discovers a cure for cancer.
6. MEET YOUR MAKER; The late nights have taken their toll and she’s exhausted, but she’s overwhelmed with happiness that her hard work has paid off.
7. BRINGING IT HOME: She begins to feel the weight of how important her work will be for both her brother and humanity at large.
8. MASTER OF BOTH WORLDS: She accomplishes what she set out to do; cure her brother’s cancer. She also sends the entirety of her research to universities, science journals, and news outlets the world over, ensuring that no single company can own the manufacturing process of this cure.