When she woke, the sky was still.
Not calm.Not peaceful.Still — like the air held its breath, waiting to see what she'd remember… and what she wouldn't.
Lian Qiao opened her eyes slowly, the taste of ash on her tongue.
She was lying on the bank of Mirror Moon Lake, hair tangled, Flamebinder across her lap.
But something was gone.
Not stolen.Not ripped.
Taken.
🌸 Peach Blossom Sect — Minutes Later
She walked back through the sect gates barefoot, soaked and silent.
Disciples stared but said nothing.
Even the koi in the pond didn't bubble when she passed.
"Something's off," whispered one trainee."She looks the same, but… she's quieter."
She wasn't quiet.
She was empty.
Not hollow, not numb — but like a room that had just been cleaned after a long funeral.
Master Bai looked up from his teacup as she entered the courtyard.
His smile faded instantly.
"What did it show you?" he asked.
She sat beside him. Folded her hands.
"Not what happened," she said softly. "Why it happened."
He said nothing.
She looked at him, eyes dry but dimmer.
"I sealed the Void with love.But I opened the door with fear.I loved him so much… I was afraid to let him choose.So I chose for him."
🌌 Elsewhere — Eastern Sky
Mo Yujin stood in his chamber, flame threads wrapped loosely around his fingers.
They weren't burning him.
But they weren't his.
He could feel her emotions shifting.
Not spiraling.
Flattening.
She had remembered something.And whatever it was — it had carved her cleaner than pain.
He clenched his fist.
"Tell me what you saw, Qiao'er.Tell me what I lost."
🕯️ That Night — Alone
Qiao sat in front of a quiet fire, not lit by magic, but wood.
She watched the flames flicker — small, mortal, nothing divine.
The kind of flame that couldn't save a world.The kind that only lit a room.
"This is all I want," she whispered.
Then paused.
Corrected:
"This is all I should want."
Because the truth was—
Even now, even after what she remembered,even after realizing she had once taken Mo Yujin's choice from him to save his life—
She still wanted him.
And that?
That terrified her more than the Void.