Xi Chen's name was barely a whisper on Ye An's lips. Her feet dipped into the water on their own accord, drenching her boots in the process. But the sensation of the lake water pooling around her feet barely registered. Ye An could only feel the claws of some unnamed emotion gripping her heart, almost suffocating the organ that it nearly stopped pumping.

"Miss!" The head monk called out, surprised by Ye An's unexpected behavior. His voice ricocheting off the hard surfaces of the cave.

Ye An didn't turn to the head monk. It wasn't because she didn't hear him. But his voice was muffled by the loud rushing in her ears. And as if in a trance, her eyes were only trained on the man lying in the waters, losing the ability to process anything else. Her feet only stepped deeper and deeper into the lake, never stopping.

Further and further she ventured until the water was at her waist. Ye An's robes blossomed behind her as she inched closer to the center of the lake.

The water had come up to her chest when Ye An could finally make out the features on Xi Chen's face. He was still at least three steps away but Ye An stopped abruptly and hesitated, seemingly unable to take another step with the tumbling emotions in her chest that had anchored her feet to the moving sands at the bottom of the lake.

Ye An surveyed Xi Chen's floating body. He was dressed in white robes that billowed in the waters surrounding him. His long hair was untied and floated around his face freely. And his face.. Xi Chen's long lashes were like thin lines of ink that were delicately drawn on his pale skin that had lost all of its healthy golden tan. But he looked at peace like he was merely sleeping. It was a stark contrast to the warring within Ye An. The emotions that were threatening to overspill. The emotions that had stopped her in her tracks.

Ye An didn't know how long she stood there watching Xi Chen until she finally picked up her courage to take another step. One step turned into two and then three steps. Her hand reached out as if in reflex, her narrow fingers trembling as her skin made contact with Xi Chen's face. Ye An's breath hitched and a dry sob was ripped from the darkest depths of her lungs.

The lake water rippled from the movement of her chest, the ripples bouncing off Xi Chen's hair that waved around as if in greeting. As though Xi Chen could sense her presence, there was a quick movement behind his eyes. But the movement was lost in the blur of Ye An's vision. Ye An's hand cupped Xi Chen's cheek gently as if she was handling a fragile piece of glassware and caressed the skin there with her thumb. Another hand searched for the wound on his chest but she could only feel the thick bandage over it. When she felt Xi Chen's steady heartbeat through the thick bandages, Ye An sobbed harder. This time in relief. Relief that he was still alive. That he was really here with her.

Ye An stood there in the waters long after her tears ebbed. She could barely make out the sound of splashing water as another person joined her in the lake.

"Miss." It was the elderly woman. It was obvious that it took more effort for her to tread the lake water compared to Ye An as she hungrily gulped her breaths.

Ye An could barely perceive that someone was calling out to her until the elderly woman was right beside her. "Miss. You'll get a cold."

It took everything in Ye An to unlatch her sight from Xi Chen.

The elderly woman took a sharp intake of breath when she saw Ye An's face. "You know him?" She asked in a soft voice. Ye An nodded, tears on the brink of spilling out once again.

The elderly woman wrapped her arms around Ye An's shoulders. "Shh.. Child. Shhh.. It's alright. He's getting better. The lake is helping him get better. Now, come. Let's head back to your room and dry off."

Ye An shook her head. She didn't want to leave. The last time she left Xi Chen was the worst mistake in her life. Never again would she let herself feel that way. "I thought- I thought he was dead." Ye An's voice tripped at the last word.

The elderly woman watched Ye An sadly as she tried coaxing her. "He'll still be here when you come back later. Let's go dry off and get some food. Then, you could come back here. Hmm?"

Ye An shook her head again, this time more like a petulant child. "No! I don't want to! I- I want to stay here with him."

"Miss.." The elderly lady sighed. But an idea came to her mind. "Well, I need to dry off. Why don't you come and help me?"

Ye An started, finally turning her full attention to the elderly woman and realizing that she was also chest-deep in the water and it was all because of her. She split her gaze to both Xi Chen and the elderly woman, looking back and forth before her body deflated. "Alright, let's go. Let's get you dry."

The elderly lady nodded, her soft eyes sparkled as she led Ye An to dry land.

Ye An's eyes kept darting back to Xi Chen. So much so that she tripped over the reeds in the water a couple of times and had to right herself in time not to drag the elderly lady into the water as well.

When they cleared the waters, the head monk was nowhere to be found.

"The head monk said that he called out to you multiple times but you kept approaching the man in the lake as if a phantom possessed you so he came to me for help." The elderly woman said quietly as a way of explanation.

Ye An flushed, but she asked, "For help?"

The elderly woman looked down at Ye An's soaked clothes. It was then that Ye An realized that the light-colored robes had clung to her body like a second skin. Ye An's cheeks burned brighter as she hastily covered herself. The elderly woman merely covered her with a cloak that Ye An didn't notice was on the ground. The elderly woman on the other hand was wearing robes of some rougher cloth that was deep blue in color which covered her decently even when the robes were drenched. Once both of them were cloaked, the elderly woman burst out in laughter when she saw both of them bundled up which made light bubbles of laughter float up Ye An's chest and she laughed tentatively at the ridiculous sight as well.

With one last lingering look at Xi Chen, Ye An left the cave with the elderly woman.

*******

"I don't understand. How did he come to be here?" Ye An asked between spoonfuls of yet another bowl of vegetable broth. She felt too queasy to eat anything more than that.

"I heard that a Northerner dropped him off our doorsteps." The elderly woman answered as she folded the wet laundry into a pile at the corner of the room. "I guess he was found in a pretty similar circumstance to you. But he was found by the head monk in daylight when he was out for his daily walk. I heard that he caught sight of the Northerner who left him there as he was approaching Xi Chen. But could only make out his outline and a faintly accented plea to help save Xi Chen, saying something along the lines that the priestess' bloodline couldn't end with him? Whatever that means."

The only person in the North Ye An could think of who wouldn't want Xi Chen dead was Prince Adlai. "Was he built like Xi Chen?"

The elderly woman mulled over it, seemingly trying to recall her conversation with whoever told her all of this information, and shook her head delicately. "No.. I heard that he was much larger."

Much larger? Surely.. It wasn't Baagvai? Ye An in turn shook her head at the thought.

"Anyways." The elderly woman continued as she sat on the chair across the small bamboo table. "The head monk called for him to be transported to the temple grounds. That was when me and my husband saw him and immediately recognized him. He was such a sweetheart helping us with our fruit cart when we were on the way to the capital. It happened a few months ago, during early summer, but we didn't forget his kind face."

Ye An smiled. That was probably the day he traveled to the capital to be appointed as her personal guard. Their first meeting in the gardens felt like a lifetime ago. Ye An's smile turned rueful. "That was the type of man that Xi Chen was."

The elderly woman watched Ye An's faraway eyes wistfully. "Is he your husband?"

Startled, Ye An focused her gaze back on the elderly woman, a rosy blush creeping from her neck. "No. Why would you say that?" Ye An ended the question with a nervous laugh.

The elderly woman leaned in. "Well, do you care about him?"

Ye An averted her eyes debating whether she should answer that when she barely knew the elderly woman. But in the end, Ye An mumbled, "Yes."

The elderly woman placed a hand on the edge of the table and the other over it. "Then, do you think that he cares about you?"

Memories flashed by as Ye An replayed every single scene in the past few seasons that had Xi Chen in it. "I think so."

"Then you should just ask him for his hand of marriage when he wakes up."

Ye An choked on her soup. When she came to, Ye An started to protest. "But-"

"No buts." The elderly woman waved her hands. "How did it feel when you thought that you had lost him? When you thought that he was dead?"

Ye An looked at the scraps of vegetables still floating in the puddle of broth in her bowl.

"Is it because he's someone important in the military?" The elderly woman asked, her voice deliberately hushed. "I saw the way the guard flinched when he showed his identification plate when we were entering the capital. The guard looked as if he was ready to have a seizure right there and then." The elderly woman poured a cup of tea for herself and sipped before she continued. "And considering the fact that he had such a grave injury where it's near the border, I guess he wasn't some ignorant government official who only knows how to elevate his status and maximize his own personal wealth without a thought of the common people and the country's crises."

Ye An pursed her lips. Even though her heart was warmed by not only the elderly woman's high praise of Xi Chen, but also her demeanor since the night before, Ye An still couldn't let her guard all the way down that easily. Because revealing who Xi Chen was would also reveal who she was. Ye An's canine scraped at her bottom lip.

The elderly woman sensed Ye An's apprehension. "It's alright if you don't want to disclose his identity. You could build a new life with him here. There are no hierarchies or statuses here. Just normal people living their mundane lives." The elderly woman smiled softly at Ye An. Her kind smile squeezed at Ye An's heart. For a split second, she could see Governess Hsu's shadow behind the smile.

There was a knock at the door.

"Oh!" The elderly woman put a hand over her chest, her face lit up and bloomed like the first blossoms of spring. "That should be my husband!"

The elderly woman thinned her eyes and spoke conspiratorially. "You know, my husband and I probably won't be together now if I didn't propose to him all those years ago. Think about what I suggested earlier, huh?" The elderly woman winked and tittered to the door.

Ye An caught a glimpse of the elderly man at the door who nodded at her. The same happiness was glowing on his face when he saw his wife. "There's my bride!"

The elderly woman blushed. "Oh, hush! There's a child around!" She turned to Ye An and winked before the door snicked shut behind her.

For a moment, Ye An imagined what it would be like growing old with Xi Chen. Maybe proposing to Xi Chen isn't such a bad idea after all.

+* Thanks for reading! Please vote, comment, and follow if you like the story!*+

Writer's note: Imagine them growing old together and living a peaceful life. No more war, no more death, no more chaos 😭😭😭