We stepped out of the spire's radius, courtesy of Cavya's divine ore. "Can I open my eyes now?" Hye-jin asked, extending her arms in front of her body like a zombie. I blinked that image out of my eyes. I just had enough of zombies.

I steered her towards the perfect spot, mindful for how long my hands had been on her arms already. "Who's to say you haven't sneaked a peek already?" I said.

Hye-jin scoffed. "That's how little you trust me?"

"Kidding, Hye-jin," I chuckled. "I'm kidding."

"Hi, Kidding. I'm Dad," she spat back.

I snorted. "That's why I'm the jester and not you."

Hye-jin clicked her tongue. "Yeah, just your face is funny enough."

"Ouch," I said. "I'll take you back to the spire, then. I can enjoy this view on my own."

Hye-jin pouted. I never could take it whenever she flashed that expression. I sighed and edged away from her upon reaching the spot. "Fine, fine," I said. "You can open them now."

She did. I chose that time to let a breeze shake the flowers covering our feet. A simple skill I borrowed from an air elemental back in Dragnasand, really. Everywhere the wind touched, a yellow blob broke free from the white petals before floating to the sky with their golden light. Shake them all at once, it would start to look like a swarm of fireflies decided to visit. Before us, the petals who'd lost their yellow center turned transparent, like glass.

Hye-jin's mouth hung open. Then, she turned to me. "Wh—I..." a smile cracked her lips wide. "This is amazing! How did you know about this?"

Heat rushed to my face, my head ducking. I didn't realize how much mud and blood had clotted over my boots until now. "It's a long time coming and I owe you this much," my voice sank into a weak whisper without my permission. "Welcome to Liliode."

I raised my head to find Hye-jin's violet eyes glinting with the memory of that promise. "Sorry it took so long," I rubbed the back of my neck at how her gaze never left my face. "Some things came up."

I expected her to start throwing a tantrum or something. Instead, she inclined her head at me and smiled. "I never did hold it against you," she blew a breath and tucked her hands on her arms. "This is beautiful. Thanks for keeping your promise. It really doesn't matter how long it took."

And there it was. The sliver of the woman who made me more than who I was now. Wearing a different face, a different air, and saying a different set of words she wouldn't ever say before, but she was still Hye-jin.

Someone I might have never realized I needed until I threw it away. No matter how I turned it over in my head, one truth leaped back at me— I threw her away. There's no way she'd want things to go back to the way they were. I wouldn't either.

"Hye-jin, listen," I cleared my throat, distracting her from whatever reverie settling over her. Her gaze flicked back to mine, the faint light from the floating yellow blobs making her eyes brighter and deeper. I clasped my hands together and squeezed, like I was sure if I did, the words would flow more smoothly. They didn't. "About the...um, about us, I—"

"It's that time, yeah?" she said.

Dread formed a stone in my gut, weighing me down to the ground. I couldn't do anything but to fall forward and let everything out, even if I might end up embarrassing myself. I've already done that enough with Hye-jin in the audience. This would be nothing new.

"I thought the whole point of this magical detour was so I could forget you and move on," I said. My nails dug against the back of my hand. At the end of this, I would have little angry crescents on my skin. "But...I couldn't. I've tried. You can attribute it to the world's machinations, always making sure we ended up in one place at a time. So..."

I swallowed against the lump in my throat. Hye-jin hasn't blinked. Not even once. Maybe she's scared of me being gone if she did. "I found out I couldn't. I can't forget you. Because I..." I gave her a smile, one that tore through my own heart to produce. My gut wrenched as I forced the words out of my mouth. To make them true. To finally admit to myself the truth I had turned a blind eye to for so long. "I still love you, Hye-jin."

"But I don't know if we should be together again," I sucked in a sharp breath, exhaling it through my mouth. Liliode hasn't got the hottest of nighttime temperatures. "There's so much history between us. I fear we'll never be able to move past it if we don't change things up."

Silence was what greeted me back. Of course. A normal person would take a long time to even process a word of what I just spouted. "I can't seem to forget you too, Rin," came Hye-jin's answer not a second after. "When you've brushed against Death's door for god-knows how many times, that's when it became clear."

She smiled at me then. "I can't bear to lose you," she said. "Because I still love you, too."

My eyes widened. The breeze picked up, shaking more yellow blobs of light to start floating in the air. It was just like that night, when I made the choice to take a step further into the unknown. That night when Hye-jin surprised and delighted me with her decision. That night when we became something more than friends and lovers.

And like that night, we're back at the same crossroad. One way led to a future we would cherish with each other, the one in our dreams and in the better places of our memory. The other two ways were the ones we had to take, apart from each other, and the last one would be the path where we came from. Which one would we take now?

"But you're right," Hye-jin continued, tucking escaped strands behind one ear. Unlike all the other times I've seen her, her hair was now tied in a hasty tail at the base of her neck. I didn't even need to bring out the twine I stashed in my pocket all this time.

"We've hurt each other too much," she gave me a sad smile, rivaling my own. "We've gotten into each other's nerves too much, piled on a ton of scars and wounds. I don't think time will be enough to heal them."

I nodded in agreement. What happened between us, this story we're telling to ourselves again and again...we've spoken about it long enough. It's time to let it go.

It's time to let the both of us go.

"It's such a shame, isn't it?" Hye-jin said, her eyes misting and glistening. No tears came forth, though. She's cried enough for the both of us already. "I've always thought we're in some sort of fairytale, living our happily ever after."

Before I could think twice about it, I closed the distance between us and returned the embrace she gave me on the battlefield. "It was," I said through her scalp. "It has been our happily ever after."

I smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead—the last one I'd ever give her. "But now, we're free to write our own stories," I said. "The pen is in our hands, and we can write a happier ending for ourselves—one we always wanted."

Hye-jin chuckled softly, her breath tickling my neck. "How did we miss each other like this?" she asked.

I didn't have an answer to that, like I didn't have an answer to every single question about how the universe worked.

"I hate to interrupt but," a voice made us break apart with a jump. My gaze landed on a familiar girl with yellow-green hair. I was pretty sure I saw her get decapitated. So how...? She just smirked at our confused faces. "The Princess has summoned you for an audience."