Letting the sword drop to the ground with a thud, she let the fatigue and pain sink in.

Looking wearily over to her siblings, she let out a shaky breath.

"I... I think I'd like to go now."She tiredly smiled at them.

Nodding in understanding, the four of them left, not speaking a single word as they passed the bodies of numerous Wens on their way out.

The atmosphere was heavy, and the three were filled with questions. But they refrained from asking anything, for now at least.

But it didn't make this feeling go away.

They had all thought she was dead for the best of two months, and all of a sudden, she was back. Don't get them wrong, they were over the moon to see her alive.

But what Wen Chao said made them all wonder.

"There's no way of surviving where she is. I wouldn't be surprised if her bones have already turned to dust."

Just what did he mean by that? Where was she?

And they were just too many questions about this weird power she had obtained.

No, not weird. To Wangji and Wuxian, the mechanics of it weren't that complicated.

It was frightening.
She was always a force to be reckoned with, but this didn't feel right. No matter how strong she was, they were never once scared of her. Not like this.

As the three walked back through the forest, TaiFeng finally broke the awkward silence.

"What happened after I... left?" She whispered.

"Full-scale warfare." Wangji replied.

"With you gone, things kind of went crazy." Jiang Cheng huffed, trying to ease the tension a little.

"After you left, everyone got together and formed the"

"Sunshot Campaign?"  She interjected.

"Yeah, that," Wuxian replied.
"So far it... hasn't been great."

"I heard that YueYang is doing alright."She said, further supporting the lie that she was just in hiding, instead of the Burial Mounds.

"Guangyao took over after you were gone. Although spirits are pretty low." He sighed. 

'Well, at least some things are looking up.'

"What about Lan Huan?" She said while they raised an eyebrow at the way she addressed him but quickly brushed it off.

"He'll feel a lot better once he sees that your alive." Wuxian smiled.

"H-he's here? Now? As in he's at the location we're currently heading to?" She asked, nervously looking down at herself.

"Why do you say it like it's a bad thing?" Jiang Cheng questioned.

"It's not, it's just.." She faded out, looking at her bloody hands, and dishevelled appearance.

She didn't want anyone to see her like this, least of all Xichen.

Looking on in understanding, Wuxian rummaged through his Qiankun pouch. Getting out a small handkerchief, he passed it to her.

Smiling at his thoughtfulness, she gracefully received it. Wiping the blood from her hands and face, she felt a little better, but still nervous.

It was already extremely dark, so Jiang Cheng took out a lantern from his Qiankun pouch. Not that TaiFeng even needed it anymore.

It wasn't long before the four could see lights in the distance.

Not even sure how to do this, she just kept on marching forwards and hoped for the best.

As they slowly approached the tents, TaiFeng's heart was in her mouth.

What are you supposed to say in that sort of situation?!

Hey, what's up, guys? I was dead for a while, but now I'm alive again and committing gory mass murder in the name of justice.

That... didn't seem like the best choice of words.

"Er-Jie, are you okay?"Jiang Cheng asked.

"Yep." She said, voice a little higher than usual.  "Perfectly fine."

Walking straight in without stopping, she just stood there in the middle of the camps.

At that point nobody was outside the tents, so she just went up to a random tent.

Stopping in her tracks, she could hear the voices of Huaisang, Zixuan, and Yanli. They were all discussing strategies among other things.

They were tired. She could hear it in their voices, and their heartbeats sounded slow and exhausted.

She had missed them all so much, it pained her to hear them like this.

Like they had given up hope.

But that was then, and this is now.

If they all had given up hope, then she was going to be the one to give it to them, no matter what the cost.

"Is anyone in there?" She said, standing outside, shifting about with nervousness.

"Who is it?" A voice said, which she recognized as Huaisangs.

Taking a deep breath in, she lifted the cloth and walked into the candlelit tent.

They all looked a little different. Yanli wasn't wearing her usual pretty flowing robes, instead, she wore practical Jiang Sect robes, that were still just as pretty. And the only hair ornament she wore was the hairpin Zixuan gave her.

Huaisang had matured as well, to her great surprise, he was carrying a weapon. A small black dagger, no doubt due to Xue Yang's influence.

Zixuan looked as prim and proper as ever but you could see the bags under his eyes, just like everyone else's.

It was surreal. TaiFeng honestly wasn't even sure if this was actually happening, or if it was just another one of her dreams from which she would hate waking up.

At first, nobody said or did anything.

I suppose they thought that they finally lost it, and were now seeing ghosts.

But after a few seconds, it hit them.

She was here.
She was really here

"Hi, everyone." She wholeheartedly smiled.

Yanli, who had been holding a teacup, let it smash down to the floor.
Running over with waterfalls running down her face, TaiFeng was engulfed in another hug.

While Zixuan stood there unbelieving, Huaisang was the first to say something.

"TaiFeng is that you?! This isn't some sort of illusion?!" He said, practically radiating happiness.

"No, it's not an illusion. It's been a while, Nie-Xiong." She said.

"Oi, Peacock, aren't you gonna greet me?"

"Y-you didn't die." He said, covering his face with his sleeves to once again hide his tears.

As the rest of them walked into the tent, they explained to the best of their ability... Leaving out the mass murder, and all that other stuff.

"Your really here? But, how? Wen Chao said that you died. He said that he killed you." Zixuan said, now sitting down.

"You'd think that he would be able to tell whether or not a person is dead or alive."She lied, crossing her arms in amusement.

"Although, I am a pretty good actor."

"Well, it doesn't matter what he said, your back. And that's all that matters." Yanli proclaimed, wiping her tears.

"Xichen is..?" She said looking around. She couldn't hear anyone else, so he must have been outside the camp.

"He went over to the stream to meditate. He's been doing that a lot. Meditating, I mean." Huaisang explained.

"Oh."She said, looking at them, saying with her eyes that she was going to go and find him.

"It's to the south." Yanli smiled in understanding.

Getting up, she smiled at everyone one last time before exiting the tent.

"She's really back," Yanli said.

"...She looks so different."

"Did she say anything to you three?" Huaisang asked. As glad as he was to have his friend back, she seemed... different. And not just because she grew her hair out.

But that seemed like that should be a discussion for another time.

Meanwhile, TaiFeng followed the gentle sound of flowing water, going into the pitch-black tree canopy.

Carefully stepping over leaves and branches, she could see the light of a lantern, and hear the steady heartbeat of the man she loved.

Sitting across a small stream on a log was Lan Xichen.

He looked like death, which TaiFeng thought rather ironic.

She could tell he hadn't been taking care of himself. His kind demeanour was now more tired and grey, rather than the ball of sunshine that he usually was.

Gently stepping over the stones in the stream, she came to the other side.
Going closer, she simply stood there and waited for him to notice.

Finally looking up, Xichen sorrow filled eyes met hers.

"I'm sorry." He said. 

He didn't believe it, he really didn't believe that she was in front of him.

And could you blame him? For months on end, he would think that she was right beside him, only to wake up and see that she was gone.

"Why are you sorry?" She replied, looking at him sadly.

"I should have protected you back at Lotus Pier."

"That wasn't your fault. You don't have to feel sorry about anything." She said, her heart slowly shattering with each passing word.

"If I had protected you...you would still be here." He sniffed, head hung low.

Finally understanding why he was acting the way he was, she smiled and sat down next to him.

"I did what I felt I had to do at the time." She said, shifting round to face him. "Don't ever blame yourself for someone else's decisions."

Placing a hand on his shoulder, he flinched.

Did he feel that?

He felt that!

Turning to frantically look at her, he could see that it wasn't the same TaiFeng he knew.

Her eyes, her smile. Everything was the same and yet different.

"Is this real? Or am I going to wake up soon?" He said in disbelief.

"It's very real."

Hands still trembling, he gently and ever so slowly pulled her into his warm embrace for a soft and delicate hug. The kind of hug you would give someone who was your entire world, being ever so careful so they don't break.

It was long needed and long overdue.

"You came back." He whispered.

"Nothing could stop me." She said, breathing in his soothing chamomile scent.

God, she had missed that. She missed everything about him.

But once he knew about what she did, would he really feel the same?

"Why are you sitting here all by yourself?" She asked, trying to distract herself from those thoughts.

Not replying, he just adorably shook his head, which was still buried in the crook of her neck.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Still shaking his head, he just hugged her tighter.

"Then let's just stay like this for a while." She smiled, looking up at the starry night sky with a myriad of emotions in her eyes.

And so, the two stayed there, happy and satisfied with each other's company. They didn't need anyone else. Only this moment.

'This... This is enough, this is all I need.' She thought, letting her guard down for the first time in ages and drifting off to the land of dreams with Xichen as a pillow.

"...TaiFeng?" Xichen spoke when he felt that she wasn't moving.

Nudging her a little, he was surprised to see that she had fallen asleep. How tired she must have been to just fall asleep on someone, he thought.
She never really did those sorts of things.

But that was before this whole ordeal. He guessed that she had probably changed in more ways as well, but he could just ask her slowly. She would tell him when she was ready.

Smiling with a newfound gratitude for the fact that she was back, he effortlessly scooped her up and carried her back to camp.

'Was she always this light?' He thought, making his way through the trees.

He was extra careful to avoid being seen, as he knew how important a woman's integrity was.

Stealthily slipping into an empty tent he gently laid her down on a bed.

Pulling the bed linen over her, he gave her one final look. Indeed, now that they were in the light, she had changed. Her hair was longer, and you could see the dark circles. Her face wasn't as full and fresh anymore, it looked like she had been through a lot.

Adjusting his sleeves he was confused when he saw that there was blood on them.

Frantically checking her, he was confused to find that she didn't have any injuries.

It was on the hems of her robes.

It belonged to someone else. 

Who he didn't know. But regardless of whoever it belonged to, he was sure that there was a reason why it ended up on TaiFeng's hemline.

Right now though, it didn't matter. She would tell him when she was ready.

But he had to leave for YueYang the next morning. Oh, how he wished he could stay with her until the end of time, but first he had to make sure that she had a place to wake up to. He knew that her sect meant everything to her, so he had to protect it.

Once this war was over, he would make sure she would never have to go through any more pain ever again.

Stealing one final glance at his sleeping beauty, he left the tent and made his way back to his own.
His heart was filled with hope and love.