~TIEN LYN~

Silence?

Even after their exhausting day, the other women never fell asleep immediately. Arguments, tears, teasing, complaints, games, songs and gossip went on for a bit in the castle's women's wing. Of course, they hushed up the moment they saw Tien Lyn, as if her listening to their petty secrets might somehow ruin them. But this spell of silence was not like that, it was sudden and absolute.

Frightened, Tien Lyn climbed out of her hammock, lit up a lamp, and tiptoed around the curtains that divided the dormitory. It was crowded since the imminent threat of the demons' attack drove many to the stronghold from their huts. The women looked fast asleep to Tien Lyn. Nobody shifted, snored, or complained about the light shining into their faces. Yes, it was strange, but hardly threatening.

Cursing herself for a coward, she was about to return to her hammock, when shadows moved by the door.

Demons?!

Tien Lyn lifted up her lamp with a trembling hand and called out in a matching voice, "Who's there?"

"Did I frighten you? Sorry."

She knew that voice, and it had nothing to do with the pirates or demons. "Yu?!"

Tien Lyn nearly leaped with joy, before she came back to her senses. She was in the pirate's stronghold, surrounded by the enemies, and on the brink of being attacked by the demons. "Ancestors, Yu! You must leave! They'll kill you!"

She pushed the healer towards the exit.

"No, no." He caught her arms and resisted being moved. The lamp swung between them, the darting shadows giving his face an unfamiliar, stubborn expression. "We must wait for Finch, then we will run. There is a ship waiting. The 'Waverunner.'"

"I must be dreaming," Tien Lyn decided and stopped her ineffectual shoving. "Finch and you? You don't belong together."

"I... ah..." Yu took the lamp from her and put it on the floor. They now stood in a circle of light, isolated from the rest of the dark world. "I returned to Zhushulin to find Xi. He is alive. Then I found Finch. Or, rather, Finch found me."

Tien Lyn barely heard anything after he said that Xi was alive. She grabbed the front of his tunic, "Xi is alive?! Swear it!"

He smiled wanly at her. "Xi is well. Shao's wife is nursing him. I swear this on my Father's spirit."

"Oh, Ancestors, " Tien Lyn cried happy, silent tears until she realized she was still clinging to him, resting her forehead against his shoulder.

"Sorry, sorry," she whispered, wiping her eyes and would have stepped back, but he held her in place.

"Wait, please," he asked, and tilted his head to one side, listening. Tien Lyn heard it too, the drumming of the purposeful steps, and an angry exclamation.

The fear she felt when she'd first recognized him returned tenfold. She pushed him away again. "Run! It's Dion, Jung Hwa's son!"

Yu's brows shot up apologetically, but he did not budge. If she'd not been so scared, she'd have giggled at the game they were playing.

Dion was through the doors, a lamp in one hand, an unsheathed knife - in the other.

"Sorry," Yu breathed out and kissed her.

Tien Lyn had never seen his eyes so clearly. He never blinked once. Why does he want us dead?

Whatever his reasons, Yu chose a highly effective approach to getting his death wish fulfilled.

Dion's face contorted into a grotesque mask in the flickering lights. His yell, a wordless, feral sound betrayed the fury coiled inside him. A quiet man next to his fearsome mother and brother, now he was instantly scarier than the two of them combined.

Tien Lyn shut her eyes against the plunging knife, but it did not fall.

Dion did not charge. What's more, he stopped moving altogether. And so did Yu and she. All three of them froze like figures in a painting. Dion, pointing his knife at them, his face flushed with rage. Yu, leaning past Tien Lyn towards Dion, scowling. Tien Lyn, her eyes opened once again, very wide. She still had fistfuls of Yu's tunic crumpled in her hands. She did not know if she was pushing him away or pulling him to her.

Yu winced. The pirate sucked in a shallow breath and inched his blade forward. The two men were locked in a deadly struggle, despite their near-immobility.

"No!" Tien Lyn screamed.

She was done with watching those close to her killed.

She wanted to hold Xi again.

Tien Lyn lunged to wrench the heavy knife from Dion's still numb fingers. She grabbed it two-handed, then stabbed it with all her might into his windpipe. She did not expect the knife to go in so easily, so she almost fell towards her victim. The wet handle got ripped out of her hands as Dion thrashed. The pirate gurgled like boiling water left over too much heat and hit her. The lamp oil spilled and burned her shoulder, but she did not care.

"I only wish it was your vile mother!"

Her own shrieking still ringing in her ears, she stepped back to let the body fall by her feet. The fury receded, and she had to wrap her bloody hands around herself to stop them from shaking. She swallowed the bitter aftertaste of murder, and glanced at her ally, "Yu? Are you well?"

The healer sank down to sit on his heels and steadied his breath, "We should wait for Finch. There is a ship waiting."

She wanted to hug his shoulders instead of her own. "Of course, Yu," she said, and her voice now trembled as well.

She struggled with the memory of his kiss, but it would not go away.

Ancestors, he loves me!

The burn from Dion's lamp ate in Tien Lyn's flesh, but she'd guessed that the unnatural stillness in the stronghold was Yu's doing, and ignored the pain. She was afraid to overtax him. She was afraid to talk to him. She was afraid of the thoughts taking shape in her mind as the moments dragged on.

The news of Xi made her more anxious to leave the accursed islands behind. She felt differently in regards to the thousand hints she'd missed about Yu's feelings. These would haunt her no matter where she would go, compelling her to---

Do what? No, no, I won't think of it now! What is Finch up to, and why is it taking him so long?

Maybe he couldn't find them in the maze of the stronghold's halls and rooms? But Finch stumbling around utterly lost in the dark just did not make sense.

As it turned out, Finch was doing fine, and he even had a guide. Tien Lyn pointed a trembling finger at him the moment the two men came into her view, "You! Monster! You've lied to me! How could you douse my hopes all this time?"

Jiang rubbed his sunburned nose. "Lady, I followed the safest course of action. I was paid to spy, not keep Zha Yao's damsel's spirits up."

"I am not Zha Yao's anything," Tien Lyn snapped, infuriated.

Jiang shrugged her words off as if they were irrelevant.

Ancestors, I am getting fed up with him and his stupid songs!

"Get him up," Finch interrupted their bickering, pointing at Yu. The order was made in the tell-tale flat tone, so he was prepared to work magic.

Tien Lyn found the healer's eyes with hers, willing him to come out of his trance. He gave her a faraway look, maybe from the bottom of the sea, or from above the clouds... and then he saw her.

The same intense joy she felt when she had first recognized him in the shadows welled up in her. Her heart turned inside out, and the wave of tenderness overrode both the reason and fear. She extended her hands to him. "It's time to leave, Yu."

He accepted her help and got up unsteadily. With visible effort, he glanced away from her, at the other men. "Ready?"

Shan Jiang and Finch nodded. Before Tien Lyn could ask, Yu lightly squeezed her fingers and said in the way of explanation: "We'll run to the 'Waverunner', our ship."

Immediately, her body filled up, bursting with vitality. She laughed like a madwoman. Run?! She would leap over treetops! She'd pull herself along the clouds like a child climbing tree branches!

But she merely ran next to Yu, still holding his hand, sometimes pulling him along, sometimes falling a bit back to feel him bring her in towards him. She was giddy, and she could not be tripped by a root or a boulder and broke effortlessly through tangled branches. The sand of the beach also did not grip her feet, and neither did the seawater. She'd almost run up the side of the ship, and once she'd finally stopped, she felt no strain in her legs, no burning in her chest, nothing but the pure joy of living.

AN: Thank you so much for reading this far! Are you okay with the main romantic arc starting here, or do you find it inappropriate?