They had left Cloud Recesses on the same day, each filled with eagerness for different reasons.

XiChen wanted to see his family again for all the obvious reasons, but a part of him wanted Jiang Cheng to finish healing completely. The poisonings had taken their toll on the purple Lotus, although he tried to hide it. But XiChen could tell in the way he was out of breath after any...er...exertion and exercise, any form of physical activity.

His sword form was suffering too, and XiChen had asked his husband sweetly, to join him for morning meditations, in a bid to strengthen his core. Healer Fei had mentioned in passing that sea air, brisk and fresh, could be an alternative treatment and XiChen wanted to try. He looked towards the man flying next to him now, smiling when he caught his eye.

Jiang Cheng was looking forward to reuniting with his brother, most of all. Sure, he missed everyone, but Wei WuXian was like the milk in his cereal; life without him was dry and hard to swallow.

He always seemed to be missing Wei WuXian these days. He missed their simple life of training in Lotus Pier when they were kids, growing up together. He had Wei WuXian all to himself then, no children to take away his attention, no threatening, over protective husband and no responsibilities for either of them. Those late evenings, watching the slowly setting sun colour the lakes of Yunmeng purple like the floating lotus flowers of summer, they were the best.

Uncle Qiren must be feeling the same way. Jiang Cheng had not missed the wrapped parcel pushed into his husband's hand, to give to Wei WuXian. It was a sweet gesture from one not so sweet, and Jiang Cheng was touched. How much Uncle Qiren had changed his attitude towards Wei WuXian?

He grinned to himself.

JingYi watched the two cultivators in front of him, feeling extremely grateful towards Lan XiChen. He was normally afraid of the clan leader, despite his smiling face and pleasant demeanour. Lan XiChen was kind and fair, but steel backed those outward traits, and JingYi knew to avoid such people  if he could. The man was like a well decorated sword, beautiful and intricate on the sheath outside, but sharp and deadly on the inside.

He liked to stay away from sect leader Jiang too. The man was far too angry on a regular basis anyway, and JingYi had a peaceful nature. He stayed away from conflict and volatile situations, not only out of self preservation, but he genuinely did not like fighting. Perhaps it was a disappointing trait for a cultivator; his teachers probably thought so, but Senior Wei didn't mind it. He had come to realise that Senior Wei gave him many jobs, and mostly they were not dangerous, except for the dragons at first. But this was because Senior Wei wanted him to feel useful, and important, in all those little things.

If there was one thing JingYi understood, it was that Senior Wei didn't do anything for no reason. Well, maybe drinking...

Jin Ling was excited. One face stood out in his mind and he kept imagining what SiZhui would look like when he saw him. Oh, the surprise on his face!

Hot blood flowed through his veins at the thought of that familiar face. He had always liked the way SiZhui looked, never given it much thought before. Now he'd had the chance to fully appreciate those features, up close and personally, he could see him in a new light. He remembered  long lashes slowly closing over chocolate eyes, eyes that burned with passion before hiding under lids, naturally smoky.

The face that had looked so ordinary until now. He wanted to slap himself. How could he think SiZhui looked ordinary? Or was it love that coloured everything in a brighter hue?

He nearly fell off his sword at that thought.

Was it true? Did he love SiZhui?

He loved both his friends as friends anyway, so he thought of how he felt about JingYi. It was definitely different from how he felt about SiZhui, definitely platonic, at which he could feel the relief.

JingYi was dependable, loyal to a fault, funny and kind, in his own way. Someone who certainly had no filter, but he wasn't a mean kid, and so whatever came out of his mouth was whatever his innocent mind had thought. JingYi was pure.

So was SiZhui, but lately, whenever Jin Ling thought of him, a slow fire began burning in the pit of his stomach, a warmth that was missing with JingYi, in a good way. SiZhui was...he loved SiZhui.

Peace settled in his veins and in his heart. It had taken him a long time to get here. His raging thoughts and all the confusion of the past few months evaporated into a sweetness only possible with this feeling, a sureness that weighed down his soul. It grounded him, giving him a base to come back to.

All his life, he had wondered about love, why people valued it so much, and wasn't it like tying yourself down? There was no one to explain to him the different meanings of the word, no one to tell him how freeing it was. How much the other person's happiness was far more valuable than the greatest riches of the world, how he could and would, go to great lengths, just to see a smile upon the face of his love.

Jin Ling smiled then.

They were flying over the last few towns before they would reach the sea. This trip really had taken them only a few days, in their haste to meet those missed. A trip that had taken the other four a matter of weeks, because they were in no rush, meandering through well travelled roads in no hurry.

The last town slipped away beneath them, drab and colourless, as if the salty air had sucked happy colours out and left only shades of greys and brown. One final sand dune before the majesty of the sea filled their senses.

Jin Ling saw his uncles unmount, but he had eyes only for one person, sitting beside his sister a little away from the silvery waves. He marched up to SiZhui, a need bursting out of his chest, wanting to tell him of his discovery. He lifted the startled boy up and kissed him, pouring all of his love and newly found devotion into his lips.

"I love you, SiZhui." Jin Ling's voice was sure.

SiZhui burst into tears.

Out of all the reactions possible, Jin Ling wasn't expecting that one.

*****

Jiang Cheng felt his own eyes fill with tears. The sea...was so beautiful.

Expanding out in all directions, far and wide as his eyes could see. There was so much good energy here, it was overwhelming. XiChen took his arm, leading him forward.

JingYi had stayed back, watching his friends come together, and of course, he already knew what Jin Ling was saying to SiZhui. But when his friend started weeping, he knew something was wrong.

SiZhui couldn't cope with all of the pressures placed upon his still young shoulders. He had begun to meditate with his sister, channelling the good energy from the sea to heal her tired body.

His mind was tortured with the worry about both his parents, the sudden explosions that managed to move the sands upon which they sat, and then the onslaught of his own emotions when Jin Ling told him he loved him.

He pulled away, suddenly.

"Why are you here?"

Jin Ling wasn't given a chance to answer; both his uncles came striding forth towards them.

"SiZhui, where is WangJi? And Brother Wei?" His Uncle XiChen asked, taking him into his arms.

JingYi waved discreetly from behind him.

Another explosion rocked the sea, causing water to shoot up into the air several feet high. They were shaken at the sight, and the fact that the ground moved beneath their feet.

"Over there." SiZhui pointed to where the waters were resettling.

Bigger waves came towards them and they moved back. The water was too fast and touched the feet of Li XiWang, who had been meditating all this time.

SiZhui explained what had happened to her quickly, and that she was trying to recuperate from whatever had happened to her under the sea.

"Perhaps I should help her." XiChen sat down facing her, not caring about the ever increasing waves behind his back.

He began transferring spiritual energy, the blue light straight into her temple.

And then, a strange thing happened.

Her body began to glow. A brilliant white light shone forth from the middle of her forehead, growing fast to envelope her whole body.

At the same time, JingYi pointed out to sea, and shouted, "what is that?"

*****

A/N

It's Bank Holiday Monday today in the UK, and I had extra time.

Work is definitely getting busier and I'm finding it hard not to be tired when I get home. Good news is I can finally sleep!

So three chapters today at least, and we'll see what happens later on.

Have a great day/night wherever you are!

Bye!