YOU HAD FOUGHT by Fu Yao's side for many years, and never once had you seen him retreat in battle. He always fought, even in the most hopeless situations, and due to his bravery and confidence, you had never lost when you fought with him.

One day, there was a battle going on between worshipers of Fu Yao's general and worshipers of another general. Fu Yao went down to settle it, and returned back up to heaven a few minutes later, unconscious in his teammate's arms, with a huge cut that went down from his shoulder to his stomach. His teammate, a rookie god, managed to use her powers to stop the bleeding and the pain, but she couldn't heal the wound in its totality, as it was very large and deep. She had taken Fu Yao back up to heaven, retreating from the battlefield.

Because Fu Yao was brave, and never left a fight, you knew that when he regained consciousness, he would hate the fact that he had been taken back, and would charge back into the battle. With the severity of his wound, even if he fought with all his strength, you knew that he would die. You had to prevent him from returning to the surface, or you would lose your best friend permanently.

After yelling at his partner for being an incompetent fool- she agreed with that assessment, and promised she would train her abilities more before going to a battle again- you asked her to tell you when Fu Yao would regain consciousness. She had been working with the other healers to close up the wound, but even with a lot of healing power, the wound wouldn't close. Something about it resisted spiritual power. The oldest healers inferred that a ghost's blade had to have made the wounds. Injuries made by ghost blades were legendarily hard to heal, even with heavenly magic. Ghost blades put some of their resistance and evil into the wounds they made, making them hard to manipulate. If Fu Yao had been wounded with a ghost blade, the wound would just have to close naturally, or remain on his body the rest of his life.

You were distraught by these tidings, and went into your room to cry in private. Fu Yao was a great friend of yours, and you knew how much he loved to fight and be active. With a huge gash across your body, you really couldn't move much without going through much pain. Even if he didn't feel pain from the wound, if he got any dirt or any other foreign objects in the wound, it would give him an infection that would definitely cause him pain.

After you had been in your room crying and just feeling down in general, you heard a shy sounding knock, and quickly brushed away all the tears and signs of sadness from your face, putting a false smile on before calling, "Come in!"

Fu Yao's partner opened the door and said, "He's awake, but he's a bit delirious. The healing spells I put on him to remove the pain wore off, so we had to inject some painkillers into him. He may not make much sense right now, so if you want to wait-"

You were already halfway to his room before she noticed. She rushed after you, her skirts rising and flying behind her and her long hair flying behind with them. She reached the room a few seconds after you did, and stood in the doorway, watching silently as you interacted with your good friend.

He was looking around the room, moving his head around like a curious owl would. When his eyes settled on you, he smiled a small smile and reached his hand out to you. You took it and were concerned by the heat of his skin. It felt as if he had a fever.

"I'm so glad to see you awake," you said. "I was so afraid when I saw you unconscious, with that great big wound in your side. Does it hurt much now?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but only a weak gasp came out. He tried again, and said, "No..." His voice was very weak, and you noticed blood leaking through his tunic. You cried out at seeing this, and the healers rushed in and pulled his tunic and bandage off, revealing the wound in its entirety. The skin around the cut had turned black, blue, and purple, and the wound was leaking pus. You could see chunks of blood and skin inside the deep gash, and turned away, feeling faint.

Fu Yao tightened his grip on your hand. Faintly, you heard him whisper your name. You gave him the brightest smile you could give him with all the fear you had in your heart, and responded with, "Yes, I'm here, my friend."

"Is the man still here?" he asked. The question confused you, so you didn't respond, which seemed to make him angry.

He beckoned you closer to his bedside, and you reluctantly came closer, making every effort to keep your eyes on his face and not on the disgusting looking gash on his chest. You could see the panic in his eyes. He was terrified, probably due to the injury he had received. His face was pale, and sweat was covering his brow.

"Is the man still here?" he asked again, more urgently this time.

"You're delirious, sweetheart," you said softly.

"De- what is that?" he asked.

You ran your hands through his long, tangled hair. He was sweating a lot. He had to have a fever.

"The man's not here, sweetie. You're safe," you said, choosing to play along with his fantasies.

"No, he's there! He's... he's right there! Look!"

He sat up and pointed to the doorway. You turned around to see what he was pointing to, and saw that there was nothing there. You heard the loud sound of something hitting the wooden head of the bed, and turned around to see that Fu Yao was lying motionless, with his eyes closed, his body twisted on its wounded side. He wasn't making any noises or motions to signify that he was in pain, but you knew that him lying on his cut up side couldn't be good. Gently, with the help of the healers, you flipped him back onto his back. Then you looked directly into the warm gaze of the older healers.

"What's wrong with the wound? Will he survive?" you asked the healer.

He smiled, and the great sadness that filled your heart disappeared. You had heard that great healers could make you feel safe and comfortable merely by being there. This rumor was evidently true, as a simple smile from an older healer managed to remove all the sadness from your heart, even though it was so large and rooted so deeply.

"It's infected. The infection must be attacking his mind, hence why he hallucinated a man standing in the doorway when there was clearly no man. These types of infections are hard to deal with, even harder if the wound is caused by a ghost blade like we believe."

Hearing the words of the old healer, you began to cry. You didn't want to lose your best friend, whom you had fought with for so many years. Some of the healers tried to hug you, touch you, comfort you, but you shook all of them off and sunk to the ground, curled up in the fetal position, and just let all of your sadness out.

"It's curable if we try our hardest..."

You didn't hear any word the older healer said. They wouldn't have even comforted you. You were too deep in grief to even feel anything but depression anymore.

You spent the day like that, curled up on the floor below Fu Yao's bed. The healers didn't even try to get you out, they just worked around you. You heard them singing out spells, reading scrolls, and saw them simply pressing their hands to the wound, healing it a little, or trying to. Watching in this way, relying on the skill of the healers, took a lot of strength from you. You knew that they could heal him, it was their job. But sometimes even the best healers failed...

You stayed lying on the ground until you woke up.

And when you woke up, everything was brighter.

"What are you doing lying on the floor like that, Y/N? That's not good for your back."

Fu Yao's voice drifted into your ears from above where you were lying down. You jumped up to your feet and saw him sitting up in bed, a mischievous smile on his face. Your heart fluttered like a shy butterfly when you saw him, as usual. Everything was normal now... it had to be a dream.

"I'm dreaming," you told him. "You're lying on your bed with a terrible infection on your wound, in terrible pain, and I'm curled up crying on the ground below you. I'm not happy, you're not well. Everything is wrong here."

Fu Yao's expression instantly became sad. He hung his head and muttered, "This is reality. I'm not hurt. And you're evidently not crying. But why would you cry in the first place? Knowing you cried for me makes me feel sad."

"You're my friend, you idiot!" you exclaimed. "Did you think I wouldn't cry for you when you were injured?"

To your surprise, he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you into his bed, next to him. He ran his fingers through your hair, and then gave you a deep kiss.

"You're a beautiful human being, Y/N. I love you."

You were too shocked to respond for a moment, but then you said, "I love you too!"

"This isn't a dream," he said. "You're not dreaming."

And you knew, as he held you in his arms, that he was telling the truth.