"Haaa," she groaned, annoyed but also liberated. "I guess there's no point in putting all the blame on me if it's just going to prevent me from taking action."

But she also knew she had to be consistent with her actions from now on. It was true. She wasn't responsible for other acting the way they did. But her behavior still impacted it.

'Difficult thing, this thing with what is in my control.' She thought to herself. The longer she thought about it, the more she realized that there would be no simple answers for her. Each situation was different and had to be evaluated individual.

But what would remain the same was her view of how she would deal with what happened to her or others in the future.

"It's time to swim back to the surface," she thought to herself, closing her eyes before taking a deep breath.

"Wake up Kiki already, please," she heard Laki's tearful words. But this time they were not distant as before, where Cheryu showed her the images of the world around her body, but very close beside her.

"I'd love to sleep longer," Kiyu replied, her body still weakened from what she had been through. "I can't breathe like this!" she added, for Laki had clung around Kiyu and hugged her tight.

"KIKI! You're awake!" cried Laki in surprise and delight, lifting her head.

"Huh?" exclaimed Zhèngyi, surprised by her sudden awakening. "She's awake?" he called after her, wanting to make sure he had heard Laki correctly.

Kiyu lifted her hand and placed it against Laki's cheek, stroking it to wipe the tears from her face. She moved her hand behind Laki's head and applied some pressure to make her understand she should bend her head down.

Laki followed the gentle pressure Kiyu applied to her head. Their faces came closer, and she closed her eyes.

Kiyu's heart was racing. She brought Laki's face down to hers and saw the beauty with the flaming red hair close in front of her eyes. Their lips touched, and she felt a sense of warmth run through her entire body. She had never felt such a warm and also soothing feeling before.

Surprised by this pleasant feeling, she wrapped her arm around Laki and hugged her tight.

She had almost died, leaving behind the most important thing in her life. When her burdens trapped her in her mind, she had regretted never showing Laki her feelings for her, but she would never have to regret it again. From now on, she would be open with her feelings towards her.

But that Laki returned her kiss, made her overjoyed. All this time she was afraid of how Laki would react to her feelings. Would it be unnatural for her? Loathsome? Would she push Kiyu away from her when she found out? It blew away all the fears as their soft lips touched, forgetting the world around them.

It was funny that her near death was the best thing that would happen to her. But only this experience had shown her they would not live forever. Her time was limited, and she didn't want to waste another moment of it for unimportant things!

Laki followed suit, and Kiyu wished that this moment would never end. But she had let it go too fast and noticed how she was running out of breath. Just in time, she pushed Laki up and coughed into her hand.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in her faint voice.

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But Laki didn't seem to care, as she hugged Kiyu and gave her a kiss on the forehead before disengaging.

"Wha... what are you doing?" exclaimed Zhèngyi, upset. "You are siblings, aren't you?"

To him, the whole thing must have seemed unnatural right now. Two sisters kissing like lovers.

They both looked in his direction and started laughing, Kiyu a little weaker than Laki, so as not to overexert her body again. They looked more alike now, as Laki too now had short hair that wasn't that dissimilar to Kiyu's, if you disregarded the color. Even the fair skin they had in common.

"We're not real siblings," Laki explained, still laughing and wiping a few tears from her eyes. "At least we're not related by blood."

"Not?" inquired Zhèngyi, confused. "But you guys did..."

But Laki knew what he was getting at and interrupted him. "We've grown up like siblings for the past six years," she explained. "But Kiyu is not my blood relative. She's my foster sister."

"I see," he muttered, still processing what was just unfolding before his eyes. It must have all come as a great surprise to him.

"Let's leave these two alone," said Toras. None of them knew when he had entered the room. They all looked in his direction in surprise. "They deserve some rest," he added, opening the door for Zhèngyi, whereupon the two left the room.

Laki turned back to Kiyu, but did not utter a word. Instead, she clenched a fist and punched Kiyu against her shoulder.

"Never do that again!" she cried, crying and happy at the same time.

"I'm... sorry," said Kiyu, somewhat depressed. "I didn't mean.... For you to suffer like this."

She had seen how much Laki had suffered, even if she had hidden it well since Kiyu's awakening. The fear and worry on her face when Kiyu was still motionless in bed. She had seen all of that thanks to Cheryu. And Laki's body, too, showed all that needed to be known.

"I'm so sorry," she repeated, sobbing, and felt Laki hug her tight again. They both sobbed, but neither found words for what they felt right now. Their tears and trembling bodies spoke for them as they just let out everything that had accumulated inside them.

"I worried so much," whispered Laki, who was the first to get her sobs under control.

Kiyu broke away from her and raised her clenched fist, slamming it against Laki's forearm with just a bit of her strength. She had gotten none higher before her power left her arm.

"I saw what you were doing," she whispered. "You were with me all the time, every minute, and you weren't eating, you weren't sleeping."

She hadn't seen it herself, but Cheryu had shared his memory with her over the past two days, making them her memories.

"We are indeed stupid," Laki laughed through her tears, grazing at the spot where Kiyu had hit her.

"Wait here, I'll get us something to eat," she said and left the room.

Kiyu used the abrupt break and lay down again. Although she had woken up again, her body still felt weak. Her spiritual powers came back, but she could only wait for her powers to refill.

< I use some of our power for our recovery, > interjected Cheryu, who knew her thoughts.

'I see,' she replied. 'So that's why we're still alive?' she asked afterwards.

< Not only. Most of it was the work of that man, Toras. >, he explained to her. < Thanks to his healing, I could hold back some of our powers and only used some to help our healing process. >

'Oh, so that's how it is' Kiyu replied, staring at the ceiling. Now Toras had saved her life again. Even if one didn't count the reason for their first meeting, since she would have survived the wounds even with Cheryu's help, it had still been the second time he had saved her life, and with no return service.

Without his intervention in the fight against Siwang, she would have died, that much was clear to her. Her memories of the fight came flooding back, and also of what had happened before Toras had saved Kiyu with his plant wall.

'The guards are all dead.' Kiyu knew it was Siwang's decision to poison the city guards, but the sad fate of those involved still took something out of her. They all died on the battlefield and nothing could change that.

But the worst part was that Siwang would still be on the loose. She could continue with her arrogant behavior.

'I will….' she was thinking as the door opened.

In came Laki, bringing some hot soup in a bowl. She pushed the door shut behind her with her foot and walked towards Kiyu. "Here for you," she said with a smile, placing the soup on a small table next to her bed.

"Thank you," Kiyu replied, seeing Laki take the spoon in her hand and bring some soup to her mouth. Kiyu was a little embarrassed to have to be fed, but she was still too weak to hold the spoon herself.

Fed by her loved one! If one thought away the circumstances that led to it in the first place, it was one of the happiest moments there were in Kiyu's life. In fact, it was the happiest moment ever in her life, right after Laki's kiss.