The moment 11 nudges open the front door of the bakery she is nearly impaled by a pair of curved horns.

“Oof,” she says as the little yaojin wraps around her. “Hey there.”

Yue’li looks up with wet eyes. “You disappear for three days and all you say is hey there? You scared us half to death!”

“It was only two days.”

“Two da- I can’t believe you.” Yue’li slaps a hand against 11’s chest. “I thought Zoldan got to you! I was just on my way to put up a commission.”

It takes 11 a second to remember the faces of the gang who ambushed her on her first day in the city.

Seems like a lifetime ago now.

“You know I'm tougher than that guy,” 11 says, ruffling Yue’li’s honey-yellow hair. “I just got caught up in a few things, that’s all.”

Yue’li doesn’t look convinced. “It better not have anything to do with the Thieves Covenant.”

“The opposite, actually,” 11 says. “I was wrapped up with the Knights.”

Yue’li pulls back. “I knew it! You're totally part of why the castle collapsed, aren't you!”

That surprises 11. She doesn’t think news of her involvement has traveled so widely. “Does everyone know it was me?”

“They will if you keep walking around in this.” Yue’li jabs at 11’s belly. “You look like you stripped naked one of the gate captains.”

11 looks down. She’s wearing a full set of rounded scale armor not unlike the one Captain Stelias wore that day on the bridge. The scales even glisten the same way as she turns on the spot.

“You mean this getup?” she says, trying to make light of it. “It’s just a… gift.”

“From whom, a dead body?”

“From…” 11 hesitates. A part of the contract she signed with Censa means she cannot divulge any of her dealings with the Heroes’ League or its founder. Even to the people closest to her.

“It doesn’t matter. Look.” She shrugs off her backpack. “I got this, too.”

Yue’li peaks into the bag. “What is…” She reaches in and pulls out a gold coin. “Oh, no.” She then stuffs it back and races across the bakery, drawing blinds over all the windows. “You didn’t steal these from the castle, did you?!”

“Your views on this world are so skewed,” 11 says, amused. “These were a gift. A reward, actually.”

Yue’li comes back to the bag and zips it tightly. “Why? I mean, you destroyed the Knight’s headquarters.” Her eyes widen. “Is this your reward for doing that?”

“I did not-”

“What is all that noise?”

Abetah limps out of the kitchen then, her hair white with flour. “Elevena, is that you?” When the old woman sees 11 she lets out a startled sigh and hobbles over, running her powdery hands over her apron before gathering 11 into a motherly embrace. “Thank the goddesses, it is you. I was worried sick, child.”

The gesture takes 11 off-guard. She finds herself at a loss on what to say.

"We were both worried," Yue'li corrected. "Neither of us slept, you know."

11 returns the hug somewhat awkwardly. Abetah smells of icing and cake and love too unfamiliar for 11 to place.

She has never felt happier.

"I'm home," she says, her throat closing up over the rest of her words.

Abetah turns 11 around on the spot. “What is this you’re wearing? Take it off and have a bath. I have another Citrus Sunrise ready in the oven and it's ready to be eaten as soon as you are.” Abetah is beaming but exhaustion is etched deep in her wrinkles, and 11 guesses she is probably responsible for that.

Gently, she detaches herself from Abetah. "I got this," she says, holding up the bag of gold, "for us. There are one hundred coins, I think. I didn’t count.”

Abetah blinks at the bag’s contents. “Oh,” she says. “That’s nice, dear. You must’ve worked very hard.”

“You still haven’t told me where you got it from,” Yue’li says. “If it’s stolen, then we need to make sure it’s kept away from the bakery.”

Censa gave 11 the gold as a ‘Show of good will,’ promising many times more when 11 wins the tourney. However, as per the contract, she cannot divulge to anyone this agreement.

Instead, she lies. “I took a big commission,” she says. “It was a very last-minute thing so I couldn’t tell you.” She tries to hand the bag to Abetah but the old woman will not take it. “I want to use this for the bakery.”

“Then do that,” says Abetah. “But use it for your own vision, not mine. Remember what I said about leaving this place to you? I’m still looking forward to retiring by winter, so I can spend the rest of my days by the fireplace.”

Yue’li cuts in between them. “What is this about retiring? Beth, you’re leaving the bakery to Elevena?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Abetah's hand flies to her mouth. “Did I forget to tell you, Yue’ling?”

Yue’li shakes her head. “Since when did you decide on this?”

11 stands there stupidly like a straw dummy, watching the confusion on Yue’li’s face turn into anger.

“And why didn’t you talk this over with me first, Beth?”

Abetah pulls out a nearby chair and folds herself into it. “I meant to, Yue’ling. Please, believe me. I only forgot. You know how this old brain is.” She tugs at the edges of her apron. “Let’s talk about this after lunch. Elevena dear, why don’t you go upstairs and get cleaned up? I’ll make a few extra dishes.”

11 puts her bag down on the floor. Then she walks over to the bakery’s front door and flips the ‘Open’ sign over to ‘Closed’.

“I’ll cook,” she says, looking between Abetah and Yue’li. “In the meantime, I think you two should talk.”

When lunch has finished and the dishes cleaned, Yue’li excuses herself and goes outside, coming up with the lame excuse that she needs to get some fresh air.

The roof is hot from being baked all day. Yue’li shades her eyes as she lies down across the tiles, letting the sun beat down on her with its relentless optimism. Begrudgingly, she finds her mood beginning to be swayed.

Maybe she really does need fresh air.

The door swings open with a jingling of bells. It was Yue’li’s idea to put up the bell, because then if she’s in the storage or upstairs she’ll still know if there’s a customer.

It never ringed much.

“Yuu-chan,” Elevena calls to the empty streets. “Are you around?”

Yue’li keeps quiet. She doesn’t want to talk to Elevena right now, not when the wound of betrayal is still fresh.

Tough luck. As if sensing exactly where she is, Elevena’s head pops up over her. She isn’t smiling, but her eyes do it for her.

“Didn’t know you could fly,” she says.

Yue’li has long since learned to read the emotions hidden under Elevena's smooth exterior. She studies her now, watching the lights inside those sapphire pupils turn with mischievous intent.

“I can’t fly,” Yue’li says finally. “I climbed the tree out back.”

“There’s a tree out back? I didn’t know that.”

“How did you get up here then?”

Elevena tiptoes over to Yue'li's side, her movements exaggerated to make her look like a fool.

Yue’li almost laughs before catching herself.

I’m supposed to be angry at her.

“Can I lie down next to you?”

Yue’li huffs but scoots over anyway.

Elevena makes herself comfortable. “Warm,” she says, stretching across the tiles.

“Beth thinks you’re more reliable than me.”

The words fly out of Yue’li’s mouth before she can stop them. She knows it isn’t fair to Elevena, that she's basically accusing the girl of being a good person, but the pent-up emotions inside Yue’li’s heart need a way out.

“She thinks you’re more hardworking, smarter, and just all-around better than me. She thinks you’re a gift from the goddesses. No. She thinks you are one of the goddesses.”

Yue’li turns her head away so she won’t have to look at Elevena's reactions. She’s being childish, she knows, but if she doesn’t say what’s on her mind now, it might end up consuming her.

Elevena asks, “Is that really what Abetah said?”

“Well, no,” Yue’li admits. “But she might as well have.” Her fingers touch something mossy on the tiles and she starts to pick at it. “The worst part is she’s right.”

That’s it. That’s the part that frustrates and saddens Yue’li the most.

The truth.

Yue'li feels the tiles shift as Elevena turns on her side.

“Hey.”

Yue’li ignores her.

“Hey. Yuu-chan. Hey.”

Yue’li turns back. She's shocked to see Elevena’s eyebrows have grown into tuffs of bushy green furs.

“What the-”

Elevena reaches up and flicks away the mossy clumps. Her eyebrows are normal underneath. “Ta-da.”

Yue’li blinks, unsure how to react at first. “You’re… such a fool.” And then she can’t help it. She laughs.

“Right?” Elevena says. “How can such a fool ever hope to run a cafe by herself?” She reaches over and plops a lump of moss on Yue’li’s nose, making her squeal.

“I need you, Yuu-chan,” Elevena says. “I’ve never been more content than when I am here with you and Abetah. You’re both…”

Elevena falters with her words.

“Both very important people to me.”

Yue’li sits up. “Goddesses,” she teases, pelting the moss clumps back at Elevena. “Is it so hard to admit you love us?”

Elevena's gaze is fixed at the spotless sky.

“A hero is never supposed to admit their weaknesses," she says. "Them's the rule.”

“Again with your strange ideas,” Yue’li says, but she’s laughing again. And just like that, all the tension between them is gone.

Yue’li lies back down and nestles into the crook of Elevena’s arm. “It’s okay if you want to cry, or laugh, or whatever. You don’t have to be so stony-faced all the time, you know.”

“I can’t cry,” says Elevena. “It's not physically possible.”

"Tough-ass."

"No, I'm serious."

Yue’li rolls her eyes. “Sure. Anyway, you’re family to us, Elle. I didn’t realize how much we grew to love you until I thought you left, and then it was insanity because I thought it was all too late.”

The sun hangs bright in the sky, a ball of bright fire lighting up Elevena's golden hair as the girl reaches over and strokes Yue'li's head, in the space between her horns where she likes it best.

Shivers run up her spine but Yue'li pretends not to feel them.

“I’ll never leave without telling you,” Elevena says. “I’ve made that mistake before and I never will again.”

"Mm-hmm," Yue'li says. "That's a promise."

She falls asleep not long after that, with Elevena’s fingers still tangled in her hair.

The sun is hot on 11’s face. Below them, a man leads a horse-drawn cart across the street, stacked high with bags of sand. A few more like him follow, carrying timber and even crates of food.

The rebuilding of the Kesrockian Knight’s castle begins with these individuals. As 11 watches from the rooftop, she thinks about Oakroot village and how they too must rebuild after the death of their leader. Then, she thinks about Aralyn, and whether the elf will stay to help or move on by herself.

The roof vibrates as the bakery's oven roars to life. A plume of smoke rises out of the chimney, smelling of herbs. In the kitchen, pots and utensils clang as Abetah prepares dinner, humming along to a tune only the old woman can hear.

11 thinks about her own future and who she wants to spend it with.

Yue’li mutters something in her sleep. She has one leg hooked over 11’s and her drool is running onto 11's arm.

I’ve lost the sister I had from the previous world, 11 thinks, trailing a finger along the grooves of one of Yue'li's horns. But I've gained another in this one.

The thought of Hikari is like a stab from an ice pick. 11 tries not to hear the girl's last words but they echo inside her brain nonetheless.

I’ll kill every last person in the world to make you remember the past you wish to forget, the girl said through flashing fangs and a venomous smile. I’ll break your heart so you’ll remember you had one.

11 feels a thick tail wrap gently around her waist, its emerald scales glistening like a water’s surface. She looks down into Yue’li’s half-opened eyes.

“Everything ok?” asks the little yaojin. “Do you want to go back inside?”

“No,” says 11. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now.”

Yue’li grins, yawns, and snuggles closer. “You should smile more,” she mumbles into 11’s side. “It suits you.”

Startled, 11 touches her own cheek. The smile is already gone.

It doesn't matter.

11 draws in a deep breath and closes her eyes, letting the summer warmth fill every part of her, through CPUs and memory banks, until thoughts about the Guild, Censa, and the people she killed all melt away, and all she can feel are the hot tiles beneath her and Yue’li wrapped around her.

And then in that quiet place of the present, she finds her future.