The look on Emery’s face was equal parts shock, awe, and horror as she stared down at the weapon made of ice in her hand. It was rather well crafted too, which impressed me; it took forever for me to learn how to make something out of ice that wasn’t spikey and icicle-like.

Despite that though, my mind was elsewhere, still focused on what I had felt when I tried to pull on my Domain.

“Emery. Check your Domain.” I urged again. She was still staring dumbfounded at the sword but perked up when I finally leaned forward to poke her in the side. “Hey. Listen to me.”

She cringed away from the prod to her side and shook her head as if to clear it. “What? Oh, right. Why am I checking my Domain? It’s not like functional practice in here is…useful…” She trailed off as she channeled her Domain and saw what it was that I was still stuck on.

“...Yeah.” I said in the silence that followed.

“What the fuck?” Emery said, each word growing in volume and intensity. Then she turned to me, absolutely horrified. “What did we do?”

“I’m not sure.” I said, trying to feel my way through my Domain with my various spiritual senses.

And I wasn’t even sure that referring to it as ‘my’ Domain was correct anymore. I watched as Emery also slipped into a meditation to examine the Domain too. The simplest explanation was that our Domains had simply fused somehow.

Normally, spiritual senses would be able to discern a Domain like an aura or cloud around a person. It ebbed and flowed like water, and sometimes even ‘breathed’ as it naturally acted alive. But there were two other constants that one could always expect from a Domain.

First, it was an inherent part of the person it originated from, and as long as they were alive it would have their spirit’s characteristics; Domains could carry a scent associated with the person, or radiate a feeling integral to their being, but it was always pretty clear who it represented.

Second, a Domain was always connected directly to that person in some way. It could not exist separately from them in any way. Even within an Inner World, it would always be easy to follow a Domain back to its source. This was also the main reason using a Domain while trying to be stealthy was a losing proposition - it would be like holding a torch aloft in the dark.

Looking at the Domain now, I wasn’t entirely sure either of those two constants were true anymore.

When I looked into my Domain, it was so clearly different from before that it was nearly alarming. It gave off different impressions than it had before, and even felt different to me. Similarly to Emery, my first response was horror. But upon closer inspection, this wasn’t entirely true.

The Domain was directly flowing from both me and Emery. Previously, whenever we had linked our Domains for Cultivation or combat, they felt and appeared to be braided and entwined with one another. Last night, we had gotten closer than before and they looked almost as if they were tightly stitched together. But there was always a clear divide between the two, no matter how closely woven together they were at the seams.

Looking at our Domains now, they were simply…the same. There was no distinction between Emery’s or mine. We simply shared a single Domain that carried both of our impressions within it. I could feel bits and pieces of each of us present; the alpine scent that my Domain previously carried, mixed with Emery’s blade oil and steel, or the frigid, cold impression that I gave off would give way to the heat of a forge, then morph back again.

All in all, it was a rush of confusion every time I tried to pick out the pieces of our individual Domains. It was all too much of a jumble to understand.

On the other hand, when I took in the Domain as a whole, there were entirely different impressions given off. The smell of flowers, and a fierce desire to protect were overwhelming, hiding a palpable feeling of calm and comfort. The more I focused on that feeling, the more it reminded me of the best kind of night, like sitting around a campfire with the people you care about most. The embers of the fire slowly dying as everyone laughed and relaxed.

When I felt a tear run down my cheek entirely unbidden, I shook my head and pulled myself back from getting lost in the Domain.

I looked up to Emery who evidently didn’t pull away from it. She had tracks of tears running down both cheeks but was smiling one of the most serene smiles I had ever seen on her. Without thinking, I scooted across the floor in an effort to sit beside her and put an arm around her.

The new clothing that my spiritual body wore head to toe made it difficult to move freely, but as soon as I thought about it, they puffed away to smoke, leaving me clad in a much simpler dress. It still bore the beautiful snowflake pattern, but was much less bulky.

When I finally settled in beside Emery, she snuggled into my embrace. Her eyes opened slowly, but she still looked remarkably at peace.

“What did we do?” She asked in an awed whisper this time.

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I smiled and pulled her closer. “I’m still not sure…” I trailed off as something itched in the back of my mind. There was something that I had heard of or read about once that made at least a little sense as to what we had done.

“A Bonded Domain…?” I muttered to myself, trying to recall whatever information that I had. It admittedly wasn’t much, but Emery had immediately turned to me clearly interested in whatever it was I had to say.

“A what?”

“Bonded Domain…I think,” I said. “I don’t know that much, but I recall having heard or read the term at some point. And I think it makes sense. Whatever it is that we did, our Domains aren’t linked in the normal way anymore. It feels more…more.” I stressed the word the second time.

Emery’s eyes gently slid closed and her breathing evened out as she concentrated on her meditation. As she explored our new Domain, I could feel her attention travel through it. It was a strange sensation; obviously, we weren’t the same person, but as her spirit traveled through our shared Domain, it felt almost like I was exploring it myself.

I closed my eyes as well, and traced her path following right behind her. Together, our spiritual attention zoomed through our new Domain, jumping between our meridians - which were connected in ways they had never been before.

It was almost apt to say we were functioning as a single body. It was nearly impossible to tell where Emery’s meridians and spirit ended and mine began. It was terrifying and thrilling all at once.

We made three complete circuits of our meridians before Emery finally opened her eyes.

“It’s almost like we’re the same person.”

My gaze held Emery’s as I nearly gaped. She hadn’t moved her mouth whatsoever, but I had heard her thought as clear as day, as if she had spoken it. She looked at me curiously, wondering why I was so confused, no doubt.

“It’s almost like we’re the same person.” I repeated out loud. “You just thought that. Word for word, I heard it.”

Emery tilted her head, considering. She didn’t look all that shocked. “To be fair,” she said, “we could communicate pretty well before, even without words. I suppose this makes sense as the next step up for that.” There was a pause, and then I heard, “Right?” come through silently.

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“Still a weird feeling though.” I sent to her. Emery’s face broke out in a grin.

“You’re right, that is weird. It didn’t feel quite the same as when we could read impressions; those felt like receiving a message from someone, but this felt almost like I thought it myself, but in your voice.”

“That’s a good way to put it.” I agreed. We settled into a comfortable silence as we each tried to digest exactly what had happened. This was a huge change, and it was difficult to tell how many things would be affected by this. As we sat there connected, our Qi flowed between us without effort, the same way it would flow through a body naturally.

“Well, that explains how I made a weapon of ice.” Emery said, leaning against me. “When I pulled on my Qi to make a weapon, I ended up with mostly your Qi instead. Thus the ice.”

I nodded then dropped my head to lay against Emery’s on my shoulder. “Makes sense. I wonder what would happen if I used your Qi for my techniques then…”

“I bet it’ll be cool, whatever it is.”

I blinked at her. “I’m honestly shocked you’re not shooing me to my feet to make me test it.”

Emery laughed. “Normally I would. But I’m comfy here,” she said, rubbing her cheek against my shoulder. An arm slid around me too, as we scooted back against the wall of the smithy we were in.

We sat like that for a while quietly, just watching the snow flurries drift in through the large ventilation windows toward the roof of the building. There was something calming and beautiful about the gentle snowfall managing to slip through the small windows in the large building and managing to cover the entire floor.

There was no doubt multiple poetic meanings I could assign to the scene. Something about making the absolute most of small opportunities, or perhaps something about many people banding together to accomplish something great despite the tiny chance.

Instead, all I could think about was how beautifully the falling snow, for all its icy cold, softly blanketed the floor of the hot and humid blacksmith’s shop. It was a sight that would likely never come to pass in the physical world. But here, the two clashing settings came together beautifully.

I must have accidentally shared some of my thoughts with Emery because she suddenly said, “So, this is now our Inner World? Not mine or yours, but ours?”

I looked over the snow covered smithy and nodded. “I think so. Or at least, it certainly feels that way.”

I wasn’t sure what reaction I was expecting from her, but it certainly wasn’t the full-bodied, exhausted sigh that escaped her mouth. I raised my head from hers and sent a half-glare in her direction. “What’s that for?” I asked, suddenly indignant.

Emery hung her head, defeated. “Putting aside how mad Vale is gonna be about us doing something potentially stupid, this just means that we’re going to have to train ourselves in whole new ways. Not to mention I’m sure Vale is going to put us through the ringer to learn how to use this.”

I flashbacked to the intensive training we had undergone while trying to reach the Sky Realm with Vale. It wasn’t all that bad in retrospect, but it certainly was exhausting. The thought of repeating that - or it being potentially even worse - made me hang my head too.

Emery giggled, eyeing me from under a curtain of her short hair. “See?”

“...Yeah, I get you.”

“So…” Emery began, “what’re the chances we can just stay cuddled up in here and ignore the physical world for a while so we don’t have to explain what we did?”

“I don’t exactly know what time it is,” I said, “but the girls aren’t going to let us stay in bed all day.”

Emery sighed longingly. “That’s fine. I guess we can spend some time with our lovely children.”

“And just avoid your father?”

“...We can make a game of it. I bet the girls would have fun. And I bet even my siblings would enjoy trying to pull one over on our dear ol’ dad.”

I leaned over and gave Emery a kiss, then leaned my forehead against hers after we parted. “Let’s do it.”