He awoke to gentle hands running down his hair, soothing the tangled ends out of his face. Weight pressed against his limbs, making them hard to move. Slowly, he wrenched his eyes open, groaning at the apparent difficulty of it. Darkness greeted him, turning from grayish black until bits of red started flooding in in splotches. His ears rang, a static hum filling it until he couldn't think about anything else.

The blobs cleared and flattened to what he could only attribute to the sky. Where...where was he?

A face edged from his periphery to his line of sight. It took him a while to realize his head had been resting on a lap and the rest of his body was splayed out like a lifeless rag doll beyond. He breathed once. Twice. Air came easy, but not without the tight squeeze around his chest. Another groan.

"How are you feeling?" the face asked. In his blurry vision, it looked like a wave of brown and black finally learned to dance. A shadow fell over him and warmth flooded his cheek as what he could only attribute to a hand pressed against his skin. Who...

He closed his eyes again and exhaled. "Like a Divine Beast stepped on me," he answered.

A weight crashed over him. He felt an arm snake around his neck and a head tuck against his shoulder. "Thank the heavens," someone sniffled over his fenhai. "I thought I lost you."

Then, it all came flooding back. His name was Paekdora Nao-Zai. He was a soldier from the Yomaura Fortress, then later a member of the Imperial Guard. He had been to Dansarun and all sorts of places. He had jumped into a prison conjured through the magic of the Divine Beasts. All because of someone...

"Kai-Se," he blurted. The name sounded so familiar in his tongue he doubt he'd ever forget it even if all of his memories were wiped clean. His vision cleared at the same time a gasp flitted off Kai-Se's lips as the piper drew back and pushed Nao-Zai back to his lap. "What happened?"

He had to ask. Everything from the moment he jumped until this moment of undeniable bliss was a jumble of fractured images of the dark at the back of his mind. Staring up at Kai-Se, he saw how the piper's face flicked from worry to fear and back again. "What do you want to know?"

Nao-Zai dug his teeth against his lip. "After Han-Xi attacked me, I..."

The fingers returned to his hair, stopping him from continuing further. Kai-Se clenched his jaw before blowing a breath. "You released a Divine Beast's energy, which for some reason, you have in you," he said. "You absorbed it and—"

That word alone made Nao-Zai shoot up. A bolt of pain slammed into his gut, forcing him to flop back down. Kai-Se's hands gripped his shoulders and steadied him. "Careful," the piper cautioned. "You're still...black and blue. It'd take a while before your korza can recover enough to start healing you."

Nao-Zai couldn't argue with that. He moved to grip Kai-Se's hand which rested on his chest when he got a good look of his hand. Mangled was the best word he could use to describe it. What...?

Kai-Se coughed into a fist. "You absorbed Divine energy and transformed to this...white tiger," he said as if the memory was behind his eyelids all along. "Then you killed Han-Xi and—"

"I—what?" Nao-Zai interjected, wanting so badly to grip Kai-Se by the arms and shake him.

The piper chuckled. It was nowhere near amused though. "You...I mean, the white tiger fought Han-Xi and won," he said. "Then it proceeded to attack me."

At this, Nao-Zai tumbled off Kai-Se despite the numerous bouts of pain shooting him from all over. "What are you doing?" Kai-Se demanded. His features were a mixture of confusion and sadness. "It's over! You're back."

"I hurt you," was all that came out of Nao-Zai's mouth as he continued edging back. Even with his hands torn into shreds, it would be best to keep Kai-Se at a safe distance. If what the piper recounted was without error, it meant his body became some sort of vessel to Xin-Wei's power and if the white tiger wanted to maim Kai-Se, it would. And there's little Nao-Zai could do about it.

Kai-Se tousled his hair, driving them away from his face. "You didn't," he argued. "I stopped you before you did. And you came back when I asked. It's fine, Nao. You didn't do anything wrong."

You came back. Those words speared through Nao-Zai's memory, unearthing a series of events and...that. "You mean, I...you," Nao-Zai's finger flicked back and forth between them. "You really said it?"

At that, Kai-Se blniked. A tinge of the sky began coloring his warm beige skin. "Said what?"

Come back to me because I love you. The words blared at the back of Nao-Zai's head. He snorted, which then developed into a full-blown laugh. Giddy. At a time when they're both through something that might have claimed more than their lives, Paekdora Nao-Zai was giddy.

"Nao," Kai-Se's voice was stern, but when their eyes met, a smile pulled at the corners of the piper's lips.

So, Nao-Zai answered, "Kai."

Kai-Se averted his eyes, his fingers back to twiddling against the hem of his fenhai. "I-I did what I had to do," he said. "And it worked."

Painstakingly, Nao-Zai sidled closer and slid a hand around Kai-Se's neck. Unlike the number of times he did that, the piper didn't flinch. He just dragged his gaze up to meet Nao-Zai's and held it. "It worked," Nao-Zai whispered. "Because I love you too."

"We should talk," Kai-Se said instead, still not letting go of their gazes. It's the longest record. Not that Nao-Zai's counting. "I...didn't mean the things I said to you that night. I-I'm sorry."

Nao-Zai gave Kai-Se's neck a gentle tug and pressed a kiss to the piper's temple. "I heard you the first time, Kai," he said as softly as his hoarse voice could go. "And I forgive you. Even if you didn't really do anything."

"But I wasn't entirely honest with you," Kai-Se said. "I concealed things, downplayed a lot, and lied to you about my worries. I've got no excuse for that."

Nao-Zai pursed his lips. "And I shouldn't have pushed to the point where you need to do that," he said. "I just got...impatient."

"And rightly so," Kai-Se replied. "I'm not the easiest person to love."

A chuckle shook Nao-Zai's shoulders as he withdrew his hand and promptly settled back against Kai-Se's lap. It's comfortable. Nice, even. "Neither am I," he said. "And yet we're stuck with each other."

Kai-Se laughed. Inside a prison they wouldn't probably escape until they die with the motionless mountain range of a Divine Dragon behind them, it was their only saving grace. It was the only music in Nao-Zai's ears, the only comfort available to his ringing ears.

"It's not our fault, it seems," Kai-Se said. "All our previous lives are to blame."

Nao-Zai's amusement fell. "About that..." he said. "Did I—did we...?"

Kai-Se reached out and laid a hand over Nao-Zai's bloody ones. "If you're thinking about your past incarnations and mine, I can confirm," he said, the corners of his eyes softening with every word. "It's not fate or some other horsecrap. We chose each other in those lives. That's it."

"And now?" Nao-Zai prompted.

"You killed a damned dragon for me," Kai-Se answered. "I think you know the answer to your question. It's a stupid question, by the way."

Nao-Zai snorted. "So you're back as well," he said.

Kai-Se had the nerve to look offended. "I never left," he defended. Then, his facade fell into a guilty front. "I mean, I guess I did but you know..."

"Don't sweat it, Your Highness," Nao-Zai turned to his side, noting how the pain had started to lessen now. His korza must be returning, as slow as it might be. "But I'm not talking about that."

The piper frowned, his eyebrows creasing. "Then what are you talking about?"

"Your impertinence," Nao-Zai said. "It wasn't missed."

Kai-Se hummed. "Would you rather I keep shirking away from you, then?"

Nao-Zai shook his head against Kai-Se's lap, his hair rustling against fabric in the process. "How about a third option?" he said. "An amicable Kai-Se."

"Boring," the piper answered. "How about a fourth option?"

Nao-Zai raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Kai-Se leaned down and kissed Nao-Zai, the piper's fingers curling around his fenhai. At first, it was soft, with Kai-Se nibbling at the edges of his lips. Then, it came as a full force, gripping everything in him as if it was scared of letting go. Nao-Zai let him take all he was in the piper's hands. If he could give more, he would have. Kai-Se deserved it. So much.

They broke apart, both breathing heavily and out of sync. "An affectionate Kai-Se," he whispered past the small space between his and Nao-Zai's nose. "How about that?"

As an answer, Nao-Zai drew up and, with his healing hand, locked Kai-Se's neck in place as he pressed his lips against the piper's. He tilted Kai-Se's head to the side as their tongues knocked against each other in a lazy dance. His head swirled, leaving all the agency to his lips and hands. Soon, his fingers were tangled in Kai-Se's hair and Kai-Se's were somehow lost inside his clothes.

"We do need to start thinking how to get out of this place," Kai-Se said during the brief time Nao-Zai slid his lips to train kisses down Kai-Se's jaw. "Or do you, for some odd reason I won't understand, want to stay here?"

Nao-Zai hummed against Kai-Se's skin. "As much as I love being alone with you in this barren place," he said. "I miss the sights. What are you concocting in that thick skull of yours?"

Kai-Se pushed Nao-Zao off him to have a view of his face. His brain was still stuck on kissing the piper senseless, but they have other problems to mind. For example, trying to understand the magic hula Kai-Se was about to spew.

"Maybe if you used your Divine korza and I'll use mine," the piper tapped his chin. "Perhaps, we can weaken the prison from the inside?"

Nao-Zai slapped his forehead and dislodged a specific knowledge off its parent stem of jumbled recollection. "Oh, right. I remember it now," he said. "Xin-Wei, the Ivory Tiger that you probably saw me as, referred to you as the 'Worldwalker', whatever that means."

The word sent Kai-Se into a contemplative stare. Nao-Zai watched the piper's eyes flit from his face to the sky, the ground, and everywhere else in thought. Yeah. He could practically see the gears turning in Kai-Se's head at this point.

"Worldwalker..." Kai-Se stuck his lip out, his eyebrows furrowing so deeply that Nao-Zai just had to reach out and press his thumb against the pronounced creases. "What—"

"It just means you can walk back and forth between any world," Nao-Zai said. "I think that's what your magic is capable of, considering you've been to Shaoryeong and Han-Xi's worlds and back. And to think you've survived all that."

Kai-Se's eyes sparkled with another kind of intrigue. "Then, let's do it," he gripped Nao-Zai's arm, which drove a dull up to his neck. It must have not healed completely. Kai-Se must have noticed the wince crumpling Nao-Zai's features because he let go. "Sorry. I should have asked if you've healed."

Nao-Zai rolled his shoulder and crossed his legs. Not a single stab of pain. "I'll live," he shrugged and tilted his head to one side. "If we're going to combine our magic, what if I go ballistic again?" he blew a breath. "I don't want to put you in that kind of danger the second time."

"Don't worry about that," Kai-Se's thumb was the one that pressed against Nao-Zai's forehead this time. "I have a talent in making cats heel."

Nao-Zai chuckled and planted one last, lingering peck on Kai-Se's lips. When he reached inside himself, his korza roared to life, forever tinged with the characteristic blue of the Ivory Tiger's essence. Then, he let it wrap around Kai-Se, just as the piper's magic clashed with his in gentle wisps.

The world around them glitched and shook. Kai-Se leaned over and finished the gesture Nao-Zai had left hanging, claiming Nao-Zai's senses as his own. Nao-Zai's arm snaked around Kai-Se and held him so close their warmth could never be separated anymore. Their kiss deepened as their surroundings exploded in a shower of lights and of sounds of threads snapping and the sky ripping like fabric.

Everything melted away to the barest bones of the universe.