Y/n's memories had been tampered with, just to keep away the bad memories until she was able to recall them without... you know, going insane. Again.

Happier memories were easier to access, while the not so happy ones required specific buttons to be pressed.

Well. All the right buttons were being pressed as she was held in her mother's embrace, more and more memories of warmth and safety flooding her mind.

First, it was the Artisanship Commission.

Walking along the pathways with her mother and brother, both of them holding her hands. Strong, comforting hands. Hands that belonged to people who loved her.

A kind, gentle voice humming soothing words to her as those same caring hands tended to the less favorable outcomes of her training.

Smells... so many wonderful smells, trying to scowl at the unexpected dinner guests but finding herself unable to when her mother pinched her cheek.

Memories of indescribable pain, constant and unyielding with only a few moments of peace.

E/c eyes that matched her own, slightly puffy and reddened from crying. S/c hands cupping her face, and that voice, trembling and filled with grief.

"It's okay to cry, y/n. Even fierce Cloud Knights like yourself have to be vulnerable from time to time, right?"

That same voice, worried and panicked.
That gentle hand holding hers, keeping her grounded.

"I'm here, y/n, don't worry. I'll stay right here."

Y/n closed her eyes, letting out an exhale of relief as she leaned further into her mother's embrace. Safe.

Finally safe.

Nothing could hurt her, not here.

No undying armies whose heads she had to crush if she didn't want them to come back again later, no fighting through indescribable pain, no dying then coming back over and over no matter how much she begged for it to just stop, no more being alone, just... warmth. Safety.

She was safe here.

"Woah... she fell asleep..!" March whispered, eyes round with amazement as she stared at where y/n had allowed herself to doze off in her mother's arms, the older woman caressing her hair gently while humming quietly, "Should we leave them be?"

"Let's give them some time to themselves." Welt confirmed with a small smile before turning to Master Gongshu who waved them over, "It seems as though Master Gongshu has something he'd like to say to us."

"Mm, alright!" March chimed.

As her and Mr. Yang headed for the artisan, the merchant who'd been running around after m/n joining them, Caelus and Tingyun remained by the Creation Furnace, gazing up at it.

Oh! A message.

Caelus checked his phone and found that he'd received some message from Tingyun! But... they were right next to one another?

Tingyun
Did you see that, Caelus?
When the Ebon Deer stomped the ground, branches and roots spawned from nothing

..?

Caelus
Those are the Ambrosial Arbor roots, aren't they?

Tingyun
The celestial traces of the Abundance are truly marvelous to behold. This is the first time I've seen something so miraculous, even among all my travels.

The fruits on those boughs are sparkling golden just like how the Xianzhou legend say

It is said that in ancient times, the forebears of the the Xianzhou received immortal fruits like this of the Ambrosial Arbor and turned into long-life species.

If I were to eat one of the fruits, would I obtain endless like just like the Xianzhou natives?

Does such an opportunity not tempt you, Caelus?

The young man raised a brow.
Those paragraphs were suspicious...

Caelus
No. It's more trouble than it's worth.
Even if you did eat a fruit and gain such a long life, wouldn't you just be caught and executed?

Tingyun
You're right, Caelus.
But if you were to manage to get past the Cloud Knights' searches... the opportunity seems too good to pass up, right?

Very sus.

Tingyun

Just like life itself...

Caelus slowly turned his head to look at Tingyun who had begun gazing up at the Creation Furnace again. Him and the others were going to have to be wary of her... something just wasn't sitting right.

'Foxians have a much shorter lifetime than Xianzhou natives and Vidyadhara, but why would anyone want to live for more than a century?' Caelus wondered, 'What would I do if I could live for 100+ years...?'

He looked over to y/n who was still dozing peacefully in her mother's arms. It was rather humorous, but oddly heartwarming as well.

To have such a long lifetime...

Meh. Didn't seem worth it to Caelus.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Y/n had fallen asleep feeling fearful that this safety and warmth would be gone when she awoke.

The source if it was gone, yes, but not the feeling.

She was alone at first, finding herself in a room she didn't recognize— DAMN THERE WERE A TON OF WEAPONS!!! WAS THIS PERSON PREPARING TO TAKE OVER THE LUOFU BY THEMSELF WITH ALL THESE DAMN SHARP THINGS?!

Her gaze moved away from the wall, then up to the ceiling which was blocked out by Caelus' raccoon 🍑 hydrogen bomb self.

She blinked once, then twice.

The young man was leaning over her.
The 🚚 did he want, huh? A smooch?

"What."

"Your Mom made food, get up."

"My... Mom?" y/n echoed, still a little disoriented from the whole revive hacks deer situation, "Caelus, where exactly..."

"Central Starskiff Haven. Your Mom gave us a place to stay and made us some food!" Caelus chirped before lowering his voice, "She's really hot, I see where you get it from...!"

Before y/n could question wtf he meant, Caelus was already peacing out to go eat up that home cooked meal m/n had made from him and the rest of the little squad.

Before he left, he peeked back into the room with a, "By the way, we can't stay long. We've gotta head back to Exalting Sanctum to continue that assignment."

"What assignment?" y/n questioned before frowning, "It's not another infiltration that'll end with me getting killed, right?"

"No! No! Not at all! We just need to go see the Chief Alchemist, I dropped off the recipe for the Draught of Draconic Surge 💩 and we need to head back for results." Caelus explained, "It's only natural that you come with me, since you're in on the whole assignment and everything. Besides..."

Caelus looked left, right, then back at y/n as he lowered his voice, "I've got a feeling Miss Dan Shu might be someone you know! She recognized your name when I told her about you."

"Everyone recognizes my name." y/n corrected him, "Because I was some super great Cloud Knight who died a tragic death and happened to be adored by a lot of people. I dunno how I did it, I can hardly stand talking to you."

Caelus didn't take any offense to her statement, only chuckled, "Heh, keep telling yourself that."

He disappeared around the corner and y/n decided it was time to get up. That food smelled way too good to just continue laying down.

She carefully left the room, making her way down some stairs and finding herself in that restaurant. Ah... so her Mother must live on the second floor.

"Look who finally decided to get up!" March exclaimed, drawing y/n's attention to where the young woman sat with Welt, Caelus, and Tingyun at a table amongst the other customers, "Here! Sit!" she pat the free space next to her.

Damn! Caelus already got the seat next to Welt!

Y/n decided to just let it go this time, walking over and plopping down next to March with a heavy sigh.

The familiar smells of the food in front of her made her stomach growl, and it was only then that it occurred to her just how hungry she was...

"Huh... everything's been so hectic, I haven't eaten since we first arrived..." y/n mumbled with a weary look, March letting out a heavy sigh from where she sat beside her.

"I feel you, y/n. But hey! Your Mom was kind enough to make us a nice meal!" March chirped, "I've already had enough, I'm just waiting on that tuskpir wrap I ordered!"

"What about you, Mr. Yang?" y/n inquired, gripping her legs hard enough to bruise as she refrained from inhaling all the food on the table, "Have you eaten yet?"

"I've already eaten as well, it's just you and Caelus who have yet to eat." the man replied with a soft smile, "You two go ahead, March and I are good."

Caelus blinked, then looked at y/n.
Y/n blinked, then looked at Caelus.

'I can't eat in front of Mr. Yang right now! I eat like a pig when I'm this hungry!' y/n thought frantically.

'Just take your time, eat slowly! It can't be that difficult!' Caelus assured her. He was very wrong.

Within minutes, the two had practically inhaled everything on the table, leaving March 7th and Welt to wonder how the hell they could eat that much and whether or not they were okay.

"Ah... so good..." y/n sighed happily, "I feel alive again! Like I could take on a giant in a wrestling match!"

"I feel pretty good as well, but a giant...?" Caelus murmured, "How would you win a wrestling match with a giant?"

"..." y/n frowned, "Good question. I'll see if I can find one, then we'll test out a couple of theories."

"Not even a day after a fight like the one against that deer and you're still raring to go, huh?"

Y/n perked up, turning her head to find her mother standing there with a plate in each hand. She was smiling, oh how y/n had missed that smile, "You haven't changed in that aspect, I see."

The h/c haired woman's cheeks warmed as she rubbed the back of her neck with a shy smile of her own, "What can I say? There's nothing more thrilling than taking on strong opponents."

"You can take on as many strong enemies as you'd like after you and your friends rest." m/n hummed, brushing some crumbs away from y/n's mouth, "How was the food? Good, I hope?"

"It was delicious, thank you very much Miss M/n." Welt said with a grateful nod to which both Caelus and y/n swooned.

"Mhm! Thanks a ton!" March 7th exclaimed.

"Best meal I've ever had!" Caelus declared.

"Hehe, I'm glad you all enjoyed it." M/n said with a smile as Yun ran to the table to give that tuskpir wrap to March who happily thanked him in response, "Is there anything else you all need? Don't be afraid to ask!"

"Your hand in marriage." Caelus said bluntly, earning looks of shock from Welt and March while Yun and y/n immediately let out a simultaneous, "HUH?!"

"Y-You can't marry my mother!" Yun sputtered, hugging M/n's side while pointing a finger at the hydrogen bomb, "I forbid it! Not gonna happen!" he looked to y/n with frantic e/c eyes. "Right?"

Y/n gave Caelus a curious look.
"Why exactly do you want to marry her?"

"Where do I start..." Caelus murmured, "She's hot, she's sweet, she's a great cook and could probably teach me a thing or two, and she's a mil—" he cut off with a strangled noise as y/n grabbed him by the throat, leaning across the table with a menacing look.

"Finish that sentence and I'll kill you."

"*affirmative squeak noise*"

Y/n released Caelus who grabbed his throat immediately, looking rather startled as y/n turned around in her seat so she could face her mother and little brother instead.

"Sorry about him..." y/n murmured, pouting a bit when the older woman gave her cheek a little pinch.

"No worries, it's nothing new."

"Nothing new?"

M/n chuckled, "Jing Yuan used to ask if I was open to marriage all the time when the two of you were younger. It was kind of funny how you'd flip out each time he asked."

Huh. The General, right? Y/n knew she had history with him, but he seriously asked to marry her mother?

...

Now her desire to tug on his hair whenever she saw him was beginning to make a whole lot more sense.

Welt and March were the first to leave, both of them worn out from the whole Artisanship Commission incident and the Kafka situation. Y/n was ready to set off with Caelus, but there was something she had to do first.

For example...

"Here, I believe you should have this."

She offered the broken sword to her mother, the one she now knew was once her brother's. Y/n carefully watched the older woman's face as she took the broken sword, sadness visible in her e/c gaze along with a hint of warmth.

"You need it more than me. Especially since it's been missing from brother's memorial for years, so..."

"He wanted you to have it."

Y/n paused, "...excuse me?"

"Your brother. He wanted you to have it after he passed." m/n repeated, "He wrote me a letter when he first became a Cloud Knight, one that I couldn't read until he passed. Inside, he'd requested that I let you have his sword."

"Is it because... it holds his voice?" y/n asked.

M/n seemed taken aback before chuckling, "Haha... you still believe that, huh? That's just a story your brother would tell you, one he's heard from your father before he passed. The sword doesn't hold wishes, or voices, or memories. Nothing special. He knew that, and he knew you trusted him too much not to believe it, so he asked that you keep it after he died."

"My baby sister loves as fiercely as she fights. Perhaps a little too fierce, but it's still what I adore most about her. The love she has for you, her friends, the people she looks up to, the Luofu... it's what drives her." it took y/n a moment, but she picked up from the tone of her mother's voice that the older woman was reciting what she'd read in the letter, "Unfortunately, that same loves that drives her may be what destroys her if something happens to one of the things she loves. I want her to have my sword. While I may not live on within it like I told her when we were children, I hope it'll protect and support her until she's strong enough to continue loving just as fiercely as when I was with her."

M/n cleared her throat, then offered y/n a wry smile.
"Don't give it back just because you think you should return it. Give it back when you know wholeheartedly that your brother is still with you. Rooting for you every step of the way."

Oh. Oh... damn it. Damn it all.

Y/n internally cursed herself for crying, but the tears began to flow anyways as she trembled lightly.

"Mama..." she whispered.

"Yes, yes." M/n hummed as she pulled y/n into a hug, rubbing her back as she began to cry again, "I'm relieved you still call me that. You used to hurt my feelings after you came home from training with that woman that day and suddenly stopped calling me Mama."

Y/n inhaled deeply, then exhaled.
"I hate not being able to remember some of these things you're telling me about... it hurts."

M/n shook her head, "Don't worry, they'll come back with time. Until then..." she placed the broken sword back in y/n's hands. "I think you should keep this. Keep the other one while you're at it as well, yeah?"

"Two swords..?" y/n murmured, "My fists, though."

"You haven't let a surplus of weapons stop you from using your fists in the past. I doubt you'll let it stop you now." M/n chuckled as she pat her daughter on the head, "Caelus is out there waiting for you, right? You go ahead and see him. Yun and I will be right here in Central Starskiff Haven when you return."

Y/n nodded, "I promise I'll come back." she paused, then added a soft, "Without a several year gap this time."

"I expect you to keep that promise. Now, go on ahead." M/n replied with a shake of her head, "Don't push yourself too hard, okay?"

Y/n nodded, giving her mother's hand one last squeeze before turning to leave the building and meet up with Caelus who was waiting outside.

As she was leaving, M/n gazed after her while clasping her hands together tightly. She kept her heels digging into the ground, her lips in an almost strained smile.

She was doing all she could to not ask y/n to come back. To come back home, and stay with her where she'd be safe. Where she couldn't get hurt again.

Maybe m/n could've prevented this.

If she'd made her do her work somewhere that she couldn't see outside, or if she'd asked b/n not to talk about being a cloud knight near his sister.

Maybe if she'd forbidden y/n from ever seeing that woman again after that day she'd first given her a sword, or...

"No... what am I thinking..." m/n chuckled weakly, "That child. She's stubborn. No matter what I could've done differently, she'd end up a Cloud Knight in the end anyways."

The older woman heaved a sigh.

"B/n... you brought her back home once." she closed her eyes, just barely holding back tears, "Please... please bring her back safely again..."

. 　。　　⋆　　•　 　ﾟ　　。 .　.　.　。 .　。
⋆　　　。　　 ⋆。　 ඞ 。　 . • . . ⁎ 。　. 　。　.　　⋆. 　　。 .　 .　　 . ⋆. 。. ⁎ 。•　 　ﾟ　　。

Caelus and y/n returned to the Exalting Sanctum, the hydrogen bomb wondering why his brawler buddy suddenly had two swords instead of one.

He wanted to ask... it wouldn't be all that bad if she got angry and stabbed him or tried to choke him out again.

He'd ask later.

The two headed for Synwood Pavilion together, Caelus teasing y/n about being a Momma's girl while she pouted and half heartedly told him to shut up.

As they approached, y/n came to a halt just a few steps away while Caelus walked up to Dan Shu.

"Ah, Caelus, you've returned." the woman hummed, "From the sound of your footsteps, I can tell you're in good spirits."

"You've got very sharp hearing, Miss Dan Shu!" Caelus chimed as the woman turned towards him, y/n inhaling sharply at the sight of her eyes. Misty, like the haze of clouds that hid the roots of the Ambrosial Arbor from where she and everyone else stood.

A twisty, gnawing feeling made itself known within her stomach. Like... a really bad stomachache. Why? Y/n had no clue. Longing? Sadness? What was it?

"This isn't an innate ability I have, merely compensation for my visual impairment." Dan Shu told the hydrogen bomb, "Nothing I hear or smell can match the vividness of the colors you perceive."

She paused.

"It seems you have a guest with you.

"Yes! This is my friend, y/n!" Caelus exclaimed as she walked backwards to grab her by the hand and drag her closer, "The one I told you about! She's originally from here, but her memories are a little jumbled."

Y/n couldn't hide the look on her face, the one that seemed as though she couldn't decide what she was feeling. However, she kept her voice friendly as she spoke, "It's very nice to meet you, Miss Dan Shu."

Dan Shu exhaled, almost as if she'd been holding it, "Likewise, Miss Y/n." she cleared her throat, "Let's get down to business, now.... I analyzed the prescription you procured: the Draught of Draconic Surge. Now that I have a preliminary conclusion, it needs to be delivered to the seat of Divine Foresight. The details have been compiled into a written analysis. If you're interested, feel free to take a look."

Caelus accepted the analysis, giving it a look of curiosity while Dan Shu continued, "This is a copy of Pharmacological Studies on the Draught of Draconic Surge. If the chief counselor wants to see it urgently, I'll have to ask the two of you to deliver it for me."

"No problem!" Caelus exclaimed, "We'll deliver it right away!" he gave y/n's hand a tug, "Let's go!"

Y/n was in a bit of a