The fire had burned low.
Ling Tian stepped outside the sanctuary's hidden entrance, feeling the crisp brush of mountain wind against his skin. Above him, the sky stretched wide — a sea of stars untouched by city lights.
Behind him, soft footsteps.
Xiao Ning'er joined him, cloak wrapped tightly around her shoulders, hair slightly tousled from sleep.
They stood side by side in silence, the kind that didn't need to be filled.
"…The stars look different up here," she said quietly.
"They looked the same the night Glory City fell," Ling Tian replied, gaze far away.
Xiao Ning'er looked at him, surprised by the sudden edge in his voice.
"Is that why you're always prepared? You act like you've seen what's coming."
"I have."
There was no hesitation. Just the hard truth in his voice.
"In another life, I watched this city burn. I saw people we know die. You…" His voice caught, just slightly. "You were taken, broken."
Her breath hitched.
He turned to face her, eyes shining with a fierce, haunted light. "I swore to myself — if I ever had the chance to change things, I'd start with protecting you."
"Why me?" she whispered, barely audible. "Why not Nie Li? Or the city?"
"I will protect the city," he said. "And Nie Li… he'll walk his path."
"But you," he said, stepping closer, voice low and intense, "you were the light I didn't expect. The one person who never deserved what happened. You gave and gave… and no one ever saw you for it."
She stared up at him, eyes wide and wet with unshed tears.
"…You saw me," she whispered.
"I see you now," he said.
A long, aching silence.
Then she closed the distance — her hands reaching for his shirt, trembling just slightly as her fingers curled into the fabric.
"You said you'd protect me," she murmured.
"I will."
"Then prove it," she breathed. "Hold me like you mean it."
Ling Tian didn't hesitate.
He pulled her into his arms — not roughly, not possessively — but with the care of someone holding something precious for the first time.
Their lips met softly, tentatively — the first brush of warmth, tender and reverent.
Then again, deeper.
It wasn't rushed.It wasn't lust.It was everything they'd both kept buried — all the loneliness, the longing, the hope — finally breaking free.
When they parted, breathless, her forehead resting against his, she whispered:
"I trust you."
And for the first time in this new life, Ling Tian felt something stronger than vengeance…
He felt purpose.