The inability to tell the passing of time was slightly vexing, but deep down he knew it should have been the norm for him.

After all, did he not use to just roam the sky in limbo?

Always waiting for his reincarnations, his tribulations, the tempering of his immortal soul.

Rinse and repeat.

But nevertheless, at the moment he felt anxious. He needed to be somewhere.

He needed to be by someone's side.

And he did not know how long he had been trapped here in darkness. His soul was murky.

But he knew one thing: he could not keep that person waiting.

*** *** ***

The memory was a blur. A jumble of images that he was not sure if they were of his past or present.

Or perhaps, they were just figments of his lonely soul's imagination.

The flower spirit, not quite forming her defined appearance yet, had always been watching. From where she took roots on the ground, aiming and constantly reaching for him in the sky.

Because when she needed water, he commanded the rolling clouds to bring forth rain. When she needed the sun, he commanded the sky - that was his domain - to be clear, to let her bask in the blessing of the sun deity.

For him, it was always merely an obligation. From the first time he met the spirit in one of the mortal worlds and took the spirit to the heavenly plane, she had become his responsibility.

Immortals that had become the gods, had their own roles to play to keep nature in balance.

Such as the moon deity. Such as the Seer.

Such as himself.

For beings that lived and thrived in the immortals' realm, more-so, these responsibilities were never doubted or questioned. It was their role.

For him, she used to be just another entity that was awaiting sentience. Nothing out of ordinary.

Still, every now and then, the white tree bloomed. Whenever the rain fell, the juvenile spirit opened her petals to soak all that the sky had bestowed. Years and decades passed, every time she started blooming, she sent her petals to the sky. There was no doubt it was her way of showing appreciation, or affection... towards him.

A fluttering dance of whites.

He would be lying if he said he was not moved.

In the bleakness that was his eternity, she was the only thing that vivified his existence.

Then, after his reincarnation after a few millenniums as part of all immortals' tribulation to sustain their soul strength, he became imbalanced.

And as a result of the disturbance to his soul, caused by all mortal despairs he carried along with his death in the mortal realm, chaos befell the sky.

The Seer's endless water was also disturbed, while the moon deity silently observed as always.

It was much too early for her spirit to take form. But still she reached out to him. And still, he hurt her. It almost destroyed her spirit.

She - who had always been waiting for him.

For the first time, he felt the dread of losing something. Perhaps it was an illusion of emotion carried over from his last incarnation. But as he embraced her fading figure and imparted a part of his immortality to her spirit, he made a promise to himself;

This time, numerous times, all the time that could ever be granted to him...

... He would follow her.

He would wait for her.

Until her spirit was strong again, stronger than before. Until her soul was whole.

Until once again, she would look his way and perhaps reached out for him. That time, his hands would be there. She would not need to reach out so far, he would take her hand on his own accord.

*** *** ***

He could not make any heads or tails about the blurry images, a distorted reality that was beyond what he knew.

What did he know?

Nothing.

In this darkness, there was nothing. Everything that he thought he knew, was getting more distant as he felt his soul fading.

He wanted to break free. But something dark and ominous was impeding him to reach the light.

He knew he had to reach the light.

Beyond that light, she was there.

As he kept trying to will himself to get closer to the light - to no avail - there was a sudden surge of warmth to the core of his substance.

It boosted his strength. The warmth - it was an infallible concrete form of concern from someone that he was sure he knew. But he could not put a form to the familiar tenderness.

It was strong, it was kind, it was supporting.

He suddenly felt a wave of emotions;

Gratitude... guilt... .

"You can't give up!" A whisper reached him, accompanying that surge of warmth.

The next thing he knew, he was closer to the light. The strong energy from earlier had supported his weakening soul to be stronger. There was a blurry face forming in the mess that was his mind. A lot of emotions were reflected on that familiar profile.

When he ruffled his hair when they were children.

When he teased him about a certain person that he was impeccably drawn to.

When he expressed concern and care as he lost that same person.

The stoic expression he always displayed to him, but still unwavering in his faith, even as he thought of himself as unworthy.

The strong tall figure he had become. In all his mortal incarnation's uncertainty, he always believed and treated him as his equal.

He knew he could always trust his own life in him. As he knew he would to him. Because even as he was oblivious to the peril, he did not even think twice of putting himself in harm's way.

So he would be safe.

Although that had caused him to be trapped in this very darkness, given another chance, he would do the same thing again.

He owed him that much.

Different faces, same soul.

Same protective notion, carried throughout different lifetimes. 

Once bound to an immortal soul, a mortal's soul would be inexplicably linked.

Although only once they were bound by the same mortal blood, the tie from their first life together bound them to the next.

Was he fortunate that this protective soul followed him? Or was he unfortunate that he had met his reincarnation, shared the same mortal blood, grew together? That actually had caused him to feel such remorse that he would follow him to this current life.

Nevertheless, from the moment they bonded in their brotherhood, his immortal soul had contributed to his mortal soul's growth. Else his soul would not have been able to follow his current incarnation.

 

 

After that first surge of strength, there was nothing for a while. His soul was stronger, and he could, very slowly, make his way to the light. But not quick enough.

His soul could endure. But could his mortal body endure? How long had he been in this darkness?

The spurt of fleeting warmth he received ever since the first strong one was a mere drop in the ocean of his immortal soul.

The first one from him had helped his tainted mortal incarnation's soul to form substance again. But after his immortal soul gained only the consciousness of his immortality - not repair it - there was nothing else he could do. He was awakened, but the rift in his soul was still there.

And then the second surge of warmth hit him, causing sparks to form inside his core.

It belonged to another immortal.

Two immortals in fact.

One was dormant, the other stronger. There was a trace of hostility from the stronger force, it almost completely evicted his soul out of his mortal body. But the dormant one was steady and warm. It guided the malevolent energy to be safely administered to his soul.

This caused his soul to soar. For the first time ever since he imparted part of his own soul to her, he felt whole again.

The manifestation of his power, a scaled dragon, surged forth, dispelling all darkness from around him.

 

 

Everything was bright. And then as the serpent coiled around his now fully formed visage - nudging the definite energy that could only come from his complete soul - he felt a fleeting touch on his forehead.

Soft, light as a feather, warm.

And the heartbreaking whisper,

"Why... do you make me wait?"

She should not wait.

She should not be waiting. She had done so much time waiting than what she deserved.

It was his fault.

When he left this space where nothing existed but his soul; as he headed towards the light, he knew he would not remember everything that had awakened in his soul, all the forgotten memories he had seen and felt.

Not at least until he passed death that was the threshold of his current incarnation.

But that was alright.

He was there.

She was there.

There were another two, the ones with the immortal souls. He could not recognize the two souls at the moment, but they ended up contributing to his scattered soul to be whole again despite their own initial struggle.

He knew he would be alright.

Beyond that light, was where he should be.

*** *** ***

"Thank you, Bai-er." Hai FenChu exerted a forced smile at Ji LanBai as the young girl entered the room, bringing a basin of water. Behind her, Xiao He followed with a basket of herbal mixtures in her hands.

They were at Ji ChanFang's room, the General once again was in deep sleep after being slightly sober just some time earlier. The bouts of being in and out of consciousness were still constant.

Wu JianRui used the basin of water to soak some cloth that she would use to wipe her husband's body later. Hai FenChu and Meng-momo started to prepare some new bandages, cutting them in stripes - to be later soaked in herbs.

"Second Mother," Ji LanBai spoke, "I can help Mother with this. You should go to wait on Li-ge."

There was a trace of pain on her tired face. No matter how long she waited by his side, Ji SongLi never opened his eyes.

"YuLan?" She questioned. Usually the latter would faithfully wait upon Ji SongLi. Hai FenChu did not know how she would be able endure by herself, waiting on both her husband and her son in turn. YuLan had been a relief to her. Despite her young age, she seemed to hold herself much better.

Perhaps that was because they were not blood related, that enabled YuLan to display her level of calmness and maturity. Nevertheless, Hai FenChu had already thought of the latter as her own daughter.

Ji LanBai smiled at her, "YuLan has left to the herbal shop. This batch is the last one, we have run out much faster than we thought we would."

Upon the worry Hai FenChu displayed, Ji LanBai added, "He-laoshi and Sun-laoshi have gone with her."

That meant she was in good protection. Hai FenChu nodded and left the room, feeling assured.

She left the mother and daughter pair in Ji ChanFang's room, not forgetting to get assurance from Meng-momo to look after them as well.

She paused in front of her son's room, took a deep breath and slapped her own cheeks lightly before opening the doors. She tried to give herself a boost of energy.

She walked slowly towards the bed.

Then as soon as she saw the bed empty, she stumbled backwards as her steps faltered.

*** *** ***