Blossoming Path

I couldn’t sleep.

After the events of the night, sleep felt like a distant hope. My body was exhausted, but my mind refused to settle. I needed to do something, anything, to push away the frustration gnawing at me.

So I got up.

I found myself outside, standing in the wreckage. The cold air nipped at my skin, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to try and salvage what I could. The garden had been a sanctuary for me, a place where I could nurture life, and now it lay in pieces. I knelt in the dirt, my hands brushing over the remnants of the plants, trying to figure out where to even start.

Before long, I heard the familiar crunch of footsteps behind me. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

"Brought some spare wood from the forge," Wang Jun said, his voice cutting through the quiet morning air. "It'll be enough to fix the fences. They needed to be replaced anyway."

Lan-Yin ruffled my hair, carrying a small basket with her.

I opened my mouth to tell them they didn’t need to, but she beat me to it.

"Don’t say anything about us needing rest," she added, shaking his head with a small grin. "I’ve got so much energy in me, I don’t think I could sit still if I tried."