𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧 !

「 𝟎 𝟏 𝟏 」

"You created a new sword technique?" You ask the Hao clan's leader as you walk along the pavement with him, the plum blossom petals falling and the sun shining. He had suggested going on a walk together, saying the beautiful weather would help you heal faster.

"Yes. I named it the plum blossom sword technique." He answers, patting away the said petals of the blooming tree from his hair. It was odd seeing a terrifying man like himself having a hard time removing the delicate pink flowers from his unkept hair. 

"Such a beautiful and delicate name, I hope the technique is too." You joke, stretching as you stop walking for a moment.

The weather was perfect indeed, sunny but accompanied with gentle winds that would cool down the heat of the sun.

"Speaking of plum blossom technique, is that what they're practicing?" you point towards the group of people in the training ground, swinging their swords with wide smiles on their faces.

Even sister monkey is joined with them.

yi zaha nods, looking at them with fondness, "they're doing well."

You chuckle, "They look like children playing in the rain except there is no rain."

"Since when did you get so talkative?" Zaha teases you, raising an eyebrow with one corner of his lips quirked up. 

"Breaking the seal has been making me breathe better—literally and figuratively." you explain, "I'm glad I took your side, I've never felt this relieved."

"Anyone would have broken the seal for you."

"really? wonder why no one has done that until you came then." you murmur under your breath with a sarcastic tone, the taste of bitterness apparent on your tongue. 

"hm?"

"I said I'd like to learn this technique as well." you lie, looking up at him with innocent eyes. 

He smiles, "good."

Because I created this technique for you.

══════⊹⊱❖⊰⊹══════
( before regressing. )

"You have studied my technique, yes?" you ask Yi Zaha as you slide your sword back into it's scabbard, humming in satisfaction. You feel much refreshed after a short session of training.

The petals of azalea flowers slowly descending around you, as if they were floating. It encapsulates the air around you in a manner that engraved itself in the man's memories. 

"Yes, this is the first time I've seen a delicate yet omnipotent technique." he says aloud in sheer astonishment. "Does it have a name?"

"Hmm..how about 'Hill of Azaleas technique'? since it has such a wide range."

He wondered why it specifically had to be called azalea, but he felt he couldn't bring himself to ask the simple question. Perhaps it was because of that strange look you had in your eyes, like you'd seen the world end before. 

"If I ever die, could you tell the world of my technique?"

"Hmph, why should I? I'm too busy with my path to becoming a crazy demon." He crosses his arms, frowning as he raises an eyebrow.

You smack his arm, "C'mon! It's an easy task! You can kill whoever you want to while using my technique."

"I don't want to. I don't believe you'll die anyway."

"..."

══════⊹⊱❖⊰⊹══════

He never questioned the silence you kept whenever he mentioned death, and sometimes (definitely not sometimes.) he wished he did.

He would wonder if it would have made a difference had he asked you why you'd suddenly be quiet, but he can't regret anything because now that he's returned, he has every chance to fix everything—to fix everything that had hurt you. 

After you died back then, he read the books you often kept in your sleeve pockets. Be read those books despite the hurt it'd bring him, because he sought any piece of you left that he could find. (who knew the absence of you could destroy him this much?)

Within those books, he discovered the story of Du Juwan—a melancholy bird who cried day and night until it spat blood that painted flowers on a hill red.

the flowers were named after the miserable bird.

'once grown on hills, now blooming in gardens...send a message to god and let azalea be the king of flowers.' he remembered reading from the book.

"Is this correct?"

Your voice breaks the man out of his thoughts, "Yes, the flowers will dance alongside you if you do it correctly."

He will not lie, he derived the plum blossom technique from your azalea technique.

But he had changed it. yours had been sorrowfully elegant—a reflection of the loneliness and grief that clung to you like second skin. He changed it to carry a gentleness that carried joy. He did not want your passion to be so painful. 

And he changed the name too, because your were no longer a bird that cried until blood spilled from your lips. 

Plum blossoms signified courage and strength, and that's what you embodied.

In the past, both you and him were crazy.

his madness was in the massacres, the rivers of blood tainting his soul. Yours was in the quiet—in the sorrow that was so deep you drowned in it.

Yet throughout all that, you smiled. you cracked jokes in the face of despair. You traveled across a thousand lands to gather the pieces of you, unyielding even when the world was cruel. That relentless spirit you had, it always drew him in. 

Yes, azaleas were beautiful, but plum blossoms thrived even in the coldest, most unforgiving winters. 

And to Yi Zaha, that suited you better than any flower possibly could.

( he also thought plum blossoms were prettier—because they gave life to most gardens, just as you gave life to him. )

"You know, my parents used a sword technique similar to this." you pant, wiping the sweat from your forehead.

"Is that so?" he raised an eyebrow. how strange, he has never heard of this before. 

"Yes, both the plum blossom technique and theirs are equally graceful."

In the past, you told him you had no memories of your parents—you were sold off too young.

Perhaps because time has been rewritten, memories have begun to surface. 

"Oh, right." you change the topic, "It's almost time for the meeting you arranged. I'll head inside first and freshen up."

"Alright."

He wishes he could ask to join you in the bath.