If this was a dream, then he did not want to wake up.
The Dawnbreaker's gaze widened upon seeing her, that familiar figure... reminiscent of all those false realities in slumber. He had learnt many things; of her beautiful name, of the shining gold in her eyes when she smiled tenderly, of her warm embrace— all of them... through dreams.
And when he wakes up, they disappeared into snowflakes destined to melt on the ground.
But this... this seemed almost real.
A slow step forward and then another. And another. Until they were close enough. Olive eyes traveled from head to toe, taking in the sight and every detail of her. A shaky gasp erupts from him as an icy hand hesitantly reached forward to feel the sensation of her black locks, letting soft strands slip through those calloused fingers of his.
The sensation of gentle touches was a long forgotten concept to him. When he touched someone, it was to kill. To end one's life and misery. And when he felt the fluttery texture of her hair, his whole posture crumpled in a concoction of emotions.
❝ I know you... I know you from my dreams. ❞
The lingering hand shifted to grasp onto her arm, pulling her into a tight embrace. He held onto her like he was going to fade at any moment, frozen heart thumping violently in his chest as the sheer fact that he could feel some kind of warmth between them.
❝ Tell me this is real. I need to know that this— that you... ❞
— are real.
unprompted. || always accepting
─「银月」─ but this was not a dream.
there were many things one could not explain with the SONOROS SPHERE, and stepping through one could connect you to the past, or the future, or in this case ... another reality entirely.
the ROVER stood wordlessly, eyes of gold widened as the sight of the MAN who bore the striking similarity to her most important person became real right before her gaze. he looked just like him, midnight locks framing his expression and a broken gaze she sometimes observed. but even with such APPEARANCE, a mirror image of him, yinyue knew that he was not her li shen.
he might not be hers, but she knew him ... the same way he knew her.
he stood before her now, close enough to touch but even so, the rover wondered if she was allowed to. if the world around them were to break into pieces if a line was crossed. now that their eyes met in such close proximity, she finally recognized those differences unnoticeable from the distance. the emptiness in those olive hues she adored so deeply, the blackened mark eating up the skin peeking from his dark clothes, the SPARK of hope dashed away and how his entire frame spelled tragedy.
his hands ... they were heavy with sins ... the way his digits barely touched her raven locks as though he was unsure how to NOT hurt with his touch any longer. that it was all ... gone. gone were those healing hands of a doctor ... the hands that heal and save people's lives ...
her mouth parted, yet no words made it out before he pulled her into an embrace. THE ICY COLD BODY enveloping her like a frozen storm yet the trembling of his frame made her heart ache. he was so cold compared to him. and she could feel it, icy heart slamming violently against its confine, the way he held onto her like she was his lifeline, like he was afraid she would disappear any second. yinyue inhaled a shaky breath, before her arms slowly came around him. golden light glowed from within to cradle around the broken man.
" i know you, too ... " voice as soft as the butterfly's wing, fluttering over the gaping wound in his heart, on his hands, all over his body. her arms tightened around his taller form, and she felt a burn under her eyes. despite how he was taller, he was sturdier than her, when she held him ... he felt ... fragile. he felt like million broken pieces held together by the freezing ice, ready to shatter ... ready to disappear. the thought made her thin her lips.
when that day comes ... when i can't wake up ...
" i heard you ... " she murmured against his chest, fingers gripping his back as she listened to the frozen heart racing within his ribcage. his frequency ... it was waning. it was ... weakening. this body, this person ... how long did he have ? the organ in her left chest TIGHTENED agonizingly. she held him ... she held him in a way that felt just as desperate, she held him with everything she had, with all the warmth she could transfer to the man whose body was so cold as though he was encased in ICE.
she held him with a warmth that could melt the ice around his heart.
carefully, she took his hand, the very same hand that had taken lives, the hand that was frost-bitten and corroded in black, and placed it on her cheek. the cold bit violently into her skin, but yinyue did not flinch. she kept it there, allowing her WARMTH, her light, to slowly seep into it. a silent reassurance that this was real, that he won't hurt her. that even when his hands were gushing red with blood, they were still ones that saved people.
" i'm right here, zayne. "
a kiss was placed onto the middle of his palm, the soft strands caressing the calloused digits. dreams can never conjure any of this up. it was real. the embrace. the touch. the warmth. the kiss. her.
" please ... " how long would this body last ? how long could the ice hold together the broken pieces ... ? how long before he shatter ... and was no more ?
y̷o̷u̷ ̷c̷a̷n̷n̷o̷t̷ ̷s̷a̷v̷e̷ ̷h̷i̷m̷.̷
̷i̷ ̷h̷a̷v̷e̷ ̷t̷o̷ ̷t̷r̷y̷.̷
