Jīvitaya opens her eyes to bright sunlight and squints, struggling to sit up. There is a low rumble from nearby and she stops moving at once. A wet nose nudges at her cheek before licking her with a large and sandpaper-like tongue. Jīvitaya smiles and pats Laira. Her eyes finally adjust to the light, and she opens them wider. She is in an unfamiliar room, and sitting in a chair beside the bed is Kysanden. She beams at him, and he smiles back tentatively before his face falls back into a concerned expression.

"Jīa, I come back and you're in a coma, what have you been up to? And am I always going to end up finding you after you have a near-death experience?"

Jīvitaya frowns before speaking, her voice hoarse. "You don't know what happened?"

He shakes his head. "No, but I felt it when it did. It completely terrified me. I rushed back here as quickly as I could. Your friend, the Correll-."

She cuts him off. "Iyokú. Her name is Iyokú."

"Okay. As I was saying, Iyokú refuses to tell us what happened until you were awake, and only if you chose to tell us. So, will you please tell us what was going on?"

Jīvitaya thinks for a moment before shaking her head slightly. Kysanden starts to open his mouth in anger to say something, so she elaborates. "There are some parts of it that I can't say, not because I don't want to but because I'm not the best person to do so. As well, it's a long story and I don't want to repeat it multiple times. And how likely is it that I'll even be able to say much with my voice like this and having just woken from a coma?"

He smiles slightly. "Very well. I'll go tell everyone you are awake."

He exits the room, and Jīvitaya whispers into the air. "Chiarina, are you still here? Or have you moved on?"

The air ripples and the room grows brighter as Chiarina materializes. "I'm here, Lilaria. How are you?"

"Better now that I'm awake, but I think it will be a little while before I'm fully recovered."

Chiarina smiles. "I'm glad to hear it. What did you want me for?"

"I'm supposed to explain what happened, but I can only say so much. Could you explain the bits that you told me before? About the prophecy and what you did?"

"Of course, Lilaria."

Jīvitaya is about to say something else when her parents, Iyokú, the Correllia, and Kysanden enter the room. Her mother jumps slightly when she sees Chiarina before she rushes over to Jīvitaya, enveloping her in a tight hug. Her father joins them in the hug and they stay huddled together for a few moments before Jīvitaya is released. Her mother looks at Jīvitaya in concern.

"Are you alright, Jīvitaya?"

She nods. "Yes, and I'll be even better once I have something to drink."

Her mother laughs and the Correllia passes her a glass, which she then hands to Jīvitaya. Jīvitaya takes a sip, and the cool liquid instantly begins to soothe her throat.

Her father speaks, his voice betraying his worry. "Will someone please tell us what happened now, and who is this?"

He points to Chiarina, who answers him. "I am Chiarina, the girl who fell into the well."

Jīvitaya's mother gasps. "But how are you here?"

"A little known side effect of the power of spirit is that if you die, you can stick around as a spirit, especially if you have things left undone. It also means you can use your powers in death."

Her mother frowns. "But I don't understand, how do you fit into the story?"

Chiarina smiles and explains her part, with Jīvitaya and Iyokú filling in the gaps. As she is told the last bit of the story, her mother gasps.

"You drained your energy? How did you survive?"

Jīvitaya peels the collar of her shirt aside to reveal the bit of crystal embedded in the hollow of her throat, and the Correllia's eyes widen in shock.

"Is that . . ."

"A bit of life crystal? Yes."

"Rynsta gave you a life crystal? She never lets anyone even near them! Not even the Correllias!"

Jīvitaya points out the flaw in his statement. "No one but the Correllias, and me, have ever been allowed to access the forests, so that's not that surprising. I saved the forest and almost destroyed myself doing it, and she saved me. I'm tied to the life force of the forest now though." Then Jīvitaya smiles, looking at Iyokú. "Hey! I figured out why I had the power of technology!" Iyokú smiles and mentions for her to elaborate. "I never would have been able to initially purge all the crystals and figure out where the magical parasite was without it."

Her mother lunges forward and hugs her again, and Jīvitaya gasps, fighting against her crushed lungs in order to breathe.

"Mom! I can't breathe!"

Her mother releases her and she greedily sucks in a breath. A hand rests on her shoulder and she looks up at Chiarina. Her voice enters Jīvitaya's head.

"Do you want me to stay, Lilaria?"

"Stay if you want to, but there isn't anything more you need to say. How much longer are you going to wait before you move on?"

"I'm going to go sit in the forest, it's peaceful. I don't know how much longer I will stay here, but I feel as if something isn't quite right."
Jīvitaya frowns against her mother's arms. "Did you see it?"

"No, something just feels off."

Jīvitaya nods, just as her mother releases her. Chiarina disappears the room, dimming it slightly in the absence of her light. Kysanden approaches the bed, his face calm but his eyes glinting with mischief. It reminds her of something, and she looks towards the Correllia before Kysanden can speak.

"Do you have any idea why he can feel it when I get hurt?"

The Correllia's eyes snap towards Kysanden for a moment, wide with disbelief. "You feel her pain?"

Kysanden nods, resting a hand on Jīvitaya's shoulder. "Yes."

"How long?"

"Since we met."

The Correllia exhales shakily. "This is rare. Very rare."

Jīvitaya frowns at him. "What is?"

"You two have a Kiesi Bond. A heart bond."

"What does that mean?"

"There is a tether between your souls, a connection if you will. The last one hasn't happened in a millennium."

Jīvitaya shakes her head and repeats her question. "But what does it mean?"

He sighs. "Soulmates, to use a human term. It lies outside all normal biological barriers. It bypasses them all. That is why you two can even have it when your body structures are so different."

Jīvitaya's head turns to look at Ksanden, who's eyes are shining with some emotion she can't place. The rest of the room sits there in stunned silence as he smiles at her, tender and warm.

"I have something for you, Jīa."

She frowns in thought. What could it be? "What is it, Kys?"

He beckons. "Come."

She slides off the bed carefully, testing how unsteady she is on her feet. When she feels steady, she follows him down the hallways and towards her room. She frowns.

"Kys, what are you doing?"

He laughs brightly. "Be patient, Jīa!"

She smiles at him and he pushes open the door beside her room. She frowns momentarily at the fact that there is a door before she steps inside. Two small bodies come barreling toward her and she takes a step back in surprise. When they reach her feet they begin to jump up against her frantically and she bends down to greet them. As she crouches on the floor, they jump up on her and lick her face wildly. She laughs and moves into a more comfortable position as her bunnies greet her.

"Kys, how?"

"Did you forget? I went back to Earth to grab some things for you. I got more than just them, but I thought you would want to see them first. What are their names?"

"Copper and Silver. They've gotten so big!"

He laughs. "Were they small when you left?"

Jīvitaya nods. "They weren't fully grown yet, and now they are." The bunnies finally stop licking Jīvitaya and flop onto their sides, content. She laughs and strokes them briefly before getting to her feet. "What else did you bring?"

He grins and pulls her over to a stack of boxes. He opens the topmost one and she pulls out the topmost item and beams when she finds that the box is filled with all her book tablets. She opens the next box and smiles sadly as she pulls out the photographs and mementos inside. She turns and hugs Kysanden tightly.

"Thank you, Kys."

He pulls away slightly so that he can look down at her, smiling warmly. "You're welcome."

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Who thought Jīvitaya and Kysanden would have the Kiesi bond, or its counterpart at least? Tell me if you have any questions, and happy reading!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.