A Past of Ice and Sorrow

A bittersweet smile ghosted across Nyxara's lips. Her eyes shimmered with tears, but there was warmth in them too—a fragile flame of memory flickering in the cold.

"You could always see through me..."

Solene didn't flinch. Didn't move. She just listened.

Nyxara turned her gaze toward the window, watching the clouds drift just beyond the glass. Then, softly, she began.

"Let me tell you a story."

Her voice was quiet. Gentle. But carried the weight of centuries.

"Eons ago, I was born on a world very far from this one. A realm called Shenshou. It didn't have magic, not like here. But it thrummed with spiritual energy. The air was alive with it. The trees breathed it. The oceans whispered it."

She paused, taking a slow breath.

"My father was a frost serpent. My mother, a flood dragon. Powerful, ancient. I was their firstborn. And in our bloodlines, the first child always takes after the father. So... I was born a frost serpent. A divine beast."

Solene's brows furrowed slightly, listening.

"I won't bore you with the technical hierarchy of beast clans and divine ranks," Nyxara said, a flicker of her old sarcasm tugging at the edge of her voice. "Just know that being 'special' didn't make life easier. My blood was too pure. Too powerful. It set me apart from my siblings, my kin... even my parents feared what I might become."

She leaned back in her chair, swirling the tea she hadn't touched.

"I wandered. Trained. Fought. Like all cultivators, I chased strength. And one day, I pushed too far. Took a wound I couldn't recover from. I collapsed in the middle of nowhere. I should have died."

She looked up.

"But someone found me."

Her voice caught.

"A human girl. Small, quiet, stubborn. She patched my wounds with trembling hands and herbs she barely understood. Sat by me for days. Sang songs while I slept."

Solene stared, the storm in her chest growing darker, heavier.

"When I healed, I stayed. We traveled together. An odd pair—a divine beast in human form and a mortal girl. Back then, our worlds hated each other. But she didn't care. And neither did I."

Nyxara's voice cracked, a sound like something shattering.

"I fell in love with her. Truly. Deeply. She had silver hair, like moonlight on snow. And she bled blue. A rare bloodline—not divine, but unique enough that my heart couldn't look away."

Her hand trembled against her cup.

"I was young. Stupid. Thought I could return home and convince my father to accept her. To bless our bond."

Solene's fingers clenched in her lap.

"Instead..."

Nyxara's voice broke.

"He slaughtered her in front of me. Called me a disgrace. Filth. Said beasts don't mate with cattle."

A long silence followed.

"I lost control," she whispered. "I killed him. My siblings. Tore through my bloodline until only ash remained. Then I left that world. Left everything. And began searching for her soul."

Nyxara looked back at Solene, her gaze heavy with quiet devastation.

"And I found it."

Solene didn't speak.

Couldn't speak.

Nyxara stood slowly, moving to the edge of the table.

"Even though she doesn't remember me... I found her."

She stepped closer.

"Solene... it was you."

The silence stretched between them like the space between stars.

And Solene's heart trembled.

It wasn't just the weight of Nyxara's words. It wasn't just the grief behind her golden eyes, or the desperation clinging to every syllable. It was something deeper. Something older.

Something... familiar.

A flicker.

A breath.

Suddenly, behind her eyes, she saw it.

The first night.

Moonlight pouring across a clearing, wild grass dancing in a soft breeze. And there, in the center, a woman—wounded, beautiful, otherworldly. Her body broken. Her eyes defiant even as blood stained the ground beneath her.

Solene saw herself—or someone who had been her—kneeling beside her, trembling as she pressed cloth to an open wound.

Another flash.

Campfires shared beneath ancient trees. Laughter echoing through the woods. A quiet glance exchanged over a bowl of foraged stew. A brush of fingers. A night beneath stars, where words gave way to warmth, and warmth gave way to something greater.

Love.

Over centuries.

Over lifetimes.

Solene blinked, her breath catching in her throat. Her fingers trembled on the rim of her teacup.

Nyxara stood silently across from her, trying—and failing—to wipe away the tears that streaked her cheeks. Her smile wavered, fragile as glass.

"It's... okay," she tried to say. "If you don't rememb—"

She never finished the sentence.

Solene stood.

And stepped forward.

Without hesitation, without fear, she cupped Nyxara's face in her hands and pulled her close. Her lips pressed firmly, deeply, into Nyxara's, silencing everything.

It wasn't frantic.

It wasn't lust.

It was recognition.

For long moments, neither of them moved. The kiss stretched between them, the years folding in like waves retreating from a distant shore.

And then Solene pulled back.

Her eyes were misted with tears of her own.

Her voice trembled.

"I remember... some..."

She swallowed.

"But enough. Enough for now."

Nyxara stared at her, stunned.

Then her hands rose slowly, resting atop Solene's... And she finally let herself breathe. For the first time in eons.

The air between them pulsed, thick with charged stillness. Nyxara's lips trembled with unspoken words, but her eyes—raw, luminous—searched Solene's as if seeking shelter.

"W-What do we do now...?" she asked, voice barely holding together.

Solene leaned forward until their brows touched, her silver lashes brushing Nyxara's. Her voice was a low murmur of devotion. "Whatever you want."

Nyxara exhaled shakily, a breath half-laced with desperation, half with restraint. "Careful... it's... my breeding season... now..."

Solene chuckled softly against her lips, a sound rich with affection and teasing fire. "Don't worry. I can't get you pregnant."

Nyxara swallowed hard, her voice barely audible. "Well... there are ways... for you to... if ever you want..."

Their foreheads stayed pressed, breaths mingling. Solene gently cupped the back of Nyxara's head and pulled her into a kiss—not rushed or claiming, but deep. Intentional. Her lips spoke of memory, of recognition, of love reclaimed across time and loss.

Nyxara melted. Her fingers gripped Solene's waist with a vulnerability that shook her, her body yielding to the moment, to the safety of Solene's warmth.

They sank onto the low settee together, tangled in the pull of history and desire. Solene's fingers brushed over Nyxara's bare shoulder, tracing the soft curve of her neck, marveling at the subtle shifts in her breathing. She didn't rush. Every touch was deliberate, reverent.

"You hide behind your power," Solene whispered against her ear. "But this... this is you."

Nyxara's breath hitched. "I don't know how to just be me."

"Then let me show you."

Hands entwined. Skin met skin. There was no performance here, no seduction games. Only the raw, trembling connection of two souls who had been apart too long.

Nyxara arched into Solene's arms, not to offer herself, but to hold on—tight, breathless, desperate for contact that could quiet the ache in her chest.

They shared no more words for a long while. Instead, they gave in to the language of touch—the unrelenting gravity of longing, of recognition, of emotion stretched across lifetimes.

The storm within Nyxara slowed to a gentle rhythm, lulled by Solene's presence.

And in that silence, they were infinite.

Together.

Nyxara smiled, "Hey.. just so you know I'm not going to go easy on you during training just because you remember me a bit.. I might even beat you harder.." After about 20 more minutes together Nyxara backed away from Solene with her hands behind her back and continued, "I can wait for you Solene.. I've already do it thousands of years after all.

"Mhm.. maybe when I remember everything.. but for now I look forward to falling in love with you again.. hey still wanna cash in your favor now?" Solene asked

"Mmm not yet.. maybe ill save it for a rainy day.." Nyxara whispered."