Chapter 46 · Reunion in Sugar Frost

When Tokyo's morning mist rolled into the kitchen with a honeyed scent, Grandma Chizuru was on tiptoe reaching for the glass jar on the top shelf of the cupboard. Her silver hair glowed softly in the morning light, and the half-piece of stardust meteorite on her wrist swayed gently, tapping the jar's sugar paintings with a delicate chime—each piece had been made together the night before, solidified with the warmth of moonlight and sugar frost.

"Found it!" She smiled, hugging the jar down, her knuckles trembling slightly with age. "This was the last jar of sugar frost Yuekui left me. She said when all 'Reunion Knots' tied, I should use it to paint a star for the most precious person."

Little Peach leaned over the stove, Coalball meowing as it leaped to her shoulder, tail curling a strand of her hair. Sakura held up a tablet, showing an old photo she'd found—three hundred years ago at Locking Dragon Abyss's supply station, Yuekui was handing a sugar frost jar to Chizuru, their figures warm-gilded by the campfire behind them.

"So much story in sugar frost." Su Li's spatial spirit pattern flowed in her palm, and the jar rippled with light patterns when she touched it. Tapping her fingertip, faded characters appeared on the jar:

"To my Little Peach: When you can make sugar paintings on your own, remember to save the sweetest star for the one you love most."

Little Peach's pupils shrank. She recognized the handwriting—Yuekui's. Last winter in the hospital, she'd often dreamed of an armored woman wiping her face in the rain, whispering "Little Peach". Now the characters on the jar flowed, condensing into Yuekui's face in the air—not a memory remnant, but vivid and warm.

"Little Peach." Yuekui's voice was as clear as melting mountain snow. "You say you can't remember me from three hundred years ago, but your murder of crows remembers, your sugar paintings remember, the scarf you knitted for me remembers." Her fingertip touched the air, and Little Peach's stardust meteorite bracelet lit up, resonating with the jar's sugar frost to form tiny starlight. "See? You've sewn my love into every 'now'."

In the afternoon, a sugar painting stall was set up under the Spirit Pattern Tree. Grandma Chizuru sat in a wicker chair, teaching Little Peach to draw "Moon Rabbit Pounding Medicine"—Yuekui's favorite design, who said, "The Moon Rabbit pounds not medicine, but earthly reunion." Lin Ye stood nearby, the Reverse Scale Core's starlight tenderly enshrouding them, his sugar spoon steadier than when holding a sword.

"Captain, is that a rabbit or a cat?" Little Peach tilted her head as Coalball meowed onto the table, swishing its tail into wet sugar syrup to leave a fuzzy stain.

"It's…" Lin Ye's ears reddened. "A certain flower-winged thief that steals collars."

Laughter erupted. Sakura recorded with her tablet, Jiu's crows brought osmanthus petals to adorn the paintings, and Su Qinghuan served freshly brewed osmanthus tea, a half-piece of stardust meteorite floating in the cup—matching Grandma Chizuru's jar.

"Yuekui always said reunion needs 'sweetness and warmth'." Grandma Chizuru drizzled the last spoonful of sugar frost onto a painting. "Now I understand: sweetness is sugar, warmth is you all."

At dusk, the stall drew more people—elderly folks following the osmanthus scent, young parents with children, even livestreaming influencers. Little Peach's crows weaved through the crowd, handing out sugar paintings: "These are Reunion Sugar Paintings taught by General Yuekui—they bring happiness!"

"Miss, why are the stars in this sugar painting moving?" asked a little girl with pigtails, pointing at the art.

Little Peach leaned in: the starlight on the sugar shell truly flowed—Yuekui's memory shards glowing. She recalled last night's words: "My love never vanished; it just became the light in your eyes."

"Because it's waiting." Little Peach crouched, giving the painting to the girl. "When more people remember 'reunion', it will become a star for everyone."

Late at night, Lin Ye sat alone on Tokyo Tower's deck. The Reverse Scale Core hovered over his knees, starlight flowing with today's sugar paintings: Moon Rabbit, phoenix, Little Peach with Coalball, Grandma Chizuru in her scarf… Each glowed warm gold, like crushed starlight.

"Captain." Little Peach's voice came from the stairs. She held Coalball and a half-eaten sugar painting. "Grandma Chizuru said Yuekui's sugar frost jar is empty."

"Then we'll make a new one." Lin Ye ruffled her hair, the Reverse Scale Core's starlight brightening. "With today's sweetness, tomorrow's warmth, and…" He looked at the city lights blooming in the distance, "every 'Reunion Knot' wrapped in love."

Wind swept the tower, lifting an osmanthus petal that fluttered toward the sugar painting stall, landing on the last piece—Little Peach's secret drawing of her and Lin Ye holding hands, backed by sugar-painted stars.

The painting glowed gold, its surface starlight shooting into the sky to become a new star. Brighter and warmer than the one Yuekui had sealed with three hundred years ago, it seemed to say:

"Reunion is never an end. Every 'now' is worth remembering, cherishing, and reheating with love."

Somewhere far away, a healed soul watched, smiling softly. It was Yuekui, and every "Reunion Knot" once wrapped in love.