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I moved quickly, unable to match the pace of my racing heart. Or Kiki, whose new wings had made her remarkably swift. As she waited for me to catch up, she made a game of threading between the beams of light that shot after us.
Hurry up, you snail! she cried. Spring will be over by the time you make it down to earth. I’ll never get my cakes.
I hurried, smiling wistfully. Kiki adored being a real crane, and she never spoke of her papery past anymore. But sometimes, when she was frightened or lonely, she would still try to fly into my sleeve, forgetting that she was too big. That was how I knew she missed her original form, at least a little.
Together we coasted down the moonlit path until a breeze shot forth, cutting through the stillness of the heavens. Imurinya had told us that the sons of the wind guarded the divide between the immortal and mortal realms. This was where Kiki and I would part.
Remember to bring back cakes, she said, making me promise for the hundredth time. The round rice ones with red bean paste. Mooncakes, too. Imurinya would like that.
“I’ll remember,” I said, pressing a kiss on my little bird’s head. “Don’t cause any mischief for the lady when I’m away.”
Kiki disappeared behind a curtain of moonlight, leaving me alone with the sun and clouds. I had come to the end of the path, but Imurinya hadn’t told me what to do from here.
I bent down, my fingertips caressing a low cloud as it skimmed my ankles. Below, the sun illuminated the world, and I had the view of the gods. In the South, I spied Gen poring over a trove of books, the mirror of truth glimmering at his side. Then across the Taijin Sea, I caught a glimpse of Seryu racing a pod of whales. His horns had grown into a magnificent silvery crown, and his eyes glowed redder than the sun. The Dragon King’s heir, I remembered. I wondered how he had managed that.
He must have sensed me watching, for he tipped his head up and looked straight at me—straight at the moon. For the barest moment, our gazes met, and Seryu gave me an enigmatic smile. Then, without missing a beat, he dove back into the sea, roaring past the whales who’d only just caught up with him.
I clapped, letting out a laugh and watching them disappear beyond the horizon. Then, directly below my feet, the clouds shifted to reveal a familiar two-peaked mountain. I almost didn’t recognize it without its usual dusting of snow, but suddenly my heart was beating so fast I could hardly breathe. And suddenly I knew what to do.
I leapt.
I don’t know if I fell or flew. The clouds obscured my view, and the world rushed up in a whorl of stars and light. But then I landed, my back sinking into the soft contours of earth, and when I felt the sun upon my cheeks, I opened my eyes.
I was lying on grass. Cold, wet grass that pricked my elbows and knees. Shallow pools of mud flanked me, and silvery veins of frost laced the field.
A cloak fell over my shoulders an instant before I was going to shiver.
“Careful of the mud, moon maid,” Takkan said softly, kneeling beside me. “It’s near frozen. Won’t be fun to fall in.”
He lifted me safely from where I lay, enveloping me in his warmth, and I touched my forehead to his. My voice came out husky, a mix of joy and disbelief. “Your first words to me are of mud?”
Takkan grinned. “I thought the warning more urgent than a welcoming serenade.”
“Consider me warned. Now sing.”
“Now? You’ll laugh.”
“I’d never laugh at you, Bushi’an Takkan.”
I said it as solemnly as I could, but my eyes were dancing and Takkan knew me.
“Liar.” As punishment, he hiked me higher in his arms. I squealed with surprise and delight as he spun me around and around, his boots sloshing into the mud.
We laughed until our stomachs hurt, the sound of our happiness harmonizing in a song that made my heart feel as full as the pale sun behind the clouds.
When at last he set me down, both of us were so dizzy we stumbled over each other. He caught me by the waist and kissed me.
It was a kiss worth waiting for—whether half a year or half a lifetime—a kiss that made my breath catch and my stomach swoop, and the frost that coated my nose and eyelashes melt with delicious warmth. I ran my fingers through his hair and pulled him close, tickling his nose with mine and watching our breaths steam into the air. I licked my lips, tasting sugar. “Cakes?”
“Chiruan made them for you,” confessed Takkan with a sheepish grin. “I tested a few to make sure they were acceptable. Do you want one?”
Cakes over flowers, I’d told him. As my heart squeezed with warmth, the tiniest buds flowered under my feet. Only a thread of magic was left inside me, but Kiata…Kiata bloomed with it. The way it felt to me was like a layer of love tucked deep inside one’s belly. Warmth, even when it was cold. Joy, even when there was sadness. The flowers under my feet blossomed and grew.
“Later,” I replied, finally answering Takkan’s question. I wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned back against him, feeling his breath stir my hair. “We only have a few minutes till sundown.”
I could have stayed in his arms all day, content with my view of the rice fields below, the Baiyun River curving down Rabbit Mountain into the grassy knolls surrounding Iro, the gray-tiled castle in the near distance. But the day was fading, the gilded earth turning silvery with young moonlight.
Not to mention, we weren’t actually alone.
