If his senses had been more attuned to anything but the body in his arms, he might have thought further about the warmth spreading on his back. He might have noticed everyone looking up in shock, or the distant sounds of chaos fading as the attention of the masses was stolen.

But the way it was, the only thing he could pay attention to was her; and the faintest movement in his arms. His attention was on her completely, and he wasn’t sure why, considering how painful hope was at this point. He stared at her, and his heart stopped when he saw her eyelids quiver, felt her hand appear over his as she opened them again.

“Jimin?” she asked, almost sleepily, and suddenly he realised that she was almost glowing in the light of the sky, covered only by his dark shadow over her. “What just…”

Jimin went slackjawed, for a second. He stood, pulling her up as he did so, and then the two of them looked around at their garden, hand in hand; sunlight illuminated the whole garden, and everyone standing within it, the warmth spreading vibrantly. He looked back at her, at the same moment as she looked at him. His face was still wet with his tears, but he didn’t want to wipe them, didn’t want to shut his eyes for longer than a blink in case she’d be gone when they opened again, in case reality would be restored and this warmth would vanish.

She glanced away from him eventually, looking towards the ground.

“Mother Soonkyu!”

He felt her hand pull out of his as she jumped off the pedestal, crouching beside her form, still empty of life.

“I’m sorry,” Jimin said, surprised he’d found his voice. He moved forwards, carefully making his way to the ground. “I didn’t mean to.”

“You killed…”

Dahyun looked up at him. Her eyes were wet too, now, and a few others surrounded Soonkyu, though in his dream-like state Jimin hardly noticed them.

“You killed both of us.”

Jimin gulped, unable to look away from her. Then, after another few seconds, he nodded.

***

“You knew this would happen, Tzuyu?”

They found themselves in the council room, Dahyun seated in Mother Soonkyu’s old seat, with Tzuyu – and a man beside her – standing against the wall.

“No,” Tzuyu said. She looked strange, nervous in a what that didn’t suit what little Dahyun knew of her. “No, I just… I found letters. Correspondence between long-dead foxes. They talked about…”

She her lips, glancing over at the man beside her for a moment.

“They talked about a plan with the Moon Bearer. It was vague. I think they were worried about someone else reading them. They’d offered her something, so she was going to help them. She was going to hide the truth of the sun daggers – the damage they can do to anyone from the Fox Clan.”

“You should tell them,” the man mumbled quietly, and Tzuyu drew in a shaky breath, looking down.

“I went after them when I learned. When I met them, they told me they could make any wish of mine come true. They didn’t exactly set out anything they wanted in return, but I… that was because I killed them before they could.”

Dahyun’s mouth hung open, and she stared at Tzuyu with wonder. How could she do that?

“How are you alive?” Jiyong breathed.

“They were weaker than I expected. I think it might have been the sun dagger, but they could hardly stand upright.”

“My power,” Dahyun said with a shaky voice, one that threatened to vanish if she pushed it too hard. “I met them. They chased me, and I – I lit up, and they collapsed. That’s how I survived my encounter.”

“Thank you,” Tzuyu said, looking straight into Dahyun. “I think that helped me. With their strength now, it’ll be a long time before they can take the sun again.”

“And why did you tell Jimin the Eclipse was fake?”

“Because that’s what the correspondence suggested. There was one last part of it, one letter, directed to Baekhyun. Baekhyun from the Eclipse. It just said… it said, ‘I’m sorry. I love you.’”

“From Taeyeon,” Jimin said quietly. “The Eclipse was an excuse for her treachery.”

Tzuyu nodded. “I knew the Sun would come back. But I didn’t expect…”

Her eyes moved to Dahyun, who shivered at the thought. She shouldn’t be alive right now. She still felt it, the power of the sun coursing through her veins. How was that possible, when it lit up the sky?

She looked over at Jimin, feeling a strange pierce in her heart when she realised he’d already been watching her. He’d killed Mother Soonkyu. Flashes appeared in her mind, of the woman’s sad smile after she found her crying over her parents’ bodies, of the woman’s hug whenever she’d visit the orphans, of the way she smiled down at Dahyun when she was granted the title of High Mother.

She looked away quickly, eyes stinging.

“I don’t think we’ve ever tried sacrificing the Sun Bearer with the power of the Moon,” Jiyong said. “I don’t imagine we ever would have.”

“Is that what did it?” Miyoung asked. Her voice sounded strangled. “We were so wrong about the Eclipse. How did we believe so easily?”

“The foxes led us astray,” Jiyong said. “They’re clever.”

“And apparently we’re not,” one of the Moon councillors said. Dahyun nodded to herself. Apparently not. They hadn’t even wondered.

She’d wondered. She remembered tearing apart the tale of the Eclipse in her mind, eventually silencing herself, remembering that she shouldn’t be asking these questions.

But she realised now. She should always ask questions. Mother Soonkyu, so caring and gentle, had become like stone when she learned about Dahyun’s feelings, because she’d never wondered. She heard the words and she believed.

Faith had been Soonkyu’s strength, but it was her downfall, too. Now they prepared her body for burning, and Dahyun sat in her seat, pain rushing through her. But she was alive.

She was alive, because Jimin had been willing to take a risk. He hadn’t meant to use his power, but his decision to approach her in the first place had been the real deciding factor.

Had Soonkyu not pulled him away, his power wouldn’t have been drawn out. They’d have killed Dahyun with the dagger, the sun would return, and Soonkyu would live.

It was Mother Soonkyu’s life for hers. It hurt – that wasn’t a choice either of them had made willingly. What should Dahyun do? How should she behave? She loved Soonkyu, but she’d been hurt by Soonkyu. Soonkyu had wanted her to focus on living, but had insisted on her death. How could Dahyun honour her?

“I’d like to see those letters, Tzuyu,” Jiyong broke the silence, standing. Tzuyu nodded, taking the wrist of the man beside her and dragging him out of the room as Jiyong followed. Everyone else in the room watched them, and others started shuffling around them, standing.

“Jimin,” said one woman, taking both his attention and Dahyun’s. “I’ll speak to Jiyong. It may be best for all parties to cancel your betrothal.”

Jimin had shock written all over his face. “Thank you, Hyomin,” he said, as the other councillors stood, slowly pouring out of the room.

Dahyun was shaken – she flinched when Miyoung patted her on the back, but smiled over, and then she looked back to find that only Jimin remained.

“Hello,” she said gently, managing a weak smile as he turned his attention to her.

“How are you?” he asked.

“I’m… I don’t know. I feel strange.”

Jimin nodded, eyes locked on hers. “Me too. I thought you were dead.”

Dahyun didn’t know what to say. They looked at each other in complete silence, and to some degree, Dahyun felt like she was communicating anyway.

“I’m not,” she finally said. Jimin smiled – joy on his face, something Dahyun absorbed, something that went straight to her heart.

“I know,” he said, the faintest laugh in his voice – a laugh of pure happiness, one that warmed up his whole face.

“I’m alive,” she repeated, really feeling it, finally, as she and Jimin smiled at one another.

***

Jimin glanced over at her, the way her eyes were covered in a dark shadow as she protected them with her arms. The rest of her was so bright, her smile showing teeth which glittered under the sun. Grass surrounded her, trying and failing to properly obscure her from him. Her other arm was reached out, hand clasping his, and he should probably be trying to look at the clouds past the bright sun too, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.

“I think one of the clouds look like a star,” she said with a feeble laugh. “Who can say for sure?”

“You really can’t see past your power?”

“My eyes are watering.”

Jimin laughed lightly, finally looking up at the sky. He could see the one she was talking about – with its strange jagged edges. He looked over at the rest of them, fuzzy masses of white against a stunning blue.

“They just looked like clouds.”

Dahyun scoffed, but she was smiling. “You’re so boring.”

“Boring, am I?” Jimin asked, looking at her so intensely that she felt it, sneaked a look at him. She looked away fast, and he could really see the red creeping up into her cheeks. “I didn’t think so.”

“You know you are,” she said anyway, edging a little closer to him. “You live and breathe boring.”

“I live and breathe you,” Jimin said, with ease he never properly felt with declarations like that. “So what does that say about you, Kim Dahyun?”

She was quiet for a moment. “You’re not allowed to do that,” she grumbled eventually, glancing over at him. Her smile was stuck on her face, like she couldn’t take it away even if she wanted to. “Sickly sweet mixed in with witty just doesn’t work.”

“Oh? So you'd like me to stop?”

Dahyun rolled her eyes. “No comment,” she said with repressed laughter in her voice.

She looked up again, sneaking glances past her arm at the sky. Jimin kept watching her, even as she gave up, pointed her head away from him and gently pulled her hand out of his.

He could feel her easiness fading as every second passed.

“Are you alright?”

“Mm,” she mumbled. “Just worried. Yugyeom and Sana still won’t talk to me.”

Jimin glanced away, too. “I spoke to Yugyeom before everyone left. He… he’s not as unhappy as he was.”

He still noticed when she turned back to him. “What did he say?”

“He asked me to take care of you.”

Dahyun withdrew slightly at those words. “I’m fine.”

“That’s what I told him,” Jimin answered with a smile. “You don’t need me.”

“I never said that,” she corrected fast. She blushed again, but they both overlooked it. She drew in a fast breath. “I hope they’ll forgive me. I know none of the terrible things came to pass, but… I was still ready for them to. I can see why they’re upset.”

Jimin reached out for her hand again. “They’ll understand. If not… we’ll all have to move past it.”

There was silence, for a moment. “Yes,” Dahyun eventually said. “I just hope we don’t need to.”

“This Temple is a big place for just two people, with no guests. I understand.”

“We can have Tzuyu over, though,” Dahyun said. “When she’s back from the honeymoon.”

Jimin snorted. “I think she was unhappy when she married Jungkook. It’s toeing the line a little too much to be in love with your spouse.”

“She’ll find a way around it,” Dahyun giggled. “She always does.”

“Now that you’re the all-powerful High Mother, maybe you can make some new rules for her to break.”

“Never call me that,” Dahyun said quickly. “I’m not even twenty yet, I am not. Anyone’s. Mother.”

Jimin could hardly hear anything over the sound of his laughter, and then Dahyun’s laughter joining him after a second. Here in the garden, centreing the cruel temple that became kinder with each day, he could hardly believe in this reality.

But for once, he believed it anyway.

He believed in all of this.

a/n- endings are so hard ;-; I'm very terrified about publishing this because it means the contest host will read and judge and I've been putting it off so long but ahh! I'll be brave! I'll keep in mind how you lovely people have stuck with me and supported and loved this fic <3 I love seeing how many new commenters popped up last chapter, it's nice to know I have more readers than I'd thought. I love you all so much, I hope this ending is worth all the love you've given me - I really have a lot of trouble with getting the right tone, the right moment, the right sense of closure, and maybe this exposition isn't good but hopefully it's enough. Sorry for misleading you in the previous chapter - I'm actually allergic to sad endings, but sometimes it's fun adding some pain and suffering >:)

Let me know if you still have questions. There's not much I can do within the narrative anymore, but I'll at least try to explain it to you in the comments :)