The sun dances across Suho's eyes and he squeezes them shut briefly before opening them, noting, with a slight shock, that he is no longer in pain.

An unfamiliar face looms above him, all long lines and thick eyebrows and luminous gold eyes framed by shining golden hair.

Suho blinks at the man above him for a while before the man finally speaks, his voice warm and rich and deep.

"Hello," he says, and Suho blinks again, trying to fit the pieces together.

"Hello," Suho finally replies, lifting a hand to his face. The skin is rough, callused and tanned, but untouched by fire. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?"

The man nods and takes Suho's hand, lifting him up to stand. The man towers over Suho, taller even than Chanyeol, his top half bare except for bands of gold on his upper arms. His lower half is wrapped in a loose robe of golden feathers that drags on the ground, and his whole body emits light and warmth. Even without an introduction, Suho knows who this man is.

"Wu Fan," he whispers, sinking to a knee. Wu Fan immediately pulls him up, a smile softening his harsh face.

"From what I have seen, I should be the one bowing to you," Wu Fan says, inclining his head. "I saw you taken by Chanyeol's templars, and I saw you tied to a stake. I saw Kyungsoo take you away and I saw Xiumin's sacrifice. I saw you walking through the desert and I saw Chanyeol take you away. You have risked much to wake me."

Suho nods, looking at his hands, remembering it all and especially the pain that wracked his body.

"Maybe you'll be offended, but I didn't do it for you, my lord. I just wanted to save Chen," Suho looks up at Wu Fan, who raises an eyebrow.

"The thunderbird?" Wu Fan asks, stepping back to sit on a flat rock.

Suho nods and sits in front of the sun, legs folded underneath him. Wu Fan's eyes rove over Suho's body, resting on the scars on Suho's left arm.

"He marked you," Wu Fan remarks, looking Suho in the eye. Suho nods, there's no point in lying.

"He did it to save my life." Suho's fingers trace the scar tissue and he holds Wu Fan's gaze.

Wu Fan nods and crosses his arms, face impassive. Suho looks back at his hands. Something about this doesn't feel right. He's never stayed this long in Wu Fan's dreams. By now he'd be waking up, leaving this strange mountain and facing Chanyeol's wrath, or maybe Lay and Chen, if they have rescued him.

"Aren't you going to send me back?" He asks Wu Fan, not looking up from his hands.

"No," comes the reply, and Suho looks up, hands twisting together.

"Why?"

Wu Fan sighs heavily and looks into Suho's eyes.

"You are dying."

Somehow, he's not surprised. No doubt he'd been burned beyond all help by Chanyeol's flames. But the news still brings a lump to his throat that he has difficulty swallowing around.

"Oh." He says, looking back at his hands, which have started to shake.

"I am sorry." Wu Fan's voice is soft and surprisingly gentle as he puts a hand on Suho's shoulder. Suho nods, blinking back tears.

"You can't…do something?" he asks quietly, looking into the sun's face desperately. Wu Fan shakes his head apologetically.

"For all my power, I can't heal you. All I can do is keep you here in my dreams to ease your passing. But…" Wu Fan pauses, frowning a little. "Once I wake, you will die. I am sorry."

Suho nods again. There's nothing he can say. He opens his mouth, searching for words, and then closes it again, pressing his lips together to stop them from trembling.

"Is Chen alright?" he finally asks.

Wu Fan nods.

"Yes. Yixing took him away safely. My brother is preparing to bring him to my resting place as we speak."

Chen is safe. Relief washes over Suho and he smiles, letting out a shaky breath.

"My family?" is his next question.

"Safe. Yixing will continue to watch over them for many more generations."

"Zitao?" Suho remembers the young nomad boy who clung to him the last time he slipped into Wu Fan's dreams.

"Ah, the boy Xiumin marked. Chanyeol has no knowledge of his existence. Xiumin hid him to the best of his ability, and the boy will live his life far from harm," Wu Fan answers.

"Xiumin…he stopped Chanyeol so I could escape. Is he dead?"

Wu Fan shakes his head.

"He almost died, but the bond he shares with Zitao kept him alive. He is very weak, but he will survive."

"And Kyungsoo?" The sylphid who watched over him despite his idiocy and saved him from Chanyeol's wrath.

"Kyungsoo is hiding, but he is keeping an eye on your family. He pretends to hate humans, but he has taken a liking to your little brother," Wu Fan chuckles lightly.

Suho manages to smile but it slips off his face. Sehun. Sunny. His mother. Chen. He'll never see them again. Without warning, tears start to slip down his cheeks and he sobs, curling up in a ball. Wu Fan seems taken aback and he pats Suho's back awkwardly, brows furrowed together.

Suho cries until he's gasping for air and hiccuping, head aching from how hard he'd been sobbing.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles, wiping his face on his shirt.

"It's alright," Wu Fan replies, seemingly unsure of how to deal with a crying human.

Suho sighs, sniffling slightly, and looks up at the sky, thin and blue above him.

"What will happen to me?" He wonders out loud.

Wu Fan moves to sit next to him, a soft glow illuminating Suho's skin from the right.

"Long ago," he begins, speaking quietly, "my brother and I came into being. For countless ages he was all I needed, and I was all he needed. And then one day, when we were chasing each other across the sky, he looked down. And he saw the humans. And from that moment I knew that I had lost a part of his heart. I was so terribly jealous, but hurting them would only make Lu Han sad, and I could never hurt my brother.

"But Lu Han kept watching them, and when, one day, he saw one die, he was devastated. We knew of death, saw the other creatures of the earth live and die, but somehow this was more tangible to my brother. He descended to the earth, left me alone in the sky, and went to see the dead human. The human's spirit clung to the body, even after death, scared and alone, and Lu Han tried to speak with it, but it didn't hear him. After a time, Lu Han said it simply floated up into the sky. He tried to follow it, tried to see where it went, but it slipped away from him and flew past the sky."

"Past the sky?" Suho whispers, looking at Wu Fan.

The sun nods.

"I have seen it happen. And each time, the spirit looks happy, or at least at peace. They do not see me, or my brother, or anything else, and sometimes it takes longer for them to leave their body, but eventually they fly past the sky. I do not know what happens after that, however, and I never will. I am, I think, still jealous of humans." Wu Fan's smile is gentle, and he puts a hand on Suho's. It's warm and calming and Suho smiles back, just a little.

"I'm still scared," he whispers, pressing his lips together.

"I will stay with you until the end," Wu Fan says, squeezing Suho's hand. "You have done much for my brother and I. It is the only way I can think of to repay my debt to you."

Suho nods and smiles thinly, looking ahead.

"I just wish I could've seen Chen one last time. I never told him I loved him. I never…" His voice breaks and he covers his mouth, fresh tears surging up and drowning him in grief. Grief for the life he'd never live, the people he'd leave behind, the things he'd left unsaid, all of this pours over him and he cries again, the sobs almost painful as the reality of his death crashed into him. For all of the powers of the mythic beings around him, none of them could cure a shattered boy burned beyond recognition.

Wu Fan wraps an arm around him and says nothing, because there is nothing to say.

"Would you like me to punish Chanyeol?" Wu Fan finally says, making Suho look up, eyes red and nose dripping slightly.

"Wh-what?" he rasps, barely recognizing his own voice.

"If you desire it, I will punish Chanyeol," Wu Fan says quietly, golden anger radiating from his skin. His voice is calm and quiet but Suho can almost feel the pure rage roiling under the surface and it scares him slightly.

Suho considers it. If he desired it. But he doesn't desire it. Maybe it's foolish, maybe it's crazy, but right now he doesn't want revenge. All he feels is the creeping numbness he has come to associate with death. Still, Chanyeol can't be allowed to do this again.

"I don't think Chanyeol deserves to be the phoenix anymore," he sighs out, leaning his head on Wu Fan's shoulder and soaking in the warmth of the sun. "He hurts everyone in his path."

Wu Fan hums quietly, seeming to soak this in.

"A fitting punishment, I think," Wu Fan murmurs.

A song floats through the thin air and Suho sits up straight, straining to catch every note.

Chen.

"Wu Fan. Would you do something for me?" he asks as he stands, not taking his eyes from the dark clouds that creep up the sides of the mountain and surround the summit as the song continues.

"Of course," Wu Fan says, standing up as well, his radiance undimmed by the shadows cast by the heavy clouds.

Suho smiles faintly as the rain starts, soft, gentle rain that feels like Chen's lips on his face. His memories of Chen flash before his eyes. Their first meeting, Chen's song, silver eyes curved into crescents, a cat-like smile, jet-black hair, the scent of rain and feathers and the tang of metal, their first kiss, the warmth of Chen's skin, the bell-like sound of his laughter and his fearless proclamation that brought a lump to Suho's throat and made his heart feel like it was healing and breaking at the same time.

I love Suho.

He closes his eyes, cherishing each raindrop on his skin and wishing with all his strength that he might be able to see Chen again. 

"Tell Chen I love him," he finally says, voice steady despite the roiling emotions in his chest. No point in wishing for the impossible.

He doesn't hear Wu Fan's answer, because at that moment lightning crackles through the clouds and thunders rumbles in his ears and the rain pours down on him and the sun. His lips tremble as he feels the dream around him start to fall apart. Darkness slips into the corners of his vision and he turns to Wu Fan, who holds his hand and nods, even as Suho starts to feel himself falling deeper and deeper into a terrifying blankness.

"I'm scared," he whispers again, as tears slip down his cheeks.

Wu Fan kisses his forehead, but Suho barely feels it, barely feels anything, can't even see the blinding glow of the sun.

"I swear you will not be forgotten," Wu Fan says, and Suho can only just make out the words before the dream shatters around him and he's tumbling down, blind, deaf, and unable to feel.

For a brief, shining moment, he thinks he sees Chen. But then everything goes dark.

------

A/N: I'm really weird about updating I just finished this and I can't really hang onto it I get antsy and well here you go I'm sorry for being so strange. Definitely a hard chapter for me to write, I started crying a little. I'm sorry.