Yixing blinked slowly, still with that small smile on his face even as his eyes began to get glassy.

“You stupid man!”

Rocana screamed as she pulled her dagger swiftly from Yixing with a sickening wet sound and Yixing swayed before falling forward, his breaths came out in a gasp.

Iola reached out her arms to catch him and bit back a scream as the additional weight put more pressure on her battered bones. Yixing continued to slid from her grip, his weight pulling her down with him until they tumbled haphazardly to the ground.

“Die, Chosen Soul!”

Iola looked up to see the blade swooping downward and instinctively laid an arm protectively around Yixing.

Again, nothing came. A loud thunk was heard before Rocana fell down unconscious besides them, a rock as large as a coconut just next to her head.

Luhan stood over them, hand still poised in midair and face thunderous. “Nobody. Hurt. My friends.”

Rocana’s limp body floated up, before Luhan flung her around none too gently to where the other Guardians had rounded up the other women.

Iola blinked the salty tears from her eyes, a mixture of pain and relief trailing down her cheeks. She was still partially crushed underneath Yixing, his blood spreading rapidly to the ground as his breath stuttered, but at least for now it was over.

Suddenly the crushing weight was gone as Luhan and Jongin carefully pulled Yixing off her. Tao quickly kneeled besides her, eyes widening in horror as he look her over and gingerly cradled her broken left hand.

“Iola…by the Sacred Tree, what did they do to you?”

Iola spared a glance towards her mangled limbs, all red and broken, the skin almost cleanly torn off. The back of her head ached with a throbbing dull as a wet, sticky substance dripping down her forehead, her chest hurt and ached with every breath she took and her entire backside felt as if a herd of elephants had trampled over it. She would’ve like nothing better than to slip into the darkness that had been calling her, promising a momentary reprieve from all the pain, but the shouts of the other Guardians jolted her awake.

“Yixing!”

“Cover his wound! Stop the bleeding!”

“It doesn’t work! Give me your shirt!”

“Press harder!”

Iola glanced to the side to where some of the Guardians had gathered around Yixing, looking panicked and desperate. She waved off Tao’s hand and crawled over to where Luhan had Yixing’s head on his lap. Jongin was shirtless, his tunic pressed over Yixing’s wound, but the blood kept flowing out, wetting the fabric thoroughly in an alarming rate.

“Yixing?”

Her voice sounded muted in her own ears, like she was underwater, and all she could hear was Yixing panting ragged breaths.

Yixing opened his eyes, gaze a little hazy before focusing on her and his face moved to pull a smile but it only served to make him cough up blood.

“Are you….alright?”

A smile stretched its way painfully across his face when Iola nodded, and it almost physically hurt her to see him like that. His tongue peeked out as he smile and Iola could see that it was crimson red in his mouth, the delicate edges of his gums rimmed with blood, like too much paint seeping through small cracks in the wood. His clothes were already drenched in blood, no matter how much pressure Jongin tried to cover the wound.

Iola unconsciously skittered the pads of her fingers across the wound, quickly recoiling back when Yixing hissed in pain, and her eyes were torn from his mangled torso up to his face.

“Why…why isn’t the blood stopping? You can heal it, right?”

Yixing’s chest stuttered when it expands with every painful breath, eyes closing shut as he shook his head weakly.

Iola’s heart thumped with fear and panic began to claw its way around her ribcage.

“You’re the Guardian of Healing, dammit! Heal yourself!”

Yixing opened his eyes again, only to smile that small smile again and Iola wanted to punch his face. “…I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t? Dammit Yixing!”

Iola almost fall forward in her agitation, if not for Sehun’s trembling arms pulling her back though he quickly released her when she yelped in pain as he pressed on her bruised back.

“He…he can’t, Iola.” Sehun sounded like he was on the verge of tears. “He doesn’t have enough energy to do that.”

Iola struggled in his grasp, turning around to the other Guardians. “Then get other healers!”

Joonmyun looked on desperately, his finger clenched and unclenched his tunic in distress. “There’s no other healer in the whole kingdom that is as good as Yixing.”

Iola wanted to scream and cry and pound her fists to the ground. But a choked, wet gasp coming from Yixing turned her around, scrambling blindly to get to him. Her broken ankle twisted some more as she swayed forward and she bit her lip hard to keep the scream in . With every baby steps she crawled the harder it was for her to breathe. Her head was spinning and everything felt weighed down, like she was staggering in a quicksand. Yet somehow she managed to crawl besides Luhan again, eyes roving over Yixing’s limp form.

His eyes were closed and he looked deathly pale, his breathing shallow and short and the intervals between each breath were getting longer and longer. Luhan gingerly moved his head to Iola’s lap and Yixing grimaced as the move jostled him but his eyes remained closed.

She raised a trembling hand to cup Yixing’s cheek, hating the wet, cold feel of it in her palm.  Everything else melted away and it was only Yixing’s short breaths she could hear, Yixing’s clammy skin she could feel, only Yixing that she saw.

Yixing, when she first saw him, kind gaze and a small, dimpled smile playing on his lips. Yixing’s chest, so warm and calming where she cried and let go of everything that scared her. Yixing’s eyes that held that mischievous twinkle in them whenever he . Yixing’s calloused yet comforting hands when he rubbed her back in comfort. Yixing’s laughter as he watched her played around with his brothers. Yixing’s soft smile and gentle eyes when they were having their ‘date’ by the river. Yixing’s intense gaze and warm touch as they danced at the celebration.

Yixing. Yixing. Yixing.

Everything was Yixing.

She bent down, pressing her forehead to Yixing’s, ignoring how his shallow breaths seemed to slowed even more.

“I will not let you go,” she whispered in his ear.

Warmth began to bloom in her chest, spreading rapidly through her veins until she can feel it from the tip of her toes to the last strand of her hair. The hum in her mind buzzed loudly, cutting her off from any other sounds and she closed her eyes.

The barrier in her mind still stood strong, but something told her she needs to let it down. Slowly, gingerly, she lowered the shield until she was almost fully immersed in the ocean of tangling threads surrounding her mind.

It was strange, this sensation. She felt as if she wasn’t part of her body anymore and yet, she still was and so much more. She can feel every single thing around her, every small and big existence, every atom and structure of it. It was as if her very essence had melded and fused with everything else and she couldn’t tell where she ended and everything else began.

The feeling was heavy and weighing down her soul, but she bit the inside of her cheek and continued to wade through the ocean of threads.

Before long she’d found the one she was searching for; small and fading and the edges thinning out, its glow faint underneath the shroud of darkness surrounding it. She grasped the small bit of it that lingered under the darkness and wrapped her own around it, buffering it from the encroaching rot.

“I will not let you go,” she whispered again fiercely as she held her right hand on top of Yixing’s gaping wound.

Pain tore through her head and chest immediately and for a moment, the world seemed to fade in and out, loud, deafening sound rushing through her ears like she was standing under a waterfall. She had to fight against her stomach heaving and her hand pressed down on Yixing as she struggled to move past the pain.

When the moment passed she gasped and panted for air, sweats pouring in buckets down her body and black spots danced on her vision. But all of that was forgotten when the head she had cradled so protectively moved slightly.

“…..Yixing?”

Yixing moaned and turned his head before slowly opening his eyes, blinking groggily against the sun.

“Yixing?” she called again.

Yixing blinked some more, before looking up to her. “…Iola.”

The Guardians gasped and cheered, some have tears in their eyes. But Iola was blinded from it all as her focus remained on the man on her lap. She raised a hand to touch his cheek, noting that it was slightly warmer than before, the color slowly staining the once pale skin.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m…fine, I think. Just a bit dizzy.” He slowly raised his right hand, moving it over his chest and his eyes widened. “My wound…it’s gone!”

Iola sighed in relief, releasing the breath she hadn’t even realized been holding all this time. “That’s good, then.”

Yixing raised himself up slowly, Jongin’s arm around him to steady him. His eyes were confused as he patted his chest gingerly.

“I…I don’t get it. I was wounded, and…and I thought I wasn’t going to make it. But…how?” Suddenly he turned around to face her, realization dawning on his face. “Iola….did you….did you do this?”

She smiled grimly, the task of just keeping her eyes open seemed like a humongous effort. “I’m glad….you’re alright...now.”

Her clothes were damp with sweat and she felt as if her bones were melted from exhaustion. She hadn’t even realized that she had slumped forward before a pair of arms caught her fall.

“Iola!” Yixing’s eyes were wide and worried, full of concern.

She swatted his hands away weakly, struggling to raise herself up. “I’m fine. Let me go.”

“Please Iola, you’re not fine,” Yixing insisted, his grip on her arms tightening. “You’ve lost a lot of blood. Let me help you to your room.”

With a last burst of strength she pushed him away, gritting her teeth as she finally managed to haul up, leaning herself to the side in favor of her broken ankle. The movement pulled the cut on her shoulder tighter though, and Iola felt the skin ripping open a little more. The fresh stinging cleared her head and she focuses more on glaring at the man in front of her than on how her whole body ached and shaking from the pain.

“Nothing has changed, Yixing. You saved me before, so I saved you and now we’re even. But nothing has changed.”

She was panting hard as she glared at the Guardians. “At the end of it all I am still going to die for your world,” she spat the words out, acidic and bitter and burning in .

There was a sliver of guilt stabbing her when she saw the hurt on their faces, the tears swimming in Tao’s eyes, the immense pain she saw in Yixing’s.

She paused to take a breather and a sob almost poured out of when the simple act seemed to hurt her inside, pain pressing from every corner. Darkness threatened around the edge of her vision, coaxing her to follow. She was so weak and drained and wanted nothing more than to curl on the ground and sleep the pain away.

So she stopped fighting and let the darkness drag her under.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yixing couldn’t believe the amount of injuries that Iola had sustained.

Besides having a broken wrist and ankle, she also have a stab wound on her right shoulder and a deep gash on the back of her head, not to mention the bruises on her back. By all right she should’ve fainted a long time ago.

He cradled her head carefully, letting the healing light from his palm diffused into her skin and closing the wound. As he healed her shoulder next, he noticed with dismay that the previously snow white sheets he’d laid her on had already stained a horrible shade of crimson red, even with the short time he took in healing her.

Iola flinched unconsciously when he touched her broken limbs and Yixing tried to shush her softly as he set her bones in place. Once that was done he gingerly turned her body to the side, immediately gritting his teeth in anger at the sight of her torn back. Iola whimpered again, eyes rolling furtively beneath her closed lids. The small, pained sounds she kept making sent a tight clench around his heart.

A pair of hands