---

Some months later, just before they're about to head out for a morning walk, Luhan and Minseok receive a letter from a courier. After thanking said courier, the person nods before jogging away, and the two of them head back inside Luhan's home to read the letter.

Instead of the usual red wax seal from typical letters, this one's of a pretty blue, like the color of a fresh body of water. And the first being that Luhan associates with water is Junmyeon, the benevolent inn-owner in Riverwood.

"This must be a call to arms!" Minseok exclaims excitedly, his eyes twinkling as he unfolds the letter.

Luhan lets out a chuckle at his partner's enthusiasm and peers over his shoulder to read the letter with Minseok. A few seconds later, he finishes reading it with raised eyebrows, and Minseok finishes reading a short moment later and looks at him with a matching expression before he cheers.

Because instead of a call to arms, the letter's actually an invitation for the two of them specifically. That one famous being named Moon man will be performing at Junmyeon's inn in a few days' time and if Luhan read the rest of the letter correctly, their other companions have/will also be invited by letter too.

With a grin, Luhan grabs for Minseok's hands and bounces up and down with him excitedly.

-------

Around that same time, another courier has just handed an invitation letter to Kyungsoo and Jongin as well. Both of them are on their way back home from their village's market with baskets full of fresh vegetables and meats and now with a letter in Kyungsoo's hands as they walk. Jongin had ended up offering to hold his baskets so that he could read the letter aloud, and thankfully no one besides the two of them are nearby as they head into the small forest that leads to their home.

They've walked this path so many times that he could probably walk with his eyes closed and not miss a step or trip on anything. And so, as Kyungsoo reads the letter and gets to the formal invitation part, he looks at his husband and vice-versa with wider eyes.

They then reach their home and Kyungsoo unlocks the door before taking a basket from Jongin to ease the load a bit as they both head inside. And once they've put their food away and read the letter again, Kyungsoo ends up crying happily at the thought of seeing their other companions again while Jongin hugs him tight and sways their bodies side to side.

-------

The very next day, Baekhyun and Yixing are heading out of their inn on their way to Junmyeon's inn. They too have received a letter inviting them to see Moon man perform, and Baekhyun's been excited about the prospect ever since. Yixing doesn't mind the thought himself but he feels even more excited at the thought of seeing their other friends again. Or well, possibly.

Because after parting ways at Blackreach, he and Baekhyun haven't spoken to their other friends much besides Junmyeon and Jongdae (since Riverwood's so close to Windsur and all). And for the past few months, he and Baekhyun have been fairly busy installing some upgrades/doing some remodeling to their inn.

By their current rate, their inn should be the one of their dreams in just a few more months' time. And maybe their inn could become a meeting location for their friends just like kind, old Igrelbar's home is down in El Dorado...

Yixing's mind then continues to wander from El Dorado to his and Baekhyun's eternal flower remnants to the full moon that should come on the date of Moon man's performance as he and Baekhyun ride their horses to Riverwood in a comfortable silence.

---

Several minutes later, they finally arrive to Riverwood and specifically Junmyeon's inn. After getting off of their horses and bringing them over to the stables near the inn, the two of them then walk hand-in-hand towards said inn with nervous anticipation.

They'd already talked about it on the way here that since they and the others apparently got invited, the two of them probably got invited last since they live the closest to Riverwood. And so, judging by that theory, their other friends may have already arrived.

And as Baekhyun opens the inn's entrance doors and they walk in, the two of them are delighted to see that their theory was definitely right.

"Baekhyun! Yixing!" a deep voice that has to belong to Chanyeol calls as they enter.

They both look to the right to see him before they both grin as they see not only Chanyeol (whose hair is bright red now) sitting at the tables but also Yifan, Kyungsoo, Jongin (who's asleep), Luhan, and Minseok. Jongdae's near them too, playing a jovial song on his harp while Junmyeon's currently talking to another patron of his.

Baekhyun then lets go of Yixing's hand as he rushes over to the others and cries as he hugs them, and Yixing follows right behind before he first gets hugged tightly by a somehow buffer Minseok.

"Sunbeams, have you been lifting logs every day since I've last seen you?" Yixing asks with a laugh once they both pull away from the hug.

Minseok chuckles and shakes his head no. "Nah, the most exercise I've done really is jogged with Lu in the early mornings."

"Ha, sure~" Baekhyun interrupts with a grin as he places an arm around Yixing's shoulders. "Only joggin' with him--okay."

He then wiggles his eyebrows teasingly and a few of them chuckle while Minseok and Luhan both blush.

"Pfft, anyways what about you two, huh?" Minseok then asks, trying to change the subject.

"Ha, you see how that wasn't a no?" Chanyeol says to Baekhyun and Yixing while teasingly lifting his eyebrows.

And so, Chanyeol and Baekhyun end up teasing Minseok and Luhan some more while Yixing moves to properly sit down between Yifan and Kyungsoo.

"Hey," Yifan greets with a half-smile.

Yixing smiles back. "Hey. Your hair's gotten longer."

"Ha, that is has."

Meanwhile Kyungsoo looks fairly the same though Yixing also gets a strong sense of what can only really be described as serenity coming from the other's demeanor. Gone is the always stressed Kyungsoo who'd have to remind them constantly of their main quest, and in that old Kyungsoo's place is this more relaxed man. Kyungsoo greets Yixing with a confused eyebrow lift while Jongin's head rests on his left shoulder--the latter fast asleep amidst the others' chatter.

"Uhh, you feeling okay, Yixing?" Kyungsoo asks while pushing up his glasses a bit.

And that's when Yixing realizes that he's just been staring at his friend. So, Yixing nods his head with a smile and says, "Yeah, uh I take it things turned out well for you two?"

Kyungsoo then looks downward at that as he seems to recall a past memory and he gives a wistful smile as he looks back up and nods. Obviously there's more to that non-verbal confirmation than he's letting on, but for now Yixing decides not to pry. So instead, he ends up watching their other friends as Chanyeol goes into a dramatic retelling of the time that he and Yifan fought a giant and won.

---

A bit later into the retelling, as Yixing and the others express shock over Chanyeol having apparently died three times while fighting that giant (hence his red hair now), Jongin wakes up with a start and bear hugs and such are soon had again as Baekhyun and Yixing hug their group's (second) youngest. After their hugs, Baekhyun, Yixing, and Jongin chat for a bit about how they've been, and Junmyeon suddenly moves from the patron that he was talking to and heads out of the room.

Jongin pauses his talking to watch him go with a confused pout before Kyungsoo turns to him and asks him what's wrong. Then, the two of them end up whispering to each other before Junmyeon comes back into the room and hurriedly moves to sit back down (at their table now). And with how long he's known Junmyeon, Yixing doesn't even need Jongin's dryad-sense to notice that Junmyeon's acting fairly suspicious right now.

The others seem to catch on too and Chanyeol stops his retelling to ask Junmyeon what's wrong. Yixing and the others then look at Junmyeon, whose eyes widen like he's been caught doing something bad, as he replies, What d'ya mean?

"Jun, you're literally pickin' at your scales right now. And you only do that when you're trying to hide something," Chanyeol responds first as he crosses his arms over his chest. "So, what're you hiding?"

Junmyeon's eyes shift as he looks at them all. "Well, I um aha--"

"Man, it seems like the jig is up, huh, Taozi?"

Instantly, Yixing's eyes widen at that very familiar voice and he and the others whip their heads to the entrance of the guest rooms' hall where Sehun and Zitao are now standing at!

All of them (well, besides Junmyeon and Jongdae) jump up from their seats or lean forward in shock at the sight of the two of them.

"Oh my sun!"

"Holy ?!"

"You two--you two were here the whole in' time?!"

Sehun chuckles at their exclamations and walks over to them with Zitao's hand in tow, the latter already tearing up as he opens an arm wide to hug a now teary-eyed Kyungsoo.

"Man, I should in' punch you!" Chanyeol says before grabbing Sehun and placing him in a loose headlock. Sehun sputters at the move and taps his arm to get him to let go before Chanyeol grins and lets go to ruffle his hair.

When everyone's done hugging and smiling as they reconnect with Sehun and Zitao, they all find themselves sitting back down to properly chat some more.

"So, what'd we miss?" Sehun then asks, after he and Zitao tell the others about what they've been doing since they'd parted ways.

"A lot," Yifan replies first with a chuckle.

And luckily for them, they all have a lot of time to catch up on everything that they've missed.

-------

Some time later, just as Kyungsoo and Jongin are in the middle of telling them all about how their village is doing, Luhan turns as he hears the inn's entrance doors get pushed open and his eyes widen a bit while the others turn their heads too and everyone's chatter quiets.

This newcomer's practically shining as they saunter into the room and then glance about as they search for someone. And Luhan takes quick notice of their look; from their deeply-tan skin, square jaw, and fairly muscular build, to their regular common clothes that are accentuated with silver from the belt around their waist to the cuffs, pockets, and lapels of their coat.

Everything about this person just screams dazzling, and judging by the way that even Jongdae's stopped his harp playing to gape at the person, their dazzling look must be having the same effect on not just Luhan.

Luhan then turns to glance at Minseok whose lips are parted in awe too before the dazzling person suddenly spots the ten of them (Junmyeon had left a few minutes ago to feed his mudcrabs) and walks towards them.

"Who is that?" Baekhyun whispers at Luhan's right.

"I dunno but I can't look away," Yixing whispers back.

Then as the person finally reaches their long table, they smile a bit and ask them if they know where Junmyeon went. And Luhan feels like he got blinded by that small smile because it's like he's frozen in place right now. And judging by everyone else's lack of a response, it seems to be the same for them.

Well, everyone except Zitao who shoots up from his seat and simultaneously slaps his palms down on their table--causing the person to flinch and effectively breaking them all out of the spell that they were just under.

"What do you think you're doing to my friends?" Zitao asks, eyes narrowed.

The person quickly puts their hands up to show that they mean no harm, and they start speaking in a surprisingly gentle voice. "Woah woah, I wasn't doing that on purpose,