They tried every trick under the sun, yet none landed, none matched Breeze’s idea of a memory warm as spring light.

Xiang Xiaoyan drew her very first sword, a gift from her master, bright as a moonbeam on steel.

Maria produced the first visual novel she ever played, inked like twilight on a screen.

Zaocun offered her favorite little dried fish, salty as a sea breeze.

Lingwei held up the certificate from her first programming award, crisp as new snow.

The Blood Dancer unfolded a red robe, stained like sunset after rain.

Gong Linxun revealed a treasured hard drive, heavy as a stone from a riverbed. (He got chewed out hard afterward, thunderstorm fierce.)

Officer Chen showed a photo from a trip with colleagues, bright as lanterns by a lake.

Lia placed a white hairclip on her palm, simple as a pebble in a stream.

Yue Liuyi lifted a silver pistol gifted by the House of Horrors, cold as winter starlight.

Yedie Snow took out… Yue Liuyi, like pulling a rabbit from a snowdrift.

Wait… something weird slipped in, like a stray leaf in a tea cup!

“LittleSnow, why are you holding me up?” Her voice shook like grass in a gust.

Yue Liuyi flailed, but it was no use; Dixue, strength-blessed, cradled her close, princess carry bright as a sunrise, lifted her before Breeze like a lantern.

“Eh? My favorite, my most precious, is Little Yue,” Dixue said, soft as falling petals.

“You can’t just pick someone up! How could I be a precious memory!” Yue spluttered, blush rising like dawn.

“Dixue-sis is sneaky! I want to hug Sister Yue too!” Zaocun bounced in, eager as a sparrow.

In the greenhouse-warm room, Zaocun scooted closer, eyes shining like dew.

“Zaocun, be good. The grown-ups are studying how to make a cherished memory,” Dixue coaxed, voice gentle as mist. “If you don’t hug Little Yue, I’ll feed you dried fish.”

“You can’t trick me,” Zaocun huffed, stubborn as a hill. “Fish is gone once eaten, but Sister Yue can be hugged forever. Not the same scale, like stars versus candles!”

“Then how about dried fish every day?” Dixue teased, sweet as ripe pears. “Polaris specialty—fresh as glacier water.”

“Every day? Then—” Zaocun’s eyes flashed like fireflies, thinking hard as mountain stone.

“Still… Sister Yue is a bit more precious,” she concluded, earnest as a brook. “She talks. She blushes. Dried fish is tasty, sure, but not as fun as a living, laughing moon.”

“You two! Stop using people as bargaining chips!” Yue cried, flustered as a nesting robin. “I’m not a cuddle pillow!”

Her protest was a spark; a soft green glow lifted on Breeze’s body, like spring grass waking.

The phosphorescence drifted through the room like warm wind, and Breeze’s pallor eased like clouds parting. If she’d been a shattered porcelain doll before, now a thread of life breathed through, willow-green.

The glow lasted only a heartbeat, fluttering away like a moth’s wing.

“Ah! A cherished memory showed up!” voices rose, bright as bells.

“What? No way!” Yue Liuyi stared at Breeze, color returning like dawn. She couldn’t accept that she herself was a key, a jewel-shaped memory.

(Got it… a cherished memory… but… not enough…) Breeze’s thought flickered like fire through leaves.

“Little Yue, did Breeze say something?” Dixue asked, eyes calm as lakes.

“No! No!” Yue stammered, nerves jangling like rain on tin.

“Little Yue is lying,” Dixue said, mock-serious, gaze green as jade, cutting like wind. “I can tell when you lie.”

“Uu… Breeze did speak,” Yue admitted, cheeks hot as embers. “She said… she received a cherished memory.”

“That’s it! From now on, we can tease Little Yue fair and square,” Dixue declared, playful as cats in sun.

“So, if we tease Sister Yue, everyone on the Sky Voyager will return to normal?” Zaocun asked, hope bright as lanterns.

“Mm, that’s likely,” Dixue nodded, steady as a tree.

“Help! Improper advances on a maiden!” Yue yelped, bolting like a startled hare, but her strength was a reed against two lively streams; they hugged her headlong.

“First, try patting Little Yue’s head,” Dixue said, hand gentle as snow.

“Light! But tiny, like a star,” Zaocun chirped, eyes glittering.

“Next, softly knead her chest,” Dixue whispered, mischievous as fox-fire.

“Light! Bigger, like a rising moon!” Zaocun squealed, amazed.

“Lastly, try taking off—” Dixue began, sly as a night breeze.

“Light—” Zaocun blinked, curious as owlets.

“Do not take off her panties!” Yue shrieked, red as maple leaves.

In the end, Yue Liuyi saw it clear as lakewater: whenever Dixue or Zaocun did anything affectionate to her, green light flickered around Breeze like fireflies, and her weary look eased a shade, soft as twilight.

While Dixue tried every silly scheme with Little Yue like a painter testing blues, Breeze stayed silent, gaze fixed on Yue Liuyi, unwavering as a lighthouse beam.

“How can it be like this?” Yue huffed, heart tangled like ivy. “Breeze, your Sister Yue is getting bullied; why would that heal you?”

(Only love… selfless love… the purest river… Sister Yue and Sister Dixue are…) Breeze’s breath hummed, low as bees, rising like a song curling through bamboo.

“Little Yue, Breeze is chanting magic,” Dixue said, voice calm as rain. “She still needs you to make the cherished memory.”

“This can’t be right!” Yue protested, mind stormy as monsoon. “Teasing me as the cherished memory is too weird!”

She felt the condition was strange as a dream. She was an “ordinary” “boy,” a reed bending in the wind—how could saving the world hinge on teasing her?

(Maybe it’s not me getting teased… maybe I should tease Dixue and Zaocun,) Yue thought, grin sly as a crescent moon.

“No! There must be another way!” she declared, fire back in her eyes. “I’ll strike back. LittleSnow, Zaocun—accept Lady Yue Liuyi’s judgment, thunder as witness!”

“Mm-mm! Zaocun likes Sister Yue, so she’ll listen,” Zaocun chirped, faithful as a hound.

“The cuddle pillow rebels,” Dixue laughed, lily-sweet. “But Little Yue, you’re so weak—how’ll you tease a lady like me?”

“I have a secret move,” Yue said, grin coiled like a spring.

She was a boy, but she knew a trick that worked on anyone, a feather-touch that toppled giants, playful as wind in grass.

“Tickle attack!” She lunged, fingers quick as minnows.

“Hahaha—so sly!” Dixue laughed, ringing like silver bells. “Then I’ll tickle too!”

“Me too—hey, don’t tickle my cat ears!” Zaocun yelped, flustered as chicks. “That’s too weird!”

So the girls tangled into a heap, a tumble of laughter like petals in a whirlwind.

Joy filled the room like sunlight, and Breeze, bathed in happiness, began to grow, seed sprouting green.

The floor shuddered, an earthquake rumbling distant as thunder, even aboard the Skyship, omen rising like a storm line.

The three girls looked up, breath held like birds at dawn.

Before them, green radiance unfurled around Breeze, layers like leaves opening, and her shoulder-length hair spilled to her waist, river-green.

The murmur on her lips sharpened, clear as a mountain spring, power swelling like the sea.

“This is…” Yue Liuyi whispered, holding Dixue close, hearts pressed like two warm stones, listening to a song rising from the well of the heart.

We’ve walked so far—this road stretches on

Where does it lead? The horizon still misty as rain

We painted futures in dreams—those pictures have faded

But the gears called reality have begun to turn, iron-bold

Ten years from now

A hundred years from now

This world changes, like seasons circling

Even if we vanish like smoke in wind

What we long to protect still remains, steadfast as rock

Endless hatred repeats, foolish strife churns

Let it fade, let it thin, like fog in sunlight

May this country fill with love,

Fields and cities blooming like spring orchards

Friend after friend drifts away

How many repeats till sorrow feels familiar, like winter’s chill?

The sky hangs lower than yesterday,

But that irreplaceable smile—please never disappear, star-bright

One more step, a few more steps—look

Ahead, where meetings wait like crossings of rivers

If it’s fate waiting there,

I won’t end here, not with dusk at my back

Ten years from now

A hundred years from now

This world changes, like tides coming and going

Even if we’re gone as shadows, as echoes

Unchanging longing still remains, a constant north star

No turning back, no looking over the shoulder

This road, this future, lined like a path of willows

Her voice was airy as frost and soothing as hearth-fire; no more words were needed, silence warm as wool.

In a haze, Yue Liuyi saw childhood friends’ smiles, bright as kites against blue, those never-returning memories like leaves pressed in a book.

But everyone keeps walking, step by step like waves,

Chasing their own dreams, nothing shameful, sky-wide.

As long as—

“Little Yue…” The whisper touched her cheek like a familiar sun.

The girls nestled together, close as sparrows, marking this day in their hearts like carving on birch.

Here, in ruins that slept for centuries,

Love rekindled life’s flame, bright as a bonfire on snow.

As long as there is love—

it’s enough, like rain for roots.

“Thank you, sisters… I finally… understand…” Breeze parted her lips and spoke her first words everyone could hear, clear as wind through pines.