Across a plain glazed with white blossoms, a tiny girl zipped between blooms like a dragonfly skimming snow. In the distance, a poised older-sister figure stood, her gaze soft with spring sunlight.

Smack.

While dancing among the flowers, Ling accidentally performed the legendary "left foot on right foot" move only fools attempt. Her center of gravity vanished, and she pitched forward. If she were an ordinary little girl, she'd eat dirt, then dive into big-sis's arms to cry for comfort. But Ling wasn't that kind of airheaded cutie. She was a genius.

So Ling flicked the ground with a secret toe-tap, adding momentum to her fall. Then she feigned being carried by inertia, and tumbled because she "had to". She rolled three, four times, skidding a few meters like a dandelion puff in wind. She tucked into a clean breakfall, popped up, and turned toward Aer with a victorious smile. Inside, she counted down—

Three, two, one!

She launched herself at Aer, tears glimmering at her lashes like dew. A—er— T﹏T

But Aer didn't catch her like Ling had planned. With an impossible reverse twist of the wrist, she hooked the back of Ling's neck. Ling dangled like a kitten scruffed by its mother.

"Who taught you this useless trick?"

The question in her ear tightened Ling's chest like a knot. She couldn't admit she'd swiped Aer’s book. There was a story in it about a little girl tripping and being cuddled by a cool big sister. If she confessed, that woman would roast her for weeks.

Her brain redlined, then slammed into clarity in under a second. "I... I taught myself! You know I'm a genius!"

Could that fool Aer? No.

"Heh... is that so? Then go play over there, genius."

She dropped Ling, turned her back, and walked away without a ripple. Ling blinked, dazed. No scolding? Maybe I really am a genius; even my lies land clean. She was so hyped about being a genius she missed what Aer had meant. She turned to call out again. But when she looked back, Aer was already far, a dark stroke on the white plain.

Out of nowhere, a weight dropped through Ling's chest. Abandonment flooded in like black water. It hurt to breathe; her body went cold and heavy, like stone sinking into the sea. She hated it, the way you hate the reek of a rotting fish. To claw free, she lunged and grabbed Aer’s hand.

Their fingers met, and a force peeled them apart. Aer’s voice came cold as shade. "Let go. I hate the feeling of being lied to."

Crack...

Something broke. Ling knew it was her heart. 'Aer... doesn't want me anymore...' The thought hit, and the suffocation surged. Feeling vanished; only hurt and breathless panic stayed.

Her reaching hand fell limp. Her knees slammed into earth. Tears spilled unchecked down her cheeks. Not like the fake ones; these were real. They tasted salty. They tasted bitter.

The sudden silence behind her snagged Aer’s attention. She had meant to teach Ling to stop lying, nothing more. But the quiet made her turn. She saw a little girl on her knees, pupils dull, tears streaming like rain. The sight hit like a blow.

Scolding evaporated. This wasn't normal. Not in this world, not in any other worldline she remembered. Aer spread her arms and drew Ling in. She patted Ling's back, clumsy as a first-time mother. Panic stood plain across her face.

"Don't... don't cry. I'm still yours. I won't throw you away."

The words hit like a life jacket thrown to a drowning child. Ling clawed back from the deep. Piece by piece, control returned to her body.

"Really...?" "Really, really, really. Never again." "Aer... I know I was wrong. You really won't abandon me?" She believed her, but she needed the fact nailed down. She feared that sinking, sea-floor state.

"Mm... I won't. This time Sister Aer was wrong. I went too far. I won't do that again."

The promise clicked, and Ling's mind reset to clear skies. That feeling vanished to nothing. Or so it seemed. It curled into a corner instead, small as a seed, waiting its next storm.

"Okay... I trust Sister Aer won't lie to me..."

Clarity came with a flood of weariness. She felt like she'd lapped the equator at lightspeed. "Sister Aer... I'm so sleepy. I'm gonna... nap..."

Before Aer could answer, Ling sagged and slept against her. Soft snores rose from Aer’s arms like ripples on a pond. She let out a breath to the sky, long as a cloud. Loss dimmed her eyes.

"So it still came? I promised to make her happy before sleep, and I still messed up..."

She gathered the little one and headed home with steps smooth as silk. Wind lifted white petals from the path, and a pale fragrance wound around her like mist. "What a fool..." The wind carried the line away. It was hard to tell who she meant.