In the dark, Alicia curled like a leaf under frost, eyes shut, trying to digest what just happened. As she reached for the memory, she felt it fracture.
Her mind couldn’t recall; the memory had a fault line, a cliff edge she couldn’t cross. She only remembered the nauseating lurch of passing through something, but… what was it?
There was something else… a voice like wind through pines, warning she shouldn’t be here.
It hurts!
Pain speared her skull like lightning, and the cool well in her chest rushed a chill upward. But this time the chill failed, a snowfall melting on a furnace.
It kept flooding her brain with coolness, yet the ache wouldn’t ease; it grew, minute by minute.
It hurts so much!!!
The nameless pain drowned everything, a black tide; even yanking her hair felt like nothing.
Ling…
Her mind was blank, yet it pushed Ling’s name out, a seed cracking its shell. This empty space shouldn’t answer, but Ling’s voice arrived after a breath, like a lantern in fog.
“It’s your fault—why call my name in your sleep? You scared me. I almost embarrassed myself.”
Her gentle complaint broke into the space, softer than snow, stronger than the chest’s coolness. The pain hushed under her voice, a wildfire soothed by rain, and slowly drifted away.
Ling is calling me…
She reached into nothing, fingers closing as if to catch a falling petal.
Ling is calling to me…
Her wrist turned; a crisp click, like a door handle easing open—clack.
The ache scattered like mist at sunrise; feeling returned, and her limbs obeyed. The coolness in her chest kept washing her spirit, a quiet river under ice.
Ling…
“Mm? Sis is awake?”
A soft palm held her hand; Ling’s little fingers tried to wrap it, silk on skin. She pried her eyelids apart with effort; before they fully opened, Ling’s big head filled her view.
Joy bloomed between Ling’s brows like dawn, spilling straight into Alicia’s heart.
I should comfort this little one who’s been tense for so long…
She thought it, parted her dry, almost-stuck lips, and let her voice try to rise.
“Oh… cough, cough!”
The wish failed; her throat was desert-dry, every word an itch that triggered barking coughs and fresh pain.
“Jiu Jiu!”
At that, Ling called the Dragon King’s name, and the Dragon King didn’t fail her. She grabbed the cup Ling thrust at her, dashed out, and came back with water from who-knows-where.
Ling nodded, a little proud, took the cup, and fed Alicia slowly.
Glug-glug—
Like someone parched for days, Alicia drank with a thirst that outstripped Ling’s guesses. The cup emptied in a heartbeat, a small spring swallowed whole.
Thankfully no cartoon belly-bulge was needed; one cup was enough to wet her throat.
“Alright, Sis, your fever still hasn’t broken. Sleep a while longer.”
Ling had weathered sickness before; caring came easy, gentle as spring rain.
“Mmm… thanks. Needing my little sister to care for me—I’m such a failure of a big sister.”
“Hey! What are you saying? It’s natural for a little sister to care for her sick sister!”
I don’t get why every big sister thinks this way; everyone needs care someday! Now she finally gets her little sister’s care, and still says weird things—ugh!
This retort left Alicia quiet; she lay back, and let Ling press a cool towel to her brow. The cloth had just been re-wet, a small cloud soothing her fevered skin.
Off to the side, the Ninety Nine Maiden suddenly felt she shouldn’t be here. When Alicia lay unconscious, waiting with them was right; now, Alicia’s awake and out of danger.
She could stay, but the air between those two turned oddly warm, like a private hearth. So the Ninety Nine Maiden decided she shouldn’t linger.
“Ling, uh… I’ll head out first, okay? If you need anything, come find me.”
“Mm, it’s fine. I can take care of Sis on my own.”
Neither objected; the Ninety Nine Maiden slipped from the room like a shadow. The moment the ‘outsider’ left, Alicia settled into the way she is when it’s just the two of them.
“Hey, Ling~ now Sis is the patient, and you said you’d take care of me~”
She had a tiny bad premonition, but the hope in Alicia’s eyes made refusal impossible.
“Mmm… that’s true…”
With Ling’s agreement, Alicia’s smile curved—mischief at the corner like moonlight on a blade.
“Then, little sister, give big sister a kiss, and stay to nap with me~”
Alicia shut her eyes, ignoring protests; Ling hesitated, then pecked her forehead like a chick. She dove into the quilt, lay with her back to Alicia, and left no room for mischief.
Alicia didn’t press it; she wrapped both arms around Ling’s waist like a warm pillow. She nestled close, her chest to Ling’s back, heat sharing like two embers in one brazier.
Her face muscles moved on their own, unfurling a happy smile like petals after rain.
As expected… having Ling is enough.
