No response—no surprise, like frost sealing a window. Yaya had long shuttered her heart. The usual keys wouldn’t turn; I needed something razor-short.

Tangxue stepped aside, squinting at Yaya’s face like reading mist over a pond. Annoyed, she thumbed open Yaya’s eyelids, moon-pale and still. Beyond a heartbeat and a thin breath, Tangxue saw no life—just driftwood in a cold tide.

Hmm. Should’ve learned some mind-arts from Dreamsound, like catching wind in a net. To wake Yaya, do I need Dreamsound’s mother to come, like a bell from afar? But that ruins the surprise I set like petals under snow…

Hesitation flickered in Tangxue’s eyes, like a wavering candle. After weighing it again and again, she chose to wake Yaya first. After all, Yaya’s revival itself was the brightest surprise, like dawn over ice.

As Tangxue turned to leave, a hand cold and soft seized her arm, like silk dipped in snow.

!

"Tangxue…?"

"Ah-haha… Yaya… Mom." Tangxue turned back, awkward as a fish flopping in the shallows.

…So it’s still a dream, like fog that refuses to lift?

"No no no! This time it’s not a dream!" Tangxue shook her head hard, like a rattle in a storm, fearing the light in Yaya’s eyes would snuff out again.

"I… I’m alive. I died once, like a star falling, but I came back. Yaya Mom, does that make sense to you?"

…

Tangxue looked at silent Yaya and sighed, like wind over empty reeds. "I mean it. This—at least—you recognize, right?"

Tangxue raised her right hand and called out Frostwhisper, like summoning moonlight from water. She showed both the human form and the unsealed form before Yaya, every facet like ice facets. At the sight of Frostwhisper, light finally flickered in Yaya’s eyes—something her delusions had never conjured. Or maybe it was a fresh delusion, a mirage on a hot sea.

Seeing Yaya’s hollow look, Tangxue felt lost, like a boat without a rudder. They just stared, big eyes to small, like carp before a closed gate; her talking felt like music against a stone wall. Tangxue, not knowing what else to say, told everything—from reuniting with Dreamsound to all that followed—like unspooling a river. Yaya listened in silence, like snow falling without a sound, until she finished.

Yaya’s voice was thin, like a leaf falling. "Is that all?"

Tangxue breathed a tiny hum, like a pebble plinking into water. "Mm…"

"I see." Yaya’s face finally changed, like ice cracking at dawn; she actually smiled.

Tangxue stared in disbelief at Yaya, voice trembling like a reed in wind. "Yaya Mom, do you believe what I said?"

"Mm. I believe." Yaya nodded softly, like a willow dipping into water.

Even if this is a dream, I want to keep dreaming it, like walking deeper into moonlight.

"Then let’s head back. Dreamsound must feel I’m back, like ripples meeting shore. She might have dinner already simmering, waiting like a warm hearth."

Yaya murmured, "Dreamsound…," the name like salt on the tongue.

At the thought of her daughter, Yaya felt a rare ease, like sunlight through clouds. At least Dreamsound was someone she had truly saved, like a pearl held safe.

"Mm, speaking of which, Dreamsound told me to call her Mom, right? So should I call you ‘Yaya mom-in-law’—like hanging lanterns for the festival?"

Her voice clipped like a snipped thread. "…Don’t call me mother-in-law."

Tangxue laughed like bells in a breeze. "Alright~ I won’t call you Yaya mother-in-law."

At that title, Yaya felt her whole body rebel, goosebumps rising like hail on skin.

Tangxue hummed a tune and led Yaya out of the frozen zone, like two swallows leaving winter. Outside, the world was night-and-day different, a city remade like coral gardens after a storm. Dreamsound had spent decades rebuilding the imperial capital, stone by stone like stacking shells. Yaya stared, everything familiar yet strange, like a hometown seen through rain. The quiet streets stirred a deep ache, like tides pulling at old scars.

Her clan was truly gone, like stars swallowed by dawn. Of her family, only Dreamsound and Tangxue remained; dream or waking, the rest were ashes on the wind.

"Father, Mother, brothers, sisters… I…" Names rose like incense, fading to smoke.

Tangxue’s voice fell soft, like rain on jade. "Yaya… Mom, what are you thinking?"

Yaya’s words drifted like leaves on a stream. "Tangxue… I still can’t forget those years, though it’s all ended."

"Yeah. It’s all ended," Tangxue said, smiling as she closed her eyes like lilies folding at dusk. "Maybe everyone has a new life, but our story hasn’t finished." "So let’s keep walking this road, Yaya Mom—like following the shoreline until sunrise."

Yaya paused, surprised to be schooled by Tangxue, like granite stirred by spring water.

"We’re almost home, Yaya Mom—look, Dreamsound’s already coming out to welcome us, like a lantern swinging. Pu… ah-hahaha! What’s that face—did she freeze up, like a deer in moonlight?"

Tangxue burst into laughter, like bells racing downhill. Dreamsound came out with a spatula, ready to scold, then saw her mother and her mind crashed like a wave against rock.

Her voice wavered like a plucked string. "Ma… Mom?"

"I’m back~!" Tangxue gave a light hop, floating in the water, and waved her right hand like a gull. But Dreamsound’s gaze was a full moon locked on her mother; Tangxue became background foam.

Silence pooled like ink between them.

Embarrassment prickled like sand under skin. "This makes me look so awkward… at least say something to me!"

Dreamsound breathed the words like mist. "Is this… an illusion?"

Of course not; Dreamsound knew her own mind like a taut bowstring. At her level, forget illusions—she didn’t even dream, like a still lake under stars.

Tears slid along older tear tracks, like rain finding old grooves, until Yaya walked to her side and cleaned her cheeks with a handkerchief long kept like a pressed leaf.

"You’ve grown so much, Dreamsound—like bamboo after rain; long time no see. Even without Mom around, mind your hygiene; don’t be this messy, like seaweed knots." Yaya leaned close and found she wasn’t even as tall as her daughter; she rose on tiptoe and tidied Dreamsound’s look again, like smoothing silk.

She breathed out, like a breeze through an open window. "See, much fresher now, Dreamsound~ Mom’s back."

The cry rang like a bell across water. "Mom!!"

Dreamsound clutched her mother and sobbed hard, like a storm breaking after years of drought. Her mermaid voice stayed beautiful even in tears, like a lullaby threaded with rain. The surrounding sea echoed their reunion, waves chiming like a choir offering blessings.

Tangxue watched from the side, warmed, like hands around tea. Dreamsound had lost her parents as a child and faced the world’s malice alone, like a lone gull against winter winds. With reunion this hard-won, better not to step in and disturb, like not touching a snowflake. Compared to Dreamsound, wasn’t Tangxue luckier, like someone spared by the tide?

Coming back to herself, Dreamsound felt something missing, like a note skipped in a song. Then she noticed Tangxue on the side, enjoying her joke like a cat watching. Without a word, she blinked through space, grabbed Tangxue like picking up a kitten, and blinked back. She ignored the struggles, hugged her daughter tight, then leaned against her mother and closed her eyes, warm as sun on water.

"So comfy, Mom; we haven’t relaxed like this in ages," she murmured, like sinking into a soft tide.

"I can’t breathe! It’s stuffy…!" Tangxue’s voice puffed like bubbles.

"Ah-haha, yeah…" Yaya laughed, a little embarrassed, like rustling reeds. Her taller daughter nuzzled her, likely with her granddaughter in arms; the feeling was indescribable, like sweet tea with a touch of salt. She glanced at Tangxue’s face reddening from lack of air; it looked truly painful, like a crab steaming.

She won’t actually suffocate; best not to interrupt Dreamsound’s lesson, like letting rain teach stone.

BOOM!!!

Suddenly, the big house in the distance exploded, flames blooming like a crimson flower. They almost licked the trio, but an ice wall rose before them, glittering like a glacier, and stopped the blaze.

Tangxue yelped, voice sharp as a gull. "What happened?!"

Dreamsound’s tone was sheepish, like rain on ashes. "Mm… gas leak, probably; I forgot to turn it off."

Tangxue sputtered, like bubbles popping. "You use gas under the sea?!"

"Too mouthy…" Dreamsound narrowed her eyes like a cat and tightened her hold, muffling Tangxue like a blanket.

"Mmph! Mmm!! Mmm-mm!!!"

"Is it alright?" Yaya asked, worry curling like smoke.

"No problem; rebuilding will take a minute—like stacking ice blocks. With Mom back, the house needs a full redo anyway, right~?" Dreamsound looked up and smiled, eyes bright like stars.