Above them, the world was falling.

Zhen clung to Tao Zi’s arm with both hands, her knuckles white, her heart pounding so hard she could feel it in her throat. The wind screamed past her ears. Her white hair whipped around her face like a living thing.

She did not let go.

She would not let go.

If she let go, she would fall. And if she fell, she would die. And if she died, Mama would be sad, and Papa would be cold, and Yòu Lín would cry, and none of that was acceptable.

So she held on.

Tao Zi did not pull away.

They sat on Cāng Jì’s back, the golden scales warm beneath them, the wind cold against their faces. Neither of them spoke. Neither of them looked at each other.

The dragon flew higher.

Zhen’s stomach dropped.

"I am going to tell the Burning Sky! I’m going to tell Dà Jiāo Huǒ ! He will definitely deal with you!" she screamed.

Cāng Jì’s laughter echoed in her mind. Do it, little star. He will tell you that you deserve it.

"I do not deserve this!"

You deserve worse. You have been ignoring a perfectly nice boy for days because he was scared.

"He lied!"

He was scared.

"That is the same thing!"

It is not.

The dragon flew higher.

The trees became specks. The river became a thread. The village became a cluster of tiny dots that she could cover with her thumb.

Tao Zi was going to be sick.

Not from the height. From the fear. From the weight of Zhen’s body pressed against his side, her hands wrapped around his arm, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps.

She was holding him.

She had not spoken to him in days. She had refused to look at him. She had walked away every time he approached. And now she was holding him like he was the only thing keeping her from falling.

He did not know what to do.

Be brave, he told himself. Be brave, be brave, be brave.

"Zhen," he said.

"No."

"Zhen, please."

"I said no."

"I am sorry."

The words came out before he could stop them. Carrying all the weight of the days she had refused to see him.

Zhen was quiet.

Cāng Jì flew higher.

The air grew thin. The clouds drifted past them, white and soft and close enough to touch.

"Zhen," Tao Zi said again. "Please."

She turned her face away.

Tao Zi’s chest ached.

Cāng Jì rolled his eyes. Children, he thought. Impossible. Stubborn. Completely incapable of saying what they mean.

He flew higher.

And then, with a flick of his tail, he nudged.

Tao Zi felt the shift. Felt the golden scales tilt beneath him. Felt his body slide sideways, toward the edge, toward the sky, toward nothing.

For one terrible moment, he was falling.

His hands grasped for something to hold. There was nothing. The wind screamed past him. The ground was so far below that it might as well have been another world.

He screamed.

Zhen screamed.

"TAO ZI!"

She jumped.

She did not think. She did not plan. She did not calculate the distance or the angle or the probability of catching him before they both plummeted to their deaths.

She just jumped.

Her hand found his. Her fingers closed around his wrist. Her body twisted in the air, pulling him toward her, wrapping around him like she could shield him from the fall with nothing but her small, fragile frame.

They fell together as the wind howled.

"I am sorry!" Zhen screamed, terrified by the thought of losing him. "I am sorry, I am sorry, I accept your apology!"

Tao Zi stared at her. His hair whipped around his face. His eyes were wide.

"Really?" he asked in shock.

"Really! Just—do not let go!"

"I am not letting go!"

"Good!"

They fell.

And then—

Cāng Jì caught them.

His golden form swept beneath them, scales warm and solid, catching them before they could hit the trees, before they could hit the ground, before they could become nothing more than a story that mothers told their children to make them behave.

Zhen landed on his back in a heap of tangled limbs and white hair.

Tao Zi landed beside her.

Neither of them let go.

Zhen’s chest heaved. Her eyes were wet. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she did not wipe them away.

"I am sorry," she said. "I was angry. And hurt."

Tao Zi swallowed.

"I am sorry I lied," he admitted, staring sheepishly.

Zhen looked at him.

"Friends?" she asked.

"Yes," Tao Zi said. "Friends."

"And......the other thing?"

Tao Zi’s ears went pink. "What other thing?"

"You know. The thing."

"I do not know what you are talking about."

"You like me."

Tao Zi’s face went red. "I... that is..." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"And I like you."

The words hung in the air between them.

Tao Zi stared at her.

Zhen stared back.

"Okay," he said.

"Okay?"

"Okay."

They nodded at each other, solemn and ridiculous, two children who had just fallen out of the sky and discovered that they liked each other.

Cāng Jì sighed.

Finally, he said. I was beginning to think I would have to drop you both.

Zhen’s eyes narrowed.

"You did that on purpose," she said.

I did nothing.

"You pushed him!"

You jumped.

"Because you pushed him!"

I cannot control the wind. The wind is wild. Unpredictable.

"You are a dragon! You are the wind!"

I am a dragon. I am magnificent. I am not the wind.

Zhen bit his scale.

"OW—"

That hurt!

"Good!"

You are vicious.

"You made me think Tao Zi was going to die!"

He was not going to die.

"You pushed him!"

It was a nudge.

"You—"

"Zhen," Tao Zi said.

She stopped.

"He caught us," Tao Zi said. "That is what matters."

Zhen looked at him. At his pink ears. At the small, tentative smile on his face.

She sighed.

"Fine," she said. "But I am still angry."

"You are not."

"I am a little angry."

"You are smiling."

"I am not."

"You are."

Zhen touched her face. She was smiling.

"Shut up," she said.

~

Cāng Jì, for once in his life, did not say "I told you so."

He simply flew lower.

The wind softened. The clouds parted. The village, which had shrunk to a cluster of tiny brown specks, began to grow again. Huts became distinguishable. The river became a silver thread. The central fire became a glowing orange dot, small as a spark.

Zhen did not let go of Tao Zi’s arm.

Neither of them mentioned this.

Her knuckles were still white. Her heart was still pounding. But the terror had faded into something else, something warm and embarrassing that she refused to name.

Tao Zi sat very still.

He was acutely aware of every point where their bodies touched. Her shoulder against his. Her hip pressed against his side. Her small, fierce fingers wrapped around his forearm like she was afraid he might dissolve into mist.

He was not going to dissolve into mist.

He was also not going to move.

"If you let go," Zhen said quietly, "I will push you off."

"I am not letting go."

"Good."

"Zhen."

"What?"

"Your hand is shaking."

"It is not."

"It is."

"That is the wind."

"The wind is not shaking your hand. The wind is wind."

Zhen’s jaw tightened. She did not respond. But her grip tightened, just slightly, and Tao Zi felt something crack open in his chest.

He turned his hand over.

His fingers brushed hers.

She did not pull away.

Very slowly, very carefully, he laced his fingers through hers.

Zhen stared at their joined hands.

Tao Zi stared at the clouds.

Neither of them spoke.

Cāng Jì’s voice echoed in their minds, dripping with false innocence. Is everyone comfortable back there? I could fly higher if you need more time to—

"NO," they said in unison.

Hmph. Children.

~

The village grew closer.

Zhen could see individual figures now. The cooking fires. The clusters of beastmen gathered around the central platform. The jaguars, still huddled at the edges, still uncertain, still watching.

Her father was standing at the edge of the clearing.

She recognized his silhouette immediately, tall, broad, impossibly still. His white hair caught the afternoon light like a beacon.

"He is waiting," Zhen said.

"Who?"

"My father. The scary one."

"All of your fathers are scary."

Tao Zi looked down at the waiting figure. Even from this height, even from this distance, he could feel the weight of those icy blue eyes.

"I think he is judging me," Tao Zi said.

"He is definitely judging you."

"Should I be worried?"

"Probably."

Tao Zi considered this.

Then he shrugged. "Worth it."

Zhen’s face went pink. She looked away quickly, but not before Tao Zi saw her smile.

Cāng Jì made a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a groan. Young love. Disgusting. I am going to be sick.

"You cannot get sick," Zhen said. "You are a dragon."

I can get emotionally ill.

"That is not a thing."

It is a thing. I am inventing it. Right now.

"You are ridiculous."

I am magnificent.

"You are ridiculous and magnificent," Tao Zi said.

Cāng Jì was quiet for a moment. Then: ...Acceptable.