Confused by his words I let down my guard. Possibly the biggest mistake I could've made.

As soon as he saw my focus wane, Xiao took that opportunity to flash away from my sword and dash behind me putting his arms around my neck in a choke hold.

"Any last words ?"

And just like that the tables were flipped. I quickly gripped his arm that was choking ( 😳 ) me and focused Pyro into my palms to try and burn Xiao, but he was unyielding and didn't let go despite me burning his hand, and I am quite tired so the Pyro wasn't exactly scalding hot.

So I decided to channel Pyro at my foot instead and swipe it under his feet to get him off balance and let go. I kept my hand on his arm to keep him distracted as I moved my leg behind his and kicked up making both of us fall, but I landed on him which was enough to make him let go.

I run to the other side of the pond and think of what I can do to disarm or beat Xiao. I never meant to kill him so what can I do against an enemy hellbent on killing me ?

Think Y/N think... what can I do to stop Xiao... I'm sure he wouldn't stop if I told him too... what if I gave him some almond tofu ? No I'm sure he wouldn't be swayed by food... uhhh... well I don't have any better plans so let's try this.

With a deep breath I looked down and pretended to be heavily injured and tired. I slowly limped over to Xiao with my hands in the air.

"I surrender..."

Xiao stopped in his tracks and watched me limp closer to him.

Just... a little bit... closer.

Now !

I suddenly run full speed at him and try to hug him to keep him trapped and in the mean time, heat up my body to burn him.

But I may have underestimated his speed a tiny bit. Right before I made contact he disappeared and I fell face first to the ground. I quickly turned around so Xiao couldn't strik behind and as soon as I did he tried to pin me down with his polearm.

I hold it back and now we're staring at each other in a contest to see who can last longer. Who will lose their strength first ? I noticed Xiao lost the light in his eyes and I can't help but shed a tear.

How did it come to this ? Why did I event want to fight anyways ? What did I want to prove ? Xiao never thought of me as inferior and wasn't the only reason he followed me around was because he was worried for me ?

More tear start to fall down, but I'm not sad, just overwhelmed with emotion. I can feel Xiao softening his grip on the polearm and his face change into a more melancholic expression.

"I never wanted it to be this way" I say through my tears.

"Neither did I."

And like that Xiao let go of his spear and set it aside, he then leaned down and kissed me.

Ah... here we go again.

I didn't expect such a tense battle to end in a tender kiss but I'm not mad. I savor the taste of his lips and all time stops. Right now it's just me and Xiao.

Who knew kissing someone you loved could make you feel this way ? Certainly not me, but I'm glad I got to know how this feels, and I'm glad Xiao is the one who showed me this feeling.

He pulls away and he looks at me. Smiles and blushes.

I swear my mind went blank. Why is this person who tried to kill me so cute—

I sit up and pull him into a hug. His warmth is exactly what I needed after being drenched in water and get blown on by the air on this mountain.

I'm shivering cold but for some reason when I'm next to him I've never felt warmer in my entire life. Even warmer than when I was being burned by that abyss mage...

We stand up and I try to warm myself up by making a fire but I'm so weak right now I can't even make a spark. Defeated I walk back into my tent. Before I close the tent, I see Xiao standing outside.

He kneels down and says

"Want me to keep you warm ?"

Blushing, I nod and he makes his way inside my tent. I lie down and lies down next to me, then wraps me around his arms and pulls me closer to his chest. He's so warm...

I could get used to this.

I smile before I drift off to sleep, in the arms of the man the I have come to love.

💤