"Why?" Wei Xiang pressed softly. "Why put yourself through that agony if she turns you away?"
"Because even if she looks at me with complete hatred in her eyes..." Wang answered, his voice steadying, "...I need to see her with my own eyes. I need to look at her face and know, without a shadow of a doubt, that she is truly alive and breathing."
Wei Xiang looked at his leader for a long moment before a faint, gentle smile touched his lips. "That is more than enough of a reason."
Wang turned his head, his golden eyes burning through the dim light of the tent toward the distant, towering silhouette of the Supreme Citadel.
"No," Wang whispered into the cold air, his voice heavy with a longing that spanned realms. "It isn't enough. It will never be enough."
He took a slow, deep breath, letting the cool air fill his chest. "But right now... it is the only thing I have left to hold onto."
Night had settled heavily over the snow-draped expanse of the Silver Leopard camp.
