Words are wasted on those who do not listen. Huo Linghun learned this long ago. The people he met wanted him to listen to them, but did not want to listen to him in return. He would know them very well but they would not know him at all.

So he stopped trying. He traveled alone because it was less heartbreaking to be alone by himself, than to be with another person who didn't truly care about who he was. To be alone even when not alone.

But now...

"What are you thinking about?" Xiao Xin's voice brought him back from the depths of his mind. His gaze was on him and his ears were turned toward him attentively, he truly looked interested to know the answer. When no answer came he raised his finger knowingly and continued, "Oh! You're lost in thought again. You get lost a lot."

Huo Linghun smiled. Xiao Xin had noticed this about him, had remembered what he'd said about it. "I suppose so," he said. "I was just thinking about how I... am actually not lost at all anymore."

Xiao Xin continued to watch him, quietly waiting for him to go on.

"When I traveled alone I didn't know what I wanted," Huo Linghun explained. He put his arm around Xiao Xin; "Now I have you, and I know exactly what I want."

"What do you want?" Xiao Xin asked.

"To spend my life with you," Huo Linghun replied. "That is what I want. However things may be or wherever we may go, as long as I'm with you I'm where I'm supposed to be."

"As long as you're with me you are not lost," Xiao Xin said.

He really listened and understood him. "Exactly," Huo Linghun said. After a moment he added a bit more softly, "And I hope... that you feel the same."

Xiao Xin leaned against him, and a wave of relief he didn't know he needed washed over Huo Linghun at the simple act. Xiao Xin held the two bamboo sticks hanging from his belt in his hand and said, "With you is where I'm supposed to be too. You are like one bamboo and I am like another bamboo and we are... bamboo together."

It was clear that Xiao Xin didn't really know how to fully express his feelings on this but that was okay- Huo Linghun was listening. It was easy to understand even things like this when you really listened; not a single word was wasted between them. "Well said, my Xiao Xin," he agreed with a smile. "Well said."