Fingers intertwined, laughing, running, stumbling and laughing harder- this is how they returned to their bamboo clearing one joyous afternoon. It was so easy to be happy when you were with the one you loved, Huo Linghun thought. He turned to Xiao Xin, moving to spin them around together, reaching for his other hand.

It was only when he felt his stiff hand and unmoving arm that he realized what he was doing, and he immediately let go of him altogether. "I'm sorry," he said.

Xiao Xin reached for his hand again, still smiling. "It's okay," he replied. But Huo Linghun didn't seem to want to play anymore. Xiao Xin led him over to their little bamboo bench and they sat down together. He remained silent for some time before saying, "Let me tell you what happened."

"Xiao Xin, you don't have to if you don't want to," Huo Linghun said quickly.

"I want to," Xiao Xin replied. "You have told me of yourself before, and now it's my turn. Though I think you can guess what happened."

Huo Linghun only looked at him and stroked his hand over his ear.

"I was really little so I don't remember everything," Xiao Xin began. "I only know that I went somewhere with my parents and I wandered off on my own. I never even saw the cliff, I just remember falling."

"The crater," Huo Linghun said knowingly. The enormous, forest-filled crater he had found him in. The crater he'd been stuck in his whole life. "That's a pretty long fall, no wonder you got so badly hurt. You're lucky you survived at all!"

"I think so too," Xiao Xin agreed. The crater had given him a fear of heights and had taken away the use of his eye, his arm, and some use of his leg- but at least it hadn't taken his life.

"I wish that never happened to you," Huo Linghun said softly.

Xiao Xin was quiet for a long time. Then he said, "It did lead to something good though."

"How can anything about you getting hurt like that lead to something good?"

"If that was the price to pay for meeting you... it was worth it."

Huo Linghun stared at him for some time before pulling him into his arms. "My Xiao Xin," he whispered into his hair.

He knew he was right- if Xiao Xin had never fallen into that crater, would they have ever met? If he had been living a normal, uninjured life somewhere, would Huo Linghun still be traveling the world alone? Would he have been lonely forever?

He didn't want to think about that, about a life without his Xiao Xin, a life without his heart. He held him even tighter and said, "I love you just as you are." The smile finally returned to his face when he heard Xiao Xin reply, "I love you too."