Even Tang Fei smiled as she held her seatbelt, glancing over her shoulder at her mismatched but perfect little team that was resting and snoring.
"You all did something important today," she said softly. "You showed people they are not alone. You made them feel human again and feel like they have companions."
"Hehehe...." They giggled happily.
The van rolled through the quiet city streets, its reflections scattered across glass towers and roadside puddles.
No one spoke for a long time. They didn't need to.
In that silence, hearts stitched together, across generations, across stories untold, and stories just beginning.
And somewhere far behind them, in a hospital ward now dim and resting, an old chessboard and a Go board waited quietly for their next game…
...and the return of the children who brought springtime with them.
---
THE KINGDOM OF AERITHYA, ROYAL PALACE
The long marble corridor echoed with footsteps as a cloaked figure stormed into the War Chamber.
