Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! This chapter had me tearing my hair out so I decided on an oversimplified explanation on the actual healing process that may require reading with one eye closed. Hope you enjoy it anyway :)

- Chapter Start -

They kissed for some time. Quick, light pecks interspersed with longer, open mouthed kisses, pausing in between to catch their breaths before starting again. Fingers delved into long hair and trailed over cheekbones, jawlines and necks. Hands closed over shoulders and slid around backs, pulling the other even closer.

ZiShu found kissing Wen KeXing to be wonderful, pleasurable, addicting. Under different circumstances, and at a different time and place, it might have led to other activities, but for all his enthusiasm, Wen KeXing still felt worryingly fragile. His soft moans and hitched breaths might be due to their kisses, but not the aborted shivers wracking his body nor his cold fingers.

After a final, thorough tasting of that sassy mouth, ZiShu drew back. They were both breathing hard by then, Wen KeXing clutching the front of ZiShu's robes, eyes dazed, cheeks flushed, and lips pink and shiny. ZiShu couldn't help smiling at such a wondrous sight. He could kiss his Lao Wen forever and ever!

Then he remembered they didn't have forever and crashed back down to earth.

"I plan on kissing you for a long time more, Lao Wen," he vowed. "You're not leaving me anytime soon."

He looked around, thinking of the vast store of knowledge now open to them. It seemed like a waste to not make full use of it. There could very well be one or more tried and tested solutions here to heal Wen KeXing. However, the thought of turning the entire place upside down, going through shelf after shelf, and box after box was a daunting one.

Then he considered digging themselves out of the snow to seek WuXi's help instead, but it was more than a day's journey to Ping An Manor on horseback. They didn't even have a horse now, let alone two.

More importantly, they didn't have the time to spare.

When ZiShu decided to nail his own meridians to leave the Window of Heaven, he estimated he would only have two or three years left to live. He had drawn out the process, driving in one nail every three months. Wen KeXing, on the other hand, had burned through all his meridians over the course of a single night.

What if, instead of two or three years, he only had two or three weeks, or even less than that?

ZiShu wasn't willing to gamble on this, not for so high a price as Wen KeXing's life. Besides, they already had a readymade solution that was proven to work.

- o -

"A-Xu, are you sure?" Was Wen KeXing's first question.

"Of course," ZiShu replied. "You transferred the knowledge of LiuHe Kung Fu to me and healed my meridians. Why can't I do the same thing back to you?"

"But then you'll die and it would have been a waste of my effort!" Wen KeXing glared at him.

ZiShu didn't even blink. Maybe it was because that famous glare was more like a petulant pout now, or maybe it was because he knew what Wen KeXing meant.

"Who says I'm going to be a self-sacrificing idiot and destroy my own body without informing my soulmate?"

"Ah." The pout was more pronounced now.

Smiling, ZiShu tapped him on the nose.

"I probably would have if our roles were reversed," he admitted. "But that would just defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? I don't want to live without you and you don't want to live without me."

He reached for Wen KeXing's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Let's be a little smarter this time, alright? I'm going to transfer as much energy as is needed to heal your meridians-"

"But-"

"Shh. Let me finish. I'm not going to transfer it all. After I'm done, I'll make sure our energy levels are still balanced, still-"

"Equal," Wen KeXing finished for him.

ZiShu smiled.

"Exactly. We'll both be alive and we'll both be healthy. Or at least we'll have the same level of health and strength."

"But that means you won't..." Wen KeXing trailed off.

"Won't what?" ZiShu asked.

Wen KeXing opened his mouth and closed it again, looking oddly indecisive.

"Lao Wen?"

"I think we should read the Ying Yang and the Combined Six Martial Arts books first," Wen KeXing said.

"Why?"

"Just in case we find something useful."

"Like what?"

"A-Xu, the books are already in our hands. It shouldn't take us that long, right?"

ZiShu smiled and squeezed Wen KeXing's hand again.

"Alright. We'll read them first."

- o -

Night had fallen again by the time they went through both books. Around thirty six hours had passed since ZiShu opened his eyes and saw his soulmate with silver hair.

The two of them had spent most of the day reading. Around mid morning, Zishu couldn't ignore his thirst nor the rumbling sounds of their stomachs any longer. He put down the Yin Yang book and patted Wen KeXing's shoulder before getting to his feet.

"Let's take a break and have a drink," he suggested and smiled at Wen KeXing's startled huff of laughter.

"Yeah, that used to mean wine, didn't it?" He grabbed Wen KeXing's hand to pull him up.

They found a stack of dusty bowls and cups in a corner of the room. ZiShu grabbed two bowls and headed for the courtyard, squinting a bit once he opened the doors to the almost blinding blanket of white outside. There was a noticeable drop in temperature as well.

"Stay here," he told Wen KeXing who was shivering again despite wearing ZiShu's blue outer robe over his maroon one

After scrubbing out the bowls with a handful of snow, ZiShu filled them with fresh show and went back in. Just like how Wen KeXing had once heated up his wine gourd with his own qi, ZiShu did the same to melt the snow. He made sure the water was warm before handing a bowl to Wen KeXing.

If this was all the sustenance they could look forward to for the next... well, for however long they stayed here, it wasn't a heartening thought. ZiShu pushed aside a sudden longing for a jug of good wine and downed the water.

Then back to reading it was. They sat in the inner room with the white stone circle as it was the warmest place in the armoury. ZiShu carried in two lamps from the main room and lit them for added warmth and light.

In the afternoon, they switched books and continued reading. With no chairs available, they sat on the floor beside each other, backs against the wall with shoulders and arms touching, and occasionally reading interesting bits aloud.

The Yin Yang book was a treasure of healing arts both light and dark. There were forbidden techniques in it, like the one Rong Xuan's wife had used to try to heal him by transplanting a beating heart from another person. ZiShu couldn't find anything in it that could help them now.

The LiuHe Kung Fu book had more useful information. There was a chapter devoted to explaining the meditation techniques required to preserve the knowledge and strength gained. Another chapter detailed the prohibitions - warm weather, hot food and drink, and hot baths were detrimental. Anyone interested to master LiuHe Kung Fu had to stay in a frigid environment and take in only cold sustenance in order to achieve and maintain-

"Immortality," ZiShu said aloud and turned his head to look at Wen KeXing who nodded, eyes turning wary.

"So this is how Senior Ye has survived for so long."

Wen KeXing nodded again.

"Huh. Does that mean I'm an immortal too?" ZiShu found it hard to believe after having resigned himself to only living a couple of years more.

"You could be." Wen KeXing's gaze was steady, but his voice subdued.

"Overrated, if you ask me," ZiShu replied with a shrug. "Having to stay on a snowy mountain and eat nothing but snow and ice doesn't sound very appealing either."

"But, A-Xu-"

ZiShu put down the book and twisted around to face Wen KeXing, taking the Ying Yang book from him and grasping those cold hands with his own.

"But living out a normal lifespan with my Lao Wen? Enjoying his delicious cooking, drinking good wine and having hot baths? Seeing our ChengLing grow up? Training our new disciples together?" ZiShu continued past a throat that was suddenly too tight. "Much better. Much, much better."

Wen KeXing swallowed.

"A-Xu, are you sure?"

And that was when ZiShu knew.

"This was what you wanted to say earlier, wasn't it? This was why you wanted me to read the LiuHe Kung Fu book first."

Wen KeXing nodded, still looking a little wary, a little anxious.

"A-Xu, are you sure?" He repeated.

Zishu huffed out a soft laugh, his eyes prickling.

"As sure as I am that you'd do the same for me."

Wen KeXing nodded.

"A life without you has no meaning."

ZiShu's smile widened and he blinked away more tears.

"Exactly. So let's do this for each other, hmm? No more going behind each other's backs. We're in this together."

"Together," Wen KeXing echoed.

ZiShu smiled and leaned in to steal a kiss from him.

"Then let's do it."

- o -

They sat in the white stone circle, facing each other in the same position as before with their palms pressed together.

"Be careful, A-Xu," Wen KeXing said. "I don't want to lose you again."

"You won't," ZiShu assured him. "I'll heal you without endangering my life."

They were finally on the same wavelength now. They were soulmates who had found each other, who couldn't live without the other.

Why would he condemn Wen KeXing to a life of solitude when he didn't want the same for himself?

Drawing a deep breath, ZiShu pictured what he wanted to see on a deeper level and reached for the sea of energy inside him. It was calm, but when he started circulating it, it surged forth from his core. Heat spread through his body, warming him from head to toe. He opened his eyes and saw the spiritual pathways in his arms, bright and flowing with energy. His palms felt hot and were quite literally glowing.

In contrast, Wen KeXing's spiritual network seemed dimmer than before. Tempering the flow of energy, ZiShu began pushing it into his soulmate, trying not to think of what would happen if his body couldn't take in that energy or keep it.

When a minute or two passed and his energy continued flowing into Wen KeXing in a steady golden stream, ZiShu dared to breathe again, dared to hope, dared to even cry a little. He wiped his burning eyes on his sleeve and continued. Already, it seemed like Wen KeXing's spiritual pathways were glowing a little brighter, his core absorbing his power and strengthening.

"That's it," ZiShu said. "My Lao Wen, that's it!"

Next, he focused on the LiuHe Kung Fu knowledge he had gained and directed it to heal Wen KeXing's burned out meridian points like how Wen KeXing had healed his two days ago. It was all still very new to ZiShu. If asked, he probably wouldn't be able to explain exactly how it worked, just that it did. He also didn't know how long the process took, but he had more than enough energy now to power the healing process.

Eventually, each of Wen KeXing's meridian points were healed and his core glowed as brightly as his own. With a final check to ensure their energy levels were the same, ZiShu stopped the flow of energy and opened his eyes.

Wen KeXing's eyes were still closed, but his skin was rosy and his palms warm against ZiShu's. His hair was still silver, but that was fine - it looked good on him. When he opened his eyes and smiled, he exuded radiance, strength and vitality.

ZiShu's answering smile was tearful. He didn't know who tugged at who first, but they were suddenly on their knees and embracing, arms tight around each other as they wept tears of joy and relief.

- Chapter End -

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it :)