Yòu Lín’s face lit up like the sun coming out from behind clouds.

"Really?"

"Really. Someone has to make sure you don’t climb any more trees and fall out of them."

"I don’t fall! I strategically descend!"

"You fell into a river."

"THAT WAS ONE TIME---"

Glimmer laughed, and it was the first real laugh Bai Yue had heard from her since before the temple. She ruffled Yòu Lín’s orange hair, and the fox kit leaned into the touch, his tail wagging furiously behind him.

Cāng Jì cleared his throat.

"If the emotional display is finished," he said, though his ears were slightly pink, "I have refugees to transport."

Cāng Jì launched into the sky. Bai Yue watched him go, then turned to Glimmer. The young dragon had shifted back to her smaller form and was now being aggressively hugged by Yòu Lín, who had wrapped himself around her arm like a furry barnacle.

"You did the right thing," Bai Yue said quietly.

Glimmer looked up, her golden-green eyes soft. "I know," she said. "He’s very convincing when he cries."

"I’m not crying!" Yòu Lín shouted, his face muffled against her sleeve. "I had something in my eye!"

"Both eyes?"

"IT WAS A VERY BIG SOMETHING."

Bai Yue laughed and left them to it.

The first load of jaguars took to the sky. The second. The third.

Each time Cāng Jì returned, he looked slightly more disheveled, slightly more annoyed, and slightly more invested in the safe delivery of his passengers than he would ever admit.

The cubs watched each departure with wide eyes, begging to be next. They had each woken up one by one.

"Shiny dragon will come back for us," Zhēn said confidently. "He always comes back."

Bai Yue smoothed her daughter’s white hair. "Yes, he does."

Finally, after the last load of jaguars had been flown to Thousand Fang, Cāng Jì landed one final time. His scales were dimmer. His breathing was heavier. But his eyes, when they found Bai Yue, were triumphant.

"Your turn, star-thief."

"Thank you, Cāng Jì."

"Don’t thank me. Thank my superior stamina and unwavering commitment to---"

"Thank you, Cāng Jì," she said again, softer.

"Get on," he said quietly. After they did, his wings widened again, and he took to the air in flight.

The jungle spread beneath them like a green ocean, vast and endless. The wind was warm against Bai Yue’s face. Zhēn was tucked against her chest, her small arms wrapped around Bai Yue’s neck. Ruì Xuě clung to Han Shān’s back. Yòu Lín had somehow claimed a spot directly behind Cāng Jì’s head, where he was narrating the entire flight in real time.

"Trees! More trees! A river! Uncle Sparkles, do you see the river?!"

"I SEE THE RIVER, YÒU LÍN."

"BIG river!"

"YES."

"With fish probably!"

"YÒU LÍN."

Cāng Jì landed on the outskirts of Thousand Fang, not the center. Even he had enough sense not to drop a dragon onto the village without warning.

The jaguars were already gathered at the edge of the clearing, looking uncertain, looking lost.

And then....

"BAI YUE!"

The panther triplets exploded out of the village like three small, furry comets.

Miao Miao reached them first, skidding to a halt in front of Ruì Xuě. Her amber eyes were wide. Her chest was heaving and to everyone’s shock she had been crying.

"You’re back," she said. "You’re back, you’re back, you’re back---"

Ruì Xuě opened his mouth to respond.

Miao Miao grabbed his face and planted a loud, resounding kiss directly on his cheek.

SMACK.

Ruì Xuě’s entire body went rigid. His purple eyes blew wide. A violent, blazing blush erupted across his face, spreading to the tips of his fluffy white ears.

"I....you....that was...."

"You were gone FOREVER," Miao Miao declared, as if this explained everything.

Behind her, A-Li and Xiao Hei were already swarming Yòu Lín, demanding to know everything about the "big snake ladies" and the "cursed temple" and "did you really see a ghost?"

The jaguars watched the chaos with wide eyes.

The Thousand Fang beastmen watched the jaguars with wide eyes.

Elder Zhao appeared at the edge of the crowd, his staff clutched in both hands.

"Cursed female," he said, and his voice cracked. "You brought an entire refugee crisis to my doorstep."

"Good morning to you too, Elder," Bai Yue said.

He stared at the jaguars. The jaguars stared back.

Then Elder Zhao sighed. "The eastern fields are empty. They can shelter there. Someone fetch the spare furs." He pointed his staff at Mo Xiao. "You. Organize. I am too old for this."

Mo Xiao, who had been watching the reunion with an expression of profound relief, nodded once and got to work.

~

The sun was setting by the time everything settled.

The jaguars were housed. The wounded were treated. The cubs had finally worn themselves out and been put to bed. The husbands had been convinced (through significant effort) to stop hovering and let Bai Yue breathe.

She sat on the steps of her hut, alone for the first time in what felt like forever.

The village was quiet. Fires burned low. Somewhere, someone was singing.

Home, she thought. We’re home.

She pressed her hand to her chest, where the ghost of a gunshot wound still ached in phantom pain.

But there was no wound. No hospital. No machines beeping.

Just her. Just the village. Just the stars.

She looked up at the sky.

You said they wouldn’t remember, she thought. They don’t. Not a single moment of it.

But she could feel it. The weight of that other world. The memory of her husbands as strangers. The children as children who didn’t know her.

She had carried them home. All of them.

A small sound beside her.

Tao Zi was standing in the doorway of her hut, his dark eyes half-lidded with exhaustion. He was wearing a clean tunic, too big for him, borrowed from somewhere.

"Can’t sleep?" Bai Yue asked.

He shook his head.

She opened her arms.

He walked into them without hesitation, pressing his small body against her side. She wrapped her arm around him and held him close.

"We’re here," she said quietly. "You’re safe. I promise."

He didn’t answer. But his breathing slowed and his eyes closed.

Bai Yue leaned her head back against the hut wall and looked up at the stars.

Tomorrow, there would be work. Organizing the jaguars. Settling disputes. Managing three husbands who couldn’t stop competing for her attention.

Tomorrow.

But tonight, she was home.