i was worried. 

i had wished i'd meet someone who'd see me 

        not for what i am 

         but for what i was meant to be, 

and the thought consumed me, 

but then i considered: 

        what if i were meant to be something 

        truly hideous? 

        then, mediocrity is a victory or, at least, 

        an act of defiance 

and thus i sat and breathed for a moment 

- not comforted, 

but at peace.

    When Shiang Lin returned from her long journey, during which she acquitted herself from her crimes in the eyes of the old gods, she was full of hope. It had been the most difficult thing she (or maybe anyone else) had ever done, vindicating her actions before the universe, but she’d somehow managed. Her love for Edwin had been the one thing that sustained, invigorated and compelled her. That is why no one could save her when she learned that Edwin had perished while she’d been away. If there’d been a grave, she might have wanted to join him there. However, he’d been cremated and given to the wind. Therefore, she left unnoticed, in the dead of night, and they found a scribbled parchment in her empty quarters thereafter, which Jin translated: “He was my love. His was the love I wanted, but I made too many mistakes”.