"I regret that people sometimes treat our strength as if it means we should never be tired. I regret that the sect's problems cannot all be solved with one good decision. But I do not regret building this life with you. Not for a moment."
Yan Cijin listened without interrupting.
"And if I could change one thing," Bai Li continued, "I would have met you sooner."
Yan Cijin went quiet. The words were so simple that they slipped beneath all the teasing and touched something she did not often let herself examine. They had met when they were already on their own paths, old enough to have made mistakes and young enough to believe there would always be another chance to correct them. They had not wasted time once they understood what they wanted, but there were still years before their meeting that neither could share with the other.
