“WAIT! Wait. You're getting married?! Since when?!” Ulana asked, somewhere between thrilled and miffed.

“About a week ago,” Lolo grinned.

“I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THAT YOU WERE DATING!!!”

Lolo just laughed. “It kind of happened really quickly.”

“Did you guys know?!” Ulana looked around at the boys.

Jadu shook his head, but Fortus and Standig nodded.

“How is it that Fortus and Standig knew, but I didn’t?!”

Lolo shrugged.

“When is the wedding?”

“June eighth, so about three weeks.”

“Three weeks?!” Ulana’s eyes were wide. “I have to sit down.”

“Also, Zhongyan’s coronation is the week before the wedding on June first. You’re all invited to come spend some time in the Wolf Tribe with me and my family the last week in May.”

“It’ll be fun,” Fortus vouched. “The Lang family likes to play games together.”

“Fortus, how do you think that will affect our training?” Standig asked.

“One week without combat and ultimates training won’t kill us, and, besides, I think we’re almost there anyway. As long as we stay on top of our meditating, we should be alright.”

“Lolo, is the wedding going to be here or in the Wolf Tribe?” Ulana asked.

“It will be here,” Lolo smiled. “Philige is the Bear Tribe leader. He has to get married here.”

“So, we spend a week in the Wolf Tribe for the coronation and maybe an engagement party, and then we come back here for the wedding?”

“Yup!”

“That’s so fast.”

“Yup!” Lolo laughed again.

“Let’s get back to training, shall we?” Fortus said. “Lolo, I need to talk to you for a minute though.”

“Sure!”

As the rest of the team got ready for their afternoon combat training, Fortus and Huo Lohse stepped to the side.

“Lolo, I’ve been debating whether or not to talk to you about this, but I decided that you would want to know.”

“That sounds ominous. What’s up?”

“We’re about ready to declare ourselves as primordials.”

“Right?”

“But even if we weren’t, you are the soldier from the Wolf Tribe battle that held the front gate for hours by yourself.”

“Ok?”

Fortus took a deep breath. “The Dragon Tribe will be looking for ways to destroy you.”

“Wouldn’t they be doing that already?”

“Well, yes, but in your case, they’re going to be putting in specific effort.”

“What’s your point?”

“They already know that people are your weakness.”

“Your point?” she repeated.

“By marrying Philige, you’re announcing to the whole world that he is the most important person to you, in other words, your greatest weakness.”

“So what are you saying?” Lolo’s stomach was suddenly twisting horribly.

“You need to be aware that by marrying him, you’re putting a huge target on his back.”

Lolo felt like she’d had the wind knocked out of her, and she was instantly in tears. “What should I do?”

“No, Lolo, don’t cry,” Fortus immediately questioned the wisdom of telling her this. “I’m not suggesting you do anything. I just wanted to make you aware of the tactical situation. You’re going to need to be aware of his safety after you are married. You’ll need to think about how to protect him. That’s all!”

She couldn’t breathe as her body went completely numb. “Thank you, Fortus. Thank you for telling me.”

“Lolo?”

“Fortus, I’ve got to go,” she turned and bolted through the tunnel, deaf to Fortus shouting after her.

Lolo ran to the apple orchard, struggling to make sense of her feelings. She was confused and angry and grieving all at once, but mostly, she was in pain. The happiness of her wedding, of marrying Philige, had been replaced by terror. Fortus was absolutely right. Marrying Philige would put him in danger. That was an unacceptable risk. She felt like she was crushing her own heart as she realized what she had to do. It was the only way.

She cried her eyes out under the large apple tree in the corner and laid down on the mossy ground, waiting for Philige to find her as she drifted in and out of uneasy sleep.

About dusk, she heard someone enter the orchard. “Lolo? Are you here?” Philige’s voice sounded panicked.

“I’m here.” She sat up, bracing herself against what had to come.

Philige knelt on the ground to wrap her in a tight hug. “Your team has been looking for you all evening. Fortus seemed to think you might be in trouble. He said he couldn’t connect with you, that you were blocking him out or something? I’m not sure what he meant by that though.”

“Philige,” Lolo had to work hard not to cry, “I can’t marry you.”

She felt Philige tense against her. “What?”

“I can’t marry you,” Lolo repeated, pushing him away gently.

He looked like someone had slapped him. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t….” she broke into heavy sobs and couldn’t continue.

“Lolo, what’s going on? I thought you loved me.”

“I do! Philige, I do love you. I love you so much….”

“Then why can’t you marry me?”

“It's because I love you that I can't marry you. Because you are my greatest weakness, Philige. Marrying you will put you in too much danger.”

Philige sat in a stunned silence, trying to wrap his head around what she was saying. “You’re-you're breaking-up with me to protect me?”

Lolo nodded, her chest felt like it was caving in.

“No.”

“What?”

“No, Lolo. I don’t accept that.”

“What do you mean? Philige, they’ll kill you!”

Philige caught her face and lifted her eyes to meet his. “No, Lolo. The cost of love is loss. I grew up with my uncle who was so afraid of loss that he lived his life in fear and misery, unwilling to love anyone. I will not be like him.”

“Philige,” Lolo said through her tears, “please. Let me protect you.”

“Then protect me! But let me love you.”

Lolo shook her head. “You don’t understand….”

He caught her shoulders. “Yes, I do. Lolo, listen to me. I don’t know how much time we’ll have together, but I want to spend whatever time I do have with you, no matter how much or how little that may be."

Lolo was shaking her head through her tears, and Philige started to despair.

"Can’t you understand? Lolo, I love you! Please, let me. Please?”

Philige pulled her into a hug, holding her tight, afraid to let her go, and the resolve she’d spent most of the day building began to crumble as she sobbed into his shoulder. Shaking, she pushed Philige away again. There had to be a better way, right? There just had to be. “Philige, I want to marry you, but I need to think. I need to meditate, to clear my head and make sure I can do this. Can you give me a few minutes?”

“Lolo-”

She put her hand to his mouth to silence him. “A few minutes?”

He nodded, and Lolo crossed her legs to begin her nightly meditation. Philige had never seen her meditate at night before, and, frankly, the experience was a little overwhelming as he watched her absorb spiritual energy. Awestruck, he sat and tried to wait patiently for Lolo to finish, knowing their mutual happiness hung in the balance of her decision.

Huo Lohse allowed the Silver Wolf to feed before trying to communicate. She felt her wolf spirit relax into her chest, and Lolo began to beg.

“I need your help again.”

The Silver Wolf spirit stretched a little. “What is it?”

“I love him.”

“You mean the Bear Tribe leader.”

“Yes.”

“But you’re afraid to expose him to danger.”

“Yes. I can't let him be killed like my mother and friends were... because of me.” Lolo could feel tears running down her cheeks. “Please! There has to be a way to protect him.”

The Silver Wolf went still for a long moment, and Lolo began to fear that she couldn’t help her. “There is a way.”

“There is?!” Lolo’s relief was incalculable.

“But it comes with a hefty price. What are you willing to pay to protect him?”

“Anything.”

“If we do this, you will have to meditate longer and harder than you ever have before in your life. It will take at least three months for you to recover, if not longer, and we will be vulnerable until you do.”

“I can accept that if you can.”

"This will be extremely painful for you too. Neither of you can move until we finish.”

“I’m willing. Will you help me?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these,” the Silver Wolf shook herself and seemed oddly excited, “and never before with a non-primordial. I will help you. Make sure he knows not to move.”

The meditation ended, and Lolo moved to sit next to Philige. She could feel her wolf spirit preparing for whatever was about to come.

“Philige, I have one condition.”

“Name it!” He was so relieved that she was willing to reconsider breaking off the wedding that he was willing to agree to just about anything.

“For the next little while, no matter what happens, you cannot move.”

“Ok? What are you going to do?”

She ignored his question. “Philige this is critical. Do you understand? I may be in absolute agony, but you cannot move.”

He faltered.

“If you agree to these terms, I will marry you. If not, I have to walk away. Will you agree?”

“What are you going to do?” Philige was fearful.

“I’m not even sure,” she said, shaking her head. “But do you agree?”

“I... I agree.”

Lolo’s eyes closed involuntarily, becoming an electric green when they reopened. “Lie down.” Nervous, Philige did as he was told and Lolo worked to unbutton the top of his shirt until she could easily expose the center-left of his chest. She then copied this procedure on herself and pressed her chest to his. “Remember, no matter what happens, don’t move.”

For the first few minutes, Lolo felt like something was being slowly carved out of her chest. The pain was excruciating, and it was all Lolo could do to stay still. Watching her go through that, Philige almost broke his promise several times in an effort to help her. Each time, he was met with a harsh, “don’t move!” through gritted teeth.

As quickly as it had begun, the pain stopped. Lolo was dizzy, but it wasn’t over yet. She felt a huge surge of energy pass from her body into Philige's at the point where their chests were connected. To Lolo, it felt like her life-force was slowly being drained. Her nose began to bleed and before it was all over, she had to turn her head away to spit out the blood that had run down the back of her throat.

It ended. Her eyes turned their usual brown again. “You can move now,” she barely whispered.

Philige didn’t have to be told twice. He rolled her onto her back so he could take a look at her. She was pale and sweaty with traces of blood at the corners of her mouth and smeared under her nose where she’d tried to wipe it away, and she was exhausted. “W-what did you do? Lolo? What did you do?!”

She managed to smile at him before she passed out.

“What’s wrong with her?” An absolutely panicked Philige was hounding Jadu.

“Philige, I can’t diagnose her with you nagging me every two seconds,” Jadu finally snapped. “Physically, apart from a bloody nose and being a little pale, she seems fine.”

“But she was in so much pain!” Philige protested.

“You said that already. It would be more helpful if you could tell me something about her pain,” Jadu said. “Why was she in pain? What was she doing right before she passed out?”

“She was… I don’t know.”

“Ok. Can you describe what happened?”

Philige flushed a little but gave it a shot. “She was laying against me, her chest against mine. She made me promise not to move.”

Something flashed across Jadu’s face that Philige couldn’t read, and his hand moved to Lolo’s chest as his eyes turned blue. Jadu seemed a little panicked as his hand moved to rest against Philige’s chest. “FORTUS!”

A few moments later, Fortus walked into Lolo's room. “You called?”

Jadu looked like he might punch Fortus. “What did you tell Lolo this morning?!”

“What do you mean?”

“What. Did. You. Tell. Her?”

“I-I just warned her that she would need to be prepared to protect Philige after she married him,” Fortus held his hands up defensively.

“Well,” Jadu snapped angrily, “she found a way to protect him alright!”

Not used to seeing Jadu so worked up, Fortus stammered. “W-what do you mean?”

“Feel this!” Jadu grabbed Fortus’s hand and placed it over Lolo’s heart, waiting for Fortus to sense how weak Lolo’s wolf spirit had become and how low her spiritual energy was. “Now feel this!” He yanked Fortus toward Philige and placed Fortus’s hand over Philige’s heart.

“How is that possible?” Fortus asked, his voice trembling a little.

“Heart bond,” Jadu said through gritted teeth.

“That's not possible," Fortus gasped. "Philige’s not a primordial. I thought... I thought that was only possible between primordials!”

“Apparently not! It's definitely only advisable between primordials. It nearly killed her to do it,” Jadu snarled. “Do you have any idea how long it will take for her to recover from this?!”

Fortus cowered under Jadu’s glare.

“Heart bond?” Philige asked.

Some of Jadu's anger deflated. “According to my book, from time to time, two primordial spirit hosts will fall in love with each other and form what is called a 'heart bond' in which they exchange half of something we call their ‘vessels'-- the capacity to hold and store spiritual energy. The exchange allows each host the unique ability to manifest both their own ultimate and the ultimate of their partner. In essence, they are both capable of producing two ultimates. When a heart bond is created between two primordials, they simply make that exchange, but in this case…. There’s never been a case like this recorded before.” Jadu shook his head. “In this case, Philige, because you are not a primordial, Lolo just gave you everything-- her vessel, her energy, her power. All of it. She’s going to have to start all over from scratch.”

“Take it back!” Philige looked horrified.

“I can’t,” Jadu stated simply. “It doesn’t work like that.”

“Philige, has Lolo told you what her ultimate is?” Fortus asked, still shaking.

“No. She said she wanted to show it to me sometime.”

Jadu sat down and put his face in his hands. “She’s not going to be able to show you anytime soon.”

Fortus started pacing. “The Silver Wolf always has a defensive ultimate. In Lolo’s case, it’s a huge shield. She literally gave you the ultimate protection.”

“... and left herself completely vulnerable,” Philige continued the thought.

Fortus nodded as Lolo began to stir.

“Where am I?” Lolo’s voice sounded tired and faint.

“Your room,” Jadu said.

“Lolo, why did you do that?” Philige asked, taking her hand.

“Do what?”

“... Create a heart bond with me? Jadu said it almost killed you!”

“Is that what happened?” Lolo laughed weakly. “I thought heart bonds were only possible between primordials.”

“You rewrote the rules,” Jadu said, standing up. “How do you feel?”

“Tired,” Lolo answered honestly. “A little weak, but otherwise ok.”

“Do you have any idea how long it will take for you to recover from this?” Fortus asked rhetorically.

“The Silver Wolf told me three months, maybe longer, but I’m going to have to meditate more than usual.”

“You spoke with your animal spirit?!” Fortus seemed astounded, and so did Jadu.

“Well, yeah? Don’t you? We’ve talked about that being a thing before.”

“... Hypothetically! We’ve talked about that being a thing hypothetically! No one had actually done it at that point though!” Fortus was disbelieving. “This wasn’t the first time you’ve spoken with your wolf spirit, was it?” Fortus deduced.

“Well, no. I spoke with her right before the Wolf Tribe battle too,” Lolo confirmed.

“And you didn’t think to mention that?!”

“Fortus, leave her be,” Jadu interrupted. “Three months is ambitious for this, Lolo. It took nearly eleven months for you to get to this point.”

“But I’ve already mastered meditation, and I know that I need to meditate at night already. It will go more quickly this time,” Lolo assured him. “Besides, it was worth it.”

Jadu shook his head and smiled despite his anxiety. “Come on, Fortus. They need to talk.”

By the time her teammates had left the room, Philige was in tears.

“Philige?”

“You could have died, Lolo.”

“But I didn’t. Philige, I have to protect you. It would destroy me if something were to happen to you. You said you want to love me, right? Well, I want you to be safe. I found a way for both of us to get what we want.”

“Who is going to protect you?”

Lolo smiled and wiped his tears away. “I have the single most capable team in the world protecting me until I can recover and protect myself. Three months isn’t so very long. I’ll be ok.”

Emotional and out of things to say, Philige kissed her.

“So, how does it feel?” she asked.

“How does what feel?”

“The heart bond! All that energy contained in your chest.”

Philige had been so worried, he hadn’t stopped to think about how he felt.

“Close your eyes, relax, and tell me what you feel.”

Philige sat down on the bed next to her and took her hand. Closing his eyes, he systematically forced his muscles to release their tension. “I feel… powerful… almost like I'm invincible." He opened his eyes to see Lolo watching him closely. "Do you feel like this all the time? Is this how it feels to be a primordial?”

Lolo just smiled.