The ceremony was grand—fire dancers, volcanic chants, golden lanterns floating into the night sky. People celebrated as though the war had never happened. They cheered for unity. For new beginnings.
Bao Bao stood beside Naelith beneath the blazing Sunspire.
Their hands were bound by ribbons of glowing silk—a traditional symbol of shared duty.
He whispered to her during the vows:
> "I will respect you.
Even if I cannot yet give my heart."
Naelith nodded once.
> "Respect is enough.
It is more than many marriages have."
She did not smile.
Neither did he.
The crowd erupted when they were officially bound.
But the two newlyweds felt like strangers wearing crowns they did not choose.
That night, in the royal chamber, no passion filled the air. No closeness. No romance.
Instead, Naelith sat at one end of the room, gazing at the molten river below the balcony. Bao Bao removed his ceremonial armor and joined her, sitting a respectful distance away.
For several long minutes, they simply listened to the slow pulse of the volcano.
Finally, Naelith spoke.
> "You do not have to pretend with me, Bao Bao."
He exhaled.
> "You were forced into this as much as I was."
She gave a tired nod.
> "I was raised to serve the Ember-Eye prophecy.
To marry for power, not affection.
I did not expect anything else."
Bao Bao leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
> "Maybe we can build trust.
And in time… friendship."
This time, Naelith allowed the smallest, faintest smile.
> "Then let that be our beginning."
The two of them talked through the night—about their clans, their fears, the weight of leadership. They spoke with honesty, even vulnerability.
No closeness of body.
Just the beginning of closeness of understanding.
They slept in separate quarters, but with one shared truth:
Though they did not choose love, they could choose respect.
So because of this they couldn't consummate their marriage with joy.
The room had already been arranged for them when it was time to consummate their wedding, Bao Bao and Naelith knew that they had duties to fulfill si they had no other choice.
Bao Bao leaned in to kiss her, then he took her to the bed removed her clothes, he actually enjoyed better than any girl he had slept with and being her first time he took it gently after their fore play.
He thrusted his dick into her vagina due to their lackk if love he didn't actually waste time on her.
Life did not transform magically.
Bao Bao and Naelith lived with polite distance to preserve peace in the palace. Their conversations were formal, careful, and brief—until they slowly began to soften.
They trained together. Reviewed reports together. Listened to council debates side by side.
No one outside the palace walls knew how fragile or complicated their bond truly was.
But Naelith saw Bao Bao's exhaustion when he thought no one watched.
And Bao Bao saw the weight Naelith carried from the expectations of her clan.
They began sharing tea late at night. Walking the palace gardens to escape the noise of politics. Laughing, rarely—but more often as months passed.
It wasn't a romance.
Not yet.
But it was a partnership.
And in Firelonia, that was powerful.
---
When Naelith first felt the sharp pull of labor, the sky outside the palace turned gold.
Not sunrise gold.
Prophecy gold.
A glowing arc split across the heavens like a second sun awakening.
The Sarurama scholars panicked.
The Ember-Eye elders fell to their knees, chanting ancient lines.
Bao Bao ran to Naelith's side, fear and resolve crashing together.
She gripped his hand tightly—not out of love, but out of trust.
> "Bao Bao… the child… he comes with the fire of the sky."
The palace shook with a soft tremor.
The ancient magma runes beneath the throne lit up one by one.
A pulse.
Another.
Like a heartbeat.
The queen's chambers glowed with warmth—not dangerous, not burning—just a radiant aura that felt older than the clans.
When the newborn's first cry echoed across the chamber, the flames bowing along the walls flared in response.
A child swaddled in shimmering gold fabric. Eyes barely open. Tiny sparks flickering harmlessly around his fingertips.
Saku Hamato.
Bao Bao lifted him with trembling hands.
The world seemed to still.
Naelith smiled—gently, exhausted.
> "He carries both our flames."
The elders whispered:
> "The Returning Flame is born."
The magma beneath the palace pulsed in perfect rhythm with the child's heartbeat.
And the prophecy carved in the ancient stone glowed for the first time in centuries:
> "The first flame unites the world.
But the returning flame will decide its fate."
Bao Bao looked down at his son.
Strength. Fear. Hope.
All swirling in his chest.
> "Saku… little flame…
Your arrival will change everything."
And somewhere deep beneath the palace, hidden in the molten shadows, a hooded figure whispered:
> "Yes, Sun-King.
Everything."