"Yes... he was very clumsy. His techniques weren't even better than mine, but I just liked that awkward side of him," Yuandai said, looking genuinely happy.
Lora stared at her, then solemnly took a step back in respect.
Although Furina and Focalors did not know why she had suddenly reacted that way, they followed her lead and stepped back as well.
Focalors asked, "Lady Egeria, why are we backing away?"
"To honor a great woman who gave everything for love!" Lora looked at Yuandai and said it with a perfectly serious expression.
Hearing that, the two girls straightened up as well and looked at Yuandai with admiration.
Xianyun turned back to the three of them. "Enough joking around."
"Yes!" Lora immediately nodded, instantly pretending to behave.
"..."
Yuandai looked at Xianyun and asked, "Cloud Retainer, I have a question... You found me long ago, so why didn't you bring me back to Mt. Aocang? Why did you tolerate my mistake instead?"
Xianyun looked at her and sighed. "I never considered it a mistake. It was simply your choice. As your teacher, I respected that. If you wished to leave, then you could leave. If you wished to return, then you could return as well."
"Cloud Retainer... thank you." Yuandai looked deeply moved.
Xianyun sighed helplessly and continued, "You should understand that the Soul-Awakening Pill can only sustain you for a few decades. Now that your forgetfulness has become this severe, it means the pill is slowly losing its effect..."
"I know... This is the consequence I should bear myself." Yuandai nodded, neither surprised nor agitated.
The only thing she could not bear was parting from Shuyu.
"Miss Xianyun... what do you mean by that? What will happen to Grandma?" Shuyu looked at Xianyun nervously, clutching Yuandai's hand tightly, afraid something might happen to her.
"Don't worry... Grandma will be fine." Yuandai ruffled her hair and comforted her.
But Shuyu did not believe those words. She looked at Xianyun again and asked, "What will happen to her later?"
Xianyun looked at the girl, then slowly said, "I can help her return to being an ordinary crane. If fate allows, perhaps one day in the future, she may regain her awareness."
"So after everything Madame Yuandai went through, she'd just become an ordinary crane?" Furina muttered. "That's so sad..."
Xianyun was helpless too. "This is already the limit of what I can do."
"Let me help." Lora looked at Xianyun, rolled her wrists, and said, "With me here, I can preserve her human form."
"...I almost forgot who you are."
Xianyun looked at Lora with some surprise, but she did not immediately let her act. Instead, she asked, "Will there really be no problem? I remember Fontaine's troubles began because you created people without permission, didn't they?"
Even in this situation, she was still worried Lora would be affected.
Lora smiled and shook her head. "Please. I'm not who I used to be. Back then, creating a person really would have gotten me locked away again. But now, I'm the acting Sustainer and acting administrator of Celestia. Fixing one human body is no problem at all."
"If you're certain there will be no issue, then I'll leave it to you," Xianyun said after listening to her.
In the end, she did not want Yuandai to simply return to being a crane who knew nothing.
But she did not have the ability to forcibly preserve Yuandai's human form. Now that Lora was here, however, there was a way.
Lora looked at Yuandai and said, "This may hurt a little. Bear with it for a bit, all right?"
Yuandai looked at Shuyu, then at Xianyun, and finally at Lora. She nodded firmly and said, "Whatever pain comes with it, I can endure it. This time, I won't disappoint anyone."
Lora looked at her and slowly breathed out.
She raised both hands, and the power of the Primordial Sea slowly flowed from her palms.
Pinkish-blue seawater circled around Yuandai, then slowly merged into her body.
In truth, this was different from when Lora created the Fontainians. Oceanids could naturally transform into other forms. Lora had only used Primordial Sea water to create human bodies for them, allowing them to truly become human.
Yuandai's body, however, already existed. It simply could no longer be maintained by her own power.
Creating a new body for her would require drawing her soul out of her current body and placing it elsewhere, which might harm her instead.
So Lora believed the best method was to transform Yuandai's current body directly and remove its flaws.
While doing so, she also cleared away the damage within Yuandai's soul.
Time slowly passed. The sun sank toward the west, and when the pinkish-blue seawater finally dispersed, Yuandai appeared before everyone again.
The elderly Yuandai was gone.
In her place stood the woman she had been when she first took human form.
"I... How did I turn back into this?" Yuandai stared at her hands in disbelief.
Her palms were no longer withered, but fair and delicate.
Lora said, "Primordial Sea water contains an extremely powerful life force. After being washed in that vitality, it's only natural for your body to return to its former appearance."
"Grandma, you're so beautiful now!" Shuyu looked at her excitedly. "This is the first time I've ever seen you like this!"
"Thank you, Lady Lora. And thank you, Cloud Retainer!" Yuandai thanked them both.
Xianyun shook her head. "There is no need to thank me. This is your own fate. Meeting Lora was also your good fortune."
Not everyone could happen to meet a Hydro Archon like Lora.
Yuandai looked at Xianyun, then at her granddaughter, before saying, "Cloud Retainer... I would like to ask you to take Shuyu as your disciple."
"You want Shuyu to become my disciple?" Xianyun looked at her in surprise, not expecting such a request.
"I couldn't be the disciple I should have been," Yuandai said earnestly. "If you are willing, I hope Shuyu can learn from you in my place."