SHe looked at his outstretched hands and wanted to go to him - and she also didn't. She looked back towards her house and up at the trees of Soulwood, silhouetted against the wildly changing colors of the sky.

"I don't want to leave my home," she said, feeling as if it would tear the heart out of her body to leave. But she took a step toward him.

The hurt was so strong that she felt it in her bones. "I'm afraid if I leave that I'll never get back. But if I stay..."

Nell reached up to try to brush the tears from her face, but they were falling too fast. She touched the tree beside her, then put her arms around it. The feeling she got back was blurred, uneasy. Even Soulwood knew it was wrong.

She stepped away and then reached out to take Wei Wuxian's hands.