Red Strings (Xiao x Reader)

Book 1 of a three part series.
~~
What exactly is Xiao wrestling with?

Some say he is fighting against his past. Old grudges, unfulfilled dreams, unsettled debt.

Others might answer that he fights an endless war against the hateful remains of defeated gods from the Archon War. A fight that is endless and can never be won.

Both of these suggestions are true, but neither is a complete answer, for there is one fragment of his tale which Xiao has never revealed even to many of the adepti.

Because even a being like him was once a carefree soul. Someone who believed in fate, love, someone who desired to be with another. Someone who had a hope for the future.
...
Sometimes, on moonless nights, under the shelter of the shadows, Xiao would let this long forgotten name slip from his tongue, into the silence of the night.

"(Y/N)."