Aftermath (A series of ELOD one-shots)

XIV. Ruminations

A/N: The possessive, overprotective, overzealous old man we have all been waiting for. :p

A peek into His Majesty's thoughts, one of the most difficult heads to get into. I'm not sure if the emperor will approve of my efforts, or slice me with the Cang'he and throw me all the way to Lingshu Terrace for the double-winged, white-headed tiger to feast upon.

At any rate, I hope that you, dear readers, will be more merciful and find enjoyment in this chapter.

Disclaimer: Artwork not mine, credit (and my admiration) goes to the artist and the owner.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Long after Zheyan left, he remained sitting by his family's bedside, lost in deep thought like he hadn't been in a long, long while.

Gungun sneezed; he reached out to softly brush away a stray piece of fur that found its way to the little silver fox's snout. Beside his son, Xiaobai knit her brows and whimpered softly; he leaned forward to smooth away the frown on her brows and gently tucked away a few wayward strands of hair from her face.

This was a close call.

The sight that met him in the middle of the Western Sea still burned behind his eyelids: Xiaobai flying through the air from the force of the xiangliu's strike, Gungun's little form leaping without thinking from within the Tiangcang Cage in an attempt to catch his falling mother. A second too late, and the cyclone would have swept the two of them away, and he would be now emptying the Four Seas a hundred times over in search of them.

Certainly, this was not the first time that Xiaobai had gotten into a life-and-death situation throughout the years. She had been in far worse condition inside the Dream of Aranya, and when she jumped into the starlight ward to die with him at Fanyin Valley. Finding trouble and learning how to get out of them is his Xiaobai's way of growing up, and he had long resigned himself to the duty of keeping her alive and intact through it all.

But Aranya's Dream and the Hyuiming Realm incidents were all circumstantial, unintentional mishaps. The first was the offshoot of a romantic misunderstanding, an unfortunate situation with a silver lining, one that ultimately paved the way for them to finally be together. On the other hand, Hyuiming Realm, aside from its obvious universal significance, could be seen as the ultimate test and a determinative show of defiance against Destiny that seemed bent on tearing the two of them apart.

But the xiangliu incident -- that was deliberate. Someone had plotted to cause trouble, and in the process hurt the only people in the universe that he held dear to his heart. Whether Xiaobai and Gungun were the real target or merely caught in the crossfire is immaterial; his family had been harmed, and Donghua Dijun had taken offense.

For thousand of years he had been apathetic to the universe at large, indifferent to anything and everything save the most cataclysmic of crises. Had he been too uncaring and distant? Is it time to abandon his chosen life as a recluse, and be involved once again in the matters of the realms?

He could be bothered to do so, if that is what it takes to keep Xiaobai, Gungun, and the little one safe.