His Love

Confusion

His hand was in hers and his eyes on her face as she shook uncontrollably before him as if she were that little girl dressed as a boy and standing before him in trouble.  Her body felt so weak, yet her mind was incredibly acute to every little thing around her.  

Her seniors were all gathered there with her, her parents and brother just a few steps behind, but they may as well have been dust on the wind, because she saw nothing else but those soft honey brown eyes staring straight down into her own.

"Shifu?.....Ye Hua....." she whispered as confusion hit.  Those eyes were definitely Shifus.   He had always kept a special look in them, just for her.  Soft, gentle, kind yet firm.   His eyes told her she would never be harmed in his presence, that he cared deeply about her, that she could be her absolute naughtiest and though he would hand out punishment, it was always given grudgingly.  He just didn't have the heart to see her suffer.  

As the long years of his death passed her by, she'd had plenty of time to analyse those eyes and what they portrayed when he looked at her, but she had always considered him a father just like her own.  He saved her untold times, just like her father would have and he had nurtured her every desire just as he would have done.  

So to her confused mind, those eyes looking at her now, were definitely Shifus eyes.  

Only the confusion was all too real.  It wasn't just his choice of gown either, which Ye Hua wore only for her.  And nor was it the hair style that Ye Hua always wore, but the way he had been sitting on the platform.

"A good posture is a healthy posture.  Sitting on your knees reduces blood circulation and places undue stress and strain on your lower limbs and hinders your posture as your body grows.  And as you become acclimatized to being in the correct position, your mind will easily follow the correct way to meditation.   After all, an aligned spine, not only facilitates the movement of energy in the body, but your energy will then be heightened enough to carry your through every moment of your day."

Those were the words her Shifu had uttered the second she sat down for her very first lesson and not only did he purposely step on her toes to force her legs under her butt, but he continued to do so until she learned to sit 'in his words' correctly.

Only, he was not sitting on his butt with his robes perfectly arced around his upright form.  He had been kneeling, the same way Ye Hua sat and it was for this reason, she had raced towards him with tears in her eyes and a heart flowing with relief that he was back.

Or was he?  He was sitting where her Shifu always sat.  No one in the entire world would have dared to sit in his place.  Her disciple brothers were all there staring up at him with upmost reverence in their eyes, which none of them would have done for Ye Hua.  In fact, none of them would have allowed Ye Hua to even be sitting there, much less welcoming in visitors as if they were his own.

Xuan Yuan was there.  His sword that no one but Shifu could yield and even from where she was sitting, she could feel its immense power surging through the hall.  And that was another thing.  The mountains divine energy was back.  Only Shifu could produce the level of energy that she was also revelling in.  

Dropping his hand, she didn't know what to think or what do.  Her mind was a mess, her thoughts scattered, and her heart breaking all over again.  She had no idea how to greet this man.  

'Should I kowtow? 
Should I offer my eternal reverence for his sacrifice? 
Hug him? 
Make tea? 
Run?

Those were her thoughts as Mo Yuan knowingly smiled down at the fresh wave of tears spilling down her cheeks.   At that moment, she was an open book and the confusion only highlighted the talk they needed to have.  But seeing as there were far more visitors in the hall than he would have liked, he gently led her to the side table to sit down and compose herself.