Choices

13 - Dinner

A/N: Our clueless, scarlet nine-tailed fox gets herself the most unlikely of teachers (because, no matter the universe, some things never change).

Also...dinner.

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Yan Chiwu is in Fanyin Valley. Fengjiu found him standing beneath the stone archway leading to Dijun's courtyard, his beautiful face looking all forlorn and even more delicate in the gathering dusk.

"Xiaoyan!" She ran up to him, pleasant surprise brightening her face, long hair whipping behind her in her haste. "You're alive! You're here! You came for me!"

At the sight of her, the dejection bled out of Yan's face, and was replaced by happiness even as ran over to meet her halfway, and placed both hands on her shoulders to look her up and down. "Xiaojiu! How are you? You aren't hurt anywhere, are you?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. So many things happened, I don't even know where to start." Grasping his hands like girls are wont to do with friends, she continued, "How did you know I was here? It must have taken much of your cultivation to enter the valley. I knew you had it in you, most powerful demon lord!"

A sheepish smile crossed Yan's face. "Urhmmmm...it's true, I did try to find you, in fact I went everyday to Ice Face's palace to demand that he tell me your whereabouts. As to how I got to Fanyin -- the gap was open and Ji Heng knew the way and I just happen to have enough cultivation to get us both in --"

Ji Heng? "She - she's here, too?"

"Well, yes." Sadness bled from Yan's face again, even as he raised an arm to scratch the back of his head in that clueless way of his. "She said Ice Face called for her, and that she had to get to him no matter what. I couldn't let her go alone, so... Ji Heng's inside his room now, I guess they need to talk in private."

"Oh." The sudden, vicious ache somewhere in the vicinity of her heart shocked Fengjiu so much that she lost her bearings for a moment. She bit her lip and pulled herself together with ruthless determination; why should she care if Donghua wanted Ji Heng here with him at Fanyin Valley? He even tossed her out of his rooms the night before, this was probably the reason.

"Hey, why are you crying?"

"Huh?" Fengjiu snapped out of her thoughts at Yan's sharp tone. She raised a hand to her cheek and was surprised to find it wet. "It's nothing."

"No, it's not!" Aghast realization crossed Yan's face, along with rising anger. "It's Ice Face, isn't it? Did he do something to you? I knew it, he couldn't be trusted..."

"No, Xiaoyan, you got it wrong! Dijun didn't do anything, okay?" At Yan's disbelieving face, she added with haste, "I'm just nervous.  You see, I finally have the chance to get the Saha fruit, but now I have to compete for it..."

"Compete? Why?"

Right. The Saha. Finding and getting it is the reason why she went into the valley in the first place, and she had better things to do than mope over something as stupid as a broken heart. Glad for the distraction, Fengjiu wiped her tears away and gave Yan short version of what happened today in her quest for the elusive fruit.