Rosa: A Wangxian Reincarnation Story

Strategic Engagement

Ming sat, surrounded by those she loved, held tightly in Lan XiChen's unbreakable embrace. She still looked the same, as he did, having also chosen to come back in his old form this time around. She had been in her old form for her entire time in the underworld, only changing during her only reincarnation in the Black Hills.

"I was set to work after the time of punishment in hell . Even though I had not committed suicide my crimes were many and heavy." Her head bowed a moment.

"You do not need to tell us anything you do no not want to, My General," interjected Yenay.

"No. I have nothing to hide, really." She continued. " So I became a Reaper. I was forbidden to escort any of you because, no matter the circumstances, no matter how short the time. It would have been a brief and unearned blessing for me. And our bond would have been so great that memories would have leeched through that blank nothingness. " She glanced up at Lan XiChen, eyes full of love. "Especially if I had been sent to guide you, My Wang Menquin." He smiled back, unable to release her yet.

"Are they through this time?" He paused to clear a lump of worry in his throat. "We do not need to be separated for a while, again?"

"No. I have cleared my tally with Hell. If I must fight to defend those I love, I will. But no more killing as a career. Never again.

That brings me to another point, and then I will speak no more of the past centuries. I will live only in the present. I did meet Xue Yang in that... place... several times, listened as he gloated of his tortures he inflicted on you and Yenay, everybody here. How he wanted to feel that pleasure again. He was reincarnated at the same time I was, and I was aware of his plans to find you all again. I had hoped to find a way to warn you. But they always wipe you clean when you become a Reaper. (Makes sense. Do you need to escort the dead and taint them with the heavy burden of your sins? You are there to help them through the confusion and fear.) I decided, that when I had done my time below, I would also retain my memories and search, hopefully finding you before he struck out at you. I tried to convince them to keep him there. But who was I to be listened to, just one of a million sinners?

He had fulfilled his punishment, and was released. He was too unstable to be a Reaper, not with his unfixable sadistic tendencies. I know, as with all souls, he was given the option of wiping clean or remembering. He could not give up his twisted obsession and chose to remember. And the gods could not get over their fascination with him in turn. He is like some high school science experiment gone wrong. He is as trapped as we are in this thing. For them. he is merely an aberrant germ they could not understand and they kept sending him back as if they were observing his extreme behavior in order to catalogue him or something." She looked at their faces, sickened and saddened. Then that was all this was, another school term in this unique lab they had created?

She continued quickly in order to distract them "After I learn he would be born in the United States. I made a plan to go there one day, no matter where I found myself. So, even though I was born in China again, I studied English and came to the states to teach. I went from college to college and finally got my first professorship here at UVA. Then I went to see Rosa and I recognized the voice during the opening credits. I have been watching you ever since. Unsure of how to approach you. Unsure I was even worthy of doing that again. I snapped today. Could not take it any longer. I needed to take to the skies again and let the joust and the fresh air cleanse me. I thought I could fly away and come back when I felt stronger, but... " her lips trembled and Lan Xi Chen gathered her closer.

"I just could not resist looking into your eyes again and I lost my intentions at first glance."

"I am glad. I was finding this lifetime hard to endure without you. All of these lovebirds flocking towards one another...there is only so much a mortal man can abide. This last year especially was like walking through maple syrup. Slow, tedious, and unbearably sweet!" His brother reached over and thumped his head.

"Ow! It's the truth!. Everyone's third wheel, over and over again.' Oh, XiChen? What do I do? What if he doesn't remember? Oh XiChen, will he like me as a redhead? Oh, XiChen am I handsome enough for him? It was never-ending."

Ming burst into laughter. She could not stop. She laughed until her sides ached, laughed until the tears started and fell like a typhoon, endless and unable to ease. Her face was buried in XiChen's chest and he motioned everyone away, pulled her into his lap, and draped an extra throw over their heads, cocooning themselves and affording her the privacy they needed as she fell apart. They could hear his deep voice, soothing and consistent as he murmured words of love that only the two of them were privy to.

Nie Huaisang rose and softly said. "A perfect time for a hike, I think. Let's head to the creek and catch some crawdads or something."

Lan Wangji said, " One moment."

He went to the SUV and removed the pop-up tent they usually traveled with. It was open in a few minutes, staked securely under a large tree for shade. He laid blankets inside with an extra bottle of wine from his French vineyards and one of the food hampers. A note was attached, 'Gone for three hours. Relax!' The others smiled their approval and it earned him a kiss from Wei Ying that promised his reward when they got back home.

XiChen's sharp hearing picked up the muted rustling of heavy nylon and the sound of stakes being driven into the ground. He heard them leave and as she finally began to ease and the sobs grew less, he removed the blanket, stroking the straight black fall of silken hair, in a light rhythm, settling her frayed nerves until she sighed and opened her raptor-like eyes. He had given Lan Zhan his handkerchief earlier so he wiped her face with his sleeve, marveling at the original beauty of her features and those loving and fierce eyes that gazed back. He fought within to control himself as desire began to fill him but it was useless. And she read him like a map. She knelt up and kissed him. His lips parted and she led her invasion, as her tongue slipped within, seeking territory already well explored in the two lifetimes that they had been allowed together. They drank deeply, barely seeking air. She rose and drew him up with her and as they climbed high, the clothing they wore began to fall, fluttering down like leaves, to the forest floor as they swirled, unencumbered, pale skin gleaming in the southern sunlight above the canopy of oak, maple, dogwood. They allowed gravity to bring them down carefully again and they stood on the solid ground staring at one another's perfection He reached out and traced her strong shoulders inward to the collarbone, down the breastplate, his brown eyes smoldered under upswept brows, hot like coals, following the reclaiming hand. Her own eyes had closed with his first touch and she leaned in slightly as he cupped a breast and her teeth seized her bottom lip as a low moan escaped. the hands followed downward and grasped her lower back, pulling her closer, trapping his erect and perfect hardness between them. She gasped as it lay trapped against their flat bellies and she began a slow movement, rocking side to side. Her hands grabbed his rounded, firm cheeks and pulled his pelvis tighter against her as she rocked very insistently, making him harden even more.

They broke and ran for the tent, falling into the quilts. The slow and careful reintroduction was gone and she fell on her back, legs spread and open. Her eager hand grasped him, felt him huge and ready. Ravenous, she placed him at her opening, and he thrust forward in one movement, her scream of pleasure ripping the quiet forest apart. Their love-making moved from exploration to a savage and primal need to feel. To feel owned, to feel alive again, to feel at home, to feel loved. To feel invincible as a couple once more, capable of victory over anything and anyone. They set about conquering one another. Advancing, retreating, no quarter given by either as they filled one another. Engagement after engagement, until both sides claimed victory and lay exhausted, chests heaving. After a minute, or ten, she sat up and said,

"I am starving."

He laughed out loud and sat as well.

"Me, too."

They dived into the hamper, stuffing themselves quickly, drinking the wine left for them, and then simultaneously, wiped their mouths with the back of their hands and belched. They looked at one another and began to laugh again. Everything seems surreal and outrageous and large to them.

He pushed the hamper aside.

He grinned and she grinned back.

He said, "I want more."

She said, "Me too."

He laid down, his long frame stretched out in anticipation. And she advanced, strategy forming as he waited for her attack.