spark a dream

actually acceptable

Characters: Faith Fa / Rendi Wang (can be read as platonic or romantic)

Mulan (next gen) + Starry River of the Sky

Song: 'Enchanted', sung by Taylor Swift. Song lyrics are slightly edited

There I was again tonight
Forcing laughter, faking smiles
Same old tired, lonely place

There was ANOTHER ball. Ma said she tried to stop it, but Wai Po kept insisting, so it had to be done.

No, it wasn't for her, Wai Po kept saying. It was for our Zachary, Ah Cheng, to find a suitable wife so he could lead the empire successfully. But EVERYONE in the family knew Zachary the chicken was going to ask out Viola soon (although it was more likely that Zhou Gong would put them into an eternal slumber than he would ask her out today). It obviously wasn't for Lonnie; she was content in Auradon with Jay—and school had just started again. Therefore, the event was obviously held because of Faith.

She had long since associated the Dragon Ballroom as the Bore Ballroom, where she had to stand atop the stairs as boys—and occasionally a few girls—came up those steps to try and impress her, to try and convince her that they were the perfect partner. Faith wasn't a good judge of character (that was why Mushu and Ningxia were always with her). Still, some people were actually vain enough that she could see it written all over their faces. It was pointless to host balls like these anyway; the only people who cared to attend were usually the ones in search of power. She had an automated response to combat these people—a forced smile painted on her face like the ever-joyous ladies of the court, accompanied by a small giggle upon hearing any jokes from the prospective partners—even if the joke wasn't funny. After all, she was still the golden child in her Wai Po and Wai Gong's eyes, forever the perfect porcelain doll. Forever partner-less. To be honest, she was satisfied with that—but of course, her elders weren't.

So, Faith had expected no less when Magistrate Wang (he was also known as Magistrate Tiger) showed up to the Forbidden City palace ostentatiously, clothed in an elaborate emerald robe. With his conservative views and his infamous goal to social climb, it was no wonder he was here to present his son to the imperial throne. All the nobles and officials of high social status pretended not to know of his nickname and dodgy acts to fame, and decided to turn a blind eye. Faith and her family tried to avoid them. Still, it wasn't easy when the Magistrate wanted to constantly meet with the Emperor and Empress of China.

So he was here, flaunting his riches and speaking silkily with the other nobles littered in the ballroom. Faith knew not of his son's name but suspected his behavior would be similar to his father's. She had shallow expectations of the family and wasn't prepared to raise them in any way.

Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy
Vanished when I saw your face

Imagine how relieved Faith was when she saw his son (he was introduced as Rendi Wang)'s face. Not because she knew him personally—no, it was far from that, save for a few times when she had seen him wandering around the hallways at Ever After High, she hadn't ever paid attention to him—it was the look on his face.

Priceless, Faith recalled. Absolutely priceless.

The plain boredom written on his face almost sent her into a fit of laughter—at this point, Rendi wasn't even trying to hide it. Faith still had to stifle her giggles, so she was slightly envious of the fact that nobody was paying attention to him even though he was the one being introduced. Magistrate Tiger—ahem, Wang took up the spotlight as usual.