Mixed Robes [FengQing]

One Time for the Present, Two Times for the Past

"Forever will the waters of the Yangtze flow strong

And forever will my love for you last.

Will you promise to stay with me

As I have promised to live and die alongside you, my love?"

Yulan looked over Lian's shoulder as Lian composed random poetry, writing them down on paper. Lian's brush glided over the paper, and neat handwriting formed beautiful characters under that brush. She had just read one aloud with an amused voice, one of Lian's endless poems. 

"Hush. Don't read it aloud. You know my face is thin, and it's only going to embarrass me," Lian scolded, nearly jabbing the ink-soaked brush at Yulan. Yulan leaned her head onto Lian's shoulder, having to bend over because she was standing right behind her.

"Alright. Keep writing, I want to see what else you'll create," Yulan said. Rolling her eyes, Lian continued to glide her brush over the paper. Yulan gently embraced Lian's shoulders from behind and watched Lian's steady and quick hand. Lian's handwriting was much better than Yulan's. It was obvious where she got that from. 

Soon, Yulan got bored. Lian was running low on ideas for poems, and her hand slowed. 

"A-Yu, you look happier these days," Lian said. Yulan turned her head and rested it by Lian's ear.

"I'm always happy when I'm with you," Yulan said. An expected response.

"Ever since you came back from visiting your Diedie and A-Die, you looked like you had accomplished a big feat. What'd the three of you talk about?" Lian asked. She just wanted to know the source of Yulan's excitement and a considerably large amount of happiness. 

"It's not much. We just had a small conversation," Yulan replied with a small smile. Lian pressed her lips into a flat line. It wasn't in her place to press for more, so she'd probably never know what made Yulan so happy. Lian placed her brush down and stretched. She yawned and stood up from her seat. In Yulan's eyes, she saw the shadow of the childhood friend in her lover. When they were younger, they would mess around and play with each other so much, to the point where Lian would come back with mud and dirt all over her. One day when they were younger and hadn't met yet, Hua Cheng was teaching Yulan how to take care of a silver butterfly.

"A-Die, it's so shiny!" Yulan said, beaming as her little hands held out to touch it. The silver butterfly flapped its wings and flew in circles around Yulan. Hua Cheng had an amused expression as he watched his daughter run around and chase the butterfly. 

"Yu-er, don't run so fast. You might trip and scrape yourself," Hua Cheng warned, following behind Yulan at a small distance. Yulan stopped in her tracks, and the silver butterfly landed on the top of her head. Soon, they heard footsteps coming from the direction of Puqi Shrine.

"Crimson Rain Sought Flower," someone said. It was Feng Xin, with Mu Qing holding a little Lian in his arms. Yulan shuffled over to her A-Die, clinging to his thighs.

"A-Die, who are these cool people?" Yulan asked, looking up at her A-Die with curious eyes. Hua Cheng picked her up and held her close.

"Just Diedie's friends. Look, they have a friend you can play with. Go ahead and greet them," Hua Cheng said, patting her back. He was quite courteous because he didn't want to be a terrible role model for his young daughter. The silver butterfly atop Yulan's head flew into her small hand, and she held it as she peered curiously at the new friends who were visiting.

"Generals. I assume you're here to meet gege?" Hua Cheng asked, approaching them. Puqi Shrine was right behind them, so he nodded his head towards their home. 

"Yes. We're also here to introduce our A-Lian to your Xiao-Yulan," Feng Xin replied. Little Lian peered at Yulan, then held Mu Qing's arm. Mu Qing looked at Lian with a small smile and tugged at a small area of her robes.

"Go ahead. Greet Hua-qianbei and Yulan-jiejie," Mu Qing whispered. Lian shimmied her little body to turn and respectfully face Hua Cheng and Yulan.

"Hello, Hua-qianbei. Hello, Yulan-jiejie," Lian said in a meek voice. Yulan beamed at her and jumped out of Hua Cheng's arms to shuffle over to Mu Qing and Lian.

"Hello! I heard that your name is Lian. Hello, Lian-meimei!" Yulan said, looking up at Lian. Mu Qing put Lian down and patted her shoulder. Yulan held out her hand with the silver butterfly, and Lian's eyes widened.

"Wah! So pretty!" Lian marveled, her little eyes shining. The little butterfly flapped its wings as if it were happy. Yulan giggled, and they began to play around with each other, running and chasing each other.

Neither Yulan nor Lian would forget their first meeting when they were both naive and so young. Over a decade and a half had passed, and look at how far they've come. Years of friendship, ascension, and becoming lovers. They wouldn't forget their first passionate entanglement, their first kiss. 

Lian smiled at Yulan, a beautiful sight. The sun shone through the window and directly at her back, giving off a godly aura. She held out her hand and beckoned Yulan to come outside with her. Yulan grasped her hand tightly and trailed behind Lian as she dragged her outside.

Lian and Yulan were in Mu Qing and Feng Xin's house in the woods, alone with just the two of them. Lian grew up here some of the time and knew the landscape like the back of her hand. She winded through the trees and led Yulan to an unassuming pond. 

The scenery around the pond was dream-like and beautiful, with willows surrounding the area and small bushes of fragrant flowers growing right next to the water. There was a small waterfall, the water rushing over the rocks like they had something urgent to attend to. The water was clear, yet the pond was somewhat deep. One could see spiritual carp swimming around if they looked hard enough. Lian turned around to cup Yulan's face in her hands.

"Isn't it pretty here?" Lian asked, pecking a kiss on Yulan's lips. With a burst of energy, Yulan pulled the both of them into the pond. Soon, their robes were soaked, and their limbs were just as entangled as their robes. They held each other's faces and laughed.

"Not as beautiful as you," Yulan replied with her most expected response. Gazing at each other's faces, they leaned in to steal a long kiss from their most loved one.

And perhaps, just like they always had, they would never be able to part.

-fin-

Mu Qing and Feng Xin, behind a nearby tree: Aw, so cute.

Feng Xin: Hey, why'd the story start with us and end with them?

Mu Qing: Nobody knows. It's not a terrible thing, though. A story within a story.

Feng Xin: And it ends just like that?

Mu Qing: Maybe. 

Feng Xin: Huh.

Mixed Robes -fin-