Taming a fox

The fox cries

Qin Yaozu made his way to see Luo An right in the morning, bringing a bowl of congee along with him. He stepped inside the house but he was met not only with the sight of the fox but also his shimei. Xia Li was holding Luo An's hair, brushing them gently before looking up to meet Qin Yaozu's eyes. "Morning, shige!" she greeted him with a smile. Luo An also moved his glance towards him and smiled widely. "Did you miss me that much?" he teased. Qin Yaozu glared at him. "I just brought your breakfast. Shimei why are you here?" his gaze moved over to Xia Li who kept brushing Luo An's hair the whole time. She let out a chuckle and walked over to her shixiong, handing him the brush. "I was taking care of your husband. You can finish brushing his hair."
     Qin Yaozu was about to give her a scolding but she ran away before he had the chance. He went to put the brush down when he made eye contact with the fox. His hair was still a little messy but his face was as beautiful as ever, his big black eyes shining with the slightest bit of red tint. Qin Yaozu went over to him without thinking, replacing Xia Li. He gently brushed his long ink-like hair. It was so soft that Qin Yaozu couldn't resist combing through it with his fingers a few times.
     Luo An sat obediently, his arms laying loosely on his crossed legs. "Did you just bring me the food or do you also want to talk about something?" he asked after a moment. Qin Yaozu stayed silent for a while but eventually answered: "I brought more than just that." He put the brush aside and pulled out a small bottle, handing it to Luo An. "What is this?" the fox asked. Qin Yaozu hesitated. He probably didn't know that he is the way he is because of a poison. "It's medicine," he mumbled. "You're poisoned." Luo An raised an eyebrow, confused by what he meant. "Poisoned? Are you sure?" he asked. Qin Yaozu nodded and was about to add more to it when Luo An shrugged and downed the whole bottle in one go. 
     Qin Yaozu didn't expect such reaction. His eyes went wide as he watched Luo An hand him the bottle back. This time though he seemed different. It was like his dull eyes suddenly gained a spark. Luo An also noticed a change, his brows furrowing. "I feel weird," he mumbled under his breath. His vision was a little blurry and his eyes shifted from Qin Yaozu to look down. "What kind of poison was it? Am I supposed to be like this?" he asked as he held his head. For the first time, his voice sounded genuinely nervous. Qin Yaozu put the gently patted his back.
     "You'll be alright."
     "Promise?"
     "I promise."
Luo An snuggled up to Qin Yaozu, seemingly anxious about the changes. "I don't know what's happening!" he whined. "Gege, please hold me" Qin Yaozu wrapped his arms around him, trying to calm him down. "It's okay. You're feeling emotions for the first time," he said quietly, trying not to scare the poor guy even more than he already was.
     Luo An looked up with wide open eyes. "I'm what?" he sounded very confused. It was as if he was completely lost. The only thing he felt at the moment was panic. This was all so unexpected and new! He didn't know what to do, other than trying to snuggle closer to Qin Yaozu. "You didn't feel anything because you were poisoned. That's what the cure was for." 
     It took a while before Luo An calmed down. He felt a lot of emotions that he never did before. The main ones were fear and anxiety but eventually they turned into happiness. He stayed close to Qin Yaozu and cried tears of joy. Not many people had the luck to have those be their first kind of tears they shed. Unfortunately, those same happy tears turned sad soon. There were so many things that happened in the past and they all came crashing down at the same time. The way his mother was, how the emperor treated him, all the people he had to kill came to his mind. It was worse than he could ever imagine. 
     It has been 6 years since his mother died 4 years since he became the emperor's concubine and 2 years since he killed him and ran away, yet it felt like his wounds were freshly inflicted. He remembered his mother's insult, they now hurt. He remembered the emperor's actions, they now hurt. He remembered the fact that everything that happened to resulted in him most likely getting executed soon and it now hurt. 
     He buried his face into Qin Yaozu's chest, sobbing into it as his muffled cries came out: "I don't want to die. Please don't kill me." He kept repeating those over and over again. Only now did Qin Yaozu realize that Luo An was just a scared child suppressed by that poison. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do now. What has been done, has been done. There was no way to turn back the time. He made Luo An look up at him, wiping away his tears. "There's nothing I can do about it. Stop worrying," he trying soothing him. "The medicine is just temporary and you'll soon stop being scared and won't care. You committed too many crimes for me to let you go now. Unfortunately you were unlucky in this life." 
     Luo An sniffled quietly. He really had to die? Never before did he realize that it was this scary. He looked away to avoid eye contact. "Will you hold my hand until it's over?"
     Qin Yaozu was stunned by that question. It wouldn't actually be necessary, right? The medicine will stop working in a few hours and then it won't matter. No matter how it was, he still nodded: "I will. I'll accompany you until it's over." 
     For some reason, Qin Yaozu felt bad. Luo An didn't deserve to die. 

The effects of the medicine wore off by the next day. Qin Yaozu didn't want to make Luo An's suffering longer than it had to so he came clean to his father with what his identity was and they decided to take him to the palace that very day. 
     Luo An didn't resist. He followed them obediently without having to be tied up. If the medicine still worked, he'd most likely be crying his eyes out, begging to be spared but he didn't feel the need to do so now.
     He stepped inside a carriage along with Qin Yaozu and they were soon heading towards the capital. Qin Yaozu didn't have the heart to even look at Luo An the whole time, not even speaking to him. They sat there in the suffocating silence for hours until they made it to their destination. Unfortunately, the palace guards weren't as kind as Qin Yaozu and they immediately tied Luo An up and brought him before the emperor. 
     The current emperor was the son of Emperor Taizu so the second he laid his eyes onto Luo An, he recognized him. "The sly fox failed to get away. As much as we admire your abilities, they still weren't enough to spare you from the consequences of your actions," the emperor spoke coolly, having a dark aura around him. "Since you murdered our imperial father and many innocent people, you shall be executed the first thing tomorrow. We hope it was fun while it lasted, because from now on, until the end, it'll be a living hell." 
     After he finished speaking, the guards grabbed Luo An and dragged him straight to a cell, shackling all of his limbs and locking him in there all alone. 
     This is the end.