Taming a fox

The fox and A-Li

Weeks passed in an instant, feeling very short. The sect was peaceful and there were barely any casualties that needed to be taken care of. Quiet atmosphere that was set all around was disturbed by the sound of horse's hooves in a gallop before they stopped and a young woman dismounted.
     Qin Yaozu and Luo An were nearby at the moment so they both went to check. Qin Yaozu was the first to get there when he froze. Luo An got there just a second later and he immediately smiled widely upon seeing the person in front of them. "A-Li!" he called out as he rushed to embrace Xia Li.
     Since the last time Qin Yaozu saw her, she went from a teen girl to a woman. Her features were less childish and she has grown a bit taller. Yet, it was still her.
     Xia Li returned Luo An's smile, lifting him up the second he embraced her. "When did you get here?" she asked as she set him back down. "I didn't think I'd see you so soon." Luo An chuckled as he replied: "I happened to bump into grumpy guy over there and came here with him." 
     The, so called, 'grumpy guy' raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as he approached. "Who are you calling grumpy? And how come you're not shocked that he's alive?" he asked. Xia Li turned her attention to him, also crossing her arms. "I've met him already a long time ago," she replied. "To be precise, it was just a little after he came back to 'life'." Qin Yaozu was left speechless. His gaze swept from Xia Li to Luo An, making him immediately hide. "You're looking at me as if you want to drill a hole in my head! Calm down!" 
     Qin Yaozu looked back at Xia Li, letting the fox off the hook for now. "What brings you here? I didn't hear about you visiting ever since you left back then so why come now?" he asked her. "I recently heard that you're out of seclusion," she responded. "And this little rascal was nowhere to be found." Luo An was once again getting attacked so he moved away from behind Xia Li, unable to hide anywhere. "Woah! Why are both of you turning against me?! I'm a victim here!" he cried out as he took a few steps back. "I will not tolerate this offense! You two will pay!" Xia Li couldn't help but laugh at Luo An's dramatic reaction. She almost started rolling on the ground because of such overreaction. Qin Yaozu also wasn't able to stay with a straight face. He let out a chuckled before walking over to Luo An. "And what will you do? Bite us and give us rabies?" he mocked. Luo An's brows furrowed. "Hey! Why are you bringing that up? That's a thing of the past!" Qin Yaozu sighed at that. "Gosh, you're dramatic." Xia Li was finally done laughing and walked over to join the conversation again: "Are you two done? I want to go greet the sect leader!" Qin Yaozu gave a nod and they headed to the Niu Hall to see the sect leader.
     Qin Shihong was pretty busy lately as the emperor came over not long ago to give out a few tasks. Since the incident 9 years ago, he put much faith into the Shengkai sect and came to the sect leader personally many times to ask for favors. Xia Li walked in first, followed by Qin Yaozu and Luo An. She immediately rushed over to Qin Shihong with a smile. "Greetings, sect leader," she said, accompanied with a soft bow. Qin Shihong raised his head from all the scrolls and his face lit up. "Young lady, A-Li finally decided to come see her old sect leader? What an honor," he said with a laugh. It was obvious that he was very happy to see her. 
     Qin Yaozu, who stood nearby, didn't listen in much to the conversation. Instead, he kept his gaze on Luo An the whole time. 
     Just what happened in those past years?

When Luo An awakened as a fox spirit, he was confused and scared. He has just been killed and now he's back. He wasn't yet able to transform into his human form so he wandered around as a fox. Many people chased him away from the streets and even threw rocks at him so he moved from once city to another, until he just so happened to get to the same city as Xia Li. He immediately recognized her and rushed to her which left her confused but she didn't chase him away. She was always kind hearted so she took the poor thing to an inn she was staying at and fed him before letting him back out.
     Luo An returned every day until he was able to turn human. He leaped in through to window and only then did he transform, as he couldn't hold that form for a long time. Xia Li recognized him and pulled him into a tight embrace before he pulled away and urged to talk to her as he didn't have much time. 
     They met many other times after that. They began to investigate the current emperor and planned to take him down one day in hopes to get someone sane to be the head of the country. 
     One day, Luo An stopped showing up and Xia Li got worried, thinking that he might've been caught. Around that time, she got the news that Qin Yaozu was out of seclusion so she immediately headed to see him and possibly get his help too.

     Xia Li headed to rest right after she was done talking with Qin Shihong. Qin Yaozu headed back to his house, along with Luo An. He kept his eyes on that fox the whole time, trying to figure out what his business with Xia Li was. Luo An was unable to fail to notice those eyes fixated on him. "Are you okay? Do I have something on my face?" he asked, sweat rolling down his forehead. "It's nothing important," Qin Yaozu mumbled. Luo An immediately understood and sighed. "A-Li helped me after I came back. That's all. Don't get jealous now, I'm not stealing your girl." 
     Qin Yaozu didn't say a word and instead pulled Luo An into a kiss, leaving him breathless when he pulled away. "I don't want her stealing my man." 
     Luo An was speechless. Qin Yaozu was jealous of HER the whole time? Luo An couldn't help but laugh at that. "She's not stealing anyone! I don't think she'd even go for me when she already has someone." It was Qin Yaozu's turn to be speechless now. He sighed and picked Luo An up, carrying him to the bed. Luo An chuckled, holding onto him. "I think it's enough shocks for today. Time to sleep," he said as he laid his princess down. Luo An looked up at his prince and once again chose to be dramatic: "It's too early for that! How about we do something else instead?" Qin Yaozu grabbed a pillow and threw it into Luo An's face. "You're acting like you're in heat! Go to sleep!" Luo An rolled his eyes and threw the pillow back at Qin Yaozu. "Fine! But I want candy tomorrow!"