A Trial by Halves

A Voice in The Mirror

Southern Guangxi

Time was moving forward and for a time, minds were on only the immediate future.  Months had passed, yet there had been no sign of Ci Hang and Di Jun in all that time, and though the thought of their return was never far from their minds,  Cheng Yu, who always lived for the moment, never failed to remind the worrier of them all, that 'the here and now' was what was important.  

"Look.  If something has happened, we can look at it in two ways." she admonished Ye Hua gently, seeing as he couldn't stop himself from stressing over 'what if' scenarios in his head which only caused Lian Song to stress and Su Su to revert further into herself.

"Either they have found the answers they were looking for and need a little time to deal with it or they forgot about us." she quipped at the dour face staring straight back at her.

"Then by your summation, they have found something and we need to prepare ourselves for what that might be." Ye Hua replied as Su Su entered the main den having just put Er Li to sleep.

"Only one day has almost passed in our world, they were never going to be able to find answers in a mere day.  Realistically, it will take at least another two days so we have plenty of time to worry, and it's Er Lis first birthday in a few days, lets just focus on that.  It will be our very first celebration and I for one plan to enjoy it." she smiled as Su Su moved to sit down between them and to Lian Songs humour, she did this to prevent Ye Hua from starting an argument with a woman who never failed to take the last word whether she was right or wrong.

Watching Cheng Yu was like attending a Mortal Realm play, one never knew what was going to come out of her mouth or even whether she was acting or not, her way with words and the way she delivered them always left him feeling a little saddened because her mind was exceptionally sharp beneath the flutter of colour and chirpy smiles.  In fact she was very beautiful to watch when she manoeuvred a man who saw grey as grey and pink as pink into realizing that they were also black red and white.  

Only the look on Su Sus face, soon had his attention moving from Cheng Yu to the small Immortal turned Mortal with a keen eye.  Something was wrong, he could sense it, and though she smiled and acted as if everything was alright, he immediately noticed her flinch when Ye Hua took hold of her hand.  It was subtle but it was there and he wasn't the only one to notice.

"Su Su, we are going shopping for Er Lis birthday dinner later on today, would you like to come?" Cheng Yu asked her much to Ye Huas annoyance who wanted to be the one to ask seeing as they had so few outings and also seeing as if she was slipping into herself a little more which he couldn't help but notice.

"It's alright, I think I will stay here and finish the decorations." she replied much to the shock of everyone there.  Outings were so rare, so to turn one down did not seem like Su Su at all especially seeing as she loved going out and there was always a play to enjoy at the end of it.

"That's fine Su Su, then how about helping me to choose the menu." Cheng Yu suggested before jumping up and taking hold of her other hand before forcing her off the sofa and into the kitchen before Ye Hua could say anything.  Cheng Yu had noticed the slight decline in the womans disposition and though she couldn't quite pinpoint exactly when it had started, they were all aware that something was wrong with her.

"Er Li eats anything, he has Ye Huas appetite, you don't need me to help you choose his menu Cheng Yu, he will eat whatever we place in front of him." Su Su insisted though a quick look back towards the main room and a look on her pretty face that Cheng Yu decided she didn't like, saw the door shut gently and Su Su pulled down onto a stool facing her.

Su Su was a small dainty woman who looked like a soft breeze would knock her over, but she seemed to have lost weight, she looked tired and though Er Li could be demanding, they all ensured that she got a good break from him every day.  And as she looked down at the hands that were fidgeting in her lap, Cheng Yu knew then that something was very wrong with this woman.