A Trial by Halves

Eyes of Honey Brown

Kunlun Mountain dawned bright while the mists hovered at the edges as if knowing that they were not to disturb the mood of anticipation which was heavy in the air. No one on that mountain was immune to it either, least of all Bai Qian who barely slept the entire night.

Mo Yuan had wrapped her head so she could sleep comfortably, and with a little of his energy to assist her healing, she quickly made her way to the infirmary to have Chang Shan remove it and with Er Li sleeping peacefully in her chamber, there was nothing to prevent her from taking a little time to make herself as presentable as possible for when that moment came.

One that creating all kinds of images in her mind. For twenty five thousand years, he had constantly been at the back of her mind, only now, she was so nervous and barely able to breathe that the moment Chang Shan arrived to assist her, then he was walking back out again to fetch a few elixirs he had already prepared should they be needed.

Now placing the pill into her hand, he then set about removing the banadage from her head. She'd only been given three days to heal as best as possible and though she could pull her hair up to cover the scar, she knew she would have to eventually explain it. But her head wound was not on her mind as she asbsent mindedly twirled the elixir between her fingers.

"Are you going to take that relaxant or am I going to have to force it down your throat?" he asked gruffly though the sudden flicker of mirth that flared across his eyes soon had her realizing he was only teasing.

Quickly placing the pill under her tongue, she allowed it to slowly dissolve in her mouth. He had flavoured it with honey, so it was no hardship to take which normally was when it came to her and medicine, which she normally fought against.

Furtively watching her as he unravelled the bandage, he couldn't help but see the little Disciple that he still saw her as. And the memory of her sitting on the front steps waiting impatiently for Shifu to return from a week long trip away was exactly how she was looking at that moment. Back then, he was rarely able to go anywhere without her hanging off his robes, she followed him everywhere and when he went away on business, she was either getting herself into trouble or on the steps staring off into space. And the moment he came into view, she would be rushing to welcome him back with loud giggles and exuberant gushing at the little gifts he would always bring back for her.

Only now, the way she was staring off into space and looking exactly the same way, had him realizing that this Crown Prince had to be someone very special to put that look in her eyes, because he knew with absolute certainty that he and his brothers could never hope to win a look like that.

Not that he minded, because he having never met Ye Hua, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of man he was. He knew of course that he was Shifus twin and having seen his face, it was obvious. But the two men had lived completely different lives, yet he had still managed to win her love. And it was obvious that she loved him going by the way her eyes were slowly filling with unshed tears having lost herself thoroughly to her memories.

"Seventeen....." he called her name having removed the last of the bandage before checking over her wound which had healed nicely thanks to Shifus energy which he could feel coming off it. There would be a scar around the small patch of scalp that had lost a little hair, but otherwise, she could do without the bandage now.

Looking up at him, her hand quickly raised to wipe away the tears that had managed to cling to her lashes.

"Do you think he will still remember me?" she asked in a small voice and sounding so very young, that he quickly sat down beside her.

"Now why would you think he wouldn't remember you Seventeen?" he asked as his hand gently enveloped her shoulders.

It felt a little awkward, but at that moment, she clung to the embrace like a lifeline.