His Gift to Her (Mary Sue Series)

Final Chapter: A Happy Dream

Flashback

Little Qui twisted the leather pieces in her hands her father had given her from his workshop to play with. Her short legs swung idly from the tall stool she was placed on, far too small to reach the floor.

A low hum of a soft melody perked her ears up. Qui giggled as she realized the humming was from her father who worked diligently at his drafts for his next puzzle series. She loved watching him work, and his tools were so fascinating to her wide eyes.

Her mother was in the kitchen, folding homemade dumplings for dinner. Qui was excited; her mother only made pork dumplings when Uncle Igo was coming over!

A set of heavy footsteps approached the front door, and then, "I'm here!" came through the door, following by a knock. Qui curiously turned from her stool, watching her mother rise from the kitchen and open the door. Just as her mother started to greet the guest, Qui was swooped up into a hug by her father.

"Look who it is, Qui-chan," her father said excitedly, resting her on his hip, over his dusty apron. "Do you remember who this is?" They watched as her mother and the guest embraced each other briefly.

The tall man turned towards Qui, removing his mask as he did so, a gentle smile on his face. "Remember me?"

Qui always thought her parents were so silly. "It's Uncle Igo!" She cheered, leaning towards him, out of her father's arms. Thankfully, her uncle reached forward and cradled her in his arms, while her father released her.

"That's right! It's your Uncle Igo!"

Qui's mother laughed, coming over to wrap her arms around her husband. "Why don't you come in and sit in the garden? I'm almost done with dinner."

"Play with me, play with me!" Qui demanded, wiggling in her uncle's arms.

"Oh, good karma! I don't know if I have the energy to play right now," he responded, as he pretended to trip over himself. Qui squealed in laughter as they landed on the ground, completely unharmed, and her uncle being the funny man he is.

"Story then!" She said, patting his head.

"A story?" he groaned in agony. After a moment, he suddenly leaped to his feet. "I can tell you a story!"

"Sto-ry! Sto-ry!" She chanted, as he picked her up.

"It seems we're in agreement; a story it is! Let's see...let's sit over here."

Uncle Igo carried her over to the open porch, just outside the kitchen. He sat down, legs crossed, and let her sit on his crossed legs.

"Alright, where should I start?"

"You start at the beginning, duh," Qui said, as her uncle unrolled a long piece of paper and pen.

"Well, yes, I supposed you're right! Okay, then this one is called 'The Lady or the Tiger.'

"Once an upon a time, there was a justice system that was just downright stupid. If you're a criminal, you get thrown into an arena."

"What's an arena?" Qui asked.

"It's a place where people fight. We have one, you know."

"Really?"

"Yup. In this arena, you are shown two doors, both equally big and identical. Behind one of the doors is a beautiful lady and another is a hungry tiger. If you pick a door and there's a beautiful lady behind it, you get married right away and all your crimes are forgiven."

Qui looked confused. "Why?"

"Because that was the rule," he explained. "And if you picked the other door with the tiger behind it, you get eaten alive."

"Wait, you can pick the tiger or the lady?" Qui asked, confused. 

"Nope. You don't know which door is which. You have a 50% chance of either getting married and live or get eaten alive."

"So then what happened?"

"So the king of this stupid justice system had a daughter. She fell in love with a poor man. When the couple was caught kissing, the king was so mad, he threw the poor man in prison. The next day, the poor man was taken to the arena to be given his judgment.

"The poor man is shown two doors, both equally identical. Up in the stands, the king and the princess are watching. The princess knows which door has the tiger and which one has the beautiful lady. So the poor man looks up at the princess as if telling her to choose his fate.

"Either the princess lets him get married to another woman and live, or she can let him get eaten by a tiger and keep his love and devotion to herself. The choice was hers."

"So what did she do?" Qui asked. Uncle Igo smiled.

"She moves her hand to the right, signaling the poor man to pick the door on the right, and that's how the story ends." He stopped, looking down at his niece.

"Wait, that's it?!" she cried in outrage. "That's the worst story I've ever heard of!"

"Yeah, it's pretty bad for me too," Uncle Igo sighed defeatedly. "I had to listen to my mentor tell me this story and tell me that the ending was for the reader to decide. It was abysmal. Whoever wrote this story must be a demon. He doesn't tell you how the story ends, but he tells you the two endings for the story. But neither ending is a happy ending, where the princess and the poor man stay together."

"That's so horrible," Qui muttered. "Which ending do you like better?"

Uncle Igo scrunched up his nose. "Neither. Both are so unhappy."

"Dinner's ready!"

"You hear that? Dinners ready!" Immediately, the disappointment faded and they went back inside.

Later that night, after Uncle Igo tucked Qui into bed, Noriaki sat the table, a heavy folder before her. Uncle Igo sat down at the table, joining her.

"It's been such a long time since I've seen her" he sighed, dragging the folder over and opening it up. "Qui-chan seems well; better than last time I saw her with a running fever and headache."

"The medicine you gave us seems to be working," Noriaki replied, pouring him tea. "That seal on her eyes seem to have stopped giving her discomfort. She told me the other day that it didn't hurt her eyes anymore to read books."

"Good. Then all seems in order. Keep me updated on her health and any reactions that she may have towards the seal. It's still too early to relax. We have to be on guard," Uncle Igo ordered, looking through the folder.

Qui's eyes snapped open, and she scrambled to sit up in bed, looking around the room frantically. It was still nighttime, but Qui could still see the ink markings on her skin under the moonlight. 

Realizing that she was still living in her enslaved position, Qui screamed. 

The End.