No Light: 3 Lives, 3 Worlds , Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms AU

Part 4: Who He Was . . . Who He Is

A crumpled back, shoulders shaking as silent tears tracked down the profile of a face. That back turned towards him. Always turned away from him.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Stop! What are you doing?!"

The voice was desperate and so familiar.

Was he the one calling out? When had he ever felt such desperation? Even as a child, when he had been separated from his mother, there had been focus ... determination, but never desperation.

Heart's blood and tears mixing, until he wasn't sure of where one ended and the other began.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Continuous, until the pain of that noise drove him to near madness. But before he could do anything, before he could reach out and touch, he awakened.

Dreams and reality seemingly melded into one, leaving him fighting the cobwebs left behind. He had awakened as he always did, swiftly and silently, but the clarity of mind that came upon awakening was missing. Ye Hua felt a touch, fingers moving across his chest, and there was a gentle tugging. A gust of air blew across his bare chest, and then a pause.

His eyes flew open, widening in surprise at seeing her face so close to his. Pressing his head back into the pillow, he gazed at the woman leaning over him, waiting for her to pull back.

It seemed that surprise had frozen her into place. Her eyes widened slowly, her mouth opening slightly, as if she was about to say something, but then nothing. No words. A flush darkened her cheeks, a frown wrinkling the spot between her brows, as she pursed her lips.

Ye Hua gazed at the Goddess inches away from him, her body so close that he could feel her warmth all along the length of his body. Qing Qiu's Bai Qian. His wife to be. He felt her breath brush across his face, even as his heart beginning to pound in a surprisingly quick rhythm. For the first time in his life, he was feeling his heart react to a woman. His eyes compulsively traced the features of her face, wondering at the uncertainty growing inside of him.

"Good morning, wife," he murmured quietly, seeing outraged surprise flash in her eyes before she quickly backed up, slamming against the wall. The back of her head hit the hard surface, and he heard her muttering "not again" as she scooted a bit forward and closer to him.

She rubbed irritably at the back of her head. Looking away from him, from the hand he had reached out instinctively, she gazed down. Her eyes caught sight of her undertunic, and a ferocious frown appeared on her face. She burst out in an accusatory tone, "You took off my clothes!" Pulling the blanket up to her neck, her eyes flickered around the room before coming back to settle on him.

"Yes," he responded after a moment, noting how her fingers clutched at the blanket. "They were inconvenient." The words made perfect sense to him.

"Inconvenient?" she gasped. "Just what did you intend to do that my clothes became inconvenient?" she demanded, thunder on her brow.

"Nothing untoward," he protested, realizing the impression he had given. The blanket that had covered his chest till now fell to his waist, baring his upper torso to her embarrassed gaze.

Bai Qian's eyes took in the scar across his chest, before she turned her head away. "Cover yourself."

"I saw nothing," Ye Hua continued, gesturing absentmindedly with one hand and bringing his robes to him. Pulling them on, after a slight grimace at their state, he left the bed and turned his back to tie the robe close. "In fact, you've seen more of me right now than I saw of you."

Bai Qian, remembering she had her own powers, gestured for robes hanging in the closet across the room. She pulled them to her, donning them in quick succession. Seeing that he had turned his back to her, she made sure she was completely covered before speaking once more, "That still doesn't explain why you took my clothes off."