Aftermath (A series of ELOD one-shots)

X. Letting Go (Part 2)

A/N:  A familiar, well-loved character makes an appearance for an angsty, sweet rumination of sorts.

Disclaimer: The lovely, diabetes-inducing, squeal-worthy pic above not mine.  Credit goes to the rightful owner.

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(a.k.a. how Lord Cang'yi smartly stayed out of Dijun's notice and lived a long, happy life)

Time, as the oft-quoted saying goes, heals all wounds. But while healing is a matter of time, it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.*

Cang'yi Shenjun of Zhi Yue Mountain is a practical, level-headed immortal, known for his calm demeanor and just hand. Although fairly young, his accomplishments and unassailable reputation are widespread across the realms, earning him the respect of his peers as well as the regard of the older generation.

It is thus a foregone conclusion that someone of Lord Cang'yi's stature would want for nothing, certainly not in the matters of the heart, what with his handsome looks and exceptional talents. That should have been the case, but Fate is fickle, and the heart is more often than not a stubborn little thing.

He had not thought of her for several hundred years, not since he last saw her during her Bingcang ceremony, and received the greatest shock of his life at the revelation that occurred towards the end of it. Being a proper gentleman, he had accepted his loss gracefully, returned home, and took down the portrait of her that he had hung up in the walls of his palace, lest people misunderstand his intentions and spread rumors that may cause unnecessary assumptions and possible confrontations.

(Cang'yi Shenjun is in no way a coward, but he knows his limitations, and going head-to-head with the formidable Master of the Holy Blue Sea is not something he could possibly survive from.)

Lord Cang'yi, of course, had received an invitation (who hasn't?) to her wedding banquets, both the one held in Bihai Cangling and the lavish 200-day celebrations that took place several hundred years later. He did not attend, for while he is a gentleman, he is in no way a martyr. Why court pain and regret when they can be conveniently avoided?

But just this morning, as he was strolling along the lush gardens of Jiuchongtian on the way to watch a play as part of the festivities for Tianjun's ascension anniversary, he saw her.

She is even more beautiful than he remembered. Cang'yi stared, mesmerized, as she flew gracefully through the air, elegance personified, beating the taowu to submission with a single stroke of her sword. Her beauty had only been enhanced by time, the innocence of her youth now carrying tones of sophistication, giving her the allure of a mature, self-assured woman. And when she spoke -- there was a sparkle in her eyes and laughter in her voice, hallmarks of a woman well-loved, cared for, and dearly treasured.

All it took was that single sighting, and the floodgates of memories long suppressed came crashing down. It was as if Cang'yi was transported back in time, at that moment when he crossed swords with a fiery goddess who had no qualms about tearing his palace apart, determined to fight a much stronger foe just to escape an unintentional, unwanted engagement with a man she could not ever love.