The Art Of War.

13.Somehow.

•TZE XIAN•






He was staring at them, at the children. And he wanted nothing more to be them. So he sat there, watching the kids play, lost in thought.

"Tze Xian?" A familiar voice said. But he didn't look away nor did he try to find where the voice was coming from. He simply nodded, telling the person he could hear.

"I was looking for you." The voice was a girl's. And it was all too familiar. Tze Xian didn't have to look to know that it was WeiTing's. She slipped down beside him and followed his gaze towards the children. "The children might think you're creepy."

Tze Xian laughed, still not taking his eyes off them. "They already do. Lucky their parents aren't here or I might have already been beaten to death."

"Their parents are dead." WeiTing said.

"So are everyone's." He snapped.

WeiTing stared at him and raised her eyebrows. "I don't get why you're so angry."

"Qin." He said, sighing.

The girl with the smirk sat across him, a few meters away and gave an innocent smile.
WeiTing looked at her, then back at him.

"You know," WeiTing said, "you should join them if you want to."

Tze Xian jerked his head towards WeiTing and laughed.

"I'm serious. It looks fun anyway. And you'll be sitting around here the whole day drooling about them unless you join." WeiTing said, her expression didn't say much and Tze Xian raised his eyebrows.

"Do you think that after the war is over, we can go back to lead normal lives?" Tze Xian asked after a brief moment of silence.

"Define normal."

"I don't know...not...fighting ...a war?" He said.

"Yeah. Maybe." Said WeiTing. She looked at his eyes, but can't seem to make out his expression. And when he didn't say anything after a few minutes, she slumped back to the railing of the ship and sighed. "My life used to be normal. School. Homework. I had everything I want. And I took everything for granted then. I used to think all the things in the world was free. Because if and when I wanted something, my parents would buy it for me. I was spoiled." WeiTing laughed. "But now, I realize nothing in the world is free. Everything comes at a cost. Some are big. Some are small. But the same, they all come at a cost. Even if it clearly states that it's free. It still comes at a cost. Like if we do all the necessary things and win the war, we still would have a price to pay for winning. Nothing is free here. Like when we take good from a ruined building, it might seem free but it isn't. Something will make us pay for the food. Some natural force or....thing. Everything we do will have consequences. Be it good or bad. That's how the world works, making us pay for single thing." WeiTing paused, focusing her gaze on the little girl that was holding the ball. "Something happened before the war. Something our ancestors did made us pay for the war. And if we don't want the next generation to pay for anything stupid we did, then we might as well don't do anything stupid."

An invisible force struck the boat. And suddenly all eyes were on her. The little children, Qin, and Tze Xian. They looked at her intently, studying her face and thinking about the words she said. Even the littlest of all the children, a boy around the age of 5, was looking at her.

"I'm free." Tze Xian said, breaking the silent atmosphere. Qin let out a garbled laugh that was obviously mocking and she left. WeiTing smiled. But she still said nothing, surprised at her own words.

"No." She shook her head. "Even you come at a cost. Whatever the cost is."

Tze Xian laughed, falling back into the railings and feeling the sea water splash lightly on his arm. According to Tang's GPS, they were somewhere in the Indian Ocean. He stood up and told WeiTing, "I think I'm going to join the kids."

He walked up to them, smiling and waving his hands while trying not to look too awkward. WeiTing just sat at the corner and laughed, seeing the children give him weird looks.

After a while they took him in though, and treated him like they were all the same age.

Tze Xian played like he had never played before, enjoying every moment of it. The children switched games constantly. Ball games, running, tag, he wore a smile through all the games.

Seeing him like this made WeiTing happy and sad at the same time. Happy that he finally got to play. Happy that he felt happy. Sad that he never did that as a child. Sad that once they docked the boat at Chesapeake Bay, all this would be over and it's all serious adult work. Sad that they were forced to do something so unfair when they were still supposed to be kids. At 16, WeiTing was supposed to play. To go to school and have fun, get into trouble, do homework and ace the classes. But right now everything was different.

And as she watched Tze Xian play, she realized that somehow he fit rught into the group of kids. Maybe it was the fact that he never had a chance to enjoy himself? Maybe it was the fact that he was still a kid at heart? WeiTing wasn't sure but it made her think about Qin.

Qin was WeiTing's good friend. Though Qin never opened up to her, never told WeiTing anything about her, WeiTing knew that Qin had troubles. She knew that Qin's past was like Tze Xian. All work and no play. It made her sad. It made her feel selfish that she was the only one that was lucky enough to lead a normal life.

Tze Xian's laughter mixed along with the children's. They were playing a hand game and Tze Xian was losing. However, he played happily with them, despite stinking at all the games. He sat there a little while more, playing and enjoying the one hour of the childhood he missed.

And when Tze Xian was done, he went back to the ShangHai girl's side, breathing heavily and panting. She was still at the same position, in the corner of the boat. He slumped down and drank a full cup of water.

The sky had turned dark and the moon was up, being the only light source for them. The ship had no external lights, so that it was harder to spot at night. Everyone else had went in except for them. And for some reason, WeiTing just sat there, staring blankly into space.

Qin and David's voice can be heard from outside. The sound of an argument. Qin was raising her voice to a really high level and David spoke occasionally with a softer voice. Tze Xian always wondered why Qin wasn't feminine. Why she wasn't like normal girls. Why she was such a pain in the ass. Lu Er's voice could be heard now. He was trying to stop the fight. But Qin was shouting and shouting, not giving him the chance to speak. What is Qin arguing about now? Tze Xian shook his head and sighed, hearing the faint rustle of WeiTing's hair. She was doing the same.

They sat there quietly, not saying anything. It made them both forget all of their troubles, all of their worries, all they needed to do when they reached America.

WeiTing smiled, in spite of everything and a few moments later, she drifted off into sleep, her head falling onto Tze Xian's shoulder involuntarily. Tze Xian stiffened, and turned his head carefully towards her.

"Even you come at a cost. Whatever it is."

Those words kept playing in his mind. But in that moment, Tze Xian realized that he didn't actually care. Because with WeiTing here, giving him support in whatever he does, backing his every decision, he just wanted to take the cost he comes with and throw it away.

Because somehow, it felt right, and somehow, the little girl walked past them and smiled.

















***









•LU ER•










Qin. That was the first thing he thought of when he heard the smashing of glass. He ran as fast as he could, almost tripping over nothing and banging his head on the wall if he didn't stop the momentum.

Her voice was raised high and David was just standing there, sighing like he was tired of her attitude. Lu Er never blamed him. Nor did he blame Tze Xian for hating Qin. She was, in fact, a bitch, an annoying cockroach that could speak and never go away. No matter how hard you hit it, no matter how much insecticide you sprayed on it, it would still be there, making you so annoyed you want to kill yourself.

"Qin, please, stop." He said , dragging her away. He didn't even want to know the topic of their argument. Qin picked up a fight with every little thing. Making a tiny peanut seem like a silver platter filled with giant walnuts.

He gave Qin time to cool down. And went to talk to David afterwards.

"When Qin is angry, keep her gun, rifle or anything she can use as a weapon away from her." Lu Er said. "She can get carried away and actually shoot or harm someone. You really don't want to know what she can do."

David kept silent, nodding his head in agreement. "Has she..." He hesitated, thinking about what to say next.

"Killed someone?" Lu Er offered.

"Has she always been like that?" He asked.

"No." Said Lu Er, staring at the floor. "She changed a lot because of the war. Honestly, she's really bitchy to you because you look American, David."

"I'm born a Chinese. And I'm not changing that."

"Yeah." Lu Er sighed. "I'll go now. Just keep her away from guns. Even if they're short range."

David said nothing, but nodded as Lu Er left the room to 'counsel' his violent best friend.








****






•DAVID•












He went to his suitcase and studied the items one by one. And he pulled out a small pink booklet.

It was a yearbook.

From when he was still in America.

He opened it gingerly, flipping throigh the pages as the memories flooded his mind.

That was Michel, wearing a yellow T-shirt, draping bis arm around his own. They used to be best friends before David left for China. And they were really close.

He flipped to the next page, his class. And all the names were at the bottom, stated very clearly.

He went to find his name. And there it was, beside a few familiar names.

Samuel Isman, his mortal enemy for stealing a bar of chocolate.

But that wasn't what surprised him most. Because beside Samuel stood a small scrawny boy with thick framed spectacles. And his name was stated clearly below.

Sean James Carter.


David gasped. Because that photo itself implied a million things. That somehow Damien Carter lied when he said his only son died. That somehow the letter Damien wrote was as reliable as an oar when you needed to steer a big ship. And that somehow, he knew Sean Carter personally before.

He racked his brains, trying to remember Sean. He was a skinny kid.
A nerd, even. A loner, an outcast from the very beginning.

And a memory. A memory that was so useful David almost died.




"Sean, why didn't you get Mum and Dad to sign your report card?" The teacher asked in her cheery voice.

"Because I...I" Sean hesitated, pursing his lips suddenly. "Mum and Dad are on a business trip to China with their boss, Mr Worthy."








David never thought much about it then. He just happened to walk past Sean and the teacher when on his way to the toilet. But now, it meant absolutely everything.



"With their boss, Mr Worthy."





"Their boss, Mr Worthy."





"Mr Worthy."





"Worthy."

















*****