Daughter of Heaven

Chapter 28 - Wu Kang

*Music courtesy of TaiGekTou

A beautiful woman stood on the edge of a light green lake, surrounded by tall mountains and windblown pines. She tossed silk threads into the air, her green robes whipping around her by the strong winds. The green threads writhed and turned, splitting into millions of strands, each attaching to a blade of grass, renewing the color of the entire field and beyond. Blue-green threads  colored the lake while thousands of different color strands sank into the air and ground.

Mei Yan smiled as the last of the silk was sewn into the sky. The Jade Rabbit appeared, "Is this the last of it? We've been here for nearly a year" The other girl nodded, and the the Jade Rabbit sighed, "Go be with your human, cherish the last day you have with him. And keep your promise." Mei Yan came over and hugged the other girl. With a flash she was gone.

On the grassy plains of Zhong Yuan, a rugged man ridding a dirt red horse turned to face the east. He grinned and spurred his horse.

"Warlord. Where are you going?" his friend called after him, Wu Kang seemed to be ridding for all he was worth. The man said nothing, he had always seemed to disappear for a few days around this time of year. His men sighed, their leader was peculiar, but he was a good man.

Mei Yan arrived at the oasis before the sun dropped into the earth, the tall grass blew furiously around her as she walked to the little resting spot. The sky was like liquid gold mixed within the river blue, stretch as far as the eye could see. Wu Kang waited for her underneath a little pagoda made of rough clay and straw, staring at her as if he couldn't bare look away. His eyes seemed to grow brighter as the girl in green walked closer, her robes blew like dancing leaves. To him there was nothing more magnificently heart-wrenching  than the sight before him.

"You're beautiful." He breathed as approached her. Mei Yan came close and touched the light crows' feet at the corner of his piercing eyes, the few silver strands that had began to grow at his temples. He caught her hand and kissed the heart of her palm, breathing in her fragrant scent. They stood there, enjoying the unspoken familiarity between them. Ten years had passed and yet as they stood, it was as if they had never parted.

"You're as young as the day I met you." Wu Kang touched her porcelain cheek, "Here I am, an old man." An arrow went through Mei Yan's heart, she wanted to grow old with him, to hold hands with him like this for the rest of their lives.

"Nonsense, you still have a long life a head of you."

Wu Kang threw his head back and laughed, "Remember the first day we met?" Mei Yan's lips curved into a brilliant smile, "Yes. You stole my clothes."

"I was drying them for you." He teased

"After you dumped them into the river." Mei Yan pointed out, "I had to weave robes out of grass."

Wu Kang took her hands, "That was the day i fell for you."

Wu Kang gently cupped Mei Yan's face and kissed her forehead, "All these years of waiting, I thought you would forget me." He held her hand in his, thoroughly content with the moment. Mei Yan felt the heat of his skin against her cheeks, "I wish you would forget me." There were tears in her eyes, she pressed her face into his chest. Wu Kang felt bewildered, "What is it, love?" He had never seen Mei Yan cry, not even when he had accidentally seen her bathing in the forest, the first time they met. He tilted her chin and gently wiped the tears with his sleeve.

"You keep waiting for me." She cried, "You're forty now and yet I keep you waiting. Wu Kang, please, I can't do this to you anymore."

Wu Kang smiled, relieved, "Is that all?" for a painful moment he had thought she was going to tell him that she had fallen for someone else. He held her, his lips in her hair and murmured, "Even if I only get to see you once in fifty years, I would still do it in a heartbeat."