The Water Sprite

Festival of Peaches

Instead, she had stood beneath the cascade and raged at him.  She called him every bad word that she knew before bursting into tears.

"I'm going to the Festival of Peaches to find a husband, get married and have a thousand babies, and I will never come back to see you ever again!" she had yelled at the rock wall before turning and leaving the rock pool in the past where she decided it belonged.  Though at the time, she hadn't really meant it, she had just been venting in the hope the Sprite would stop her, but of course he didn't, so she had kept right on walking.

Now standing at the window looking out at the Grove from the little hut, she once again became angry.  She had shared her entire childhood and every secret she knew with that ungrateful sprite and the thought that he might be purposely hiding from her, which she now believed was the case, had her suddenly changing her mind about the Festival.  If he wasn't going to talk to her anymore, then so be it.

"I don't need you anyway!" she thought sullenly to herself as she quickly prepared herself to leave.  

Dressing herself in a beautiful flowing pastel blue dress, with soft pastel pink tassels that hung from the shoulders and flared down about her entire body, one Bai Zhen had bought her for the occasion, she looked beautiful.  Then pinning up the sides of her hair with a pastel blue peony flower pin that Zhe Yan had purchased for her, and leaving the rest to fall freely about her body, she was ready to go.

Walking straight out of the hut towards her brother and Zhe Yan, their eyes lit up at not only her loveliness, but the fact that she was actually going.  Thinking she had well and truly declined to go, Bai Zhen had already opened a bottle of wine, but the moment his eyes fell on the dress, he quickly pushed the bottle towards Zhe Yan and rose to his feet to leave, least she did changed mind.

"Xiao Wu, please be mindful of your position.  You are representing Qing Qiu as it;s Princess, so be on your best behaviour." Zhe Yan said as he quickly snatched up the open bottle of wine.

"Zhe Yan, I'm grown up now, and besides, Zhen Zhen will be with me, what mischief could I possibly cause?" she asked giving him the exact look that prompted his little speech in the first place.

Sighing, he turned his face back to the Jade lake as Bai Zhen took hold of her arm and led her away laughing.  Shaking his head, his mind went back to the night she had set off the Bell of Kunlun and the absolute mayhem that had followed.  Many of the young Princesses attending the festival were children of the Leaders who had risen in the night to fly halfway across the world in a panic, so no doubt the young ones attending the Festival would know her by reputation.  And knowing exactly how those from a more refined Realm were likely to view her, he wouldn't be at all surprised, if mischief erupted.

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Arriving at the Celestial Palace, Bai Zhen and Bai Qian were immediately escorted to the Lotus pond where the Festival was being held.  Being the last to arrive, and not expecting them, the Celestial Palace organizers were in a state of panic by the time they hit the first lot of steps that led up towards the large opening where the Realms youth were already gathered.

Rushing towards them, the three organizers who were all young themselves and a part of the gathering, had no idea who the beautiful people were, but stopping them in their tracks in order to greet them properly, once it became known that the two youngest Bai children had arrived, the state of panic suddenly became even more frenzied.  

Had they known Bai Zhen and Bai Qian were attending, special maids of honor would have been set aside just for them, because in their world the Bai family were their most elite, and that meant no effort was too much to ensure their comfort while they remained a guest of the Palace.