The Water Sprite

Confusion

"Well it is obvious that something has upset you to be leaving in such a hurry." he said softly before waving his hand over the small table where tea and refreshments appeared along with two cups.

"Instead of running away, why not tell me whats bothering you.  Running will not ease the situation, if anything it will merely increase it." he said as he lifted the tea pot and poured for them both.

Suddenly she felt as if she were once again back at the Grove and sitting beside the rock pool.  Not only was his voice the same as her Water Sprite, but he even said exactly what her Sprite would have said.  Narrowing her eyes at him, she edged a little closer before stopping.  His face was still in the shadows, but he didn't seem unkind, if anything, the soft tone he spoke in had her taking another step forward.  

"Who are you?" she asked as she looked back at the cup of tea he had placed on the table for her.

Mo Yuan didn't say anything for a while, instead his eyes remained hooded as he studied her quietly.  Taking a small sip of tea he leaned back against the chair and relaxed his body so she too would relax and hopefully seat herself.  He did not feel she was ready to know who he was, so he kept it to himself for now.

"Let's just say, I am a friend.  I wont't hurt you and you can trust that anything you tell me will remain in this room.  But I can see you need someone to talk to." he said gently before continuing, seeing as she had once again taken a step back.

"Sometimes, sharing inner thoughts with a stranger, is much easier to unload, than with those we are too close to.  It allows us release from our stresses without the burden of our friends or loved ones becoming too involved." he said in the same soft tone, while his eyes remained on her, and hers on him.

Slowly her feet took her forward.  His voice, demeanor and tone was exactly the same as her Sprite.  She missed talking to him, and she knew that had he still been in the rock pool. she would have definitely run to him on her return home.  But he wasn't there anymore, and this man was.  In this man, she began to feel the familiarity of her Sprite, that no thoughts ran through her mind as she took a seat beside him.  And though she wasn't entirely comfortable, she wasn't uncomfortable either.   But as she sat, she stole a quick glimpse at his face, she could still picture the eyes that had briefly caught her own from behind the cascade, that she wondered if he were in fact her friend.

But instead of asking him outright, she instead picked up the tea cup and took a sip as the man beside her turned slightly to face her.

"So will you tell me why you were running away?  Are you in some kind of trouble?" he asked gently coaxing her to talk to him.

Keeping her eyes down, they rested on is hand that was sitting relaxed on his knee.

"I came here with my brother to attend the Festival of Peaches." she began in a small voice and having started, she suddenly found herself talking to this man she didn't know and telling him everything that had been going through her mind that day.  She told him of her Water Sprite that had abandoned her, the anger she felt at not having him to talk to anymore, the pressure she was under to get married, and the Festival her brother had dragged her to in order to find a husband among the worlds elite.

"My Water Sprite had been my best friend." she told him tearfully.  "He was always there, I could tell him anything and he would listen and sometimes give advice, but always he talked me through every issue I had.  I miss him so much.  If he was still around, I wouldn't be at this dumb Festival." she cried as the tears rained down her face.

"But he obviously didn't treasure our friendship as much as I did.  He just told me one day that he was needed elsewhere and then left and never came back." she whispered as he listened quietly and saying nothing.