A Trial by Halves

A New World

"Inconsequential things?" she whispered not understanding at all.

Nodding, he took hold of her chin and very gently lifted her face so she had no choice but to look at him.  "Things in my life that no longer matter, and nor will they ever take me from your side again." he said nudging his nose against hers playfully in the hope that she would giggle as she always did and then change the subject, only the changes to her home were far too drastic to laugh off this time.

"Your family Ye Hua?" she asked in a small voice before hanging her head.  She had wondered often why he never spoke of them but to say he no longer had any more concerns for his past life suggested to her that she was not acceptable to them and that hurt.  But it also only increased her desire to know about them especially with a child on the way.

"Yes Su Su, my family." he answered truthfully but saying no more.

She hesitated a little, but desperately wanting more answers and that he was even mentioning them at all, gave her a little more courage to force more from him.

"Are we running away because they do not like me?" she asked raising her head to look sadly up at him.

"Su Su, now why would you think that?  They have never met you." he replied with a soft smile at the tears that were only moments away from falling.

"Because you said you were keeping us safe.  That means they don't like me." she said as the first tear rolled down her cheek and her hands lifted to cradle her small protruding belly.

Sighing Ye Hua didn't know exactly know how to answer that.  His family wouldn't just dislike her, they would absolutely hate her and that thought only steeled his resolve to end the conversation and return the smile to her face before he himself began to cry, because the thought of what they would do to her if they were caught was just too painful to contemplate.

"Su Su, why do you care about what they think or don't think?  I love you.  I love you enough to give them all up because I want to be with you every second of every day.  You and our child is all that matters to me.  As for family, you are my family, our child is our family and from this moment on, we as a family are all that matters." he said, and though he could see his words were having an affect, that still didn't explain where they were, and more importantly how he had managed to move their home there.

In deep thought, Su Su tried her best to accept his explanation for why he had moved them, but no matter how hard she tried, there were doubts, little niggling feelings that he wasn't being entirely truthful.  But then again, he obviously did love her and their child enough to leave them all behind, even moving their home to keep them safe, but still, why did he even have to keep her safe?  If his parents didn't like her, would they come searching?  And what would they do if they found them?  

"Ye Hua.  Will you be in trouble if they found us?" she asked now no longer able to look at him.

For the longest moment Ye Hua looked down at the soft cheeks that were pressed up against his chest.  There was a slight tremble of her lips and her lashes blinked several times to force back the tears.  This was the first time, Su Su had ever really questioned him about anything and though he knew he should explain everything to her, he was not exactly sure how she would react, and being pregnant, he did not want to risk her becoming emotional.

 But even more pressing for him, was the fact that he just did not want to explain his origins or true identity, because he had already let it go.  He had no intention of returning to them, as far as he was concerned, that aspect of his life was over.  But he did address her concerns the only way he knew how.

"Su Su.  I am only going to say this once.  I love you and our child and I have no intention of ever leaving you again.  This is a decision I made because my life is now yours and our childs.  I do not want to speak of them, if I did, I would have and that is all I am going to say, so please let it go." he said with a heavy dose of authority which he had never used on her before but he had said all he was going to say and he wanted her to accept it.

Slowly her face rose to look at him.  The slight quiver of her bottom lip was now trembling.  He had never spoken harshly to her before and she did not like it one bit.  But the stern look on his face, soon had her dropping her eyes again in submission.  He looked angry and that only made her feel very guilty especially after the last couple of days where he had loved her intensely.  If anything,  Su Su felt that she was being unfair to him and nor should she be questioning him, when he had given up his life just for her and their child.  So nodding her head slowly, she once again pressed her face in against his chest and fell quiet.

They didn't say anymore for a while, instead his head lowered to rest on top of hers while she did as he asked, and let if go.  Instead, her eyes were once more meandering about her surroundings.  The house was sitting in a small clearing and like Mount Junji, her home was surrounded by a forest only it was much more alive with colour, movement and noise.

The ocean was about ten minutes walk away, so the soft sound of the waves could be heard as pleasant background noise, and from the porch, they could even see it, but what held her gaze was the intense colour of the blooms that flourished in large clusters all about the house.  Flowers that were almost as bit as her and so strange looking, but they were beautiful and with the thick dense foliage that surrounded them along with the giant palm trees that held all manner of bird life, Su Su was once again bedazzled by the spectacle, and it was here, that she raised one more question that needed an answer.

"This place Ye Hua.  Where are we and how did, we get here?" she asked looking  up at the odd looking birds that flitted by now and then.

This answer, he knew she would accept and it rolled off his tongue with ease.

"As I explained before, I am a practicing Daoist who learned a little magic in order to gain Immortality.  Well, as for where we are, we are in the Immortal Realm, and as for how we got here, I used a little magic to move our home to this island.  It  is far safer than the forest Su Su, because no matter which direction you take, you will never get lost, because the beach leads you straight back to the house, you only have to stay on the sand and follow it." he said smiling down at her.  It was not entirely a lie and he could see from the expression on her face, that this time she was accepting his explanation with no more arguments.

"And being pregnant, I cannot have you getting lost.  Also Su Su......" he said now gently forcing her off him to take her hand.  "..... this island is rich in food and every comfort you can think of and....." he said pulling her along and forcing her to become excited as his steps gained speed ".... there are even hot pools here Su Su, so if you get aches or pains, you can relax while also enjoying the beautiful scenery." he said as one such pool suddenly and without warning appeared the moment he dragged her between a flush of fern leaves that hid it from view.

Squealing in excitement, Su Su spun in all directions as the small rock pool with its beautiful colourful surroundings came into view.  It was as if the past hour and conversation had never happened, her mind was so easily distracted that Ye Hua couldn't help but laugh at her.  She was a funny girl, who never stayed mad for long, and nor did she seem in the least bit surprised at being on an island in the middle of an ocean among Immortals.  

To Su Sus mind, this was just one more strange occurrence that her husband had brought with him since the day they met.   While to Ye Hua, this was just one more thing that his beautiful Su Su accepted as a natural phenomenon.  And within seconds, not only was the blanket thrown off her shoulders, but she was in the water and playing happily.