Arctic Flare (A Nezha Series)

Something Just like This (P1)

Since the incident with the heavenly lightning skirmish, Aobing and Nezha were permitted to remain within the lotus for the time being while their physical bodies were being reconstructed. Like they were complaining. For the first time, Nezha and Aobing finally had the chance to really talk. Nezha spoke of her last two years training with Taiye Zheren within the Mountains and Rivers painting, which was an ethereal paradise she guaranteed she'd take Aobing once they were released from this enclosed sanctuary. Aobing told of his adventures--er, well--assignments he was obligated to complete by his master Shen Gongbao.

"I came across this beautiful coral reef once. I've never seen anything like it. The colors were translucent one day and then resplendent another day. It was never constant. The ecosystem consisted of various organisms even I myself have never seen before. I ought to take you there one day." Aobing described while reminiscing his memory of first coming across an aquatic beauty.

He loved to tell her his stories just to see the wonderment glint within those crimson irises of hers. Something about her just burned the yoke that was once tied around his neck. That lifted the tremendous burden he had to shoulder since birth like a 500-pound weight relieved off his chest. He felt freed of the cage he had been kept locked away for years. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that Nezha was the only person that wasn't keen on his presence as a dragon.

Nezha, on the other hand, was truly grateful to have stumbled across Aobing. Aside from her parents, Aobing was the first person to not see her as a demon, but as a human. Well, the first person who was unaware of her true identity. But that tugged at a string in her heart, nagging her of an upsetting feeling that settled into the hollow of her stomach. At night when they were supposedly resting from a long day of doing absolutely nothing but wait, she would be laying down in a pit of her thoughts that raced around her head like a 400 meter marathon.

She couldn't help but wonder why Aobing had accepted her in the first place. It couldn't have been because of her looks. She wasn't necessarily the prettiest woman on Earth, regardless of what her mother says. Was it her personality? No way. She was too "impulsive", the words of Taiyi Zhenren. Literally, he said that. So what could it be? She came up to a dead end and relinquished in fatigue as she let the darkness swallow her into a deep sleep.

Waking up feeling refreshed was the last thing on her mind. Her thoughts just picked up where she left off like sleep was for her to take a breather. It racked her brain for days on end before Aobing decided to speak up about it.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

Nezha snapped out of her stupor at the sound of his soothing voice that rolled off his tongue like smooth waves pushed by the gentle wind of his warm breath. Only had she realized then how close in proximity they were. If he had leaned in any further, their noses would touch.

Nezha's cheeks were beet red as she backed away in embarrassment. Aobing heeded at this and also drew back, mortified. "Too close?"

"Y-Yeah. Sorry. Reflex." Nezha felt the nape of her neck heat up along with the rest of her facial features that glowed a tint of red.

"You just seemed lost in thought. Are you OK?" Aobing asked with a twinkle of sincerity in his cerulean eyes.

Nezha adjusted herself so she was leaning against the wall of the lotus. "Well, I don't know."

"You mind telling me what's going on?" Aobing scooted over so he was eye to eye with the brunette.

"No, I don't." She started to fiddle with the hem of her skirt, a habit she tends to have when she was nervous or uncomfortable. But this was mostly because of nerves. "I just need to ask you something."

"Nezha, we've been through thick and thin and survived God-knows-how-many gigawatts of lightning. We have no secrets."

This earned a heart laugh from the girl, one that resounded like jingle bells in his ear and shook his heart. "Okay. Well, um, I just want to know, and be honest with me; Out of all people, why did you choose to be friends with me?"

Aobing was taken aback by this query, letting it sink in and process while he tried to formulate an answer that seemed reasonable and sound without the involvement of his emotions. Never had he come across a situation where he depended his decisions on his own sentiment, and rather his intellect, to his dismay.

"Well, I guess things just happen, and we so happen to come across one another at the most unlikely place, well, not overall unforeseen but still." He fumbled with the sleeve of his robe, where once rested the heavy dragon scale armor he threw into the lightning in a mere attempt to save Nezha.

He awaited a response from her, who kept her eyes on her hands resting on her lap, palms facing up. "I get that, but, why would you be my friend? When you jumped into the lightning with me, all I could think of is...why? After everything, you still decided to put your life on the line for me, sacrificing everything you worked for to this day. You knew what I was. Who I really am. And yet you still had the audacity to stay by my side. Like you have a choice as of now, but...what in the world do you see in me?"

To her dismay, tears sprung in her eyes but would not spill over the edge as she searched for an answer within those ocean eyes of her fellow comrade. She didn't want to admit it, after all three years of denying it in portrayed pride through her training, she despised herself. Not because she was the Demon Pill, or the authentic nature of her father and the sporadic absences of her mother, but because of how different she was. The commoners certainly set that straight whenever she managed to escape the Li Residence.

Something inside the girl had cracked and shattered into pieces and could only be repaired through a credible answer that she wasn't obliged to believe, unlike the ones she received from her parents when she had been kept in the dark about who she really was, that was unveiled at an unfortunate time. Right now, all she needs the hole in her heart to be filled with a pristine candor.

Aobing was shocked to hear this from the girl who appeared to be headstrong and confident, who secretly was blind to her own potential. He could see it in her eyes, she needed this. And he knew how to give it to her.

He breathed in, as in a mental preparation for what he was about to tell her, "I saw life in you, Nezha. I saw someone who was willing to devote her life to her people, regardless of what they see her as. I saw someone who would live her life on her terms only, despite what the universe designed. I saw someone with strength, willpower and the tenacity I could never attain myself if you hadn't come into my life. And most of all, I didn't see a demon. I saw YOU."

Nezha's breathing hitched as her mouth hung open with nothing to say. Her words had somehow lumped in her throat, she had to swallow them down. She was crying now as a sob escaped her throat, letting the pain of yesterday and the day before that, and the many other days before that day--all the emotions, all the memories--rush out of her eyes in a crystalized stream as the lighting of the heavenly lotus enhanced the scene.

Aobing pulled her into his chest, embracing the crying female in his arms, caressing her crumbling form like she was going to disappear at any second. Nezha basked herself in his gentle hug as she wrapped her arms around his neck, breathing in his fresh-water scent. Something about his cool nature soothed her lovingly. Only the both of them knew that they needed something just like this.