(Small edit 15/4 - accidentally referred to the Third Prince as the Second Prince, it's been fixed now sorry!)
*****
The next few days passed like a dream.
Several times Mo Yuan closed his eyes only to open them again quickly for fear that everything that past would disappear in his sleep.
But every time Seventeen was there; laughing, dancing, reading, playing chess. They spent many nights deep in conversation and several days wandering Qing Qiu or the realm of humans.
It felt like the most natural thing in the world, to hold her hand while walking through the winding water-towns and through ancient human temples. He would talk to her about things as they did so: history, spiritual arts, philosophy. Sometimes she would listen carefully and at other times not at all.
Once they were standing in the courtyard of a temple from a past age. He had just finished telling the story of how the God that was worshipped there had decided to come down to visit his faithful worshippers in his usual form, that of an old grizzly man wearing simple garb, only to find that the monks rudely turned him away, assuming him to be a beggar. He was so angered that he split the temple, as well as the mountain behind it, in half. Mo Yuan pointed it out - the enormous break was still clearly visible - only to find Seventeen staring at him in a somewhat disconcerting manner.
"What is it?" He asked her.
"I was only thinking that shifu is amazing. It's almost as though you know everything in the world. Sometimes I can hardly believe that out of all the girls in the world..." She looked down at her feet, suddenly bashful. "That shifu would pick me."
He reached over to hold her hand. He put his finger under her chin and lifted it up, and she melted willingly into his kiss. It seemed wondrous that to him that she felt the same way as he did. So often when they were together, whether it in the human or one of the immortal realms, he would see other men turn their heads when she walked by, and then go red and duck their heads when they saw him glaring back.
"Shall we go back to the town?"
"Should we stay in the human world again this evening, shifu? I saw some flyers in town. There's going to be a lantern festival tonight."
"If that's what you want."
Her smile was more beautiful than the moon.
Zhe Yan when he heard he heard that Mo Yuan and Bai Qian had been spending several months - though it was mere hours in the immortal realm - travelling in the human realm, shook his head.
"If I thought he doted on her before it's nothing compared to now." He told Bai Zhen. "Are you happy with your handiwork? Next time you see your sister she'll be prouder and more spoiled than a peacock and you won't even be able to reprimand her without incurring the wrath of Mo Yuan. Good luck with that!"
"I wonder," Bai Zhen said, completely ignoring him and sipping his tea all the while looking inordinately pleased. "If they've talked about the fact that she's still engaged to the Crown Prince?"
***
They had in fact. Or rather Mo Yuan had talked about it and Bai Qian had shrugged in a rather offhand manner as if to say, What does it matter?
"I know you have never met in person but a marriage that has been ordered by Tianjun is no light matter."
"His second son didn't seem to take it very seriously." Seventeen said lazily, running her hand along the pond water. They had returned to Qing Qiu that day.
"And you have heard what happened to him haven't you?"
"What is he going to do to me? I'm not from the Nine Heavens. I'm the ruler of my own realm and you are the venerated War God."
"Still we must not be seen to be making a joke out of him. We must go presently before he hears any rumors from anyone else. Right now in fact would be a good time."
"Very well." Seventeen said. "But you do all the talking. I hate serious meetings."
***
So it was that when Mo Yuan went to seek out Tianjun, Bai Qian excused herself and went for a wander around the various courtyards and gardens in the Nine Heavens. She had only been here once before, when Mo Yuan had taken her in the guise of Si Yin so many years ago, but back then he hadn't let explore on her own.
Shifu must trust me a little bit more than back then, she thought to herself and laughed. I can hardly blame him. Back then I was always getting into scrapes.
As she wandered to and fro - Mo Yuan's seal generally abated the suspicion of the guards - she felt a twinge of anxiety. Mo Yuan had offered to come on his own but she had decided to accompany him. She didn't want to admit it but she was worried.
What if Tianjun insists I marry the Crown Prince? She thought. No, no.. he won't refuse Mo Yuan anything. After all Mo Yuan is the son of the Father God. Still the situation must be quite tense right about now. Mo Yuan had reassured her that everything would be alright, but it was typical of shifu to never share his problems with her, babying her as though wanting to protect her from all the grief in the world.
It can't be like that if we're to be.. She blushed, cutting the thought short. I have to learn to help him shoulder his problems and show him I'm not some child anymore.
Her wanderings had lead her to a strange place. She was standing on some white stairs, made of alabaster and ivory. It lead to a platform where she saw a black stone standing on one side and a pool of glowing blue light. As though drawn by it, she went closer and looked into the swirling depths.
What is this? She thought. It gives one such a very odd feeling...
"What are you doing there?" The voice was unfamiliar and very sharp.
Snapped out of her reverie, she turned. And gave a small start of surprise.
No, she thought after several shocked moments. It's not shifu. This must be the Crown Prince Ye Hua, shifu's twin brother.
The young man who stood behind her looked younger than Mo Yuan, although that might just be because of the lack of moustache and the fall of long dark hair behind his hair. He had darker eyes and a severe expression etched on his face. Otherwise the resemblance was uncanny.
He was dressed all in black, all except the white ivory hairpin that tied up the top knot of his hair. He advanced on her. "That is a very dangerous place for you to be standing, don't you know?"
"Dangerous?" She asked. "Why?"
"This is the Zhuxian Terrace," Ye Hua said coming to stand beside her. "Any immortal that leaps down from it will suffer the most grievous injury, possibly even death."
Goodness. She took a few steps back. "Shouldn't you post a couple of guards here then or something? What if someone should take an accidental tumble?"
"No one in the Nine Heavens would ever approach without caution. But I can tell by your dress that you're not from around here so you probably don't know better." He gave her a scornful glance that raised her ire.
"Thanks for the warning." She said blandly, crossing her arms. "Crown Prince."
She was expecting surprise from him but was disappointed. Clearly he was the kind of person who took it for granted that everyone knew who he was. He merely turned away from her and said, "Come away from there."
Short of staying there like an impertinent child, she had no choice but to follow him down the stairs seeing as it was the only way out. Near the bottom of the stairs was a stone courtyard and she saw he had a desk set out there with an ink stone and several bamboo books. There was a piece of parchment, half-filled with words, in the middle. He settled down behind it. Holding one loose sleeve with his opposing hand, he delicately picked up the paintbrush.
"Hang on a minute," She said. "Were you here when I came past?"
Ye Hua didn't look up at her, instead continuing to scratch away on his parchment. "Yes. You appeared distracted and didn't appear to notice me."
"I see." She nodded slowly. "So you thought I might be in danger in my distracted state so you followed me to check on me." She laughed, somewhat amused. "You know, you kind of look like a tedious person, but you're not really that bad after all."
His hand froze. "Tedious...person...?" His voice was surprised, rather than angry.
"I suppose it's not your fault though. All you Nine Heavens people are such a stickler for rules and regulations, it's a wonder if any of you ever have any fun."
"And who are you and where are you from who speaks so dismissively of us?"
She paused. The most natural thing would be to lie about her identity since she didn't want to cause a fuss. But then unexpectedly, she decided against it.
"I am Bai Qian." She told him and was pleased to see his black eyebrows knit with surprise. "I was going to lie to you but seeing as you are my would-be savior, I suppose the least I can do is be honest with you."
"Bai Qian... the Queen of Qing Qiu?"
"The very one." She tapped her chin. "I suppose you know we are engaged."
Ye Hua's frown grew further. Seeing it made her laugh out loud. "Why, you needn't look like you just bit into a sour lemon. Am I so very bad?" She batted her eyelashes in a mock coquettish manner.
He looked down. "How you are is of no consequence to me. All that's important is that our marriage is good for the alliance between our two realms."
It was her turn to raise her eyebrows. Well, of all the... She did not think of herself as vain but still she had been aware for the last fifty thousand years or so what the general opinion of her person was, especially in the eyes of men. Was the not the beauty of Qing Qiu, the so-called fairest woman in all of the realms? To be dismissed so thoroughly... the gall of the boy!
Still for some reason she couldn't be angry. Perhaps it was because he was so very young. Or perhaps it was because of how much he looked like Mo Yuan. Whatever it is she didn't feel anything except an overwhelming desire to laugh. She had meant to tell him immediately that their engagement was off, but seeing his reaction made her want to have a bit of fun with him first.
"Well that is very true." She said in what she hoped was a thoughtful manner. "And I suppose after we are married I will have to learn more about how things work around here. I mean I shall have to know what kind of changes I want to enact."
"Changes?"
"Well of course! Since it is a marriage between our realms, it wouldn't be fair if only I adapted to yours and you didn't adapt to mine. I shall begin I think by doing away with the formalities of all those different bows. How is one supposed to remember how many degrees depending on the rank? One bow is quite enough. And also these clothes that you all wear, I've never seen so many pastel colors in my life. I shall make a royal decree that from now on Ministers shall wear pink and orange."
"That's... that's ridiculous." Ye Hua's voice sounded faintly strangled. "Tianjun would never allow such a thing."
"Well he's retiring soon isn't he? He's rather old. When I am Empress no one will be able to say anything... unless you're planning on stopping me. Oh but need I remind you that I'm nearly 100,000 years older than you? Speaking of, seeing as I am your elder and outrank you, I don't see why I should live here. You must come and live with me in Qing Qiu. It's much nicer there. For example it's illegal to do any serious before noon. Actually illegal. I made up the law myself."
She rejoiced to see the way the muscles in his face moved furiously but no sound came out from his lips. He met her eyes then and saw the laughter in them. "I believe you are making fun of me."
She laughed out loud then. He resolutely ignored her, returning to his work. Seeing as there wasn't anything else to do she took a seat on the opposite table. She listened to the sound of his pen scratching, the mirth still bubbling away inside of her. After a while she sighed.
He didn't look up. "What's the matter now?"
"I am just thinking..." She said slowly. "How lonely it is here."
His pen stopped. "Lonely?"
"As in everything is so rigid and formal. None of the servants will look at you in the eyes for fear of giving offense and even your palaces are set out so square and uniformly. It's almost featureless. Look around you, the sun shines on everything but yet every feels so cold."
He paused. She thought he was about to ignore her but eventually he said, "There is beauty in symmetry and order too."
"I suppose so. Still if I was to really rule here the first thing I would do is plant some trees."
"Trees? We have trees."
"Not those staid things in your gardens. Wild trees. Trees and flowers that grow up over the houses and flowers and leaves that fly in the wind. Have you ever smelt the fragrance of the peach trees at dusk? And no more of these artificial pools, what you need is a real river or two, even a waterfall maybe. Then you could sit here and write your state business and listen to the rushing sound of the water right running right beside your feet."
"That sounds..." He seemed almost speechless again, although somewhat differently. "That... doesn't sound so bad, I suppose."
She propped up her chin in her hands and grinned at him. "Fallen in love with me after all?"
He turned away. "Don't be ridiculous."
She didn't have a tease him further because at this moment someone else came up the stairs.
"Ye Hua there you are!" It was a man carrying a fan. "Xiwu Palace is in a frenzy looking about everywhere for you. But I've got to give it to you. No one would ever think you were in in this kind of out of the way place."
"What are they looking for me for?" Ye Hua asked.
"You haven't heard? The guards at the front gate said that your fiance Bai Qian of Qing Qiu has finally come to Nine Heavens to see you!"
A pause. "Has Tianjun summoned me?"
"No, that's not it. Although he might do so at any moment. No it's that Princess Su Jin. When she heard the news she threw a fit and demanded to know where you were. She nearly turned your Palace upside down looking for you and now all the maids and guards have been sent out to find you at once."
Ye Hua could not have looked more cold if he wanted to. "Let them keep looking then."
"I'll say Ye Hua don't you think you owe the Princess some kind of..." The man waved his fan in a vague manner. "Explanation?"
"Why? She's of no relation to me."
"No relation... I mean I suppose that's true but come on even a block head like you has got to know that she's ..." He trailed off as he saw Bai Qian sitting there, listening to the proceeding with some interest. "Hello, who is this?"
"This," And Bai Qian fancied she heard a note to amusement creep into Ye Hua's voice as he spoke. "This is Queen Bai Qian of Qing Qiu."
She waved casually at the shocked looking man who actually took a step backwards. Ye Hua actually grinned somewhat. Perhaps he was not as boring as she thought.
"High Immortal Bai Qian, this is my uncle the Third Prince."
They bowed to each other.
"High Immortal, I didn't realize you were here. If I have given any offense then please forgive me."
"No it is I that's being rude." She supposed she had had enough fun and really ought to start explaining things before it got too out of hand. She turned to Ye Hua. "I'm sorry about those things I said, I wasn't being serious. And you needn't be so worried. Because we're not getting married."
He stared at her silently. She couldn't really read anything from his expression but the Third Prince said in surprise, "Not getting married? Why ever not?"
She shrugged. "We don't know anything about each other for one and it doesn't seem like either of us are that keen. It was really a comedy of errors that lead to us becoming engaged in the first place. And if it's an alliance between Qing Qiu and the Nine Heavens that the Tianjun wants, it can be arranged... in a different manner."
As the two of them looked at her she went red. She stood up. "I'd better be off. Shifu should be finished by now. It was nice to meet you Crown Prince. I suppose shifu and you need to sit down and have a good talk someday but not today if I have anything to say about it. Farewell."
She bowed to both of them and walked away. Third Prince watched her go and then turned around, fan in front of his mouth. "What you do think she means?"
Ye Hua shrugged. He was looking back at his parchment but he wasn't writing anything.
"Not getting married... but then why would they come? Mo Yuan's been in with Tianjun for nearly an hour now... oh... oh!" He closed the fan sharply and tapped it against his hand. "I know, I've got it! She's not marrying you because she's going to marry Mo Yuan!"
The Third Prince was incredibly proud of his deduction. "I should have guessed this! The rumors always said Mo Yuan doted on his last disciple Si Yun, and now that we know Si Yun is a Bai Qian... well it all makes sense. Well isn't this great news? You've been dreading this marriage and I've always felt quite bad that you never even had a say in it. There's no way Tianjun can say no to Mo Yuan, the alliance between the two realms is still secure, so that's all settled rather nicely, don't you think? Aren't you pleased?"
The Crown Prince of Heaven was silent. The Third Prince chuckled to himself. He turned away, imagining the look on Cheng Yu's face when he told her when he heard the Crown Prince say softly, almost inaudibly, "Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad."
"What?" The Third Prince turned back sharply. He must have misheard. "Sorry, what did you say?"
But the Crown Prince's pen was already scratching away, his hair fell over his face and his expression was unable to be seen.
***
That evening after everyone had gone to sleep, Mo Yuan was finishing his work when there was a knock on the door. He said, "Come in" and Bai Qian appeared holding a lantern.
"Not asleep yet?" He asked her. She shook her head, coming over and sitting next to him at his desk. Her warm body pressed against his. "I've just managed to get Second Brother to leave me alone. He would not stop following until I'd told him what he could do to make up for what he had done. I told him there was nothing to make up for but he wouldn't listen. Finally I had to say the only favor I could think of was being left alone and he finally got the hint."
"He'll probably start up again tomorrow morning." Mo Yuan told her and she groaned comically.
"Shifu is it really true Tianjun didn't give you any trouble today? You're not lying to me?"
He tapped her nose. "Of course not. Why would I lie to you?"
"To protect me." Bai Qian said. "But I don't want Shifu to do that anymore. I want to be your partner, to help you with everything."
Mo Yuan smiled to himself. "It is enough that you are here beside me."
She shook her head. She ran her hand down the lining of his robe and then down to his desk. "What is this?" She picked up the letter. "Is this a letter to my father?"
"Yes I thought it prudent to tell him what has happened."
She giggled. "If this doesn't force father and mother to make a reappearance I don't know what will."
"Should I be concerned? I have heard the Fox King is a fearsome warrior."
"Not as fearsome as you." She continued to giggle. "I really want to see his face when he reads this."
"Seventeen." He took the letter from her and put it back on the desk and clasped her hand in his. Her hand was very soft; the fingers long and delicate. "Seventeen are you sure about this?"
She blinked at him.
"You are freed from your engagement and now you can choose any man you wish. Will you chose me?"
She smiled and looked down, a blush rising up her cheeks. "I think," She said slowly. "From the moment I saw you for the first time, this was always my fate. I love you Shifu. There's no one else for me but you."
"Then," He said, his heart swelling with joy. "Seventeen.. High Immortal Bai Qian... Will you be my wife?"
She nodded, now almost red as a peony. "Yes."
He drew her close to him wrapping his arms around her. Both of their hearts were beating very fast. "Once your parents have returned we will hold the marriage ceremony. I don't want to tarry, lest you slip from my grasp."
"Silly shifu," She laughed. "Where would I go? This is my home."
He would never tire of hearing those words. He looked down into her face and drew her into a kiss. Her arms tightened around him and the kiss grew deeper. He was acutely aware of the softness of her body against his, the shapely curves in all the right places. They stirred feelings inside him; feelings long dormant but once risen, all the more voracious. He tried to control himself - she was more precious to him than anything in this world - but she pulled him closer. "Shifu," She breathed. "I'm not a child any longer, I'm yours, I'm yours.."
And with that he lost all control.
***
In the long years that followed the renown of the disciples of Kunlunxu spread far and wide throughout the realms. Countless legends would be told of Kunlunxu and it's brave and wise disciples, often called upon to resolve conflicts and champion justice. Of all these legends none were more beloved than that of its Master and Mistress, the great War God Mo Yuan, undefeated under the Heavens, and of his beautiful Warrior-Queen wife Bai Qian whose face was as deadly a weapon as her blade.
In times of war they would ride into battle side by side and in times of peace they would spend long joyful days in their mountain home, far away from the eyes of the other immortals.
And although life and circumstance occasionally took them away from each other, these absences - felt keenly by both - were always only temporary since they were fated to always return to each other, entwined forever in their immortal lives.
***
Only the Epilogue left!
For those that want a happy ending between Mo Yuan and Bai Qian please stop reading here :)