[OLD VERSION -- READ THE NEW ONE PLEASE] Crocodile Tears

Cursed

Sui - at first to follow, then to be followed.

A barren forest encompasses the moon palace, providing a grave contrast with the icy blues and ghostly whites. Its leafless branches are hopelessly entangled with the red strings of fate - the everlasting bonds of love, marriage, and destiny. These scarlet threads are as thin as silk, yet even the sharpest of all swords cannot cut them in half. Why? Simply because the purest of all emotions does not wane as the moon does. But neither do the scars...

A layer of mourning clouds shielded the rising sun from view. The city streets were unusually crowded but lacked their usual commotion. Mothers rushed home with their children, not bothering to fill their empty crates with fresh goods. Merchants conversed in hushed voices, leaving their booths unattended. Men with plows and shovels huddled together in groups rather than depart for their fields.

A girl stood alone among the shadows of the street - an island in a sea of people. Her tea-colored eyes were trained on her surroundings, but her mind was lost in a long time past. Eight years of waiting. Endless nights of tears. Thousands of sunrises only to serve a sunset of regret. They had sentenced her to all the emotions that should have been foreign to a nine year old. Because of their cupidity she would be cursed by nightmares for the eternity to come. 

A fine veil of white cascaded down from her bamboo hat to her knees, shielding her beauty away from the view of preying men. More than a superficial declaration of her purity, it was a remembrance of those who no longer traveled the roads on earth. Her ivory fingers traced the intricate designs of the jade hanging in front of her waist. Even under the cover of her veil, the pendant's frigidness mirrored that of a piece of thousand year old ice.

"CLEAR THE STREETS!" a booming voice accompanied by the crash of a bronze gong echoed throughout the city. Startled, the groups of people dispersed to form walls of solid flesh on the sides of the street.

The girl's nondescript lake blue dress blended in with the crowd of common robes and skirts, but her eyes burned with a flame of hatred rather than a tinge of curiosity. As the sound of footsteps crescendoed, her fingernails dug into her palms in a vain effort to keep the disgust contained to her eyes. It didn't work.

The Northern Zhou flag they once carried so proudly was now replaced by one that spelled out Sui. Instead of prancing around with their heads held high, their eyes focused on the stones they were treading on. Their thundering marches were now replaced with the shuffling of feet. Gone was their arrogance. Dead was their pride. And most importantly, they no longer "guarded" the city with pointed swords and sharpened spears.

"As a symbol of peace between Sui and Western Liang, no longer will these former Northern Zhou soldiers be stationed at the city of Jiangling..." these words seemed to echo into eternity. 

But the stains of blood can never be truly washed away.

For eight years she had watched these murderers enjoy strolls on the streets of her city. How many times have they taken a special fancy to a girl and then leave her stripped away of her dignity? How many times have they robbed a starving family's rice for an extra feast? How many children were forced to watch their loved ones' heads fall to the dirt floor?

For eight years she yearned to scream at these pathetic men, to mock them for their cruelty. But she knew she couldn't. To watch the day when their heads would droop in shame, she had to wait. She had always known this day would come, but she also knew he wouldn't be here to watch it with her. Even if she now had the knowledge of exotic herbs and panaceas, he would never watch the sun sink beneath the horizon with her again. 

She was now seventeen... older than he ever would be.