Immortal Mortals

Facing the Truth

"Jie is Mo Yuan?" she whispered up at her brother.  Not only was she in an extreme state of shock she could barely breathe.  Her brother would never lie to her, not about this, not knowing how much she loved Jie and how much she hated Mo Yuan.

"How do you know?" she asked, suddenly wondering how they all knew but she didn't, because surely she would have known, and that thought suddenly brought back her earlier suspicions that perhaps he was Mo Yuan, because other than Bai Zhen, only he knew of the fighting and sword routine that she had taught Meili.

Looking at her briefly, Bai Zhen suddenly stood, then taking a deep breath and before she could even blink, he instantly took on his Mortal Realm disguise of Chang Li.

Immediately her mouth dropped.  What else was he not telling her, she wondered as the anger in her began to rise.  She had known him as Chang Li for over a year, why hadn't he said anything?

"Why Zhen Zhen?" she asked suddenly feeling very betrayed and humiliated.  The pain in her eyes hurt him more than he cared to admit, but he was not only tired of seeing her cry, he was tired of the their stupidity.

Sitting down beside her, Bai Zhen opened up to her.  It was the first time in their entire lives that they talked as peers and not as siblings where he would normally be mindful of his words lest her offend or upset her.  It was a talk that not only came from his heart, but one she needed to hear as well as a lesson on self evaluation.  And nor was it brief.  On that little hill, with night falling abut them and the stars just beginning to show, they talked, she cried and he talked some more.

"Would you believe it was right here on this hill, that Zhe Yan and I stumbled upon Mo Yuan?" he asked with a small smile.  "At the time, he was lying down in his Mortal disguise, and lost to his thoughts, just was you were.  It was the same day that Meili had been hurt not far from here." he said as he explained Mo Yuans close examination of the days events and his suspicions around her true identity.  "In fact, he had suspected you were Immortal almost from the beginning, but chose to ignore it."  he added, before gathering his thoughts.

"And it was here, that we both found out that he had come to assist in the rebuild of the township and perhaps offer healing to those he had hurt.  The guilt in him was so enormous, that he could not sit by knowing how much suffering he had caused.  He wanted to give back what he had taken as best as he could, and of course from there he met you." he said smiling.  

"And it was then that we found out that he had married a Mortal women, but it wasn't until I insisted on seeing for myself just what kind of woman he had fallen madly in love with enough to risk his Immortal Realm marriage to you and possibly his reputation, that we found out who his Mortal wife was." he said looking off into the distance at the last of the setting sun.

"You know Xiao Wu, you had both fled to the Mortal Realm for different reasons.  You because you wanted to avoid a marriage of convenience, and he because of guilt, but he too dreaded the marriage arrangement, in fact, had you not shown that day, he would have cancelled it." he smiled, gaining a tight lipped scowl in response.

Taking in her reaction, he merely grinned.  Xiao Wu, how many times have you heard of Immortals running away to the Mortal World to escape a marriage only to end up marrying one another in disguise?  You have to admit its pretty funny, I doubt very much in the history of both worlds that this has ever happened before.  And to be our worlds two greatest High Gods is even funnier.  But you did, and you both fell in love, both of you gaining a first time love in the process and one that could very well span eternity." he said grinning at her, and as he watched her reactions to his words, he could see she was finally listening.

"And he loved you.  He loved you more than any woman he had ever met in all the 300,000 years he has lived.  Enough to risk it all.  Neither Zhe Yan nor I had ever seen him so happy.  I don't know what you did, but you changed him.  Before you, he was almost cold to the world Xiao Wu, it was as if he had lived and done it all, and there was nothing else to do except go through the motions.  In you, he found himself again." he said almost in a whisper as he thought back to the man who grudgingly agreed to marry her Immortal self just to keep the peace.