A Trial by Halves

Beyond Fear

"Lady Le Xu?" Su Sus voice whispered softly into the light green flare of light that erupted the moment contact was made.

"Who is this?" the same tight voice asked and this time a little louder.

"lady Le Xu, I am Su Su." she said while measuring her words very carefully.

"Where is Ye Hua?  Why have you got his mirror?  Who are you?" the voice suddenly became angry and not so softly spoken and suddenly she became nervous, because she just wanted to tell her that he was alright and to stop crying.

The voice had told her that she cried every day for her son that she loved very much and being a mother herself, she could only imagine how terrible it must be to lose ones only child.  The thought was so distressing to Su Su that she just wanted to reach out, one mother to another and put the womans fears to rest.

"I am Ye Huas wife Su Su.  I just wanted you to know that he is alright and you will see him again." Su Sus soft voice replied before the tears began to roll down her face.

The ensuing silence was a long one and for a moment, Su Su thought she had gone.  But the sudden sound of crying soon had her clutching the mirror to her chest in the hope that his mother might feel her heart breaking for her too.

"My son is dead.  Why are you doing this?  Leave me alone." the soft choking voice whispered back at her and making her cry even harder.

"I'm so sorry.  I just wanted you to know that he is well and you will see him again.  Please don't cry." her own whispered choking gasp replied and now wishing she had never picked up the mirror because the crying on the other end was so heartbreaking that Su Su could not bear to listen to it.

"My beautiful son would never hurt me like this.  What you are doing is evil and I don't deserve it.   He is gone and all I have left is a few precious memories until I can join him." the unstable voice of his mother bit back before the light green energy died and the connection was lost.

Sobbing, Su Su collapsed onto the bed and wept.  That Ye Hua had wanted to be with her for the sake of their son was one thing, but to leave his own mother heart broken, and having heard her voice and mournful sobbing for herself, Su Su just couldn't accept it and all she could do was cry bitterly, because it was the final proof she needed to know the voice had been right all along.

___

Somewhere....

Putting the mirror into her inner pocket, Su Jin wiped the tears from her eyes  and burst into full belly laughter.  It had been so easy to pull the tears out and force herself to cry and having an enormous amount of cultivation and added power, she could also disguise her voice and having spent her entire life beside Ye Huas mother, she knew absolutely everything about her, right down to what she would have said had she actually been the one to answer Su Sus call.

She had initially thought Su Su would cave after just a few dream state visits, but as the weeks rolled by and Su Su adamantly refused to leave the cave with her, which she could not force without notifying Ye Hua or worse, their son, she had come up with the brilliant plan of stealing Lady Le Xus mirror because she knew that Ye Hua had taken his own mirror back and given it to Su Su.  She had seen her with it.

Everyone knew Le Xu spoke to Ye Hua through it when he was little, it was the only way she could talk to him so he would know her voice.  And though Su Jin was positive that Ye Hua never answered her, she knew it affected him greatly, in that he always smiled a little more afterwards, especially when she sang songs to him, which she would sometimes hear him humming during the day.

Now entering the cave having been outside sitting under a tree, she found Su Su curled up in a ball crying on her bed like the pathetic little nothing that she was and the urge to keep it going had her sitting on the bed beside her to continue the whispering that attacked Su Su day and night.