Through it all (a ten miles of peach blossoms fan fiction)

Chapter 3

"Mother" A-Li called and Bai Qian beamed. She'd spent the last few days reading to him and playing with him while aptly avoiding his father who was now occupying both the guest room and her fourth brother's old room.

"Father" He said in the same excited voice

She whirled around to see Ye Hua walk into the room and realized she'd lost track of time. It was around the time he typically went for a walk with A-Li. After the first few days they lived in the cave with her, she'd figured out Ye Hua's schedule so she was out of his way as much as she could.

He invited her to join their walk and their son clapped his excitement, chanting "mother" over and over again. Realizing there was no way to avoid joining them without disappointing A-Li, she pinched his little cheeks and placed him into his father's arms.

She took a familiar path, one she'd walked with A-Li multiple times in the previous days. The little boy played a game of tag with his parents. Calling out "mother" and reaching for her when he'd taken a few steps in his father's arms then calling "father" after a few steps in hers. She realized it was his first time being with both of them for an extended period. Judging by his excitement, he enjoyed the time with both of them together.

"Water" A-Li said from his father's arms

"Not water" Bai Qian replied smiling as he scrunched his tiny face trying to remember the word.

"Lake" he said, she smiled and nodded at him

"Dance" he said to his father who looked at her in confusion. She took the baby from him and spun him around in a dance making him giggle.

Ye Hua watched mother and son dance. They'd bonded very quickly even having their own code for things. He felt like an outsider, he'd noticed she was avoiding him all week but had decided to give her time to adjust. Now it turns out, he didn't like the new status quo.

"Dance?" he whispered when she finally stopped spinning

"We celebrate remembering things we learnt and learning new things with a dance" she replied without looking at him

He watched them walk into the lake, heard their laughter and giggle float back to him and decided he had given her enough room to adjust to his presence. It seemed to him that her plan was to integrate herself fully into A-Li's life so their son could never be taken away from her but also stay far enough from him that she could walk away from their marriage. He was not going to let go.

He had always been the outsider, being proclaimed crown prince at birth meant he had started training from birth and not had a chance to meet with other children his age, not that there were others his age in the nine heavens. He'd been so engrossed in studies he didn't have the chance to travel to other regions for fun, he only went when there was an official reason to. He hadn't felt like an outsider with Su Su, she'd loved him unconditionally but he had broken her trust.

"Father" A-Li toddled to him and wrapped himself around his legs. Ye Hua picked him up and linked his fingers with Bai Qian. He smiled internally, listening to A-Li's ramble and pretending not to notice as she struggled to pull her hands out of his grasp.

He let her avoid him for the rest of the afternoon but sought her out by early evening. She'd fallen asleep in the main hall, a half eaten bowl of loquats on the table beside her. He studied her sleeping form. She looked tired, like someone who wasn't getting enough sleep so rather than wake her to walk to the market with him as he'd planned, he covered her with his cloak, sat across from her and worked on the documents he need to work on.

He gave up on the scroll he'd been pretending to read. He hoped the immortal slept as deeply as her mortal self did, sitting at the foot of the chair, he stroked her face. She sighed deeply, moved her head slightly but continued sleeping.

The scream woke him up. He had placed his head beside hers and dozed off.

"What do you think you're doing? Get away from me"

"Qian Qian, calm down"

"I don't want you near me" She shouted and threw up an immortal barrier between them.

"Ok, ok" he hadn't expected the reaction and he was completely floored.

She realized she'd trapped herself on the wrong side of the barrier and couldn't get out without taking it down. Her throat began to close, the fear and pain was suffocating her, she needed to get out but she could see him on the other side of the barrier looking at her in confusion, she wished he would leave. She tore down the barrier and ran out of the cave leaving a bewildered Ye Hua behind.

She transformed into fox form as soon as she was out of the cave to remind herself of who she was and ran towards the lake. She sat still and worked on her breathing, focusing and directing her internal energy to calm her organs and slow her heart. She'd woken up with his face so close to hers and had reached out to touch him when she had a seeping sense of déjà vu. Their situation resembled the early part of their mortal relationship and she could not risk repeating the journey again. She took a deep breath, changed back to human form and recited her mantra in her head:

He doesn't love me, he feels sorry for taking my eyes

Mortal romances end in the mortal world

He broke the vows

I hate him

She repeated the chant several times until she was back to her usual self. She stretched and decided to take a dip in the lake before heading back to the cave. It was almost time for A-Li to wake up. She stripped off a few layers and walked into the pond, deciding it was too cold, she wrapped herself in immortal energy for warmth and walked deeper in. She was waist and ready to submerge herself when she was lifted by a powerful stream on energy and unceremoniously dumped into Ye Hua's arms. He held on tight

"I won't let you... not again... no" He said in broken sobs

He held her so tight, she had trouble breathing. She tried to get out of his hold but couldn't, his magic might be recovering but nothing was wrong with his physical strength.

"I will go away, I'll stay in heaven, I'll keep my distance. I will do anything you want just please don't hurt yourself. Don't leave me again"

"Ye Hua..."

"I know you're angry at me and you have the right to be but I'd rather be separated from you than live in a world you don't exist"

"I was only going for a swim"

"I thought ..." He trailed off, "You left the cave in anger, I thought ..."

"I ..."

"You can be mad at me but you can't..."

"Ye Hua!" She snapped and he released his grip on her. She saw his face and all the admonition she'd been planning to deliver melted out of her mind. He was crying, she felt her heart stir "I have never consciously tried to kill myself, there are too many people dependent on me. I was going for a swim."

"It's my fault. I jumped into the wrong conclusion"

"Because of the Zhuxian terrace episode."

He nodded

"I wasn't trying to die there either. Su.., I thought it would take me back to mount Junji where I could continue to live my life without hurting ..." she stopped abruptly

"Qian Qian, do you think we'll ever be able to talk about the past?"

"We were both there, there is nothing to talk about. We should head back before A-Li wakes up"