The Storyteller

Mantou

Back in that cave, she had said and done things that would have made every elder from there to creation weep.  Mo Yuans mind was still stuck on some of those things, namely the bathing and the stories which were enough to make even him blush just thinking about it.  And though he had seen a side of her that was not evident in that cave, namely the strong sense of justice and no fear in extracting it, in other words the regalness that only a Queen could pull off, he realized that he was now faced with a different kind of woman again now that Di Jun had left them in peace.

Blushing profusely and shyly smiling down at him, Mo Yuan began to wonder just how many facets to her personality she had.  This was the demure maiden was now looking helplessly at him as if she now needed him to either go to sleep or say something.  

"I missed your stories..." he said softly while forcing himself to stay awake a little longer seeing as a frown was now etching her brow.

"I'll be heading back to Qing Qiu soon....." she informed him quietly and changing the subject.  She needed him to know that, as if his knowing was an excuse for not being there for him when he woke again.

"I know.  Your people have worked very hard Qian'er so I understand your priorities are with them.  However....."  he said with a light tap of his hand on her shoulder at the way her eyes rose at the term of endearment......  "I do believe you have a promise to keep." he replied seeing as she was now struggling to keep the conversation going without feeling awkward.

"I do?" she asked raising her head and her eyes in confusion and awe.  Confusion because she did not recall making any promises to him and awe, because he had just called her Qian'er.  It sounded so nice coming from his lips that she couldn't help but gaze at that face, one she knew so intimately, yet in this instance, it seemed different somehow but not.

In fact, looking at his seeing eyes now, she realized they really didn't look all that different to his blind eyes.  He had very good hearing in that cave, so his eyes were never really focused away from her when she talked to him, so many times she actually forgot that he was blind.  Only what she noticed now, was just how expressive his eyes were now that he could see.  His eyes were filled with laughter and every manner of emotion as he quietly and most thoroughly drank in every part of her face.

Several times in the past few minutes, he had raised his hand to lightly touch her cheek, her chin, her lashes..... and she had allowed him to.  After all, she had been the only one to share his blindness, she was the only voice he had heard and the only one to give him physical touch.  So wanting to feel her was natural and just as much a part of his healing as far as she was concerned no matter what anyone else thought of it.

"Yes.  You promised to take me to the workers tavern for dinner.  I am holding you to that promise." he reminded her even though she had thought he was a sleep when she had said that.

"So you heard me...." she blushed again as the memory of kissing him straight after came back to her.  

"Yes I did.  I also remember very clearly what followed." he whispered as the tip of his finger lightly brushed against her bottom lip and making her jump.

"Did you....." she replied in a small voice before lowering her face again in embarrassment while wondering what else he had heard when she thought he'd been asleep.

And as if he had read her mind, his hand slowly went behind her shoulders and very gently he dragged her towards him.  "There is no need to be shy around me Qian'er.  I believe that what we went through is fate, and I also believe that you were meant come back to me." he said gently as her head landed softly against his shoulder, like he used to hold her.