Chronicles of Liutana

04 - The Resolution

A.N. I was going to leave the last drabble on its ambiguous ending, but I felt compelled to conclude things. Here it goes...

Dawn was breaking over the horizon.

Liu briefly broke his weary gaze from Kitana to take note of the rising sphere of orange, then it immediately returned to her still-unconscious form. He had been sitting in a chair beside their bed throughout the entire night, his eyes barely closing to blink, watching her tirelessly for any sign of her rousing. Kitana had not stirred once, but Liu had noticed other signs of her health improving. Her sluggish breathing had become steady again, and the pinkish tinge had returned to her skin; the pallor giving way to its healthy golden complexion. Exhaustion had suffused the poor man's body. He felt as though he would collapse any moment, ready to shut his tired, inflamed eyes and succumb to the extreme fatigue that was gnawing at him: But he refused to give in. He would not rest, until he was assured his beloved was alright.

His patience was soon rewarded. Just as the rays of sunlight streamed in from the balcony, Kitana shifted. She could feel the warmth of the sun heating her face, stirring her from the shroud of darkness that enveloped her. She moaned as she internally struggled from the haze and moved towards wakefulness. Liu moved onto the edge of the bed, taking one of her nearly icy hands between both of his.

"Come on sweetheart..." he murmured, tears brimming within his already soaked, burning eyes. "Please Kitana... come back to me."

She could hear him. She could hear his weary, gentle voice calling for her. She had to rise through and meet him: She had to assure him that she was alright. With a groan of exertion Kitana finally pushed through, her eyes groggily coming open and gazing blearily up into Liu's face.

"... Kitana?" he called quietly, as if afraid speaking her name too loudly would send her back into unconsciousness. Kitana blinked furiously until her murky vision cleared: Immediately she espied the red inflammation lining her husband's eyes, and the thin streams coming down the corners of each. His face was worn and solemn, and she could tell he had not slept. Seeing him that way almost made her heart feel as though it were ripped from her chest.

"You've been crying..." she rasped.

"Oh thank the gods..." Liu sighed, crumpling down into her bosom. Smiling weakly, Kitana wrapped him in somewhat languid arms, trying her hardest to convey that she was alright through her touch. They remained that way for several long moments, merely communicating through presence alone, in that special way that only lovers could.

"I never saw it coming..." Kitana began quietly, and the fear and shock in her tremulous voice was palpable and heart-breaking. Liu gazed at her. "I was just relaxing in bed when he came in... a simple member of the help supposedly bringing me tea. And then... he just... lunged at me with a dagger..." She paused, shuddering at the frightening memory. "He was no skilled assassin, nor an enemy I had made in the past... just an ordinary man with a knife."

"He'll pay for what he did. Our guards are searching for him as we speak." Liu said venomously. Kitana only nodded in reply. The exhaustion from the heavy blood loss and the general weight of the ordeal came crashing upon her, causing her to give a large yawn.

"You should rest Darling." Liu said. "You... you lost a lot of blood." The last words caused him to swallow the urge to weep. The princess smiled sympathetically at him, cupping his cheek in her hand.

"Lie down with me. I know you haven't slept at all." Kitana said.

"You're right." Liu answered simply, his own fatigue now becoming too much to bear. With the scant amount of energy he had left, he crawled up beside his wife, spooning her flush against him and wrapping her in cautious, but firmly protective arms. In his comforting hold, she fell asleep again effortlessly. As his own eyelids grew heavy, Liu stole one last glance at Kitana's peaceful countenance. Just before he drifted off, he uttered two simple words to whatever forces that allowed him to keep his beloved wife, as he hoped to for many years to come...

"Xia xia...*" Liu whispered, and then he too was asleep.

The perpetrator was never found.

*xia xia - thank you in Mandarin Chinese.