Dancing with the Dead

Chapter Ten

A/N: I own nothing except for my bed in which I can lie in forever to forget about my crushing student loan debt and existential crisis.

As usual, this is totally filled with typos. I tried catching them all, but ya kno.

Li Mei Ling was born from a wealthy and powerful family without any powers to her body or soul. Though she disappointed many clan members—furthermore so since she was born female rather than a male they needed, a curse on the family since the last male Li was killed at sea—Li Ye Lan, head matriarch to the Li clan helped raise her with regal confidence and strong sense of self worth.

"You were born because you are important. You may have been given the most important job in the world."

"I don't understand what you mean, Aunt Ye Lan." Mei Ling would voice her concerns with respect to the woman who raised and trained her in all the arts she could fit into the child's brain and body. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Mei Ling, a long time ago, our clan lost a bright young man who could have done great things for the world. He was a pirate, noble and true, and consumed with love. He was killed when he was not yet twenty two. We believe his soul still roams this world, waiting for his love to return to him."

Mei Ling was taken aback at her aunt's words. Ye Lan was a practical and intimidating woman who held no belief for the superstitious or the unknown. Yet, here she was with a story of a ghost pirate, and somehow it had something to do with her. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"You will be going to Japan shortly. It will be time to lead the Princess to her end."

Those were the last words spoken to her before she made her journey. After her last training was completed, she would head to find the Princess of the Underworld and allow its Prince to finally come home.

I met with Syaoran out in my backyard when I was sure Touya was already in deep sleep. I had no intention of telling him of my whereabouts, but I was never good at lying, even if it was a lie of omission. I waited for a few minutes before he came to meet with me, sitting beside me on a bench we had in the backyard. Despite the winter air, I felt no cold even though I was only wearing my nightdress under my coat. Syaoran's hand traveled across the bench until it found mine.

"Good evening," he said quietly.

"Hello," I replied cheerfully. Syaoran studied me for some time before finally looking away.

"How are you feeling?"

"Honestly, the most alive I've ever felt in all my life. I feel even better than before I first died. It is more than coming back from the dead; I feel reborn."

"I talked to Ruby and Yue. Apparently our…union…was enough to awaken your powers. You should be at full strength from them in only a few days."

"Our union?" I raised an eyebrow. I sensed him flush.

"It was a union of sorts."

I nodded to show him my comprehension, but I did not bother to continue the conversation. I was not sure what else he wanted to discuss, but I knew I was not ready to tell him everything I was trying to do.

"I wanted to ask you what you were thinking and doing after I saw you earlier, but I decided against it."

My eyes widened at that. Syaoran smirked at me, and despite everything, I still could not help but blush at his cool antics.

"I trust you. And after talking to Ruby and Yue, I came to understand a bit more of this time. When I was human, there were social limitations and rules we all had to abide by that no longer exist in your time. I should respect that. I also do not regret our night together. And because of that, I won't force you to conform to my standards."

"I don't regret that night, either! I could never regret it! To me, it was one of the most amazing things to ever happen to me!" I exclaimed. Suddenly, the smirk evolved into a crooked smile and there was a light in those fierce amber eyes that made me feel weak in the knees.

"Then, you wouldn't mind a repeat of that night, would you?" he asked in a voice so smooth and like velvet. He nearly captured my lips with his if I didn't summon enough willpower to pull back. Resisting him was becoming more difficult. Our souls had joined; they recognized the need to be with each other. We recognized each other as soul mates, and after centuries of being torn apart, they were not keen on being separated anymore than was necessary.

"Before that, there were a couple of things I wanted to ask you," I said meekly. Syaoran, to my relief, did not look offended, but his expression was curious at my request. "There are things I know about you, but some of it I heard in pieces or from others. I would like more of a complete story. From you."

"What do you want to know?"

"How did you die?"

To my surprise once more, there was no darkness in his eyes when I asked about his death. Instead, he rested his chin on his hand as if in deep thoughts. Though I did not think he was upset at all, I did quickly add, "Unless you're not comfortable with it."

Syaoran chuckled quietly and pushed some of my hair back behind my ear. I found it to be an intimate gesture. "No, it isn't that I am uncomfortable. It is just that I am not sure where to begin. No one has asked me about my death. Those in my company were with me when it happened, and the dead I manage never bother to ask."

"So this is not upsetting to you?"

"Sakura, I've had centuries to make peace with my death. I may have been lonely, but it was not due to the event of my end, but rather all that I dealt with afterward." His eyes then lit up again, only more tender and caring than before as he stared into my green ones. "Besides, dying allowed me to meet you. It brought us together. If I could, I would die 100 times more to be able to stay by your side."

After he said it, I heard a voice, a deep husky voice of a woman, laugh sardonically in my ear. The voice was not malicious, but rather familiar to me. But the way she laughed had some sadness to it. It was as though it was supposed to tell me something…no, more like remind me of something important.

Then it clicked. Syaoran had died that many times and more. And so had I. Both of us have died many times in order to find each other. When Ruby Moon had told us of what Fate revealed to her, I did not realize the gravity of the situation.

No one should have to be punished this much for love.

"I died here in Tomoeda, in the summer. I was almost twenty two and had been a pirate for only two years. But in those two years, I made a lot of enemies."

"Because you kept trying to stop the slave trade," I interjected. He smiled warmly at me at that.

"Eriol told you?" He did not pause for my response. "Yes, I did everything in my power to stop the slave trade. Especially when it involved women. During my time, many young Japanese girls would be taken and sold to other countries to settle the debts of their fathers. It was unjust and cruel, and I did not abide by it."

"Why did you care so much?" I asked him as politely as possible.

"Because I loved this country. Because I loved Hime. I used to wonder that if she were alive, would she have been sold off into slavery like so many young girls. She did not come from money like I did. She had nothing to her name, and died with nothing except the love we had for each other and the belief that we would meet again. So because of her, because I knew that it was wrong to rob others of their freedom, I became a pirate."

Processing all that information, I nodded again. Strangely, I did not feel jealousy from hearing about Hime again. Instead, I admired him once more for his nobility and fairness, and how good his heart was from the time he was alive until now.

"Eriol said you were killed by the Mitsuwa clan."

"He's not completely wrong, but it was not a clan. It was a company made up of three corrupt individuals: Miyabe, Tsukiyama, and Wakamatsu. They called themselves "Three Warning Stories" because they would kill in threes before coming after their actual target. That was how they wrote out their names. They were rich from the slave trade, and I was a threat to their luxurious lifestyles. I knew they would come for me when they killed three of my ship men in the months preceding my death. Unfortunately for them, they did not realize that I grew strong and retaliated for each death they caused on my men."

"What happened?"

Syaoran shrugged. "They hired more men. I was attacked one night when I was at port. I fought well; my father and the rest of my clan made sure I was trained to be a warrior if the time called for it. But I was only human and could not do much with that many men attacking my ship. The funny thing was, when I was killed, it happened quickly. I didn't suffer. It was as though I had only gone to sleep. When I came back to life, I brought Yue and Ruby with me. If Eriol was not a deity, I would have brought him with me."

"That was all?"

Syaoran laughed heartily at that. "Sorry that it was not so dramatic. But my death itself was anticlimactic. The battle before it was not. But that was how I died."

"What happened to the Mistwa cla—company?" I asked, correcting myself.

"Nothing. They mysteriously found troublesome storms on their journeys and eventually, they were too unreliable to do business with. The three that orchestrated my death did not amount to much after they murdered me." There was a hint of pride in his voice while explaining this. A part of me should have felt terrified at his revenge, but I also could not fault him for trying to ruin the lives of the men who killed him in the first place.

"I see," I responded dumbly to him. I did not know what to say after that. Suddenly, Syaoran pulled me up and we were in my room again. I looked at him quizzically, but he only shrugged.

"I know that you are feeling better, but you are still a human who can catch colds." He then lied in my bed, patting the place beside him for me to take. I jumped in bed hurriedly, amazed at how warm it was. Without realizing it, I must have been cold outside.

"Since you were asking questions about me, I get to ask one about you." He declared this without hesitation. I yawned, but laughed to give my consent. "Then, since I know how you died, I want to ask: who was your first love?"

"You," I replied without pause. I liked Yukito a lot, but I knew it was not love. I almost felt embarrassed if I did not catch him roll his eyes.

"No, really?"

"I am not lying," I cried out. "I met you when I was very young and impressionable. And you were so mysterious that I could not stop thinking about you. I did not think you were real for a long time, but if I think about it, you were my first love."

"I don't know if I like that I essentially made you fall in love with me by meeting you when you were a child," he frowned. This only caused me to pout.

"Hoe…you would have been upset if I said it was someone else, and now you're upset that I said you were my first love. Syaoran, you are very hard to please."

His boyish grin returned once more. "Not at all, if you know what I like."

After he finally kissed me, words were no longer necessary. Our lips would not stop until I was finally unable to overcome my tiredness and fell asleep. It was not until in the last moment before I fell into a dream was the memory of seeing something similar to "Three Warning Stories" somewhere in the world.

He was gone when I woke up, which was fine since I had overslept. When I made it down to the kitchen, my brother and Yukito-san were sitting on the table with their publisher.

"Ah, good morning, Kinomoto-chan," the handsome publisher greeted me politely.

"Good morning Miyazawa-sensei," I replied back.

Miyazawa Mitsuki was my brother's publisher representative and has been for years. He was always a very reserved and quiet individual who appreciated neatness. In all the years he has been around the house, I have never seen him with his dark hair out of place, or his charcoal suit untailored to his tall and lean physique.

"Good morning, onii-chan, Yukito-san," I greeted my family, trying to ignore an intense feeling of dread that was starting to overcome me.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan," Yukito replied with a friendly smile. "We are sorry to take up the kitchen, but Miyazawa-san demanded to go over some of our edits as soon as possible."

"The magazine goes out next week. There was no time to waste."

"Hn," my brother grunted rather curtly. This was surprising; my brother, though never fond of his publisher, was usually quite respectful of him. "How are you feeling? I can make a quick breakfast if you need me to."

"No, I am alright. I am sure I can grab something quick at the convenience store."

I felt Miyazawa turn to me. "I am sorry that I have not come by to visit, Kinomoto-chan. However, I am pleased to see you at full strength after such an accident."

When I stared back into his grey eyes, I suddenly felt the wheels turn. My locket did not burn, but somehow I knew that if I were to open it, the pearl would glow red. Clutching my locket, I returned a smile that he hopefully thought was genuine.

"Thank you, Miyazawa-san. Actually, I was hoping to set up a meeting with you. I have a project that requires me to meet someone in the literary publishing business. I would have asked my brother or Yukito-san, but either my brother would be difficult or Yukito-san would be overly nice and maybe dishonest," I lied smoothly. I playfully smiled at my family for good measure, but there was no hiding the concern in my brother's gaze.

There was a hint of a smile, but it left so quickly that it could have been part of my imagination. "That seems reasonable, Kinomoto-chan. I am available when you are done with school today."

"That would be great. We can meet in the café a block away from my school. It won't take much of your time, I assure you. It will be quick, and then I will leave as healthy and free as I came in." I chose her words carefully. If anyone thought them to be weird, no one said a thing.

Miyazawa seemed to pause before constructing another smile to his face. "That seems reasonable."

"Do I have you word?" The question seemed so light, but there was a heavy promise laced in between them.

"You have my word."

As I left hurriedly to school. As I ran, I opened up her locket to find her pearl fading away from the glowing red it was before. That was when I remembered. Miyazawa always spelled his name funny. The "wa" character always read as "warning" whenever I saw it.

Tomoyo gave me no chance to breathe when I came to school, thankfully, with plenty of time before classes started. "We are having a visitor."

"Today?" I asked, rather bewildered at the vagueness of Tomoyo's statement.

"No, not today. I don't know when, but soon. I don't like it. This girl feels…she feels like she is the end."

I frowned at those ominous words. "Tomoyo-chan, I don't understand. The end to what?"

"Sakura-chan, I think the cycle will end soon. And I don't think it will end as well as we all hope." There was a serious fire in Tomoyo's violet eyes that I have never seen. "Promise me, that whatever happens, you will not sacrifice yourself for another being."

"What are you talking about? Of course I won't!"

But Tomoyo only threw me an exasperated look. "You are the sort of person who would. If something were to happen where your life was in danger, do whatever it is you want to do. Make it your own choice. Not Syaoran's, not Mars', not for this mystery girl, or me. Make it your own decision. Please?"

I could only nod at her, anxious at her worry. Tomoyo was always calm and collected and seemed to be carrying secrets that no one else could know. To see her like this was not a good sign of things to come.

"The girl who is coming…what does she look like?"

Tomoyo blew some of the bangs out of her eyes. She motioned me to walk to our classroom with her, and despite being surrounded by so many others, it felt as though it were just me and her in the world. "I am not sure. Pretty, I think? She has fierce eyes and dark hair. I also know she is foreign. I am not sure, but she may be Chinese."

"Oh, like Syaoran!" The words came out before I could even process them. Tomoyo turned to me, eyes sharp and alert.

"What do you mean?"

"Syaoran is—was, I suppose when he was alive—born in China. He was a Chinese pirate."

"The Chinese Pirate from our legend?"

"Yes." I frowned again, tilting my head at her unsure of why this was new information to her. "And Eriol was on his ship and died when he did. I thought you knew this. Didn't Eriol-kun tell you?"

"No," she answered with a flush. "Eriol and I don't do much talking."

My cheeks reddened with her. "Oh? How long has that been going on?"

"Stop, Sakura-chan," she teased with a smile. "That isn't important. But I didn't know that he was the Chinese Pirate, or that he was from a foreign land. That makes things easier. I will find out who this new girl is and what she wants."

"Good, then I should tell you, I found Mars."

I said this in a whisper now that we were outside our classroom and since Tomoyo had more tact out of everyone I knew, she did not react strongly to my news.

"Who is he then?"

"I will tell you later. All I can say is that I am meeting with Mars today."

"Sakura-chan, isn't this something Syaoran-kun should know about?"

Looking into the class, I noticed Syaoran, the real version and not his copy, looking at Eriol with a bored look on his face, but I could see the mirth in his eyes. Sometimes I wished he were not some deity, but just a normal boy from my class the way he was pretending to be. I wished he and I could be together without worrying about gods and past lives in our way. I wished we could all just be happy.

"No. I will not tell him. This is something I must do myself."

Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah: I have so much to say…

So, the action in this fic will start to pic up now that I got the background and the players all out there, thano god. As much as I love filled chapters, they are kinda tedious.

I have deleted "Sex. Pop. Music. Candy." Mostly because it was trash, that did not start off as trash, but it certainly became it. It was fun to write until it no longer was, and maybe someday I will go back and fix it.

This fic will be less than 20 (or 20) chapters long but more than 15.

I am self publishing an ebook! This is my most exciting news thus far. It is a young adult realistic fiction novel! You don't have to have a kindle to read it, you can just download the kindle app for free and read it on your phone, tablet, computer, whatever.

Anyway, the book is called "In Search of my Teenage Romance" and it is actually the second novel I wrote, and sometimes I think it is crap, but it is actually very important to me, and when I wrote it, it helped me deal with a lot of things.

In any case, it is available for pre-order! It is $3.99, so if you have 4 dollars to spare, I would appreciate it! Also, if you have Amazon prime, you can borrow the book for free.

I am not writing to make money and it isn't my full time job. I just want to put my writing out there and maybe entertain someone. So, if you want to help make my dreams come true, that would be great! And I would seriously appreciate it.

In Search of my Teenage Romance

{not a love story}

by Celia Inez

He lived a pretty charmed life with few concerns. Before meeting the fierce Lena King, the only things he had to worry about was acing physics, curbing his jealousy over his perfect best friend, Jun, and not to take Sophie seriously when she went crazy over school. Then he met Lena, and she took over his world like a flame. It got worse when he discovered her secret and felt bound to her forever.

But as it turns out, real life is not as easy as all the romance novels. He is starting to realize that maybe this is not his story, and Lena has more secrets that he is not ready for. How is he supposed to deal with his feelings for Lena, high school, and the fact that his best friend is falling in love with the girl of his dreams?

www. amazon gp / product / B013TFSM48 just delete the spaces in between!

Thanks!

xoxo