Disclaimer – ½ Prince and all of the characters—aside from my OC's—belong to Yu Wo
Her smiling face as she looked at me fondly, the warm, loving expression that I'd never seen until I met her.
The intense, focused stare she has when she concentrates, whether it's fighting something or simply doing her gardening.
The teasing quirks of her thin eyebrows as she threads jokes into our conversations, effortlessly lightening my mood and drawing out the contented smiles in me that I'd thought were long gone.
Over the past few days, I'd often found myself studying Jiao's face. Observing each expression she made and tucking them away in the corner of my mind like precious treasures I could admire again and again. And there were many to remember.
How was it possible that one person was so full? So complete?
Only months ago, I'd been empty, blank, alone. Yet I truly hadn't been discontent at all. Bored and restless, but I hadn't thought that was a bad thing. It was normal. I had so much, why would I complain?
But now that I knew what I'd been lacking, I was determined to never take things like this for granted. Jiao, and Heng, and all my other new friends, all the time we spent together; each second was precious to me. Perhaps it was because I knew it could all be taken away from me in a moment, but I held all of the memories of the past few months, good and bad, close to me.
Looking up at Jiao across the table, I knew I was only going to get more. And that was a very encouraging thought.
Involuntarily, a little sigh escaped my lips as I leaned back in my chair and reached for my coffee cup. Jiao glanced at me wonderingly, and I smiled at her. Her face lightened somewhat, and she leaned over the chair of our other companion—Jiao and I had taken Shuang out for the afternoon.
Perhaps I simply wanted to observe Shuang's behavior to be able to compare it with Heng's, since I hadn't had a chance yet to talk to him, but Chen and Delun had also asked Jiao and I to watch the little girl while they went out to lunch with one another. Being very fond of their daughter already, I was very happy to have the opportunity.
My face heated up somewhat as the wondering thought as to what Jiao and my children might be like floated into my head. Somehow, I'd never pictured myself as a father before. But being around Shuang made me wonder if I would be a good father—I knew that often children grew up to be similar to their own parents.
When I tried to imagine myself being different from how my own father was, I wondered if it was even possible. I certainly didn't want to be like him, but I found many affinities between he and I, regardless. Like my impatience with other people, my rather short temper, my ceaseless work ethic that I get angry over if anything becomes muddled… Would I have enough control over myself to be a father my children would need? One they would want? What if I made a mistake and they came to hate me like Gui Wen hated our father?
I knew from past experience with things that it wasn't enough to simply envision something. First I would have to change myself if I wanted to gain anything.
But I knew the effort would be worth it.
Shuang bounced up and down in her chair, humming to herself as she ran her spoon through the ice cream in her bowl. With a very concentrated expression, she scooped up a lump of the cold dessert and popped it into her mouth, getting quite a bit of it on herself rather than actually eating it. Dropping her spoon in the bowl, she gave me a wide smile. "Ahh!"
Holding myself back from laughing at her ice cream-covered cheeks, I picked up her napkin. "You're a messy eater," I commented, giving her a serious stare as I tilted her chin back to clean that which was dribbling down toward her pink, ruffled shirt collar.
She giggled as a response, and promptly made a mess again with another mouthful. "I'm not messy!" she declared after swallowing, swirling her spoon around in the melted cream.
"Are you sure about that?" I asked her, quirking an eyebrow in amusement. She was even more of a messy eater than Dib, and that was quite the accomplishment.
She nodded confidently. "Mommy and daddy said so."
"I see," I said, sipping my coffee.
Jiao laughed quietly into her own cup, and looked fondly down at the little girl. "If they said it, it must be true," she mused.
"'Course it is!" she affirmed. Shuang then went back to her ice cream without another word, noisily eating the rest of it. When I was just finishing with my coffee, she dropped her spoon back into her empty bowl and hopped off her chair. "I have to go to the potty," she announced with a frown, tugging on Jiao's sleeve.
"Okay, honey." Jiao quickly stood and picked Shuang up. "Be back in a moment," she told me before hurrying toward the entrance to the café we were sitting outside. I waved a hand at them, and settled back down in my chair, staring at the little dribble of coffee I still had in my cup, wondering if I should get more, or if Shuang would want to leave after they came back outside.
Deciding not to chance it, I set the empty cup back on the table and silently watched as people walked past the café, up and down the sunny sidewalk. I wondered vaguely why I'd never done this before; simply sitting outside and observing that which happened around me. It was very relaxing, sitting there in the warm sunlight, doing nothing in particular.
Several minutes passed, when I then heard footsteps stop beside me. I looked up with a surprised smile at the unexpected face staring down at me. "Hey!"
Heng stared at me in amusement at my energetic greeting, and waved a hand. "Hey, Al."
"What are you doing here?" I asked, gesturing at one of the empty chairs in an invitation for him to sit down. It had been a long time since he and I had talked in real life, and much longer since we'd actually had a conversation. It was nice to see him again.
Rather than sitting, he lifted a small, white box he was holding. "I was at the bakery down the street, buying a cake." He cleared his throat and glanced at the messy tabletop before sending me a teasing smile. "Are you with someone, or were you just uncharacteristically hungry for once? I can't imagine you being so hungry to have ordered three drinks and a bowl of something all for yourself."
Smirking, I picked up my empty cup, wiggling it at him. "Yes, I was completely famished. So I drove all of the way here and got myself a cup of coffee to save me from starvation."
"Ah, I see," he breathed, nodding with a serious expression. "Well, I'm glad you're not dead."
"Me too," I agreed.
"…So, who–" he started, but paused as a ringing noise erupted from the pocket of his denim jeans. Stuffing his hand inside and pulling out his cellphone, he flipped it open and glanced at the screen. A fond smile settled on his face, replacing his initial look of irritation at the interruption. "Sorry, I have to go," he said quickly, taking a step backward. "See you tonight, Al."
"Bye, Dib." I curiously watched him as he hurried away from the café and walked briskly down the sidewalk, chatting animatedly into his cellphone the whole while. I didn't have long to wonder who it was he was talking to as Jiao and Shuang emerged from the café a moment later, waving energetically at me.
"I paid inside," Jiao informed as I stood up.
"Okay." We stepped out onto the crowded sidewalk, and I glanced around for a moment before smiling widely at Shuang as she grabbed my hand. "Where shall we go now?"
"The park!" she chose excitedly.
"The park it is, then," I consented in amusement over her enthusiasm. Picking her up, I took Jiao's hand and the three of us walked down the sidewalk.
That night as I logged into Second Life, I was still feeling rather confused over the whole Child VS Dib thing. As a small test, I'd purposefully ignored Shuang for a few minutes while we were playing together at the park, and she did indeed get annoyed with me. But Dib's reaction had been so much more violent and angry. Maybe because he was a boy? Girls did seem to be more reserved than boys did.
However it was, I finally had a chance to talk to Dib alone, since the other four were going on a family trip for several days, giving me plenty of time to ask him what was going on.
"Dib?" I called loudly into the mist, carefully stepping around the giant mud puddle in front of me, though my efforts to stay clean didn't do much, since the ground surrounding the puddle was just as muddy. I made a mental note never to train in the wetlands again. They should have come with some sort of warning for how filthy one would become, training here for even a moment. When I heard "wetlands" I'd been expecting something more, well, watery. Then again, taking Jiū's white clothes into consideration, watery places might not be such a good idea after all, since if they got wet, they'd probably turn…
My face abruptly began to burn, and I attempted to flush that particular topic out of my mind. What was the matter with me? Thinking about such lewd things…
I returned to my search for Dib with renewed concentration in a want to distract myself.
"Over here, Al!" Dib's slightly muffled voice called from somewhere to my left, startling me somewhat. I stayed as still as I could as he ran up through the swirling vapors, splashing mud everywhere. "Hey!"
"Hey," I greeted with a smile as he hugged my leg. Regardless of the filth involved, I bent down and quickly picked him up before he could ask and gave him a squeeze.
He laughed for a moment, but then he suddenly began looking around us, searching the mist. "…Where are the others?" he asked slowly, suspicion clouding his happy smile.
"They won't be on for a few days," I answered, extending my wings and lifting us off the sticky ground. There had to be some other place to train in Moon City other than this mud hole. There was a small wooded area near the city gates, perhaps there were monsters in there worth training on.
Dib's eyes widened and he said "Oh!" as his smile returned with increased intensity at the news.
I glanced down at him in bewilderment at the bizarre reaction and lifted us out of the mist, into the startlingly bright sunlight. Why was he, an extremely outgoing person, so happy we were on our own again? Wasn't that usually my job? In contrast to his alleviation, I was feeling a tiny bit lonely without Jiū there. I thought he liked the other four. He'd certainly never complained about them before. In fact, he always looked like he was enjoying himself quite a bit whenever he interacted with them.
Sighing slightly, I pushed that aside and looked around for somewhere not covered in mud where we could land. "Dib," I called quietly, directing myself toward a large hill by the edge of the mist. I didn't particularly want to annoy him with my prying, but I figured I should at least attempt to come to some sort of understanding about his behavior. It was annoying, not knowing what was going on.
"Yeah?" Dib replied, peering up at me curiously.
"Are you okay? I know I might be annoying you with the repetitive questions, and you already said you were, but it's just that you were acting kind of odd last night."
His face immediately darkened, and he let his eyes drop away from my face. That wasn't a good reaction…
"Who were you with at the café this afternoon?" he suddenly asked, a hint of anger heating his words.
"I was with Jiū," I answered, trying to ignore the surprise at his icy tone. "And also her niece."
Silence took over and I felt somewhat frightened at his abrupt change in mood. He looked positively furious, and I didn't know why. Somehow, I couldn't get myself to ask, feeling as though he might attack me at any moment.
"Al." His voice nearly came out as a snarl. I stared down at him, wide-eyed, but didn't answer. "When I said you should make friends, I hadn't meant it like that."
Confusion washed over me. Why wouldn't I make friends with her? Never mind the whole teammate thing, who wouldn't want to be friends with their own fiancée? She and I were going to, hopefully, be together for the rest of our lives. It seemed a bit silly, not being close to her on several different personal levels, even if it was just an arranged marriage.
Dib glanced up at me again, worry filling his angry expression. "Al, what is she to you? Was it just a casual get-together? Or did you randomly run into her while you were out?"
Oh, right. I hadn't told him yet, had I? With the fight we'd had over what happened with the dragon king, I'd completely forgotten.
Even with as scared as I was feeling, I smiled slightly. "She's my fiancée. We got engaged five or six years ago, and we're getting married in a couple months; whenever my father picks a date, I suppose. Not that he really has–"
"Put me down."
I froze at his quiet command, and then looked down at him fearfully. His eyes were open wide, a horrified look on his flushed face. "I SAID PUT ME DOWN!" he yelled after I didn't answer, and began squirming in my grip.
"Wait, stop," I said, trying to keep my hold on him as I hurried toward the side of the grassy hill. He only struggled harder. "Let me land first, damn it!" Once we were finally on the ground again, he roughly shoved me away.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I snapped, rubbing the numerous sore spots where he'd hit me.
"Wrong with ME?" he screamed, looking hysterical. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
I shut my mouth, having no idea what to say to him. Tears suddenly started spilling down his face, sobs wracking his body. "Stay away from me!" he yelled when I tried to take a step forward. Quickly taking my hands back, I stared at him from a distance, my mind reeling. I'd seen him upset before, but never to this extent. What in the world was wrong?
Several minutes passed, and he then shook his head. "W-why didn't you tell me?" he demanded, his voice cracking slightly.
"I… I'm sorry," I said, shrugging in utter confusion. "I was going to, but I hadn't yet. Is it really so important?" I asked slowly, but that was apparently the wrong thing to say.
His face twisted with rage. "Of course it's important that you're engaged, you moron!" he roared. "How could you keep it from me for so long?"
"I DIDN'T DO IT ON PURPOSE!" I bellowed at him. "Why the hell is it such a surprise? Isn't it normal for someone our age to get married? For all I know, you have a fiancée, too!"
"I DO NOT!" he denied, whirling around and stomping away from me. "OF COURSE I DON'T, STUPID! WHY WOULD YOU EVEN THINK THAT AFTER… AFTER… DAMN IT! HOW CAN YOU BE SO DENSE, YOU DAMN IDIOT?"
"Wait! Where are you going?" I yelled, starting to run after him.
He sent me a murderous glare over his shoulder. "Don't you dare follow me!"
"But–"
"Don't!" he repeated, halting my steps. He gritted his teeth, and looked upward for a moment, wiping his hands across his face. "Just leave me alone for a while, Al…"
"Wait!" Regardless of his order, I stepped toward him. But before I could say or do anything else, he vanished. I stared blankly at the spot where he'd been standing, my heart pounding uncontrollably. Inhaling sharply, I hastily glanced around the empty area as if he'd be still there somewhere, but I was alone there on the side of the hill. Panic started to rise up in the silence that followed our fight. Where Dib's cheerful voice usually was, there was suddenly nothing. I felt as though I'd gone deaf.
I waited there all night, but Dib never came back.