Chapter 12: Past Remembrance
Touya had looked around, all his troops were having a celebration, tossing and playing games everywhere. The Tong An, Lung's diner, was bustling with refugees having fun and socializing before taking new orders under their new boss, Touya. "They all look so happy," Touya said to himself, "Why would the Chinese ever want to harm them?" Mongolian women with their children danced in a big circle with British and Chinese alike.
Touya looked around to see where Sakura was, he saw her out of the corner of his eye sitting down with Syaoran and talking to Vung. Touya smiled, "I wonder where Lung is?" Touya searched around. He circumvented the diner, but still he could not find him. Finally, the smell of fresh flowers caught his nose; he followed the smell around to the back alley of the diner, which led to a derelict area. Touya took his steps cautiously on the dirt steps.
When he had reached the top, he saw Lung staring at a beautiful garden. Flowers were everywhere and all of different colors and types as well. Lung felt another presence with him. "A flower garden only looks good with different colors, wouldn't you agree Touya?" he said out loud. Touya surprised at his guessing abilities nodded his head. "I've always wanted to ask you something Lung," Touya waited for Lung to give him approval of asking his question, "Why do you fight? Why did you decide to fight for the foreigners?" Lung didn't answer him. Instead, he closed his eyes and tried to think as far as he could.
Flashback
9 year old Lung put his hands behind his back, like his father beside him, as they ascended a hill. "Father?" Lung asked, "Where are we going?" Lung's father, with a huge sack hurled behind his back, answered his son, "We are going to where the foreigners are hiding now, we have to give them these supplies for trade." Lung looked amazed as his father was so strong; he carried nearly an entire trade cart behind his back. "But father, don't the Chinese hate the foreigners?"
Lo Da nodded. "Even though the foreigners are devils with a wicked heart, we need to have their products of trade." Lung curiously looked at his father, "Why is that father? Don't we have enough supplies?" Lo Da laughed, "Son, only those items which are useful to us, like wood and coal. The foreigners are nothing but slaves to us, they mine our coal, and they chop our wood." Lung nodded, believing everything his father said.
"Finally!" Lo huffed out, "We have reached the summit." Lung looked down, he saw all the foreigners, toiling around their poor shops, scrounging around for food, and playing in the dirty streets. Lo patted his son on the head, "Stay here Lung Da, do not wander off!" Lung nodded, but as soon as his father left, he went to another direction. Lung saw a cat; he quickly chased it down until he reached an alley, where someone picked up the cat.
"Cheerio good day to you bloke!" a young British boy smiled at Lung. Lung gave his cold stare he was infamous for. "What's the matter bloke? Do I have something up my nose?" Lung coldly stared at him. "You're a foreigner; I'm not supposed to talk to you." The boy didn't get mad, he only gave him a cheerful smile, "Would you like some food?" the boy politely asked. "Food!?" Lung rudely asked, "I'm not hungry." All of the sudden, Lung's stomach growled. Lung put his hands on his stomach trying to ease the pain. "Here!" the boy pulled out his hand with a half loaf of bread, "This is all I have, you must've been traveling here for days!" Lung snatched the bread out of the boy's hands.
"I'd rather have this instead of letting you foreigners have it." Lung scrunched down the bread fast, trying to make the little boy jealous that he ate his food. "Well then bloke, I guess I'll be off then, father only told me to give you bread because it was the nice thing to do." The boy ran off to the corner of the alley with his father, who had been searching around a trash bin for even a scrap of food. Lung looked at his stomach and began to feel guilty. As he looked at the man and his son, he saw nothing more than a mirror. In that mirror, it reflected his father and him scrounging for food. Lung was grateful and guilty of what he had done.
"Are foreigners really that bad?" Lung asked himself. "Lung, where are you?" Lo Da called, "Lung, I told you not to go anywhere." Lung yelled back in response. "Don't worry father I'm coming." Lo Da began to walk away from the summit. Lung close behind following him as he contemplated in his head, "Those foreigners didn't seem too bad," he thought, "Why does father hate them so much? They may be poor, but they are very nice." Lung looked up at his father, examining his serious face. "Lung…" he called out. "Yes father?" "You didn't talk to any foreigners did you?" Lung knew it was best if he didn't tell him, "No father." Lo Da nodded in approval.
6 years later:
Lung Da, becoming quite the growing teenager ventured forth the summit this year. His father had been doing it for the past 15 years since he was born; now it was the son's turn to take over and trade items. Lung Da, much more grown and tolerant, cut his hair short and put a red headband over his forehead. "Okay let's see here," Lung stopped at his spot and pulled out a map, "Ok, so I pass Xinyu pass, make a right at Kunlun, then walk to the summit." Lung looked around, "But where is it?" Lung searched for hours with a huge sack behind him, but still, he could not find the refugees' hideout.
"Oh for the love of god!" a scream echoed across the horizon. Lung shot his ears up. "That sounded from up ahead," he told himself, "Someone must be in danger!" Lung picked up the pace and ran like hell; he needed to see what was going on. When he finally reached the summit, he saw smoke coming from several houses, then the smoke turned to fire, and then the people from the houses scurried out. Men with veils over their heads and on dark horses circled around the refugees.
"Stupid foreigners!" a man on the horse said, "We give you protection, yet you don't feed us?" The man's eyes shifted toward a young girl, about 11 years of age. "Please Guibok," a man begged, "We are very poor and we cannot give you any harvest this year, the crops are failing, the people are hungry, and we have to-" Guibok smacked him across the face, bruising his cheek. "Enough of your pathetic excuses," Guibok grabbed the little girl's arm, "Your daughter will have to settle! Kill them all!" Guibok spun his sword around his head, symbolizing for his riders to "go wild". "No!" the father reached for his daughter, but Guibok lashed out his machete and slashed the man across his throat.
"Father!" the girl cried out, reaching and cuddling her father's head in her arms, "I'm so sorry father, I ruined the crop harvest, I wanted flowers instead!" Guibok stared coldly at the little girl and finally, he stuck his machete in her back. The little girl did not scream, nor did she cry, instead, she silently plopped to the ground, with her hand pointing out. Guibok coldly took his sword out and smiled.
Lung saw all this on the summit: the killing, the hatred, the enjoyment, was this all his people doing it? Doing these acts against defenseless poor foreigners? "This is terrible," Lung whispered, "What should I do?" Lung closed his eyes, hesitating to do the right thing, and what was the right thing? Should he defend the poor? Because if he did, he knew he would be helping the foreigners, something his father disapproved of? Someone whom he respected so much, he could not go against his wishes. Cowardly, Lung stayed on the summit, not moving a muscle, feeling the guilt gather up inside him as he saw more people plop to the ground.
"Move out!" Guibok yelled, "We have killed them all." The gang left on their dark horses across dead bodies everywhere. Lung, though a bit late, ran into the scene, hoping to at least kill one, but unfortunately, they left by this time. Lung was unsure of what to feel now, should he feel sorrow, or should he feel proud. He looked around, seeing nothing but dead bodies of innocent foreigners. They were foreigners, but, they were innocent, why should he feel proud? Lung turned around and saw something which altered his fate forever, the last survivors. Five little boys, all around ages 7-10 gathered in a circle around the dead little girl and her father. One little boy when to the location she pointed to, she was pointing to a miniature garden, on that was a tiny corner. Although it was small, she had different colored flowers planted in them. The young boy took a handful of different colored flowers and put them in his dead sister's hand.
"A flower garden only looks pretty with different colors," the young boy said to his dead sister, "And therefore, you will be pretty in heaven." The young boys, all sad, but not showing it, stood around and prayed at the lost souls. Lung stood before this, staring at the sorrow he was feeling now. Though he didn't want to, a tear from Lung's eye dropped. "Mister," a young boy called Lung, "Are you here to help us bury them all?" Lung, feeling the guilt in him, knew it was his responsibility. "Sure…"
End Flashback
Sakura stuffed her face full with noodles. "You guys make the best lo mien!" Sakura muttered, "I've never had such good food before." Vung looked at Sakura and gave a cheerful smile, then she turned to Syaoran, who was not eating but only blushing by looking at Sakura. Vung smiled, "Young love!" she whispered, "I remember when I had that…"
Flashback
15 year old Emily stared outside of her window. Her curls on her pretty shining blonde hair brought out her crystal blue eyes. Resting her cheeks on her palms, she smiled at the ocean view; seagulls lightly dancing across the ocean, as if it was the seagulls walking on water. Her blue lined dress brought out her developing figure and curves. "Emily!" a French accent called, Emily turned her head around to see her beautiful French mother. "Don't stay so close to the windows, you might get seasick."
"Oh mother," Emily said peeved, "You worry too much!" Emily looked out her window again and saw another vessel. "Look mother!" Emily pointed out her window, "It's a Chinese ship!" Emily was happy, but Emily's mother grew cautious. She looked out the window and widened her eyes. "Oh shit!" she cursed as she began running up the stairs. Emily looked at her mother leave, wondering what was so bad about it. Then suddenly, she saw the ship shoot out a cannonball aimed directly at her window. Emily quickly jumped out of the way, letting the cannonball crash through the window. Emily cried ducking her head down.
"Emily, are you alright!?" Emily's father came down putting his arm around her for comfort. "Don't worry Emily, the captain is veering our course, we'll get away from those Chinese pirates." As soon as he said that, his wife was brought down screaming and pounding, he looked up, and when he saw it, he knew it was over. A muscular man with long hair, almost Manchurian, was grasping his wife by the hands, ravaging her right in front of her daughter and husband. "Mother!" Emily shouted, "While reaching for her mother. Her face however, was totally lifeless; she saw the blood coming from the man's arm as he continued to ravage the lifeless body. "Mother…" Emily mumbled about to cry. "Your captain is captured," he said, "You are coming with me!" Emily and her father felt all hope was lost at this point.
It was terrible. The British cruise ship had docked into the Hong Kong harbor, the nearest harbor they could find. The ships had large gaping holes in them with smoke coming out from the hull. Numerous innocent British missionaries ran on the deck of the ship. Some as desperate measures jumped into the water either on fire, or in fear. "Oh god save us!" A British woman screamed.
"Quickly, lower the stairs," The captain shouted. The men on the deck quickly threw the rope stairs and quickly tied it to the harbor. British missionaries as well as British refugees ran across the rope path and quickly ran for their lives when they got on the dock. When the British tried to run into the city, a line of cavalry emerged from the corners of two building and held the line of British refugees back, refusing to let them into the city.
"No please!" cried Emily's father. The soldiers laughed at them, now defenseless ever since they took out their gunmen who were on the ship. Emily's father looked in fear when they saw a man with a black horse approach them, giving them a devilish smirk, he held his sword out and started stabbed him in the gut. "FATHER!" Emily cried out. The surviving refugees faltered backward, most of them women. Emily caught the eye of the man on the horse.
"My, aren't you pretty?" the man said, "I'm commander Wuji, and I can let you survive out of all your people." Emily slapped him in the face, yes; she was pretty and young still, around 15 years old. The commander lifted up his sword peeved, until his sword was taken out of his hand by a throwing object. "Who threw that!?" he asked angrily. Suddenly, a 15 year old boy with dark black short hair arrived at the scene with a toothpick in his mouth. He sported a red jacket with yellow sleeves and a dragon circling around the jacket and sleeves.
The red headband on his forehead swayed with the wind, his fierce eyes shot angry looks at the soldiers. All the soldiers rushed to him with their spears out. Each spear that came to him, he grabbed it by the sharp edge and broke them off, doing the same to all the spears aimed towards him. In fear, the soldiers backed away in intimidation.
Wuji chuckled looking at the young boy, "Hm hm hm," he mocked his skill and got off his horse, "So, there is only one boy with skills like that, it's true after all." The teenage boy with flowing short hair glared at Wuji. "Listen," he said with a hoarse voice, "These people, these refugees are the reason why I have stopped you. As they have done nothing to you, you should not harm them, they simply coming from another country with no intention of harming us." Wuji laughed, "Really?" he asked, "So with that noble voice you speak with, you happen to be the son of Lo Da, hmmm?"
"That's none of your concern," he replied, "My father, leave him out of this. And leave them out of this too; they will be put under my guidance." The boy snapped his fingers, in an instant, Mongolian women ran with cloths and towels and buckets of water. They picked up the people and put their arms over their shoulders for support and helped the British refugees to their feet. The boy stared angrily at Wuji as they were carrying the refugees away.
"Well, do whatever you want, I only want her!" Wuji grabbed Emily's arm, Emily pounded on his breastplate. "Let go of me!" she said with streaking tears down her face. "Find your whores elsewhere Wuji!" the man called out. "Very well then." Wuji let go of Emily, but as soon as he let go, he chopped her right in the neck. The last thing she saw was eternal darkness.
"Mother…"
"Father…"
"Where are all of you?"
Emily looked around her; she was covered in darkness, her blue dress tattered and torn, her hair messy and rough, and finally, her eyes, glittering with beauty no more. "Mother…Father…have you left me?"
Emily woke up as she heard a light crackling fire. She bolted upright looking around her, seeing she was covered in a blanket and was naked as well. Her hands were tied. "What the?" she said with rage. "Ahh so you're finally awake," a boy called out, the same boy whom had saved the refugees, but at this time, she didn't care who he was, he was one of them, one of the sick pigs, she didn't want to share the same fate as her mother and father. She struggled to get the ropes off of her hands.
"Whoa whoa easy there," he said, "Let me help you out!" "Go to bloody hell!" Emily snapped. The boy stumbled back a bit, surprised at what she had said to him. "You sick pig! First you rape my mother, then you kill my father, what else do you want from me?" The boy was laughing and shocked at the same time, "Rape?" he shouted in disbelief, "Whoa lady, you got the wrong idea here. I tied your hands because you struggled when we were treating your wounds, the nurse took off your clothes because they said your dress was too tattered and ripped to wear anymore so they are getting you some new ones."
"Lying Chinese pig!" Emily yelled out. "Well hello to you too!" the boy replied comically, "By the way, I'm Lung, what's your name?" Emily looked at her body, trying to cover it up as good as possible. "Why should I tell you?" she snapped. Lung pulled out some a dish, "You're cranky now!" he said, "Make sure you eat first, you're probably hungry anyway!" Emily knew that the food could be poison, but she dug in with her nails and began to eat from the dish like a dog. At this point, her taste was being distracted by the thoughts of whether she could trust this guy Lung or not.
"That's called honey garlic chicken, I'm glad you like it!" Lung smiled while looking at her eat insatiably. Then all of the sudden, she spit the food out on his face. Lung calmly wiped it off of his face and put a towel on her naked back. "Okay, I'll leave you alone now!" Lung got out of his chair and walked away, "But if you need anything, just yell, ok?" Emily saw him leave, and she felt sorry for doing those things to him. She then began to eat again and she enjoyed the flavor of the food.
A few hours later:
Emily rested on her back, still naked and cold. "Get me some clothes!" she yelled out. Suddenly, a woman with brown clothes and a hood over her head entered the room. "Sorry sorry!" she apologized, bringing out a basket full of ragged, but wearable shirts and pants. "I'm not wearing those!" Emily shouted, "No way am I going to wear poor man's clothes." The woman smiled and slowly put them away, "Ok then, I guess you're just going to have to walk around naked around here then."
Emily was embarrassed, "No wait!" she said blushing, "All I'm asking is if you have any dresses or fancy clothes." The lady brought out the clothes again, "No, but these will have to do for a while Ms…" Emily tried to quickly think of a name. "How do you say phoenix in Chinese?" she asked. The lady scratched her head, knowing that Lung told her once before, "Oh yeah that's right, it's vong feng!" Emily was amazed at how she said it so long, "That sounds ridiculous!" she said, "But at least the vong part sounds cool, so I guess you can call me…'Vung'." The lady smiled at the young beautiful girl.
"That's a great name!" she complimented, "I'm Khana!" Vung was confused by the name, she certainly looked Chinese, but why didn't she have a Chinese name? "Um…Khana, are you Chinese?" Vung asked politely. Khana handed her clothes to Vung and cut the ropes tying her hands together. "No I'm not!" she replied, "I'm Mongolian," she added with pride. "Wait a second," Vung thought about that for a second, "Mongolia is not China, so necessarily, aren't you foreign?" Khana nodded.
"Lung is very nice, he harbors us." Vung began to wonder about Lung as she started getting dressed. "Lung, you mean that boy?" Khana nodded, "He's our savior, thanks to him, we can live here in peace." Khana took out a needle and a thread. "Behind his own father's back, Lung keeps us in this district of town to keep us hidden. He also owns a restaurant with his father that serves all customers, whether you're foreign or not." Vung stared at her naked chest to see she was not touched one bit. "SO he didn't rape me?" she asked.
"Rape!?" Khana choked laughing, "Lung wouldn't rape any woman if they were standing naked in front of them, Lung has more important desires that to just make love." Vung was shocked, "You mean, he isn't a sick pervert?" Khana smiled, "No, he's not!" Vung felt relieved, "Then I guess I've misjudged him," she said with guilt, "Well, I guess I have to go, it was nice meeting you." Vung uncovered the bed sheets off of herself and was about to get out of her bed. Khana stopped her by making her lay down again, "Where do you think you're going?" Khana asked. "I'm leaving; I have to go back to England!"
"You can't go back!" Lung said from the entrance. Lung walked up to the bed where Vung was. As he passed by, Khana respectfully bowed to him, Lung responded by jerking his head down, in a nod. "What do you mean?" Vung asked, "Look you can't keep me cooped up in here forever. What do you think I am, a pet?" Vung bolted out of her bed, clutching her side, "I'm going back, I have to find mother and father!" Khana worriedly looked at Vung and whispered in Lung's ear, "I think she's delirious Lung." Lung nodded.
"Listen," he told her putting a hand on her shoulder, "I don't know if you can accept this, but you are all that's left from what I saved on that ship." Vung looked in disbelief, "You're, you're lying!" Vung began to tear up, "That's not true, it was a nightmare, just one horrible nightmare." Lung looked back at Khana, agreeing that this girl was indeed delirious. "If you stay here, you'll be safe. If you go, then I know that those people out there are going to harm you, so I suggest you stay put."
Vung began to cry uncontrollably, "You lie…YOU LIE!!!" she screamed and tried to run out the door, but lung clutched her arm before she could run so fast. "Don't be stupid! You can't go anywhere now!" Vung angrily cried out while trying to pull away from Lung. "MOTHER! FATHER! HELP ME!!!" All of the sudden, an image shot into Vung's head.
Flashback
"Emily, are you alright!?" Emily's father came down putting his arm around her for comfort. "Don't worry Emily, the captain is veering our course, we'll get away from those Chinese pirates." As soon as he said that, his wife was brought down screaming and pounding, he looked up, and when he saw it, he knew it was over. A muscular man with long hair, almost Manchurian, was grasping his wife by the hands, ravaging her right in front of her daughter and husband. "Mother!" Emily shouted, "While reaching for her mother. Her face however, was totally lifeless; she saw the blood coming from the man's arm as he continued to ravage the lifeless body. "Mother…" Emily mumbled about to cry. "Your captain is captured," he said, "You are coming with me!" Emily and her father felt all hope was lost at this point.
"No please!" cried Emily's father. The soldiers laughed at them, now defenseless ever since they took out their gunmen who were on the ship. Emily's father looked in fear when they saw a man with a black horse approach them, giving them a devilish smirk, he held his sword out and started stabbed him in the gut. "FATHER!" Emily cried out.
End Flashback
"No!" Vung clutched her head, "I won't accept that!" Khana worriedly called out for the distressed girl, "Vung! Please don't go!" Vung snapped her eyes open, "Who's Vung?" she asked, "I'm not her, my name is Emily, my mother and father call me that!" Lung began to worriedly frown, "Okay listen 'Emily' we are here to help!" Lung tried to say her name just right, but his open invitation for help was rejected when Vung tried to push him away. Lung nullified the push, making her hands pass through his body like going through a cloud. Vung had her arms around Lung, like a light embrace. As soon as she saw this, she broke the embrace and ran out the door as fast as she could. "Wait!" Khana cried trying to reach for her. Lung stuck his arm out, "No!" he said, "She needs time to think, I don't think she would go anywhere too far.
Vung cried as she ran out the door, she then hit a wall and saw many people in wooden tables eating and staring at her. Embarrassed, she continued to cry and ran out the back. Through the kitchen, the cooks saw a pretty girl crying, they believed that it was none of their concern and got back to work. Vung quickly opened the back door and was met by a pretty sight. A garden, a garden full of pretty multicolored flowers, it reminded her of home.
Flashback
"Emily darling!" Emily's father brought her out, hand and hand; they both toured the garden together. The blue flowers all lined up in their perfect patches in the yard. "Father it's beautiful, all the flowers are blue. But…" Emily showed a disappointed face, "Why is blue the only color of flowers here?" Emily's father smiled, "Why isn't blue your favorite color?" Emily thought about it for a second. Yes, blue was her favorite color, but somehow, she felt that it was somehow wrong; the garden looked boring to her. "Father…" she said, "Wouldn't a garden look better with different colors?" Emily's father didn't believe so.
"What's the difference, they're all flowers?" Emily looked at all the blue flowers and never felt so bored in her life. "That's true father but…" Emily hesitated to hurt her father's feelings, "Doesn't blue get bland, when you think about it? I mean, if you have this garden all full of blue flowers, then forever, your garden will be blue, making it so sad. If they were full of other colors though, wouldn't the blue flowers have company, and also they would look prettier." Emily's father looked weirdly at Vung, "But you don't understand Vung, different colors, will need the sunlight differently, and they will fight over water, sunlight, and soil, wouldn't it be better to only have one type of flower?" Vung shook her head, "That's what makes it challenging to garden, we have to understand the individual needs of a flower so we can give them different soil, shade, and water, then one day, maybe just one day, all the flowers will be in synch, and they will all finally get along with each other."
End Flashback
Vung cried as she saw the garden, cried until she could not see it anymore, she ran for her life again, hanging her head down, not seeing where she was going. Not knowing her destination or her way around the area, she accidentally stumbled into a dark alley. She kept on running and running and running, until finally, she bumped into something that smelled, sending her back and falling on her butt. She tried to open her eyes and get away the tears that blurred away her vision. But by that time, 5 men circled around her.
"Look what we have here," said a bald man. "My, a pretty foreign girl," a man came out the shadows with a ponytail. "Get her Lau!" Suddenly, she was picked up by the arms and was arm locked with a tight grip; she began to worry for dear life what was going to happen to her. "She's so beautiful!" the bald man said, cupping her chin, "She's foreign too." "Don't they have germs boss!?" The bald man laughed, "Maybe, but I'm willing to get sick for this pretty little flower." Vung worriedly cried, "Help me!" she shouted. "Shut up!" the man holding her said, as he put his hand over her mouth. She began to scream, but her screams were contained in his hand. "Don't worry, we'll be gentle, then you can please us everyday for oh say, the next 100 years!"
The sick perverted bald man slowly rubbed her chest, making her scream even louder. "Shut up!" he said continuing to untie the string tying her pants up. She continued to scream, "Shut up!" he yelled peeved. Finally, Vung's ragged pants dropped to the floor, revealing her underwear. "Alright, now it's time to have fun!" The bald man opened his mouth ready to sink his teeth in. Vung was scared now; she closed her eyes, clenching her teeth.
"Oh!" the bald man screamed. Vung still had her eyes shut, but from her ears, she lightly heard the sounds of hitting and falling. Eventually, she opened her eyes to see a blurred image of someone she knew. "Listen," the man holding her stuttered, "I don't care how good you are, but if you come any closer, I'll kill her!" The man held up a knife pointing at Vung's eye. "If you don't let her go now…I'll KILL YOU!" a familiar voice replied. "Well let's see if you have the guts. YAAAH!" The man charged at the mysterious figure with his knife, letting go of Vung. Vung collapsed on the ground. "Yahhh!" he continued to scream with his knife charging at him. The mysterious figure, shrouded in darkness waited for him to approach, when he finally did, he reversed the flow of the knife and used the man's charge to knock him off course and trip him. When the man was down, the mysterious figure kicked him repeatedly in the face, finally snapping his arm. "If you guys ever do that again to her, I'll hurt you all, understood?" All the men on the ground nodded in painful unison.
"Who saved me?" Vung wondered with daze, still with tears streaking down her face. The shadow picked up something from the ground and came into the light. The young man with a red headband and black short hair kneeled down to Vung's level, it was Lung. Lung pulled from his back, a bag, he opened the bag and pulled out a dish of food. Looking at Vung's crying face; he worriedly stared into her big blue eyes. "I thought you were hungry, so I came as soon as I could." Vung was speechless now, she was heartfelt with gratitude, she didn't know how to react, and instead, she jumped right into Lung's arms, embracing him, holding onto him for dear life. "Thank you!" she said with a soggy voice, "Thank you, I'm sorry! Mother…father…" she dug her face into his chest as she began to cry. "Don't worry…" Lung whispered into her ear, "I'll be there for you, if you ever need help along the way, I'll be there for you." Vung lightly cried of happiness, "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
End Flashback
Vung had a tear drop from the corner of her eye. "Back then, Lung was so different," she told Sakura who had heard the whole story. "That's so sad!" Sakura had waterfalls coming out of her eyes. Syaoran scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "So Vung," he said, "Is it true of the rumors?" Vung looked at him puzzled. "What rumors?" Syaoran knew it wasn't his business, but he just had to know, curiosity got the best of him. "Did Lung Da really kill his own father?" Vung nodded. "But he had a good reason, and I think to this very day, he regrets ever doing that."
Flashback
Lung opened the door after knocking three times, his father sat in Indian style, crossing his legs. "What do you want?" Lo Da asked rudely. Lung Da was nervous, he was trying to fix his throat, which he felt was out of place. "Father…" he hesitated to say, "I know this is sudden, but, I'm getting married tomorrow." Lo Da shot his eyes open. "You dare!?" Lo Da snapped, "You dare disobey your father? First you turn the Tong An into some foreign trash hole, now you expect to tell me you are getting married to a foreign whore?"
Lung defended his love, "She's not a foreign whore!" "Then what is she?" Lo quickly asked, "That's all foreign women are good for anyway. No, not foreign women, all women!" Lung angrily raised his fist in the air, "Father, I've known Vung for 3 years already, do you expect me to break it off after I've known that she would never do anything to me by that time?" Lo Da with mad fury and disapproval in his eyes opened his mouth, "You stupid son!" he shouted, "The only thing those foreign girls are after is your money, once it's gone, you're done! And I don't know why her name is Vung, that's not even her real name, she's just using you to get approved into this country so she can rob it of its' riches."
"You're wrong father!" Lung yelled. "No, you're wrong!" Lo snapped, "Remember who killed your mother? It was that foreign doctors disease which killed her, now don't tell me you expect that that won't happen to you!?" "I've had enough!" Lung yelled as he began to walk towards the door. "If you walk out of this house, then you are no longer my son." Lung was crushed, he didn't know what to do anymore, follow his heart, or follow his family. After some deep contemplation, Lung still having his hand on the door knob, turned to speak to his father.
"If I choose you father, then I will betray my heart. If I choose Vung, not only will I betray you, but I'll follow my heart, which will one day make you appreciate what I can do as a father." Lo Da with anger in his eyes slammed the table beside him, breaking it into splinters. "If you are going to have a family with that whore, know this!" Lo Da warned as Lung turned away, "Your child will not be Chinese, he will not be foreign either, he will only be a mix of the two, making him a piece of shit! And if you happen to bore a piece of shit, and you happen to show me that piece of shit, than I will throw that piece of shit where it belongs and make sure it doesn't live to stink up my family."
Lung was hurt. "Piece of shit?" Lung asked, "The only piece of shit here is you father! And I am ashamed to be progeny of that shit!" Lung angrily walked out and closed the door behind him in a rage. "How'd he take it?" Vung asked putting her hand over her huge stomach. "Not so good…" Lung replied, "But no matter!" Lung smiled as he felt Vung's large stomach, "Drake, don't worry, one day grandpa will appreciate you." Lung held his lover's hand; Vung rested her head on Lung's shoulder. "Let's go Vung," Lung said, "I want to make sure we are married before Drake is born."
3 months later:
Lung Da waited anxiously outside. He had closed the Tong An early because his wife was in pain and she said this time, it wasn't a false alarm. Lung Da sat on the wooden stool eating cashew nuts to pass the time. All of the sudden, Khana exited the door where Vung was giving birth. "Lung!" she called with a crying baby in her arms, "It's great, Drake is born!" Lung carried the baby wrapped up in red silk. "Oh thank you…" Lung sighed, "Drake, you look so much like your mother." Khana stared at the cute bundle of joy.
"Don't forget he looks like you too!" Khana added. "Whatever." Lung just stared at Drake, he was bald, his eyes were slanted, but they gave a beautiful blue hue. "Ok Lung, now I have to give him back to Vung." Lung reluctantly gave him to Khana. Lung was so happy; he was so relieved he started to slide his hands straight through his hair, wiping off the sweat caused by his stress. "Vung here you-" Khana was cut off by a loud shriek, "LUNG DA, DRAKE, HE TOOK DRAKE!" Lung turned into the room, he looked inside, he looked at his wife, fainted, and then he saw a white cloth fly out from the window. "He took Drake! Get him Lung!" Khana commanded with a frantic tone. Without hesitation, Lung quickly ran toward the window and jumped out.
"Get back here!" he shouted as he saw a white hooded man, Lung chased him down. For hours and hours, the man tossed boxes and crates in the way, but this only made Lung catch up, as it was harder to throw them in his way, then to simply dodge them. The white hooded man kept on running despite Lung catching up to him. "Got you now!" Lung pulled the hood of the man, tearing the whole headpiece off of his head. Lung saw short straying gray hair, somewhat like his. "Who could that be?" Lung asked as he began to lose velocity.
Suddenly, the man stopped at a cliff. "There's no where else to go, turn around slowly and hand me my son back!" Lung gave no second chance, "I'm warning you, give Drake BACK!" The man slowly turned around, revealing his face. Lung Da stumbled back in a shocked expression, "Father…" he lightly said, "No father, please, don't you don't want to-" "This shit's going down the drain!" Lo Da held the baby up in the air. "No father DON'T!" Lung Da jumped up to stop Lo Da's hand from making any sudden move, but it was too late. Lung Da caught the last glimpse of his son, as he fell down at high speeds down the derelict cliff, hearing his last cries, until the cries finally stopped.
Tears streaked down Lung Da's face. "Drake," he whispered crying to himself. "Are you only going to sit there are cry? Or are you going to avenge your son?" Lung turned around, seeing his father, "Why? Why did you do this?" he shouted, "You, you are his grandfather, why did you do this?" Lung began to cry uncontrollably. "Because," Lo replied, "I wanted you to fill yourself with hate; I want you to feel how that foreign whore has caused this to you." Lung slowly got up, wiping the tears off his face. Lo Da saw his son, determined and strong, this is all he ever wanted, until his son shifted his eyes to him with a cold stare.
Lo took fighting stance as did Lung. Lighting struck their background, burning the tree behind them. "Come, I will allow you to die like a warrior!" Lung charged toward his father with anger, but as soon as his father touched him, he flipped him over, making his son barely catching his feet to get up. Then Lung rushed toward his father and delivered a straight punch, Lo blocked it and reversed it into a throw, Lung reversed the throw and delivered a trip to the back of his knees. Lo backed away before he could do anymore and stared angrily at Lung's eyes. "He's driven by pure adrenaline now!" Lo said to him, "I will surely lose!"
Lo rushed towards Lung, Lung quickly fell back and used his legs to throw hi=m over the cliff edge. "No!" Lung finally realized as he quickly ran to the edge and caught his father's hand before he fell. "Father, hold on!" Lung said, "I will not let you die!" Lo Da wanted this, he had proven to himself that his son was worthy, as a last act to his son, Lo Da pulled out a knife from his pocket and tried to slice Lung's wrist. Lung quickly let go, letting his father meet his bottomless fate.
Shocked, Lung backed away from the cliff, covering his mouth with his hand. "No!" he cried out, "No! No! NO! NO!" Lung pounded the floor, "I'm sorry! FATHER!"
Vung could not do anything; she was resting in her bed, unsure where Lung or her baby went to. "Khana?" Vung asked, "Is Drake and Lung alright?" Khana didn't answer Vung, who was getting really worried. Suddenly, Lung, sulking into the room sat on the bed with Vung. Vung looked at Lung's swollen eyes. "Where's Drake?" Vung asked with her voice cracking." Lung only looked at Vung, without saying a word, Lung went in to hug Vung, Vung didn't have to have the situation explained to her, she knew what happened, and she didn't want to hear it detail for detail. "Oh god!" she cried as she heard Lung sniffing.
Lung immediately broke the hug and broke open the cabinet with all of his father's liquors. Lung without hesitation popped every single bottle and poured it down his throat. While Vung was crying for her lost baby, Lung drowned his sorrows of two losses in alcohol.
End Flashback
Touya saw Lung as he hung his head down, "Is alcohol the only answer?" Touya asked, "Does Vung appreciate you drinking?" Lung shook his head, "Alcohol has made me feel worse, but yet, it soothes me to know my father is still in me." Touya slapped Lung across the face, "Idiot! You're not your father!" Lung hung his head down, "Yes I am," he replied, "My son, my wife, I failed them, like my father did to me and mother." Lung placed his alcohol bottle on the stand which held the pot of water for the plants. "Every time I stop drinking, I start again, when I stopped drinking for Vung last Christmas, she was so happy, and I was too, now I don't know why I started again."
"Those were good days, when Lung stopped drinking, but I'm pretty sure he's going to stop again," Vung gave a sign of optimistic views. "Why is that?" Sakura asked. Vung smiled at her with the most cheerful smile she had ever seen from Vung. "Want to hear a secret!" Sakura got a huge fill of joy, "Please do!" Vung blushed when she was saying this, "I'm pregnant again!" Sakura and Syaoran both shouted out with excitement. "That's so good!" Syaoran replied, "This will be your first baby to enjoy your two's company right?" Vung nodded. "Actually, more like the first two babies." Sakura excitedly shouted, "You're having twins?" Vung nodded. "I'm just waiting for the right time to tell Lung though, because when I do, I know he's going to stop drinking."
The people in the streets began to run away from an overcastting shadow of soldiers. A soldier with large boots stepped on the sanded ground of Tianjin, "Now, let's go dig ourselves Lung Da shall we?"
Character Bio:
Tien Lo Da
Birthday: January 12
Age: 55
Zodiac: Tiger
Occupation: The founder of Tong An, a tradesman, a teacher of the martial arts
Favorite Hobby: meditating
Least favorite Hobby: trading with foreigners
Favorite Foods: sour dried fish
Least favorite Food: none
Favorite Colors: black
Favorite flowers: dandelions
Something he can cook: fish
Special Talent: great martial artist, renowned fighter
Wish List: to have Lung never bring foreign children to the world
Profile: A strict misunderstood father. Lo Da is a truly black-hearted fellow for killing his grandson. However, his excuse from this comes from the fact that he loves his son and doesn't want anything bad to happen to him. He despises foreigners intervening in his affairs, and although he tosses his grandson in the cliff, he does feel remorse, and allows dying by Lung Da's hands. In the afterlife, perhaps he has become a good guy and tried to atone for his sin of putting his son through torture.