Chapter 10
Months passed and Rui and Lu Ten spent loads of time together. If you were looking for one of them, all you had to do was find the other one and you would find them. With each passing day they got closer and closer together. They were so close that General Iroh had suggested that they glue themselves together permanently. Lu Ten had laughed and Rui had blushed. They had progressed on many levels in their relationship, but one thing that had stayed the same was how Rui addressed him and his father. Lu Ten and Rui constantly had arguments on this topic, and, in fact, they were having one of those today. They almost never argued, but, when they did, they did it to the extremes.
"Look, I can't call you by your name, Your Highness, it just isn't proper!" Rui was frustrated. They had had this argument so many times, and at the end of each one, they still couldn't come to a conclusion. No one ever won in this argument because each thought that they were correct in their own way.
"Look, I agree that it was necessary when you first met me, but not any more! We're so close, there's no need to address me so formally!" Lu Ten said, exasperated. He agreed that it had been necessary before, but not now. Not when they were in love with each other! How was he supposed to spend the rest of his life with her if she continued to address him like he was above her existence?? "How are we supposed to get married and settle down together if you're constantly calling me "Your Highness"?" Lu Ten nearly yelled.
He froze; that wasn't supposed to come out – that was supposed to have stayed in his head. He couldn't move; what had he done? What if he had scared her? What if he had freaked her to the point where she was going to dump him? What if she didn't love him back?? Lu Ten stared at Rui, trying to decipher her reaction. He stared at her for a few minutes but couldn't see anything; she had hidden all of her emotion. After a few more minutes, she blinked a couple of times, and, when she finally spoke, her voice was hollow.
"Your Majesty… I… we… um… I…." She sighed. She tried again. "Your Majesty… we can't get married." She closed her eyes, cringing before-hand at the profanities that she knew were to come. When she didn't hear anything, she opened her eyes slowly and snuck a look up at Lu Ten. As soon as she saw his face, she opened her eyes to the max and she put her hands on either side of his face, her heart clenching, for there were tears running down his face.
"You Majesty!" she called, worried. "What's wrong?" She had a pretty good idea what was wrong, but she had to make sure. She wiped the tears off of his cheeks and asked what was wrong again.
"I thought you liked me… I didn't know you hate me…" he said to her, his voice burning with pain and his eyes reflecting the amount of pain he was in. Rui nearly started crying herself; what was going through her own mind was painful enough, but seeing the Prince in this state was 10 times more painful.
"No I don't like you, Your Majesty – I love you," she said simply. His eyes first widened in shock, but then they filled with joy and excitement.
"You… you don't hate me?" he asked, his voice slowly filling with more and more excitement by each word. Rui chuckled.
"Of course I don't! Why did you assume that I did?" Rui asked him, perplexed. She was pretty sure she knew what had brought him to this conclusion, but she wanted to know what his thoughts were about it; why upon hearing those words had he broken down? Lu Ten looked down at his feet, his expression becoming soft at first, but then his expression changed to curiosity.
"Why did you refuse to marry me, if you love me?" he asked her, downright confused. Rui sighed.
"…Because it wouldn't be proper." Lu Ten stared at her, stunned. He began to boil with anger, but he controlled it.
"And why, exactly, wouldn't it be proper?" he asked her, working hard to control his tone and the volume of his tone. She sighed again before answering his question.
"Because… because I'm a peasant and you're a Prince." She enunciated the last word. The Prince pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to control his anger.
"So… despite knowing the fact that I love you… you still wouldn't have married me and would have married some random guy that you didn't love instead?" he asked her, incredulous. Rui nodded, feeling small. Lu Ten finally lost his temper.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU, RUI?" he asked her, completely out of his mind now. "HOW COULD YOU HAVE ASSUMED FOR EVEN ONE SECOND THAT I WOULD HAVE FORGOTTEN YOU AND MOVED ON AND MARRIED SOMEONE ELSE? WHAT EVEN MAKED YOU THINK THAT I WOULD MARRY SOMEONE ELSE?? HUH?? DO YOU HAVE AN ANSWER FOR ME?? I DIDN'T THINK SO!" Lu Ten took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself. His eyes closed, he continued in a more quiet tone. "If I can't have you, I won't have anyone." Lu Ten sighed again, and – without opening his eyes and looking at Rui – he walked back to the palace, leaving Rui in stunned silence behind him, tears running down her cheeks.