She was there for a moment, and then she disappeared like a thief in the night after finding a good loot. Ralos and Luna were shaking, they weren't seeing things, were they?
"That was her ..." Luna said as if in a trance.
"She's alive, I knew it. Shifu was hiding that fact from us," Ralos gritted his teeth angrily," he should stop that habit of his, always lying."
"He's been like that since that thing happened."
"Why are you always defending him?" Ralos asked angrily.
Luna shut up and Ralos continued," It's because he's like this, he's like that, are you in love with him?"
That was the last straw for Luna, she gave him a backhand slap and a cuff. "You're always like this Ralos, because Liuxang does what's the best for us, he keeps things to himself. You, on the other hand, act like a spoiled boy. You don't like Liuxang, fine! You go to that lady who just left, that was why Liuxang kept it from YOU, but not from me."
"Y-You knew?"
"Don't you see that man's motives, he uses his enemies' weaknesses against them, cooperation is the true strength of Liuxang's plans, but without it, his plans will be nothing but unused ideas left unfinished."
Ralos stared at the ground, he was too ashamed to speak.
"We have advantages and disadvantages, Ralos, my weakness is that I am not as strong as you are, but you, you aren't level-headed, you are narrow-minded, you saw Liuxang in different lights but you see him as something else, a monster, a demon lord, unscrupulous and conniving, and with that mind set, your trust for him weakens, and that man can use it against you and Liuxang."
Ralos couldn't speak.
Kay and Tyrell were out of Tyrell's apartment, they were chatting happily now. They said their goodbyes and then hugged, Tyrell's hug though was awkward but it was tight, tight enough for Kay to feel Tyrell's love. She ran to Ralos who was spacing out. It took a while for him to notice that Kay was stading before him.
"I had a great talk with Uncle Badd now," Kay said chirpily. Ralos snapped out of his trance. He looked at Kay and smiled.
"That's nice."
"I made up with Uncle Badd, but you should make up with Luna."
"We already made up when you were talking to him."
"I wasn't referring to that."
"What do you –"
"Kay, Ralos, come down, I started the engine."
"Coming, Luna!" Kay said and she torpedoed down the stairs.
Sometimes, Kay seemed to be psychic.
"It was a good thing I didn't have time to unpack," Franziska said as she sat on the counter of Miles's house.
"It was nice of Agent Lang to give us a special visa to Zhengfa," Miles said," Caffeinated of Decaffeinated?" He set up the coffee machine.
"Decaffeinated, please."
"Although, shouldn't we call him Shi Long now? Qilin was married to him."
"I disagree Miles, we barely know him, and the fact that she was a child bride makes me see him as something else."
"A pedophile?"
"A bit worse, but yes, something like that."
"I called Wright a moment ago, he doesn't know why Liuxang signed the note with Phoenix, he doesn't even know who Liuxang is."
"How has he been coping after that incident?"
"Fairly well, he found a job as a pianist in a Russian restaurant, he plays poker sometimes."
"That's all? That's sad, I thought defending criminals was his life." Miles arched one eyebrow at Franziska, she always had a knack for saying the inappropriate.
"And he had a daughter." Franziska choked on her coffee.
"A what? A daughter? How?"
"Relax, he adopted his last client's daughter, when the client disappeared."
Franziska heaved a sigh of relief. "For a moment I would have slapped him."
"For what?"
"Not inviting us to his wedding."
Miles hid his smile. "But I did find out about something else."
"What is it?"
"The reason why Wright was let off easily was because some politicians were making noises that he was being framed, and a Zhengfan ambassador even requested not to have him jailed."
"Liuxang?"
"Most likely and curiously, Huoniao means Phoenix in Mandarin."
"It took you that long to find out? Seriously, Qilin didn't give you any Mandarin lessons?" Shi Long asked, he was leaning against the windowsill.
"Shi Long?" Franziska gasped, she hoped he didn't hear what she and Miles had been talking about.
"I have sharp ears Sis, so yes, I heard you call me that things, and what you said was true, but I did love her," Shi Long said, his eyes had that distant look as he remembered Qilin.
"What's this?" Qilin asked.
"Open it, you'll love it, I couldn't get it in green, sorry," Shi Long said.
"Shi Long, this is beautiful," Qilin said as she opened the box.
"Shi Long, what are you thinking about?" Franziska asked.
"It's almost that day she died, I'll bring you there to that place." With that he left.
Dr. Tuo faced the white haired drifter and Fiona. "So you've come back."
Liuxang didn't even flinch when his teacher slapped him. He just looked at him with the look that was asking him if he would punish him more. Dr. Tuo turned around and started to walk to a patient's room, Liuxang followed him.
"I'll give you some private time, besides, the music soothes the souls of the patients here," Dr. Tuo said as he opened the door of the ward to let Liuxang enter. He closed it after Liuxang entered.
"So, I'm back, and you're gone." He whistled awkwardly. He rummaged around the room until he found a black velvet bag. He opened it and drew out a well used erhu.
"You always did enjoy my music." He put the erhu on his left knee and positioned himself comfortably.
"I was never good at expressing myself." And he played music, the sweet melody escaped the ward and filled the small clinic with music. He didn't know what to say, so he let his music do the talking.
"Dr. Tuo, the erhu player is back?" A patient asked the doctor who checked his pulse.
"The player is back, don't you hear it?"
"He is back, but why does the music, no matter how cheerful, how sweet the sound, hide it's sadness?"
Dr. Tuo was impressed by the man, few rarely knew the true pain Liuxang was suffering. "Because he pretends to be happy." And also because he is in pieces.
Liuxang plays the erhu. So trivia! What is an erhu? It is an equivalent of a violin in China, it has a wooden mallet like appearance and the head is covered by snake hide.