Kwai Chang Caine had set out on foot from Paris a week before. He let his mind drift, turning his trek into a meditation of sorts. He found it easier to do so when he wasn't spinning his wheels as Peter would say. He had let it go too long. He'd stayed in Paris too long, on the hope that he would see his wife in the crowd. He didn't know why he had thought she would still be there nearly 30 years later when he didn't know why she was there in the first place. Why she had felt the need to fake her death to leave him and Peter when all she had to do was tell him she wanted to leave? It wasn't as though she had been a prisoner. He never would have forced her to stay. Even after all this time it made his heart ache that she had wanted to be free so badly that she would go to such measures. Had their life been so terrible?

He made camp far off the road so as not to be visible. He made a small campfire to make his rice for the evening meal. He had questions, so many questions. The important ones his old friend Lo Si would not answer for him so he had simply gone in search of his own answers. Had he made the wrong decision? Lo Si had said that Peter was doing well, that he was finding his peace. Still, he worried. Lo Si kept things close to his chest sometimes. Far too often really.

He ate his rice in pleasing silence. He had honestly missed this. Cities were so bright and loud at night. He needed to remember to go into the wilderness every so often. Even if it was just a little off the beaten path. He finished his meal and put things away before sitting in the lotus position and beginning to play his flute.

As he played the world seemed to shift around him. The French countryside became the American southwest. His grandfather sat on the other side of the fire from him. Another man, fully Chinese, sat near the fire.

"I cannot stay." his grandfather said, sadly. "I will bring danger to your house. I love Li Na, and she loves me. I want your permission to make her my wife and take her with me. She agrees to this."

"You would take the flower of my house to what? Walk barefoot through the desert with you? She is not a nun. She has not trained for that kind of existence. She is a phoenix, Kwai Chang Caine. You are a crane. You would make a worthy husband but only if you stay here or anywhere, but I cannot allow her to wander the earth aimlessly."

"The Emperor-"

"Hunts me as well," Yulong said. "And I have lived here rearing Li Na and Jian for fifteen years with no sign of the Emperor's assassins."

"And yet their parents are dead."

"Not because of the Emperor, he is not my only enemy. "

The elder (younger?) Kwai Chang Caine tilted his head "Who?"

Yulong shook his head "They do not matter."

"If they could harm her, it matters to me." He said.

"The Sing Wah."

"Why?"

"They wish to steal the same knowledge that the Emperor wished me to share. Something that should never be shared with those who are not worthy."

"What did he want from you?"

"Immortality."

His grandfather blanched. "they will not stop coming. Nothing will stop them, Yulong."

"It has been fifteen years, Kwai Chang." he said "We are safe here. You can be as well."

"I cannot stay." he said "They have … wanted posters... with my face. It isn't just the Emperor's men who come for me. It is the white men as well because of the reward."

"Then we will defend you as you have defended us in the town. But I will not allow my granddaughter to be turned into a vagabond. That is not her destiny."

"I will go." He said "But I will return when it is safe for me to stay. I wish to be her husband and she wishes to be my wife."

"Then you give your word... because if you are betrothed I cannot give her to another husband. Do you understand? If you give your word and do not return she will be alone, always."

"I will return."

The vision faded and Kwai Chang Caine stared at the fire. "Why these visions of the past?" He wondered.

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"You are certain Yulong Yeoh is not dead?" Lo Si asked the others on the council in Shamballa.

"We know when one of our order has passed. He has not. Neither has he returned to our fold. He is a renegade and should not be trusted if he is found."

"His granddaughter is convinced he has died." Lo Si said.

"Then she has been deceived."

"Grievously so. She still mourns his passing. The Sing Wah hunt her because of his work."

"His work is an abomination and should be destroyed. It is not the true path of immortality."

"Is he unkillable or merely unaging?" The ancient asked.

"We do not know. No one has tried and lived to give the details." There was a sigh. "We do not think it wise to tell the girl that he lives. If she is innocent it will do nothing but cause her pain and if she is not, then it will let them know what you have discovered."

Lo Si nodded. He was good at keeping secrets. Even when he didn't want to be.

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Peter stayed at her apartment that night. He knew she could take care of herself but the Sing Wah didn't exactly play fair. He woke with the dawn as he always did these days, and stared at her as she slept, sunlight dancing across her blue-black hair. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and the bond between them was stronger than he had ever felt with anyone. He had been in love before. Several times and every one of those times he screwed things up or drove them away. He could never figure out how to get out of his own way. He was afraid that he'd make the same mistakes with Leanne.

She opened her dark eyes and smiled. "How long have you been staring at me?"

"Since dawn." He told her.

"What were you thinking about."

"How much I love you... how lucky and absolutely grateful I am to have you in my life."

She reached out and caressed his face. "I love you too, very much." Heaven help her it was true. For the first time since she had lain eyes on Kwai Chang Caine, so many years ago she was in love.

"Marry me. " He said, searching her face. "Spend the rest of my life with me. Have my children..."

"Yes," she said smiling brightly. "I will marry you, Peter Matthew Caine."

"So ahm... wow... you said yes." He said laughing happily.

"Of course, I said yes. I love you."

"Okay so... you grew up in Hong Kong so … traditional Chinese wedding... I don't even know what that looks like."

She kissed him gently "Well... first we need an almanac to find the most auspicious day so that we can set the date... then there are invitations to send and of course the happiness cakes for those we are inviting... to go with the invitations... I have no family so … some things are not going to happen..."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"There will be no one to hide my shoes."

"What?" He asked incredulously.

"The day of our wedding, you arrive to pick me up and take me to the wedding ceremony, I will be dressed in my wedding gown on this bed, with two embroidered red quilts."

"Wait, I get to see you before the ceremony? Isn't that bad luck?"

"No. We have enough of our own rituals to avoid bad luck that we don't need to borrow anyone else's" She said. "So... Before you arrive, the unwed women in my family are supposed to hide my shoes, and you are supposed to look for them. It is supposed to symbolize that it isn't a simple thing to take me from my family. Although as there is no one to take me from it is not necessary I suppose."

"I would suggest having Kelly hide them but she'd probably hide them at Mom's house just to be a brat," he said laughing. "Would it spoil the fun if you hid your shoes?"

"No. The fun will be watching you search." She said "Then once you put the shoes on my feet you carry me to the car. My feet are not supposed to touch the ground while leaving my home."

He smiled listening to her talk. This was going to happen. This was really going to happen.

"We can find another priest to marry us or a justice of the peace. We can marry in front of a crowd or it can be you, me, and the officiant either suits me. Then there is the reception..." She outlined all the traditions there which weren't all that different from American ones. "And well I have a car, and your father already provided a living space... so we can spare the family the grand gift."

"You want to live in the brownstone? You don't want something better?"

"It is where you are... you. It is where you do your work, where people come to ask for your help. There is no better place to share your life than your home."

"Okay so... how about I take you to breakfast, and we can get that almanac."

"How about you make love to me first."

"Well, I am here to help." He said with a broad smile.

After a shower and more lovemaking, Leanne went into her closet and opened the secret door to show Peter into her apothecary.

"This is impressive. I didn't realize you were an apothecary." He said looking at the herbs and tinctures on her shelves.

"There are still things you don't know about me." She said.

"I know." He said, "But I have faith that you'll tell me when I need to know."

" I don't want to make you feel deceived."

"Should I be worried?" He asked.

"No. There are awkward truths, not dangerous ones."

"I trust you." He said, "And I believe that you trust me or I wouldn't be in this room."

"If I didn't trust you, " She said as she moved some things aside, and pulled up several floorboards. "You wouldn't be in my heart or my bed."

"Is this where you have the books?" He asked

"Yes... among other things. From within she pulled out a chest three feet long by two feet wide, by three feet deep. It was black lacquer with mother of pearl and abalone inlay in the form of a phoenix. The box was older than she was, it had been her grandmother's. She opened the lock and then lifted the lid. "the books are still here, the books were my grandfather's but these things are my grandmother's." She gently removed the phoenix headdress, an elaborate crown of gold, silver, and jewels with beaded cords that hung down in front of where her face would be.

"It's beautiful." he said "And very old..."

She nodded, setting it aside, she drew a large red square of silk from the box, it was embroidered with peonies in gold and silver thread. "my veil..." she said, then came to the dress, The bodice was red, heavily embroidered in silver and gold. Elaborate phoenixes down either side. There was an apron of sorts that hung down the front and back from the bodice with the same embroidery. The skirt was heavily pleated in the same shade of red as the bodice.

"My god..." Peter breathed. "That is breathtaking. And this was your grandmother's?"

She nodded.

"Was she ahm... that is..."

"Was she married to my grandfather before he fled China? Yes." She said. She studied his features. "you begin to see the... awkward truth."

"That you're..."

"Old enough to be your great-grandmother... yes. I was born in Texas in 1851." She said and pulled the false bottom out of the trunk. "I was very lonely. There was only my grandfather and my brother Jian... my twin. The town was full of hate. It didn't matter if you were black, Mexican, native, or Chinese. If you were not white you were to be reviled. They would spit on us as we walked down the street. Sometimes they would throw things."

Peter stroked her hair as she spoke. He didn't care how old she was. He didn't care what she had done to live as long as she had.

"One day Jian and I were in town to get supplies. My brother was always impatient. We were supposed to stay together at all times while on our errands. But he insisted that I didn't need him to pick up groceries. So while I was in the mercantile he went to get seeds for the planting.

I was cornered in the store by several of the local men." She took out the books and handed them over to Peter to look at. She knew he could read hanzi. "We weren't allowed to use our Kung Fu in front of the townspeople. We knew it would bring more trouble than it solved. But I managed to duck out into the streets. They followed and started pawing at my hair and my clothing. I didn't know if I wanted Jian to come to my rescue or not because he was so hot-headed... I knew he'd attack and then there would be trouble. Someone else came to my defense. A Shaolin priest..."

Both of his eyebrows went up "You met my great-grandfather." He said.

She nodded. "Yes. We took him back to the farm with us and he and my Grandfather became close friends."

"Wait... is he the one that betrayed you?" he asked, "were you and he..."

"Lovers? Not in the same sense that you and I are." She said "We never made love. We were so naive ...neither of us truly knew what love was. But there were promises made to me and my grandfather. And when it looked as though the townsfolk had figured out there was a price on his head, he left without saying a word to me. He told my grandfather but not me. So when they came looking for him, my brother and I didn't know he wasn't in the house hiding where he had been the last time they came looking. Only this time they were threatening my grandfather and when that didn't work they threatened to burn down the house. Jian and I couldn't let that happen so we fought... and then my brother was on the ground dead. Only to find out that Kwai Chang was not even on the property much less in the house."

"No wonder you felt betrayed." He said.

"Grandfather sent me into hiding, with his books and a vial of elixir to supposedly heal my wounds."

"Supposedly?" He asked.

"It did more than that. It is why I am still alive. I searched for your great-grandfather to hold him to his promises. I never caught up with him. I'm not sure I looked for him as hard as I could have if I'm being honest. Eventually, I moved to Hong Kong for a long time before returning here. When I got here a few years ago I heard the name Kwai Chang Caine and I went to investigate. At first, I wondered if he hadn't found the elixir and used it for himself but when the Ancient introduced me to your father I knew it was not him. There is a strong resemblance but the eyes are different. Lighter, not nearly so haunted."

"Is that why you went out with me in the beginning? Because of who I'm related to?"

"No. I went out with you because you made me laugh, and you are extremely handsome." She said, caressing his cheek

"I can live with that." he said "One of these days I'm going to grow old you know."

"Well, when you forget who I am I'll drop you off at one of the temples and let them deal with you." She teased. "But only when you've forgotten who I am."

"I could never forget you."

"You're sure you still want to marry me? I understand if you don't want to all things considered."

"I love you." He said "I don't care how old you are, I don't care that you might have kissed my great-grandfather. It doesn't matter. " He said. "I will marry you, and for the record, I keep my promises."

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Kwai Chang Caine passed the city limits of St Adele, France at 5:30 am. He wasn't sure who else to turn to at the moment, and like most sons, looked to his father when confused. He found a bistro cafe where he could sit outside and ordered a pot of tea.

"Can you tell me how to get to this address?" He asked showing them the envelope. "I am looking for my father." Matthew had moved into the city proper not long after their reunion. He had not been to his new home and did not know where to find it.

"Yes." The waitress said, "I will write out the directions for you and bring it back with your tea."

"Thank you. You are most kind."

"You are welcome." She said and left him on the terrace.

Kwai Chang leaned back in his chair and relaxed. His father may not have the answers to the questions that plagued him, but he could perhaps help him find them. He, after all, knew the grandfather whose spirit was pulling him into the past. He could not help feeling this was more important than his quest for his wayward wife.

The waitress returned in 10 minutes with a pot of oolong tea, a fresh croissant, and a list of directions to his father's house.

"Thank you very much." He said with a slight bow of his head.

"You're welcome," she said and left him to his breakfast.

He lingered over his tea but soon was on his way to his father's home. It was a small cottage near the church and the chalice. The front garden was filled with flowers, and beautiful plants, each one with a medicinal purpose. Even just crossing through the front gate he felt at peace. He rapped lightly at the front door and waited.

A woman in a nurse's uniform opened the door. "oh my." She said. "you must be Mr. Caine's son. Please come in. It is good that you have come."

Kwai Chang frowned. "Is something wrong with my father?" He asked.

"Nothing more than old age." She said "His years are catching up to him. I am his visiting nurse. I provide hospice care." She led the way to the parlor.

"Hospice..." He murmured, worriedly.

His father was seated in a comfortable chair, a light quilt draped over his lap. He looked up and smiled as his son entered the room. "It is good to see you." He said with a warm smile. "Come here," He said opening his arms wide.

Kwai Chang moved to his father's side and gave him the hug he was invited to receive.

"I will leave you to it." the nurse said "I will be back tomorrow." She promised. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Caine."

He gave her a slight bow and smile and watched her leave.

"How are you? Tell me the truth." Kwai Chang asked.

Matthew shrugged. "I am fast approaching 100 years of age. I suspect I will not see that birthday. It is good that you came, but it was not my health that brought you here. What troubles you, my son?"

"We will speak of this soon. For now, tell me what medications they have you on and if are they helping."

"Nothing fights old age, Kwai Chang. You know this." He said, "They bring medicines but I do not take them."

"Then I will tend to your needs while I am here." He said, knowing that he would stay until the end.

Matthew gently patted his son's cheek. "I would like that very much."