Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ A Gift of Love ❯ Hua and the House of Tao ( Chapter 28 )

Pin-Mei's natural hair length is about to her thighs. In Ren's dream, her hair was a lot longer, like spread out over the floor (think Emeraude from Magic Knight Rayearth or Hinoto-Hime from X/1999). Just to make it clear, since Pin-Mei's hair has a part in this chapter.

 

Zhang was originally supposed to be a bad guy. After I had decided that Ren was going to be controlled, I had originally planned for him to meet with Zhang in order to formally tell him that he was going to marry Pin-Mei and that as Zhang left and passed him, he would put his hand on Ren's head and that would start it. I don't know why I decided that he would be a good guy. I guess I needed to have Pin-Mei have another person in her corner. If everyone was mean to her, she'd probably have killed herself before she even had the chance to meet Ren.

 

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A Gift of Love - Chapter Twenty-Eight: Hua and the House of Tao

 

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“Ah, here we are. So good to be back home,” Suo said as she exited her carriage. A footman lent her his hand as she stepped onto the ground.

 

She looked to her granddaughter and son-in-law's carriage with a smirk on her face. Then she frowned.

 

Zhang got out and quickly walked to his daughter's side of the carriage. The door opened and Pin-Mei stood in the doorway to begin her descent to the ground. The light in her eyes had faded, and the circles under her eyes were darker than ever. It seemed that she was oblivious to everything around her.

 

“Go slow,” he said to her.

 

She nodded slightly and began stepping down the small steps. As she stepped onto the second step, she slipped and fell forward, hitting the ground. Zhang hurriedly picked her up and handed her to a young footman.

 

“Put her in bed immediately; she hasn't slept in almost three days.”

 

The footman nodded and carried her into the mansion. Suo watched them, then approached Zhang.

 

“You gave it to her, I see,” she said in a sly voice. “That old Xu family potion. It keeps her awake for two whole days.”

 

He turned away from her. “I have no idea what it is you're referring to.”

 

She turned toward him. “I know what you're planning. You had to transfer it through your mouth because of how exhausted she was already. You wanted her to watch the scenery around her so she could ultimately find her way back to that savage lover. I'm telling you right now that I won't allow it. You know she'll be needed soon.”

 

“She is not your daughter, so you cannot control her also. Accept as I have that Hua is gone. No matter how much you control Pin-Mei, Hua isn't coming back.”

 

“We'll see, won't we?”

 

He narrowed his eyes at her even more. “Do you really think that Hua would tolerate you tearing her daughter's life apart? Denying her the person that makes her happiest?”

 

“Hua had no time to know what it felt like to be a mother, all thanks to that wretched child. You should have listened to me when I told you to kill her the moment Hua closed her eyes. In fact, you should have never impregnated her in the first place.”

 

“Aren't you forgetting that YOU were the one who wanted to continue the family as soon as possible? You weren't even thinking about Hua's health. Even after the complications began, all you could think about was her giving birth to a strong, healthy son. Hua knew it was going to be a girl, but she kept her anyway. Because of this whole thing, she wasn't the carefree, innocent girl I fell in love with anymore. All she could talk about was the baby and how excited it made her, and what she was going to name her, and…how glad she was that it was with me.” He turned his face away as he remembered her voice.

 

“I wouldn't have picked anyone else in the world to father this baby. It has to be with you, or not at all.” She smiled, then laughed. “Or something like that.”

 

She scoffed at him, a cruel smile on her lips. “How very touching, Zhang. I was so sure that all those years with concubines had nullified your feelings. If you had really loved Hua as much as you say you did, then you would have never fallen into that despicable state. Grief can only go so far until it turns you into a boor. You didn't even begin to care about what Pin-Mei did until early last year. You ignored her for thirteen years, then suddenly decided to be a father to her. She probably thinks even less of you than I do.”

 

“Believe what you like.”

 

“Anything else?”

 

“Oh, just one thing. It would be in your best interest to release Pin-Mei as soon as she is better.”

 

“Oh? And why is that?”

 

“Ren. From what I hear, the wrath of the Tao family is equal to that of a raging storm. Hua told me to do all in my power to have Pin-Mei marry into that family because she knew she'd be safe there. If the scion of Tao comes for her, you won't be spared.”

 

“You can't scare me with your “knowledge” of the Tao family. He is but a boy, he means nothing in the grand scheme of things.”

 

“Then I suppose I shall instruct the servants to stand by with mops to wipe your blood off the floor.”

 

He walked past her and into the house. She stared after him, then smiled maliciously to herself.

 

“In short while, none of that is going to matter.”

 

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Pin-Mei woke up about two days later. It was dark outside as she sat up in bed. She looked to her right. The space was bare. She laughed quietly at herself for being so foolish as to think that he would be beside her.

 

That's right…That's all in the past…Tao Ren is no longer my fiancée…I know he promised to come get me, but he doesn't even know where I am. He'll probably forget about me soon…

 

She held in a few tears, then got up and left her room, heading outside.

 

As in the House of Tao, her courtyard ultimately lead to a beach. After looking out over the water, still in her navy blue nightgown, she began to walk straight into the water. It soon reached her chest.

 

“Now kick your legs,” she whispered to herself.

 

But as she tried, her body, still tired, sank underwater. She watched the surface get farther and farther away.

 

Is this how I'm going to die? She closed her eyes and accepted her fate.

 

Ren's face flashed in her mind; how he had looked concerned when she almost drowned a week before. Pin-Mei's eyes shot open and she pulled herself to the surface. After a few gasps of air, she swam up and down the shore, trying to retain all that Ren had taught her. An hour had passed by the time she went back to stand on the shore.

 

I have to believe that he'll come, she thought as she looked at the moon's reflection in the water. I have to have faith that we'll be sleeping together again soon, that I'll be able to touch him, and kiss him, and hear his voice, and tell him how much I love him…and all the other things I love doing with him.

 

She thought of the last time she had touched him, and he, her. She placed her hands over her heart as a warm feeling radiated from it, and closed her eyes as she felt its quickening beat.

 

Ren…

 

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Suo was waiting for her when she came back into the house. She eyed her angrily.

 

“Why are you wet?”

 

Pin-Mei looked down at her soaked nightgown. “I went for a swim,” she replied, and continued on her way to the bathroom.

 

Suo grabbed her shoulder, turning her around, and slapped her across the face. Her wet skin only added to the pain.

 

“What do you think you're doing?” Suo yelled. “Going near the water! You can't swim.”

 

Pin-Mei stopped nursing her cheek. “Yes I can! Ren taught me!”

 

Her grandmother glared at her. “Don't you dare mention his name again!” She grasped Pin-Mei's loose hair and tugged on it. Pin-Mei screamed and was brought to her knees. “I'm not going to let go until you promise to forget about that boy!” She tugged again, eliciting another scream.

 

Pin-Mei's eyes were shut with tears of pain in their corners. She opened them slightly only to shut them again as yet another pull came.

 

“Say it!”

 

She whimpered.

 

“Say it and I'll stop!”

 

Another pull. Pin-Mei was gripping her hair, her head pounding.

 

“I…I…”

 

“Go on, child; Grandmother's listening…”

 

Pin-Mei shut her eyes, the pained tears rolling down her cheeks.

 

In her mind, she saw herself and Ren; when he had surprised her by being in her room, teaching her to swim, their snowball fight, how he had fought to protect her, their first kiss, his proposal, both of them cuddling together in bed (even if he had insisted he was not taking part in the cuddling)…

 

“I need you to be with me…I want to claim you for myself…Will you stay with me forever?”

 

“Yes.”

 

She stopped crying, her eyes narrowed, and her voice got low. Suo's eyes widened as she looked up at her.

 

“Tug on my hair as hard as you possibly can.”

 

“What?”

 

“I'll never betray Ren. Never. He loves me, and I love him. He's taken care of me since I was little, and I have no right to break faith with him. So do your worst. I won't give in.”

 

“You ungrateful child!”

 

As she had requested, her hair was pulled as hard as it could be. Pin-Mei bit her lip and refused to scream or cry. Suddenly, it stopped. She looked up to see her father with Suo's wrist in his hand. He released her, shoving her into a wall.

 

“Don't touch my daughter again.”

 

“Father…”

 

He looked down at Pin-Mei and took her wrist.

 

“You must be hungry. Come.” He pulled her up and patted her head gently, then began leading her into the dining room. She looked at the floor and stopped.

 

“No…I'm not…” She wriggled from his grasp. “I'm…going back to my room.”

 

As she closed the door behind her and leaned against it, she spied her calendar on the back wall. She walked over to examine it.

 

January 1st was encased in a heart with a smiley face. “REN!” was written in large characters. Pin-Mei touched it as she remembered how excited she had been. Her old calendar from the previous year, since July 15th, had crosses on each day, a countdown in the corner, just to remind her how far away that day had been at one time.

 

Before she knew it, she was on the ground sobbing.

 

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After taking a shower, Pin-Mei curled up on the ground, her hair still wet, and cried some more. At that point, it was the only thing she could think of doing. A knock on the door interrupted her pity party.

 

“Who is it?” she called, her voice hoarse.

 

“Us!”

 

She fell silent. “You may enter.”

 

Rong, Ling and Shu walked over to her in a single file line. She sat up and tried to make herself look presentable. “What is it?”

 

“We wanted to welcome you home!” they cried.

 

“We haven't seen you since that afternoon,”

 

“And since… `that night,'”

 

“Um…we wanted to see how you were doing…”

 

Their mistress looked down. “Sorry…I'm not going to be any fun to be around…for a really long time…” Her bangs covered her eyes. They looked at her, concerned.

 

“Can we at least dry your hair?” Rong asked.

 

“I want to brush it,” Ling said.

 

“Um…I'd like to do you nails…” Shu mumbled.

 

Pin-Mei looked at them. “Do what you want…”

 

They assembled around her, armed with hairdryers, brushes, and nail files. She stayed silent, as if she was in another dimension from them. After a while, Rong decided the silence was too much.

 

“Lady Pin-Mei, are you upset over that boy?”

 

Pin-Mei bit her lip. “What makes you think that?”

 

“Because of what happened…now you're home, but you're so depressed…you won't smile. Even if he did that to you, you miss him, don't you?”

 

She started crying again. “Yeah, yeah I do. You have no idea. Those two days in the carriage were torture, not being able to be with him. I still love him. I don't even think I could stop if I wanted to. It's been this way since I was four. I've always loved him. Even if I was too young to understand at the time…”

 

The three girls leaned in to listen better.

 

“He's been so good to me. He's done so much for me. Much more than I could ever do for him. Trying to save him from punishment was the first time I saved him of any sort. He's saved me at least five times… and I can barely save him once! Even then, I have no way of knowing if I succeeded. I just…I need to go back to that house…to be with him…That's where I need to be...it's the only way I can sleep at night…with him holding me in his arms.”

 

She realized what she had been saying, and looked at the other girls. “I'm sorry,” she said, wiping her tears away. Ling stopped her.

 

“Lady Pin-Mei, we believe in your judgment. If you believe that he is a good person, then we will stand behind you in believing that. Even if it kills us.”

 

Pin-Mei looked at her. “Ling…”

 

Rong patted her head from behind. “Yeah, well, even though boys suck, he seemed nice enough, so yeah, you have my blessing and all that crap.”

 

“Rong…”

 

Shu started crying. They looked at her.

 

“Shu, what's the matter?”

 

Shu hid her face. “I…I did it…It's my fault…”

 

“What do you mean?” Pin-Mei asked, her eyes wide.

 

“I'm the reason that Lady Pin-Mei and Lord Ren are separated…”

 

“How…”

 

“I…I…” She looked up, taking her fogged glasses off.

 

“I told Mistress Suo about the party.”

 

They all stared at her. Pin-Mei looked about ready to say something, but Rong moved first.

 

SLAP

 

“How dare you!” she yelled at the frightened girl. “We're Lady Pin-Mei's handmaids. We're supposed to protect her! You have no excuse for revealing the party to Mistress Suo!”

 

Pin-Mei looked from Shu to Rong and back to Shu. She reached out to her, and the girl flinched, expecting another slap. But a soft hand cupped her burning cheek. She looked up to see a kind smile.

 

“What happened?”

 

Shu just kept crying. “When…When you sent for us, Mistress Suo saw me and demanded that I tell her. She had her bladed fan at my neck and…and said that she'd have my family back in the country killed if I didn't tell her…I'm so sorry Lady Pin-Mei! I cannot be forgiven for this!”

 

The young Lady shook her head. “Incorrect. I would rather this happen than have your family slaughtered. You did the right thing.” She looked down. “This is just more reason to go back to the House of Tao…no evil grandmothers…just an old guy with a pistol.”

 

They stared at her. “That sounds a bit worse.”

 

“He never pointed it at me. Ren got it a few times though.”

 

“Scary…”

 

She hid her face behind a sleeve. “I'm going to need your help, you guys…it may be a while before I'm able to go back…so I'll need you all to help keep me strong…I want to be stronger…just like him…”

 

They all jumped on her. “You got it!”

 

“Ow…”