Crossing the Threshold

Lei Xing stopped herself a few steps from the pavilion, still refusing to get closer than necessary. She did not want to sit across from her, or even look directly at her, not when they were this close. 

There was nothing in particular wrong with the woman, in fact, she was beautiful and seemed warm and welcoming, soothing almost. Not only that, Lei Xing felt a strange sense of familiarity, not just with her, but with this entire place. It made her uncomfortable, but despite this, she also felt a sense of excitement that propelled her to go closer. The fact that the woman knew her name or the fact that she had somehow found her way here to this pavilion through the many paths sprawled in this palace, it all strangely felt normal, as it should be. 

"Were you trying to lure me here with that thing?" Lei Xing asked, crossing her arms and looking off to the side at the buildings on the other side of the lake.