40 A Vow For A Lifetime

As Ling'er awoke and looked my way, her eyes filled up with fear like she saw her worst enemy. My heart clenched so tight, hurting more than all the tortures I had so far.

"NO! NO! WHO ARE YOU?! GET AWAY FROM ME! AHHHHH! SAVE ME! FATHER! SENIOR BROTHER! SENIOR SISTER!" Ling'er shoves me away and scurried to a dark corner of the room. She started pitifully crying, buried her heads onto her legs, and continuously mumbled, "Please save me. Where is everyone? Xiao Ling'er is scared. Xiao Ling'er wants to go home. Squishy, where are you? Big baddies are bullying Xiao Ling'er. Why are you not here with Xiao Ling'er? You promised to be with Xiao Ling'er always...*sob*"

That's right! Ling'er knows me as Squishy! I wanted to sprint over and give her a hug, but I know that I must take this calmly. I slowly walked over to her corner step by step. When I was about three steps away from her, Ling'er began to shiver like crazy, so I stopped. I slowly got down on my knees. Then I gently questioned, "Ling'er, it's me Squishy. Do you not remember me anymore?"

"S-s-squishy?" Ling'er slowly looks up with a blank look.

I nodded and gently persuaded, "Remember, Ling'er picked Squishy up and brought Squishy to Uncle's place? Then Ling'er fed Squishy many, many delicious dumplings. So, Squishy promised Ling'er to always be with Ling'er?"

"Squishy always with Xiao Ling'er ..." Ling'er's eyes seemed to have regained a faint luster.

I continued slowly lift Ling'er out from hell, "Mhmm, remember, Ling'er promised to always protect Squishy, so Squishy will always be together with Ling'er."

"S-Squishy, is it really you, Squishy?" Ling'er's eyes showed it seemed to have finally grabbed on to a strand of hope.

"Yes, remember, Squishy promised to go with Ling'er to go home with Ling'er to see Ling'er's Father, Senior Brother, and Senior Sister? That Squishy is me," I lit the final spark that rekindled the fire in Ling'er's eyes.

"Ah~ Squishy!!!" Ling'er's eye's glistened with tears as she dived into my embrace and started sobbing. I hugged her gently with one hand while petting her head with the other, comforting her with "Don't worry, nothing happened".

"Wuuu~ Wuuu~ Xiao Ling'er thought Xiao Ling'er will never see Squishy again! Wuu~ Xiao Ling'er was scared! Wuu~" Ling'er pitifully cried in my embrace. My heart clenched in pain, yet at the same time I got a sweet, delightful feeling brewing in my heart as I saw my Ling'er finally escape from the clutches of the past.

After Ling'er cried what seem to be an ocean of tears, she finally stopped. Then, she looked at me with curious eyes, and I knew what she wanted to ask.

"This is my original body. I was ... cursed, and while I was stuck in that little form, you came along and saved me," I tried convincing her embarrassingly.

Ling'er glances at me like she accepted my explanation, but then she suddenly turned her head away and went "Humph" while pouting. So cute~ But I remember that some noble was coming soon, so we gotta ditch. I'll admire this all I want later.

"Ling'er, we have to get going now. I'll tell you all about it after we go visit your home okay? Right now evil person is coming and we need to go!" I tried persuading Ling'er to leave, but she refused.

"Don't think Xiao Ling'er is easy to fool! Xiao Ling'er is a big girl, and Xiao Ling'er know Squishy is a big bad liar. Xiao Ling'er will not listen to Squishy anymore! Humph!" Ling'er turned her head to the side and plopped down onto the ground as she pouted with an angry face.

Oh sooo cute~ but we really got to go. How do I appease this princess? Ah! I got it!

"Yes, yes. Squishy was wrong. So Squishy will apologize by giving Ling'er a present alright?" I smirked "evilly".

"Present?! Humph! Don't think Xiao Ling'er will be bribed by a present, Xiao Ling'er is a-"

I take out the {Lover's Charm} before Ling'er could finish and her eyes glued to the heart shaped stone that glints with a rainbow color. As her swung the necklace back and forth to taunt her, her eyes sparkled and followed along. I smiled and split the necklace in two and Ling'er's eyes lit up like she watched some sort of inconceivable magic.

"So Ling'er will put this necklace on, and Squishy will put the other one on. That way we will have a matching pair. So whenever Ling'er is in danger in the future, Squishy will be able to find Ling'er and protect Ling'er!" I slyly convinced the naive girl to eat the lollipop.

The naive girl innocently nods her head frantically with her eyes still glued to the heart, causing me to feel guilt, but I am doing this for her own good. Then, I helped her put on the necklace, then I put on mine. Instantly, a rainbow glow encased the both of us as both necklaces sunk into our skins, forever branded to our souls.

[Host has made an Eternal Vow with the {Lover's Charm}.]

"Ehhhh? Where did it go? Boo hoo~ Squishy lied to Xiao Ling'er again! Squishy hid away the gift!" Ling'er looks like she's about to cry again as she whined.

"No, it's still there Ling'er, just that you can't see it. It's inside your soul. Now we can both feel each other so Ling'er will never get lost again!" I replied smoothly like a trafficker about to sell the merchandise, yet the merchandise is still helping to count the money.

Ling'er closed her eyes for a bit, then her eyes lit up in excitement once she opened them. Then she bounced up and down as she excited said, "Xiao Ling'er can feel it! Xiao Ling'er can feel Squishy! Yayyy~"

Then, Ling'er jumped into my embrace. Although she's dirtied by the events, but I can still smell the faint scent of Magnolia on her. I can't wait to traverse this world hand in hand with her. I smiled, but I remembered that we are short on time. So, I gently separated myself from Ling'er.

"Ling'er, we can celebrate later. Some bad guys are coming back soon so, we need to go now."

Alas, I've never regretted not leaving sooner as much as now for Mr.Aura would never let me off. A heavy pressure descended upon both me and Ling'er which caused both of us to freeze in place as the floor started cracking. A deep voice boomed, "Thinking of leaving? This emperor haven't given you permission yet."