Valentine's Day

Lounging in the hot spring XiXi starts to wonder what day it is in their world. They left on a Thursday, she remembers because she went into her faher's study to borrow the laptop. It was time to turn in her paper in the morning and she hadn't started

So today is, she is thinking and pops up in the water, It's VALENTINE'S DAY! Nooooo!

 Qing Jun was going to confess to me on Valentine's Day!

 After math class I was going to wait for him by the tree next to the soccer field. When he got done playing I planned to give him the chocolates I made. Then he would shyly confess while gazing affectionately at me with this dark brown eyes shining and sweating a bit nervously. He would look so handsome in his soccer uniform and I would gratefully accept.

This scene has played over in her head at least fifty times since Wang Huan told her. She pretended she didn't know when she and Qing Jun walked to class together last week but she was very excited.

XiXi splashes the water,this really sucks! She is starting to get angry, why did Grandpa drag Dad into this mess. I bet everyone wonders where I am!

The hot spring doesn't seem as fun as it did a minute ago. She shrugs her thin shoulders and sulks, I guess I will go back and start studying with Dad the sooner we can get back home the better.

She goes into the Jade room next to the hot spring and puts on the dress she brought. How does this one go on it seems more complicated than the other. She yanks it around and puts on her shoes. She wrings out her hair then pulls it into a loose pony tail,

XiXi sees the bottle on the jade table and thinks that's right he said to put this in the water to relax. I should have...maybe I wouldn't be upset over something I can't change.

Walking through the trees she notices Feng Tian walking in her direction. I'm not in the mood for that man right now, she decides to slip through some trees to avoid him.

Feng Tian sees XiXi and wonders why she is going that direction, it leads to the mountain not the bamboo house.

He follows the direction she is walking and can see she is lost. XiXi hesitates and turns in circles with a bewildered expression.

Feng Tian thinks if she keeps going she will end up at the stream.

He decides to go around the other direction and meet her before she arrives there.

XiXi walks for awhile then sees the stream. She puffs out her cheeks and clenches her fists at her side. I got turned around at some point and am nowhere near the bamboo house. Great! Just great!

She can no longer hold back her tears, it's Valentine's Day, I am lost, and am stuck in a strange world.

Feng Tian appears in front of her suddenly. She doesn't want him to see her crying and quickly turns her head. Blinking back her tears, she sniffles and wipes her wet cheeks with the sleeve of the dress.

After she composes herself she takes a deep breath and smiles at him, "Feng Tian, what are you doing here? I clearly saw you back by the Cherry Blossom trees."

He feels his heart tighten, she is upset about something, her beautiful green eyes are watery and a little red. I won't tease her for getting lost. She looks too fragile and vulnerable.

" I did see you and wanted to spend some time with you so I followed you here. It's beautiful by the mountain and stream isn't it? This one of my favorite spots on Yun Tai's property."

"Yes, very pretty" XiXi feels mentally weak, well, it's good he is here, I never would find my way back through that maze of Cherry Blossom trees.

He hands her a jug. "You look thirsty. Here."

She takes a sip, hmmm... that tastes pretty good. She drinks some more."What is that this drink..it is really bubbly."

"It is called Cloud Werry wine they make it in the mountains from a bubbling water source within a cave and cloud berries of course."

Feng Tian wants to cheer her up he doesn't like seeing this sad XiXi. "Do you want to see something that is only located at the base of the mountain?"

XiXi thinks why not, I am in no mood to study and if I go back now Dad will have me reading those books of his until I memorize them.

They head towards the base of the mountain and enter a cave, it isn't dark as you would expect, but brightly lit in many colors. XiXi is startled, the cave is very colorful and beautiful.

Her eyes are twinkling, she spins around amazed at the colorful lights."Feng Tian, why is this cave so lit up like this and sparkly"

" Because of the creatures that live in here. During the day they stay in this cave and attach themselves to the wall."

XiXi interrupts, "Creatures?"

Feng Tian laughs, "They are actually quite pretty, I guess they would be like what I have seen in a book from another Kingdom, butterflies? We call them Wind Whisps because when they fly out at night they are almost transparent but for the colors carried in the wind in the night sky.

"If you are here at night you will see a spectacular sight when they all fly out."

Maybe it was that little bit of wine and the sight inside the cave but XiXi begins to relax and get her mind off what could have been today in her world. This island is very mysterious.

They walk out of the cave and XiXi gazes at him with a grateful look, "You would never see anything like that where I am from, it really was amazing, thank you"

Feng Tian feels she needs more distraction from whatever is bothering her and replies," Do you want to walk down the stream a little ways there are some fish you might find interesting." After what her father told me she puts up a brave front but she is still just a little girl. 

Walking down the stream's edge, the foliage is thicker and she sees plants she has never seen before. "Feng Tian what is that huge bush there, with the spiky fruits on it?"

Enjoying the walk, she is enthralled by all the different sights. A bird flies down and starts pecking at the spiky fruit right while she is looking at it. The bird is cyan colored with a beak similar to a parrot and bushy feathers on its head she can't even see it's eyes. The bird screeches making a high pitched sound when she approaches.

Feng Tian said the fruit is called a Spiky Fruit. XiXi looks at him, is he joking?

He sees her face with an inquisitive expression and says, "No, seriously that's it's name do you want one? I will peel it for you when we get a bit further there is a gazebo we can sit in and watch the fish."

They stroll down the stream's edge and XiXi stops and picks up a pebble and skims it across the stream, it skipped at least ten times, she is quite happy and laughs out loud. She picks up six more pebbles and hands three to him. "Toss one.. it's fun!"

He takes a pebble in his hand and thinks I could easily make this go right across the stream and embed itself in the middle of the mountain..haha I better tone it down for her, he takes it and uses his palm to make it gently skip about twenty times.

She skips a few more pebbles across the water and the best she did was the original toss. Smiling, she claps her hands together and spins around forgetting her bad mood.

He gazes at XiXi finally laughing. This is good I don't like to see her sad.

After about an hour they reach the gazebo and where the flying fish are in the stream. XiXi watches them with wide eyes, they almost look like they are doing acrobatics. Flying over each other... flying in tandem. They are a silver color that glimmers in the air and the unusual fish have golden eyes. I wonder if they would taste good roasted over a fire...no...they are too beautiful to eat.

XiXi has her hands on her hips marvelling at the sight. "Feng Tian, they are so cool."

Feng Tian shakes his head and walks over to XiXi. He flicks her forehead and in a serious tone replies,"No. The Golden Eyed Dru Fish actually are warm blooded. Many years ago they were forced to swim upstream to this spot because Beast Hunters dammed a river to trap some Mythical Beasts."

XiXi rubs her forehead,"..."