Chapter 9 - Forget

Kai was fast asleep next to me in our bed. His handsome face looked so peaceful, it was a beautiful sight. But even in his deep peaceful sleep he held me tightly in his arms.

Some of his hair was stuck to his forehead, so I gently moved it out of the way. At my touch he stirred, holding me tighter.

I smiled and planted a little kiss on his brow. He relaxed a bit, enough for me to get out of bed. I got dressed and went to the lounge to grab a pen and paper.

I sat by our kitchen island and took a deep breath to steel myself before I wrote:

Dearest Kai,

I want to thank you so much for everything you have done for me since we first met. Thank you for always being there to catch me when I fall. Thank you for looking after me. Thank you for the laughter, the tears, and the silent moments where we didn't have to say anything. Thank you for loving me with all your heart.

I'm sorry for making you sacrifice so much of yourself to be with me. I know you would never admit it - that's the person you are. But, especially in recent times, things have changed. I have something going on and, whatever it is, is making me eat away at your happiness. I can't watch your light be dimmed by me. You deserve all the good in the world.

I am going to find answers. I might not come back. Whatever the outcome of this might be, I hope you, mom, and dad forget all about me. Forget that I even existed. Live the happy, healthy life that you deserve.

I don't know why I even wrote this letter. I guess it was harder than I thought to just silently disappear. Hopefully this letter disappears along with all the memories of me.

Kai, my knight in shiny armor, may my absence not leave a hole in your heart. I am just a girl that once existed. I was never a princess, and I was never worthy of being valiently saved by you.

I love you so much, Kai Lee. I will forever cherish our memories together, even if you forget.

I hope you never find this letter.

Love,

Meiyi

I bit down hard in my lower lip to keep my tears from falling. I folded the paper and stuck it in the photo frame behind our beach photo.

I knew where I wanted to go. If Ponytail-guy was still around, he'll be able to find me wherever I was. I just needed to put myself in life-threatening danger.

I got a taxi and drove to the place where Kai and I was at only hours ago.

It was located at the outskirts of the city and very late at night, so I was the only person there when the taxi drove off.

I looked around. It was like a park, with beautiful flowers and trees decorating the scene. A few wooden benches were scattered at places where people usually liked to sit, under trees and by the little pond.

I walked past it all, to the best part of this place: by the wooden fence near the edge of the cliff. When you stood there, you could see the entire city. Everything looked so small and insignificant. It usually made my problems feel insignificant too, when I stood there, so it was the place where I went when I felt down. But I never went alone - Kai was always there with me.

I gulped down the lump forming in my throat.

This was something I needed to do alone.

I climbed over the fence. Slowly, I made my way to the edge of the cliff. It was so high up that I could barely make out what was at the bottom of it. I could make out the river flowing by, some trees and rocks.

I wondered if this was such a good idea. Even if Ponytail-guy showed up, how was he going to catch me? Maybe I should have just tried drowning myself in the river below.

I breathed in and out, slowly. I was here already. If I end up dying here then at least it would go unnoticed. No one would be able to find my body down there.

My whole body trembled at how wrong this was. But the wind was strangely blowing against me, in the direction of the cliff. It was as if an invisible force was pushing me gently towards the edge of the cliff.

My hair got loose from my hair tie, and blew around my head and into my face. "Hey!" I shouted out. "If you're there, I'm going to jump!" My voice echoed, but the only response I got was a few birds flying away.

"Ponytail-guy!" I shouted into the landscape. "Are you there?!"

Nothing.

I glanced around but saw no one.

Finally, I glanced down to the bottom of the cliff. There was only one way forward. I blinked hard at my tears, and closed my eyes.

Then I jumped.

I screamed as gravity pulled me down. It became real. I was going to die.

Memories flashed in my mind. My parents dancing with me in the living room when I was a kid. Friends. Kai.

I cried.

Kai. I'll never see him again. I'll never get to see him sleep peacefully next to me again. I'll never again get to kiss him passionately until we were both out of breath. We were never going to splash each other at the beach again. We were never getting married and having two daughters.

I opened my eyes and looked at the stars above, and I smiled. This was my life.

"Yingci!" Someone shouted. A hole opened in the air, and Ponytail-guy jumped out of it. Or rather, he FLEW out of it.

He caught me in his arms, and another hole opened and we flew through it.

Everything spun and I felt dizzy. It was like what it would be like sitting in a washing machine. I screamed and squeezed my eyes shut.

Finally everything went still. We landed on solid ground and the air smelled like lotuses. I opened my eyes and was greeted with a sight unlike anything I have ever seen before.

We were on a gazebo-like structure, in the middle of a enormous lake filled with lotuses and little lights flying over it in the dark night.

Ponytail-guy put me down angrily, then grabbed my shoulders and turned me towards him. He was furious.

"Are you OUT OF YOUR MIND?! Do you think this is a joke?!"

We were both breathing heavily. Between breaths, I frowned, and said, "This was the only way!"

"The only way? The only way for what?"

"To meet you!" I cried out.

He stared at me, blinking. "What?"

I shoved his hands off my shoulders. "I said that this was the only way to meet you."

He continued to stare at me, as if he couldn't believe what I was saying.

My stomach was still churning from jumping through the hole in the air, and I felt nauseous.

He searched my face, "Do you mean... you remember?"

"Of course I remember. I remember how you saved me all those times and made me suspicious of you being a stalker. And how you wouldn't give me answers, Ponytail-guy!" I said to him. I noticed that his hair wasn't tied into a ponytail now, though. It hung loosely down his back and shoulders, and he had a crown-looking thing tied into it on top of his head.

His face fell, "I knew it."

"Knew what?" I said, exasperated.

He mumbled something incoherent under his breath, and then said, "Nothing."

"Nothing?! NOTHING?!" I screamed in anger. His eyes widened in shock.

"I didn't leave my boyfriend, my family and my whole damn life for NOTHING!" I grabbed his fancy shirt in my fist and looked him in the eyes, "You are going to give me answers. I want to know why the hell my life suddenly changed like that. I want to know what is going on with me!"

My stomach turned and I ran towards the side of the gazebo. I threw up into the beautiful lake.

Ponytail-guy, who doesn't have a ponytail now, sighed and walked to me. He gently took my hair out of my face and held it back.

I retched a final time and it was over. I gasped for air.

As I was catching my breath, he finally spoke, "I am Lijun, emperor of Shenhua."

Taken aback, I turned around. "What?"

He stuck his hand into his tunic and pulled out a fancy handkerchief with golden embroidery on it. He handed it to me.

I took it and wiped my mouth. I felt slightly guilty to wipe my dirty mouth with such an artwork.

"You are now standing in part of my private quarters in my palace in the capital of Shenhua," he continued. "I am the emperor of this land."

What? Ponytail-guy - I mean Lijun - was an emperor?!

But wait... there was no such place called "Shenhua".

Guessing my question before I could ask it, Lijun answered, "Shenhua is a different world to yours. You are now standing in another world."