The Other Side of the Mask

"Wow! This is amazing! It's beyond my imagination!"

The hustling and bustling streets of crowded people get ready for the festival. Sweet and savoury smells fill the air. Cotton candy and balloons everywhere, children screaming in delight. The golden colored palace shone brighter than ever as the King and Queen stepped onto the balcony. We look up.

The King steps up, "Dear citizens, thank you so much for coming and preparing this wonderful festival. This day has been a tradition for the decades of the Ri Kingdom. We welcome the tourists and foreign guests. We have also invited the Yue Kingdom's royal family for this special occasion. Please show everyone the beautiful, famed Valentine Festival! Enjoy!"

Suddenly, the Queen also speaks up, "YingYue,"

I pull my hood over more.

"... if you're out there, please come back to us."

Queen Huang also steps up, "I know your identity as QiLing. I won't blame you anymore, so come back."

I almost curse out loud as ZhuWu, the bandits, and Mei stare at me.

"Shh!" I gesture to them.

I'd better get going. I hold my hood and push my way away from the crowd. Suddenly, a familiar black outfit appears in front of me and pulls me in.

"I found you," XiaoLong whispers in my ear.

I try to push him away, only to get a sneak peek at Commander Yang and a group of assassin-like troops behind XiaoLong, fully crushing my spirit to escape. He pulls me over his shoulder and jumps up to a low balcony of the palace. A familiar scent washes over me as XiaoLong hugs me tighter.

"You better not leave me again," he whispers, " I love you."

He sets me down on a couch and closes the balcony door and sits beside me.

"Why," my voice cracks, "Why, after everything I did…"

"Because I love you, of course. Don't blame it on yourself."

He starts to tell his story, "You see, my life in the castle is pretty boring and all the suitors are all the same, until I met you. You're so different from the others and opened my eyes to a new world."

I cover his mouth, as my head aches.

"You should rest."

He carries me to the bed in the room, and I immediately fall asleep.

The lights were still off when I woke up about an hour later. The most dreaded person was sitting on the side of my bed: Queen Huang. I turn away from her and ponder about what I should do. Luckily, she speaks first.

"You ran away because of the incident at the trials right?"

"... Yeah"

"Explain your side of that situation."

I hesitate, "There really isn't anything to explain."

"Don't fool yourself, you knew that if you didn't follow Mayor Chun's commands, it would put your parents in danger. Only, you didn't know your parents didn't care about you at all, and they weren't your real parents."

"I'm not oblivious, you know," she states.

I put my hand on my forehead and sigh.

" I'll be leaving my son in your hands, so please take care of him instead of running away."

I turn to her, surprised. She gives me a smile. She holds out her hand, which I take. She leads me to the door where everyone greets me.

TianYu hugs me, "We finally found you!"

Mother and Father smile at me. XiaoLong, suddenly, lifted me into his arms and jumped out the window.

"We'll be back soon!" he calls out to our parents.