Severing Time & Space

Puppy Love, Part I

The moon hung in the sky and cicadas chirped their song. Almost everyone else was in bed by now—except the guards who were out on patrol. The Wu Clan was an important clan in Zahn City. Being an important clan meant they had a good deal of wealth compared to everybody else, which also meant there might be people who wanted to steal from them. Wu Jian didn’t know why anyone would turn to a life of crime, but he had been taught about criminals and capital punishment since dealing with them was one of many duties the clan head dealt with.

Wu Jian lay awake in bed, waiting. He strained his ears to listen. No sounds except the cicadas met them, but still he continued to listen, quietly, with only his own breathing to accompany the songs of the night.

Finally, it came.

A knock at the door.

Wu Jian slipped out from underneath his covers, crept toward the shoji screen door, and pressed his hands against it.

“It’s a lovely night, isn’t it?” he asked.

“But not as lovely as me, right?” a girlish voice asked back.

Grinning, Wu Jian opened the door just a c***k and allowed someone to slip inside. The person turned out to be a young girl with skin whiter than fresh snow, sky blue eyes, pink lips, and hair like midnight. It was Wu Meiying, who was grinning at him with pride.

“Did the guards spot you?” Wu Jian asked.

“Hmph. Who do you think you’re talking to? The guards would never be able to spot me even if they trained for a million years,” Wu Meiying crossed her arms and huffed.

“It doesn’t hurt to ask. Anyway, make yourself comfortable.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

Wu Jian and Wu Meiying crawled back underneath the covers of his futon. It was cold during the winter, and it was even colder at night. Wu Meiying’s body was practically freezing. Even Wu Jian hissed and jerked back when he touched her cold skin.

“Gosh, your skin is so cold,” he said.

“Of course it is. It’s cold outside.”

“Guess I should help you warm up then.”

They didn’t lay down right away. Sitting facing each other, Wu Jian placed his hands on Wu Meiying’s shoulders and began rubbing her arms to warm them up. His own skin became chilly. He could see her better thanks to the light from the moon, and her face and lips were paler than normal.

“My lips are also cold,” Wu Meiying said.

“Okay. I’ll warm those up too.”

Wu Jian leaned over and kissed Wu Meiying, who happily returned the kiss. This was something that Father and Mother often did when they thought no one was looking. Wu Jian and Wu Meiying began copying them after seeing them do it several times. Father and Mother had both told them they couldn’t and tried to explain that it was something only married couples did, but they would be marrying eventually anyway, so it was okay.

After Wu Meiying’s body became warmer, they both laid down so they were facing each other and talked. They talked about whatever struck their fancy, from what they thought of that morning’s lessons to how much older Grandpa Son looked.

“I think I saw a new wrinkle on his face today.”

“He also has less hair. Do you think it’s from stress?”

“I don’t know, but I did hear a rumor that Wu Yong and his flunkies had been caught mistreating the books. They were let off because Wu Yong is uncle’s son, and Wu Fei and Wu Ming are grandsons of the elders.”

“Father should think about hiring an alchemist to make Grandpa Son hair growth pills.”

“Do those even exist?”

“I’m sure someone somewhere has made them.”

When Wu Jian and Wu Meiying were younger, they used to sleep together like this all the time. He didn’t remember much about that time. However, Mother often told him that Wu Meiying would cry something fierce whenever she tried to separate them and only stopped when they were brought back together. That stopped after they got older. Father had said they were too old to sleep together and sent Wu Meiying to live in the building meant for servants and unmarried women of the clan… but that hadn’t stopped them from sleeping together anyway. Wu Meiying would simply sneak into his room every night.

He had no idea how she did it.

He knew that he couldn’t have snuck past all the guards like that.

“It’s very easy to slip past the guards,” Wu Meiying said when he commented on this. “I just had to memorize what their patrol routes were.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not as easy as you make it sound. Don’t the guards have random patrols each night?”

“Well, it’s easy for me then. I can always figure out what routes they are taking and move around them.”

“See? I think you’re just too incredible for your own good.”

“You’re incredible, too,” Wu Meiying said earnestly.

Wu Jian shook his head. “I’m not that amazing.”

“But you are.” Wu Meiying scooted closer until they were nose to nose. “I don’t think you realize how much potential you have. I just know… I know that you can become the strongest person in the entire world.”

“Well, if you’re the one saying it, I guess I have no choice but to believe it,” Wu Jian said.

Wu Meiying had never been wrong about anything before. Back when they were just four, she had told him that Aunt Jia would give birth to fraternal twins and name them Han and Lin. He hadn’t believed her at the time. However, Aunt Jia had given birth to twins eight months later and named them Han and Lin. There was also the time she said Wu Yong would get in trouble for attempting to steal a Wu Clan scroll from the inner library and show it off to his friends in Zahn City. Then, two days later, he was punished with six months of latrine duty for attempting to sneak out of the clan compound with a Wu Clan technique scroll. She had made many such predictions. Each one had come true.

The point was, Wu Meiying was never wrong, so whenever she said something, Wu Jian always believed her.