She recalled how they had 'played house' by entertaining her family members with a fake marriage, and how the villagers had cheered when they had finished the formalities. They had worn the dragon-and-phoenix, a matching wedding set which was popular among young couples.
But this time, it was real. They were bound by their promises to each other, and by their love.
In the courthouse, before they exchanged their marriage rites, which would be witnessed by the marriage registrar, Tian Yu had prepared a special speech. "Xiao Xun, I fell in love when I first saw you. You were so eye-catching, that I couldn't bear not to give you a second stare. But we didn't know each other then. And so I waited. When I saw you at the library for the second time, I didn't know that was my chance, until you almost fell. I felt, fate was on our side.
"And when you finally gave me the chance to be with you three weeks later, I was delighted. It was the happiest moment of my life, when you agreed to consider me as your second half. You walked right into my life, and not has a single second passed without me thinking about you. I was with you three months, and I took from you three years of your happiness. For this, I will give you in return, the rest of my life. From now on, you have my word that we will never ever be separated again. Though I am not a religious person, I promise you, till death do us part. I will love and be with you, till the day I die."
The couple embraced, and the joyous moment was followed by cheers from the guests present, as they went on to recite their marriage rites and sign on the marriage register. The registrar pronounced them legally husband and wife, and they went to pick up their proof of marriage, their marriage certificate.
In the past, Tian Yu had asked Zhi Xun how she had wanted to have their wedding, apart from the civil marriage union, and she had answered that she had wanted a simple wedding. A month later, they celebrated with a simple cultural wedding similar to their countryside marriage, except with a merrier banquet to treat their guests. Zhi Xun was particularly pleased to see Yuwen, now with a bigger pouch, but nevertheless, did not seem to have gained much in her other regions. Her housemates also returned to N City from the other cities they were working in, much to her pleasure.
And then, she felt something special during the marriage celebration. Something that she would continue to recall, even years after their baby was born. Nothing had been more delightful to Zhi Xun than the unexpected first movements of their sticky bean. Beaming all over her face, she had pulled him over from where he was entertaining the guests and told him what she had just felt. It had only been 16 and a half weeks, and she had already felt their bean's first kicks. These movements, she would later know, would be what kept them up all night.
She would crave all kinds of sweet and savoury desserts and desserts, compared to her healthy side before the pregnancy, where she worked out five times a week and curbed her desire to indulge in unhealthy food. Of course, the doting husband would pamper her with whatever she wanted, as long it was not harmful to her pregnancy. In addition, due to the changes to her body during the pregnancy, she wanted new clothes, maternity bras, and would complain all day about how she didn't feel comfortable in whatever she wore. She would also randomly suffer emotional outbursts. Tian Yu knew it was his duty to comfort and console her.
............................................................................
One month later (20 weeks)
"It's a girl," Zhi Xun's ob-gyn informed them with a smile. "When are you planning to make preparations for the baby's arrival? We usually encourage most parents to get prepared at about 25 to 26 weeks, because that's when the earlier bundles of joy arrive."
"Soon," they both chirped in unison. Zhi Xun realised she had been so busy with the business that she had forgotten about the purchases for the baby's arrival! And they also had yet to choose a name, as they wanted to have a gender-specific name instead of a gender-neutral name.
"I'm thinking of the name Amber," Zhi Xun suggested.
"Why Amber?" Tian Yu asked. "What's special about the name?"
"I just thought it sounded nice."
"Actually, I wanted to name her Dream."
"Dream? Have you been dreaming of having a baby?" she teased.
"No, it was you whom I dreamed of," Tian Yu said. "Maybe this is hard to believe, but I remember you exactly from the dreams that I have been having for a long time."
"Oh?" she paused in surprise. "What do you recall of me in the dream?"
"A beautiful woman, with wings. I saw so many images of us together. Perhaps we were fated from a past lifetime. Be it fate, be it destiny, the only thing I know now is, we are together. And I will never let you go, ever again."
He held her hand and placed it on his chest, near to where his heart would have been.
"I've seen you in my dreams, too." She laid her head on his shoulder. "At first, I was afraid to accept you, because I didn't know what the dreams meant. When you left, I thought we weren't meant to be. But now I know, it's just a test to our love. Do you realise, that we love each other more now, compared to the past? Even in my dreams, I knew you loved me. Maybe we weren't fated then, or we were both afraid to tell each other our feelings. We all learn from our past mistakes. And now, nothing will separate us."
He caressed her on the cheek, and said, "You'd better not look at any other man in a different way, since you're already my wife. You won't know how I might punish you in future. I might record it into the debt-book."
"And you better not look at any other woman," she said. "Or I might ignore you for weeks, and months."
He gazed into her eyes. "How could I ever bear to? ..One is enough. After all these lifetimes, I've known..one is enough."
They said nothing more, and revelled in a storm of passionate kisses. Finally, they had each other, after suffering the pain of loving each other secretly while they were Aranya and Chen Ye, and having reincarnated time after time, in search of a fate with each other. Their fate had challenged them in this lifetime to whether they were capable of living three years apart, and every single bit of their journey had been worth it. Because they loved each other.
............................................................................
After the Birth (38 weeks)
Tian Yu had held her hand and encouraged her in the labour room. It only took her a few hard pushes, and the baby was out. She was in fact, one of the very lucky mothers who had a short labour, much to the envy of the other mothers in her ward.
Baby Ye Ran was born perfectly and at a healthy weight, at exactly 38 weeks, much to the delight of both families. Only Zhi Xun and Tian Yu knew the secret behind her name (and of course, the immortals did). Everything was smooth-sailing after that, but the only question that remained in her heart was the mystery of the disappearance of Su Mo. He had came and gone, and left a big question mark in everything, starting from his involvement in her mother's hospital bills, leaving her his estate and his shares in his businesses and companies.
Despite having the memories of their past lifetimes, it had never occurred to Zhi Xun and Tian Yu that he had been Aranya's teacher Su Moye, or that he was the person who had accidentally came between them.
Nine years later, she was amazed to see that Cafe Ninetails Little Red was still in business, and the proprietress had returned after a reputed travel around the world with her husband.
Travel my head, Fengjiu thought. I haven't even seen the rays of the sun since he started the intercourse. Crazy Donghua! If not for the fact that Siming predicted she was coming to the cafe today, I wouldn't have bothered to come in this state. I'm basically fatigued after almost nine days intercourse!
Don't forget that I can hear you, ma'am, Donghua's voice resonated in her mind. She hated it when he used telepathy to communicate with and read her mind. This meant one word, no privacy!
She ignored her husband and struggled to walk to the lady. She had matured beautifully from a budding flower to a flower in bloom. At 34 years old, she was exceptionally alluring, with her elegant mortal figure to her shining eyes.
"Long time no see, Miss," Fengjiu greeted Zhi Xun.
"This is my daughter," Zhi Xun replied, beckoning for a smaller figure to come to them. "Ye Ran, greet Aunty." The girl did as told. Fengjiu peered at the little girl's eyes. Indeed, she had her eyes. Aranya's eyes, and Zhi Xun's eyes. She marvelled at how magical this had all seemed. Aranya, who was created from half her shadow, had retained part of her facial features, even after her rebirth. Perhaps, there would always be a part of Fengjiu that remained, in Aranya, in Zhi Xun and finally, in little Gao Ye Ran.
Donghua watched as a man bearing a similarity to his looks pushed open the glass door to the cafe with a boy in tow. Probably if he and Fengjiu had not used immortal magic and makeup to mask their actual looks, the mortal couple would have fainted in shock.
"My husband Mr. Dong," Fengjiu pointed to Donghua.
"My husband, Gao Tian Yu, and son Yi Ze."
As the mortal couple chit-chatted with their former immortal creators, an invisible figure watched them in the solitude of a dark corner of the cafe, where the mortals would never ever be able to see him. A voice greeted him, "Mr. Su, have you finally decided to help them?"
"Call me Mo Shao," the figure said. "Star Lord of Destiny, what brings you to the mortal world?"
Siming took his place beside Su Moye, in the guise of a mortal man in an executive suit. He placed an AirBud in his ear, deceiving the mortals that he was in fact, in a phone call.
"Like you said, I am the Star Lord of Destiny. I came to watch on these two mortals whom I have written a fate for. If you recalled from our last conversation, they have finally found each other and fulfilled the destiny that they were meant to have. It's now up to you if you can help to give them a final lifetime, without the need for them to ever reincarnate again. Like how Her Majesty repaid her debt of gratitude to Immortal Qingti back then, you can do something for your former student and for the love she was meant to have. As you have ascended to High God, we know it's no difficult feat for you."
"Indeed," Su Moye said, "I adopt Her Majesty Fengjiu's sentiments when she was young and chose to forsake everything she had for the Saha fruit, even to the point of giving up half of her cultivation for Immortal Qingti. Her only thought was to repay his kindness. Aranya was my student, and as her teacher, I need to help her with all I can. Probably if I don't do it, nobody else would. And I will do it, because nobody else will. But where can they go, if the Fanyin Valley is no more?" He knew he owed her. If not for his unintentional intrusion, she probably would have a happy ending with Chen Ye. And on the other hand, her sacrifice had given Fengjiu and Donghua a happy ending.
"As she is 34 and he is 39, they won't reach the end of their lifespan till more than twenty years later. This is already the longest lifetime they have lived, compared to the past six. When the time is near, the answer will lie within you, where do you want to bring them to? Dijun just wanted to give them a chance at life again, and he has done more than that. He wanted them to experience a happy mortal life together, and they did. Mo Shao, their chance at eternal happiness lies on your hands. "
Mo Shao smiled. He knew what it took for Fengjiu to give it her all when she decided to save Qingti, and at this point, he was already a High God, possessing way more cultivation and power than Fengjiu herself, whom even till now, was still, only a high immortal. He would definitely be able to sacrifice a small part of his cultivation to help them escape the fate of reincarnation eternally, and there would be absolutely a place that they could call theirs.
When they woke up after that, their dreams would always be pleasant, and never ending, and they would be accompanied by each other for eternity.
ns 15.158.11.148da2
