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It was getting to that time of year already. It was the beginning of December and the holiday music was already playing on the radio stations and in stores on incessant repeat. Hua Cheng grumbled moodily to himself as he perused the various paints before him. Art was a hobby he escaped to after a long day of rehearsals, recording studio sessions, auditions, and contract meetings. He was a concert violinist by trade, his long fingers danced across the fingerboard with such grace that it added to the mesmerizing ambience of each and every one of his performances.
He loved his job, he wasn’t complaining. He worked hard to get to where he was at now. With the looming holiday approaching, Hua Cheng’s schedule was already booked solid all the way up to three days before the end of Yule, or Christmas for the great majority. Sighing heavily, he grabbed several tubes of different colored acrylic and gouache paints, multiple tubes of black and white for just about everything, a new pack of brushes with shorter, finer bristles that he’s been meaning to buy and keeps forgetting, and another pack of illustrations pens and markers as he used up the ink in the others he had while out touring and waiting during gigs.
The little arm basket the art store provided was just about full with various pads of paper that ranged from sketch, to multimedia, to bristol and smooth vellum, to newsprint, and the tri colored paper notebook, and so on. Hus Cheng was stocking up to be able to keep busy during down time and for when he went on his three month break after this last stretch of gigs, shows, rehearsals, and recordings. He would have to return to the store to stock up again before his break, by then he’ll need new pencils for sketching.
Hua Cheng looked over everything in his basket, then made his way to check out. Once everything was bagged and paid for he asked his assistant Yin Yu to place them in his car.
“Will you be heading anywhere else?” Yin Yu grabbed the last bag, following Hua Cheng’s line of sight to a thrift store the musician frequents when he’s available. “Ah, I’ll be in to give Lady Shen my regards.”
“En.” Hua Cheng gave him a rare small smile before starting off towards the store. Yin Yu has been serving Hua Cheng for years, the small smile he received right now, Yin Yu knew Hua Cheng was in a very good mood. Yin Yu knew he was looking forward to the long break to relax, so he made his way to the car while Hua Cheng entered the store.
*~*~*
Lady Shen was an elderly lady who was eccentric in all things and her shop reflected that. She was also an old witch so she kept a portion of the thrift shop for witchy things new and old. That was where she found Hua Cheng, amongst the several book shelves of old dusty books of shadows, how to’s, and compendiums of jar spells, candle spells, and herbal spells.
“What a rare sight as of late, what wind brings you here Crimson Rain Sought Flower?” she shuffled up alongside him, her gnarled wooden cane clutched in one hand while the other was tucked behind her back.
The title was something he acquired during a Blood Moon years ago. Lady Shen had attended a gathering of the magical community as an honored guest. The few clouds in the sky carried rain and when it fell in the light of the blood moon, it looked as though it was raining blood itself. She had caught sight of Hua Cheng, standing alone in the middle of the downpour, holding his red umbrella over a small white flower, shielding it from the heavy rain. It was then he gained the name and title from Lady Shen.
Since then, they had been good friends, and despite his busy schedule, Hua Cheng always made it a point to visit her when he had a spare moment and was back in Puqi. Now he perused the old tomes she carried, in hopes one of them would contain a solution to his dilemma.
“Lady Shen, it is always wonderful to see you.” Hua Cheng turned and gave a slight bow. Compared to him, Lady Shen was a very small woman to the very tall violinist. “I was hoping I could find something to…I don’t know…help me this season.” His eyes were downcast and Lady Shen hummed.
“You have always been a lonely soul. Amongst all the witches and warlocks, you are the most solitary. By no fault of your own, you don’t resonate with any of them so companionship is very difficult for you. Here.” She made her way down the line of book shelves to the back. With each passing book the leather and binding got older and older. “It’s here somewhere. Help me look for an old black leather tome, it has the moon phases branded to the back binding, The top has it branded as well except there's some stones decorating it as well that looks like the phases of the moon.”
Hua Cheng nodded and they began their search through the shelves. Dust swirled about, Yin Yu had entered the corner at one point. He helped search as well, not knowing what reason or exactly why they were searching for a specific old book, but he didn’t question it. It wasn’t until Hua Cheng ran his hand over a particularly dusty shelf containing faded and broken books. One stuck out, it looked nearly pristine in condition and had matched part of the description of the book they were looking for. Pulling it off the shelf, he dusted the rest of it off, withholding a gasp as his eyes scanned the front. There were 7 pieces of moonstone shaped like the different moon phases, their distinctive sheen glinted in the light.
The leather was still pure black, smelled freshly bound, and not one bit of it looked worn to indicate repeated use. Hua Cheng was mesmerized, placing his left hand on the front, he asked for permission to read it. A warm, reassuring feeling rushed through him, allowing him to then have the courage to unwrap the leather thong that bound it shut, and open to the first page.
Lady Shen watched on, her many wrinkles looking deeper than they ever have, a warm smile on her face, her dark eyes shining and sparkling as she watched Hua Cheng closely. Hua Cheng flipped through the pages. Marveling at the vast information the book contained. It was definitely someone’s well kept and well loved book of shadows. There was no name on the front inside cover, no sigil, no spell of protection, nothing but the book responded to the question of permission. Hua Cheng continued to flip through until one particular spell caught his interest. It was a summoning spell, a ritual for a companion.
According to what was written, depending on his intention, depended on what kind of companion he would get. There was also a list of companions as an example, a short description telling how they were ones that have been summoned before. They were magical animal companions but a companion nonetheless.
“That tome you have, belongs to someone whose name escapes me. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him. He has always served well where he is from and rarely comes across the borders or through the veil into the mortal realm. He left me his book of shadows for safe keeping, with the only instruction to only give it to someone who truly needs it. Hua Cheng, you have been at this alone for years, though you have tried, others just fail to understand you. Maybe this book will help you find what you desperately need. Yule should be a happy time of celebration, the passing of the crone before the birth of the maiden. You deserve a companion to be by your side through the rest of this life. Take it, let me know who you get. There’s so many of them.” Lady Shen smiled, patted Hua Cheng on the forearm, then shuffled her way back to the front of the store.
~* December 15 th ~*
It wasn’t until late at night, in the middle of December, that Hua Cheng made it back to his apartment from shopping, with far more than he was initially wanting to go out and get but he had everything he needed for the summoning ritual. Yin Yu had already left a long while ago. Hua Cheng put the finishing touches of the ritual, having already written out the spell in different inks that he felt drawn to. The candles were all set up and all that was left was one last look through before starting.
Satisfied he had everything in order, Hua Cheng began, forgetting to realize it was currently a full moon and not a new or 1/8 th waning moon. He went through the chants, grabbing a sheet of paper with the spell written in gold and burning it in the cauldron he used for spells and rituals. He did this with each paper he had written a spell on that was written in brilliant red, turquoise, and ivory. He finished the chants, sitting cross legged on the floor in silence, pouring every ounce of intention he could into what his heart truly wanted.
The air in the apartment became strange, there was a rotten egg smell for a split second before the space in the living area where Hua Cheng was set up filled with the scent of lotus, jasmine, sandalwood, maple, and plum blossoms. Hua Cheng inhaled sharply, hesitant to open his eyes as this was very different from what he read in the book. When he finally gathered the courage to do so, his mismatched eyes landed on nothing. There was nothing before him. Nothing within the summoning circle he created out of candles. Sighing in defeat, Hua Cheng got up, picking things up as he went.
“I can help. After all, it was all used to summon me. Least I can do is help.” A soft voice spoke up, making Hua Cheng just about jump out of his skin, whirling around to look behind him. There, sitting on his couch was what looked like a human except this person had white fluffy cat ears with various gold earrings on each ear, long black hair, bright golden amber eyes beautifully outlined in red eyeliner, the points of sharp canines peeking out from under soft looking lips. They were sitting crossed legged on the couch, head tilted to one side, dressed in a gorgeous set of robes, looking like a prince from a time long forgotten. A long tail matching in fluffiness to the ears, waved side to side on the couch seat next to them.
“Uh…what?” Hua Cheng couldn’t form a cohesive thought other than wondering what or who the hell this was.
“You summoned me did you not? Though, I never thought I would be summoned by my own book. Here I am, I suppose. I also was not expecting to be summoned by you of all people. It’s like meeting another royal.” Those bright amber eyes watched Hua Cheng closely. Admiration shone so bright in them that it made Hua Cheng blush.
“W-w-well…you seem to know me but I do not know who you are.” Hua Cheng snorted at the look of confusion before dawning realization made those hypnotizing eyes widen.
“My apologies. I go by many names. Though the more popular ones are Taizi Dianxia or Your Highness. But since it’s you and you did summon me as a companion, I am simply Xie Lian.” Xie Lian stared up at him, a soft smile gracing his lips, his fangs sticking out just a bit more. He was adorable and Hua Cheng couldn’t help the light blush that heated his face a bit.
“Taizi Dianxia? A prince? A Crown Prince? I summoned a fucking prince !?!? How the fuck…” Hua Cheng ran a shaky hand through his unruly, long black hair, mussing it up further. He was honestly just hoping for a small companion, nothing too extravagant. Is he so desperate for company that his heart called out for a higher companion than what he chanted and prayed for? Probably.
“While you are in disbelief over my appearance, I am quite in the same position concerning you.” Xie Lian’s eyes glided over Hua Cheng’s form a few more times, portraying his barely concealed disbelief.
“Oh?” Hua Cheng stopped in his mental freak out, gazing imploringly at Xie Lian.
“Yes.” He watched as a bright red blush dusted itself across Xie Lian’s face, the prince’s eyes downcast to the side in a form of shyness. “How was I to know that I would be summoned by Hua Cheng? Your musical talent is even well known in both realms of Xianle. When you would come to do a performance within the human realm of Xianle, I would often sneak out and sit in the rafters. I would listen to you play. Each and every time I would fall in love…” Xie Lian abruptly stopped talking, eyes wide and blush deepening before quickly adding “with your music of course. Fall in love with your music…”
Hua Cheng blushed just as deeply, “I prefer if gege calls me San Lang…” He watched Xie Lian’s face go bright red, it was going to be a long night.
~* December 16 th to December 19 th ~*
The days that followed were a whirlwind. It took some convincing to get Xie Lian to hide his ears as human ears. He kept his nails just a bit sharp but not long, and kept them black. His hair was mostly tied up in a very well kept and neat bun. Nothing ever escaped his gaze which meant several of Hua Cheng’s unwanted potential suitors were met with one end of another. One man had his throat ripped out when he caged Hua Cheng against a wall. Xie Lian flew into an immediate rage, grabbed the man, latched his sharp teeth to the struggling aggressors neck, bit down with all his force and ripped the human's throat out.
Another was devoured though Hua Cheng was not allowed to see it happen. He was ushered safely to his destination before Xie Lian dragged the transgressor down an oddly pitch black alleyway. Hua screams weren’t heard but the blood that painted the alleyways walls, and the scraps of cloth that littered its floor was enough evidence to pull up a theory on what happened. It also did not help that Xie Lian took a bath in the sink of the green room's bathroom as he was covered in blood. Hua Cheng paled at the sight of his companion who thoroughly looked unfazed.
If it posed a threat to Hua Cheng, Xie Lian did everything in his power to get rid of it. Eventually, stalkers and wannabe suitors stopped getting near him or following him. Hua Cheng thought of it as a perk. They spent their days during down time, getting to know each other better. As the days grew shorter and the nights grew longer, Xie Lian would find himself nestled in Hua Cheng’s arms on more than one occasion. He also found that the human enjoyed exploiting their height differences on multiple occasions.
What really got Xie Lian was Hua Cheng’s attention to detail. When he wasn’t killing off admirers, Xie Lian usually cloaked himself in an invisibility spell, sat in a far off corner of whatever room Hua Cheng was in, and observed. Depending on the person, it depended on what reactions and emotions Hua Cheng displayed. Through his observations, Xie Lian realized one thing: Hua Cheng was truly alone. Though he interacted and talked to many people, he was often left alone. Xie Lian could see the loneliness setting in, how distant Hua Cheng’s eyes would get, and the darkness that would settle in their depths.
Xie Lian wanted to do something special, to show that Hua Cheng meant more to him than just his human companion. It wasn’t until Hua Cheng took Xie Lian on his very first grocery shopping adventure that Xie Lian figured out what he wanted to do. They passed by a display with boxed gingerbread house making kits complete with little gingerbread families. He remembers vividly how Hua Cheng stared at the picture on the box longingly. Xie Lian didn’t understand the significance until after they returned home and he inquired about the gingerbread house kit.
“It’s something human families do together. It’s a kind of activity, it is supposed to help with making Christmas traditions, making memories, and enjoying one another’s company. That sort of thing.” Hua Cheng smiled softly at Xie Lian, he adored the way the cat demon was so curious about human traditions.
“Did you and your family do this…a traditional memory making kit?” Xie Lian looked up at Hua Cheng, experiencing first hand how fast a human's emotions can change. Hua Cheng went from fond and adoring to sad and dark faster than Xie Lian could blink.
“I have no family.” Hua Cheng rasped out, his eyes not meeting Xie Lian’s now. Xie Lian on the other hand stared at Hua Cheng in shock.
“No family?” Even demons had families. His very own was back in the magical realm of Xianle, awaiting his return or to hear from him. Xie Lian wasn’t expecting an answer, his mind already falling into planning out something for Hua Cheng. He did have a couple friends that owed him quite a few favors. “No worries, you will have a family.” Xie Lian beamed up at him and proceeded to take their groceries out of paper bags.
~* December 20 th to December 24 th ~*
The next few days for Hua Cheng were…odd to put it nicely. When Xie Lian wasn’t around, Hua Cheng constantly found himself approached by some random woman, though it took him a few encounters to realize she looked almost keenly like Xie Lian but obviously older. When he asked his Taizi Dianxia, the prince would just stare at him owlishly, completely confused as to what the human was saying or telling him. Hua Cheng just figured it was an effect of summoning a companion, especially one as important as Xie Lian.
So to entertain her, Hua Cheng began showing her around the area. Her genuine curiosity for everything around her matched that of Xie Lian’s. They passed a tree lot at one point and she stopped, head tilted, eyes wide, she walked slowly towards one of the leaning fir trees. Hua Cheng had long since stopped walking, turning around to see where his odd guest was, only to see her with her hand outstretched, gently touching the branches of a giant fir tree.
A light gasp escaped her lips, the breath clouding in the cold air. A smile crossed her face and her eyes lit up becoming a glowing amber. Her head whipped towards Hua Cheng, her smile turning into a grin. “What is this?”
Hua Cheng could not help but share her grin, her energy and natural curiosity to learn was just as infectious as Xie Lian’s. “These are trees to be bought to be used as Christmas trees, or in my case a tree for Yule. It is usually decorated with pretty lights and other decorations.” She tilted her head in confusion and Hua Cheng swore he saw fluffy white cat ears that matched his companions.
“Ah, I see.” He smiled at her look of wonder. “Is this often done alone?” She stared back up at him, a concerned tone slipping into her voice.
“Not necessarily, people usually decorate theirs with family and/or friends. Then there’s those like me, that have no one, that are left to decorate it alone. In all honesty, I have not decorated a tree in years. The last time was with my mother when I was little before she passed.” Hua Cheng’s eyes grew distant and the woman next to him frowned. She looked back at the tree, gave a small nod, then grabbed his hand.
“I need to go. I will see you soon.” She gave him a bright smile before dashing off, leaving Hua Cheng completely confused.
~* December 25 th ~*
Hua Cheng is happy for the time off, finally. His work ran over more than it should have but it was all done and he could relax for the rest of the holiday season and the next few months. His time spent with Xie Lian has been amazing, not once did Hua Cheng think about the sinking darkness of loneliness. How could he when he had the most amazing companion. Though it was Christmas eve and Yule the winter solstice was three days prior, Hua Cheng tended to celebrate it all on the same day. When he had someone to celebrate it with.
Now he was curled up in bed, covered with a thick quilt. The smell of something burning and something strange reached his nose. “Ah, he’s making breakfast again.” Hua Cheng smiled sleepily, thinking about Xie Lian’s many attempts at cooking. The last attempt ended with Xie Lian forgetting to put a lid on the blender and its contents went flying out in a whirlwind. Hua Cheng laughed so heartily, that he leaned down and kissed Xie Lian’s pout away, startling himself and the prince. They’ve been getting closer ever since. And the kisses became more frequent.
Knowing full well it would be useless to stay in bed further, Hua Cheng finally got up…that’s when he noticed something he should have when he initially woke up. Looking around…this wasn’t his room, nor his bed. Cautiously getting out of bed now, Hua Cheng looked around. It was a large spacious room, it was nice and warm though the fireplace held no fire in it. There looked to be twinkling lights in the ceiling that looked like stars. He eventually found a couple doors, one leading into a closet with various styles of robes in a general color of white, and the other door led to a large bathroom with an in-floor bath.
There was a cushioned bench with some clothes in red and black folded on top, a towel next to that, and a bucket with different soaps and oils sitting on the floor before the bench. “I guess this is for me to use…I hope…” With that, Hua Cheng proceeded to take a bath.
When he emerged clean and relaxed, he brought the clothes with him back into the bedroom. He set them out on the bed. It was a set of robes with the inner robes being black and the outer robe a crimson red, it had belts to match and even a pair of knee high black boots. When he touched the fabric he realized how soft it was and could only imagine how expensive it must be. Stepping back, Hua Cheng stood before the bed, arms crossed and brow furrowed in thought. There was a bit of a problem, he had no idea how to put any of this on except the boots.
“Excuse me, do you need help?” a soft, quiet voice spoke up from somewhere behind him making Hua Cheng whirl around in shock. Standing behind him was a small young woman. Large brown round eyes stared up at him, long dark brown hair pulled back in a bun with several strands falling here and there. A set of mouse looking ears sat on her head and were the same color as her hair. Hua Cheng blinked a bit, looked at the bed then back to the woman before him.
“Um…yes…” A blush decided to grace Hua Cheng’s face, feeling a bit embarrassed for having to ask for help.
“Okay!” her voice became cheerful. “My name is Lianxin. His highness remembered he forgot to set out the jewelry that goes to your outfit and asked that I bring it. I saw you looked to be having some trouble, so I offered my help.” Hua Cheng watched as she walked around gathering everything else she needed. “Let’s get started.”
~*~*~*
Xie Lian emerged from the kitchens drying his hands on a towel. He was a bit scorched here and there, some smudges of soot on his forehead and cheeks, and his usual carefree grin was very much in place. His hair may be in disarray with the ends of some strands just a bit singed. Some of the cooking staff stuck their heads out of the doors leading to the kitchens, a foreign looking mouse spirit gave Xie Lian’s retreating back and weary look before shaking his head, his slicked back silvery gray hair had been pulled from the low ponytail he had it in and one rat ear was singed, a small wisp of smoke still emitting from it, while the other was covered in soot.
“Remi?” He turned to a terrified looking fox spirit and heaved a deep sigh.
“When Chef Gustou said anyone can cook, he obviously never met someone like his highness. Come on, let's get back to work.” His shoulders slumped as he dragged his feet back into the kitchen to salvage what he could of Christmas dinner.
~*~*~*
Hua Cheng was led down a vast hall whose walls were a bright red lined in gold. They passed several other halls and at one point they walked through, what Hua Cheng considered, the biggest garden he had ever seen. There bloomed so many different flowers, Hua Cheng wanted to just stay there and look at them all, but alas he was apparently expected somewhere else and it also was not yet time for him to delve deep into the garden yet.
He walked for a little bit longer, the silver chimes that decorated his boots, ringing delicately as he walked. The rest of the silver jewelry he was wearing gave their own gentle chime but they were not as loud. Eventually he was led into a large room that made him gasp.
The scent of pine and fir filled his nose and lungs, his eyes tried to focus on one specific thing but he became overwhelmed. Long lengths of garland decorated the archways and walls, the same sparkling lights that were on the ceiling of the room he woke up in, decorated the garlands in a multitude of colors. The ceiling twinkled with what looked like icicles and Hua Cheng had to blink a few times to register that it was indeed snowing but the snow flakes would fade away before reaching the tips of the icicles. The room was surprisingly warm and the ice above showed no sign of melting.
Hua Cheng moved into the room more, a large round table sat in the middle with food already laid upon it. The chairs that surrounded it were decorated as well in rich red ribbon lined in gold or silver. He noticed several braziers placed close to the table and realized there were many more places around the entirety of the room which made it so comfortably warm. Whatever coal they were using didn’t emit any smoke leaving everything clear. Hua Cheng turned in place, taking everything in. It wasn’t until he caught sight of a large fir tree set up at the far side of the room. He approached it, taking in that it was just a few inches taller than him, its branches were full, its needles the perfect dark green, and the fragrance coming off it set Hua Cheng’s nerves to calm.
“Do you like it?” For the second time that morning Hua Cheng found himself startled. Looking over his shoulder, he found Xie Lian standing behind him wearing the robes he wore when he was first summoned in Hua Cheng’s apartment. Except this set had several lotus embroidered onto it and butterflies embroidered in silver were scattered about. His hair was pulled up in a high ponytail with a flower crown held in place with a golden hair pin with a flower engraved at one end.
Xie Lian’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of Hua Cheng, the thought of ‘So handsome’ shot through Xie Lian’s mind making him blush.
Hua Cheng looked back at the tree, turned around, and looked Xie Lian in the eyes. “Why?”
Xie Lian smiled. “I know per human tradition in some cases, the tree is decorated before the day of Christmas with family and/or friends. Unfortunately, preparations took a bit longer than I liked, forgive this prince. Though I still hope you will join us in decorating it.”
“Us?” Hua Cheng looked at Xie Lian puzzled. At that moment the woman he had spent time with and entertained a few days ago appeared at Xie Lian’s side, next to her was a slightly taller man, both wearing robes of royalty.
“Yes, us. You have no family of your own. Since we have…are in the process…” Xie Lian blushed deeply, finding words a bit difficult right now. “…of courting…” the man turned to Xie Lian in surprise as the crown prince himself looked like he was trying not to melt where he stood. Hua Cheng wasn’t fairing too well either, his face feeling like it caught on fire. “…anyway, what I’m trying to say is that my family is also your family now.”
Hua Cheng stood there for a second or two before Xie Lian finally stepped forward, taking Hua Cheng’s hand into his own and tugging him towards the table. As he did so, he introduced his parents who then proceeded to ask a load of questions. They sat and ate dinner together, Hua Cheng being the only one who happily ate Xie Lian’s dish and his mother’s dish was Hua Cheng. Both cat demons purred in contentment, overjoyed that Hua Cheng loved what they made.
Once dinner was done, Xie Lian once again grabbed Hua Cheng’s hand, pulling him up and leading him to a smaller table in the room. On it were pieces of gingerbread that resembled a house. Smiling up at Hua Cheng, Xie Lian began grabbing the bags of icing.
“I’ve never built one before.” Hua Cheng said, as his fingers ran over a few pieces.
“Well it is a good thing it came with instructions!” Xie Lian exclaimed as he snatched up the folded up instructions. Hua Cheng blinked owlishly a few times before barking out laughing as he finally grasped that Xie Lian had gotten this from the store.
The gingerbread house decorating went as well as Hua Cheng expected it to with a demonic companion and his family, absolutely chaotic. Laughter rang through the room and the halls as Hua Cheng stood holding a section of Xie Lian’s mother’s hair while Xie Lian ran a hot washcloth trying to get semi-dried royal icing out of her hair, his father having had to sit down from laughing so hard and a busted icing bag lay dripping off the table. After getting her cleaned up, they continued to put the house together until finally they were down. It was a mess.
The roof was two different lengths and heights, then they realized after they assembled it that one of the roof slats was actually a wall and one of the wall slats was the roof slat. “Oh well, It makes it unique” Hua Cheng managed between chuckles.
“I suppose. It says here it needs to dry before decorating.” Xie Lian’s eyes scanned the instructions some more. Hua Cheng just smiled.
“Then what do we do before then?” Hua Cheng asked, his arms wrapping around Xie Lian’s waist as he leaned forward to rest his chin on a shoulder, flustering Xie Lian.
“Well….um…” Wide amber eyes looked over at him seeing a lazy smile on his lips.
“We can decorate the tree while we wait!” Xie Lian’s mother piped up, a beautiful smile lighting up her face. Hua Cheng smiled in return and this time, he took Xie Lian’s hand in his and led him to the tree.
“That sounds like an amazing idea…mother.” Hua Cheng said this as he looked at her, making the female cat demon purr louder, her tail swishing happily. Xie Lian stared up at him wide eyed, a smile slowly coming to his face.
They decorated the tree in all kinds of ornaments. Hua Cheng got to see how those sparkling lights were made by Xie Lian and his parents. When it came time to put the star at the top, Hua Cheng being the tallest gave him the honor of placing the star at the top. They stepped back to view the tree in all its entirety. Xie Lian leaned against Hua Cheng’s side, as Hus Cheng wrapped an arm around his waist and rested his cheek on top of Xie Lian’s head.
“Merry Christmas and Happy Yule my San Lang.” Xie Lian turned in Hua Cheng’s grip, leaning up on his tiptoes.
“Thank you gege, and Merry Christmas and Happy Yule to you as well.” Hua Cheng leaned down slightly until their lips met. He’s never celebrated before because he was always alone, now though, he knows that he won’t be alone anymore.
~*6 years later*~
“De’oate! DE’OATE!” A tiny little body zoomed through the large room, messy ink black hair blended with equally inky black fluffy ears barely touched tiny little shoulders. Redder than maple robes with small silver embellishments as a black tail flicked excitedly side to side, the child was joined by another. This child was just a little taller, white hair long, half tied up in a bun, fluffy white ears also blended so seamlessly with their hair wearing white robes.
“E-Ming! Don’t run didi! You get hurt!”
“Is fine Ru’ye!”
“Ruoye is correct E-Ming, don’t run. You’ll get hurt if you happen to fall.” Both children turned to see Xie Lian walking towards them, a soft smile on his lips.
“Baba! Where Da!?” E-Ming stared up at him with big round eyes, the same eyes that were the same as Hua Cheng’s except E-Ming’s left eye was red while his right was black.
“Ming ming, he still working. He won’t be home till almost time for feast.” Ruoye stared down sadly at the ground, E-Ming joined him. Xie Lian smiled down at his kids before glancing up at the Christmas tree where Hua Cheng was slightly hidden. How either child had yet to discover him was beyond Xie Lian.
Hua Cheng never returned to the mortal realm which also meant that the effects of this realm obviously did something to his mortality. He was mortal once. Staying too long within the mythical realm as a mortal eventually killed him. But his natural tenacity, and his strong will to want to stay with Xie Lian, had Hua Cheng come back as a ghost king. Now years later, and two rambunctious, rowdy, and more than a handful children later, both Xie Lian and Hua Cheng know the fullness of family and happiness.
“Oh, you are very right. I guess I’ll just go…OOOFF” Hua Cheng had stepped out as he spoke, both children seeing him and tackling him almost to the ground.
“YOU’RE HOME!!!” They both screamed as Hua Cheng peppered them with kisses.
“Yes I am home. Now let’s decorate this tree shall we?” Hua Cheng hoisted E-Ming to his shoulders to help decorate the upper branches while Ruoye decorated the lower branches as their grandparents decorated the middle. Xie Lian stood back and enjoyed the view. It was indeed a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy Yule.