17. Just Once.

Even though I fell asleep in his arms and felt secured in this endless night , I never slept less of my entire life. Every little sound was , to me, an alert our death might coming soon. After a uncountable number of times looking outside the cavern , I stood up, carefully taking care not to wake up my sweet Yixing. He was so peacefully dreaming and I knew he must need that time to sleep also.

I simply grabbed the little piece of clothe laying on the ground next to me and gasped when I noticed it was more of a little blanket. Xiumin must have found it somehow. I wasn’t to complaint since it was now the very early morning and the air was so fresh that it might have give me goosebumps otherwise. Something crossed my mind as I posed it around my freezing shoulders, where Xiumin was? I haven’t seen him for a while. Not until I woke up.I woke up alone before I noticed Yixing.

I frowned and walked out of the cavern. I didn’t let it show form the outside but I was deeply afraid from the inside. Even if he was still trying to get something from me that I might never be able to give him , I liked him. He was a good man, someone I could trust and , god knows, in these kind of situation , those friends are rare. I felt somehow weird not knowing where he might be. A strange feeling growing inside of me ,starting within th bottom of my heart. I missed him.

All the situations that happened recently made me attached to both Yixing and Xiumin. I knew I loved Yixing and that I could never give that kind of sentiment back to anyone else now , not even my boyfriend back home, but Xiumin owned a really special place in my heart. A place that nobody ever owned before him. I felt secured , appreciated , helped… rescued …

As I made my way into the forest, I didn’t see anything that could lead me to a hint of where he might have been. My heart loosing his calm wasn’t helping either. I was completely hopeless and I started to run , searching for him. A couple of branch hit my face , leaving so marks on my face , but I didn’t paid it that much attention. I continued my researches until I found what seemed to be a river. I stopped running, anyway there was no other way to pass over it. I frowned when a deja-vu crossed my mind. I knew this place… but how?

I looked around, searching for a way to traverse , when I noticed some stones sticking out of the current. I smirked and jumped from a stone to another trying to be as careful as it was humanly possible. My long dress became suddenly my bad luck when I tripped on it and fell right into the water.

Everything happened so fast, I couldn’t even notice I was falling. I only felt the pain when I fell backward into the water. I tried to stay up and swim my way to the sufarce but , every time I was doing so, the current was taking me down again. I fought and fought with all my strength to catch some breath of air. What was left of me to do? I managed to stay to the surface for more than 15 seconds and I used all the air in my lunges to scream for help . “ Help Me! Please someone!” I screamed but I knew it was stupid and hopeless. Who could possibly in the middle of the woods this early in the morning? The only option wasn’t the one I wanted to hear. The only person possibly there would be the research teams that would gladly let me drown for the injustice I supposedly committed to the Emperor.

I closed my eyes as the current dragged my lifeless body further in the water. At one point I didn’t felt the pain of my lunges exploding neither the cold of the fresh water against my skin. It was more peaceful that I expected it to be. The silent in my mind after all those events was almost a miracle and I even smiled under the water. Was it that? Was it really what it was like to die?

I gladly surrendered my problems to whatever would happen after the big travel I was about to do? Would I simply die? Would I go back to my era? I had no idea.

Just when my mind was about to surrender to the same level of my body , I was brusquely pulled back to reality. A strong and warm arm dragged me out of the water in no time. I couldn’t move anymore but I felt the tenderness in everyone of his movement and I knew the person must be someone great , not someone dangerous. I felt my back being posed on the cold ground and a really protective aura watching over me.

“ Butterfly ! Butterfly ! Stay with me! Open your eyes! “ I heard the man screaming with a shaky voice. I frowned as I felt the water drained out of my lunges. I choked and spilled out the water. I cleared my throat and opened my eyes.

There he was, in front of me. I was posed , not on the cold ground, but rather on his wet laps. We were on the ground and he was looking just above me , so close that his wet hair were dropping on my cheek. He was trying to catch his breath while caressing my cheek. I didn’t moved a single millimeter as he caught my gaze in his.

“ Why did you fell? I taught you were drowning… “ He said biting his lip and still looking straight into my eyes like they were the forbidden fruits he wanted to see and taste for so long.

“ I-I was l-looking for y-you … “ I tried to say despite my shaking voice. I was as cold as the fresh breeze that was now brushing against my cold and wet skin. He stopped caressing my face and gasped.

“ Looking for me?” He asked and I slowly nodded. I saw every single one of his features cracking into a deeply sincere smirk. I found myself smiling also. His hair dropped a cold drop of water on my lip and he used his hand to caress my cheek and slowly but surely , caress the corner of my mouth. I gasped and he let his thumb caress my bottom lip. I didn’t moved and looked into his eyes , wondering what was going through his minds at this very right moment. He was staring right at my lips and tried his best to keep a distance with it.

“ You shouldn’t have come… it is dangerous… “ He said looking back into my eyes. I noticed as he looked back at me how painfully it must be for him to stay this close wi