19. Believe Me. 

After the blue came the white. A blinding white that was taking me away. I wasn’t feeling neither of their hands in mine. I felt all alone for the first time in a while and it felt weird. I was feeling extremely light and a strange feeling that actually wasn’t that bad all together. I felt like all my worries were taken away, leaving me with only my own self.

After an unknown amount of time the blinding light became less aggressive and I was allowed to see a bit better. Some shadows started to appear and , even if they were at the beginning really unclear , they slowly started to get concrete. The shadows became the threes, the rocks, the moon shining above our heads. I slowly recovered my whole vision and saw what was all around me.

I was laying right in front in the cavern, right in front of the statue. I gasped for air like I didn’t breath some for centuries. The air itself felt different. It wasn’t as pure.   It was heavy, almost pushing again my lunges. I coughed and I felt like I was slowly started to get use to it all over again. I had to anyway.

I looked at myself and noticed that I was wearing the exact same clothes that I wore when I left for the Tang dynasty. My simple pyjama. I sighed and let myself fall on my back. We were now safe. There wasn’t any army following us anymore or Emperor wanting to use my body for his own pleasure. I was free , or almost, to fully live the love I was longing for. No matter with who it was.

“ We are safe now. “ I said smiling as I looked around. I gasped and started to panic when I faced the truth. I was alone. There was not a single more person in the cavern here with me. I raised and ran out of it. The moon had let place to the sun outside. I put a hand in front of my face , not to be blinded by the light.

“ Yixing… Xiumin… “ I shouted , trying to find both of them. No answers. The panic was building itself quite rapidly inside of me. Did they really traveled all the way with me? Or did they stayed behind and had to face the army alone? I preferred not to imagine this last possibility. Only the thought of it was frightening me.

I walked slowly in the woods. There wasn’t anybody around. I continued to look at every corner , every bit of land they mind have been appearing on. Nothing. My heart stopped as some tears fell on my cheek. Did they really disappeared? I fell on the ground , on my knees , as the overwhelming emotion was taking over my body.

“ Meiying!” I heard someone shouting at me. I gasped and widened my eyes. I simply had to turn my head to see Yixing walking rapidly toward me. I raised and ran in this direction. As my eyes were seeing only him , I noticed he wasn’t wearing the same clothes either. His previous ancient clothes had been replaced by some new and more modern ones. He was wearing a simple t-shirt. A white plain one with some dark shorts. He didn’t had any shoes but it didn’t seemed to bother him any less as he walked straightly toward me.

When we became closer he hugged me like never before.” I was so afraid when I saw you wasn’t with us. “ He whispered into my ear. I smiled , hided into his chest. “ I was so afraid you didn’t made the trip … That you stayed behind. “ I said with still some tears left on my cheek. He separated both of bodies to have a better view of my face. He caressed my cheek like he did so many times, using his tumb and fixing my eyes with his. His gaze said so much more than it ever did before. It was intense, painful and released at the same time. I smiled lightly as I felt him pulling me in for a kiss.

He grabbed my waist and brought me closer to his body. The fact that he was now wearing such simple clothes was making the feels totally different. Instead of feeling the cold metal of his armour , I felt his skin underneath the thin clothes. Both of my hands found their place on his chest as He grabbed the base of my neck. His kiss was somehow different also. It was , of course , romantic and sweet but also desesperate. He was giving all his heart into it. So much that , sooner or later , I had to break it to gasp for some air.

“ Yixing…” I whispered and he smiled. “ We made it , my love. “ He kept caressing my cheek and stared only at me. “ We are safe now. Just the both of us. “ He said smiling like never before. It hit me like a truck.

“ Wait … where is Xiumin? “ I asked him worried. He sighed and I saw the light and sparkles in his eyes slowly die. “ He is still asleep where we woke up. “ He added and I gasped. “ Where is he “ I asked him panicked. I could clearly see how disappointed he was. The fact that I cared so much about him affected Yixing deeply. He sighed and looked down. “ Come with me. “ He said slowly taking my hand in his.

I followed him deeper in the forest until we arrived to a really big three that I never noticed before. It was so huge that we couldn’t see what was behind it. I slowly let go of Yixing’s hand when we arrived to the other side. Yixing came closer to him and bent down on his knee to wake him up.

Xiumin was laying on the ground, with new clothes as well. He was wearing the exact same kind of clothes than Yixing , except his were the inverse. His shirt was black and the short white. His face looked peaceful but also surprisingly, lifeless. I frowned as I took a look at the scene happening in front of me.

“ Come on , Xiumin , wake up. It’s time to go. “ He said to him , slowly shaking his arm. I bent down also when I noticed that he wasn’t reacting. His body simply fell a bit more to the side due to Yixing constantly shaking his arm. Yixing looked at me worried. I came closer and gently slapped his face , trying , also , to wake him up.

“ Xiumin… Wake up please. “ I said when I was feeling more and more numb. My whole world stopped when I touched his wrist. It was as cold as ice. “ Is he…” Yixing started but I didn’t let him the time.

In a rapid movement, I teared his shirt apart and started to apply pressure on his chest. I counted the number of time that I was doing it and slowly opened his mouth before opening his mouth and putting my lips on it. I blew him some air as I heard Yixing gasping and I felt a pair of strong arms pushing me away from Xiumin.

“ What are you doing? “ Yixing asked painfully. I widened my eyes and gasped. He probably wasn’t aware I was trying to save him.  “ I am trying to save him. There is no time for jealousy right now. Let me do it otherwise it will be too late. “ I said violently pushing him away. He fell on the ground and I went back to my original position and started all over again.   I heard him saying something and raising from the ground. He seemed to be really pissed and violently punched the three, enough to open his hand. Just what I needed.

I felt Xiumin slowly starting to breath. I sighed and smiled. I saved him. I waited and slowly caressed his cheek. Slowly , Xiumin opened his eyes. I smiled at him as Yixing came back, with blood all over his hand. “ B-Butterfly … “ I whispered and I smiled. I didn’t noticed I was crying of happiness until I saw my tear falling on his lip.

“ I was so scared. “ I said smiling and he slowly tried to get up but failed miserably. “ I feel so weir