The Emperor rolled off of her and laid next to her, then he pulled her into his arms and watched her with a gentle smile. While Lei Xing laid there limp in his arms with her eyes closed seemingly on her way to sleep. She felt completely drained of energy, her body and head felt airy as if she were lying on clouds and her only anchor were the warm strong arms around her. She was completely out of it and was quickly drifting off to sleep.

The Emperor, on the other hand, seemed to be very alert. He looked at for a while and then gave her light kiss on the lips, then one her cheek, forehead and then started trailing them down her neck. Lei Xing's mind was so absent she could barely feel it and she honestly did not mind. He finally stopped at the tip of her shoulder and then calmly put his head back down and just stared at her.

The Emperor then brought up a hand and caressed her cheek and softly called to her, "Xing er'?...Xing er'?" He called again when she did not answer the first time, he knew she was not yet asleep.

Lei Xing slightly knit her brows and then tiredly responded, "En?"

The Emperor smiled as he caressed her cheek and then he gently said, "Xing er', be my Empress."

"En." Lei Xing absentmindedly responded. The Emperor's smile immediately brightened and he leaned forward and kissed her. He knew she was tired and needed rest but he could not help himself, he felt overwhelmed with happiness he had never known on hearing her response. He hugged her even closer and went about the process of deepening the kiss. But before he could get far, Lei Xing frowned and pushed at his chest as she grumbled, "I'm tired. Sleep." And then she turned her back to him.

The Emperor snorted and then leaned over and kissed her cheek, then shoulder and then quickly stopped himself before he went too far...He chuckled as he thought that she would probably kick him if he tried for any more tonight. So he settled in behind her and nuzzled against her hair and closed his eyes to sleep with a slight smile while hugging her to him.

Thinking only of this moment with her and nothing else. This was the happiest he had ever been in his life.

**

"Xing er', slow down!"

"Let go!" The little girl yelled, glaring at the little boy who had grabbed on to her hand.

The little boy snorted, "Don't you think you're overreacting?"

"We almost died and those two IDIOTS think that -" The little girl looked up to the sky and let out an exasperated breath. She was clearly infuriated while the little boy looked amused and seemed to be laughing at her frustration.

"But they're not wrong. We're fine so it's...Ahh, I forgot...You're a chicken." He then smirked and pat her head with his free hand, "Don't worry little chicken, as long as I'm alive you won't die."

The girl irritatedly swatted his hand away, "Nonsense, if anyone is going to cause my death, it would be you! If it's not being chased by this today, it's been trapped in there tomorrow...and those idiots! Arrgh!...And I told you to stop calling me that! Being smart enough to know not to go looking for trouble doesn't make me a chicken!" She finished glaring at him.

"It's not always like that." He defended while glaring back at her, it seems he took offense with her words. But she was not phased and simply scoffed and rolled her eyes then raised an eyebrow and haughtily said, "What? You want to fight?"

The boy snorted and then burst out laughing to the girl's annoyance. Then he said in between laughs, "Do you even have the energy to? You can't even get your hand out of a little hold, how do you plan to fight? I thought you said you were smart."

The girl pouted and narrowed her eyes at him. It was true that she was pretty much stuck in place because of him but there was no way she was going to admit it.

The boy looked at her pouting face and then quickly cleared his throat and controlled his expression, "Okay, I won't call you that anymore...and a brilliant teacher produces a brilliant student. Therefore as my student, naturally you're brilliant..." He finished with a brilliantly smug smile.

The girl rolled her eyes and flatly said, "Let go."

"Okay, okay...I'll make it up to you. Here." He opened his hand to reveal two identical bracelets, both with a rhombus-shaped midnight gemstone that looked like it held the starry night sky in it as the centerpiece, with pearls circling around it to form a bracelet.

The girl raised an eyebrow at the bracelets, "What are - This was why it was chasing us?!" She exclaimed after quickly coming to the realization, "You almost got us killed just to steal some stupid gems? If you wanted gems, then you should have just gone to mee-"

"He doesn't have these." The boy interjected with a pout and went on to explain, "I didn't go on looking for them, I just stumbled on them and..." He frowned, "I thought they would be very useful, it's important so..." He mumbled the last line as he looked down, then perked up and explained, "Listen carefully, they react when there's danger around. Which means if one is ever in trouble the other one will react that way I can..." He trailed off again and knit his brows.

The girl was oblivious to his difficulty and perked up excited by the find, "Oh, that's great. Then we can give one to my parents that way they'll know when we're in trouble. Although I'm not sure which one of them woul-"

"No." The boy cut her off with a frown. "One is for you and the other is for me."

The girl frowned, "What good will that do? You're the one who-"

"I'm leaving." He quietly said looking down, his frown deepened and he tightened his hold on her hand then added, "...now."

The girl went wide-eyed for a bit, then blinked a few times and went, "O-oh...I see...That's good then."

The boy frowned up at her and then sighed, "That's why it's important you have this. With you being so weak, it's hard for this master to leave you alone by yourself...This way if you're ever in trouble I will know and come rescue you." He finished with a smirk.

The girl scoffed, "Who needs your rescue?" Then she went back to pouting and quietly grumbled, "...I'm not that weak either..."

"You do." The boy responded with a grin as he patted her head. The girl immediately frowned and swatted his hand again, "I don't need it. The only reason I'm ever in danger is because of you, with you gone my peaceful days will return so-"

"You're wearing it." The boy sternly interjected, narrowing his eyes at her.

"No, I'm not." She indignantly responded matching his gaze.

"You are."

"I won't."

After a while of the two just standing there glaring at each other, the boy swiftly slipped it onto the hand he was holding and then released her with a smirk, "You're wearing it."

She frowned and instantly tried to take it off but couldn't even move it. The boy laughed and then informed, "A weakling like you can't take it off. If you want to take it off then you need to at least be at my level, that way I won't have to worry." He then patted her shoulder and reassuringly said, "It won't be easy, but I have faith in you."

She swatted his hand off again, he chuckled and then said, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to visit now and then to check your progress."

"Who needs you to?!" She barked and then stormed off.

As the boy watched her departing back, his smile turned into a pout and he whispered, "Heartless..." Then he slipped on his own bracelet, looked down at it and stroked it and sighed then turned and walked in the opposite direction.

The Emperor slightly opened his eyes to see Lei Xing's face, she had apparently turned over while asleep and snuggled against him. He smiled and brought a hand up and caressed her face. He lightly chuckled as he thought of the dream he just had. He could still smell the lingering scent of peach blossoms in the air. The scenery of the dream had peach blossoms floating around with the wind, with peach blossoms trees littered around what looked like a temple.

{...The girl was even called Xing er'...Haha, I must be so happy that I dreamt up our children. I'm truly becoming ridiculous...But it might be nice to give them our names...A little Xing er' would be very adorable...I wonder what she would think of this?... Am I rushing things again?...}

The Emperor knit his brows as he watched Lei Xing's sleeping face. She really made him feel uncertain about everything. He looked at her cheek which was still slightly reddened from the slap and frowned.

{...A gemstone that alerts when the other is in danger would be nice, then I could have gotten to you earlier...}

The Emperor then raised his eyebrows and then frowned as he remembered the incident with his mother. He narrowed his eyes at the wrist of the hand on her face, as he remembered the odd burning sensation he felt on it and the shocking vision that followed.

{...That was just as good. Only it seemed to be a one-time event, nothing happened this time...Or maybe it's because her life wasn't in danger?... Or was it about my mother? I'd like to believe it has to do with Xing er'...Or maybe it's because the voice isn't here? It's been gone for quite a while now, which is more normal than it's unusual frequent visits the last few months...I really must remember to ask about this odd event when eventually surfaces...It is important...}