Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"Why did you leave me?" cried a woman that looked like Li Dai Lu. Wang Chao was startled at the anguish in her voice. Looking around, he saw that he was no longer cuddled with her in bed, but instead was standing in the middle of a pergola that was perched on the edge of a lake. There were mountains in the background, but the thing that startled him the most was the lavender and blue sky with two moons hanging in it even though it was bright enough for the sun to be out.

"Why did you leave me?" she cried again. It was a twisted knife to his gut, and as much as Wang Chao wanted to go over and pull her into his arms, he couldn't. All he could do was stand there, strong and proud, refusing to bend to the weight of her tears.

"I was called," he heard himself say, but it was not his voice. This one was deeper, more animal-like than human, but without a doubt, it was him.

"But they hate you!" she screamed looking up into his eyes. "They call you and then hate you for answering! So why do it? Why can't you just stay here? Why can't you stay with me?"

"Because whether they love me or they hate me, they still call me," he said, standing as still as a stone. Inside of his body though, Wang Chao raged. It was completely unacceptable that he no longer had control over his body and was saying this to the woman across from him. She should never have to beg him to stay, he needed to beg her not to leave.

He would give up his life for this woman, his woman. Both his mind and his body wanted nothing more than to submit to her, and yet, he couldn't, lost in the inherent need to answer when called.

Wang Chao scoffed at the thoughts that were going through his head. Maybe at one point in time, he would have agreed with those thoughts, would have agreed to make the ultimate sacrifice for others, regardless of how they felt about him in return.

But not anymore. Not after meeting her.

She was his north star, his guiding light in the darkness and he would not sacrifice her happiness for anything in the world.

Fighting for control, practically screaming at the person he was sharing a body with, Wang Chao forced himself to the surface, no longer willing or able to take a back seat. As soon as he could, he dropped to both knees, throwing aside the sword and shield that weighed down his hands and arms, a sacrilege for any warrior, but he no longer cared.

Even on his knees, he easily reached her chest, his large frame completely engulfing her in his shadow. She looked down at him in fear, not trusting him.

He opened his arms wide. "Come here, little girl," he growled. Cautiously, she took a few hesitant steps to close the distance between them. As soon as she was within arm's reach, he wrapped his arms around her hips and pulled her tightly to him.

Resting his cheek on her fast-beating heart, he closed his eyes, savoring the moment. Savoring the hard-fought victory.

"You are mine," he said, not moving an inch as she tentatively started to run her fingers through his hair. "And I am yours," he continued, almost choking on his words. "My shield is there to offer you shelter from any storm. My sword will be your weapon against your enemy. My body will be your safe haven. My soul will only answer your call. I will be anything and everything that you need me to be because you are everything that I could ever possibly want or need in this lifetime or the next."

Wang Chao swallowed; his mouth dry. Not once, in all the missions and in all the meetings had he ever been this nervous, but he felt that one wrong move, one wrong word, and she would slip through his fingers.

Gripping her even tighter, he continued. "If I should die, I will find you in my next life. Our souls will always be entangled, no matter how many lifetimes it takes for me to meet you again. You are mine."

"I am yours," came the softest of replies and Wang Chao felt like he could finally breathe again. "And you are mine."

He chuckled at her declaration. Coming to his feet, he leaned down, almost having to double over to reach her, and kissed her with all the feeling that he couldn't say. "I am yours," he agreed just before he took complete possession of her lips. "Forever and always." As soon as the last word was said, Wang Chao felt something pass between them through their kiss, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

That was, until darkness engulfed him again, tearing his Queen out of his arms.

----

"Li Dai Lu," Wang Chao gasped as he sat up in bed, frantically looking around. Before he could register that she was still on the other side of the bed, her back to him, he felt a strong hand against his chest, trying to push him back into the bed.

Following the line from the hand to the arm, Wang Chao saw Chen Zi Han with a single finger to his lips, telling him to be silent. He leaned in close to his ear, "Calm down, I will explain everything. Just don't wake her up," he whispered.

At Wang Chao's nod, Chen Zi Han slowly removed his hand, allowing the other man to get up and out of bed. Following Chen Zi Han, Wang Chao's head whirled with everything going through it.  Waiting until they were downstairs and in the living room, Wang Chao spun and forced Chen Zi Han against the wall, his forearm digging into Chen Zi Han's neck.

"What do you know?" he growled, his teeth inches from the other man's cheek, wanting to rip out chunks of flesh. He shouldn't be away from her right now. Every fiber of his being called for him to go back upstairs and return to her side. But he needed answers.

"You need to calm down," Chen Zi Han said, not bothering to struggle against Wang Chao's choke hold. "She can feel your emotions now"

Stunned, Wang Chao froze. Removing his arm from the other man's neck, he straightened his shirt and went over to the couch to sit down. "What do you know?" he said again, this time regaining his composure. If his emotions were going to affect Li Dai Lu, he would keep them under control.

"I know that she never remembers," said Chen Zi Han going to sit down in a chair across from Wang Chao, a tired sigh escaping his lips. He was stressed when he woke up and found Li Dai Lu gone from the bed. He searched everywhere for her until he came across the bedroom with her and Wang Chao.

Seeing the fresh bite mark on her neck, he understood what was going on and simply waited for whoever would wake up first.

"Who's red?" asked Liu Yu Zeng as he came out of the kitchen, eating from a can of leftover peaches.

  "Wang Chao," replied Chen Zi Han as Liu Yu Zeng went over to sit beside him.

"Huh," grunted Liu Yu Zeng as he swallowed the piece of fruit in his mouth before poking around for a second one. "That means my brother is last. He's not going to be happy about that."

"Last? What are you talking about?" demanded Wang Chao looking back and forth at the two men in front of him. His entire life seemed to have changed from that one dream, how could they be so calm?

"Pergola?" offered Liu Yu Zeng raising an eyebrow.

"Vowing for all eternity?" added Chen Zi Han as the two looked at Wang Chao.

"You had the same dream?" growled Wang Chao, not sure how he felt about that.

"Something like that," Liu Yu Zeng admitted. "If you look at your core, you should see a blue flame with three others circling it."

Wang Chao raised an eyebrow at the other man before doing as he directed. There, deep in the darkness, was the blue flame with one white one and one red one circling around it. "I only see two."

"That's cause Chen Zi Han's a bastard and his flame is black," said Liu Yu Zeng waving his fork like it was no big deal. "But the crash course is (1) we don't talk about the dream. She doesn't remember it and others don't need to know. (2) she can and will feel any emotions coming from you and (3) we can all talk to each other inside of our heads."

"I could always do that," reminded Wang Chao.

"With limits," replied Chen Zi Han with a scoff. "You couldn't call her when you were in trouble at the shopping mall."

"And?"

"And now, there are no limits," said Liu Yu Zeng with a smile on his face. "But Sweetness is awake and looking for us."