Star Crossed In Time - Chapter 189

I nod my head as Bai Lei says “The others will love to see you again, especially my mother.” My eyes light up as I smile and nod my head with excitement. With just a thought, we come to a large garden with the others. Lady Xue turns with little Bun in her hands and tears in her eyes.

Bai Lei and I walk over hand in hand before Lady Xue nearly knocks me over in a large hug. I giggle and hug the kind woman back. She leans back, cupping both sides of my face saying “Good girl! You are such a good girl for coming back unharmed! We’ve all missed you so very much, especially my son.”

I smile at her and say “This is my home, where else would I go?” Her tears fall down her pretty face as she says “Good. Exactly right.” I laugh at her as Zhen steps up behind her, smiling at me with warmth.

“We’re all glad to have you back, Liling,” Zhen says as MingMing nods her head with watery eyes. When I hear sniffling, I look over to find Ren in tears. I smile at him and say “I’m not done torturing you yet.” He snorts out in laughter but it’s mixed with tears as he silently nods his head.

“Has everyone met Ted? Ted is a good friend of mine who’s like an older brother to me.” I say smiling at Ted. They all look to Ted with warm smiles and nod their heads as Zhen says “We’ve all introduced ourselves to one another but Ted has told me something a little concerning.”

I raise my eyebrows in question as Bai Lei asks “What?” Zhen looks to Bai Lei before looking back to me saying “He told me about a man named Eli… who’s from your old world.” I tense up at the mention of his name and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Bai Lei.

“He told me what the man did to you and him and that he’s here in our world now. Is that true?” Zhen asks with worry in his stern eyes. I nod my head and say “From what I’ve been told, yes. I haven’t seen him so…” I look away quickly before looking back with a strained smile.

“It’s nothing to worry about now, right? We’re here and he’s down in the lower realms.” I say trying to reason. Zhen looks unhappy but he nods his head as little Bun lands on my shoulder. “Master! I have some gifts for you. I’ve been saving them since I came here.” Little Bun says with excitement making me laugh.

“Oh? Where are they?” I ask with a grin. Little Bun jumps down off my shoulder and says “Follow me!” I look to Bai Lei with a smile and let go of his hand. He watches me with a smile as I take off after little bun. The little guy brings me to a white hollow tree and crawls up to the large hole in the middle.

His little butt and fluffy tail stick out as he digs in the tree making me giggle. When he comes out, he’s holding a small faintly glowing fruit. My eyebrows shoot up as I put my hand out asking “What is this?” He places the small fruit in my hand with pride as he says “Magic yummies! I picked them for you myself!”

I feel my heart warms as I lift the small fruit and take a small bite. It was good, but it wasn’t as good as my peaches. I widen my eyes and say “Oh wow, it’s so good! Good job, Bun! Thank you.” I say eating the whole thing. Little Bun puffs his little chest out as he says “I will give you as many as you want!”

I give him a large smile and pet his little head saying “I missed you, Bun.” Little Bun holds my finger and hugs it as he says “I missed Master too. The scary man took care of me when you were gone though.” I giggle and say “Is he still scary?” Little Bun quickly nods his head saying “Very scary but nice.”

~~~~~~

Everyone watches Nova run after little Bun as Bai Lei turns to Ted and Zhen saying “I want to know everything.” Zhen gives him a grave look before looking to Ted saying “I think it be best if it came from you.” Ted nods and looks over to Nova before looking back to Bai Lei.

“Nova dated a man named Eli from our world and he seemed like the perfect guy. He was kind and caring at first, making Nova think he was someone he wasn’t. From what she told me, things started changing slowly.”

As Ted told Bai Lei the things he knew, Bai Lei became more and more upset. He carefully hid his emotions so that Nova wouldn’t notice but he wanted to find the bastard himself. No wonder she was so closed off…

Everything Ted told him was slightly limited. Ted shakes his head and says “I don’t know everything but I know enough. I’m sorry… He injected me with something that had me spilling everything and now he’s here.” Bai Lei quickly shakes his head saying “Don’t apologize. You did everything you could to protect her. That’s more than enough.”

Ted slowly nods his head saying “I followed her back because I want to become more powerful. I don’t want to be weak. I want to be able to protect those I care about.” Bai Lei grins and lifts his hand. A small red pill appears in the palm of his hand as he says “If you’re certain, take this tonight before you go to sleep.”

Ted stares at the red pill before quickly grabbing it and saying “Thank you, Bai Lei.” Bai Lei gives him a small smile and says “You’ll become one of my people though.” Ted nods and says “You and Nova are one and the same. I’ll be able to protect her this way.”

Bai Lei’s smile grows as he nods his head in agreement. Nova walks over and says “Don’t worry about protecting me silly. Just become stronger so you can protect yourself and maybe find yourself a good girl.” Ted gives Nova a small smile and quickly glances at MingMing before looking away.

Nova catches it and smirks but when Bai Lei touches her lower back, she turns and smiles at him. Bai Lei looks down at her bright smile with a whole new appreciation. How can she remain so bright and loving after everything she’s been through?

It’s unlike anything he’s ever seen but he knows there’s a darkness that lurks under it all. A darkness she tries so hard to beat down and ignore but it’s always there, hanging over her and sometimes it bleeds through all the smiles and laughter.

He wants to erase it all and make it all disappear. That way nothing but peace and happiness is left. If he has to destroy the entire lower realms just to kill one bug, so be it. He will keep her here and make this her new world. Filled with love, happiness, and peace. Surrounded by the people and things she loves the most.

He doesn’t know why Lady Mei keeps appearing to her but he’ll find a way to put an end to it, one way or another.