Chapter 525

525 My Mei-Mei!

The sun felt warm on Mei’s skin as she walked out into her courtyard. Rukia waddled behind her mother as they headed out for their afternoon tea, with a servant at each of her sides; in case she fell over. A soft, slightly lonely smile stretched across her face as she prayed that the noise from earlier meant that her father was right..

‘I haven’t seen Skye in so long.. Will she care about me the same? Does she still consider me her sister, like I do her? Was our bond strong enough to last so many years apart? Will she still be the same person? Or will the court in Alcon have changed her?’

As Mei stood in her courtyard thinking, the servants set out her blanket and tea set. She had been taught the Seven Traditions of Tea, but preferred not to stand on ceremony when relaxing with her daughter. She would soon be subjected to various training traditions that Mei didn’t approve of, so she wanted Rukia to have as much of a childhood as possible now.

As she watched her three year old run towards the blanket with reckless abandon, she suddenly stopped while looking up at the sky. As Mei started to walk towards her, a familiar voice called out from above. She thought that maybe her uncle was transporting Skye and her husband, but when she looked up: her heart dropped.

A massive dragon was coming down from the sky, straight towards Rukia. A scream caught in her throat as her feet began to move on their own. She knew that dragons were sacred, ancient creatures that were generally known to be gentle. But as a mother: Mei wasn’t taking any chances.

Right as she reached Rukia, the black dragon landed directly in front of her. The servants had dropped to their knees and were praying as they watched the dragon stretch out it’s long neck, and hover above the two. Mei looked terrified, but Rukia reached out and grabbed the dragon’s nostril before her mother could react.

As she profusely apologized, a melodious laugh rang out from behind the dragon. Leaning to her side, Mei watched as a semi-familiar figure jumped from the dragon’s backside, and landed perfectly. Her hair was short and a different color, and her black armor was kind of intimidating, but Mei knew the woman walking towards her with a smile..

“Hello sister,” came Mei’s meek voice, but her smile was as bright as the sun.

Skye stretched out her arms as she hugged Mei, and replied; “My Mei-Mei! By the gods, I’ve missed ya! Look at ya! Yer gorgeous! Motherhood suits ya.. And this wee princess must be yer bairn! She’s so Cute! Oh my gosh! Those cheeks! Those chubby knees! She’s like a wee doll version of ya!”

.....

Rukia stared at Skye with wide eyes at first, then she was kicking off of her mother to get to her. As another person jumped down, Rukia released Zazzy’s nostril, and reached out for Skye like like she was a life preserver. Skye happily took her right as Tidas came into view, and introduced himself.

After grabbing her hand and lightly kissing the top, Tidas said; “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Sister Mei. Skye has been telling me stories about you since we were children.”

“It’s the same for me, Brother Tidas. I’ve lost track of the countless adventures that Skye had told me about. But I think my favorites will always be the fairy-hunting ones,” Mei replied with a reserved smile.

“Oh, we got some good ones from the Highlands ta share now! I think I was all caught up wit ya in me letters before we left, but the Highlands were friggin’ crazy,” Skye turned towards Rukia as she bounced her on her hip, and said; “But not all our stories are fer yer ears, my sweet wee lassie. No they’re not..No they’re not-yer So Cute! Zazzy! Isna she just the cutest wee thing?! I havena seen somethin’ so cute since you were a wee hatchling!”

Zazzy hadn’t stopped swaying her tail since right before they landed. She loved children, but the tinier the human, the cuter they were to her. As she cooed at Rukia, the toddler imitated Zazzy, which just made the two squeal with delight. Mei felt her heart warming right as a small gust of wind hit her, signifying her uncle’s arrival.

“What happened to you? You flew off as soon as you pointed out your house to us,” Tidas asked as Genie swept his niece into his arms, and swung her around like he always used to.

After setting Mei down, Genie answered; “I sent out orders to go get Peggy, and the rest of your things from the ship. They should be fine traveling now, at least until Tokuga has time to plan something else.”

Mei’s expression dropped; “Did something happen?”

Genie shook his head in the negative and was about to lie when Skye cut him off; “Oh aye! That bawbag of a Senator tried ta kill us! Dumbass! Like Zazzy could get shot down by the likes of them..”

Genie didn’t want to upset his niece, and was a little irritated that Skye had just blurted it all out. When he watched her react, however, he was pleasantly surprised to see her sigh with relief. Usually she would overstress and worry herself sick, but she seemed fine for now.

Bai Lei had always treated his daughter like a fragile doll due to her mother’s death. Both she and Mei had gotten sick, but only Mei had survived. Since then, any little cough or sniffle she’d ever had was treated like it was a life or death situation.

Being kept away from people most of her life had made Mei awkward, and girls her age had mocked her cruelly.. Until she had met Skye.

Skye Moonstone was a red-haired, outspoken wild child that did what she wanted. She never angered Peggy if she could help it, but she still snuck out and took Mei with her. Her first festival was spent with Skye, and her first birthday party was celebrated with Skye and Peggy.

As she fussed over Rukia, Mei smiled brightly as a familiar peace settled within her heart. Tidas watched as his adoptive sister-in-law’s mood shifted, and wondered if Genie had arranged for Mei to be at his home. It was a stretch, but Tidas knew that he had a hand in it somehow..

‘For someone who’s supposed to be the world’s most deadly assassin, he sure is a giant softie..’

As the thought crossed Tidas’ mind, a servant nervously asked if she should go and get more tea. With a sudden burst of energy, Mei went inside, and came out with two more servants in tow. She carried the tray with the extra tea, and the servants carried trays of food.

The moment her eyes fell upon the trays, Skye exclaimed; “Oh Mei! Yer a saint! Ima starvin’! How about you, me wee sweetheart? Would ya like some tea and snacks?”

A giant smile spread across Rukia’s face as she replied; “Yes please!”

Skye gently squeezed her in a squeaky hug, then carried the child over to the blanket. As the five of them took their seats, a guard walked over, bowed, then announced the arrival of more Alconians. Three men and a woman were apparently being let in, and one of the men was yelling as they were escorted.

They were still quite far down the hallway when Tidas recognized Ralph’s surly words. He was ranting about lopping off one of Tidas’ feet to slow him down when they entered the courtyard. Tidas tried to joke with him about taking off on Zazzy, but Ralph was furious..

“Do you have Any idea how hard it is to keep up with something that flies?! Let alone an overgrown dragon?! No offense, Zazzy..”

After Zazzy had nodded her forgiveness to Ralph, he continued to snap at his prince; “You do recall that Klaus and I are the only Tanks amongst the four of us, ya ken? It’s damn-near impossible to keep up when we have to carry these two.”

Ralph had gestured to Kari and Ronnie, but his focus was mainly Ronnie. Klaus had carried Kari with ease, and had refused to trade carrying Ronnie part-way. Ralph had tried to guilt and trick him into carrying Ronnie instead, but Klaus refused to let someone else carry his fiancée.

Kari didn’t speak, being perfectly content nestled against her future husband’s chest. The look they exchanged was sweet, and made Skye grin as she told Rukia; “See how pink Kari’s cheeks are? Tis because she loves Klaus. Aren’t they cute?”

Rukia beamed even though she didn’t understand what her Aunt Skye was talking about. All she understood was that there were a lot of people around, and that never happened. As she squirmed in Skye’s arms to be released to go meet people, Rukia’s mother sat down, and started brewing cups of tea.

Ronnie was in the middle of griping about how awkward it was to be carried when Mei started to hand out the tea. The aroma was floral and sweet with a hint of citrus. It reminded Tidas of his wife’s perfume a bit, but the floral was wrong.

As they all quieted down and began to nibble at the trays of food, Skye and Rukia commandeered a tray of tiny sweet cakes, and tried to run off. They sat in the grass munching on the sweets when Skye heard footfalls approaching from behind her. Thinking it was Mei or Tidas coming to take the tray, she spoke with an edge to her voice; “If ya think yer takin’ these from us, ya got another thing comin’!”

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“Oh really? And what, exactly, do I got comin’ ta me?”

The surly voice had sent Skye’s back into warning spasms as she whirled around. Rukia watched while she munched on a sweet as her aunt seemingly shriveled before an old woman. She was dressed like the servants in her picture books as she balled up her fists, and placed them on her hips.

With childlike terror in her eyes, Skye looked up as she nervously said; “P-Peggy! That-that was a fast trip..”

Peggy’s eyes narrowed first on Skye, then on the tray in front of her as she spoke; “It helps when I bagger the coachman ta go faster, now what the bloody Hell do ya think yer doin’ with a bairn and a tray of sweets?! Don’t go passin’ yer bad habits to the wee lassie on the first day! Ya bloody heathen! Where are yer manners?! I raised ya better than that!”

“You haven’t changed at all, Ms. Peggy,” came Mei’s meek voice from behind her.

The moment she turned and saw Mei, Peggy’s entire demeanor shifted. She beamed and wrapped Mei in her arms as she fussed; “Oh! Sweet Mei-Mei! Lemme look at ya! Yer so pretty! Look at how long yer hair’s gotten! Oh! I must say: motherhood suits ya, my dear!”

Mei giggled lightly; “Thank you, Peggy. You haven’t aged a day since I last saw you.. Oh, and Skye said almost the exact same thing about me and motherhood.”

Peggy looked over at a squirming Skye with an evil grin, and commented; “Oh did she now? Well, maybe ye can convince her that it’ll look good on her, too..”