Fighting to be Kind in a Cultivation World

After more time sleeping, both Yalei and I wake up. A quick glance over to Jin Chin confirms that she's still asleep.

Taking this into account, I ease Jin Chin under the covers, ensuring she's as comfortable as possible, while Yalei and I proceed into the halls. As soon as we get in the halls, Yalei reaches out for my hand, holding it in hers.

“So, we heard you went on dates with the Shi and the others…”

Ah.

So that’s why they were crying.

I had checked before on whether being close with the others would affect them too much… but I didn’t take into account going on dates with Shi, Ai, Lin, and Gong. Mostly because I wasn’t considering it at the time, almost making a big mistake in not doing so.

“Yeah… admittedly, I had realized I should do it much later than I should have. It was only because of Shi that I corrected that.”

Yalei looks a little surprised at this, but seems to be comforted by this. A different reaction than what I was expecting.

Normally, I’d assume that telling another interested person this would hurt them. But with Yalei, she’s much more focused on the intent. My best guess is that the sex means much less to her than the dating.

Knowing that I hadn’t originally planned the dates seems to make it better for her. Perhaps because that means she wasn’t purposefully left out.

Realizing this, I do the best thing I can at the moment. Giving her a deep hug. One even tighter than the embrace she gave me on the bed.

"The reason I'm here today is that I haven't forgotten about you guys."

I pull back a bit and focus my eyes on her.

“I wanted to chat with you, so you can learn more about me… and I, you. But I also want to give you the choice… would you want a date instead?”

She vigorously swings her head from side to side before speaking loudly.

“No, no, no… I’d love for us to talk.”

She takes a glance at her room, still holding the sleeping Jin Chin in its covers.

“…she would probably like that, as well.”

I don’t know the full relationship between those two yet… that will probably be something I discover over time.

“Okay… so, where do you want to start?”

She seems to think to herself and gives a seemingly nostalgic smile.

“…what’s the most important thing to you?”

There appears to be a history associated with this. I’ll be honest.

As I draw a deep breath, I steady myself. Trying to figure out the best way to say this, but not using the scan to.

“I want to do the right thing. Even if it’s tough.”

She gives a wry smile, while shaking her head, as if remembering something.

“… you really never change, huh?”

She gives a sigh.

“The you from my dreams said the same thing. I argued with you…him, so many times. About how stupid it was to worry about others. To sacrifice yourself. Heck… I even pushed you into bad situations just to see what you would do.

“And you fought for me. Over, and over, and over again.”

…

I’m so sorry, illusion me. It sounds like you got thrown into a bad time. Considering how bad she was before the healing, as a psychopath… I bet you went through a ton of stuff.

This subtle feeling only deepens as I see the guilty look on her face. And it looks like she’s about to confess what she did.

“I-“

I cut her off before she can reveal it.

“-You don’t have to tell me, Yalei…

“Remember, this is our fresh start. I can tell you with surety, that’s what I would have wanted if I were in their shoes.”

This eases her tense expression a bit, but it still looks like she wants to say something. I place a hand on her shoulder with a smile. Letting her know subtly that it is alright.

“The person you are now… you fought hard to become that person. There’s no need to re-visit past pain.”

I say the last words that my scan tells me will help.

“And just so you know, I completely forgive you.”

Tears rapidly form in her eyes. She soon blinks them away with a smile.

“…you got it, babe.”

I raise an eyebrow and give her a grin. Rubbing her head. She presses her head into my hand lovingly.

…I definitely have to ask, though.

"You know… I'm pretty sure people don't use the term 'babe' much here… how much do you know?"

She turns flirtatiously coy.

“Well…the past is the past, right? So, we’ll just hide that one away.”

I roll my eyes with a smile. And as I do so, she says her last words before separating from me and walking down the hall.

“…I think this is good enough for me, for now. I’ll tell you more about my past…another time. Take care of Jin Chin. She acts tough most of the time, but even she needs a break sometimes.”

I don’t stop her, as my scan lets me know this is the best stopping point for our conversation. Going back to the bed, to sit next to Jin Chin, who’s still napping under the covers. She stirs a little, but starts reaching toward me. A sleepy murmur comes from her.

“Come back to bed…”

Her arms blindly grope toward me, landing on my arm and gently pulling it. Of course, I hop in the bed with her.

As I snuggle next to her in the bed and pull her into a cuddle, she gives a content sigh, happily falling back asleep. Feeling amazingly comfortable, I do the same.

Strangely, I finally receive something that’s eluded me since I came to this world. A dream.

…

Floating in a void. No one around.

…

Wait… there’s someone else. Jin Chin. Floating by herself in a ball.

I will myself toward her, floating in her direction. Reaching her, only to have her burst into a cloud of butterflies once I touch her.

The butterflies fill the void, turning it into a background space that shows the very same room they were kept in. Filled with blobs of people and shapes. What they used to be.

But a change happens, the blobs turn to actual people. Faces of pain turn to ones of happiness, as the scene behind changes to the void. Only the people left. But now made whole.

…

And then I wake up.

Right as I wake up, Jin Chin opens her eyes too. She yawns, stretching her arms, before turning to face me and cuddling against me again. Still awake.

“Wow… I had the best dream.”

Hmm…. Could it be that we shared a dream? I remember qi can occasionally have an interesting effect on people, causing interesting dream interactions.

“My dream was about hugging a giant fluffy animal. So great.”

I give a smile.

Well… there goes that theory.

She turns to me immediately after.

“The animal had your face, though… so it was even cuter.”

I can’t help smiling at her silly words with a shake of my head.

Yeah… I don’t think I’ll be experiencing the dream sharing anytime soon. But I’m still glad I saw that last one.

She hops out of bed, full of energy.

“Mmm…yep. I’m ready for the day now. Thanks, James, for thinking about us. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to talk later. For now, I’m happy to just be with you.”

Using my scan to double-check, I see that, like Yalei… she just needed to see that I cared. With this in mind, I finally feel like I covered all my bases.

I hop out of bed, rub her head, and wave goodbye. Heading into the tunnels, leaving Jin Chin to head to her own room.

Ready to tackle the next set of things to do in this growing underground city.

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