Chapter 84: Why are you crying?
"Why are you crying?" he asked softly, without teasing.
Jia kept her face half-turned into his chest. "I don’t know."
The words came out muffled and wet. She tried to fold herself smaller in his lap, hiding her face with both hands. "I really don’t know, okay? Just stop looking at me."
Mia leaned forward like she wanted to reach over, but stopped, her voice soft. "It happens sometimes. Crying for no reason, I mean."
Jiao Yin nodded hard. "Yeah girls end up doing this. One time I cried so long and I didn’t even know why."
Xiao Cui whispered, "My mother once cried watching a tree bloom."
Feimei only watched Jia, her red eyes unreadable.
Kian scooped Jia up off his lap and stood in one motion, her legs wrapping around him.
"My girl is a little too proud to cry in front of others," he said to the room, holding her head. "So, bye bye."
Mia made a noise like a question and started to get up. "I want to come!!"
Jiao Yin reached for his sleeve. "Young master—"
But Kian was already gone, a cold gust sweeping through the room as Wind Step pulled him away.
The door didn’t even rattle.
He stopped three roofs over, on the ridge of a shuttered tea house, and set Jia down on the tiles.
The city below them was bright with lamps at night, a few lamps still guttering where the guards had passed.
Jia kept her face buried in his robe.
After a long moment, her shoulders loosened, and she whispered, "Thank you."
Kian ran his hand slowly down her head, letting the quiet settle around them. "I knew you’d want me to do that."
She nodded, frowning and wiping her tears in his clothes. "I don’t know why I’m crying. I really don’t. It’s stupid."
"It’s not stupid," he said. "Just cry, no problem with it. You probably haven’t cried before you met me, so it’s all just coming out these days."
She nodded without lifting her head, her breath still shaky. "Just... Let me hug you for a while here. I don’t want to go back yet."
"Happy to oblige if I can kiss your head!"
She giggled and hugged him.
He held her like that on the rooftop while the city bloomed below them, his thumb tracing small circles against her spine.
Her breathing slowly evened out, the trembling in her shoulders fading into stillness.
When she finally pulled back, her eyes were red-rimmed but dry, and a small, cheeky smile pulled at the corner of her mouth.
Kian tilted his head, watching her. She was hot when she was cheeky.
"Do you want a surprise?" he asked.
She blinked, then the smile turned teasing. "What surprise?"
"Close your eyes."
She narrowed her eyes at him, the corner of her mouth twitching. "If it’s something weird, let’s go back home first. I’ll let you have fun inside."
He shook his head. "Close your eyes, Jia."
She huffed, but her lashes fluttered shut.
She puckered her lips naturally for a kiss.
Kian stepped close, nudging her foot with his. "Put your foot on mine."
She obeyed, blinking and stopping her attempt to kiss, feeling the warm ridge of his instep under her bare arch.
"Don’t move it."
Then she felt weird. He was holding her and walking somewhere, though she couldn’t quite tell the direction.
"Can I open my eyes?"
"No. If you do, I will seriously be pissed."
"Damn you."
Her stomach dropped. Wind clawed at her hair and stole the breath from her mouth. She grabbed his arm with both hands, nails biting through the sleeve of his robe. The world tilted, but his foot stayed steady beneath hers, as if he had become the ground itself.
She squeezed her eyes shut and trusted him.
The wind flattened.
Kian slowed, hovering in the cold air.
He looked down at the beautiful view of the city. He watched her closed eyes and the tears still stuck in her lashes.
She was truly quite a tempting thing.
"Open your eyes."
Jia opened them.
The city lay far below, a sprawl of gold embers and silver seams.
The stars pressed close, huge and white.
Her lips parted, but no sound came.
She stared, body locked, breath gone.
Then a small, ragged laugh escaped her.
"Kian... Fuck!"
Jia’s fingers curled into the front of his robe, knuckles white. "We’re flying," she whispered, as if saying it too loud would make them fall.
Her feet pressed harder against his, muscles locked, but she didn’t dare to pull away.
He said: "Try facing away from me and stretching your arms widely. It’s so fun."
She blinked.
Kian shifted his hands to her waist, rotated her to face away from him, and guided her arms out slowly. "Like this. Stretch them a little. The wind will hold you if you lean into me."
She obeyed, arms trembling wide, and for one breath she was a girl again, standing on the edge of the world with him at her back.
The fear of height didn’t disappear, but it changed shape, turned bright and electric under her skin.
For a while, she enjoyed this bird like feeling.
Then Jia twisted in his arms, caught his jaw, and kissed him hard. Her mouth was hot and a little clumsy, full of adrenaline and joy all tangled together.
Kian smiled against her lips and steadied her hips so she wouldn’t overbalance.
When she broke away, breathless, her eyes were huge and shining.
"Are we stuck here, or can you actually walk around like this?"
Kian laughed low in his chest. "We can move, Jia."
He tightened his grip and took a step through the cold air. The city shifted beneath them, lanterns blurring into long gold ribbons.
She let out a sharp, delighted gasp and grabbed his wrists. "Then don’t stop! Go forward! Go faster!"
Kian obeyed, walking them out over the rooftops and past the last ring of stone walls.
Jia laughed into the wind, pointing down at the shrinking streets and the tiny glowing windows, her earlier tears now completely forgotten.
They left the city walls and walked outside above the sky.
The stars stretched endless above them, and the dark countryside rolled open like a second sky beneath their feet.
"Woah, we are outside the city," she said. "Is that okay, man?"
In the distance, a tree rose against the moon.
It was enormous, its crown spreading wide enough to swallow a village, its roots breaking the earth like old bones.
"Let’s land on top of that, I am also running out of Qi."
Kian aimed for the highest branch, and they landed with a soft, soundless step. Jia dropped onto the rough bark, legs unsteady, and looked up at the great mass of leaves, then back at him.
"Can we go a little higher? We can’t see the moon from here."
Kian bent, hooked an arm around her waist, and jumped.
They rose through the leaves in a burst of cold air, branches whipping past her arms until he set her down on the topmost fork.
The tree swayed under their weight, but its branches were wide, and Jia grabbed his sleeve, laughing into the wind.
Now, they could see it.
The moon hung there, huge and close, spilling silver over the hills.
Kian leaned against the tree, looking up at it.
Jia eased down, back against his chest, and pulled his arm around her like a blanket.
For a while neither of them spoke; they just watched the pale light move across the fields below.
"Want to have sex?" he asked.
"Here?!"
"Indeed. Seems good to me."
"This is a romantic moment, Kian. Let’s enjoy that first. Let me tell you about a dream I had as a child."
Kian pouted, but nodded afterwards. "Sure, we have time."
Jia looked at him in a bit of annoyance. "All you think about is that all the time. I am not telling you now."
"What can I do? The scenery is amazing, you are hot, and I am a bit horny."
She blinked. Then thought about it for a moment. "Then get it done first and then, you will let me talk all I want. Deal?"
"Deal!"