The Other Side of the Mask

"Come join the arm wrestling competition!" someone calls out.

XiaoLong glares at me with a competitive smile. We immediately signed up. Literally massacring everyone, we plowed our way to the finals.

"Haha, I'm not going easy on you!" I say as I laugh.

"Same here," XiaoLong replies with a way too fake angelic smile.

"On your mark, get set, go!"

After a minute or so, the table bRoKe which really ruined my mood. What ruined my mood more was that we used so much energy that our lips touched at first, but then our foreheads bumped into each other and oh lord that hurt. We sat on the ground holding our heads for a straight five minutes or so. In the end, they deemed it a tie and gave us the prize, which is a pair of rare multi jeweled rings. They were supposed to be for the winner and his/her lover, but I guess this works out. We return to the castle just in time for our 'curfew' that both our parents set because XiaoLong and I both go outside without a word way too much apparently.

At the palace, I spot Mei and ZhuWu talking to Commander Yang. I wave to them as they wave back.

"Wait, you have friends?!" XiaoLong asks, sarcastically.

"No, I don't," I respond back, sarcastically.

"Alright, I'm going back to my room," I tell him.

He waves goodbye and pretends he's leaving, but I could literally feel him trailing behind my back. The moment I open the door to my room, my maids attack me with hugs. After minutes of calming them down, they put away my plushies and leave me. I finally relax, alone and happy. I climb onto the roof of the palace. Suddenly, XiaoLong, whom I forgot was trailing me, jumps onto the roof. I almost fall over and he catches me, just like in the past.

"Haha, you're still so clumsy," he says as he laughs.

We sit together on the roof.

"Remember the past, the first day we met?"

"Yeah, it was on a rooftop too," he responds.

"Yeah, and just why was it on top of my room?" I ask, suspicious.

"It was the best spot to look at the stars, duh," he responds.

"True enough…," I sigh as I reminisce, "My first impression of you was definitely an assassin, though. You dress way too suspiciously."

"And my first impression of you was a really crazy noble girl who would actually climb onto a rooftop at night when it's so dangerous."

"...I guess it would seem that way. I actually do it quite often in my hometown."

"Haha, and then you asked 'the assassin' to teach you how to use a dagger."

"Yes, and 'that assassin' agreed," I fired back.

I blush, "O-of course that wasn't on purpose!"

Silence fills the air as fireworks start to display themselves in the night sky.

Guilt fills me as I remember the past, "I-I owe you an apology. I'm sorry…"

XiaoLong lifts my chin, so that I look directly into his glimmering eyes.

He smiles, "Actually, you owe me many apologies."

"Geh…"

His smile falters, "I won't ever be that mad at you anyways… because I love you, QiLing."

He suddenly pulls me into a kiss. I flinched as his lips touched mine, completely unexpected. I slide the ring I won from the arm wrestling competition onto his finger as he does the same. We smile at each other and enjoy the rest of the night show on the rooftop.