章節 6: Chapter Six: Black Rose
Tannen was a lover of Autumn, where the trees are dressed in their vibrant-colored clothes, a mingle of scarlet and gold of harvest season and the fresh perfume of earthly aroma.
It had been two months since he trained with Gen; his toil of summer days reaped great harvest in the coming of Autumn. He had grown stronger, much faster and his efficiency with Ki manipulation had sprouted results greater than he had expected.
It was all thanks to The Breath of Heaven. Tannen never found out how he knew such an incredible technique, but he figured, more so a guess, that some of his memories were sealed. It still remained a wild hunch. However, his master specifically ordered him to never divulge this new method to anyone except those he trusted.
Tannen didn't plan to anyways.
"Tannen, Chun Li, can you carry those flowers over here?" Meilin asked him, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Their mother decided to make a plant new flowers for the autumn season. It was a bit chilly in the late afternoon, and they all had worn their fall fashion.
"Aye, aye, captain!" Chun Li saluted. She then waddled over to the flowerpots that held pansies, dahlias and chrysanthemums.
"Heup!" She quickly carried a few pots in both hands and trudged over to her mother, putting them gently on the ground. "There you go, mommy."
"Thank you, sweetie," she smiled. Meilin then gently scooped out the chrysanthemum from the pot and planted into her little garden. "Do you know why I'm planting crysanthemums?"
They both shook their heads.
"Crysanthemums are one of your mother's favorite flowers," she answered, holding one close to her. "It has many meanings, but in general, it symbolizes joy, longevity and optimism."
"It looks pretty, too," Chun Li emphasized.
"Yes, It's very pretty," Meilin handed the flower to Chun Li. "Here, you should plant this one. Tannen, you can try planting one too."
Tannen nodded, grabbing a flower of his own and began to plant it in his mother's garden. He soon scooped some dirt out with a trowel and planted his crysanthemum near Chun Li's. It was a rather calming experience and took some mind off from the grueling training he had been put through.
"How's this, mommy?" Chun Li asked, pointing down at her flower.
"You did a wonderful job," Meilin praised her. "Since you're so good at this, can you help me plant the others?"
"Leave it to me!"
Tannen had finished planting his and admired his own work. It was a simple yet rewarding task. Then, something in the corner caught his eye. It was a flower that stood out from the rest. It was a shade of darkness that grew in a sea of crimson flowers.
"Hey, mom, what kind of flower is that?" Tannen asked, pointing towards it. Meilin followed the direction of his finger then frowned.
"How did that get there?" She walked towards the flower and plucked it off; she clearly never planted this here.
It was a black rose.
"Why did you take it out?"
"It's... It's not a flower that you want around," she answered solemnly. Meilin was a bit superstitious when it came to flowers, and she had an ominous feeling with the black rose in her hand. She had to throw it away.
"It's not what you want around?" Dorai made his way to his wife and kids. He had just gotten out of work and came home.
"Daddy! Dad!" The two immediately dropped their tools and rushed towards their father, jumping into his arms.
"Hey! How's my little martial artists doing?" Dorai swung both of them around by their waists like a merry-go-round. They had barely seen their father for the past month.
"Oh? You finally decided to make some time for the family?" Meilin said in a grim tone.
"I had some important things to take care of," Dorai answered, setting his kids down on the ground.
"Is it more important than spending time with the kids?" She argued.
"You don't understand, Meilin."
"What don't I understand?" Her voice became more commanding. "You barely came home for over a month now, Dorai, and when you do, you're all battered and bruised! Tell me, what exactly don't I understand?"
Tannen could feel the suffocating tension between them, and he didn't like it one bit. They had been arguing a lot lately ever since their father focused more on his job. He wish that they would just stop fighting already.
"It's for all of our safety," Dorai retorted. "Don't you remember what happened with you and the kids? I can't have that happen anymore; I've been working my ass off trying to catch those damn criminals - all of them."
"Enough," Meilin stopped him. "I don't want to hear this anymore."
"Honey," Dorai went to hold her.
"Don't touch me," she slapped his hand away. "Just go."
Dorai sighed through his nose. He knew when he needed to leave his wife alone, "I have something important that I need to tell you; we can talk later once you calmed down." He then went inside the house.
"Mommy, why are you and daddy fighting?" Chun Li asked.
"Don't worry about it, sweetie. Mommy and daddy just have some disagreement between us."
"But-"
"Chun Li, enough, I do not want to talk about this," she sighed out. "Both of you can go to your rooms and play - I need some time for myself."
• • • • •
Later that night, Tannen and Chun Li were on the N64 console, playing Super Mario 64. It had just came out a week ago, and Tannen spared no effort to buy a copy before it sold out in his local game store. He even had to beg his mom to buy it much to her dismay.
'Video games would fry your brain,' it was a single sentence from their moms that no kid wanted to hear. Luckily, his begging skills had broken through her defenses, and she reluctantly bought him one.
"No, Chunners, you're suppose to jump on the Goomba's head, dummy," Tannen pointed towards at the walking mushroom on the screen.
"Shut up, I'm still learning," she said, fiddling with her controller. Then, she died. "What! How did I die?"
"Cause you ran into it again," Tannen rolled his eyes. "Here, lemme play."
As he took the controller away, Tannen heard a loud thump along with muffled shouts beyond the wall.
"Did you hear that?" Tannen asked.
"That sounded like mommy and daddy," Chun Li said nervously.
Tannen and Chun Li quietly made their way through the dark halls of their house. The wooden floor creaked as they approached their parents' room. They then placed their ears over the door to spy on their parents' conversation.
"I told you, I have to do this!" Dorai shouted. "If I don't, more innocents are going to be sucked up into this mess and die!"
"But, why do you have to go Japan!" She shouted back. "You have no business whatsoever to be over there! Isn't your job to help the people of Hong Kong? Why are you going to another country?"
"I've been assigned there by my superiors; I have to go there, Meilin. Think about it, if I succeed in this investigation, I can put an end to the rampant drug trafficking in the city. Hong Kong will be much safer for us."
"So, that's it, huh? You're just going to leave us? Leave the kids?"
"It's only going to be a couple of months, honey. I promise," he quickly reassured her.
"And what if you don't?"
"I will," he said softly, holding onto her hands.
Meilin bit down on her lips. She hated her husband's stubbornness. Unfortunately, she couldn't persuade Dorai to stay no matter how hard she tried. She could only hope for the best.
"Alright, I trust you," she finally gave in. "Just be sure to come in one piece, okay?"
"I promise," Dorai gave her a light kiss on her pink lips.
As they separated, Meilin quickly poked a finger at his wide chest, "Since you only have a week left, I expect you to take time off and spend time with the family."
"I'll let my superior know," Dorai chuckled.
"And please," she added, talking in a low voice. "Go talk to the kids."
Tannen took his ears off of the door and whispered to Chun Li, "Did they make up yet?"
"I think so," she nodded. "But, daddy said he's going to leave soon. I don't want daddy to leave."
"He's only going to leave for a few months," Tannen said. "It probably won't be that long."
"But, Halloween is next month; he promised me he would take me trick-o-treating," she whined.
"Shh~" Tannen raised a finger up to his lips. "Don't be so loud; they'll hear us."
Suddenly, the door clicked opened. Tannen and Chun Li immediately bolted out of there before they were caught in the nick of time and made it back to his room.
"Whew, that was close," Tannen wiped a nervous sweat off his forehead. "I thought we were dead meat back there."
Then, he heard whimpering beside him as tears welled up in his sister's eyes. She started to cry.
"Oi, why are you being such a crybaby for?" Tannen asked.
"I don't want daddy to leave," she let her tears fall to the floor.
"Didn't you just hear what he said? It's only for a couple of months," he repeated, trying to calm her down.
"But- but-" then, she started to cry even louder.
The door clicked open, and Dorai walked inside their room, "What's going on? Why is Chun Li crying? Did you hit her, Tannen?"
"What! No, I didn't!" He hastily defended himself.
"Daddy!" Chun Li rushed towards him to let out all of her grievances. "Why do you have to go? Stay here with us; don't leave."
Dorai instantly realized what was going on; his kids had spied on him earlier. He dropped down to his knees and hugged her as she cried over his shoulders. Then, he softly pushed Chun Li off of him and wiped her tears away, "Chun Li, you hate bad guys, right?"
She nodded her little head. Chun Li still remembered the time they beaten up her brother and tried to take her mother away.
"I hate them, too, and that's why daddy has to leave to stop them," he comforted her. "And daddy is going to kick all of their butts and bring them to justice!"
Chun Li wiped her tears away.
"Now you understand why daddy has to go?" He asked softly. She nodded her head again. He then pulled her into another hug; his eyes glanced over at his son, standing there awkwardly, "You, too. Get over here."
Tannen shuffled right into his arms and bear hugged him. He didn't want to admit it, but he didn't want to see his dad go. He was going to him once he leaves.
"Say, is that the new game your mom bought for you?" He asked. "What was it called? Super Market 64?"
"It's Super MARIO 64," they said at the same time.
"Pssh- I knew that," he lied through his teeth. "Hey, how about we play together! I bet I'm better than the both of you."
"Nuh-Uh!" Chun Li denied.
"Yeah, right," Tannen scoffed. He dared challenge the ultimate gamer?
Chun Li quickly nudged herself out of her father's arms and run towards the TV, "I call first!"
"Second!" Tannen ran after her.
Dorai sat down to play with them as they shouted and laugh throughout the night. Meanwhile, Meilin leaned against the doorway, smiling to herself as she watched them play.
Soon, a week had gone by in a blur. Dorai had already packed his things in the suitcase and was ready to head out. He had spent all the time he could to make his wife and kids happy, going to the park, beaches and arcades. Now, it was time to leave.
"Bye, daddy," Chun Li waved her hands.
"See ya, dad," Tannen also said his farewells.
Dorai kissed both of them on their foreheads, "I'll see ya around, okay? And I expect the both of you to become amazing martial arts master by the time I get back." He added in a little joke.
"Easy-peasy," Tannen brushed his nose with a thumb in complete confidence.
"Yeah, easy-weasy-peasy," Chun Li copied him with an extra twist of her own.
Then, came his wife. He gazed into her beautiful, brown eyes, "I'll be going now," he said.
Meilin kissed him on the lips. A parting good bye, "Come home safe."
"I will," bidding his farewells, Dorai dragged his suitcase out of the door. He gave them one last wave before he left.
"I hope daddy comes back soon," Chun Li said.
"He will," Meilin brushed her daughter's hair fondly. "After all, he promised us."
創作者的想法 
PullUpinaChoppa
PullUpinaChoppa now da real story begins. les go
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票