"Meera, why didn't you tell me about this?" Dashen stood over his partner, frowning down at her. He is both heartbroken and scared that the love of his life, a mortal, has a terminal disease and did not even want to tell him about it.
"Because I know you will react this way," Meera replied. She glowered at him. "Sit down and stop towering over me like some dragon-forsaken lord of the sea nonsense…I am getting a crick on my neck," she added.
Dashen sat down next to her and took her hands.
"Meera, you know I love you, why would you hide this from me? You know I will do anything for you, anything!" he said, his tone softening.
She narrowed her eyes at him but didn't pull away. She knows how much he loves her but sometimes, she finds him a bit too overbearing with his huge ego and the whole 'I am the man of the household' attitude.
"You know why, I can't trust you not to make me immortal, we have been over this so many times and we have never agreed on this," she told him.
He sighed. For once, he looked defeated.
"Look, Meera, you have to understand where I was coming from…I want you with me for all of eternity, is that too much to ask?"
"Ah…yeah…yes…it is too much! I mean 'happily ever after' is for fairy tales…it doesn't work in reality and who knows how I will feel about you, about us, 100 years from now? Or 1000 years from now? We are talking about forever and forever stretches on infinitely and that scares me,"
"Look, I have existed for thousands of years, it is not as slow as you think, time passes fleetingly when you are immortal, it is truly different," he tried to explain. It was never easy trying to explain how the passing of time for an immortal differs from a mortal.
"You know why diamonds are precious?" Meera asked suddenly.
He frowned. Why did she suddenly veer off the subject?
"I never truly understood why you humans places so much value on those rocks…" he replied.
"Let me tell you why then…it's because diamonds are hard to find and quite rare other than its brilliance of course," she said.
"So, like time, when we have limited time, we value each moment we have on earth, we value what we do and how we spend our time because we know, we can die at any moment, life is fleeting but if we have infinite time, then it loses its value, this means the things we do will not matter as much, everything will be frivolous and meaningless because we have all the time in the world," Meera explained.
"Do you understand?"
Dashen tried to digest what she said. He has been immortal for all his life from the moment he gained his dragon powers at 12 years old till now, thousands of years later. He could barely remember the passing of time or the events that happened in between. Maybe she has a point. Still, he would not give it up. Being immortal is still better than facing certain death.
"Maybe…" he replied tentatively.
Meera gritted her teeth. This is exactly why she finds him infuriating at times. Imagine getting infuriated with him for hundreds and thousands of years. No, that's not good at all.
"Okay, even if you don't understand it, can you at least respect my wish that I do not want to be immortal?"
This time he nodded.
"Yes, I have made a pledge not to do anything against yours or the children's wishes so I will not force you to do something you don't want," he said.
She is relieved. She silently sent a thank you to Sabrina. She must do something for that dragon woman. Maybe help her with her human boyfriend.
"But, you do want me to cure you right?" Dashen asked. He is now so confused, he is not sure if Meera even wanted to be cured.
"Yes, of course! Our kids are still so small, I want to be around for at least another 60 years!" she said.
He exhaled in relief. At least he can cure her. He can snuck in a few extra years for her too…that won't make her immortal but she can live slightly longer compared to other humans.Blast Sabrina for making him give his word.
"You won't mind if I give you a few extra years right? I promise, it's not immortality but that you just get a longer life…at least you might get to see our children get married," he said, hopefully.
If Zi An is human, he will be able to get married like a regular human. Ah yes, Xin Xi. Maybe he can use Xin Yi as an inducement for Meera to choose immortality.
"A few extra years? I suppose that's fine…as long as it's not thousands of years…" she said.
"Okay, I will start now," he said. He placed a hand on her spine. His eyes widened at the mass he felt there. She must have been in pain. It has spread down her spine from her lungs to her kidneys, her liver, her stomach. It is a wonder that she's even alive!
"You must have beed in pain!" he exclaimed.
She looked at him, puzzled.
"Actually, I don't feel a thing…I felt a slight discomfort every once in a while and then the kids will be hugging me and playing with me and I will have forgotten all about it," she said.
Realisation dawned on Dashen. Xin Yi. Their little girl has been trying to help her mother but since she is still so new, she couldn't heal her entirely. She was only able to remove the pain.
"You know Meera…Xin Yi is a dragon, she recently gained her powers," he told her conversationally. Meera gasped.
"Really??" she clapped. "That's good news! But…she's only eight…."
"Yes, I have also given Sabrina my word not to force her if Xin Yi doesn't want to go to the sea jade palace for training," he said grudgingly. Blast that Sabrina.
"Good! You can train her here at home, I don't see why we need to send her off alone at such a young age!"
"You see Meera…since Xin Yi is a dragon…it takes her about 2000 years to mature and find her match to get married…" he pointed out. "And if Zi An is also a dragon…this means, you will not get to see them get married and have children,"
Meera turned to look at him. She pushed his hand away from her.
"Is this another trick to make me accept immortality?" she narrowed her eyes at him.
"You know I can't go back on my word…I am only telling you the truth," he extended his hand to her body but she smacked it away.
"Damn you Dashen!" she snapped.
Tears welled up in her eyes. All she wanted was a happy family, to watch her kids grow up, watch them settle down and have families of their own, or not. Even if they don't get married, she wants to know that they are at least happy. Marriage isn't everything and marriage never guarantees happiness. Was her dream of watching her children grow up as happy adults too much to ask?
"You did say you can give me a few extra years…I at least can watch them grow up," she said.
"What about this…I give you a couple hundred years…not more than that, at least you can watch them come into their own, be more stable in their powers and learn all the ropes of the dragon realm?" he offered.
She considered his offer. It was tantalising. It was not immortality but it was enough for her to assure herself that her children are happy well-adjusted adults. That should suffice.
"Okay fine, nothing more than that," she told him sternly. She turned her back to him. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close to him. He kissed her nape gently.
"My love, I am so glad we come to this agreement, at least I know I will still have you for a couple hundred years more," he murmured. He focused his power back on her. He didn't tell her that the years that he gave her was taken from his own immortality. It will weaken his powers but it was a sacrifice he is willing to make.
Anything for his love.