Quynh paced the length of his office repeatedly. Liu Bai and Shizuka were both present, having been called to meet him around an hour after Vanna had been shown to her room, but all three of them remained silent.
"She doesn't look anything like her…" the man huffed, finally shattering the suffocating quiet.
"Oh, really? I thought they looked really similar," Liu Bai replied with a thoughtful hum. "With the dark hair and whatnot."
Quynh stopped in place and turned to glare at his companion. "Bulawan had blonde hair, Liu Bai."
"What? Really?" the tiger said, his eyes widening. "I thought that was just because of her transformation, and that she had dark hair before."
Shizuka groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "She was united with her artifact when she was extremely young, so she was blonde basically all of her life. Liu Bai, this was hundreds of years before I was born – and even I know that. Quynh has talked about it so many times that it's burned into my memory. You actually knew her personally and still don't remember?"
"She was so nice to you," Quynh hissed, "and you don't even remember what she looked like!"
"Appearances are superficial and meaningless," Liu Bai answered, closing his eyes. "I looked at Bulawan with eyes that saw her soul and not her physical body. This woman definitely has the same aura that little sister did, which is something I know you cannot deny."
The fight Quynh was ready to put up died on his lips. Liu Bai was right; despite the difference in looks, Vanna did have the phoenix's spirit. He could feel the recognition resonate deep in his chest when he laid eyes on her for the first time… but even more than that – his heart ached. It had been so long since he had felt the familiarity and warmth of his lover's presence, that feeling it again shook him emotionally more than he thought he would.
"It does feel like her." Quynh, having reverted to his half-beast form, sat at his desk, an unreadable expression contorting his features. He spoke in a quiet, defeated voice, "...but it isn't her."
Shizuka's lips thinned into a somber frown. She looked at her friend at a loss, unsure of what to do in response to his display of emotion. The woman looked to Liu Bai for answers, and was surprised to see the usually stoic man sitting respectfully, watching the dragon attentively. Typically, his eyes seemed as though they were looking through people when he looked at him; but tonight, he looked at Quynh with a sorrowful, present gaze. Shizuka decided to keep quiet as well, even though it vexed her to see her friend in such a pitiful state.
"I knew that she wouldn't be the same," the Crimson Dragon continued to speak aloud, albeit mostly to himself. "We've been close since the very beginning, so a new inheritor of the phoenix would not have a similar connection to me, of course.. but for many years, they, by chance, descended from familiar family lines. They all at least looked somewhat alike – this… this, it's just jarring! I was looking at a stranger today!"
"All of them started as strangers to you at one point, brother," Liu Bai spoke flatly. "My predecessors and I have watched you capture her heart many times during our long lives. This is nothing you haven't done before."
Shizuka nodded in agreement. "You are very ambitious and driven. You always take what you want, so this should come easily for you as well."
"It's not so simple this time," the dragon replied, burying his face into his hands in frustration. "He's still out there."
"The Azure Dragon has yet to lose even one life," Liu Bai said matter-of-factly. "That never stopped you before."
Shizuka winced. "Liu Bai why would you s—"
Quynh slammed his fist onto the desk and looked up at Liu Bai, his eyes glowing red in rage. "Do you want to lose a life? That can be arranged if you keep saying stupid shit."
Liu Bai took in a deep breath and shrugged his shoulders. "Someone has to speak the truth. It is a virtue, after all."
"How do you manage to stay equally as aggravating no matter how many times you reincarnate?" Quynh spat.
Liu Bai let out an amused exhale, and a tiny smirk graced his lips. "That's a White Tiger secret."
"Are you afraid of losing her again?" Shizuka asked bluntly, unable to tolerate their arguing any longer.
As though he had been shot in the chest, Quynh's form slumped over once more. "I'm not scared. I just… I really can't do it again. It can take upwards of centuries for a primary guardian to reincarnate."
"So, what is your plan, then?" the Qilin replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Kill him first, romance her later?"
"Yeah, and if I just don't get attached to her, then it'll be fine even if I fuck up," Quynh said, running a hand through his sea of crimson hair.
Liu Bai scoffed. "Are you stupid?"
"What the hell?" Quynh got fired up again.
"You know that isn't how it works. The fates would never allow it," Liu Bai stated, his tone growing irritated. "I can't stand to listen to your wailing any longer."
The man in white stood from his seat and turned to leave, his hands held in front of him, inside the sleeves of his robes. Before he exited the room, he said, "Pig-headed moron."
When the elevator doors closed behind him, Shizuka let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. The woman turned her attention back to the problem at hand, who looked like a volcano about to erupt, and leapt to her feet.
"Hey!" Shizuka said, standing in front of him with a strained smile. "Pay him no mind. If you think that idea will work, it's worth a try, right?"
Quynh glared at her for several long moments before finally relaxing. He nodded slowly, "Yeah. I'll protect her and keep watch over her… I just won't get close to her."
Shizuka responded apprehensively, "It seems like you have a lot on your mind right now. I think I am going to finish up a few final details for tomorrow and then retire as well."
He cut off their eye contact to open the drawer of his desk, from which he pulled a beautiful golden feather. Quynh stared fixedly at it, with an expression that could only be described as one of longing, and waved his hand dismissively in a way of saying 'go ahead.'
Shizuka turned her back to him, and her face turned ugly. 'How the fuck did you deal with these two for so long?' she thought, cursing her predecessors for abandoning her to such unpredictable beasts.