108 The Ghost of Valerie (1/2)
An Ma's question effectively stopped all conversations.
An Ning and Hank and Kari and even Gu Sheng, who had been staring at Lux for the last ten minutes like an idiot, turned to look at Nian Zhen, who reddened under their intense stares.
”Well, where is he?” demanded An Ma.
”I...that is...”
But before An Ning could finish her lame excuse, Hippolyta surprisingly came to her rescue.
”Let's talk about that later, shall we? I presume you've also prepared some food for us, king?” she said, meeting Nian Zhen's eyes.
”Yes.I mean yes... your...yes,” Nian Zhen stammered.
”I'll go tell the kitchen,” Kari said.”Please excuse me...”
”Are you another one of my granddaughter's friends?” Hippolyta asked Kari. ”Thank you for having us,” she smiled.
”It's no big deal...really..so happy to meet you.Er...that is...you look very beautiful,” Kari said then as if realizing her gaffe, she flushed a guilty red and stammered. ”I'm sorry. I didn't mean.Sorry,” she said, throwing An Ning a panicked look.
But Hippolyta laughed.
”Hear that, darling?” she told her husband.”Somebody still thinks I'm beautiful. Still got some spice in this old woman.”
”Who said you're an old woman?” Li Cheung asked.”You'll always be young to me, mine heart,” he smiled softly then dropped an affectionate kiss on her forehead.
Lux rolled her eyes, her gaze meeting Gu Sheng's, who turned beet red and hid behind An Ning this time.
Dinner that night was very lively.Nian Zhen sat at the head of the table with An Ning three persons away from him.He had tried catching her eye to signal her to sit next to him but she was talking to Ceres who of course naturally pulled her down to sit next to her.Her father then occupied the sit next to An Ning and fairly manipulated her attention so there was not even a glance between them during dinner.
Nian Zhen was forced to entertain Hippolyta who sat on his right. But he was too preoccupied about An Ning, too jealous of the attention she was giving An Ma and too mad about it, that his attention would often wander over to where she was, laughing and joking with her parents, that he would stop talking mid-sentence and just stare at her.When he failed to answer Hippolyta's polite question about the flavor of a certain dish, she stopped and just enjoyed his preoccupation, watching him throw another glare in An Ning's direction like she was watching a highly amusing ping pong competition.
As for me An Ning, she was oblivious, enjoying the company of her parents and exchanging wacky looks with Lux and Cas. It was the first time she could remember that all of them were together like this. Her grandparents stuck in limbo for years.Speaking of which...
”Grandmama, you still haven't told me what you did all those years you were away,” An Ning said. ”Did you just wander about or did you do something else?”
”Believe it or not, your grandmother and I founded a country,” Li Cheung asked, laughing mischievously.
”You never told me that, Dad,” Ceres said. ”What country? And where is it?”
”Well, we got tired of traveling after a while and decided to settle down in this place.We called it Ceresia, which of course is named after you, darling daughter.We couldn't be with you but at least we kept alive your memory by naming a country after you.”
Ceres was stunned, looking at her beaming parents then she burst into sobs, which so alarmed An Ma that he stood up and gathered her in his arms.Hippolyta and Li Cheung were also stunned and rushed to Ceres whose sobbing was so mournful and pitiful that An Ma threw a helpless look at An Ning who took Ceres from her father's arms and into hers, allowing her mother's shaking body to rest against hers while talking to her in soft tones.
”Darling, they're back now.Everybody's together again and the kids are here and we're all fine and nothing will separate us ever again. Don't cry anymore, mom.I'm here. I'm here,” An Ning crooned, cradling her mother's body tightly in her arms.
The feel of Ceres' shaking body against hers tightened something in An Ning's chest.Of all of them who left, the only constant someone who stayed behind had been Ceres.Ceres who had watched her parents leave, watched everyone she loved perish under Yu Yan's madness, watched her daughter call another woman mother while she had been imprisoned, and then An Ning's sudden disappearance. She had withstood all of that without breaking apart, had even used her forced imprisonment to build a financial empire with Enxuo, and she had hoped and prayed and maybe in her heart of hearts had believed in a miracle that would see her family together again. She had seen that miracle happen, standing side by side with the man she found again after so many years of heartache.And she had asked nothing for herself except her family, for each of them to be safe so they might find their way to each other again if not soon then in perpetuity.
”Darling, you don't like the name, is that it?” An Ning teased.”What about we change the name to my name? An Ningsia?Hmn...it doesn't sound as good as Ceresia though.”
Ceres lifted her head from her daughter's shoulders and chuckled.Her face was streaked with tears and there was an aching vulnerability in her eyes when they met An Ning's. She was not a fussy person nor a demanding mother. She would endure as she always had but it didn't mean that she wouldn't worry.She hadn't asked An Ning any questions that might put her in a position where she might be embarrassed or worse, hide things from her.That had always been An Ma's role.She didn't even care that her daughter came home changed and ten years younger from the last time she saw her but her joy was seen in the quiet looks she would give An Ning, the fleeting touches on her shoulder to assure herself her daughter was really there. And she wouldn't even asked about Richard, An Ning's ex-husband, glowering at them from across the table wearing the face of a man she didn't know.
”I'm alright, darling,” she smiled. ”I was just overwhelmed by your grandfather's very impressive gift. Thank you, dad.This is the same way you used to reward me when I did well in school, remember? You'd always bring me something, toys, flowers, jewelry.But this one, a country named after me, this is beyond what I was expecting.Thank you, daddy. Mom.”
Li Cheung gently wiped Ceres' tears with his fingertips then kissed her cheek.
”My darling girl.I would have given you the world if I could but shrink it.But I think you'll fall in love with this one. Our Ceresia is as lovely as our beloved daughter.”
”Where is it, grandpa?” Cas was looking at his great-grandfather with more than curiosity.”Is it near here? Can we go there for a visit?”
”Yes, I was planning on doing that.Take you all there so you can see what we've done the last twenty years.It was hard work but worth it,” Hippolyta said, taking Ceres' hand in hers in a tight grip.
Hippolyta was not very demonstrative with her affections but it was there in her eyes, the glint of pride in them as she gazed contentedly at her growing brood. The years apart had not been in vain after all. Her daughter, who had endured a witch's curse which put her in a cave for twenty years, had borne a daughter as cunning and strong-willed as any Amazons.Ceres may have consciously rejected the leadership role during her mother's absence but An Ning had risen up to the challenge without being asked, freeing the Amazons from their captivity and guiding them to a new life imperiled more from ignorance of technology than the threat of war.
And the next generation was also going off to a swell start.The twins may not be warriors but then nobody expected them to be.Children born in each generation had their own choices to make, their chosen path different from their elders.She will not impose that her children and her children's children follow the same bloody road she had chosen for herself years ago. That had been a different time from a different era and had nothing to do with the now.The twins were free to leave or stay. Their mother seemed capable of covering up for them well into the next 500 years anyway.This small family group of women warriors had survived all that fate can throw at them and thrived. And with An Ning at the helm, the future seemed to be set and off to a good start.
”But how do we get there, gran?” Lux piped in next. ”Do we get to travel in the bus again?”
”Yes, we take the same bus,” Hippolyta laughed.
”I was expecting your time machine to look really scary imposing, grandmama,” An Ning said, chuckling.”But all I got was a beetle bus.It was quite an anti-climax.”
”The time machine is a beetle bus?” Hank sounded flabbergasted.”A Volkswagen bus?”