| Title: Queen of the Night Author: Starlett Chapter 15 The next morning, Cordy woke at dawn. She wasn't sure what had opened her eyes at such an ungodly hour, but after lying in bed for a moment, she knew she couldn't go back to sleep. She rolled off the mattress and padded to the bathroom to shower. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a rose-colored lycra turtleneck she hadn't worn since her last skiing trip to Aspen, Cordy walked down the hall to the kitchen. She pressed her hand to her stomach, trying to soothe the butterflies that she couldn't seem to get rid of. Mr. Zhou looked up from his book and smiled. "So, sleeping beauty awakes." He looked so normal and unthreatening that Cordy beamed. "Compliments. Now that's a great way to start the day." "Would you like some breakfast?" He poured her a cup of tea from the iron pot at his elbow. "Yes, please." He set the tea in front of her and then turned to pull a bowl from the cabinet. He filled it with rice porridge and laid it at her place with a spoon. She looked at it in horror. "I can't eat that." Mr. Zhou smiled. "You promised to eat what I gave you, remember?" Cordy grimaced. "Well, that was stupid of me," she muttered, taking a tiny bite and chewing quickly. A look of surprise crossed her face. "Hey, that's good," she said. "You wouldn't think something this gloppy would be good." Mr. Zhou laughed. "You have such a way with words." "What you see is what you get," she shrugged, grinning. "So what's on the agenda today?" "I thought we'd try some t'ai chi." Cordy looked up from her bowl. "T'ai chi?" she asked. "Angel does t'ai chi." "Ah," said Mr. Zhou smiled. "Your Angel is a wise man." Cordy snorted. "Usually, he's more of a dork," she replied, not unkindly. Mr. Zhou laughed. "Perhaps, but he did not live to his age without being flexible. One must be willing to change in order to survive. Your warrior has had to change many, many times." Cordy took another bite and chewed thoughtfully. "I guess I never thought of it that way. He's always just been Angel to me. Unless he's Angelus, of course, but let's not go there." She waved her spoon dismissively. Mr. Zhou inclined his head. "Of course I have heard of Angelus. Who in our line of work hasn't? But Angel seems to have found a successful way to control his demon. Something more humans could stand to learn," he said wryly. "Tell me about it." She placed the now empty bowl in Mr. Zhou's outstretched hand. "Thanks." Mr. Zhou rinsed the bowl and spoon and put them in the dishwasher. "We will hold our practice outside," he said, picking up the thick wool sweater on the back of his stool and slipping it over his head. "You will want something more substantial than that," he said, nodding to Cordy's shirt. "Why don't you find something suitable and meet me on the deck." He pointed toward the back of the house. "Great." She walked back to her room and found a white fleece pullover, then pushed her feet into her hiking boots. The French doors opened onto the deck, and she walked outside to join Mr. Zhou. Her breath caught in her lungs. She'd expected a great view, but not this miracle of nature. The area Mr. Zhou lived in was forested mainly by pines, but down a little farther, and stretching out for miles, there were lacy live oaks and the red-trunked manzanitas that glowed richly in the sun's bright morning rays. She glimpsed a blue shimmer that must have been Big Bear lake in the distance. As far as she could see there was nothing but trees, water and sky. Even though the month had been warmer and dryer than usual, there was a definite bite to the breeze, and when she breathed, the air was as crisp and pure as a just-picked apple. Mr. Zhou stood on the lawn below the deck. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Cordy nodded. "It's very different in the daylight." "Yes," he commented. "We think, because we can see them, that only the creatures who move in the day exist." Overhead a bird soared, its call floating on the breeze. Mr. Zhou pointed at it. "That, for example." Cordy looked up. "What is it?" "A red-shoulder hawk." He stood silently for a moment tracing the bird's movement with his hands, as if he were dancing with it. Instead of looking foolish, he appeared graceful and fey, otherworldly. "Its brother is the owl," he said, dropping his hands and plucking his cane from its resting place against the deck. He motioned with his head for her to join him, and she walked down the steps and onto the lawn. "Both are hunters, both share the same ground. But one works days and the other nights," he said. "You would be familiar with this, being a day-walker who works so closely with a vampire." Cordy nodded. "Nature creates a balance," Mr. Zhou continued. "Destroy one, and both die. It is the same with you and your warrior. When one is weak, the other cannot thrive." "That's why I'm here." Cordy fell into step beside him as they started down a wide path. The forest smelled fresh and piney in the chilly morning air, and their feet left long tracks in the dust. "You have some things to balance, yes, but Angel does, too. I was not joking when I said that his heart is as much at stake as yours is," he said, planting his silver-headed cane in the ground with each step. Cordy nodded and stuck her hands in her pockets. "So what do we do?" "I'm developing a plan. But first, you must build your chi, your energy. You must also learn to work with, not against, the power that is behind your visions. It hammers on your door now because it knows no other way to get in. But leave the door cracked, and its visits will be gentler." Cordy nodded. "That makes sense. But what about Angel?" "As I said, Angel is a wise man, one who has endured centuries of change. But his habit is to hole up and think too deeply about things. He believes he protects those he loves by remaining unattached." "Well, in a way he's right. It was becoming too attached to Buffy that unleashed Angelus. He killed our teacher and stalked Buffy and our friends for months until she sent him to Hell," Cordy said, distinctly uncomfortable. "If Angel experiences pure happiness, he loses his soul, it's true," Zhou replied. "But there are many shades of happiness one may experience before achieving the kind of bliss it takes for Angel's soul to go free. He must learn how far he can go before he loses it all, or else he will never experience true human connection. And without that connection, he cannot shanshu." Cordy stopped, gaping at him. He shrugged. "Like I said, people in our line of work know things." Cordy puffed out a breath. "Well," she said. "Skipping over the part where you're Miss Cleo's Chinese brother, if Angel's not here, how can he learn what his limits are?" "You will teach him." The trail passed through a densely wooded area then opened into a clearing. "*I* will teach him," Cordy said. "You've got to be kidding. I can't teach Angel anything." She followed Mr. Zhou into the clearing. Mr. Zhou stopped. "My dear, you underestimate your gifts. You think, without your visions, you are worth nothing. But Angel needs you as much as you need him. You are his link to life. You, like his son, are his link to the future." He rested his cane against a tree trunk and turned to look at her, his black eyes reproachful. "You place too much stock in things that fade. Visions will pass, my dear. But love is eternal." Cordy realized there was nothing she could say to that. "So my gift is to help Angel become human. How?" Mr. Zhou laughed. "You are looking for hard answers to a soft question. When the time for things is upon us, we instinctively know what to do." He assumed the first posture of the t'ai chi long form. "You and Angel. Always with the cryptic," she said, arranging her body in a mimic of his. Mr. Zhou laughed. "I am an old man. Please allow me my small pleasures." Title: Queen of the Night Author: Starlett Chapter 16 Wes sat in the office three nights after Cordy's departure. Books lay open all around him, some stacked four or six high. Yellow legal pads were scattered about, half-hidden by books, several with the nubs of pencils still resting where he'd dropped them mid-thought. It was late--or early for certain types--and the hotel was dark and a little spooky. Even though it looked like Cordy's problems might be solved by this shaman, Wes wasn't going to stop researching. Not only did he want a back-up plan, he also found the reading fascinating. Unfortunately, it also made him the man who knew too much. "Hey, Wes." Angel appeared in the doorway, lurking as usual. Wes started. "Didn't hear you there," he said. He closed the book he'd been reading, marking the page with his finger. "Kind of late for you, isn't it?" Angel sat down across the desk, being careful not to disturb any of the books. Wes shrugged. "I'm about done for the night. It's just that I found this passage and I wanted to finish it." "Anything interesting?" "Oh," Wes replied as casually as possible. "Just a history book on Seers." Angel grimaced. "We had that? Here? The whole time?" "No. Got it at the Magic Box." Angel's shoulders relaxed. "Whew. I was worried there for a minute. So? What does it say?" Wes wondered whether there was a graceful way to change the subject. "Angel, I really would prefer.... That is, you see, I would rather not...." "Wesley." Apparently not. He cleared his throat. "Yes. Right. Well, you see, what I've found is that, um, er...." "Just spit it out," Angel said mildly. "It can't be...." "The last human girl who had the visions? Her head exploded." "...that bad," Angel finished. "So you see, Angel, what we've got here is a difficult situation," Wes rushed on. "Difficult," Angel repeated. He stood slowly, like an old man. "What do we do?" "I...we.... Keep researching. I'm sure there's something in here...." Wes looked at all the books, and suddenly he felt wrung out. Hopeless. "I have no idea," he whispered. Angel shuffled to the door. "Get some rest, Wesley. Take one of the rooms upstairs. I don't want you driving." Wes nodded. "Yes. Right. I'll just go on up. Angel?" He turned back, his face shadowed and stark. "Hmmm?" "I'm sorry." Angel disappeared soundlessly, leaving Wes alone in the shadowed room. |