A small red fox, its nine tails wagging behind it, gleefully run through the off beaten paths behind Tai Chen Palace on an unusually warm winter night. Feng Jiu had been waiting for the opportunity to transform into her fox form for a few weeks now as she has been resisting the urge to do so ever since Dijun had come back to the Palace. Although the paths and the field at the back of the Palace were empty at all times as no one was allowed to go there by the express order of Dijun, she didn't want to risk being there when he was in residence.  When she had first come to the Palace, she had asked Chonglin why the area was off limits and he had looked at her suspiciously knowing that she had a propensity to stick her nose where it doesn't belong when she became curious.  "Xiao Jiu, that's where Dijun meditates and cultivates when he is in Tai Chen Palace.  That area is imbued with his spiritual power.  He doesn't like it disturbed so please don't go there.  The last person who trespassed in that area was banished to the Mortal Realms and stripped of all powers for 5000 years."  When Dijun had been away for a year, Feng Jiu had gone there once in a while to transform to her fox form.  As a spiritual fox, she needed to transform from time to time or else her cultivation would suffer.  She couldn't transform anywhere else in the Palace grounds as someone might see her.  It would be difficult to explain the presence of a nine tailed fox running around the grounds of the Sky Kingdom if she was sighted.   However, It had been so long since she has transformed and she has been feeling the effects of it.  Tonight was the best opportunity she had as Dijun was not in the Palace and was not expected back until the next week at least according to Chonglin. Convincing herself that there was no risk involved, she decided to venture out. As she run around, she wondered where Dijun had gone to.  It must be for something important or else he wouldn't have gone there personally.  When Dijun had retired and handed over his position as Heavenly Emperor to the previous Tianjun, who had since also retired, he has rarely involved himself in the myriad of issues across the Realms preferring a solitary life.  However, when it comes to any events that would have far reaching consequence to the Mortal and Immortal Realms, he was still the one who had to deal with it.  She wondered what serious matter was transpiring to merit his personal involvement.  In the meantime, there's no use thinking about it now on such a nice night.  It's a good thing it's very warm tonight so I can stay out later.  Oh, how I've missed feeling the earth under my paws.

After a few hours of running around, her fox instinct told her that she was no longer alone. She quickly scampered towards a copse of trees on the other side of the field to hide herself.  She deftly climbed onto a tree and perched herself on one of its branches taking care to be as quiet as possible so that she can peer out at the field to see who or what it was that had interrupted her play. When she saw the white hair gleaming from the distance, she almost groaned out loud. He wasn't supposed to be here. Did she misunderstand Chonglin? He probably didn't see her though, at least she hope he didn't as he was still at a distance away from her. It was a good thing that she was in her fox form so her senses were heightened allowing her to sense him and flee even before she was sighted.

As she spied on him, she saw him stop in the middle of the field to gaze at the distant mountain ranges bordering the field on one side. There was an uncharacteristic slight droop in the square of his shoulders and Feng Jiu could see the exhaustion lining his face as she stared at his profile. She wondered what burdens he had to carry on his shoulders. It must be hard to be the Supreme God of the Universe. Looking at him now, solitary and alone, she felt for him. She knew he had no one to call family as he was a creation of the Heavens to save the Universe. He didn't really have any friends either because his position and power necessarily required him to always keep a certain distance from anyone else. What must it be like to have only yourself to count on, to not have anyone to share your triumphs and problems with both in times of happiness and in times of sadness? Although Feng Jiu likes to escape the Fox Realm once in a while to make new friends, explore new places, she always knew that she had people she could go home to. She knew she could always count on her family to support her. As she continued to stare at his solitary countenance, she wondered if there was some way she could make things better for him. He gives so much to the Universe, takes on so much to protect everyone. There must be something I can do to help him. Some way that I can help carry his burdens. That was a foolish thought, though, for what can she offer him, she wasn't verse in political machinations nor was she familiar with military strategies. She couldn't even understand the most basic Buddhist text that were part of her assignments when she was in school so she could not even converse with him on his favorite topic. She sighed, suddenly feeling useless. So deep was she in thought that she was not paying attention to the fact that she was pacing on a tree branch. Before she became aware of what was happening, she had missed a step and started to fall onto the hard ground. As she grappled to keep her balance (good thing she was still in her fox form), she was finally able to land safely on her paws. Unfortunately, the noises she was making amidst the eerily silent night had alerted Dijun to her presence.   She didn't even need to lift her head towards his direction to know that he knew someone else was there and was probably now walking towards her. She quickly transformed into her human form knowing that Dijun cannot see her in her fox form as that would be a disaster of epic proportion.  One look at her tails and Dijun would know instantly which family she belongs to for they were the only nine tailed fox clan in the Universe and it would not take him long to figure out that she was the Princess of Qingqiu and its future Queen. She would bring embarrassment to the Fox Kingdom and her family if she was punished for blatantly disobeying his edict, not to mention that they will find out that she has been working in Tai Chen Palace as a kitchen maid.  If Dijun didn't punish her, her father would be the one to do it.

"Xiao Jiu greets Donghua Dijun. Fancy bumping into you here." she said nonchalantly revealing herself before her courage failed her.  She knew sooner or later that he would see her so there was no use hiding.  Maybe if she pretended that she didn't know that this area was forbidden, he would be more lenient?  Fancy bumping into you here? What am I talking about? This is not a party! I'm so going to be punished and kicked out of here. 

"Why are you out here? Don't you know this is a forbidden area?" He asked sternly. Donghua was a bit disconcerted to see the fairy maid who has been occupying a fair bit of his thoughts the past few weeks. He had just come back to the Palace a few minutes ago a few days ahead of schedule as he needed to cultivate.  He did not expect to find anyone out here since everyone should know that this area was off limits by his express orders. No one would dare to cross him and be there without his permission. Well, no one, except for her, apparently.  What she was doing out here by herself? It was almost midnight and she should be back in her quarters sleeping. He narrowed his eyes. Was she on some kind of secret assignation with someone knowing that this place was frequently deserted? She better not be or there would be hell to pay. "Are you meeting with someone out here?" he asked suspiciously, a trace of jealous irritation in his voice that he was unable to mask. It was a good thing she seems to be frequently oblivious to his reactions to her or else she would certainly know just how much she affected him.

"Who would I be meeting? It's the middle of the night. That would be highly improper." she said indignantly ignoring the fact that she was the one running around where she should not be.

"But being here alone in a forbidden area isn't improper?" He asked coldly hoping that he sounded sufficiently forbidding even though inside he was relieved that she was not out here meeting someone clandestinely.

"Just out for some air. It's a nice night.  If you lie down on this open field, you can see the best view of the stars.11" Feng Jiu said breezily thinking to side step his question about the area being off limits. "You're not even supposed to be here. Are you not supposed to be out of the Palace until the end of the week?" she thought to herself, a little peeved with him for ruining her fun. 

 "Oh? Am I not allowed here whenever I want? Should I report my every move to you? Maybe I can ask my steward to send an hour by hour schedule of my itinerary to you so you can make sure I'm in the right place at the right time. Would you like that?" he asked in a slightly sarcastic tone his eyebrows raised.  She looked at him in surprise, then in panic. She closed her eyes as she realized that she had spoken her thoughts out loud.  I am so going to get punished and kicked out of here. 

Donghua tried his best to keep his face serious but he really wanted to smile.  What is it about her that always makes him want to smile.  It was obvious that she had not meant for her words to be heard judging from the way her eyes widened and then closed in mortification.  She truly was an interesting person.  She amuses him like no other and if he was honest with himself, he would admit that being with her always lightens up his day.  He could see her blushing now, her cheeks all red and rosy.  It took all the willpower in him to stop himself from cupping her chin and touching her face.  He should stop thinking like that but he couldn't stop himself.  She really was adorable.  Donghua knew that he should punish her for breaking his rules, the same way he would be doing right now if it was anyone else, but found that he couldn't.  There was just something about her that makes him happy.  So instead of punishing her and ordering her gone from his sight, he touched her shoulders, waited for her to open her eyes and beckoned her to follow him.   

As they both started walking towards the open field, he stopped and turned abruptly wanting to find out why she was really out here.  Unfortunately, as she had been absentmindedly following him trying to think of an excuse as to why she had to leave before she could accidentally say anything even more mortifying, she did not realize that he had stopped.   

"Oooff, sorry Dijun." She said as she bumped into him.  He winced and flinched.  Her eyes widened at his reaction as she knew she had not hit him that hard.  It was only when she looked more closely at the arm that she had bumped into that she noticed a long cut on it beneath his gown. "You're hurt! Why haven't you bandaged it?" she said.  "Are you hurt anywhere else?"  Her eyes raked over his whole body worriedly.  There was no sign of any other injury.  Of course, he was fully clothed so she couldn't really see everything.  She was not about to ask him to disrobe so that she can check on him.  She decided instead to concentrate on the wound that she could actually see wondering how serious it was.  She knew that Dijun had self healing powers so if it was only a minor cut, he would have been able to heal it himself.   "Have you seen High God Zhe Yan?  Did you let him examine you? Did he prescribe a medicine or salve for you? I'm sorry for bumping you on your arms Dijun, I should have been more careful.  I hope I didn't make it worse"  She said biting her lips clearly distressed now.  "Here, let's sit on the grass so you can rest a little bit. Maybe we should put a bandage on it."  She pulled him down so that now they were both sitting on the ground.  She took his arms gingerly to examine it more closely wanting to make sure that the wound was still not bleeding.

"It does hurt a little."   Although, he didn't like people touching him, Donghua was rather enjoying the way she was fussing over him and he wanted to see what else she would do.

"You really must be in pain if you're actually admitting it to me.  Men can act like idiots sometimes usually wanting to act all brave even if they're practically dying of pain, my uncles are like that.   Although, some might say that walking around with an open wound isn't that smart either. I'm sure you haven't ask anyone to help you with it."  she said rolling her eyes at him as she took out a salve tucked into the belt of her gown.  "I always carry salve around with me because you never know when you'll need it." she said at his inquiring look.  Then without asking for permission if she could touch the wound, let alone put something on it, she started applying it into his arms taking care to be gentle with him.  "This should make the wound heal faster.  Don't worry, it doesn't have any harmful ingredients, I made it myself from cottonwood."  She continued to massage the medicine into the wound, stopping once in a while to blow on it, to take out the sting.  "How did this happen anyway?" For some reason, she wasn't that intimidated by him anymore.  Seeing that he could get hurt also made her realize that although he was stronger and had immeasurable power, he was just like everyone in some ways.

When he didn't answer, Feng Jiu looked up and found him staring at her.  Donghua had been mesmerized by her actions the past few minutes that he couldn't immediately answer her.  No one has ever tended to him with such gentleness.  He could see her small lips form a small "o" as she blew on his wound and he wanted nothing more than to taste them.  When she looked up with those large liquid eyes of hers, holding his gaze with her own, he found himself unable to look away. "Dijun?  Are you all right?  Did the medicine sting?"  Her soft voice broke into his reverie.      

"No, ah, it feels better now actually." he said as he pulled his arm away from her feeling the flush of heat all over his body especially in his groin.  He adjusted his sitting position not wanting her to notice how uncomfortable he was.  He knew he needed to talk about something else now, because if not, he would not be able to stop his traitorous body from taking her into his arms.  What in the blazes was happening to him?  He has never felt anything like this in his whole life.

 "It was a beast that cause the wound.  I was preoccupied and it was able to take a swipe at me with its claws before I could react properly."   he said grimacing as he recalled how he tried to save the other Immortals that were on the scene from being killed by the Beast when it taken advantage of his momentary distraction to attack him directly.  If not for his lightning fast reflexes, the injury would have been fatal as the Beast was aiming at his heart.  In the end, it had taken him days before he was able to subdue and kill it but not before it managed to deplete him of a substantial amount of cultivation.

"The Beast must have been really powerful if it was able to hurt you like this."  Feng Jiu said knowing how powerful Dijun was.  No ordinary beast would have been able to hurt him like this. She looked at the wound again wondering if she should bandage it.

"It's the Qingtian Beast.  I don't know if you've heard of it? It escaped from its sealed ward" Donghua wasn't sure if fairy maids were educated on demons and beasts lore but as the Qingtain Beast was one of those that truly terrorized the Realms hundreds of thousands of years ago and was used by adults to scare their children into submission, it was possible that she has heard of it.  Feng Jiu's eyes widened as soon as she heard which Beast it was as she nodded her head to tell him that she was familiar with that Beast.  From what she remembered from her ancient history lessons, this was the Beast that was forged from the fires of hell itself.  At the peak of its power, it was able to wreak havoc all over the Immortal Realms, killing scores of Immortals and leaving devastation in its wake.  During that time, there was panic throughout the Realms as the most powerful Immortals were unable to defeat it even as they combined their powers to work against it.  It was only when the very young Donghua had rose up to challenge it by himself that it was finally subdued.  The legend of Donghua had been born that day and after that no one dared to challenge him for supremacy as he united the Universe.  

"No wonder you have to be the one to go yourself.  Was it bad?"  No one else but Donghua Dijun would have managed to kill it.

"Hundreds were killed before I got there.  Even when I got there and was fighting it, it was able to still take down so many."  he said in his usual matter of fact way but she could hear the faintest hint of sorrow in his voice.  Unconsciously, she took hold of his hands and placed it within her palms squeezing them lightly to give him comfort.  "Maybe if I had gotten there sooner it wouldn't have been so bad.  I was the one who sealed him in that ward.  He should not have been able to break through that ward.  Either I made a mistake which is unlikely or someone or something helped him but as of now, I can't figure out who. "  She could hear the frustration in his voice knowing that in some ways he blamed himself for the death of those that had been attacked.  It must be so difficult to be him, to always have to bear the responsibilities that others could not.      

"You're a good person Dijun. You're the best that the Heavens could have given to the Universe." Feng Jiu said suddenly wanting him to know how magnificent he was, how exceptional, both as a God and as a person.  He always gives of himself without asking for anything in return just like he did when he saved her life and that was just one example.  He didn't have to do anything he does, he didn't have to keep on saving the Universe but he did because the goodness in him will burst through whatever situation he encountered.  He stared at her.  "You are.  You give so much to the Universe.  You carry so much of its burden on your shoulders and yet you still take on more.  I wonder if you realize how much everyone in the Universe owes you but you probably never think of it that way."   

"No one owes me anything.  I was given all this power by the Heavens so I'm just doing my duty and fulfilling my responsibilities."  Donghua said unsure how to react to her words.  He could feel her hands though caressing his, as her warmth seeped through his entire being.

"Sometimes I wonder if the Heavens were being fair in putting all this power on you.  They should have known the type of person you are, should have been able to see the goodness in your heart and not given you this burden.  They probably knew though that you are the only one who could bear it, bear the full weight of the Universe on your back and not abuse the powers given to you.  That's probably why they did it but it really wasn't fair to you. Others should also bear the burden, I should be able to bear a little of the burden for you also." she said looking at him solemnly.  "Thank you Dijun for all you do, for who you are and for all you give.  We owe you.  I owe you."  He could hear the sincerity in her voice, the genuineness in them as she thanked him.  No one has ever thanked him before, thank him like she did with her whole heart.  Everything he does has always been expected of him, things he had to do for the privilege of the power bestowed upon him.  For heaven's sake, he had actually been created for the sole purpose of saving the Universe.  But here in front of him was a slip of a girl who saw him as more than a tool, more than a weapon to be wielded, she saw in him, the man beneath the God.   He grappled at the emotions that she was evoking in him even as he could feel a trap closing around his heart.  He didn't know if the Heavens were cursing him or blessing him when they brought her into his life.  He stared at the stars above him.  Suddenly, he flopped down on the grass using his uninjured arms as a pillow.  He tugged on her arms, she smiled and lay down beside him as they both stared at the night sky.

"You're right.  This is the best way to view the stars."