Fool's Paradise

How was he the only person unnerved by all this?

“So… Are we all just supposed to pretend nothing happened?” He finally asked, trying not to slam his chopsticks down on the table in frustration.

Mother turned to him and gave him an uneasy smile. “What do you mean?”

He ground his teeth together, eyes landing on Kuai Liang again. There was still no reaction, and the food Mother was placing on his plate just kept piling up. He looked to Father and Bi-Han. Father sat with his hands clasped together, looking at Tomas expectantly. Meanwhile Bi-Han had his head low, scowl on his face like he was trying to avoid all of them.

“I mean-“ He stopped himself, taking a deep breath. He lowered his voice as he said “I mean what happened with Kuai Liang.”

It was like that sentence somehow paused time itself. No one moved, and certainly no one spoke. It was like everyone stopped breathing. Mother and Father shared a glance, it looked like they were having a silent conversation. Bi-Han pointedly looked away from everyone, while Kuai’s empty stare never wavered. Tomas swallowed, trying to hold back tears.

“He died,” Tomas stressed when no one answered him. “He died and we watched him die.”

Granted, his memories of that day were blurred at best. He remembered Lin Kuei running around the temple, before Father had come to collect Bi-Han and him, telling them something had happened to Kuai Liang. Tomas believed nothing could ever come close to what he witnessed the day his birth mother and sister died, but what waited for them in that hospital room was definitely up there. Kuai’s battered and brutalised body, so many wires attached to him trying in vain to keep him alive. The second Tomas walked into that room, he knew there was no coming back.

He would forever be haunted by the sound of Mother screaming for her baby as Kuai Liang flatlined.

Yet here Kuai Liang was. Sat at the dinner table. Alive.

“The Doctor’s just got it wrong, that’s all,” Mother tried to excuse, voice strained and tears in her eyes.

Father sighed softly, reaching over the table to take her hand as he whispered “Yawen.”

Mother blinked, tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked at Father. She hiccuped slightly, before violently jerking her hand from him. Father looked hurt, but did nothing to stop her. Gut twisted further, Tomas suddenly got the feeling Father had something to do with this.

That unfortunately clicked into place far too well.

After all, who else would have been able to access Kuai Liang’s body for it to have gone missing?

“What did you do?” Mother was addressing Father but looking at Kuai Liang instead. She gently placed a hand on her youngest son’s cheek. For the first time since he’d come back, Kuai actually reacted, even if it was just a small flinch at the contact. “I’m grateful he is back, but what did you do to him?”

“What I had to,” Father replied simply. Tomas didn’t understand what that meant.

And if he knew a way to bring someone back from the dead, how come he never brought my Mama or Tamara back to me?

Although, given the state Kuai Liang was currently in, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that they were never subjected to all of this.

“He’s been through something traumatic,” Father continued, refusing to elaborate on what exactly he’d done. Tomas bit his lip, resisting the urge to question if Lord Liu Kang knew of this turn of events. “He just needs time to adjust. We just need to be patient with him.”

“So… You really do expect us to just pretend like nothing happened?” Bi-Han hissed, and the glare he was giving his Father was deadly. Tomas had been on the receiving end of Bi-Han’s anger far too often, and even he’d never seen this amount of hatred in his brother’s eyes. “We’re all just supposed to retreat into a fucking fantasy where some bastard didn’t murder him in cold blood?”

Father’s face tightened and he reached a hand up to rub his temples. “When he’s recovered, then we can focus on what happened to him, and seek vengeance against those who did this.” He placed both hands on the table, looking around at everyone one by one. “Until then, we need to reduce any stress for him. Putting too much on him, too soon, will be catastrophic.”

Tomas bowed his head slightly. What on Earth did you do, Father? He loved his family, truly he did, they took him in when they really had no obligation to. He would never say a bad word about any of them. But by the Elder God’s, he had doubts that what Father had done in this instance was a good thing.

“Bi-Han,” Father directed, clearly trying to defuse his eldest son’s anger. “I promise, we will find out who did this, and we will make them pay.” Father looked towards Kuai Liang, where Mother was gently stroking his cheek with the back of her hand. “But you need to have patience.”

Bi-Han glared at him, before his own gaze landed on Kuai. He was still shaking with rage, but took a deep breath and bit out a bitter, “fine.”

Silence settled once again, and while Tomas was sure no one was feeling it anymore, they all returned to their meals. The dumpling he placed in his mouth was delicious even if not as hot as he’d have liked it to be.

When Tomas saw Kuai move from the corner of his eye, his head shot up. Slowly, Kuai was lifting his hands, while lowering his head slightly to stare at them. His face was still blank, but his brow ever so slightly scrunched up like he was confused.

“Kuai Liang?” Mother whispered hopefully. She reached for Kuai’s face again. This time he didn’t flinch, but slowly turned his head towards her.

“Mama?” His voice croaked, small and pretty much devoid of life. Tomas' heart broke, none of them had referred to Mother as Mama in years. It was too embarrassing in front of the other recruits, who’d often make fun of them for it.

“Yes. Yes, it’s me, my little flame,” she whispered, cradling his face in his hands. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

Kuai blinked a few times, “D-Don’t… Understand.”

“I know.” Mother laughed slightly, tears rolling down her cheeks as she blinked. “But you’ll be okay, Mama’s here.”

Kuai still looked blank, but his eyes were more focused now, and even from afar, Tomas could see how wet his eyes were getting. It was like he was completely lost, searching for an answer to a question he couldn’t even ask.

“Why don’t we go for a walk,” she suggested, and as she stood she took Kuai’s hands in her own. He let Mother guide him to his feet. “That’s it, come with me.”

Tomas didn’t say anything, neither did Bi-Han or Father. All three just watched as Kuai awkwardly followed after his Mother, legs stiff and not bending properly like he’d forgotten how to actually walk. All the time, she gently coaxed him to keep following with words of praise.

Once the pair were gone, Father, Bi-Han and Tomas continued their silence. Even though Tomas’ mind was screaming at him to say something, anything, he just couldn’t seem to conjure any words. All he could do was bite his lip, and look down at his plate. His dumpling’s had long since cooled.

He placed his chopsticks down on his plate, pushing it back onto the table. He hadn’t been hungry in the first place, but now he felt downright sick. Neither Father nor Bi-Han attempted to stop him as he also stood up and walked out of the room.

His footsteps echoed throughout the halls, in the distance he could hear Mother still talking to Kuai, occasionally he heard his voice, although short and sharp. When he heard a high pitched whine, and Mother cooing softly, he decided that it may be for the best to allow her to deal with whatever was going on.

He turned the corner in the opposite direction to where their voices were coming from.

“It’s okay, Kuai Liang, it’s all going to be okay,” Mother assured him.

Tomas was not so optimistic.

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