A Smile

Huang Shi and Xiao Shu looked at their son sitting in the garden. They had expected to see him getting ready for his day of training, giving nothing more than small replies as he would swing his giant sword.

This morning, however, had taken a turn. Their son was awake sitting alone by the frozen pool. Xiao Shu wanted to charge over to him. She could tell from his back that he held in sadness.

She didn't know if this was a happy or sad sign. Maybe their son had begun training so much, that sleep didn't matter to him anymore. This was actually kind of true as Huang Yang also trained at night sometimes.

Huang Shi felt a bolt strike his heart, and as if they had been ready to jump out, tears fell from his eyes. He grabbed the shoulder of his wife, as he almost felt dizzy.

Seeing her husband in tears she began supporting him, worry surface in her eyes. "What's the matter honey?", she asked.

Huang Shi looked at her, tears still fell, yet he revealed a smile of relief. "I'm happy, he is wearing the coat I gave him years ago... I think everything is going to be alright", he said.

Hearing the words, Xiao Shu felt as though a burden had been lifted from her heart. She began remembering how Huang Yang would always wear the black fur coat by the time of his birthday when the cold arrived.

Even in the tough times, he would wear it while chasing his father around, wanting to be like him. Unfortunately, a family member would always take him away to take on torturous training. For this reason, she hated Huang Hong and his descendants along with Huang Qiang.

His birthday had always been a somewhat peaceful time, as Huang Shi would make time for him to be with his son. Xiao Shu always wished for it to go on forever, as she could watch her three boys play and laugh.

Huang Shi began walking towards Huang Yang, while Xiao Shu followed closely behind him. As they arrived behind Huang Yang, they heard sobs coming from him.

Holding back their own tears, they stood on each of his sides. Huang Yang noticed their arrival and desperately tried to hold back his tears, not wanting to show them how afraid he was.

Huang Shi placed his hand on his son's shoulder, while Xiao Shi sat in the snow beside him. The broken heart of Huang Yang only seemed to worsen by this.

"Talk to us Yang'er", Huang Shi said with a gentle voice as he looked at his son.

Huang Yang heard the words, as he saw the sweet smile of his mother out of the corner of his right eye. With a struggling voice, he tried to explain what had really bothered him for all this time.

Huang Shi and Xiao Shu had thought that killing a person, especially a member of the family, had scared Huang Yang, even bringing self-hatred with it. This, however, was not the case.

Huang Yang never hated himself for what he did, but fear had started to break him. His nightmares had followed him for far too long.

"Wh- what if I didn't do anything, or wh- what if something like that happens again and I can't help", he said before swallowing some saliva. "I don't want my nightmares to come true... I- I don't want to be alone".

A shock had been given to his parents this morning. Their kid was simply worried about losing them, just like all kids were. He wasn't blaming himself for the death of Huang Zhilan.

All he dreamed of was to protect his family, so he wouldn't need to fear anything again. Huang Shi looked at his son with sadness, he honestly began to blame himself.

"You are our child Yang'er, one day you will grow up and be strong, but right now, we will be the protectors", Huang Shi said with a warm and comforting voice.

"We want to see you smile sweetie, we want to see you play and laugh, can you do this for us?", Xiao Shu said with a gentle smile.

Tears still fell from Huang Yang's eyes, but they went unseen as he hugged his mother. His father soon joined in on the hug. The two looked at their child with a happy smile.

Huang Yang may have changed, but he was still their child, he just needed a small reminder. From the house came a small child walking out, while rubbing his tired eyes. The voices from the garden had attracted him.

Huang Xianjun saw his parents hug his brother while showing off a listless expression as he looked at them. Seeing the small boy, Huang Shi, and Xiao Shu waved him over with smiles on their lips.

Huang Xianjun looked at his brother standing in between their parents, he had been sad for some time as the two hadn't played together for a while. But now this brother of his looked at him, with a small smile and a red nose.

The small Xianjun mustered his strength before taking off towards his family. He almost jumped into the three when he was close enough, luckily he hardly weighed anything.

He pushed himself until he was standing in the middle of the hug. A childish smile grew on his lips as he began giggling.

Huang Yang who hadn't heard his brother giggle in some time, began imitating him. The tears slowly began to disappear, leaving Huang Yang with a smile and slightly red eyes.

The hug lost track of time, but they knew that they still had time before Huang Yang's birthday party. They saw no reason to put an end to this happy moment, only wanting to enjoy it.

They all felt as though they had learned something, except maybe Huang Xianjun who simply wore his foolish smile. From the sky came a bird, it had black feathers and decided to join the humans.

.....

Outside the house of his son, Huang Cenfeng was standing along with other members of the family, waiting for the birthday boy. It was the same people who also showed up to Huang Xianjun's birthday party, except Huang Mei seemed to have brought with her a servant for some reason.

By his side were Pen Min and Lei Nianzu, they had a habit of talking about Huang Yang. Often praising the boy, yet their mood was still not that great.

No one really had any thought regarding the birthday, as they had all seen how Huang Yang had acted in the last months. He hardly smiled or played, only focussing on training.

Something interesting had, however, happened today. Huang Yang would normally visit Pen Min in the early morning, asking for a training season, but today no one had seen the boy, he had stayed home.

While they didn't dare hope for anything, their curiosity had been peaked. Even Zhou Ru, who had just learned of this, showed interest. She had only met Huang Yang the night before. She later learned why he was quiet and had a cold look in his eyes.

He had made quite an impression on her, and she even hoped that he would show her his sword art. She had performed for him, but she knew nothing about his martial arts.

In all honesty, she was very surprised when meeting the higher echoes of the family. They had not looked at her with the same disdain as Huang Yao. She learned that the family was split into two factions. Some said that one was good while the other was bad.

Life, of course, isn't so black and white. There will always be some grey areas, but she clearly felt a difference. The patriarch's side didn't seem all high and mighty like the others. She even learned that the greatest genius of the family, Huang Yang, was adopted.

Huang Mei would often talk to her about all the family matters, even though she likely shouldn't. Luckily Zhou Ru didn't kiss and tell. She would not spread the information to the other servants or hired guards.

The two girls appreciated each other. Zhou Ru had other siblings, yet they were in Bright city, and currently out of reach. Huang Mei had, therefore, become a sort of little sister to her.

She would cook and clean for her, partly due to her being a servant, but she would also play around with her, and gossip at times, like young girls, do. She sometimes felt the hate coming from other servants due to her good fortune, but she would simply look away.

Time seemed to stop as a door began to open. A flash of sadness crossed the eyes of the guests, yet they quickly hid it away. Zhou Ru saw the sad look in Huang Mei's eyes and knew that this little sister of her, missed seeing Huang Yang smile. But so did everyone who had shown up.

They all gave forced smiles, as they looked at the door. Huang Canfeng tried to hold back his sorrow. He wanted to see his grandson smile.

The door revealed Huang Yang, standing in white robes, while a black fur coat covered him up. His dark eyes seemed brighter today, as he gave a smile.

The smile a child should make.