Chapter Text
FIYS
Epilogue
Tong Yao stood in the window of her hotel sitting room, looking down at all the Olympic flags and the flags of the world flickering all over the place, a sight that she had truly thought that she would never see again, lost to a darkness that had covered her past for that, quite frankly, was only a short period of time.
The evening before she had given the final performance of her rhythmic gymnastics career – a performance she had once thought, in those early days following the Incident in which her legs had been so damaged and the doctors had even thought that walking alone would be a miracle without aids, would be an impossibility – a performance that may not have contained all those intense acrobatic movements she had been known for but had been one of dance and jumps, wielding the fans that no-one had even realised could be used in the way that she had.
It had been beautiful, heartbreaking, soul-stealing but more than that, it had shown that she had risen from the ashes, a legendary phoenix and deserved the standing ovation that she had received with not a single doubt. (There may have been one or more tears that had fallen in the various commentary boxes around the area as well!)
(And it was the one time that rhythmic gymnastics had stood out at the Olympics as the most outstanding moment of the Games!)
Now she stood in what was no ordinary room, the family (and by that, it was both the Lu and Yu families) had reserved the entire two top floors of one of their hotels for all the people who wanted to accompany her to what was her last official Olympics.
[Well, what else would you expect from these families! Exactly!]
(And in case anyone was wondering, she had already decided a long, long time ago, that as much as she loved rhythmic gymnastics, she did not want to be a coach or a mentor (well, except perhaps for Li-Li, who would always be an exception), long before the Incident had put a complete halt to any such thoughts for her physically.)
On the windowsill, in front of her, Xiao Cong and Da Bing sat either side of her, wearing harnesses that now had official security badges attached, signifying their importance to their mama, for the period that they were under the auspices of the Olympic world.
Xiao Cong was now twice the size he had been, during the court room period, and they were almost certain that he was actually going to be slightly bigger than Da Bing. Not that, that concerned Da Bing whatsoever, he was always going to be the elder and the one in charge, a fact he never hesitated to make clear.
Ming, emerging from his own room, caught sight of her and crossed the room to join her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Mei-mei?” He said, the two words containing all he needed to ask just from the tone it carried.
“I never thought that I would be a part of all this again, not after the reality of what happened hit me.” She said simply, laying her head against his chest, always sure that he was there for her, a fact she had never doubted her entire life. “It feels…” She paused for a moment as she tried to find the right word for what she was trying to say before landing on several. “It feels like a totally different world now.”
He tightened his hold around her shoulders. “It is and it is not.”
“Huh!” She replied, genuinely bewildered by his response.
“Yao-Yao, you will always be a part of this world, the hard work, dedication and determination you put into this brought you the title of Olympian and it a title that will always belong to you.” Ming continued as he waved his hand at the scene below. “And you have returned to it, even for this short period of time, a National and World Champion in your new world, bringing to it the hard work, dedication and determination that was honed while in this world.”
“You have returned to your former world and performed again after an horrific assault that would have sent anyone else into a downward spiral they could not survive, but you did not. You rose like a phoenix and became the star that you always have been, always will be.”
“Ming is right, Shorty.” The familiar voice of the ZGDX captain filled the room and the cousins turned round to find that the others were standing in the room behind them, listening to what they were saying.
Lu Si Cheng moved across the room, wrapping his arm around her waist, brushing a lock of hair away from her eyes. “You are our Olympian, my wife, my mid.” (And though he didn’t say it, she was always going to be his Shorty!)
[And yes, yes we did! We did just slip that they were married in there! We’re good like that!]
Then one by one, the rest of the extended family stepped forward.
“My Mulan, my mei-mei.” Chen Jin-Yang said as she moved to join them, followed by her husband.
“My opposition, my mei-mei and best friend.” Ai Jia added as he wrapped his arm around Jin-Yang, reaching out a finger to tap Tong Yao on her nose, making her scrunch it back at him.
“My săozÍ.” Lu Yue said as stepped forward, grinning at her as she stuck her tongue out at him.
“My xiao jie-jie.” Xiao Pang and Lao Mao said simultaneously as they came forward.
“My cousin and fellow C-drama viewer.” Lao K, also known more often now as Zhe K as he had fully accepted his role as Zhe Yan’s younger brother, grinned at her, earning a laugh and smile that lit up her face as he moved to Ming’s side.
“The supreme Tamamo-no-mae in China and South Korea, the Lady Smiling.” Hierophant added as he moved forward with his brother next to him, who was grinning in that way only Kun did.
The Lu parents stepped up next. “Our beautiful daughter-in-law, and tamer of our sons.”
“Our xiǎo xiānnǚ, our talented niece, who has always been determined whatever path she takes.” Her uncle added from where he stood with his wife and Tong Yao’s parents.
But it was Bai Zhen and Zhe Yan that concluded the list that they had been building. “But you will always be under the watchful eye of your cousins.”
Da Bing and Xiao Cong looked at each other, then meowed loudly in approval, sending them all laughing.
ZGDX was more than just a team, it was family.
FIYS