Steam from the teapot filled the air with the clean scent of mint, reminding Chon Po of the times when Shen-zin Su swam into higher latitudes and the days grew short and cold. To fight the chill, Xiu Li used to boil water for tea, the two pandaren cradling the ceramic cups in their paws and trading anecdotes as they wrapped themselves in cloaks for warmth. Now it was not Xiu Li who poured the tea, but her mother, Mei.
"You've been so tired, Po," she commented.
Chon Po picked up his teacup, then put it down again. Mei sat at the table in the same place Li Li had the evening he had lost his temper at both her and Chen. The following night, Li Li had snuck off with the pearl. He'd received only vague letters from her since. He missed his daughter terribly.
"I'm worried about Li Li," he said. "And Chen."
Mei sipped her tea. The graying fur around the sides of her face matched the silver hair she had combed back and plaited into a braid. When she looked at Chon Po, his stomach clenched for just a moment. Her eyes were Xiu Li's. They were also Li Li's.
"To be worried for your family is natural," Mei said.
"What did I do wrong?" Chon Po blurted out. Mei raised her eyebrows at him, then drank more of her tea.
"You'll have to elaborate," she said.
"I've failed. My family is splintered, and only my son remains with me. My daughter despises me." Anger and frustration bubbled below the surface of his voice. Mei shook her head.
"Li Li doesn't despise you, Po," she said. "You are not asking the right question."
"What question should I be asking, then?"
"You should be asking yourself whether you believe the death of the body is a greater tragedy than the death of the spirit."
Chon Po blinked. "What?"
Mei set down her teacup and folded her paws.
***
"When Xiu Li died, you lost a wife. I lost a daughter. I know what you fear, because I have experienced it."
Chon Po's heart leaped into his throat. Mei continued.
"My daughter loved the fishing boats. She loved the sea; she loved the way the work oscillated between leisure, careful patience, and excitement. And, yes, she loved the risk, too."
Mei's eyes drifted from Chon Po's. They seemed to look beyond him, some memory playing out in her mind.
"I used to watch the way her face lit up when she tended to her boat. Each day as she guided it from the shore, out into open sea, it made her spirit sing."
Mei's gaze refocused.
"Would you have taken that from her, just to keep her longer?"
Chon Po stared at his teacup and saucer.
"Strongbo followed Li Li at my behest and was killed for it…"
"Did either Li Li or Chen tell you what Bo said before he died, Po?"
He looked up at Mei again, caught off guard, suddenly nervous.
"No," he answered.
"The last sentiment Bo expressed was gratitude at having shared Li Li's travels with her. He said that he had been enlightened. That if he had to do it all over, he would have done the exact same thing. He had no regrets."
Chon Po struggled with this idea for a moment.
"Is that true?"
"Both Li Li and Chen told me this. I do not believe they were lying. They were heartbroken over Bo."
Mei reached over and put one gnarled paw on Chon Po's.
"Po, you cannot bend Li Li to your will. You know this. She's defied you twice already. Li Li is what she is—a fighter, every bit as much as you. The wanderlust is part of who we are, and our home on Shen-zin Su is a testament to that. But she'll never stop being your daughter. Even if she never comes home, Li Li isn't lost to you."
"I just want her to be safe," Chon Po said, closing his eyes.
"She will find her own safety," Mei answered. "And her own happiness."
***
She saw golden dunes racing beneath her, each effortless step propelling her long yards across the sand. The setting sun flared off to her right as Li Li chased down the jagged mountains at the southwestern border of Tanaris. She swept by a little cactus oasis in the foothills, dashing toward a narrow pass that cut so suddenly and cleanly through the rock it may as well have been cleaved by some cosmic axe. Four stern, magnificent statues guarded the road. One looked like a typical human woman, but the others had the heads of animals. Li Li turned to them, and they sprang to life, extending their palms forward invitingly. She slowed, intrigued, and moved toward them. As she did, their demeanors changed. They snarled and stretched spindly fingers capped with scythe-like claws out toward her. She opened her mouth to shriek. The statues morphed into a single entity, becoming her father. His intent remained malicious; he too would catch and trap her. She tried to run, but her bounding stride, so effortless a moment before, faltered, and she tumbled to the ground. She watched herself pitch forward in slow motion, each second an eternity. As the stone road rose up to meet her, the entire landscape liquefied, copper-bronze rock turning to sapphire blue. She splashed into an angry sea, battered in the midst of a terrible storm. Swells the size of Shen-zin Su lifted her and threw her violently down again. She clawed at the water to stay afloat, gasping for air.
A wave carried her upon its crest, and she caught a glimpse into the trough. Another pandaren was swimming toward her, calling her name, caught in the same vicious ocean.
"Mama!" Li Li screamed.
Xiu Li cried out for her daughter. Li Li reached toward her with both arms, forgetting to swim. The wave she rode didn't roll on beneath her; it broke, water lancing down onto itself. Li Li hurtled forward, the spearhead of the onslaught. Her mother's face rushed toward her, the thousands of tons of water roaring behind Li Li as effective a tomb as any dug by mortal hands.
***
Something wet splashing against her head sent Li Li sputtering into wakefulness. She tried to stand, lost her balance, and crashed back to the floor, dislodging various bits of equipment from their packing.
"Li Li?" Chen's concerned voice steadied her, quelling her panic. "Are you okay?"
Li Li sat up, gingerly this time, rubbing her eyes. Her mind slowly disentangled fantasy from reality. She was in a wagon, crossing Tanaris as part of a dwarven caravan heading toward Uldum.
"Yeah," she mumbled, still woozy from her nap and the nightmare. "Bad dream." The image of her mother's desperate face burst into her thoughts, and she shuddered.
"I figured. You were tossing around in your sleep. You knocked one of the waterskins over." Chen held up the container, a dark streak on the leather marking where the water had spilled. Li Li pressed her palm into her forehead, trying to come up with a joke of some sort, but her wit failed her.
"What were you dreaming about?" Chen asked. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"It started out like the vision the pearl showed me in Gadgetzan. I was traveling across Tanaris. I saw the oasis, and the pass with the statues. And then…" Li Li trailed off. Chen waited patiently.
"Then it turned into a nightmare. I was… trapped at sea in a storm," she finished.
Chen didn't press her for more details. "It's all right, Li Li," he said. His presence was more reassuring than Li Li wanted to admit.
The two of them pushed through the canvas flaps at the front of the wagon, climbing onto the wooden seat next to the driver, a charcoal-haired dwarven woman named Felyae. Tanaris's endless golden sands stretched in every direction. The only break from the visual tedium was the southwestern mountain range, which a few days prior had begun to appear on the horizon as they crested the dunes. The knowledge that the caravan drew ever closer to the desert's edge motivated the entire company forward.
"How are ye feelin', lass?" Felyae asked Li Li kindly. "Didn't sound like yer nap was restful."
"She had a bad dream," Chen answered before Li Li could say anything.
"Aye, th' desert heat is bad fer th' mind," Felyae replied. She slapped the camel's reins lightly against her thighs to emphasize the point. "Give anyone nightmares an' hallucinations."
Li Li had never before thought of the pearl's visions as hallucinations, but her experiences over the last few weeks were inspiring her to reconsider. Once arrived in Gadgetzan, she had fully expected to be able to charter a ship on the strength of Catelyn's connections, allowing Li Li and Chen to finally head south to search for Pandaria. But even with a famous pirate's recommendation, finding a willing captain had proved impossible. Again, she'd turned to the pearl for guidance, and it had shown her a trail across Tanaris and beyond the mountains, into the land of Uldum. So to Uldum she and Chen went, buying passage with a group of dwarves from the Explorers' League.
