My Ward (1/1)

He is my Ward. I am to watch over him. I am to protect him. I am to guide him. Just like I have with many of my other wards. I am his Guardian.---Here, in the World Above the Sky, we watch them. We hear their thoughts, see what they see, and feel what they feel. Up here, we can observe them and give them plenty of choices. We give them our advice. We are like their conscious. But we must also guide them away from danger, protect them from severe injuries. This is the extent of our abilities. Here, in this World Above the Sky, we cannot meet them. We cannot sympathize because we do not know them. We do not understand human emotions. We feel their feelings, and hear their thoughts, but we cannot understand them. We cannot be physically there to support them, for we are invisible to the human eye. We are prohibited from becoming physical bodies to contact with them. We can only contact them through their unconscious. Here, in the World that Humans Wish to Enter, life is easy. Souls are welcomed while some are shut out. There is no war here. There is no hate. Souls who have left the Earth as children play in the fields, waiting for their next chance at life. Souls who have left the Earth due to old age reunite with their other half or wait patiently. Souls who have left the Earth due to illness live a sick-free life until it is their time to return. Everyone is at peace here, patiently waiting for their next chance.  There is only peace and tranquility. ---'It's too peaceful here.' Laughing to myself, I get up and walk around the fields. The sounds of children laughing and playing, the melody of nature blowing in the winds swirl around me as I roam the now empty plains. I pay no heed to the tugs on my clothes or the small punches on my legs from those small children. I hear dogs barking and cats purring. I also hear some run towards the kids get attention and to have a playmate. The voices of old folks reach my ears, each speaking a different language, all talking about their past or upcoming lives. As I begin to near water, the voices quiet and the wind dies down. I turn around stare at the plains. There is almost nothing there. Just a tree and a chair. A chair that doesn't belong to me. I look back to the water and spread my arms out, the Wind blowing quickly and harshly. I smile as it circles around me. Closing my eyes, Land pushes me off the ground and I ascend. I now float above the ground and lift myself higher and higher. My white robes flutter and spread, looking for freedom. Higher and higher I go. I'm led far away from home, another assignment has been given and I must fulfill my calling. I near the Great Plains and walk to the enormous tree in the middle. There stood MAMA; the one who guides me to guide others. My master...if you will. Serving MAMA is never easy. She would call for Guardians whenever she pleased. She constantly reminded us to watch our wards, the humans. To guide them and protect them. She gave us difficult Wards, simple Wards, many kinds of Wards. We've helped so many, yet lost just as much. We will never understand why she protects Humans as much as she does. We are different from her. She is not like us, but rather...like the humans. After all, MAMA has been one of them before. She remembers the pain she suffered, the happiness she shared, the hope that would blow in then swept away; all of it she remembers. That's why she created us. To watch over them, and lead them to a good life. We all know that we won't be able to experience it. That is the life of us guardians. While we cannot sympathize, we can guide with an unbiased heart. That is why we were created. I stride closer to her and she lifts me to my branch. As I thank her, she pulls out a burning Fire that is to show me my ward. I smile and look into the screen to watch him.My new Ward is not like any of my other Wards. Of course all Wards are different, but this one was unlike the others. I do not know what pulls me to him. Maybe it is his deep, dark, cat-like eyes that humans are scared of that draws me to him. Could it be those eyebags underneath his eyes that make me a bit sleepless? Is it because he can protect himself, but choses not to? Why was he given to me to protect? I do not understand MAMA...When I first met him, he was a baby who is treasured by his parents. A cute baby boy with a smile that would brighten up his family. That smile made my chest feel warm. I felt the strong sense to protect him more than I have ever felt with any other Ward of mine. Because he is a baby, MAMA allows me to visit him in the Human World. I watch him so nothing bad comes to him. He always giggles and smiles whenever I appear, confusing his parents with his sudden change in emotions. It was like he knew that I came to see him whenever he cried.Time went on and my Ward became a young boy, about the age of six. He was a boy who was teased because of how he looked. He got into small fights with other children and I would appear in front of him with a disapproving face. One day it had gotten to the point where he almost beat the other boy. When he was in his room alone, I once again appeared before him with a scowl plastered on my face. He had already been scolded by his parents a few hours earlier, so he knew he was in the wrong, in a way. He would not look at me, ashamed that he had disappointed me again. My chest hurt because his heart hurt. His face was slightly bruised due to the punches he recieved from others and it throbbed in pain and so did mine. His thoughts told me he didn't want to be feared, to be treated like a monster by the his classmates. It also told me that he didn't want me to fear and leave him too. I couldn't keep my scowl on and it had transformed into a smile. I wanted to hold him, but we both knew I couldn't. Kneeling before him, I told him to find a way to channel his anger. To find a hobby that will calm him down when others make fun of him. Maybe one that will help you protect yourself. He took my advice a few days later, and signed up for an art Humans call 'Wushu'. Soon, my Ward became a teenager. He has not changed in features, but he has changed in personality. He still practices Wushu and the training he had gone through as a kid made him mature faster than most boys. Those monks taught him well. He became a strong, independent boy, but still feared by some because of his looks and his abilities in the art. He's well known in his city because of the awards he's won with his free-style Wushu. Whenever he wins, my chest lifts and feels light, my mind is hit with his thoughts of joy and pride. He shares his victories with a friend named Kai. The latter is a korean boy who loves to dance and had befriended my Ward because he had seen past the scary looks. I chuckle as the memories of the two misbehaving replay in my mind. But none-the-less, my Ward has grown to be a good child. He smiles more now that he has a friend at his side. It relieves me since I can no longer show myself to him. A good friend who will always watch my Ward.And now, my precious Ward is now in his last year of high schooling. Soon he will be an adult, ready to take on the world.I laugh as I watch him prank one of his older friends, twenty year old named Yixing. He and Kai ran to hide behind a smaller man, the one with a lovely voice; his name is LuHan if I remember correctly. I laugh as the older man tries to scold the two pranksters no longer behind the small man. I've never felt this way whenever I watch my Ward, but for some reason it's different for this one. I feel close to him and his friends. There are times when I long to be with them. But I cannot leave MAMA and my brothers. I must remain here and continue to watch my other wards and take care of my brothers. I watch as my Ward is called to the office and a sudden pain comes to my chest. My mind is filled of his thoughts. Words of fear attack my barriers and break them. They fly in rapidly and I feel my Ward running somewhere. When I look into the Fire, a tight feeling crawls into my chest. My Ward is crying at a hospital on top of a bed. I watch a soul leave the covered body, only to see another leave right next to it. My eyes widen as I knew what had happened. The two souls rose up higher and higher disappearing behind the clouds, leaving the lifeless bodies in the physical world. My Ward is now at home, sobbing in his room.That tight feeling has returned again.I can taste the salt from his tears on my lips. I can hear the loud sobs escaping his lips. I can feel the anguish and confusion. I can read his miserable thoughts. I can smell the clothes that he holds close to his body. I clench my clothes at my chest. I want to stop those tears. I want to tell him it will be okay. I want to tell him that he's not alone. I want to show myself to him. To be there for him. Of all the things I want to do, I want to be able to hold him. I want to hold him in my arms. But I cannot. MAMA would not allow it. I must not favor one ward over another. I must not leave my brothers, my home. I must not disrupt the balance. But his cries. His screams. His tears. I want to go to him. I want to descend into his world. But there is nothing I can do. Helplessly, I watch him cry until he sleeps. My Ward, he cries, and I cry. My Ward laughs, and it brings me laughter. My Ward smiles, and in turn, he makes me smile. My Ward is in pain and it also gives me my own kind of pain.You make me feel things I should not feel, Huang Zi Tao. Tell me, my Ward...Is this what your kind calls "love"? -------------------------- PANGPANG! I guess it'll be a multi-chaptered story. xD It was supposed to be a one-shot, but uh. Yeah. It's difficult to fit it all in one chapter. Makes it feel too clustered for me haha.But I hope you enjoyed it so far! ohohohoho. i already have the ending to this one planned out too. Just. Finding the stuff in between becomes a pain to do sometimes! Back to working on When You Meet Your Soulmate.