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Things had not been much better on Li Ren's end, though compared to Rin-ji's situation, she was doing quite well. Zan Minh had angrily escorted her back to her parent's home and it was clear that whether or not Li Ren had known the servant boy that had accosted him, he was blaming her for the incident anyway. When they had arrived back home, he informed her parents of what had happened, freely embellishing the details so that by the end of the story, Rin-ji had become a crazed vagabond who had tried attacking Zan Minh with firebending and Li Ren was accused of actively inviting unseemly attention from men upon herself.

The only good thing that had come of it was that Zan Minh had left much earlier expected, though this was only a good thing in Li Ren's eyes. Her mother was scandalized and her father had ordered her to stay in her room until he thought of a fitting punishment for her. Once inside her room, she heard her parents engage in a long argument over whose fault it was that Li Ren had ended up such a miserable excuse for a daughter.

She knew she had to wait, and the wait was enough to drive her mad. An hour or so later, her father had left the house angrily, and still she waited. As expected, her mother had come in shortly after and given her a long lecture about her behaviour. Li Ren nodded when expected, but didn't listen. She was beginning to think she should have just told the truth earlier, since she was being implicated of the crime anyway. But no, what she was experiencing now was nothing compared to what would have occured had anyone guessed the actual depth of her relationship with Rin-ji. She just hoped that somehow she would be able to make him understand, and that he wouldn't hate her regardless.

The sun was setting and it was finally time. Her mother would have taken her nightcap now and retired to her room for the evening. Li Ren had used the many hours of waiting to make herself look perfect - every ridiculously overpriced piece of jewelry she owned was currently adorning her body and her hair had been fixed in various loops so that she looked like some sort of grand noblewoman, rather than the daughter of a struggling country lord. She had briefly entertained the idea of actually breaking into the jail to get Rin-ji out, but had quickly decided that going through the front door was a much better idea.

She slipped out one of the windows and hastily made her way through the city. It was a long walk to the jail, thought Li Ren ran most of the way, not caring what onlookers thought. When she finally arrived, it was completely dark out.

Li Ren had never been to the jail before. She had never had any reason to. It was dirtier than she had expected. All eyes had turned to her as she entered and the inmates close enough to the front to actually see her had begun making a variety of unflattering noises. Li Ren ignored them and turned her attention to the man who seemed to be in charge, speaking in a commanding voice, "A young man was falsely arrested today for assaulting the son of War Minister Kwei. I want you to take me to him."

"What's it to you," the jailer replied, not hiding the sneer in his voice, though he kept a mostly respectful expression in the face of nobility.

Li Ren's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I am the daughter of Colonel Zheng, do you dare to question me," she raised her voice and her tone had become imperious.

The jailer grunted. He wasn't interested in incurring any wrath from nobles. He stepped out from behind his table and grabbed his keys. "I don't want any trouble," he growled, looking highly distrustful of Li Ren.

When they arrived in front of Rin-ji's cell, Li Ren could feel her chest tighten to realize she had put him into this position. For as liberal as she thought herself to be, she still knew pitifully little about the lot of the lower classes. That something could actually happen to Rin-ji while he was imprisoned was a thought that had never crossed her mind. As she looked down at him, her face showed no sign at all of how she was feeling inside. The armor she wore was thick and she wasn't ready to discard it yet.

Li Ren remained unshaken when the tattooed man had reached for her. As he retreated from the guard's baton, she turned to look him in the eyes, her expression steely. She was untouchable behind this armor of satin and gold. She felt empowered, such a different feeling from the way she had felt that afternoon. "You aren't man enough for a woman like me," she spat, "Be glad they're keeping you safe behind those bars." The other inmates laughed, whether at Li Ren or the tattooed man was uncertain, but it was clear that they were enjoying the show.

The guard beat his baton against the bars again and his patience was clearly wearing thin. He began to speak again, but Li Ren cut him off, "Your witnesses are liars. This man did nothing more than try to speak to me." The look she gave him dared him to question her.

"Su Min," Li Ren lied, grabbing the first name that came to mind. The actual Su Min was one of the girls her mother had forced her to socialize with when she was younger. Su Min would have been delighted to be betrothed to Zan Minh, Li Ren thought absently.

"I need no escort, thank you," she informed the guard curtly, and he didn't seem terribly interested in pressing the matter. Instead he shrugged and grunted; they were over lasting their welcome, so Li Ren led the way out with Rin-ji following behind silently.

They made their way outside and Li Ren abruptly stopped. She hadn't thought this far. Now that Rin-ji was safe, she had no idea what to do. More importantly, she had no idea what to say to him.

Her shoulders sagged as the armor came off and the gravity of everything that had happened that day hit her. She had kissed him, only to rebuke him moments later. She had avoided him for months, only to have him thrown in jail when she finally saw him again. What could she possibly say to right that?

"Rin-ji, I..," she began, turning to look at him. "I'm sorry." She had might as well start there. At this point anything he said to her would be better than the silence. In his silence, Li Ren imagined a flurry of unspoken emotions condemning her: hatred, disgust, distrust.

Oh, how she wished that she could just knock him down like she used to and it would be alright. But she keenly felt the sting in his voice and knew that there was no simple fix. Not for this.

She scrambled to find something to say in the face of his accusations, but there was truth in much of what he said. She began to reach for him, but yanked her hand away sharply. "You don't understand anything," she said defensively, her voice getting shrill and uneven. "I had no choice."

"You shouldn't have ever needed to know," Li Ren yelled back at him, her voice straining with emotion. She could feel tears building and she fought them back desperately. She would not be made into that kind of woman. "My parents have been relying on this marriage since I was nine years old and I've been fighting for my freedom ever since.

"Every moment I've spent with you, I've been risking everything. You can't pretend that you didn't at least know that."

It was Li Ren's turn to look hurt. "You can be such an idiot sometimes," she said, frustration apparent in her voice, though she had stopped yelling as well. She folded her arms across her chest and looked away. "But you're right. If my father found you, or Zan Minh.. I should leave you alone. If he sees you again, he won't be so kind. He's convinced my parents that I must have done something indecent to attract your attention, even if I didn't know you."

She kneeled down in the dirt, not caring if she soiled her skirt and lifted it high, once more exposing the hair tie around her ankle. She untied the cord carefully and stood again, holding it out to Rin-ji. "Here. I didn't mean to steal it."

Li Ren took the dragon from him carefully and looked down at it. She had nearly forgotten about it. If the dragon hadn't fallen out of her hair, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out so disastrously. But no, that was a silly thought. There still would have been Zan Minh. And she still would have kissed Rin-ji - if not that day, then some day soon enough.

"I'd change it all if I could. Everything after I kissed you, anyway." She frowned at the clip and held it back towards Rin-ji. "Keep it. Put it someplace safe so no one thinks you stole it."