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Above Water: An Unlikely Love Story of Wuxia and Adventure
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Published 3/9/2023In first-century China, Lu Xia, a closeted transgender girl, must overcome the macho outrage of her roommate Xuan, as well as the intense social prejudice, to achieve her goal of finding accepting love and comfort in an ironic adventure beneath the water's surface.
Xia couldn't believe it. He was finally back home, in his own little cabin in the woods. It was cold, but he didn't mind. The air felt nice on his face, and he stood by the window, letting a trickle of snow fall onto his hands. His arms were small, and he was dressed like a girl, but he didn't mind that either. It had been so long since he had gone out into the real world, and it felt good to be treated like a normal person for once.
He had always been afraid of people seeing through his disguise, but he hadn't expected to see anyone at all when he'd finally left the palace. But there had been someone standing in front of him - a man who looked just like Xuan. Who else could it have been? He wasn't going to ask the man if he knew Xuan; that would be too dangerous. He didn't know how long they'd keep him away from Xuan if they ever found out what they were doing together. So Xia just stared at the handsome man as he approached him, hands out as if to embrace him.
"Who are you? Why are you dressed like that?" The handsome man asked him, and Xia panicked a bit more; maybe he should have tried to run away instead of staring like an idiot! But then the handsome man laughed and said, "I'm sorry; I'm not very good with girls." Xia relaxed a little bit at that, but still stayed close to the window now that the handsome man was closer to him.
"My name is Lu Xia," Xia said, bowing slightly and keeping his eyes trained on his shoes as usual. He heard the handsome man chuckle again before saying: "Liu Xuan." And then the words took Xia's breath away: how did this beautiful stranger know his name? How did he know where to find him? All those questions raced through his head until suddenly Liu Xuan pulled him into a warm embrace and whispered into his ear: "Lu Xia... I've missed you so much!" And even though Xia thought it was impossible for him to love Liu Xuan anymore than he already did, somehow at that moment it only got worse - because as soon as he heard those words, everything went black around him and all Xia could do was hold onto Liu Xuan while sobbing hysterically into his shoulder.
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction, assisted by artificial intelligence. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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