The Last Unicorn

"Mina, did you decide what to order?" Her brother was calling her forcing her to blink and brake her eye contact with the handsome stranger she was focused on.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Mina replied while scanning the trail again looking for him.

"Hey baby girl, you okay? You seem distracted. What are you looking at?" her brother was looking over her shoulder trying to see what she was looking at.

"Nothing, nothing ...I swear, it's nothing! I just thought I saw something!" Mina laughed as she elbowed her brother back to his chair. The jokes and laughter flowed easily between them. Their parents were happy to see them laughing without a care in the world. There was a brief period in time during her teenage years that Mina was unexplainably depressed for brief periods. It was a frightening and concerning period for them.

Mina peeked above her menu folder hoping to see the handsome stranger again. Unknown to Mina, her brother saw her unconsciously mouthing his name.

"Yixing"

~~~~~~~~~

Yixing was confused. One second he was looking at a pretty girl through a window, his entire being felt like he was being pulled towards her like a magnet. Then she broke eye contact and he blinked. Next thing he knows he is standing in the middle of his empty room.

He scratched his head and wondered if she is THE ONE. Or if she is a minion of the enchantress, sent to capture him. One thing is for sure. Their lives are intertwined for some reason.

Too tired to control his actions, he waved his hand and flicked on the light switch before trudging to his lonely bed. He dissipated his clothes with his thoughts. They still bother him. He prefers sleeping naked and doesn't care since he is always alone anyway.

"Mina" he whispered softly before he let exhaustion claim him. Unbeknownst to him, he transformed back to his natural form while he slept. His golden color a sharp contrast to the black mane that flowed down his back, his horn emitting a blindingly brightly light. A loud knocking on the door startled him from his sleep. In the blink of an eye, Yixing was back to being human. Blinking owlishly as he looked around, momentarily confused by his surroundings, Yixing was slow to respond to the knocking on his door.

"Boy, you better respond if you in there if you know what's good for you!" Zhoumi was roaring outside the door. Hurriedly Yixing opened his door forgetting too late that he dissipated his clothes earlier.

"Put on some clothes or start being a stripper instead of sleeping and wandering around you idiot!!! I gave you enough time and consideration. You need to join the human race and be productive. Go find a job and pay rent!"

Smoke was coming out of Zhoumi's nose, it fascinated Yixing so much he stood on the doorway naked. Much longer than necessary. He got a smack on the head with a rolled up paper.

'"Here, read it and look for a job. AND PUT ON SOME CLOTHES!!" Zhoumi bellowed as he slammed the door shut.

Scratching his head in confusion, Yixing laid out the papers he got on the table and conjured up his clothes simultaneously. He understands the need for a job, he just doesn't know what kind he is supposed to do here in San Francisco. In Pateris, he was a unicorn, a magical creature. His only job for which he was born and trained for was to protect the Queen.

Should he apply as a Queen's guard? Which queen? In Pateris there could be only one. Here in this realm, several monarchies exists although most of them are not the powerful beings that Queen Amanda is. Besides which, he has a hard enough time moving around in San Francisco since communication seems to be an issue. He was fluent in the human languages in Pateris, his Chinese language grasp here is good, his English passable. But what if he meets somebody else who confuses him? Accidents tend to happen when he gets confused.

The last time Yixing got confused, he made a rare orchid from his homeland, bloom in abundance in the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Experts from around the world flocked to the site. Zhoumi was fuming the whole week that it bloomed. How should he explain that when he tried eating the plants like he used to do in Pateris, the girl that had been eyeing him since he entered the greenhouse nearly had a heart attack. He just wanted to heal her quickly so he made the rare plant bloom since its flowers were medicinal for heart problems?

The second time he got confused was when he took the wrong bus and ended up in the Castro district. He saw a man wearing drag clothes and heavy make up. He found it sad that someone was in pain for being born in the wrong body so he shook the man's hand and made him to the beautiful woman the drag queen wanted to be. Zhoumi went off for three days basically lecturing him about leaving things here the way they are.

He shoved his feet to his shoes and shuffled out of his basement room, locking it behind him with the power of his thoughts. He noticed two jobs he could probably do. One posting called for men who are not afraid of lifting some weight and moving around stuff. The other called for back-up dancers for a celebrity who was going to have a small concert in Napa. Both jobs were posted by the same company. Hiring and auditions were being held on the same day on the same venue.

He wondered how dancing here would be different than in Pateris.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He arrived in time at the hiring event and easily lifted the required weight for the job. The pay was minimum wage but that's not what fascinated him. It was the picture of a pasture with several horses and other animals that fascinated him. Apparently, they were being hired to help assemble a concert venue in a small farm in Napa Valley.

He was diligently filling out forms the way Zhoumi taught him when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and noticed a tall handsome man was trying to speak to him. Yixing couldn't hear anything beyond the ringing in his own ear.

"Mina...."

"Yixing...''

They reached out to each other, the second their fingers touched the world around them exploded.

Notes