Jingyi
Tina tumbled out of their international connection feeling a little more unsteady than usual. She was out of practice it seemed. She felt Newt join her a moment later, his hand automatically slotting against her waist to lead her through a low doorway, low enough they both had to bow their heads to pass through.
“Newt!” A voice called out in excitement as soon as their documentation had been checked and they’d passed through to an intricately decorated hall filled with people in bright coloured robes. They stopped, turned to see a woman dressed in slacks and a loose shirt waiting for them, her hands tucked into wide sleeves.
“Sofie!” Newt grinned, guiding Tina quickly to the smaller woman. She had a heart shaped face, her thick shiny black hair pulled into a bun and dark expressive eyes. Newt bowed to her, Tina copying half a beat later. Sofie repeated the gesture, her mouth curling into a sharp smile. “Persephone, might I introduce you to my wife, Porpentina. Tina, Sofie, Sofie, Tina.”
“Pleasure,” Tina smiled, keeping her hands to herself. Sofie however, laughed brightly before offering her hand to Tina.
“Honour to meet you Mrs Scamander,” Sofie said over their entwined hands. “I worked for the Ministry of Magic after the war, in the beasts division. Where I met Newton. I welcome you to Taipei, and to Taiwan.”
There was something about Sofie, something that had Tina relaxing. Perhaps it was how happy Newt seemed to see his friend again, the pair of them talking faster than spells could be cast about Chinese fireball migration patterns as Sofie led them to her own home to stay. They were greeted by another young woman, more reserved and wary than Sofie. She was introduced to them as Tai, before she mysteriously drifted back through the house.
“Don’t mind Tai, she isn’t overly fond of visitors,” Sofie smiled ruefully before leading them to their room. “It’s quite a difference between London and Taipei, rest now. At supper we talk. Tomorrow we leave for Hualien.”
She bowed, smiled, and left.
Newt set the suitcase down, an excitable boyish grin on his face as he shucked his coat and loosened his necktie. Tina drifted over to the window. The muggle city of Taiwan could be seen in the distance, and while the magical ministry bore the same name, it was a considerable distance till the magical and the muggle mixed. Between were thick forests of evergreen trees, and outside of their window were beautifully fragranced flowers, fluttering slightly in the still air.
“They have flitterblooms in East Asia?” Tina asked in some confusion, reaching out to touch a flower. The bright pink bloom recoiled in on itself, and what was a confectionary of pink blooms suddenly became a bare silver tree. “Well that was strange,” Tina stated frankly, feeling Newt’s laugh reverberate through her back as he slid his arms around her waist.
“I’m not sure what it is called in the local or magical dialect,” Newt admitted softly, his eyes crinkled and sparkling with wonder. “But Sofie told me once that they call this flower the “lover’s blush” for it shrinks away from those who come near.”
Tina considered what he said for a second, her nose crinkled, before she twisted to look up at Newt.
“What’s that got to do with lovers?” she asked, bemused. Newt shrugged.
“No idea,” he admitted with a delighted grin. “And while this is beautiful, wait till you see Hualien. It’s far from most muggle townships, just acres and acres of forest and the occasional wizarding dwellings. There are trees higher and more fragrant than you can imagine, and, hopefully, we will find some demiguise while we are there.”
“Yeah,” Tina agreed, her heart sinking a little, “I have to admit Newt, now that we’re here I’m terrified of letting Dougal go away from us…”
“Me too,” Newt whispered softly, pressing a light kiss to Tina’s temple. “Come on, lets get ready for supper. Tomorrow will be a long day.”
The next day was long, and it was warmer than Tina had been used to having spent the entire winter in England (baring a hop to Brazil). She found it harder to keep up than usual as well, wondering absently if desk duty was hindering rather than helping her. She marvelled at Sofie’s ability to keep pace with Newt as they all struck out along narrow stone paths into the mountains, especially given Sofie was half Newt’s height.
Tai served as a silent companion for the most part, assisting Tina with water and calling for frequent breaks. They were striking out to visit a woman a two day hike from the nearest magical village. Sofie had excitedly shared all she had learnt their first night; that a woman was said to have an invisible companion. It seemed little to go on, but Newt had fallen headlong into trouble for less. They both had.
Being out, breathing a different air, examining different wildlife and finding new and wonderful plantlife (mostly strictly non-magical) was almost bittersweet to Tina. It felt forbidden, like she had drawn a lucky hand in a game of cards. She wondered what price she would have to pay on the next hand, for being lucky enough to visit such a place.
Halfway through the first day, Newt had allowed Dougal to join them, far enough away from muggle eyes for his curious old-man appearance to be irrelevant. As Newt had darted from left, to right, up a tree and down into ditches with his bag getting more and more full, Tina had wandered more sedately, taking in the gorgeous views exposing more and more of the mountainside the higher they climbed. Dougal was poking around in the foliage near Tina, straying far enough to sate his curiosity but not far enough that she was ever out of his sight.
That night they slept in the suitcase, Tai refusing to step down into the case, but Sofie running round in curiosity, exclaiming in joy at each rare creature she found within. Charlie emerged from Tina’s pocket to hang onto her hair just after daybreak the second day and up ahead Tina could see Pickett swaying with Newt.
“Tina! Look!” Newt would cry every few minutes, his face boyish in its delight at the world as he showed her peculiar shaped leaves, spiders the size of side plates scuttling away, birds, snakes. And each time, she smiled and fell a little more in love with him.
They arrived at the homestead midway through the afternoon on the second day. The lady was small, suspicious and didn’t speak a word of English. Sofie and Tai had alternated with translating and soothing, and it wasn’t until Dougal revealed himself against Tina’s side that the old lady even contemplated talking to them.
Once she started listening to him, the old lady was soon enchanted by Newt. But not enchanted enough to share her secrets of the demiguise. They had accepted her hospitality, Tina falling asleep almost as soon as her head laid flat.
She was woken in the early hours by a strange feeling against her face. Like a small hand, but with long fingers. She laid still, her senses on hyper alert, feeling Newt squeeze her hand against his chest to let her know he was awake.
And then the light pressure was gone, replaced by a rustling. Tina dared to crack her eyes to see what had invaded their room, finding it hard to supress her smile as she saw a demiguise, much smaller than Dougal, examining Newt’s feet with unabashed curiosity. She wanted to glance at Newt, wanted to see his excitement, share in it, bask in it. But doing so would startle her, this demiguise visible in the half light.
She was fearless, examining every new object in the room, turning her boots upside down and slipping it onto her hand, seemingly delighted with the result. She had tried on Newt’s shirt as well, draping it over her bony frame. It was moving Tina’s coat that really startled her.
Sleeping soundly underneath was Dougal. She started, dropping the coat and Tina watched with held breath as she crept in closer for another look, her big brown eyes flashing blue in the dark.
Then, completely deliberately, the new demiguise reached out a long finger, and pushed Newt’s notebook to the floor. She couldn’t help but jump at the resounding crash. Giving up all pretence at sleeping, she and Newt shot upright, watching in surprise as the demiguise turned to them, an almost bored expression on her face, before she turned back to watch Dougal slowly blink himself awake.
They stared at each other, these two demiguise. They seemed to contemplate each other. Then Dougal shifted to the side, and the other demiguise curled up next to him. And they fell back to sleep. Apparently that was that in the world of the demiguise. Their courtships were as serene as their general countenance. Nothing phased creatures that could see the future, even if their sight was purely based on probability. It was still seeing the future.
“Is that it?” Newt whispered into the half light, high eyebrows raised as her turned to Tina. “I was expecting…”
“That you’d actually see a group of demiguises,” Tina deadpanned, before slipping back down the bed and tugging her pillow down to join her. “We can ask our host in the morning.”
“Alright,” Newt agreed, but Tina knew he struggled to get back to sleep after that.
The next morning dawned with a fine mist dusting the treetops. Droplets of water clung to leaves, already evaporating with the growing heat of the day. Sofie and Tai had emerged from their room before the first rays of dawn as Newt and Tina had.
“Did you sleep?” Tai had asked Tina, glancing over her with shrewd eyes. That Tai felt the need to protect Tina was baffling, but she merely answered in a vauge affirmative before Newt launched into a description of what they had seen the night before. His hand gestures were excitable and expansive enough that Tina decided to sit down rather than risk another hand flying incredibly close to her face.
The old lady, who Sofie and Tai had been calling a name that sounded to Tina’s English ears like Soy-bok, shuffled into the room casting wary glances at them. Tina scrambled to her feet, still unsure of the etiquette, bowing a good morning in absence of a shared language. The old woman returned the gesture, surveying Tina with an expression she couldn’t work out. Then, a hand was waved and a set of cups appeared, each one filling with amber liquid except the one handed to Tina that was a pale pink. Tina took it unsurely, glancing up at Tai. Tai nodded once without glancing down as Tina.
She took a sip, instantly feeling less bone-achingly tired, her head clearer than it had been in days.
“Oh, wow,” Tina gasped, “What is this?!”
“It is a special tea,” Tai answered promptly, “I will purchase tea from market for you.”
“Okay,” Tina answered slowly, it hadn’t answered her question but she wasn’t going to push it. “Thank you. So, have you told Suybok about out encounter with the demiguise last night?”
Tai and Sofie exchanged a look, probably at Tina’s mangled pronunciation of their hosts name. Sofie turned to the old lady and began rapidly talking, leaving Newt and Tina feeling rather lost in the proceedings.
“If she is amenable, we can leave Dougal here,” Newt added quietly to Tai. Tai frowned up at him for interrupting her listening, turning her attention back to the conversation at hand. Newt sank down on the floor next to Tina, taking a sip from the regular tea. “Although I’d hate to see him leave…”
“He belongs here, in the wild,” Tina attempted half-heartedly. She felt the air shift beside her before a light pressure settled into her lap. Tina turned to look at Newt with a wistful smile, her hand already soothing the invisible air in front of her. “I’m going to miss him.”
She must have looked strange, her hand stroking thin air level with her chest.
“She says she found the demiguise as an infant, eight summers ago,” Sofie sat down on the floor opposite them, her eyes and tone serious. “She has raised her alone out here where no wizard can find her. But in all the time she has been here, no other demiguise has she seen. And her um… in English she is called joy? Um… I cannot translate accurately. She is Jingyi But the demiguise does not fear wizards, as she should.”
“Much like Dougal,” Newt responded quietly, watching as Dougal faded into view on Tina’s lap. A second later, the other demiguise appeared, perched on the table watching Newt’s face.
“Grandmother says they are not wild animals anymore,” Sofie continued quietly, “She says that Jingyi is a granddaughter. A child. And Grandmother wishes for her to stay safe. Grandmother says she is old, but you are young, and will have many children of your own.”
“But not yet,” Tina smiled, “We just have our creatures.”
Sofie nodded seriously, glancing up to Tai and Grandmother. She licked her lips, glancing at a point over their shoulder before focussing her attention back on Newt and Tina.
“Grandmother invites you to stay,” She finally said, when Tina was about to ask what was so difficult to say. “And when you leave, she ask you take Jingyi with you.”
Newt started, opening his mouth to speak before closing it again promptly. They had arrived, knowing that as difficult as it might be, they wouldn’t be leaving with Dougal. Now, apparently they would be leaving with a friend.
“Grandmother says demiguise are like humans, better in pairs,” Tai spoke up from behind them. “And she said you are good pair. No demiguise here anymore. They are gone.”
Tina glanced over at the demiguise, Jingyi. They regarded each other carefully. Tina smiled at the way the demiguise cocked her head to one side in curiosity. She turned to Newt, and quirked her shoulder in a way that said “What’s one more to love?”.
Her approval given, the rest of their stay was spent discussing Jingyi, showing Grandmother where Jingyi would live and other matters. Grandmother had shown them some secrets of her home, gathering herbs for them with translated instructions as to their use.
Three days after arriving, Grandmother passed Jingyi to Newt, Dougal already hanging onto Tina’s hand, and they started their trip back to Taipei. Jingyi kept looking back, as if waiting for Grandmother to join her. The further away they got, the more Newt and Tina wondered if they should have put the demiguise in the case. In some ways it would have been harder for Jingyi, arriving in a completely new place.
On the second day, when Tina called her own rest to sit on a fallen tree, she was surprised when Jingyi instantly nestled into her side resting her pale head against Tina’s chest. She hummed slightly, in a way that Tina recognised: Dougal made similar noises when he was sad, or is she were sad and he was trying to make her feel better.
“Hey, it’s ok,” Tina spoke softly, running her fingers through fine silver fur. “You’ll be ok, but I’m afraid Dorset ain’t much like Taiwan. It’s colder, for one. We’ll have to see about getting you a jumper or something till you get used to it. Dougal’ll show you round and you won’t have as much freedom as you do here…sorry bout that. But you’ll be safe. And you’ll be loved. Promise.”
Jingyi may not have understood the words, but by the way she snuggled closer to Tina, she imagined the demiguise understood the sentiment. Newt dropped down beside her, somehow managing to land softly despite the pinwheeling arms that preceded the seat. He gazed at Tina for a good minute before opening his mouth to speak.
“Are you alright Tina?” he asked carefully, jostling her shoulder. Tina turned to him in surprise, not really feeling unwell, more unsettled by how little her body seemed able to cope with the exertion of hill climbing. “Only, you’ve been needing more breaks than usual… I’m just worried. You aren’t feeling feverish are you? There is a particular bug in these environs that causes extreme exhaustion and fever. You haven’t been bitten have you?”
“Newt,” Tina soothed him with a smile, gripping his forearm. He returned his earnest gaze to hers. “I’m fine. I promise. I’m just tired. I think I should have an exercise regime for long periods of desk work, so I don’t get out of breath easily when I have to actually leave the office. Honestly Newt, I’m ok.”
Newt pursed his lips, appraising her, before nodding curtly.
“Promise you’ll let me know if you need more rest,” he said sternly to her hand. Tina’s lips quirked up. They had been married for over four months, together in some sense of the word for five. It amused her no end.
“Promise,” She teased him, laying her head against his shoulders though. “I’m feeling like we can go again if that’s anything, but we should probably put the demiguise in the case. We’ll be passing through No-Maj soon enough.”
“Yes,” Newt kissed her hair before dusting himself off and standing up. “You stay here and rest a little longer, and I’ll put them down.”
Newt held out a hand, waiting patiently for Jingyi to take it before calling for Dougal. Tina watched the trio affectionately, sipping her water carefully to quell the tiredness that had settled into her limbs.