{She's been crying since we came back,} Manchu said to Li Mei as they stood outside Dee's door. {I finally got her to let me go so I could go to the bathroom!}

Li Mei shook her head. From the moment they had returned and Manchu had taken Dee up to her room, the girl had been crying. She refused to let Manchu go and had practically curled up in his lap. Li Mei had been called in by Jiaoshu to hear the story the guards had to tell. None blamed Dee for her actions, nor did they fault Manchu for his inaction. Their choices told much about their personalities.

{So much control to learn!} Jiaoshu said, shaking his head. {The girl was doing so well and now this!}

{You can hardly fault her for what she did. She was protecting herself from a direct threat. I think it shows a great amount of courage that she didn't let them do anything further to her,} Li Mei said.

The guards nodded in agreement.

One bowed to Jiaoshu before speaking. {They were out numbered, Sir. Had the girl not acted when she did they probably would've overpowered her and molested her, or worse.}

Jiaoshu stroked his mustache. {That is if you had not been there. They would have gotten no further because you would have stepped in. Correct?}

{Yes, Jiaoshu,} the men said in unison, bowing again.

{Li Mei, send Manchu down to me and see if you can talk to Xiaohu about this, please.}

Inclining her head, Li Mei headed up the stairs after ordering a pot of strong, sweet tea to be sent up to Dee's room. She found herself trying to calm Manchu before she could calm Dee.

{Jiaoshu wishes to talk to you, Manchu. Go do what you need and then see him.} She took in the fearful gaze of the boy before hugging him and reassuring him. {You are not in any trouble, child. He merely wishes to speak with you on the events in the park. Jiaoshu is not angry with either one of you for what happened. You know he would never blame you for something like that!}

Manchu nodded and hurried off. Through the door Li Mei could hear the soft sighing cries of Dee. Instead of knocking, she simply entered and went to the girl's side. Dee was still dressed as she had been in the park, still with bits of leaf and twig in her hair. Next to the bed was a small pile of debris that Manchu had managed to work out of the girl's tangle mess of hair. Her eyes were puffy from crying and her face red. On her muted blue shirt were flecks of blood from the fight.

"Let's get you a bath and into some clean clothing, hm?" said Li Mei, starting to help unbutton Dee's shirt as she had a thousand times before.

"No. I can do it myself," the girl said, pushing the woman's hands away. Standing up, Dee went behind the changing screen in her room, tossing her dirty clothing over and onto the floor. "Li, why are boys like that?"

"That is a good question. I do not know. But they aren't all that way." She put her arm around the girl's shoulders as she came out from behind the screen, wrapped in a robe. The two headed down to the bathing pool, talking as they went. "I would hope that we put enough morals into the men who come through here that they would never do such things. I cannot say that I know what you are feeling, dear. Just know that we all care for you here and wish to never see you hurt in a way like that. Ever."

Dee slipped herself into the water, submersing herself in the warm waters of the bath. Floating just under the surface, she let her mind wander. There was a flash, a spark playing on the movie screen of her mind, and she was flooded with images.

She found herself back at the orphanage, watching a group of older boys wrestle down a girl who had just begun to develop. It was after hours and the boys had pulled the girl into an empty classroom. Dee had been cleaning the floor behind the teacher's desk with a rag. The intruders didn't see her as they shoved desks out of the way. They easily overpowered the squirming girl and ripped her shirt to shreds, fondling her newly developed breasts. She cried and begged them to leave her alone. Instead, the boys stuffed her mouth with scraps from her shirt, effectively gagging her.

From her hiding place under the desk, Dee watched in horror as the girl threw her head back on the floor, her skull bouncing violently as the boys yanked her panties off. In that instance, the girl's eyes met Dee's. The shock of emotions in the girl's eyes sent Dee shuffling backwards over the wet floor and into her bucket of water. The bucket tipped, spilling dirty water everywhere and alerting the boys.

The boys jumped up, running over to Dee and grabbing her up roughly. Words came out of their mouth, but she couldn't make them out. They slammed her, face first, down on the desk and pulled her pants down. One of the boys twisted her arms behind her roughly as another pulled his own pants down. "Bitch," "fuck," and "girlie" were the only words that now filtered to her ears.

A sudden crash and Dee found herself heaped on the floor. Hastily she pulled her pants back up, shaking with fear. Never in her life had she felt this helpless. The girl stood over her with the empty bucket, swinging blindly at anything that moved. The boys tried to get close to her again, getting whacked by the bucket every time they tried to get close to the unhinged girl.

Finally realizing that they'd get nowhere else with the girl, the boys took off out of the room, slamming the door. The girl gave Dee a disgusted look as she threw the bucket at her before running out of the room, arms crossed to hide her bare chest.

For a few seconds there was complete silence in the room. The sudden noise of the door opening and an angry teacher yelling at the mess caused Dee to hide under the desk again. However, the teacher dragged her out by her hair, demanding to know the reason for her classroom being such a mess. Dee tried to explain, but found she couldn't. The teacher was already accusing her of lying about other children being in the room.

Dee shot to the surface of the water, gasping for breath. The memory had taken seconds, but seemed like minutes. She trembled at the memory of feeling helpless. This time she had been able to protect herself and she took it. She had been five years old when the boys had tried to molest her.

"Are you ok, Xiaohu-ai?" Li Mei's soothing voice invaded her thoughts and brought her back to the present.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just held my breath too long." Never had she told anyone what happened and she didn't plan on it. "Li, I don't like these. I don't like what my body is doing! It's just asking for trouble!"

Li Mei shook her finger at Dee. "Don't ever let me hear you say that. Your body never asks for trouble. It is those who attack you who are asking for trouble. I have told you to be proud of what you have and I meant it! The only ones who will attack you are those with small minds, little respect of others, and just as little respect for themselves. To make themselves feel better they will tell you that you were asking for it. Do not believe that! It is never true!"

"But..."

"No! Never! What you did today was right. Those boys will think twice now about attacking a 'defenseless' girl. Manchu was right to stay back for it was not his fight. Had you needed him to help you, he would have. Do yourself a favor, Xiaohu. Never settle for anyone who is less than you think you deserve. The second you do that you are telling yourself you're not worthy of someone who would respect and treat you well. Take my advice, dear one. You will know when you find that special one. You will feel it here," she said, tapping her heart. Taking a deep breath, Li Mei held open a towel for Dee as she got out of the bath. With the same motion of wrapping the towel around the girl, Li Mei took her into a tight embrace. "I am so proud of what you did today. You truly are a little tiger."
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