.
Wangji pulled his soul-bond all the way to their room in silence. Wuxian was sure that the moment they're in an enclosed area where no one is listening, Wangji will bring up what's bothering him. His prediction was shot to hell when an hour passed as they ate their lunch in total silence. Wuxian was getting antsy.
Wangji simply took his hand and kissed it, getting up to return to attending to his duties. Before he reaches the door, Wuxian says in a loud exasperated voice: "THAT'S IT?"
Wangji turns to stare blankly at him, so Wuxian clears his voice and moves closer towards his soul-bond: "I know that my reaction to the vision bothered you. Don't you want to talk about it?"
Wangji shakes his head. Wuxian sighs in frustration: "Why? I'd be mad at my soul-bond if he ran away in doubt because of something I didn't do! Be mad! I deserve it!"
Wangji smiles sadly and pulls his frustrated soul-bond close: "If you have doubts, then I must be doing something wrong."
Wuxian looks down in sadness: "You didn't do anything wrong. You're perfect. I'm the one with trust issues."
Wangji leans to rest his forehead on Wuxian's: "Trust is earned. I will try harder to gain yours."
With one last gentle kiss to Wuxian's lip, Wangji made his way out to go finish his work.
That conversation made the smaller man feel much worse. Somehow, his soul-bond found a way to blame Wuxian's insecurities on himself. That's just wrong on so many levels, but the young Oracle had no idea how to fix this. It kept nagging at the back of his head until the next morning. While Wangji was happily brushing his hair as usual, Wuxian grabbed his hand and turned around: "I love you."
Wangji beams at him and says: "I love you more."
Wuxian pulls his soul-bond until he is close enough to embrace: "I don't want you to do anything for me that doesn't make you happy. I love you. I will always love you even if you choose not to love me back."
Wangji rubs Wuxian's back: "I thought you were going to cut off my balls and feed them to your snake if that happens."
Wuxian chuckles while burrowing closer to his warm soul-bond: "I don't make empty threats. You know that."
Wuxian is aware that this is a simple step into the right direction. Bonding is a process, not a final destination. He's in it for the long haul and they will help and nurture each other to grow and get over their fears.
Wuxian was anxious to meet the little girl from his vision. He hasn't seen her since the winter festival. For some reason, all he remembers is the distressed girl from his vision and not the happy child from the festival. He prays to all deities that she finds a good family that will help her live a better life than he did.
He was sitting in his Treasure Room, attending to the last sick visitor when the door opened to reveal Grandmaster Qiren holding Hweiru's hand. This is the first time she visits the Treasure Room and was distracted by the big space and lavish decoration.
Wuxian stood up and called her name. Her head snaps towards him and her focus zeroes in on the golden haired man. A small smile shines through and she runs towards the Divine Oracle like he's the savor she's been waiting for. He reacted spontaneously by kneeling to her level and opening his arms for her to crash into. The sigh of relief he heard coming from the three-year-old broke his heart a little: 'Was she waiting for me?'
Her tiny hands fisted his robes as she clung to him. Wuxian looks at Zewu Jun and Qiren in confusion. They did share a moment at the winter festival but this type of behavior was definitely unwarranted. Wuxian rubs her back and whispers: "Hey Princess Hweiru. I was going to ask if you remembered me but this warm hug definitely answers my question."
She nods while tightening her arms around his neck. She's not planning to let go any time soon. Wuxian picks her up and sits back in his chair, placing her in his lap. If she needs comfort during these trying times, then he's more than willing to provide it.
She took deep breaths like she was trying to suppress a cry. After a few more deep breaths, she shot back, looking with wide eyes at a confused Wuxian. She places her small hands on his cheeks to take a good look at his face. Wuxian blinked a few times, startled by her odd behavior. She moved her tiny fingers over his face; his eyebrows, his nose, his lips and his chin. It was as if she was trying to memorize every single inch of Wuxian's face. Wuxian turned his gaze to see Wangji enter the room silently and frown over this bizarre turn on events. None of the people present could comprehend what the little girl is doing. Especially when she smiles so joyously at Wuxian and goes back for a tighter hug. She lets out a long sigh filled with relief, happiness and longing.
Wuxian turned to mouth to Zewu Jun: 'What is happening?'
Zewu jun shrugs. He's as clueless as the other two men in the room.
Wuxian was rubbing the girls back, trying to figure out what to say or what to do next when she whispered the last words he expected the stunned child to say: "I missed you, mama."
Wuxian's hand froze mid stroke: 'Did this girl just call me 'mama'?'
He turned wide eyes at his father and his mirrored expression of shock confirmed his suspension.
Wuxian pulls the girl away to face her: "Princess, what did you call me?"
She smiles at him: "Mama."
Wuxian looks sadly at her: "Lan Hweiru, I'm Wei Wuxian. We met at the winter festival, remember?"
She nods: "I remember. You made my wish come true."
Wuxian didn't know how to delicately turn her down, especially when she's smiling at him while still grabbing parts of his robes: "Why do you think I'm your mother?"
She lets go of his robe to gently take a strand of his hair to examine closely: "My mama said that if anything happened to her that I will always find her here." She points with her hand at her heart then says: "You might look different but I know who you are because I can feel it."
Wuxian bites his lower lip, taking deep breaths to stop the mournful tears from falling. He tried his best to talk without sobbing: "How can you be sure?"
She lets go of his hair to lean in for another embrace while whispering: "This feels the same. Only mama can make me feel safe."
Wuxian's eyes water while he looks desperately at Wangji: 'What is happening? Why does this girl think I'm her mother?' After a few shared confused looks between the four men present, realization falls on them simultaneously. Wuxian leans back in his chair, wrapping his arms around the girl who's happily snuggling closer to him. She believed he was a person who can make wishes come true. She believed in him. Now he smells like the only thing a grieving child needs to feel comfort. He smelled like her mother.
Wuxian felt the weight of the world setting on his shoulders. The tears he's been holding in rolled silently down his cheeks while he rubbed the contented child's back to comfort her. Who was he to deny a sad child a moment of happiness?
Grandmaster Qiren tried to approach them to take her away but Wuxian put his hand up: "She needs this."
Qiren shakes his head: "It's not real."
Wuxian let's out a strangled sob and says: "I need this."
Qiren nods his understanding. After all, he felt Wuxian's struggles as a child when they performed the Empathy. He knows the void a parent leaves when they die and prematurely abandon a child.
The door opened suddenly to reveal a disheveled Lan Ran dragging a haggard looking Liwei. She hurried in and called in a loud voice: "HWEIRU!"
The girl in Wuxian's lap whipped her head around to smile at the newcomer: "Aunt Ran!"
She jumped off of his lap to go to her aunt. Ran picks her up and lets out a huge sigh of relief: "I looked everywhere for you! Where did you go? Are you alright?"
The girl nods enthusiastically: "I did what father told me to do. I went home."
Lan Ran sets her down to check the girl from top to bottom, making sure that she's alright. Liwei took a moment to catch his breath then bowed to the men present in the room. After fussing over the girl for a few more minutes, Ran realized her unbecoming behavior and turned to bow to the men around her: "Grandmaster Qiren, Zewu Jun, your Excellency, Treasure Wei, I apologize for my tardiness."
Qiren waves his hand: "It's understandable. We tried to reach you while you were away. When you didn't reply, we asked the finder to fetch you on his way back."
Ran sighs tiredly: "It's been a long couple of weeks. I got robbed and then got lost."
Wuxian moves closer to the deshieveld woman and tries to wipe the evidence of his emotional struggle from his face: "I'm sorry for your loss."
Lan Ran shakes her head: "They died an honorable death. We will meet again in the afterlife."
Lan Ran looks sadly at the girl standing next to her: "If I may be excused, I need to make sure that Hweiru settles down before I resume my duties."
Zewu Jun shakes his head: "Take your time. I have everything under control."
Lan Ran bows and pulls the little girl's hand towards the door. Hweiru plants her feet on the ground in protest, looking back desperately at Wuxian: "Aunt Ran! Where are you taking me?"
Lan Ran stops and kneels to speak to the girl: "Home."
Hweiru shakes her head: "No. I can't leave!"
Lan Ran frowns: "Why not?"
Hweiru lets go of her aunt's hand and walks towards Wuxian to hug his legs: "I found my mama. I have to protect this one so mama won't leave me again."
Wuxian's breath hitches. The flood of emotions he's feeling is getting hard to contain. Lan Ran's frown deepens: "Mama?"
Zewu Jun sighs: "She smells comfort off of Brother Wei."
Lan Ran closes her eyes in realization. Grandmaster Qiren can sense his son is on the verge of balling his eyes out and tries to intervene: "How about we let the little girl spend the day with Wei Ying and you can pick her up after dinner?"
Lan Ran looks at Wuxian, who nods hastily while wiping more stray tears. He never hated his comforting smell before this moment. This child did not deserve this type of confusion added to her struggles. May the heavens give him the strength to comfort this child without causing any further damage.
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