“Wei Ying?”

There was the gentle sound of cloth slipping against cloth, and a faint hint of sandalwood on the air as a hand wrapped lightly around his wrist, another hand displacing a cloth from his forehead to feel his brow.  Wei Wuxian struggled once more.  He forced his eyes to open, dragging all his energy to gain the smallest view, and was rewarded with the sight of familiar golden eyes looking down at him.

“Wei Ying, rest.”  Lan Zhan said.  “Heal.”

Well.  It wasn’t like Wei Wuxian had the energy to argue with him.

~

Weeks ago, as Wen Ruohan lay dead at their feet, Meng Yao atop the stairs with a malicious smile on his face, Wei Ying had fallen back into Lan Wangji’s arms, and for one terrifying moment, Lan Wangji was convinced that Wei Ying was dead as well.  He did not respond to Lan Wangji’s cries, but a quick grasp of his wrist confirmed that his heart continued to beat.  His spiritual meridians had felt like glutinous rice, so thick and sticky was the resentful energy in them.  

Someone ran up, nearly falling on the stairs beside them.

“Wei Wuxian!” had said Jiang Wanyin.  “Is he - ?”

“Alive,” Lan Wangji had replied, with a relief that seemed to echo in the easing of Jiang Wanyin’s breath.  “He needs healing.  I will take him.”

He had shifted Wei Ying sideways in his arms and had an arm under his knees.  Lan Wangji was on his sword and already flying off as Jiang Wanyin found his voice to shout after him, “Lan-er-gongzi!”

Lan Wangji did not turn around.  Their healers had kept pace, moving camp each day based on the safest position amongst the troops, with the most severely wounded ready to be escorted back to Qinghe at the earliest opportunity.  He had scarcely left the palace grounds when he came upon them, passing Wei Ying to them and forcing himself not to resist as a team of them pushed him aside.

Wei Ying would recover.  Lan Wangji would not accept any other option.  This was the thought that had run through his head constantly, for the week and a half in Nightless City as the defeat of the Wens was finalized and Wei Ying remained unaware of the world changing around him until it came time for them all to head home.  

Xiongzhang had made the offer, almost certainly because he knew Lan Wangji would have insisted on going back to Lotus Pier with Wei Ying if the offer had not been made.

“Your brother is still recovering from the efforts needed to defeat Wen Ruohan,” he had said to Jiang Wanyin during a calmer moment at the banquet to which he had dragged Lan Wangji, having sought a private word while the guests were circulating and sharing small toasts with one another.  “If you will forgive my blunt speech, Lotus Pier suffered tremendously during the Sunshot Campaign and is itself still in need of recovery and repair.  While Cloud Recesses were damaged, we lost fewer and have had more time to repair, such that our healing halls have been restored to good order.  If you would permit us, we of the GusuLan would bring your brother back to Gusu with us, to assist in his recovery.”  

Jiang Wanyin had hesitated.  “Your offer is generous, Zewu-jun, and YungmengJiang thanks you for it.  It is true that our brother remains in need of healing, and we appreciate Hanguang-jun’s kindness in playing healing music for him these past days.  You must understand our hesitance to be separated from Wei Wuxian while he is in this condition.”

“Entirely understandable,” Xiongzhang had responded, nodding his head.  “We are happy to extend the invitation to Jiang-guniang as well.  As a Sect Leader, I am certain that you wish to return home immediately to deal with the necessary repairs, though we would, of course, welcome you as well.”

“A-Cheng,” Jiang Yanli had interrupted, grabbing the crook of her brother’s elbow just as he began to open his mouth.  Jiang Wanyin had met his sister’s eyes, and Lan Wangji wondered, in that moment, whether she intended to turn his mind to permit them to take Wei Ying or to force him to keep Wei Ying with them as they returned to Lotus Pier.  Jiang Wanyin stood still for a long moment, then sighed.

“On behalf of both of my siblings, we gratefully accept your offer,” Jiang Wanyin had replied, bowing.  Xiongzhang had returned the bow, and that had been that.  The following morning, Jiang Yanli and Wei Ying had been settled into a carriage bound for Gusu even as Jiang Wanyin led his sect home.  On foot, as many of their soldiers had been, and given Qishan’s distance from Gusu, the trip had taken well over a week.  Xiongzhang had not asked Lan Wangji’s preferences for returning to Gusu, a wry smile playing on his face as he had instructed Lan Wangji to lead their soldiers and the injured back carefully.

Arriving in GusuLan brought some of the sect’s most experienced healers into play - those too old or too injured to be risked on the fields of war.  Lan Jinhua had been old before Lan Wangji was even born, and had been prevailed upon to stay behind in deference to her ongoing recovery from a leg injury sustained during Wen Xu’s attack on Cloud Recesses.  Wei Wuxian, still unconscious, had been carried in on a stretcher and brought directly to her.  

“If you’re going to stay, play Clarity,” she instructed Lan Wangji before ignoring him to examine her patient.  Lan Wangji had not discerned anything odd in her examination until she gave a quiet gasp, saying, “Oh, you poor boy!”

Lan Wangji’s hands frozen above the strings, losing the tune.

“Healer?” prompted Jiang Yanli from where she had folded to her knees near Lan Wangji, waiting patiently as her brother was examined.

Lan Jinhua tilted her head back, as if just recalling that they were there.

“What do you know of what happened to this boy?” she asked, releasing her hands from Wei Ying’s form.  “Where did his seal come from?”

“Apologies, but my brother has not spoken of the seal’s origins,” Jiang Yanli replied.  “I do not know if word reached here, but he was missing for three months not long after the Wens attacked Lotus Pier.  He did not speak of where he had been when he returned, able to use resentful energy to direct corpses on the battlefield.  Aside from using different cultivation, my brother has otherwise been engaged in the same business as the rest of the Sunshot Campaign.”

Lan Wangji shifted minutely when Jiang Yanli indicated that Wei Ying had not spoken of his disappearance.  With another healer, one less acquainted with himself, the change might have been unnoticed.  Lan Jinhua turned to him in an instant, head tilted to await an answer.

“Burial Mounds,” Lan Wangji replied.  Beside him, Jiang Yanli gasped.  Lan Jinhua looked grim.

“That would explain it,” the healer said.  “I will ask you both to remain calm.  His meridians are intact, but his core has been overwhelmed - his golden core is gone.  That is not the most immediate problem.”

“What could be more immediate than his golden core?”  Jiang Yanli asked.  Her voice shook, and when glanced at her, Lan Wangji saw that her whole body trembled with it.

“He is possessed.”

Lan Wangji’s head snapped back to Lan Jinhua.

“That can’t be,” Jiang Yanli was saying, shaking her head.  “He returned to us over a year ago.  Surely we would have noticed, would have seen some sign of the possession in all that time.”

Lan Jinhua held up her hand, waiting for Jiang-guniang to stop.  “Under ordinary circumstances, most likely, you would have, and that you did not speaks both highly of his will and greatly in favor of his chances of recovery.  It is not just one spirit that possesses him, but dozens, if not more.  We must first cleanse him of the possession and the resentful energy before we can restore his golden core.”

“Can it even be done?” the younger woman asked.  “When A-Cheng was struck by the Core Melting Hand, Wen-guniang told us that there was no way to recover his golden core.”

At this, Lan Wangji turned once more to Jiang Yanli, eyes wide.  He had seen Jiang Wanyin wielding sword and spiritual whip alike not three weeks before, as he had for the entire length of the war.  Jiang Yanli, sensing his confusion, turned to him and shook her head.

“I don’t know how A-Cheng’s was restored.  He and A-Xian asked Song Lan to bring me to Jinlintai for my safety.  They were separated shortly thereafter, and that is when A-Xian went missing.”

“You say that your brother’s golden core was restored after being destroyed by the Core Melting Hand?”  Lan Jinhua stepped forward, then visibly stopped herself.  “I would be grateful for anything more that you could say on that theme at a later date, as it would help many of our cultivators who suffered at his hand.  But for the moment, let us return to your brother here with us now.”

A tiny smile flashed across Jiang Yanli’s face to hear Wei Ying acknowledged as her brother.  Lan Wangji idly wished Wei Ying had been awake to hear it.

The plans were fairly simple, though their execution had ultimately taken several weeks more before the first day that Wei Ying cracked open his eyes.  Incense was mixed to strengthen the mind, release foreign influences, and promote healing.  A mixture of musical cultivation and talisman were used to pull the spirits possessing Wei Ying away from him.  And during this time, Lan Jinhua began the preparation of the necessary elixir that would allow Wei Ying to pick up his sword once more.

With consent from his uncle, who after years of railing against Lan Wangi’s association with Wei Ying had been surprisingly sympathetic when the situation had been explained to him, Lan Wangji spent that time by Wei Ying’s bedside, playing for him among the healers.  Jiang Yanli was a fixture of the room, there at all times when the healers had not insisted she leave.

Jiang Yanli made surprisingly pleasant company.  She did not insist on speech, and had either brought with her or acquired from the sect garments in need of repair, so that she could sew while he played.  At regular intervals, she would brew tea, a process at which she was excellent, and on some mornings she would bring small treats with her that she must have made herself, for Lan Wangji knew that such things were not part of the regular cuisine of Cloud Recesses.

Other than that, there was nothing to do but wait.

~

“ - you eat pork at all?” said a familiar female voice the next time Wei Wuxian swam back to consciousness.  “I have made A-Xian’s favorite soup for him to eat once he wakes up, and I am sure that he would be pleased to share the meal with you.”

“Mn,” an equally familiar, warm voice hummed in response, and the room was quiet other than the soft clacking of tea cups on wood.

“-an Zhan?” Wei Wuxian mumbled, eyes still closed.  He heard a shifting of cloth, and then each of his hands was grabbed, one by a large calloused hand, the other by a softer and more delicate touch.  

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan replied.  “Open your eyes.”

And really, who was Wei Wuxian to refuse?

Shijie and Lan Zhan held his hands, both smiling at him.  Or, well, the corner’s of Lan Zhan’s mouth were turned up just the tiniest bit and his eyes were crinkling in a way that seemed like pleasure, and Shijie was wiping away tears but she was truly smiling, warm and genuine.

“How do you feel, A-Xian?” Shijie asked.  Then, slightly louder than she perhaps should have in Cloud Recesses, Shijie called, “Lan-yisheng, A-Xian is awake!”

Nothing hurt.  The absence of pain shouldn’t be something that one could forget, but he very clearly had, because Wei Wuxian couldn’t remember the last time that there hadn’t been at least a dull ache in his chest, if not throughout his body.

“Wei Ying?” asked a concerned voice.

“Ah, I’m fine, Lan Zhan, Shijie,” he replied, struggling to sit up.  “Thank you for worrying.  We are in…?”

“Gusu,” Lan Zhan said, reaching behind him and supporting him into a sitting position.

“Gusu?" Wei Wuxian asked as Lan Zhan tucked pillows behind his back.  "But the war - ?  Wen Ruohan - ?”

Without shifting focus in the slightest, Lan Zhan replied, “We won.  He’s dead.”

“Really?” Wei Wuxian asked as a healer strode into the room.

“Mn.”

“Jiang Cheng?” Wei Wuxian asked, turning to his sister.

“A-Cheng is back in Lotus Pier, doing well, rebuilding,” Shijie responded, clasping her hands together, “but before we give you all the news, you should hear about what has happened with your own health.”

"Yes," interjected an unfamiliar voice.  Wei Wuxian looked over to see a tiny grandmother standing in the doorway.  She limped as she shuffled forward, reaching out to grab his arm and feel for his pulse-point.  "Jiang-guniang is entirely correct about the order of priorities.  Wei-gongzi, how do you feel?"

Wei Wuxian instinctively went to pull his hand away, but for a grandmother, she had surprising grip strength.  

"Wei-gongzi, you have been under my care for some time," she said, "I can assure you, you have no secrets from me."

Wei Wuxian tried to smile.  Tried to relax.  Tried, for a truly wishful moment, to be anywhere else.

"Don't worry, Xianxian," said Jiang Yanli, grabbing his unoccupied hand.  "Lan Jinhua-yisheng has said that she can heal you fully."

Wei Wuxian very politely refrained from saying that Lan-yisheng was incompetent or giving in to the strong impulse to scream from frustration.

Introductions were made, and explanations given.

“It's true, Wei-gongzi.  You truly are quite lucky, in that your meridians remain intact, and your body has suffered no long-lasting physical hurts while you lacked a core, ” Lan Jinhua said, releasing his arm with a neutral expression.  “GusuLan have developed methods of external alchemy that create an elixir which can be used to restart the circulation of your spiritual energy, which will enable you to re-cultivate your golden core.  It will be a long process to restore it to its prior strength, but your body-memory will make it faster than the first time you cultivated your golden core.”

Wei Wuxian’s hand broke from Shijie’s and rose involuntarily to clutch at his lower dantian.

“You’re saying - “  He swallowed.  “You’re saying that I can build a new golden core?”

“Yes,” the healer replied, with the faintest smile.  “Though I must warn you that doing so is likely incompatible with continuing to practice your new style of cultivation.”

“That’s fine!” Wei Wuxian yelped out, and it was only when Lan Zhan squeezed Wei Wuxian’s shoulder that he realized that Lan Zhan had kept his hand on it throughout the conversation.  He glanced down at it, then looked up to warm golden eyes and the most approving near smile he had ever seen on Lan Zhan’s face.

“You should eat and rest until the elixir is ready,” Lan Jinhua said, rising to her feet and withdrawing from the room.

“Yes,” said Shijie, getting to her feet as well.  “Let me bring you some soup, A-Xian.  I made your favourite.”

“Thank you,” Wei Wuxian replied without turning his head.  His hand lifted to join the place where Lan Zhan’s hand was wrapped around his, covering Lan Zhan’s hand with his own as he kept his eyes on Lan Zhan.

“Wei Ying.”

“Lan Zhan.”

Was there anything else to say?

Slowly, as if giving him time to move away if he chose to, Lan Zhan brought his free hand to join their grasp.  His hands were pleasantly warm in the cool air of Gusu.  Wei Ying stared into Lan Zhan’s eyes, watched pleased as Lan Zhan met him steadily.

“You will return to the sword path?”  Lan Zhan asked softly.  Wei Ying laughed, softly rolling his eyes.

“If I had had a choice, I never would have left it, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying replied.  “You’ll have to protect me until I recover enough to fight with you again, okay?”

“Mn.”

“And keep me company while I’m stuck waiting for my body to be well again.”

“Mn.”

“And come night-hunting with me once I’m healed again - ”

“Wei Ying.”  Slightly annoyed, with a sigh.

Wei Ying laughed.  “All right, all right, Lan Zhan.  We will save making plans for after I’m better until I’m actually better, and then we can decide where we want to go.”

The tips of Lan Zhan’s ears turned a bit red as he replied, “I will go anywhere, if Wei Ying will also be there.”

“Lan Zhan!”  Wei Ying flushed to the root of his hair, turning away.  “You can’t just say things like that!  Have pity on this poor coreless man.”

Lan Zhan scoffed, and Wei Ying found it in himself to turn back towards his soulmate.

“We can discuss when you are well.”

“Yes, and also when we are not in the infirmary and there’s no chance that your uncle will happen to choose an inopportune moment to drop in and decide that he hates me even more because - “

“Because?”

“You know why!”

Lan Zhan’s eyes were dancing, but he did not respond.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying shouted, but his annoyance was mostly play, and the look on Lan Zhan’s face said that he had, at last, figured that out.  Wei Ying gave up the act with a laugh.