Chapter Text
“Thank you sir!” The store clerk bowed to him. Wei Wuxian smiled and nodded his head as he took his items that were wrapped for the travel back to the cloud recesses “it’s my pleasure” he said but before he could hear any sort of response from the shop keep he heard a young child scream, accompanied by the laughter of others. He followed the noise and soon came across a group of young boys, and the screams clearly coming from a small girl crying “stop! Please stop it hurts!”
With a hand on his sword he called out to the boys “Hey! What are you doing? You can’t just pick on anyone weaker than you!” Though he couldn't wield suibian well anymore, gripping the handle in front of others that didn't know better still held a power of intimidation “Get! Go home and leave her be!”
The boys ran away, but not without sticking their tongues out and making faces at him. In a way, he used to respond the same to authority, but also he wouldn’t have ever been caught beating some poor girl in the street! It wasn't the same as the harmless mischief he caused. Sighing he let go of suibian and looked to the girl curled up on the path now pushing her way up to look at her savior “thank you… kind gege” she must have been only 3 or 4 years old but even though he face still showed fear he could tell from her voice she was truly grateful. He crouched down in front of the girl and without a sound, or flinching she watched him. She didn’t seem scared of him, but frozen nonetheless. “What’s your name?” He smiled gently. The girl was very cute, she’d certainly grow up to be very beautiful provided she got off the streets, but right now she was covered in muck and had little cuts throughout her body. One on her cheek in particular looked like it would scar. “Um… they usually call me little girl, or little sister. Those boys also call me poor girl or stupid but i dont think they’re being nice…” she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them.
It would seem this girl didn’t even know her own name. She was young, sure, but he would hope she knows herself at least that much. “Do you have any family around here?” Wei ying asked, propping his chin on his palm and studying the young girls reactions. She shook her head but didn't seem upset by this fact at all. It was just normal to her. Wei ying hummed “how about food, have you eaten today?” She hesitated, but again, shook her head, and looked away from him. Making sure not to scare her from the contact, he gently tapped her hand and smiling brightly said “wait here then, i’ll be right back.”
With a spring in his step he stood up and stepped over to the nearest food cart, which happened to be right across the road. “I’ll take two steamed buns. And also… would you happen to know anything about that girl there?” He gestured to the alleyway behind him. The vendor peered around him and then nodded. “Yeah, it was a little more than a year ago. Some wealthy looking men threw her off their cart complaining about how worthless she was, and she did nothing for the debt. Sounded a lot like her parents sold her to these men but she was so small she could barely care for herself. She’s received a lot of charity but… well, no one can really afford to take in another child around here. Instead they offer her the occasional blankets and food to ease their guilty conscience. I give her food too sometimes but, well it is still a business…” saying that, the vendor had finished prepping the food and was handing it over.
“I see. Thank you, that helps... ah, does she have a name?”
“No one knows”
Wei Wuxian nodded and took a bite of one of the buns. After swallowing he smiled and reiterated, “thank you again!” He turned and went back to the girl, this time sitting next to her and holding the unbitten bun out to her. She looked at it for a few heartbeats, and then to him and then back to the bun. “It’s for you, please, take it.” She smiled and his heart almost could have burst, it was one of the cutest smiles he’d ever seen. “Thank you kind gege!!” She took the bun and started to nibble on it.
After finishing another bite he decided to question her some more “so do those boys always bother you?”
She nodded and replied softly between bites “they always tease me and kick me and pull my hair. I don’t like them… sometimes they still bother me even when big sisters are around.”
“Big sisters huh? Are they nice?”
Again she nodded but this time more vigorously and looked at him with a smile “one time this big sister gave me a cake that was wrapped up all pretty so i kept the bow and put it in my hair. The big sisters that live around here help me tie it. They tried teaching me how to do it by myself but it's really hard.” Saying this she gently tugged on the pink ribbon at the back of her head, trying to tighten the loose strands.
Running a strand of her hair between his fingers. He noted the abnormal lengths. “Do the big sisters also help you cut your hair?”
The little girl pouted and took a big bite of the bun, considering her tiny mouth and muttered angrily “no….. those mean boys showed up with a knife and said they were gonna cut it but I didn't want them to so they ended up cutting me right here! See!” She pointed to the forming scar on her cheek and also below that had stuffing from the bun on the corner of her mouth. Wei Wuxian smiled and nodded, sympathetic with her plight. “When I started bleeding they ran away. It hurt too. But i didn't cry! I'm tough.” She smirked and took another bite of her bun, very proud of herself.
Wei Wuxian was about to praise her for being so brave but suddenly a dog came up on her other side and he fell sideways slightly. He wanted to scare the dog away for her but he was frozen, watching, wide eyed. After sniffing her, the dog merely nuzzled her, and she shared a piece of her bun with it. “Good puppy” she said as she pet its head and it left content with its scrap of food. He was in shock. It would seem that since this girl was so much smaller than he was back when he lived on the streets, they saw her more as something to protect rather than compete with. He was kind of jealous. Fitting what was left of his bun into his mouth, he focused on the taste to break him out of his daze. He cleared his throat and said “so no ones looking out for you, and those boys keep coming to pick on you…”
“No one but you”
“Huh?”
“You looked out for me kind gege!” She hugged his side “plus you gave me food!” She chirped while shoving the bun in his face to show him.
He laughed and grabbed her wrist to more the bun back to her to eat. She immediately took a bite. “That’s true… but there is a way i could give you even more food, and those boys would never bother you again. How would you like to come home with me, to the cloud recesses?” He knew how this girl must feel. Watching families, and feeling a longing to be like that. Just barely getting by on the kindness of strangers. He could see it through the gleam in her eyes when he said ‘home with me’. He felt the same way back then.
“Cloud recesses..? Where's that?” Her bun was momentarily forgotten as she stared in awe at him.
Looking into the distance he pointed slightly upward. “All the way up there on the mountain. There's a lot of rules, and sometimes its a pain, but there's also some really kind people and its super pretty. Well… the people are also super pretty. You’ll fit right in.” He beamed, and she giggled. After laughing she took a bite of her bun and murmured, “ish it far?” He poked her nose and clicked his tongue “that’s one of the rules you’ll have to learn… no talking while eating. It’s not too far but i'll carry you while you eat.”
She pouted again, her mouth now empty. “I don't like rules…”
he laughed at this. She truly was after his own heart. “I don't either, to be honest. But I sometimes try to follow them for Lan Wangji’s sake. You’ll get to meet him later. If you want… we can leave now.” Immediately she gasped and started pulling on his sleeve. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Can we? I wanna see this pretty place!”
Wei ying bit back another laugh as he stood up and then lifted her into his arms. She exclaimed with joy at being lifted and laughed. She’d never been held like that, that she could remember, but it always looked fun to be able to see the world from higher up. She was right.
As he started walking, making his way back home he started musing aloud, “if you're gonna come home with me live there, we need to think of a proper name for you… maybe i can ask lan zhan for input. Though he can be kinda silly with names….”
“I wanna be called pretty!” She yelled, “the boys only called me ugly, so now i wanna be pretty”
He laughed again. She was timid at first but now was yelling out such silly things, “well of course we’ll come up with something that sounds pretty, because that's what you deserve, but just ‘pretty’ isn't much of a name”
She looked down and took a few more bites of her bun then mumbled, “i dunno then…”
———————
Some time after they arrived at the cloud recesses, Wei Wuxian had bathed her borrowed some spare Lan robes put on in place of her ragged dirty ones. He only guessed at what size he would need, so they were still a little baggy, but not so bad that it stopped her from running around the jingshi. Her hair was still damp but as this rate, she would dry it out just by running.
Aside from the patter of her footsteps and heavy breathing from running, she was being fairly quiet. Outside the gate he had put a finger in front of his lips and whispered “shhh… we need to be quiet once we go in. That's one of the rules, so let's treat it like a game. You need to be secret and sneaky.”
She had done a very good job. Hiding and covering her mouth to hide laughter. Even now in the jingshi she kept her voice quiet, but her excitement about everything built into energy that she now had to burn off. “Alright, alright, come here so i can fix your hair now” he beckoned and she quickly ran over and plopped in front of him. “Do you know how to tie pretty bows?” She asked
“Of course!” He immediately responded “I used to have my very own shijie and she showed me how to tie lots of pretty bows, and even braid hair.”
“Can you do that?” She gasped, whipping around before he could get a hold of the part to tie. “Can you braid my hair?”
He nodded, and smiling she turned back around to let him work on it. After tying and braiding it. He ran a brush quickly through the rest and then pulled his hands back “and, done” her small hands reached back to feel it and then she looked to him. “Does it look pretty?” Her eyes bore into him, hoping for a yes. “Of course” he nodded. Her smile grew and then he heard unmistakable footsteps. After living here for a few years he knew those footsteps easily, and they were getting closer. Quickly, he sprang up and grabbed a blanket from his shared bed, then turned back to the girl. “We’re gonna play a little game, okay? You're gonna hide under here until I move it. And no talking we gotta be secret! Okay?” She nodded and he plopped the blanket on top of her, sitting next to the heap. “Gege i'm scared!!” She cried, though it was muffled by fabric. He wormed his hand under the mass and whispered, “here, you can hold my hand. It’s okay, it won't be long.” He felt her tightly grip his hand and his heart melted. The door came open and suddenly his attention was captured, “Lan zhan!”
“Im home.” He responded. He stopped not far inside the door, after shutting it behind him. It was strange for his husband to not immediately jump up and pepper him with kisses, but instead he chose to sit on the floor next to… a pile of blankets? He took two steps forward and sat in front of his love looking into his eyes. “How was your day?” He spoke
“Well…” he looked off to the side and blushed like a maiden, though one could suspect it was played up. “You know i've always wished I could bare you a child… I love sizhui but we didn’t get to raise him TOGETHER and i missed out on most of his life. Well… this time I—“ he whipped the blanket off, revealing the young girl, “—have given you a daughter lan zhan!”
Her hair was messed slightly and she jumped at the sudden movement and light. After she adjusted and really saw lan wangji she shrunk back and hid slightly behind Wei Wuxians arm while staring at him. Lan wangji’s eyes were wide as he also looked back at her, startled. “Wei ying…” he started bringing his gaze instead to his husband. “Where did she come from?”
Wei Wuxian pouted “you know, id think you'd be more happy! I go and birth you a daughter and you're so ungrateful!”
Lan zhan shook his head “you did not birth her. What happened today?”
The man in black sighed and then dropped all façades. “I went to town to buy some things and heard her scream as some boys were beating her. I had to help her, and she reminded me of myself. It didn't seem like anyone else was going to give her a home so I had to do it. I can’t leave a child like that…” he pet her head as he spoke and she buried her face into his sleeve “Lan Zhan isn’t scary… I promise. In fact, from now on he’s gonna be your dad. We both are.” She poked her face out to look at him again, still wary. Lan wangji was still adjusting to having this responsibility thrust upon him, but it was Wei Wuxians will, and he was no better when it came to the desire to help those in need. He nodded. It was a lot suddenly, but he’d be lying if he said he didn't constantly daydream about having Wei Ying with him to raise Sizhui when he was still young. It would be like that day in yiling, but for years to come and not a single fleeting day. “What is her name?” He asked while gazing at her softly. She released Wei Wuxians sleeve, sitting properly on her own but still not breaking eye contact. “That… well she was abandoned so young no one knows. She doesnt even know, but I was thinking on the way back of names and I like Lihua Lan Lihua” wei wuxian almost purred as he rubbed his new daughter’s back, trying to calm her. He nodded but spoke, “Why not Wei?” Lan wangji questioned
“Well that's silly, she's going to be raised in the cloud recesses as the mighty hanguangjun’s daughter, she needs to have the Lan surname.” He retorted
“D...dad?” Lan Lihua stuttered out. Both men turned to look at her and she continued “you… you're gonna be my dad?” Her gaze flickered between both of them. Wei Wuxian turned his body to be facing her and grabbed Lan wangji’s hand, and cupped his daughters cheek with the other. “Yes. We both are, a-hua. Ah, do you like the name?”
Tears rose to her eyes and she nodded vigorously “it's pretty just like you promised” she sobbed out
About to cry himself, he leaned forward and held her, even pulling her onto his lap as she latched onto her arms around him and continued to cry. “I’ll always take care of you, lan Lihua...” petting her with one hand, he beckoned Lan Zhan with the other, curling his finger until he leaned close enough to easily kiss. It was a simple kiss, but it was filled with so much love, and after a good while wei ying pulled back slightly and whispered, “This time we’ll be a real family, together.”