This is a very unhappy and very sick toddler! She has a seizure on his way back to Gusu - short - another when he gets there - longer -

He is really not in remotely good shape himself. 

He half-collapses when he reaches Cloud Recesses. It's all he can do to press A-Yuan on his brother before passing out. 

Well on the one hand this is really not great but, on the other hand, Wangji is back and alive and this is really so much better than he was afraid of. 

It is blatantly obvious that both his brother and the child need a healer. He has absolutely no idea where this baby came from (aside from...one possibility...which is intensely disturbing on multiple levels) but anything that keeps his brother from haring off to get himself killed in the most dramatic and romantic way possible is a good thing. He hands them both over to the healers and quietly frets. 

Baby remains very sick for a while - but eventually her fever breaks, and she settles into a somewhat more restful sleep.

Wangji wakes, in the Jingshi, with Brother hovering over him. He is no longer delirious, but of course his back isn't in much better condition, and he had made it significantly worse by haring off to the Burial Mounds like that. 

"Where is A-Yuan?" are the first words out of his mouth. 

"A-Yuan is the child you brought back with you?" 

"Yes." 

"She's with the healers." 

"Mn." 

"Who is she, Wangji?" 

He hadn't really considered what to say about that. The truth is, of course, completely out of the question. Even if Uncle and the Elders didn't demand her death for the sin of being born a Wen, there was no way Uncle would allow him to adopt Wei Wuxian's child. 

Well, he didn't intend to give them a choice. 

"She is mine." 

Brother raises an eyebrow at him. He simply gazes back, unmoved and unmoving. He does not blame Brother for allowing him to be whipped; Brother is a sect leader, with responsibilities beyond his younger brother, and Wangji had hurt thirty-three elders of their sect. 

But nor does he regret standing between Wei Ying and harm. Nor will he relent in the case of this child, all that is left of him in the world and an innocent in her own right. 

Eventually Brother sighs and stands. "Lan Yuan, then. I'll tell Uncle, but don't be surprised if he comes to talk to you." 

"Mn." 

When A-Yuan wakes up properly, she's:

a) confused

b) groggy

c) still achy

and

d) very very UPSET.

She's not sure where she is, but someone's definitely missing and something's definitely wrong and she's gonna cry about this!!!

One of the healers notices she's awake and comes over to see what the trouble is. 

She! Doesn't! Know!

(Her brain feels like soggy overheated mush. There is definitely some person who is missing though. Her... Daddy? Maybe? That seems like a word for a person she could be missing.)

...Daddy!!!!!! WHERE!!!!

The healer has been informed that Lan Wangji showed up with a child he was claiming was his, having aggravated his injuries terribly. She had no idea what was going on, but it wasn't really any of her business, and anyway, gossip was forbidden in the Cloud Recesses.

"Your father is resting in his own room. He's injured. If I take you to him, can you avoid jostling him or doing anything that might aggravate his wounds?"

"...Yes." It's very important she see daddy. It's also very important daddy not hurt.

The healer brings her to the Jingshi. 

"A-Yuan," Wangji breathes when he sees her. 

She's really confused! She doesn't remember what daddy looks like but she thought maybe it was different. More smiling? But that name feels right...

"Daddy???" she asks.

A look of pain crosses his face. 

"Come here, A-Yuan," he murmurs. 

She toddles over, brow furrowed, and stares in concern at her maybe-daddy.

He gestures for the healer to leave, insistently, until she does. 

"What do you remember?" he asks A-Yuan. 

...She's pretty sure there was another daddy? But she can't remember the word for when you're supposed to have two of something and instead you have one of something and the world is not being nice and giving you the second thing. Words are dumb. People should just know everything she knows, and it's super frustrating when they seem to not know really obvious things, like whatever she's thinking.

Her head hurts.

"...Two daddies?" she settles on, rubbing at her cheek in a vague attempt to get her forehead to stop doing the hurting thing. Then, something about that - she brightens up. "Butterflies! Daddy smiled."

He nods. 

"You must never tell anyone else about your--your other father," he tells her quietly. "He--he died. And if people knew you were his, you would not be safe."

...Oh. That is BAD.

She tears up, but nods.

"He loved you very much. He hid you away so that you would be safe. I found you, and brought you here. I--I do not know when I will be able to get out of bed on my own again. I am sorry." 

She thinks very seriously.

"Kiss it better?"

"I am sorry. I think it is probably too severe for kisses to fix." 

That is VERY BAD. Ouchies should not be too bad for kisses!!!

She huffs and sits down.

Very carefully, moving slowly to avoid aggravating his injuries, he raises a hand to pet her hair and begins humming quietly. 

She sniffles and cries and hugs herself and then gradually starts humming too. It's a nice song. She likes songs.