let the little children come to me | Glowfic Constellation

It wasn't something he had done on purpose.

Lan Xichen had a lot of regrets in his life, some but not all of which were the same as what the people around him would classify as his mistakes. In this, he related very strongly of the Wangji of a few years ago.

Now, of course, Wangji's regrets were largely obviated, and Xichen did appreciate the effort he was putting into giving Xichen the same emotional support Xichen had tried to give him. And he appreciated all that Wangji had suffered and achieved over that time. He would never try to sacrifice Wangji's happiness for his own.

The cultivation world at large (most specifically, Sect Leader Jiang) was less hard on demonic cultivation as a whole now that Wei Wuxian was, if not precisely exonerated, at least no longer the scapegoat onto whose shoulders everything was thrown. But sometimes demonic cultivators were a problem.

When he saw the array, he thought there was no possible way it could work. But it didn't take a genius like his brother-in-law to work out the gist of what it would do if it did. Unraveling the fabric of reality.

No. Bad demonic cultivator. No biscuit.

He had gotten the demonic cultivator away from the array and extracted an explanation from him--apparently he had gotten into demonic cultivation in the first place in the wake of a loved one's death--a common story--and when he failed to re-create the Yiling Patriarch's work in Wen Ning, he had apparently jumped immediately to destroying several years of the universe in order to prevent it. It was the kind of thing he would expect from Wei Wuxian in an especially bad headspace, which he didn't say; no need to encourage the fellow.

What he didn't realize, examining the array with the offender safely secured for transport, was that it was remotely functional, let alone so unstable it would go off on its own just from being stepped on.

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grave-of-dreams

"...okay.

You're doing very well, A-Huan. I'm proud of you."

Cling.

"Thank you Mommy."

grave-of-dreams

She adjusts to hold A-Zhan with one arm so that she can hug A-Huan against her with the other. "Do you have everything you need? We should bring some of the blankets."

He nods. There isn't much he had when he was five that he's going to miss. And--

"I took some money, before I came the first time," he says, pulling out a coin pouch and handing it to her. It's more stealing than anything else they're doing, but he doesn't feel too guilty; the sect is rich.

grave-of-dreams

She takes the pouch. (Irrational worry flits across her mind that she's forgotten how to even use money. That's obviously ridiculous. She dismisses it.) "Thank you, A-Huan. Let's go get the blankets from my bed."

The largest blanket can be tied into a makeshift bag, and the other bedding put inside it. The smallest blanket is a soft baby blanket that Lihua wove when she was pregnant with A-Huan. She wraps the blanket very carefully around A-Zhan, who doesn't stir.

A-Huan has no idea of the significance of the baby blanket. He helps with the blankets as much as his tiny body allows.

grave-of-dreams

(No, he wouldn't. She wove it when she still thought she would be able to hold her own child, to wrap him up in the blankets she'd made and nurse him and tuck him into bed every night and --

He wouldn't recognize it.)

They can sit together and cuddle until A-Huan thinks it's safe to leave.

He gives the word as soon as it's time, then directs her to dart between this building and that, always keeping out of sight, sometimes staying in one place for several minutes.

It takes almost an hour until they pass through the outer wards, jade token allowing them to pass through.

grave-of-dreams

And -- she's out. Somehow. Her children are right here where she can touch them and she's out.

She's also shaking, but that's not very important.

"Would you know if any sort of alarm has gone off?" she murmurs, glancing behind them.

Nod. "It hasn't," he promises.

grave-of-dreams

"If we fly now, will anyone see?"

"We should stay low for a little while, but they shouldn't."

grave-of-dreams

(She doesn't know if she still knows how -- )

Lihua unsheathes her sword for the first time in six years (and it sings, and she can't help the tears in her eyes this time) and levels it in the air in front of her. She steps on. Her balance locks to it easily, and she doesn't fall. Of course she still knows how.

"Come stand in front of me, sweetheart."

He climbs on, wrapping his arms around her waist.

grave-of-dreams

She holds her children close and flies.

He hugs his mom and looks up to reassure himself that A-Zhan is there and thinks about the future.

grave-of-dreams

She flies West for hours. She doesn't know where she's going, but it's very important to be far away. Very far away.

With an hour still before the sun rises, she touches down in a field outside a small town. She doesn't know the name of the town. It doesn't matter.

When she steps down from the sword her legs buckle and she collapses to her knees.

He is at her side immediately. "Mommy!"

grave-of-dreams

"I'm f -- I'm fine," she says, catching her breath. She is fine. It has just been a while since she's flown, or used her spiritual energy at all, or exerted herself anywhere near this amount, and her legs had been too tense for the whole flight. She hadn't noticed; she's tense everywhere.

She will get used to flying and standing and walking again, it isn't a problem. Right now she's most concerned that the stupid trembling will wake A-Zhan.

Deep breaths. "Mommy's fine, A-Huan. She hasn't been responsible and kept up with her exercises as well as you little ones, has she? I just need to get used to flying again."

Hug hug hug. "You couldn't, in that little house."

grave-of-dreams

"A-Huan is so clever," she whispers. "Good boy."

He is clever because he is thirty-five. Lihua has no idea what the correct way of handling that is, but she can't not see him as her baby. Hopefully A-Huan will tell her if he ever feels demeaned or insulted.

It's probably best to go into town and find shelter but she really doesn't want to. The idea of bringing her children close to a single other person her want to scream, even though the strangers at this inn would have no conceivable reason to try to take them from her.

She doesn't want to. "You must be tired. Do you want to rest here, in some of the blankets? I will watch over you and A-Zhan until it's truly morning."

"Okay," he says, yawning. His five-year-old body isn't used to doing without sleep. He curls up with A-Zhan and is asleep quickly.

grave-of-dreams

AWW. Oh they're so cute. They are so cute and perfect it hurts; she loves them so much it hurts.

This is the first time she has ever seen A-Huan sleep.

She cradles her children and checks for pursuers constantly and cries, silently, until the sun comes up.

His Cloud Recesses sleep schedule is strong; he wakes at five, yawning and rubbing his eyes despite how late he went to sleep.

grave-of-dreams