Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! Thanks to Morgana_avalon over on AO3, my daughter and I fell down another black hole filled with buried tombs, mysterious murals, thousand year old corpses and dust, weird critters of all kinds, greedy villains, plot holes and some very pretty boys.
There are loads of lovely 'Liu Sang needs a hug' fics out there, but I couldn't find a single 'Jiang ZiSuan needs a hug' one so here we are! This story starts from Lost Tomb Reboot Season 2 Episode 16 and goes AU from there. Enjoy :)
Summary: There's only one person who can stop Jiang ZiSuan from killing Wu Xie for the death of his beloved older sister. Too bad that person is already dead.
Beta: jeangirlmy
Disclaimer: The Lost Tomb/Grave Robber Chronicles belong to Xue Li.
- Story Start -
Jiang ZiSuan pulls himself to his feet, breathing heavily and leaning against the nearest wall until his shaky legs can bear his weight once more. His body feels like it's been used as a punching bag. He's still bleeding from the puncture holes inflicted by the vicious clamshells. His face, neck and arms are stinging from the gas bombs he exploded earlier in a suicidal attempt to kill Wu Xie once and for all. It also hurts to breathe which means his lungs are likely damaged from said gas.
It didn't work. Wu Xie has the devil's own luck and was rescued by his merry little band of friends while Jiang ZiSuan was left for dead. When Jiao and his men found him, Jiang ZiSuan faked unconsciousness. He opened his eyes after hearing them leave only to see Sanye aiming a gun at him.
She'd never made a secret of wanting him. He'd never obliged.
He has no idea why she chose to fire at the ground instead of him before leaving. Maybe she found his numerous, futile attempts to get rid of one dying man pathetic. It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that Jiang ZiSuan is still alive. He still has a chance to avenge A-Ning's death. He keeps that thought first and foremost in his mind and shoves away all other factors - that Wu Xie saved him from the clamshells, that he's already dying, that he's been trying to make himself stronger to keep those around him safe.
None of those matter.
Killing Wu Xie has been Jiang ZiSuan's life mission for the past ten years. If he loses sight of that now, he'll end up with nothing.
He'll be nothing.
Pushing off from the wall, he focuses on walking, on taking one stumbling, swaying step after another. His lungs burn and his vision is blurry. He presses on until he comes across two bodies lying facedown on the ground - two of the idiots following Wu Xie around. Jiang ZiSuan fought with them earlier and knows that neither are in his league. It looks like they ran afoul of Jiao and their time on this earth is up.
This is what comes of joining people like Wu Xie.
Fools, all of them.
Retrieving the knife stuck in the ground nearby, Jiang ZiSuan slashes through the ropes binding their wrists and grabs their backpacks. They won't be needing those anymore. As he walks off, one of their bodies jerks in reflex. Not the big eared one, but his companion.
Jiang ZiSuan hesitates before going back and dragging him over to lean against the cave wall. He rummages inside one of the backpacks and pulls out a first aid kit among various food packets and drink bottles. Gently, he tucks a clean length of gauze to the man's neck wound. It's not deep, but the front of the man's outfit is already drenched in blood. He does the same for the other man before getting to his feet.
These two are fools, but they haven't wronged him.
"I've stopped the bleeding for you guys," he says and bends down to snag one of the drink bottles. "These are all for you. It depends on your luck whether you can go out alive or not."
- o -
It's getting increasingly difficult to breathe. Each inhalation feels like a knife stabbing in his chest. His breath comes out in gasps and his vision darkens. He presses on, takes one more step and finds himself tipping over, eyes closing despite himself.
When he opens them again, he's standing in a mist shrouded place. He sees a figure walking towards him and squints.
It's A-Ning.
"Jie? Jie!" Jiang ZiSuan stumbles forward, warmth flooding his chest and pricking his eyes.
"A-Suan." A-Ning looks sorrowful. "Why are you here?"
"Jie, I've missed you so much!"
"You're not supposed to come here so soon. You've already wasted the past ten years of your life."
Jiang ZiSuan dips his head at the familiar, chastising tone.
"I've gotten stronger," he mutters, hands curling into fists as he scowls. "Wu Xie caused your death. He deserves to die!"
"It was an accident."
"I don't care! You followed him to that Snake Marsh so he was responsible for you!"
"No. I was responsible for me. No one else." A-Ning insists. "Did Wu Xie tell you what happened?"
"Only that it was an accident, but he feels guilty. And he should!"
A-Ning shakes her head.
"A-Suan, you must stop this obsession of yours."
Jiang ZiSuan shakes his head, lips pressed tightly together.
"Please. You're still young. I want you to be happy."
"How can I be happy?!" Jiang ZiSuan chokes out, eyes burning. "You're dead but he's alive!"
"Well, he's dying too," A-Ning says with a small sad smile.
"It doesn't matter!"
"It does to me."
"You and everyone else," Jiang ZiSuan says bitterly. "What about me? Jie, I-I'm dying too. Isn't that why I'm here?"
A-Ning shakes her head.
"No. My baby brother is strong. It's not his time to die yet."
"But I don't want to go back," he chokes out. "There's no one and nothing for for me back there. I want to be with you, Jie. I've missed you so much."
A-Ning's smile turns sadder.
"I miss you too, but it's not your time to join me."
"But-"
"Don't give up yet, A-Suan. Treasure your life. Live it, for both of us."
"I don't know how." Now he sounds petulant. He doesn't care.
"A-Suan, Wu Xie's a good man. Promise me you won't try to kill him anymore."
"I can't."
"Yes, you can. Promise me you won't try to kill him anymore."
He stares at her.
"Say it," A-Ning demands.
"I..."
"Say it!"
"I... won't try to kill Wu Xie anymore," Jiang ZiSuan promises reluctantly. A-Ning was his older sister. He always obeyed her.
A-Ning smiles at him.
"Good. Now, go back and live a full life. A good life."
"I - alright." Jiang ZiSuan doesn't want to and in fact, has no idea how to. There's more mist rolling in now, making it difficult to see her.
"Be kind to yourself and be happy," he hears her say. "Goodbye for now, A-Suan."
"Wait, Jie. Jie!"
It's too late. She's vanished. He didn't get to say goodbye again.
Jiang ZiSuan falls to his hands and knees and breaks down completely.
- o -
The next time he opens his swollen eyes, feeling wrung out and empty, he's back in the cave. He's still alive. He gets to his feet and blinks until his vision clears.
He never goes back on his promises so he will fulfil them, no matter what it takes. He will live his life for A-Ning, no matter how little he cares for it now. He just won't think about the how. Not yet.
Turning around, he retraces his steps.
The two men he helped earlier are still sitting propped against the cave wall and conscious. When they see him approaching, they try to move away, eyes going wide in alarm.
Jiang ZiSuan doesn't blame them with how easily he defeated them earlier. Kneeling down, he swings his backpack from his shoulder with a stifled groan.
Again, they attempt to back away. Pitiful. Laughable, really.
"Don't move," he orders and they freeze on the spot. "Both of you have lost too much blood."
When they still try to shift away, he pins each of them with a glare.
"If you're planning to die here, tell me now so I won't waste my time trying to save you," he says tightly.
They blink at him and then at each other.
"Save us? Why?" Big ears asks in a hoarse voice.
His friend gives a mirthless laugh which ends in a hiss of pain.
"I... made a promise."
With that, Jiang ZiSuan gets to work. He cleans and bandages the cuts in their necks as gently as he can, ignoring their winces of pain. His fingers are trembling which makes him suspect he's also sustained nerve damage on top of everything else. After keeping back the first aid box, he uses some of the bottled water to clean his hands.
"I can stitch a wound if needed, but you'll hate me for it," he says. "That prissy doctor friend of yours will do a better job. Meanwhile, eat and drink something."
He hands them two bottles of water and some ration bars before helping himself. He knows they're still staring at him, knows he must look dreadful with his face blistered and red from the poisoned gas.
"Eat up," he orders. "You two can't do anything else in the state you're in."
"You look like you're about to keel over yourself," Big ears says.
Jiang ZiSuan scowls at him.
"We should go look for Wu Xie and the others," Big ears continues before clamping his mouth shut and shooting his friend a guilty look.
Jiang ZiSuan exhales and rolls his eyes. Then he rubs them and stifles a yawn.
"In the state you two are in, he'll die trying to protect you," he states. "Rest first."
Big ears clears his throat.
"I'm Jia KeZi," he offers and gestures to his companion. "He's Li JiaLe."
Jiang ZiSuan nods. His head feels like it's stuffed with cotton and the cave they're in is freezing. Then again, he's only wearing a sleeveless top what with his jacket being stolen by Wu Xie to impersonate him earlier.
"Rest first," he repeats.
Without waiting for a reply, he goes over to the opposite wall and falls rather than sits down against it. He should remain alert just in case Jiao and his men return, but his eyelids are so heavy...
- o -
Jiang ZiSuan is sleeping. Or trying to. He's burning hot one minute and freezing cold the next. There are disjointed voices and words that his fuzzy brain can't make any sense of. Whenever he forces open heavy eyelids, Jia KeZi or Li JiaLe's faces swim before him. Cold fingers touch his face and he tries to push them away, but can barely lift his hands.
"Go 'way," he mumbles. "Leave me."
Something cold is placed on his forehead and Jia KeZi's face swims into focus again.
"It's your... turn... rest," he says, his voice wavering in and out.
"Leave me. I'm not your problem," Jiang ZiSuan insists. Something cups the back of his head, raises and lowers it again onto something softer than the ground.
"Go to sleep," Li JiaLe's voice says.
Jiang ZiSuan wants to tell him to shut up, but falls asleep before he can do so.
- Chapter End -
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it :)
