"The water is free of water spirits and the water demon," Lan Zhan reports rising from his crouch.
"It appears Lady Shen has passed the task," hovering on his sword near the surface of the lake, the clan leader proudly dips his hand into the crystal-clear water.
"It's strange," Master Wei stares at the lake with a considering expression, "It was as if she waved her hand, and they disappeared. And look how clear the water is, Lan Zhan. Even in Lotus Pier, when we removed the water spirits, it still took time to weed them all out, and the water never truly recovered. I don't think this an exorcism."
"Why do you say that, Master Wei?" Lan Xichen asks, gracefully leaping from his sword and onto the bank.
"Intuition, perhaps. Lan Zhan and I saw quite the light show from our residence that night. I would be willing to bet that our future sister in law somehow made the demon mad enough to come out and then burn it."
"That would be extremely dangerous," Lan Xichen considers appraising the waters, dangerous enough that perhaps she needed assistance. He smiles. It also would not involve an exorcism, "If you are correct, it appears that measures were put in place to purify the water. I have never seen it so clean."
Music could be heard from a field near the village.
"I think people are celebrating with a festival," the clan leader wonders if that is where the Shen sisters had wandered off to.
"Lan Zhan, can I buy us some fudge?" Master Wei asks, holding on to his cultivation partner's arm.
The clan leader watches in amusement as his brother immediately produces his money pouch and counts out several coins for Master Wei. Who immediately scampers off in search of a tasty treat.
"At least you did not give him your entire money pouch this time," Lan Xichen teases as he and his brother move through the stands.
His brother looks at him, annoyed, but to most others, his face is completely blank. His eyes then move to Lan Xichen's forehead.
"Xichen did you lose . . . ?"
Lan Xichen produces the forehead band from his pocket to show his brother, "I intend to do it today. Do you approve?"
The second jade twin's eyes soften and, without hesitation, nods, "She will accept."
"Thank you, Wanji. I thought about doing it after she completes the tasks, but after facing the water demon, the musical task will not be a challenge," Lan Xichen realizes he is babbling, and his brother touches his arm.
"Uncle?"
"Uncle is excited but will not make any public announcements until after the tasks are completed."
The jade twins walk in comfortable silence for several moments. That is until they hear the screaming.
"You know I love you, right cubs?" Mimi asks, watching the horrifying contraption before her with ill-concealed mistrust.
"We love you too, Mimi, but that is why we want you to go with us! Besides, they won't let you ride without an adult!" Dumplin chimes, dragging her towards the obviously not up to code teacup ride that looked eerily like the one from Disneyland. Except this one was made of wood, and Mimi could see men in a sort of hamster wheel contraption nearby powering the machine.
"You fought a water demon! Why are you afraid of a festival ride?" Chen smirks, knowing she had hit a nerve.
"I am not afraid. Merely concerned about health code violations," Mimi mutters but is immediately struck by the crestfallen looks of her siblings.
"Okay fine," Mimi begins counting out the required coins from her purse, "but one ride."
Bolstered by the cheers of her siblings, Mimi allows herself to be dragged to the ride. Feeling an increased sense of foreboding as she puts the coins into the ride proprietor's hand, Chen and Dumplin lead her to a pink teacup.
"Well, I don't see any seatbelts," Mimi says as she closes the door of the teacup behind her, her eyes settling on the flower in the center of the teacup.
"What is that?" Mimi squints at the device as the ride begins to move.
Holding tight to the side of the teacup and Dumplin, Mimi wonders if she could use her tails to hold on to Chen, who is touching the flower with interest.
"I think you turn it!" Chen grins and immediately yanks on it, causing the teacup to veer around extremely fast.
"No, I don't think you do," Mimi sucks in a breath as Dumplin puts her hands up in the air.
"Yeah, I am pretty sure you do!" with a horrifying cackle that puts Mimi instantly on her guard, Chen spins the flower as fast as she can, spinning the teacup dangerously about.
Mimi screams as Dumplin struggles out of her grip and grasps on to the flower to assist her sister. Making the ride go so much faster.
At the sound of the blood-curdling screams, Lan Xichen and Lan Zhan rush towards the festival. They politely make their way through the crowd until they reach the field. Where they see Lady Shen holding on to the side of a teacup for dear life as her little sisters laugh hysterically as they control the speed.
The ride stops, and Mimi nearly falls out of the ride, "That was the longest ten minutes of my life."
"Again! Again!"
"I will give you money to go on that foul contraption as many times as you bloody want, but I will not be going on that thing again!"
Mimi doesn't see the jade twins as she hurls into a trash disposal. She feels her hair being held back and thinks it's Chen.
"Darling, just because you're being attentive does not mean that I am going on that fu- . . ." she turns to see the clan leader and makes an eep noise.
He pulls out a handkerchief and hands it to her, his eyes laughing. The clan leader also pulls out a mint leaf and offers it to her as well. Mimi shoves it into her mouth with relief.
"How much of my exploits did you see?" Mimi says in a squeaky voice.
"Enough," Lan Xichen looks over his shoulder, eyes sparkling as he sees Dumplin pull a very stoic looking Lan Zhan towards the teacups, Chen already patting the flower within the teacup like a drum.
"Would you like to watch?"
Mimi also looks over, eyes wide, and mutters, "Ohh, my. Your brother is doomed."
"You doubt my brother's versatility?"
"Have you met my siblings?" Mimi retorts, trying to pull her hair back.
Realizing he did not respond, Mimi looks over; he is smiling at her with a look she could only describe as impish.
"Here. Let's watch," he puts a hand on Mimi's elbow and guides her over to the ride.
He leans over to talk to the ride's operator, "Could you double the time of this round, please?"
"Sect leader Gusu! Of course!" Lan Xichen hands him a small money pouch and returns to Mimi, looking at him bemused.
"Bribery is not tolerated in Cloud Recesses," Mimi quotes, raising her eyebrows.
"But we are not in Cloud Recesses," the grin on the clan leader's face is infectious, and Mimi soon finds herself smiling as well, before turning to watch.
The slowly spinning cups gave her slight nausea.
"May I?"
Gratefully looking away from the devil's tea set Mimi peeks at the clan leader holding a length of ribbon in his hands.
"And just what are you going to do with that?" Mimi self-consciously tugs her frizzy hair over the front of her shoulders, trying and unsuccessfully hiding it from the clan leader.
Humming, he steps behind her and takes her hair out of her tight-fisted grip. She realizes in disbelief that he is going to braid her hair. Tucking her tails between her legs, Mimi tries not to wriggle.
So, distracted by his intent, she does not immediately catch sight of her sisters barreling past wildly with the still calm Lan Zhan sitting within the teacup with his back perfectly straight.
"Umm, do you know what you are doing?" Mimi awkwardly leans forward, and he gently tugs her back.
"Your hair is unexpectedly short, but I have had years of experience. Do not worry."
"Not all of us have hair as long and luxurious as yours," Mimi says defensively.
"Thank you," his tone is slightly reverent, Mimi turns her head to look at him, but his hand gently tilts her head forward, "Please look forward."
Bemused, Mimi does as he instructs. The feeling of his fingers caressing her scalp is unexpectedly hypnotic. She reckons that if word got out about the magic in the Gusu Clan leader's fingers, there would be a line several miles long beating on his door. Mimi scowls at the image.
"Mimi, Mimi. Watch me!"
Dumplin is waving at her as they spun around again, Chen's look of absolute concentration and menacing glee spinning the wheel contrasted starkly against the unchanging Lan Zhan.
Mimi returns the wave, "HanGuang Jun seems to be enjoying himself."
"Mmhm."
"I hope my sisters do not make your brother ill. They are quite playful."
"Mmhm."
"Divine entities are descending from the heavens distributing mushrooms to willing disciples."
"Mmmhm," Lan Xichen gave the braid a light tug and, sounding incredibly pleased with himself, says, "Done."
A little confused by his excitement, Mimi just smiles back at him, "Thank you."
His face is flushed, and there is sweat on his forehead. She casually touches his elbow and guides them into the shade, "Are you well?"
"Of course. I . . wanted you to have," Dumplin's shriek of excitement interrupts them as she dances over and comes between them.
"That was so much fun! Chen spun us so fast!"
Giving Lan Xichen a rueful smile, Mimi looks down at her little sister, continuing to bounce in excitement.
"I'm glad you had fun on those monstrous things," Mimi took Dumplin's hand and looked for Chen, who is standing nearby, looking a little green.
"Your hair is so pretty! Are those roses?"
Once again, looking down at the pint-sized Shen, Mimi touches the back of her head and then looks up at Lan Xichen, "You gave me roses?"
"I want to go home now," Chen slumps into the back of her sister, leaning her head against her spine.
"Where is Wanji?" Lan Xichen asks after his sibling in concern.
"Master Wei was waiting for us when we got off. He's probably holding Uncle Wanji's hair back somewhere."
Mimi squints at Chen, "Did you make him sick?"
Shrugging her shoulders innocently, Chen closes her eyes and leans against her sisters back; her voice warbled, "I feel really sick, Mum."
Conflicting emotions circled Mimi's thoughts like vultures. Did Chen just call her mom? Deciding to dissect that later, Mimi turns to Lan Xichen, who is dangling a loquat just out of Dumplin's reach before giving it to her.
"I really should take the girls back," Mimi says apologetically as Chen makes an unsettling moaning sound.
"I should check on Wanji," the clan leader and Mimi stare at each other awkwardly before Mimi touches his hand, "Thank you for this."
He bows to her and slowly walks away. Sighing, Mimi drags her sisters past the sellers and into the shadows.
They appear in their residence, and Mimi immediately puts Chen to bed, setting a basin nearby in case she needed to puke. Which she repeatedly did.
"I didn't even puke once!" Dumplin says proudly as Mimi sat her down at the table and began chopping fruit.
"I wish I had your stamina," Mimi sets the bowl of fruit in front of the voracious child before deciding to interrogate her.
Mameki immediately pops up in the kitchen, startling Mimi once again, "Mameki like cub's hair. Where cub get it done?"
"Umm, the clan leader did it, believe it or not, while Chen and Dumplin were on this horrible ride at this festival," Mimi explains.
"He really likes you then," Dumplin says, wagging her little legs back and forth underneath the table since she still could not touch the floor.
"Hey cub," Mimi takes a bit of the long blue ribbon that dangled from her hair and holds it out for her to see, "What do you know about these?"
Dumplin nearly drops her spoon and shouts, "Chen!"
"Whoa, calm down, cub," Mimi says as Dumplin practically vibrates with excitement.
Chen looking less green than before, stumbles into the room, "What do you want?"
"Mimi got a ribbon, Mimi got a ribbon, Mimi got a ribbon!" Dumplin chimes, pumping her fists in the air.
"And when were you going to tell us?" Chen says, sluggishly putting her hand on the table to steady herself as she glares at Mimi.
"Look, cubs, settle down," Mimi raises her hands and helps Chen onto a chair. Mameki takes over chopping fruit.
They stare at her expectantly, and Mimi wonders precisely what she had missed.
"While you two were . . . playing with HanGuang Jun, the clan leader braided my hair with this," Mimi shows the girls the blue forehead band.
The girls share a glance, and Dumplin resumes bouncing in her seat, and Chen's face lights up.
"I feel like I am missing something here," Mimi says, leaning on the counter.
Suddenly grinning like the cat that got the cream, Chen says, "You mean you didn't read all of Uncle Wanji's books?"
"I've been a little preoccupied," Mimi says, "but if you are going to tease me, I am sure I can ask the clan leader. He is probably back by now."
"But you don't want to make him embarrassed!" Dumplin cries around a spoonful of fruit.
"Yeah, that might be bad," Chen says and sighs, "is that his forehead band?"
Mimi thinks back and recalls that she had not seen a forehead band on the clan leader today, "Umm, I think so?"
Her two cubs grin at her conspiratorially.
"Uncle Xichen told us that in the Gusu clan that forehead bands are sacred. Family members and significant others can only touch them," Chen explains, and Mimi's stomach instantly plummets.
Fuck. How many times had she touched his forehead band without his permission? She could barely count. Too many. And then she remembers all his strange expressions as she adjusted it. And he had recently asked her a couple of days ago if she read all the Gusu clan rules after she had touched his forehead band. He had even grabbed her wrists. Did he think she was some kind of hussy?
"Mimi?" Dumplin asks with concern, "I thought you wanted to marry Uncle Xichen?"
"Yeah, that's why we're here, isn't it?" Chen asks, tapping her spoon against her bowl.
"Well yeah, but that's not until I finish all the tasks. What does that have to do with the forehead band?" Mimi asks, raising an eyebrow as her sisters began to dissolve in giggles.
"You didn't realize that he proposed?" Chen snickers.
"Cub get proposed?" Mameki almost slices his thumb off as he processes this at about the same rate as Mimi herself.
"The forehead band is sacred, Mimi," Dumplin explains, hiding her smile, "by giving it to you, he is formally showing his desire to marry you. Braiding it in your hair with the roses is especially romantic."
"Yeah, by giving you his forehead band, he is pretty much-telling everyone else that you are taken. Since he isn't wearing one right now, it shows exactly who it is," Chen says, enjoying this way too much.
"Ohh, my God," Mimi wheezes, summoning two mirrors to see every angle of the back of her head.
Sure, enough there was the clan leader's forehead band, woven into her hair. She turns to the side and sees, to her amazement, that the clan leader had managed to somehow braid segments of her hair into roses.
"Wait, did Uncle Xichen not ask you?" Chen asks, seeing the tumultuous expressions crossing her sister's face.
"Umm, I think he was going to, but I wanted to get you cubs home, and,"
There is a knock at the door.
"That's probably him!" with a swiftness that Mimi is certainly not prepared to deal with now, Dumplin hops off her chair and zooms toward the door.
"Wait, Dumplin, I need to mentally prepare," Mimi's voice dies as Dumplin turns the doorknob, revealing the clan leader.
"Uncle Xichen!" Dumplin raises her arms to be held.
The clan leader dutifully leans down and picks up the child, holding her close. Mimi, still trying to process that she had been practically seducing the clan leader with all her forehead band touching for the last few months, awkwardly waves. To her further astonishment, Dumplin leans forward and nuzzles her nose against the clan leaders. This is a surprise to him, and Lan Xichen looks over the child's head at Mimi for how to proceed.
Mimi just touches her nose, and he seems to get the idea and nuzzles Dumplin right back and sets her on the ground.
"I just wanted to stop by and ask how the little teacup spinners are doing," he asks, smiling at Mimi.
Subconsciously reaching back to stroke the ribbon, Mimi says, "Well, Chen has been a little sick, but there has been no stopping this one," Mimi nudges Dumplin, who had crept back to her.
"Here is some tea for nausea. I thought that perhaps it would be necessary," Lan Xichen says awkwardly, and Mimi finds it really odd seeing him without the forehead band.
"Thank you," Mimi takes the offered tea and hands it to Dumplin, "can you put this in the kitchen for me, please?"
Dumplin runs around the corner and disappears, probably to gossip with her older sister about what just happened.
"I was also hoping that I could talk to you privately for a moment," he asks, shuffling his feet a little boyishly.
"Of course," Mimi quickly follows him outside and closes the door before her sisters could spy.
They walk a short distance away to the Starless Pagoda in silence. Mimi could sense that he is gathering his thoughts.
"How is your brother feeling?" Mimi asks, trying to make him more comfortable.
"Wanji is fine," the clan leader gives her a broad smile, "Master Wei is taking care of him."
I will pray for him, Mimi thinks. The clan leader seems to read her expression and chuckles. Mimi sits down within the pagoda onto a pillow and watches him pace nervously for a moment before he sits down. He stands back up and nervously starts pacing again.
"Clan leader," Mimi says gently, and he pauses to look at her, "I accept this."
She pats the pillow next to hers in invitation, and he slowly lowers himself onto it.
"I was surprised at first. I thought perhaps that it might be too soon since I have not completed all the tasks," and I didn't know that this is a thing until five minutes ago, Mimi thinks to herself.
"But this is nice. I . . . I like this," Mimi winces at the sound of her own voice.
"I apologize," the clan leader finally says, and Mimi reaches over and gently takes his hands for support, "I rehearsed a speech."
"I don't need a speech, and you wouldn't have been able to predict children vomiting being a factor," Mimi wrinkles her nose at him, and he relaxes a little bit more.
Lan Sizhui passes and waves, nearly walking into a tree, trying to figure out why the forehead band is missing from the clan leader's head.
They wait until he is out of earshot before the clan leader resumes, "I just wanted you to have this as my symbol of support. As a promise for the future."
He releases one hand and strokes the ribbon that had been blown over her shoulder. He looks up at her nervously, and Mimi remembers "significant others." She is his "significant other." He considers her his "significant other." Nearly flatlining at this discovery, Mimi smiles and puts her hand over his, covering the forehead band.
"I wish for you to know that I adore you," Lan Xichen sees the wonder in her emerald eyes.
This gives him the strength to proceed, "I adore Chen and Dandan and would like to be a permanent fixture in their lives. If . . .you will allow me to. I would like to make your happiness if you make mine."
Nodding excitedly, Mimi scoots closer to him, "I. . .like you too. I want to build a life together with all of us."
"Clan leader?"
The couple look over at Lan Jingyi, who gawks at the missing forehead band. Patting her hands, Lan Xichen smiles at her apologetically.
"What is it?" he asks.
"Lord Qiren would like to see you. He received an urgent message from Carp Tower," Lan Jingyi wishes he had not agreed to take the message.
"Very well," Lan Xichen rises and kisses her on the forehead, "we'll talk later."