"Clan Leader?"
Lan Xichen looks up from the paperwork he had been in the process of completing for the last couple of hours to see Lady Feng standing before him. How had he not even noticed her slipping in?
"Lady Feng, it is a wonderful surprise to see you. I was just thinking of taking a walk. Would you like to accompany me?"
"That sounds really nice actually," Mimi hovers a little uncertainly beside the desk before heading to the door.
Picking up his sword, he trails after her, puzzling over her nervous expression. He leads her past the Wall of Discipline and up the trail. Peeking at her from beneath his eyelashes. Lan Xichen can't help being fascinated by the discrepancy between the calm exterior of the woman and . . . her tails. The tails were twitching and swaying about. Truth be told, he loves watching them. It was like getting a peek into her mind.
"Why don't we sit down?" Lan Xichen points to a nearby shrine by the cold springs.
Mimi quietly sits down on a cushion and puts her hands in her lap. Her tails quiver and fidget behind her.
"Are you alright?" Lan Xichen asks, reaching out to take her hand, watching with interest how the foxtails freeze and fluff out prettily.
"Yes, of course," Mimi smiles, and her tails flutter at him almost coquettishly, "I wanted to tell you that my sister and I will be leaving soon for Shen Castle."
"I know, and I will miss you," Lan Xichen smiles as the foxtails almost vibrate with happiness and point at him.
Not being able to stop himself, he asks, "Why are your tails doing that?"
Mimi self-consciously wraps a couple of tails about herself, brushing it with her fingers to smooth out the fur, "Kitsunes are directly connected to their tails. Our magic, our emotions, does it make you uncomfortable?"
"No. Not at all. I am curious," the clan leader is nearly hypnotized by the rare blush that creeps across her cheeks, "May I?"
"Yes, of course," Mimi repeats, pressing one of the tails she had been petting into his hand.
Like a child experiencing snow for the first time, the clan leader's face is full of wonder as he gently caresses her fur—the tails quiver under his touch.
"And to think. These have been hiding under your skirts for this past year," Lan Xichen murmurs half to himself.
"It wasn't easy," Mimi chuckles. His fingers were so distracting as he gently pets her.
"I must confess," Lan Xichen subconsciously grips her tails as if afraid she will run, "I have known for a while. So has Wanji."
"When?"
The tails around her slowly sneak around to surround them both. The clan leader takes his time petting each one.
"Do you remember when I thought you had drowned?"
Mimi puts her hands on her face, "Ohh, no."
Letting go of her tails, Lan Xichen takes her hands away and impetuously moves closer, taking her in his arms, "Wanji knew a week after you arrived."
"I wanted you to know," Mimi whispers, pressing her face into his chest.
"You did leave plenty of hints for us to follow," Lan Xichen kisses the top of her head.
"I . . . want to tell you something else," Mimi grips the front of his cloak with her claws, and her tails wrap around him.
"You can tell me," Lan Xichen pulls her back and nuzzles his nose with hers, an act he had seen her and her sisters do on multiple occasions.
"You are perceptive," Mimi nuzzles him back, "Have you figured out what it means?"
"Tell me," he smiles, putting his forehead on hers.
"Hello sister," Mimi quips, enjoying the disgruntled look for just a moment before laughing, "it means, in basic terms, thank you for being here, I cherish you, thank you for spending time with me, and," Mimi stares into his dark eyes, "I love you."
She breaks eye contact and looks down at the claw marks she had left on his cloak, "I'll have to ask Daiyu to help mend this, I . . ."
Tilting her chin up, Lan Xichen nuzzles her nose, and Mimi feels warmth flooding her body. She immediately nuzzles him back."
"What were you going to tell me?" the clan leader says, his fingers twisting in her hair, and with delight finds his forehead band subtly braided there.
Taking a deep breath, Mimi breathes in the familiar scent of mint to comfort herself.
"Your heart is racing," Lan Xichen presses a kiss to her forehead, resting his face there waiting.
"Kitsune are persnickety creatures," Mimi grasps for one of his hands, but ends up settling on his shirt, her tails flutter around him like shadows, "But once we find the one we cherish. We mate for life," the clan leader pulls her closer so she can feel how quickly his heart was beating, "I . . ."
"Clan leader?"
The couple look over as one at the would-be bathers. Lan Sizhui is waving awkwardly with a scrub brush with Lan Jingyi while Lan Zhan and Master Wei were already sitting in the cold springs. Looking like they had been sitting there for a while.
Master Wei appeared to be eating lotus seeds and wiping tears from his eyes, "You can't just leave us hanging, future sister-in-law!"
"Wei Ying!" Lan Xichen growls angrily, and Mimi presses her face against the clan leader's cloak, murmuring the words "Ohh my God," over and over like a chant.
"How long have you been sitting there?" Lan Xichen demands, "Wanji don't you know better?"
"To be fair, Zewu-Jun, we were here before you and merely stayed for the show!"
"You!"
Mimi was altogether ready for the clan leader to throttle Master Wei, but she still had to tell Lan Xichen of her future. An idea quickly forming, Mimi looks around for a shadow and finds one nearby beneath a tree.
Getting up, with Lan Xichen's hand tightly in her own, Mimi bows to the audience, "Please excuse me while I abduct your clan leader."
She drags Lan Xichen to the shadow, cuddling him close with her tails before disappearing completely.
Lan Xichen is shaking when they appear at the lake, and Mimi is quick to comfort him, "I'm sorry, I should have warned you that shadow travel is a little rough the first time. I just wanted to find somewhere safe; we could be alone."
She realizes that he is laughing hard, his eyes nearly leaking. Did she break him? His name was at her lips. Did she dare use it?
"Clan leader?"
He pauses with tears in his eyes, and the laughter dies in his throat, "I was just thinking of when Master Wei declared his love for Wanji. How inopportune it was. I had hoped that when I finally declared my . . . feelings for someone, it wouldn't be in front of him."
"And your brother and all the junior cultivators. Perhaps we should have invited your uncle as well. Charged admission," Mimi adds dryly, already thinking of a way to convince Qiaolian to chase him down like a fox.
The clan leader laughs, pulling her close, and she wraps her tails around him.
"I give them an hour before they track us down," he whispers into her hair.
"With your brother leading?" Mimi leans into him, "We would be lucky to have twenty minutes."
"You are undoubtedly right," he pauses, "What were you saying?"
Mimi passes a hand through her hair, touching the forehead band, "Where was I?"
Seeing where her hand had been led, a tender smile appears on his face, "Kitsunes mate for life."
"Mmhm," she turns to face him correctly. He practically glows in the twilight.
One of her tails boldly caresses his cheek, "I . . ." Mimi felt as if her words were slowly deserting her.
Lan Xichen nuzzles her nose with his own, and Mimi realizes she is trembling, "I . . .do you remember when I told you that kitsune live a long time?"
"Yes. The Golden Phoenix made that perfectly clear," Lan Xichen watches her worriedly. Not understanding why the strong woman before him fidgeted and could barely look him in the eye."
Clearing his throat, he smooths out the raised fur on her tails and presses their foreheads together, "Tell me, Minori. What is troubling you? May I call you Minori?"
"Yes. I . . .would love if you called me, Minori," Mimi feels fragile as she wrings her hands.
Putting a hand on her claws, Lan Xichen waits patiently for her to speak.
"After . . .you discovered my tails," Mimi begins, trapping his hand in hers, "I have wanted to tell you."
"What do you wish to tell me?" he asks quietly.
"Just . . .be openminded," Mimi pauses before finally meeting his eyes. She could only see concern and love there.
"We loved in another life. We were married in another time."
She grabs on to him tightly, holding him close so he would not escape. She didn't think she could do it a second time, "I couldn't let you go."
Crying now, Mimi felt him tip her face up," I do not understand," he whispers.
Staring into his confused chocolate eyes, her wife's eyes, Mimi cradles his face in her hands.
"To hell with propriety," Lan Xichen grunts, quickly lifting her on to his lap, so she straddled him,
"Please don't think me too forward. I need to hold you, especially now that we have fifteen minutes."
Letting out a watery laugh, Mimi sniffles as she continues, "You were lost to me in the future. I went mad. I was given the option to return to the past to find the brooch that could restore you to me. You are the one I loved in the future. I did not believe I would find you again here. Please don't hate me. I have traveled, meddled with time, and battled with my own mind, to see you smile at me again."
Mimi didn't know when she had pressed him to her. Hugging him tight to her body, avoiding his eyes. She couldn't leave him if she wanted to.
"You . . ." was all he could manage, and Mimi sobbed into his shoulder.
"Minori, look at me."
She shook her head, heart racing. His hands gently rub circles into her back.
"Please look at me."
With aching effort, Mimi raises herself from his shoulder to look at him.
"I could not hate you if I tried," Lan Xichen murmurs reverently.
Mimi could hear the sounds of footsteps and turns her head to see the young cultivators running blindly through the woods.
"Can we return to my residence?" Lan Xichen strokes her hair.
With her tear-streaked face, Mimi nods and says, "Just close your eyes and hang on to me."
Watching the cultivators grow closer, Mimi quickly pulls him with her into the shadows. When Lan Xichen opens his eyes, they are lying on his bed, side by side. He wipes her cheek with an unsteady hand.
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"It makes a certain sense," Lan Xichen says after a moment, "When I saw you for the first time, I felt hope, and then I was in your mind. I couldn't understand how this woman, who was still a stranger, loved me, respected me, seemed to know me. I was almost convinced you were a beautiful Shinigami from the heavens. Master Wei had been dead thirteen years before he and Wanji were finally able to be together. The idea that . . ." Lan Xichen pauses, his fingers returning to the forehead band.
"That you are my beloved from the future. . . it is not as farfetched as you might think. When I saw you for the first time, making up a story for your sisters, I felt . . . possibilities that I hadn't dared wish for myself in years."
Mimi places a hand on his chest. He lightly puts his hand on top of hers, holding it there.
"How did I come across The Reverent? In your time?" he asks in the silence of his chambers.
Mimi adjusts herself so that they are sharing the same pillow, "Do you really wish to know?"
"Please tell me."
Leaning away to look at the ceiling, Mimi hears the little nightingale singing from the trunk. Pain shifts in her chest.
"You . . . you were carrying our first child," she hears his sharp intake of breath and looks up at him.
"I was coming home from practice. I professionally perform in my time. I received a message saying you were hurt, but they would not tell me how or how badly," Lan Xichen's grip tightens on her hand, "when I got there, they told me you had tried to kill yourself."
The tears were flowing once again, and Mimi savagely wipes them off. Lan Xichen pulls her on top of him so he could hold her tightly. Mimi listens to his heartbeat, reminding herself that he is still here.
"They asked me all these questions," Mimi whimpers, "I thought we were happy. So happy. We had just finished the nursery."
Pressing her face into his chest as he strokes her back, Mimi could feel herself reliving the horror of that night, "You . . .were looking at a book of folktales. At an image of a kitsune. I . . .was so scared to tell you what I am. Yokai are still feared as they are now. I . . .think you figured it out. I thought maybe you . . ."
"Minori," Lan Xichen interrupts, his hands tremble as he tries to comfort her, "when I discovered what you were. I was surprised. But I was also relieved. If . . .I am anything like myself now as I am then. I can assure you that finding out you are a kitsune would not have led me to take my life."
Sobbing, Mimi shakes her head.
"I love you so much. I couldn't see you die. I saw you crying a day after I traveled to the past. You were here in your residence. I thought . . .maybe you were good at hiding your pain. That I . . .couldn't help you."
"You . . ." Lan Xichen could only focus on those five words. Words that he is unable to say. But he felt. Awkwardly bending their faces together, he nuzzles their noses.
"Tell me what happened next," he strokes her back as Mimi slowly regains control of herself.
"You had not died, but the knife used cut deeply into your wrists, ate at your flesh. My sister realized it was The Reverent. It had not been seen in centuries. Lord Shen had sent it to the spirit world. There is no cure for the wounds except the elixir within the brooch. My only hope was to find it in this time. But someone beat me to it. I failed us. I failed you."
"Minori, I have seen you writhe in pain from these tasks. Now that I know," Lan Xichen suddenly realizes the profound love this woman held for him. He is awed by it.
"I am deeply moved by your courage," he kisses the top of her head, "I do not doubt your love. I promise you we will find it. Together. Don't mourn me now."
"I kept seeing you in the tasks. As you are now and how you are then. I don't want to lose you again."
"You will never lose me," Lan Xichen pulls a blanket over them.
"I am trying to remind myself of this," Mimi kisses his chest and feels his arms once more wrap around her. She felt very safe and secure.
"Minori," Lan Xichen felt he would never tire of saying her name, "what of our child?"
Mimi chances a look at the clan leader and realizes he is also mourning for their lost baby.
She leans over and uses her fingers to wipe the tears away as she shakes her head, "The child would have been a boy. So much blood was lost. He . . . he didn't pull through. It . . .was too late."
"You will not have to bear this sorrow alone anymore. I promise," he finally says.
"It hurt so much thinking I lost you both," Mimi says into his chest, listening to his calm breathing.
They lay together for what felt like forever. Mimi eventually evened out her breathing to match his and slowly began to relax.
"I'm sorry," Mimi finally says, searching his face.
"I wanted to know," Lan Xichen smiles a little and cups her face, "I am glad I know."
"I would have spared you from it if I could," Mimi watches the rain hit the windowpane and feels oddly at peace.
"I thought it a little odd why you often hugged and doted so on your sisters. You gripped so tight as if so, afraid they were going to be taken from you. The way you held me after your tasks. I didn't understand," Lan Xichen strokes her hair fondly, "now I know why."
"I intend to adopt them legally," Mimi says quietly, waiting for his reaction.
"I will, as well. I have already acquired the necessary paperwork," Lan Xichen murmurs softly, and she kisses his hand.
"I haven't passed the musical task yet," Mimi shuts her tired eyes.
"Do you doubt your abilities?"
Opening her eyes, she smiles at Lan Xichen, "I do not."
"Then we will not worry," he seems to realize for the first time that night has fallen on Cloud Recesses.
"Would you like me to walk you to your residence?" he asks halfheartedly.
"The girls are with Daiyu getting fitted for new dresses. Apparently, they can only wear spider silk from now on," Mimi rolls her eyes, "Would it be improper if I spend the night?"
"Undoubtedly, but at least this time, I can invite you properly without tying you to me," Lan Xichen smiles at her boyishly.
"Will you build another barrier between us?" Mimi asks, burying her face in his chest.
He chuckles and continues to stroke her back, "I seem to be at a disadvantage."
"Am I crushing you?" Mimi asks, shifting on his chest.
Smiling, he grips her a little tighter, "I like the weight. It reminds me you are here. It's comforting."
"Thank you for understanding," Mimi says quietly, listening to the sound of the rain outside.
Lan Xichen runs his hands experimentally over her back. Stroking her tails.
"I will always be here for you," he murmurs.
When Mimi wakes up the following morning, the clan leader has already gone, leaving a note behind him.
It said, "You were sleeping so soundly I did not wish to wake you. I've gone to put my ghosts to rest. I will see you on my return."