Author's Note: The last chapter to "WangXian" is here! This has been a beautiful journey and I thank everyone for your support and reviews! I was seriously out of content for this chapter but my characters deserve some kind of closure. So this chapter will be a short epilogue. Although, Wang Ji and Wu Xian's story ends here, they will forever be ingrained in our hearts!
Zhua Zhou ceremony is held on the child's first birthday where parents place an assortment of articles in front of their child to choose from. This is done to determine the child's future inclinations and capabilities.
Epilogue: And Forever More!
Wei Wu Xian's POV:
10 Months later:
A-Wei watched us with wide eyes, as Lan Zhan and I tried explaining to him to pick one out of the numerous things placed in front of him. Suibian, Bichen, Guqin, a flute (Not Chenqing as its resentful energy would be too much for the child), a quill, a book and a few toys were among the many things that we had kept in front of A-Wei.
"Come on, son, pick one," said Lan Zhan with a soft voice.
Lan Zhan, A-Yuan and I were sitting on the floor, in front of the youngest member of our family, waiting for him to pick his choice. It was his first birthday and we were very excited for his Zhua Zhou ceremony. We were all sitting on the floor of Jingshi, waiting for A-Wei to pick an item.
He gave a toothy smile and started to crawl forward.
"Yes, yes. You're doing really good, baby! Just select one!" I cheered him on.
He crawled over all the items and climbed into my lap. He tried to stand on his tiny little feet, wrapped his arms around my neck and let out a laugh. I held his tiny body in my large arms and smiled.
"We probably shouldn't have sat in front of him," I said with a laugh, looking at my husband, "I think he just assumed that even we were a part of his choices. Wait a minute. Does that mean he chose me?" I looked at A-Wei snuggled into my chest and cooed at him. "Did you choose me, A-Wei?" He grinned.
I looked at the other two members in the room and smiled proudly. "I have got to say, the kid has got a good eye at selecting things!"
"This doesn't count," said Lan Zhan, with a glare. Look whom the green eyed monster decided to visit.
"Yeah. This doesn't count," agreed A-Yuan with a frown.
"Oh, don't be jealous," I laughed at the sore losers. "So what does choosing me mean?"
"It just means he's going to be a nuisance and a trouble maker!" said an annoyed Lan Zhan. I pouted.
Lan Zhan took A-Wei from my arms and spoke to him, "Don't you like me, A-Wei? Baba loves you so much but you only love your other BaBa." He pouted.
And then A-Wei did something really shocking. He placed both his hands on Lan Zhan's cheeks and uttered his first words. "Ba-Ba."
Lan Zhan sputtered, "Did he just"-
"Oh my god! He said his first words!" I exclaimed.
"He called me Baba! Wei Ying, he called BaBa!" Lan Zhan hugged and placed kisses all over A-Wei's face causing the latter to laugh and try to push away his father's face. Lan Zhan lifted him up in the air and laughed at him.
Who would have thought that this was the same Lan Zhan, who refused to let anyone touch him? He was now a sensitive and playful person, an amazing lover/husband, a loving and adoring father to two beautiful children and a respected teacher of the Cloud Recesses.
"Say GeGe, A-Wei. Ge-Ge," said A-Yuan to A-Wei, who was now busy playing with his Father's headband. Just like me, he had a freakish obsession with that band.
"I can't believe he called you BaBa first," I said to Lan Zhan.
"Oh, don't be jealous," he smirked, throwing my words back at me while A-Yuan burst out laughing.
I laughed and shook my head at him.
My heart swelled at the scene in front of me and I sent out a sincere thanks to Mo Xuan Yu, for giving me another chance at life. If he hadn't sacrificed his life for mine, none of us would be here at this moment.
7 Years Later:
I stretched my arms and yawned as I walked out of my last class for the day. I shivered against the cold wind and looked at the withering trees. Winter was fast approaching and teaching in the next few months was going to be a nightmare. Hell! Even waking up in the morning was going to be a nightmare.
As I passed by the main halls, I saw A-Wei kneeling down outside the door, busy playing with his fingers. This was the second time in three days that I had caught him being punished. I looked into the class to see Lan Zhan teaching a bunch of seven year olds The History of Gusu Lan Clan. Often his eyes would stray to the troublemaker kneeling outside the door and I knew that his fatherly instincts were kicking in. So was mine.
Between us, he was the disciplinarian and I was the fun dad. But I knew that A-Wei loved us the same.
We hated punishing him but the kid just loved to get into trouble. I used to teach his class Flute Playing but was forced to quit because I couldn't bring myself to punish him whenever he caused trouble.
My eyes caught Lan Zhan's frustrated ones and I gave him a small smile, to ease his discomfort.
He shook his head at me and continued with the class while I made my way towards Jingshi.
The rabbits that Lan Zhan and I had rescued from the cave, now occupied the front yard of our house. I picked up one of the rabbits and sat on the steps, waiting for my husband to come back home with our son. I scratched behind its ears and it snuggled into my palm.
Ten minutes later, A-Wei came running into the compound and sat next to my feet, huffing and puffing, followed by Lan Zhan who was glaring daggers at our son.
"What did he do now?" I asked my husband.
"He used a talisman to seal another student's mouth!" he gritted out.
Wow! For a seven-year-old, the kid was really smart. There was no denying that. But he just loved to use his brains for the most useless things.
He tried to use my legs as a shield and cowered behind it. I was always the one that he came to whenever he was in trouble. And I always tried to save him even if I had to lie. But Lan Zhan always knew what I was up to and I'd end up getting punished every night by my husband. At least, it was a punishment that I liked.
I pulled him out from behind my legs and made him stand in front of me.
"Why did you do that, A-Wei?" I asked with a soft voice.
"He was irritating me. I just wanted to listen to Baba's class," he whispered. Sometimes it freaked me out, how much he was similar to the both of us. He loved learning new things just like Lan Zhan and he loved getting in trouble, just like me.
"You can't just seal somebody's mouth, baby," I said. "You could have told your father what was happening and he would have taken the necessary action."
"But I didn't want to disturb him."
Lan Zhan let out a visible sigh and sat next to me on the steps. He placed his hand on A-Wei's shoulders and whispered, "I am your teacher when we are in class, A-Wei. You can always tell me if something or someone is bothering you in class. You can never disturb me." He stopped to place both his palms on A-Wei's face, "And you know that both your fathers hate punishing you and seeing you get punished right?"
A-Wei nodded.
"So next time you have a problem, you will consult one of us instead of taking actions yourself, okay?" Lan Zhan asked as A-Wei nodded with a pout. "And when you grow up and begin to understand how things work, you can do whatever you want."
"I can?" asked A-Wei with wide, innocent eyes.
We nodded with big smiles on our face and he ran to play with the rabbits. He loved the rabbits as much as we did.
"Is he ever going to stop getting in trouble?" Lan Zhan asked with a frown.
"I don't know," I replied. "He might or he might not. A-Yuan was a calm child but this one's a handful." He was still one of our best decisions ever.
"We should stop telling him your childhood stories then. He's trying to live up to your name as the troublemaker," he smirked. Every night, Lan Zhan and I would tell A-Wei about our adventures and the troubles that we used to cause and he would hang onto every word until he fell asleep.
"Oh please! The silencing spell is your specialty," I said, successfully shutting him up. "I still don't know how to use it."
"It's so freakishly insane how he takes after us, isn't it Wei Ying?" questioned Lan Zhan, after a minute.
I leaned my head against his shoulder, as we stared at the little monster running around, trying to catch the rabbits and I smiled.
"Tell me about it."
Author's Note: And that's it, folks! I hope you guys enjoyed this short journey!