Disclaimer: Do not own The Untamed or Modao Zushi-or any of its iterations
Two ghostly figures dancing in the distance
It had been five years. Five years since…
From where he stood, a forlorn, seventy-eight-year-old man with long, gray hair tied in a braid, with a graying beard, looked over where his ninety-eight-year-old father lay dying on the bed. His father, rather his second father, who had taken him in when said second father had been twenty-three, keeping him safe from the prejudices of other clans, had his hands on his stomach, his entirely white hair fanned out under his body on the bed, his dark eyes closed, his wrinkled, weathered face almost at peace.
Anyone who didn't know the man lying in the bed at the moment, would have assumed that he was in peace.
But the dying man's adopted son knew better. All of the dying man's children knew better.
The seventy-eight-year-old man by the window was not alone. His brothers and sisters surrounded the bed where their still remaining father lay.
They had all used to be juniors, but now were high leveled Lan clan leaders in one way or another.
The man by the window, Lan Sizhui, his birth name Yuan, watched his second father's chest rise and fall, a sad smile on the younger man's lips. He then looked out the window, his smile leaving him when he saw the figure outside, dressed in mostly black and some red, feet and feet from the window, but waiting.
The specter which had haunted Lan Zhan for five years.
It wouldn't be long now.
It had been fifty-five years since Lan Sizhui and his siblings had witnessed their fathers' marriage.
Fifty-five wonderful years.
Fifty-five years ago:
Having witnessed their fathers' marriage, the juniors; all of which who had been officially or unofficially adopted by both men in some way, were happy for their fathers.
Zizhen, who had come to see Wei Wuxian as more of a father than his own blood father ever could be, was happy to help arrange the home where their fathers would be staying in.
Regardless of what people like Zizhen's father said, Lan Qiren and the rest of the Lan clan set up a house for Lan Wangji and his husband, Wei Wuxian to live in. And regardless of what Lan tradition dictated, Wangji and Wei Ying were not going to live in separate buildings.
There was, however a building set up where the married couple's children could stay. When they wanted to be close to their parents.
Which was almost all the time, anyway.
Wei Ying's name more or less had been cleared over the years, and while there were still many that regarded him with fear and disdain, there were many today, who appreciated him for the things he had done before he had died, then came back in Mo Xuanyu's body, and what he did for people afterwards.
Unfortunately, those that were still against Wei Wuxian, were the most vocal about their feelings.
Like Zizhen's blood father.
However, those that knew that it wasn't unanimous amongst everyone in all the clans that Wei Wuxian was an enemy to all, but still had spoken against him in the past, being quiet now?
That also angered Lan Wangji and Wei Ying's children.
Because now that it fell out of favor to regard Wei Wuxian as a demon or a monster, now they were quiet? As opposed to before, when it was popular to act as an incensed mob against him?
What cowards. What weak, hypocritical cowards.
Lan Jingyi had almost raised a sword to one village leader, who he recalled had talked about blaming Wei Ying for spirits being raised in his village to terrorize them, even that had been before Wei Wuxian had returned in Mo Xuanyu's body.
And now when the man knew that it wasn't as agreed upon about negative feelings over Wei Wuxian, that same man treated Wei Ying like an honored guest whenever they came by the village. It was enough that Lan Jingyi occasionally tried to reach for his sword, but Lan Sizhui would stop him.
Lan Sizhui, who would feel the same exact way as Lan Jingyi felt, but was better at hiding his anger behind sweet and gentle smiles.
All of the juniors, who more or less regarded Wei Wuxian as their father, often defended him to the point that said chosen father more or less worried at times they would resort to violence to protect him.
And Wei Ying's husband, Lan Wangji, didn't help things.
People could say what they wanted about Wei Ying, but it wasn't his wrath that they would need to be fearful of. It was the wrath of Wei Ying's husband and children, that they needed to fear.
The one thing Wei Ying wouldn't do, was use violence to defend himself. To defend others yes, but not himself.
It was enough that it made his husband and children far more protective of him than they already were.
It was essentially silently agreed upon by all of the juniors, that Wei Ying and Lan Wangji, were their parents.
And often after lectures and studies, Sizhui or Jingyi or one of the others, would see Wei Ying and Lan Wangji in the hall, and see Wei Ying leaning against his husband, smiling playfully, lips inches from Lan Wangji's, very clearly flirting, and Lan Zhan, while trying to remain stoic, naturally, was incapable of doing so for long, while his husband was flirting with him, and so, fiercely lunged forward and kissed him hungrily.
This was not something for the youths to see, so, they would move quickly away from the area, but it still it moved them. Those of them who weren't orphans, had birth parents that fought all the time or who had birth parents who just had this cold distance between them.
Knowing that their fathers here in Cloud Recesses who loved each other so deeply and passionately, made them happy.
And seeing them sometimes play with the many, many bunnies that lived in Cloud Recesses was just plain adorable.
Not that any of their children blamed them. It was difficult not to want to play with the bunnies. All the time.
But the years passed. Jin Ling took control of the Jin clan, and because he regarded Wei Wuxian as more of a paternal figure than he did his other remaining uncle, Jiang Cheng, who had never done much except raise him but threaten to hit him, should he not do exactly as Cheng instructed, made it clear to all in the Jin clan that Wei Ying was to be welcomed and seen as a hero, and anyone who did otherwise, would be ostracized and disrespected.
As more and more people within the Lan clan began to respect Wei Ying, certainly after he married Lan Wangji, and most of the juniors followed after him like ducklings after their mother, the Lan clan barely ever raised voice against Wei Ying again.
Even Jiang Cheng, regardless of how self-righteous and underserving of his power that he was, learned to keep his mouth shut against Wei Ying, seeing that his nephew, all grown up, had made his decision, and Cheng certainly wouldn't have any support when it came to either Lanling or Gusu.
Over the years, Lan Sizhui and Wen Ning went to Qishan and tried to spread word across it that the Wen clan were not all monsters. And that Wei Ying had tried to protect so many of their clan, even if he decimated those in the clan that had been the biggest threat to him and everyone else.
And Nie Huaisang, in control of the Nie clan, as he had been for years, now that more and more people were saying it, tried to make it clear to his own clan, that Wei Ying was not to be disrespected.
One would be hard pressed to find a good majority in those locations who still believed Wei Wuxian to be a demon.
But still, some people kept murmuring.
And it often was enough for the blood of the juniors, essentially Wei Wuxian's children, to boil.
People had come to learn to fear not just Wei Ying, but also his husband, his brother-in-law, Lan Xichen, the Lan clan leader, and Wei Ying's children, not to mention Jin Ling, Wei Ying's nephew and essentially, his son, as well.
Over time, Wei Ying's growing circle of people he trusted to have his back, extended even to people that remembered him from his youth back in Lotus Pier, who hadn't believed in the things that Jiang Cheng claimed about him, but knew that they must keep silent, lest they wanted Jiang Cheng to banish them or even execute them.
It was not something that Wei Ying wanted to acknowledge, but his children, and even Jin Ling would acknowledge-which was that Jiang Cheng was a merciless tyrant. To execute someone just because they used talismans like the dreaded Yiling patriarch, and to lay all your problems on Wei Ying, even if you had just as much of a hand in what happened? A good many people who protected Wei Ying now, didn't regard Jiang Cheng as worthy of respect.
It was ten years after Lan Wangji and Wei Ying's marriage, that Jin Ling finally told his friends about what Wei Ying had done for Jiang Cheng.
And it had been enough that all three Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen had almost gone to Lotus Pier to demand Jiang Cheng give Wei Ying his golden core back.
It was enough that they had been angry for quite a while.
Wei Ying gave so much, and how much was he given back? Not that much.
And Jiang Cheng? He believed only in the debts that were paid to him, but in his eyes, he owed no one back, even if so many had done things for him.
None of the juniors or Jin Ling were going to pretend that they hadn't been happy when they noticed that Wei Ying stopped referring to Jiang Cheng as "brother," and just referred to Jiang Cheng as "Cheng."
Cheng didn't deserve such a brother, anyway.
But even people in Yunmeng, regardless of Cheng's strong voice opposing speaking of Wei Ying in any favorable way, were beginning to see Wei Ying more and more as the decent young man he was, a hero at times, even.
More often times than not, in Cloud Recesses, Sizhui, Jingyi and the others would peer out the windows and would see Wei Ying and Lan Zhan on the roof, sometimes talking sometimes just holding each other tightly, sometimes running across the roof, Lan Zhan trying to catch up with Wei Ying while the younger of the men laughed and whirled around his husband, hopping around and getting Lan Zhan to chase him, as if it were a game-which perhaps it was.
Wei Ying somehow didn't seem to be dour, despite all that had happened to him. Despite no longer having a core, and it going to someone like Jiang Cheng, who was so ungrateful.
Wei Ying and Lan Zhan would just be there on the roof, dancing around each other in the moonlight, as if they were the only two that existed in the world.
Over time, it had become clear, that even without a golden core, Wei Wuxian was a force to be reckoned with.
The Stygian Tiger Amulet had been destroyed. But it was as if there was no need for a golden core for Wei Wuxian to cultivate. It was like the power of the Stygian Tiger Amulet had taken root inside of him, even after the amulet was destroyed.
He could still summon zombies, still make people see maddening images to attack them, amongst other things
And even without the power of the Stygian Tiger Amulet?
And even without talismans?
He still could cultivate in ways that other cultivators hadn't even begun to comprehend. He summoned ghosts, he controlled wind, could bring darkness.
And this was all without a golden core, without him using talismans or without him using the power of the Stygian Tiger Amulet.
There were many today, who called Wei Wuxian, the "Demon Prince of the clans," and today? This was said not with disdain, but with more than a little fear, yes, but with also, a great deal of praise.
It wasn't a surprise to anyone.
After all, everyone remembered the stories of what happened when Wei Wuxian used his abilities against Ruohan's army in the Sunshot Campaign. Everyone knew that if Wei Wuxian had even a bit of spectral power, he would be a force to be reckoned with.
And now, even without the Stygian Tiger Amulet and even without his golden core, Wei Ying practically had the power of a god.
People came to accept Wei Wuxian's powers more and more, and those that didn't fully accept him, more or less saw him as a commodity or a useful ally.
That also caught a great deal of Lan Wangji and Wei Ying's children's ire, but they knew better than to make trouble for their fathers.
When a council was formed thirty years after Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian's marriage, both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian were on that council.
The fifty-six-year-old Wei Wuxian and the sixty-six-year-old Lan Wangji, both were on the council, as were Lan Wangji's brother, Jin Ling, Nie Huaisang, amongst other allies of theirs. Unfortunately, Jiang Cheng was on the council as well.
And while Jiang Cheng had learned to be somewhat more cordial with Wei Ying over the years, it took everything for Lan Jingyi and his by that time, lover and husband, Ouyang Zizhen, not to want to take their swords out and try to dig that golden core out of Cheng, a golden core that belonged rightfully to one of their fathers.
But they knew better than to do it.
Honestly, none of Wei Ying and Lan Zhan's children understood how Wei Ying kept being so cordial and kind and happy in the face of such prejudice, but he always was able to. And that was never so obvious as whenever Wei Ying would openly flirt with his husband, not caring that literally everyone could see and was watching.
Nor was it as obvious when Wei Ying and Lan Zhan's children would see their father's up on the roof, running around each other in that way that each of said children was certain, was a dance for Wei Ying and Lan Zhan.
Neither man was as spry as they used to be, Wei Ying being in his fifties and Lan Wangji in his sixties, but up there on the roof, with each other, they still moved with expert and endless grace, and Wei Ying still with that joyful smile across his face as he looked at his husband.
It was a strangely touching thing to see, despite all of Jiang Cheng's aggression on the council. Aggression he was more than happy to show off to Wei Ying, and impress upon Wei Ying, how much he deemed the other man unwelcome.
If nothing else, Jin Ling's wife, a wonderful, strong woman, from Yunmeng, in fact, named Cui Mei, had entered the council-much to the shock of the rest of the council, save for Wei Ying and Lan Wangji.
And she adored Wei Ying. The stories she had heard from Jin Ling of Wei Ying, clearly had mentioned things about the Yiling patriarch favorably.
Yes, like everyone, Cui Mei had heard all the other stories-which were mostly bias against Wei Ying, to make him look like a villain with no redeeming qualities.
But Cui Mei trusted her husband, and regarded Wei Ying with endless respect and warmth. Not to mention, gratitude, for all the times he had protected her husband in Jin Ling's youth.
Almost as soon as Wei Ying and Lan Wangji had first met Cui Mei at a party, introduced to her by a very happy Jin Ling, Cui Mei had been so joyous that the rest of Wei Ying and Lan Wangji's children, thought she might actually hug Wei Ying, but she had just most profusely bowed to him, showing her excitement at having met him.
Cui Mei and Jin Ling had two children now. An older girl and a boy.
Both parents of the children, insisted upon Wei Ying spending time with his great-niece and great-nephew.
It wasn't lost on anyone, that such an exuberant insistence, wasn't cast Jiang Cheng's way, like it was Wei Ying's.
On the council, as well? Was yet, to everyone's growing surprise, another woman, who was in control of some Qinghe, named Zhu Lian, entered the council, and scoffed at the disbelief of many men. For every loud, abrasive refusals that they threw at her, she raised her voice and put them in her place.
What was more, she had a wife, Huang Jun, who made extremely clear to the men who looked down upon her wife in the council, that they were worthless to her.
Over the years, Cui Mei and Jin Ling's daughter, Jin Ming and their son, Jin Aiguo, had bonded with their dear uncle Wei Ying and adored him.
It always brought such happiness to Wei Ying and Lan Wangji's children. And they in no way missed the slight smile that spread across Lan Wangji's face, whenever he watched Wei Ying play with his niece and nephew.
Then there was Mianmian and her daughter.
Mianmian had been one of Wei Ying's most vocal supporters, and if anyone said anything against Wei Ying, they would be met with her very loud and passionate disapproval.
And Mianmian's daughter, little Mianmian, adored Wei Ying, considered him more of a big brother than an uncle.
Wen Ning had more or less become a guard at Gusu, mostly protecting Wei Ying-as to be expected, Wei Ying's husband and children.
Lan Sizhui, Wei Ying and Lan Wangji's first child, had formed a relationship with a young woman, which had been going on for years. Lan Sizhui, despite being in his mid-forties, had made clear throughout the years, that he wasn't interested in anything sexual with anyone. He respected that that was a part of his fathers' relationship that that was a part of many of his siblings' relationships and a part of Jin Ling's relationship with Cui Mei, but that part of relationships, was not for him.
The relationship he had with his respective other, a woman from Qishan, named Duan Rong, was strictly romantic and emotional.
All of his family were respectful of that.
It often seemed as if the conflict that had occurred many decades ago between Wei Ying and the other clans, hadn't happened.
But then there were instances that would burst the bubble of that delusion, and there would be the occasional ignorant individual, who would look at Wei Ying as if he was the scum of the earth, or be too nervous or ashamed to address him.
When things like that happened, often, his children would get ready to go up in arms, ready to remind said individuals that Wei Ying was a hero and part of the council governing a great many matters regarding all of the clans.
But Wei Ying always softened them, telling them that it was alright.
It was a matter of great frustration for Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and the rest.
To hear that Wei Ying, even after all these years, would risk further ostracization and anger, or even further violence to himself, to protect others' reputations, but wouldn't so much as raise his voice to defend his own reputation, upset his children still, quite a bit.
Given that a good number of them now had control of the minor clans, as well as the major clans, like Zizhen having control of his father's clan, now that his father had died, made a great deal of difference.
But there were still those that spoke against Wei Ying.
So, Wei Ying's children, were happy to deal in the punishment, whenever Wei Ying wasn't present.
One of the older cases of them giving out punishment to those that spoke of Wei Ying as if he were a monster, was back when Zizhen had first taken control of his father's clan.
Twenty years ago-which had been ten years after Lan Wangji and Wei Ying were first married, one particular general had been disturbed at the amount of influence that Wei Ying had, and had demanded that his leader, Zizhen, be concerned.
Zizhen hadn't denied it for a moment, he had greatly enjoyed denouncing the general, dismissing him and threatening to have his name slandered regardless of where he went, if he ever spoke of Wei Ying in that way again. Wei Ying, who to the general and to everyone in the room that was watching and listening-that being everyone, Zizhen referred to as his "true father," which was the truth, and he had watched, with satisfaction as the general's mouth had gaped and he had then dismissed the general from his company, ignoring the many shocked whispers around him.
Lan Wangji had been present at the time.
And when Zizhen had said all of that, he in no way missed how Lan Wangji actually smiled at Zizhen's words-whether in response to Zizhen defending Wei Ying or for Zizhen proudly claiming Wei Ying as his own father, or both.
It was those moments, when they were delighted, because they got to make people who had ostracized Wei Ying for years and years, demonizing him, feel like they were less than dirt, to treat them the way they had treated Wei Ying.
And no, they weren't going to deny either, that they liked making Jiang Cheng's life complicated every chance they got-sometimes getting people on the council to rule against Cheng, sometimes making his paperwork more complicated.
And yes, sometimes Nie Huaisang was in on the joke.
Nie Huaisang, who Wei Ying insisted was not nearly as innocent as he seemed, but continued to be friends with.
Years and years went by, and the people who kept recalling Wei Ying's so-called wrongdoings, fell away, either learned to keep their mouths shut, or died of old age.
Wei Ying's niece and nephew, Jin Ming and Jin Aiguo, and Mianmian's daughter, treated Wei Ying like family as more and more time went by.
Many more juniors who didn't have birth parents, came to see Wei Ying and his husband as their fathers. So, their family just grew from there.
In his early sixties, Wei Ying had taken in an orphaned young girl one, who no one knew the name of, but her parents were killed by bandits.
So, Wei Ying had named her Yanli.
Hearing that name, when Wei Ying and Lan Zhan had introduced their newest child to Jin Ling, had almost brought him to tears of joy.
And finally, after so many years, well, age came for everyone who lived long enough.
And Wei Ying and Lan Wangji, they outlasted so many others.
Lan Qiren, despite his age when Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian had married, lasted quite a while. Lasted to his late eighties, but then had died. His death was a controversial thing. While some were happy, others not so much.
Lan Wangji had done all the proper mourning ceremonies, but none of his and Wei Ying's children believed he truly mourned in his heart.
Lan Qiren had gotten between Lan Zhan and Wei Wuxian quite a few times before, after all.
When Jiang Cheng died at the age of sixty-five from an infected wound, while fighting against bandits that had attacked Lotus Pier, it was a shock, but there were few outside of Lotus Pier who actually mourned.
Perhaps this was blasphemy, but Zizhen and Jingyi both had contemplated trying to see if they could cut Jiang Cheng open, to get Wei Ying's golden core back.
That was the first time Wei Ying had actually looked like he might hit his sons, at such a horrific suggestion.
Wei Ying hadn't struck either of his sons, but Zizhen and Jingyi, despite being in their fifties by that point, would have taken it.
When Lan Xichen left this world, it was a severe blow for everyone. Dying two years before Wei Ying, it had hurt everyone deeply.
Almost three decades had passed, since the council was first formed, and while everyone saw it coming? It was still a horrific blow, when Wei Wuxian at last died on his deathbed, at the age of eighty-three, his husband, Lan Wangji kneeling down by the bed, his face buried against the unmoving Wei Ying, shaking as he couldn't hold back his tears against his dead husband.
Everyone had known it would happen. Wei Wuxian's health had gone into decline around his seventy-ninth birthday back at the end of October, and it had only gotten worse.
These past four years, had been wonderful, but no one was surprised when it was clear Wei Ying's time had come…again.
Everyone, they all knew it was devastating, to all of them, but especially to Lan Wangji.
He had lost his husband, his love, his life.
While no one doubted that the older man had loved his and Wei Ying's children, losing Wei Ying meant losing everything to Lan Wangji.
And to have lost him a second time? This time, most likely permanently, at least in this lifetime?
It had destroyed Lan Wangji.
First his brother. Then his beloved husband and soulmate.
The following years, were painful for everyone.
At the funeral, everyone who was invited, cried.
Wen Ning had held Lan Sizhui as he had practically sobbed for the loss of his first father.
Jin Ling had tried to hold back tears, since his own wife and children were bawling their eyes out too, but couldn't help himself.
It was hard to lose a second father, considering Wei Ying had been more of a father to Jin Ling than the man that had raised him, Jiang Cheng.
Neither Zizhen, nor Jingyi, had been able to stop themselves from crying their eyes out.
The only dry eyes at the meeting, had been Lan Wangji's, as he stared and just stared at where his beloved lay, never to get up again, the older and still living man's eyes empty.
That was what made it all the worse over those next five years.
Lan Wangji's emptiness. Just how he would go through motions, but never seem to truly feel anything.
It was like when Wei Wuxian died the first time, he had taken some of Lan Wangji with him, but when he had died the second time? He took everything. Not just Wangji's heart, but his soul too.
And what didn't help? Was the spirit which they would see lingering near their houses. Often on the roof, watching Lan Zhan's window.
Wei Ying. Everyone knew what he was waiting for. Wei Ying and Lan Wangji were soulmates, after all.
Lan Zhan would see this spirit and his yearning was more than clear. He wanted to go with his beloved, but was holding on, for the sake of their children.
All of Lan Wangji and Wei Ying's children saw it coming. They all knew that Lan Wangji wasn't long for this world, now that Wei Ying had died again, and that his spirit was waiting for him.
But still, they were happy for the time they had with him.
So, five years later, now? Watching their father drawing in what likely were some of his last breaths, as he lay on the bed before them? They knew the end was drawing near.
It would be alright. Lan Wangji had been the clan leader after his brother's death, and they had talked about this before.
When Lan Wangji died soon, Lan Sizhui would take over.
After him, it would be young Yanli, who while in her early twenties, was coming into her own, and could command a clan, if she wanted.
Wen Ning? He would be alright too. He hadn't aged a day, because...well technically, he was undead. And he knew that Wen Ning had gone into mourning for a long period after his dear friend, Wei Ying had passed away permanently. But he would be alright. Sizhui checked on him regularly. And Ning would be okay, even if he was still in pain.
And Lan Sizhui, looking out the window, at the roof outside? It wasn't surprising to him to see who was there; the figure who was perched on the roof, waiting for his husband's soul to join him.
Lan Sizhui-Yuan, he knew who it was. Even if he wasn't close enough to see the face of the figure dressed in black with a red ribbon in the figure's dark hair, he knew.
Souls could look however they wanted.
And this spirit, had clearly chosen the way he had looked, when he and his husband had first met.
Lan Sizhui smiled sadly. In some ways, he was happy his wife, Duan Rong, wasn't here and helping with some juniors in a night hunt.
It wasn't that he didn't think she had the right to be here-she more than did. But he wasn't sure he'd be able to explain what was happening here, without feeling like he was crossing any Lan clan lines.
To be aware that a spirit was lurking nearby, ready to reunite with someone who was still in this world, and to not do anything, he was positive that was going against some other sect rule.
Smirking at the spirit of his first father, who was moving along the roof, he couldn't help but assume he was doing his first father proud by breaking as many of the Lan clan's rules as he had throughout his life.
Lan Sizhui heard his second father's breathing become harsher and he moved away from the window, kneeling down next to Lan Wangji, where the older man lay.
Lan Sizhui saw Lan Wangji's eyes become fixed to the window. Lan Sizhui didn't need to ask.
He knew that Wei Ying's spirit had been haunting him for five years now.
So, when Lan Wangji's right arm lifted up, reaching out for the window, it wasn't a surprise to anyone in the room when the dying man moaned out desperately, "Wei…Ying…."
Barely glancing out the window, all of those surrounding the bed, saw the figure just outside the window, watching his beloved dying husband on the bed.
"It's alright, Hanguang-Jun," Zizhen whispered to Lan Zhan, even if there were tears in his eyes, "You can go to him. We'll be alright, we swear. You don't have to hold on anymore for us."
They all watched, and could see the light slowly leaving their former mentor's eyes.
Lan Sizhui knew that he shouldn't, as this was between his two fathers, but he couldn't help but look at the window, feeling tears in his eyes as he took in the sight of his first father, who was just outside the window, looking down at the dying Lan Zhan, that so familiar, soft, playful smile on his lips as he waited for Lan Zhan's soul to join him.
The bright, pale full moon lurked behind the spirit, illuminating Wei Ying even more, allowing everyone to see him.
Wei Ying reached his right arm through the window, in offering, and the message was clear enough.
(Come with me, Lan Zhan. Be with me, my love.)
There was a slight shift in air, then Sizhui froze, when he heard his second father stop breathing.
He swiveled his head to look at his second father, finding Lan Wangji staring up ahead, the light having left his eyes, his arm dropped to the bed, limp, Lan Wangji was dead.
Sizhui let loose a weak breath, his heart clenching at the sight, then, knowing, absolutely certain of what he'd find when he looked at the window next, he turned to peer at the window and gasped.
Wei Ying was no longer there. No one was there.
Getting up, Sizhui ran to the window, Zizhen, Yanli and the rest of his brothers and sisters followed, all of them in tears.
They looked out the window, and while it would have been understandable if they couldn't believe what they saw, they weren't surprised in the least.
Because of course, this was what they'd see now that Wei Ying and Lan Wangji were both gone from the living world.
Jingyi laughed, a smile across his face, even if he had tears streaming down his face, and he felt his husband, Zizhen, squeeze his hand, telling him that he saw the same thing. They all did.
"Yanli…," Lan Sizhui mumbled to his younger sister.
"I see them," Yanli said, staring out the window, shocked but with an almost heartbreakingly happy smile across her face.
There they were. The both of them were there.
Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan, dancing across the roof, whirling around each other, beginning to dance away into the distance.
Wei Ying whirled around Lan Zhan's form, laughing and grinning, as Lan Zhan pursued him, the two beginning to float off of the roof and reach the ground, descending into darkness, the moonlight above still providing enough light for them to be seen.
All of Wei Ying and Lan Zhan's children watched, many with tears in their eyes, many with choked laughter bubbling out of them, but all of them holding practically painful joy in their chests, as they watched the spirits of their fathers dance away into the distance.
Both of them gone from the living world, but dancing together, forever.
Author's note
Okay, seriously embellished and seriously rushed. But I really wanted to write this after looking up one particular clip from the anime of Lan Zhan's interaction with Wei Wuxian, while drunk.