Live Again, Love Anew

Chapter 5- I Can Help You Now

Summary

Lan Zhan is back!

Beginning Note

we're starting to get into the plot more now. Hope you enjoy!

Wei Wuxian

"What is the 'Sunshot Campaign'?"

Wei Wuxian's head whips around so fast the world briefly spins. His gaze meets gold before it flits down to finally make out what it is that Lan Zhan is reading. It's Wei Wuxian's handwriting, but the papers spread out over the low table in the middle of the room definitely aren't calligraphy.

They're notes.

Notes that Wei Wuxian had written in case his memory failed him. Notes to help him sort through events and dates that even months later he has to rewrite because a new detail was suddenly remembered. Notes that he keeps safely tucked in his own personal desk. Safe, because a Lan would never go snooping through someone else's things without permission.

"Lan Zhan." Wei Wuxian says, completely ignoring the boy's question. "Where did you get those papers?" Wei Wuxian is scatterbrained. It would be understandable if he accidentally left them out. But if it's the alternative... if Lan Zhan broke rules- broke his trust -

"Some notes were left on your desk." Wei Wuxian breathes a sigh of relief even as he berates himself for the mistake. "I wanted to clean it for you, but..." Lan Zhan trails off, a furrow in his brow.

Wei Wuxian sets the Spirit-Attraction Flag notes back on his desk before approaching Lan Zhan. He rounds the table and sits on the other side, taking some of the notes to see what exactly Lan Zhan saw.

"You wrote of me..." Lan Zhan continues uncertainly. "But it was not me?" He spreads his hands over the papers in front of him. "You wrote my name. You described me. But these... stories? Events? I... did not know of them. So I..." His expression stays as calm as ever, albeit with a confused furrow to his brow, but his blushing ears belie his shame. "I looked through your things." He says in a whisper, as if Uncle will come bursting through the door to demand repentance.

"It's okay, Lan Zhan." Wei Wuxian consoles quietly. "You were confused and looking for answers. I understand and forgive you. Let's forget about it, yeah?"

Lan Zhan hesitantly nods his head, continuing his explanation. "I looked for more notes with my name. And then I found..." He quiets, looking for a way to explain what he found when he isn't quite sure what it is he found. He pushes the papers towards Wei Wuxian when his words fail him.

Wei Wuxian takes the offered papers and skims them over. The papers Lan Zhan found detail most of the Sunshot Campaign. Laid over the table between the two boys is pages upon pages of battles, deaths, and heroic feats, sorted by date, importance, or how easy it was for Wei Wuxian to recall the event to put it to paper.

"What is the 'Sunshot Campaign'?" Lan Zhan finally asks, repeating the question that started this whole conversation.

Just as the words are ready to spill from Wei Wuxian's lips, he pauses. This isn't his Lan Zhan. This is a Lan Zhan that, deep down, knows what loss feels like. The loss of a mother, the loss of an absent father, the loss of a childhood, creating a quiet child sheltered for years by the Cloud Recesses before being forced out into the world by war, whether he was ready or not. But on the surface, he's just a kid, confused as to why he has trouble during sword practice, and wondering why he can talk to Wei Wuxian like an old friend, but becomes tongue-tied around the brother he grew up with and the uncle he was raised by.

If Wei Wuxian really wants to, he can play it off as stories. Say that Lan Xichen's tales of the three of them as cultivators spurred his own imagination to run wild. It would be far-fetched, but not impossible, and eventually this conversation would be forgotten.