Fly free again

Chapter 4

When Wei Wuxian had released the children he had been teaching from his lesson and stretched his back, the juniors suddenly appeared. Not all of them, only Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, Jin Ling and Ouyang Zizhen. He immediately could tell that he would not like what they came for. He had been avoiding them ever since coming back from the night hunt, hoping they would forget about his weird behaviour when it came to flying. He should have known they would not let the matter slide this easily.

Despite his nervousness, he greeted them with a smile: "My favourite juniors! To what do I owe the pleasure of you coming to meet me? Can I help you with something?"

It was Jin Ling who talked first: "Uncle, we want to have you supervise out lessons for flying."

Wei Wuxian's heart sagged at once. Of course the children were already up to him and have figured his little secret, they were all smart kids. He had been really obvious the other day! He knew he would have to come clear one of these days. He had only hoped it would not be so soon. Perhaps he could find a plausible excuse to not come to the lesson?

But all the juniors were looking at him with hopeful sparkling eyes, the same ones he always found it hard to resist to. And Jin Ling had even called him uncle. For the first time ever! How could he ever say no to that? However, if he was to agree to come, the juniors would surely ask him to show them and he would not be able to do so, he was still terrified of flying after all. His previous nightmares had even come back after the latest incident.

Lan Jingyi then added to the persuasion: "Hanguang-Jun will be also there, he promised to come watch our progress."

That was the last drop, they knew where to strike so it would count, they had him where they wanted. If Lan Zhan was also coming, it would look bad for him too if his husband refused the invitation. Then again, with Lan Zhan there, he would be safe, he could certainly come with an excuse on the site if it came to it. He really did not want to disappoint his nephew, his son and their friends.

"Please, Dad, will you not come watch us learn?" Lan Sizhui asked with pleading in his voice and Wei Wuxian knew this was the end for him.

"Of course I will, why would I not? When is this lesson?"

He could see all four junior's eyes sparkle at his declaration and it made everything worth it. At least for now anyway, he would have to still figure out an excuse to not be asked to fly. He still had time.

"It is tomorrow morning," added the ever helpful Ouyang Zizhen.

Or perhaps Wei Wuxian would not have time to figure everything out after all. It was just his luck. Still, faced with the children's excited expressions, he could not back out anymore. No matter, he would just improvise on the spot, he was good at that.

"Excellent! I will be there," he promised, making himself grin as he usually would. But his heart was racing and his hands started trembling. He hid them behind his back hoping that the juniors did not notice anything wrong.

That night, he could barely sleep, his slumber being haunted by the usual nightmares. Even Lan Zhan playing guqin for him for the better part of the sleeping time did not help all that much. In the morning, he was tired, just as his husband. He was thinking of excusing himself from the lesson altogether, he was in no good condition right now and he did not really want to risk having an episode of a breakdown in front of the children, it was bad enough that he often showed his weaknesses to Lan Zhan for him to deal with them.

Before he could however tell Lan Zhan to go without him, his husband was way ahead of him: "Wei Ying, are you coming?"

At the same time, there were also hurried steps outside of the Jingshi and excited voices of all the juniors calling for him. At that moment, he knew he was done for, there was no going back. He had to go attend the lesson.

Lan Zhan held Suibian for him and Wei Wuxian took it more as a habit than really intending to use it today. Since he had started cultivating again, he did not go anywhere without his sword so it would look really weird if he would try to pretend he had forgotten it. He put up a smile for the juniors and his husband and followed them to a field where the lesson was to be held. He did not let anything show even when he was feeling like the earth was trembling beneath him and could swallow him at any second.

The lesson went alright until the point when the Lan sect teacher turned towards him: "I remember that Young Master Wei here had been really good at flying in his younger days. Perhaps he could show the skill I was just talking about for all of you? I am getting old and this one may just be too much for me."

It was true that the teacher was not too young but it did not look like he was too old for this either. Wei Wuxian scowled minutely, he was starting to get a feeling that he had been set up. When he glanced around at the juniors and his husband, he could tell that his hunch had been right. They were all looking at him with different levels of expectation and worry mixed in their gazes.

His mind was going a thousand miles a second to try and come up with an excuse. To no avail, he could feel all eyes on him and he knew that he was not able to disappoint them.

He took a deep, steadying breath. It would be fine, for sure. He did not have to fly high so he would perhaps not even notice he would not be on the ground anymore. If anything happened, if his head would start spinning like all those times he had tried in the past, he could just close his eyes, he would not be so high for him to hurt himself if he would fall. And there were a lot of people too so someone, like Lan Zhan, would probably catch him if he so much a stumbled. Despite everything, he could not shake his fear off entirely.

And speak of the devil; Lan Zhan took his hand and squeezed it lightly: "Wei Ying, I will be here."

As if by magic, his erratic breathing evened out and his previously trembling hands were steady once again. It was all the reassurance he had needed. Combined with the juniors still looking at him and nodding now to let him know that they also would be there, he gathered his courage.

Everyone must have known that something was up, he did not even try to joke about this as he would usually do, he just could not find it in himself. He could feel his guts contracting already in the preparation for the shock. He knew that he should not think of this as an already proven disaster, though he could just not help himself. He tried to recollect how he had once been happily flying all around with confidence but found it extremely hard.

"Senior Wei?" prompted Ouyang Zizhen. They all seemed more nervous now and he did not like those looks on their faces.

He smiled again to reassure his spectators and himself and he unsheathed his sword. Its weight in his had calmed him down a bit. The sword had always been with him, loyal almost to a fault, it had even sealed itself upon his death. He knew it would not betray him. No, if he would fall, it would not be the sword's fault, it would only be because of his fear and his negative thoughts.

He slowly let Suibian down and stepped on it, swaying a bit in place to remember how to balance himself. Once he was standing on it, his body remembered what it was supposed to do and he led his sword a little bit higher, only a few feet from ground really, to gain more manoeuvring space. He made sure not to look down, only fixing his gaze on the excited juniors.

Until he did look down. He would never know what made him think it would be alright, and it was not. Despite not being too high, his head started spinning dangerously and he could feel himself loosing balance and falling back first down. For the briefest of moments, the memories of his fall into the Burial Mounds flashed in front of his eyes and he started feeling suffocated, terrified of the moment he knew the resentful energy would engulf him to never again let him go.

He could hear shouts from a distance but he could not make out who was yelling and what they were saying. And perhaps it was for the better, he did not want to hear the resentment's whispers anyway.

Suddenly, his fall was interrupted. He had been prepared for the searing pain of the resentful energy invading his body, however, instead of it, he could feel his husband's hands gently cradling him against his chest. The smell of sandalwood filled his nose and he was doing his best to not start outright crying.

"Wei Ying, I got you," Lan Zhan whispered into his ear, his voice loving and reassuring.

Wei Wuxian was not in the Burial Mounds anymore, he was in the Cloud Recesses and he had his husband by his side. He felt relief wash over his whole body which became sluggish after all the tension left it. He snuggled closer to his husband's chest and breathed in some more sandalwood aroma.