✧𝔻𝔼𝕍𝕆𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ~ 𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃~✧

✧ Lan Zhan- Blinded ✧

WHEN YOUR YOUNGER brother'Lan Zhan came home with a bloody blindfold around his eyes trembling and crying, you were concerned. So was your Xichen gege, although he did his best to hide it. You learned that during the Wen indoctrinations, your strong willed didi had spoken out against Wen Chao, the current leader of the Wen clan's, will, and had been tortured for a day as a result.

When he had come out of the prison, his eyes had been completely destroyed by what seemed to be acid. No one had any idea what happened, but now your brother's beautiful brown eyes were bloodshot and sightless, and the sockets were cut up and burned badly. The doctors didn't say it, but you knew that your Wangji, your precious Lan Zhan, would not regain his sight.

You and Xichen discussed at length what could be done about this new handicap of your brother. Although you didn't view Lan Zhan's loss of sight as a weakness, you knew many other members of cultivation clans would, namely your main unspoken rival, the Jin clan.

"We're going to need to hide him away forever," Xichen said. "They'll hurt him if they see he's blind, they'll insult him and abuse him and it'll hurt him."

Xichen had a fatalistic view of things. All he saw were the bad things that could happen. You, however, saw the many good things that could happen. Unlike your brother, you believed Lan Zhan's blindness wouldn't change anything about him.

"He can learn to play the guqin again," you said. "I'll teach him for hours if he needs it. And even if he can't learn to use a sword again, he can still support in a fight with the guqin songs he plays. You think his blindness has ruined his life as a cultivator. I think that it marks the beginning of his true potential as a cultivator being unlocked."

It was evident that Xichen disagreed with you, but like the polite man he was, he said nothing. He simply said the wisest thing you could do in that situation.

"Let's let Wangji choose."

And, waiting for Wangji to choose, you spent days by his side, falling asleep with your body leaning against his bed. Xichen- sweet, perfect brother Xichen- would get you and him blankets and would sleep by your side, cuddling close to you to keep you warm and to protect you.

One night, you woke up to Lan Zhan screaming your names in panic. He had probably just realized his lack of sight and was scared he would be hurt. Maybe he still believed he was in the Wen clan's prison, and he was crying out for you in a desperate attempt to summon you to his side. Either way, he was in pain, and you needed to soothe him.

Xichen had been staying up for far too long looking over him. When he slowly opened his eyes, you pushed them back closed and told him to rest more. You would take care of your didi.

"I love you," Xichen said drowsily, before falling asleep again.

You took Lan Zhan's hands in yours and whispered, "Y/N's here, Lan Zhan. I'm here."

"Y/N! It's your voice, but I can't see you! I can't see anything. I'm so scared! Please, help me!"

It hurt you to see your brother like this. Usually he was so strong and bore pain without flinching. But blindness had dominated him, and he was no longer strong. Sweat coated his brow, which was wrinkled in pain and concern. His body was writhing on the twisted sheets as he was consumed in the waking nightmare of losing his sight.

"C-can I..."

He cut himself off and just did what he was going to do, running his hands over your face. His fingers stopped on your lips, and traced the frown shape they were currently making. Then he touched your cheeks and felt your tears. When he felt your tears, he whimpered, and buried his head in his sheets, looking like a scared baby bunny.

"W-Wangji's sorry," he whimpered. "G-good for nothing. Wangji's just a good for nothing."

"No, you're not!" you said, shocked that he would even say that. "Who told you that?"

"W-Wen Ch-Chao," he stammered, trembling just at saying the name of the man who had made him like this. "H-he called me names. I called for you but you didn't come. Wangji called for you!"

"Oh my Wangji," you whispered, your heart broken at the suffering your younger brother had to experience. And it was far from over.  Could he handle it? Could you handle it?

Lan Zhan cried as he said all the things the Wens called him, all of which were terrible lies.

"Ugly bastard, cut sleeve, useless dog, failure, good for nothing, coattail-rider, pathetic man... useless, useless, useless! I'm useless!" he wailed, burying his head in his hands and rocking from side to side like a crazy person. "Useless, useless!"

Xichen was awakened fully by this, and this time he wouldn't be told to go back to bed. His didi was suffering, and he wouldn't let it happen anymore. He gently took Lan Zhan's hands in his and softly said, "Wangji."

"Gege!" Lan Zhan wailed, throwing himself into Xichen's arms and clawing at his back wildly. "I'm sorry gege! I'm sorry!"

"No, Wangji," Xichen said, his voice breaking as he was consumed by tears. "I love you. Gege loves Wangji."

Lan Zhan raised his wildly shaking hands to cup Xichen's face. He held on, tracing every one of his older brother's facial features with his already very perceptive fingertips, then collapsing back into Xichen's arms and sobbing.

"Y-you're my gege," he said through tears. "R-really my gege."

"Yes. And we'll never leave you," Xichen said.

The two of you stayed with your brother all night. The next day, his training to master everything he learned again would begin.