Solstice Souls

A Broken Brotherhood

Wei Ying POV

Having successfully lured Jiang Cheng away from his father, Wei Ying began thinking of ways to ask his shixiong the difficult questions he needed answers to. He wanted to make sure they were far enough away that neither father nor son could hear each other's answers. So, he kept jumping on the Jiang heir until they both went tumbling into a secluded pool of water at the river's edge.

"Jiang Cheng knock it off!"

"What? Are you afraid to get your hair wet? You didn't seem to mind when we were back in Lotus Cove. Did something....."

The young Jiang heir paused mid thought. Wei Ying shied away from him, unable to control the blush creeping across his cheeks.

"Are you serious? You don't want to mess up your hair because of HIM?" Jiang Cheng's voice got higher with each incredulous word that came from his mouth.

Wei Ying looked at his Shixiong with a broken smile haloed by two misty silver eyes. Jiang Cheng sighed and walked over to Wei Ying, both of their bodies half submerged in the shallow pool. The normally grumpy grape put a warm hand on Wei Ying's stiff shoulder.

"You really do love him, don't you, A-Xian."

Wei Ying nodded.

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. "Then why are you crying? You look like a lost puppy I want to bring home!"

Wei Ying shivered at the thought of looking like a dog but wondered why he was actually crying. His mind processed every possible scenario until it settled on one. Jiang Cheng studied his face, watching it change expressions like a chameleon changing its colors.

"Oh my god! You miss him?! You've only been apart as long as it takes you to eat a bowl of Shijie's soup. You'd think you were already married!"

Wei Ying's bottom lip began its short trip into a pout sending Jiang Cheng into a rant about how whipped Wei Ying was for the young jade and how he was going to be the wife. Wei Ying struck back with a double handed splash of water and a sweep of his leg to thoroughly dunk the aggravating heir.

Wei Ying came sputtering to the surface after Jiang Cheng successfully claimed vengeance with a dunking of his own. The two young men laughed like they had when they were children. Only this time, their future was not filled with certainty.

"If A-Lie could only see you now." Jiang Cheng teased lightheartedly as they settled into washing off the grime that was ingrained in their knuckles and fingernails. "I hope things work out for both of you. But I'm telling you now, if he hurts you in ANY way, I'm going to break both his legs!"

Wei Ying smiled softly. "He won't."

"How do you know?

"I'm not sure. I just feel it." Wei Ying answered dreamily. "I could never do anything to hurt him. From the first moment I laid eyes on him, I've only ever felt the need to protect Lan Zhan. And now I know he feels the same way."

A silly little giggle left Wei Ying's lips and Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes, finishing off the look with a punch to his shixiong's arm. The two of them had always been close, perhaps even as close as blood brothers. But Wei Ying knew he had to get answers about Madam Yu's odd behavior. He would have to ask difficult questions to get to the truth.

"Jiang Cheng."

"Yeah?" the angry lotus answered without looking at his friend.

"Uh, I just.....I was wondering....."

"Oh for the love of wine! Just spit it out!" Jiang Cheng snapped, clearly frustrated at his well-spoken shidi's inability to form a coherent sentence.