Fluffy WangXian Oneshots

The Hand of the Giver Part 4

What is the greatest thing about love?

This question stayed in his mind, as Lan Zhan stood up.

It wouldn't be an easy answer, because otherwise why would the Queen Mother of the West phrase it like that? And the answer must be powerful enough to break the curse for his husband-to-be.

Now, more than anything else, that's what Lan Zhan wanted to do.

"One more thing." Wei Ying’s quiet voice stops him in his tracks.

"Mn?"

"My Master said to tell you that seven days from now your wedding will take place. If you can answer this question by then, he will set you free. You will no longer be obligated to keep your promise."

Why does Wei Ying sound so sad about that?

But his words make a new feeling grow in Lan Zhan’s heart.

Hope.

If he is successful in answering this question, then not only will it free the Kitsune from his curse, but it will free Lan Zhan from his promise to marry him. Then, he will be free to love Wei Ying.

Quickly, he banishes it from his mind.

To think anything along those lines feels disrespectful towards someone who has only shown him kindness in a multiple of ways.

The Kitsune has given him his brother back as promised, and then he has given him Wei Ying - to help him. To help him! Lan Zhan’s mind refuses to dwell on how he feels about that part, but instead, he adds to the list: the Kitsune has given him a home, and a duty.

Lan Zhan must now faithfully pay back his trust wholeheartedly.

"I will think about it." Lan Zhan tells Wei Ying softly. "For now, it is time we get to work."

"We?" Wei Ying squeaks, as Lan Zhan hauls him up from the ground. "What work?"

He's lighter than he looks and again, Lan Zhan has to steady him.

His ears are alight as he steps back quickly.

"Mn," he answers Wei Ying to distract him from looking at his treasonous appendages. "We are going to clean."

*************

Lan Zhan starts by making Wei Ying help him haul everything out of the kitchen, sorting it out into piles of 'can use' and 'throw away'.

By late afternoon, Lan Zhan asks to borrow a brown cotton robe from Wei Ying’s wardrobe, and the young man stutters and makes excuses, before running away.

But Lan Zhan can't keep wearing his white clothes, not when the next few days will entail him having to scrub the floors by hand. Cleaning, ironically, was the dirtiest job to do, and there was no way his robes would survive the worst of it.

Since Wei Ying has abandoned him, Lan Zhan rolls up his sleeves and puts his mind to work, while his body sweeps out the dust from the empty kitchen.

What was the greatest thing about love?

Did the Queen Mother of the West mean romantic love? Or just love in general?

Was it something that could be applied to all types of love?

There were many types of love, and many different ways to show it, so the answer had to be something which was singularly unique to all the loves there were. A common denominator between all of them.

Otherwise the Queen Mother would have specified a certain type, right?

Lan Zhan made a list in his head.