Fate

Ch. 24

"You...and Wei Gongzi?" Lan Xichen asked.

"Do you have a problem with me being his partner?" Wangji asked, "or is it that you do not have your sworn brother to give you his own opinion. You tend to think more of what he says than what I say anyway."

"Wangji, What do you mean?" Xichen asked Wangji.

"You know exactly what I mean," Wangji said not even looking at him, "you listen to him more than you do me. I told you my worries for Wei Ying and you tried to keep me away from him. Because of that, it only made things worse between us. I love him, Xiongzhang, and you have long since known that. How do you even know how I feel these days?"

"Wangji, I am so sorry if I made it seem like that. If it made it seem like I have neglected your feelings and concerns," Lan Xichen said.

"It is not just me!" Wangji said loudly. Lan Xichen was so stunned by Wangji raising his voice at him. This was the first time that Wangji was really expressing how he felt about everything towards his brother, "You followed those sects that stepped over the corpses of innocents so that they could kill Wei Ying and rob his corpse and his home!" Lan Wangji's words were sharp and cold. The icy tone froze Lan Xichen's blood, "it was so easy for everyone to believe he was evil and you even believed it. Look how easy it was for Jiang Wanyin to turn on him; how easy it was for Shufu to lead Gusu Lan cultivators to a slaughter of elderly farmers. Also look how easy it was for you, Xiongzhang, to accept rumors, and allow innocents to die. Wei Ying told you everything so far and you probably still think he is evil. Is it that or do you just believe what Jin Guangyao tells you? You believe him so much more than me anyway. Did you even want to save A'Yuan, or do you think he is evil like his elders?"

Lan Xichen was frozen in his spot. Both him and Wangji had tears in their eyes. He wished he could go back in time just to rewrite things between him and Wangji. He wished he could go back and correct everything. Lan Xichen's mouth was dry but he had to speak up, "I am sorry Wangji. I am sorry I didn't listen to you. I am sorry that I gave the words of others more consideration than your own. I'm sorry that I was too focused on the letter of our rules, to uphold the spirit of righteousness they are meant to guide us towards. I'm sorry that I doubted your judgment.

I'm sorry that I hurt the person you love, and I am sorry that I hurt you. I want to be better than the version of me who took that path and brought you so much pain. If you allow me the chance, I promise to never dismiss your concerns or opinions. I will support you. I will use my authority to defend the weak, rather than allow them to suffer to avoid confrontation..." Lan Xichen wanted to say more but he was cut off by being pulled into a tight embrace.

"Ge, all I want is for you and I to be brothers again," Wangji said, "I want you to accept him. Learn to forgive him for things that were beyond his control. Please, Ge. You have no idea how much I need you right now."

Lan Xichen hugged him back, only tighter, "I promise I will work things out with him. He is your other half and he is a very righteous man. He was the only one who did the right thing and stood up for innocent people. As a sect leader, I failed to do my duty and as your brother, I failed to be there for you. I promise I will do better."

"Thank you, Ge," Wangji said. Lan Xichen and Wangji stayed in that hug for a good while. The two were just enjoying being with each other again. Lan Xichen was actually very grateful that his Didi was alive and that he can correct his mistakes. He was determined to fix them too.

"Wangji, will you please tell me what has been happening here a bit better?" Xichen asked as they sat back down on the couch.

"We are trying to figure it out as well," Wangji replied and took out the talisman that Wuxian was looking into, "also, this talisman was in your robes...did you change where Gusu would get our fabrics from? Why would a talisman be sewn into your robes?"

Xichen took it, "do you know what it does? We are still getting our fabrics from Lanling and even through Gusu. Those are the only two places we get them. Otherwise you know our robes are made inside the sect once the materials are delivered."

"Wei Ying looked into it, he said it's some sort of mind altering talisman," Wangji told him, "he said that he does not have a lot of his materials here with him to do more of a thorough examination on the talisman. So he could only check to small extent."

"I imagine him not having his sources it would be hard to figure it out completely," Xichen said.

"He did recognize it as a mind altering talisman. He just doesn't know it's full purpose," Wangji said, "as for everyone else here in this world, I am still getting used to it."

"I was a bit creeped out by seeing my doppelgänger, but how did you feel?" Xichen asked.

"I was confused about it at first, but as of right now, Wei Ying is trying to figure out how we ended up coming to this timeline and why," Wangji told him.

"That is confusing, why did we come to this world?" Xichen asked, "and why are they so advanced in so many different things?"

"I am not sure," Wangji said, "but we will figure it out...Wei Ying was going to tell us the last of his story, what he was going through and what happened. I want to hear his thoughts on what happened."

"As do I," Xichen said, "I promise, I will remain open minded about it."

Wangji nodded as he was hoping his brother would be true to his words. All he wanted was for Xichen to accept Wei Wuxian and allow him to be a part of the Lan family.