Fated (Wangxian)

#19#

Seconds...mere seconds of utter shock, disbelief, stunned silence followed by a few unknown suppressed and sharp gasps laced with anxiety and curiosity were the only evidence of the life that was lost to the chaos of this heartless world.

Those few moments filled with quiet ohs and murmurs of uncertainty, the awkward, stumbling, excited steps of the princes and princesses brimming with eagerness of knowing everything were the only reactions of that jarring incident before the indifferent crowd burst into fits of laughter, celebrating, congratulating one another upon the lifting of the curse from their lives.

Under normal circumstances, such an incident of sacrificing one's life would have caused a huge commotion, even if the lowest of Xiang palace servants had courted death by jumping out of a Royal Prince’s private chamber but…

It was the curse who had finally freed the world of his dark misfortunes and restored peace amongst the living, the innocent, kind-hearted, gentle people of the Xiang Kingdom as per the history...

Except for Prince Zhan, who was still standing and looking down from the edge of his large window, numb and shell-shocked, from where that fallen Prince had jumped to end his painful pathetic life, everyone else rejoiced as they welcomed a future with blessed beginnings, harmony and prosperity, unaffected, completely unconcerned about the bleeding Prince Ying dying  on the cold hard ground.

Something must have changed, a fear so strange and unknown, emotions so foreign and yet so overwhelming that even before Prince Zhan could begin to understand these new sensations and feelings, his feet instinctively led him outside his chamber, running all the way downstairs and then moving straight towards the cold empty royal garden situated below his window.

Escaping from the relentless attempts of several maids and worried looking guards to whom he had to excuse the sudden change in his behaviour as the final actions to ensure if the curse has truly left the world, Prince Zhan made his way towards the barely breathing Ying in the harsh cold winter and fell to the ground on his knees, right next to the trembling body and whispered in a thick tear filled voice, “…Why?!!”

As if he was struggling to keep himself alive only for this last moment, Prince Ying managed to grace his benevolent saviour with a soft smile of comfort as he looked into Zhan ge’s blank, golden eyes, “M-might like me, when I’m not a-alive and- breathing the same air as Zhan gege...”

“No!” Prince Zhan’s eyes widened as he breathed out unconsciously, in his deep, barely audible weak voice, only to watch the fake yet alluring smile on the youthful face of barely nine years old fallen Prince morphing into a sad, heartwrenching smile before turning into a hopeless flat line accompanied by a glistening silver lone tear falling on the mysteriously barren ground as the fallen Prince breathed his last.

The blinding light disappeared from Jingshi leaving a crying and gasping Lan Zhan, a grief stricken Lan Xichen, an unconscious Ying'er with body of a nine-year-old fallen Prince Ying of the past but with adorable, slightly bigger bunny ears and a soft fluffy tail along with a baffled eleven years old Ayuan who was holding a big tray, full of the now cold food, behind.

.

“Baba?!!! Uncle Xichen?! W-what just happened here? What was that bright light? How come my BunBun grew up so fast when I left him in his adorable one year old form only two hours ago!

Please, tell me what is wrong. Why do you both look like- Noo! My BunBun!” Ayuan exclaimed, his voice filled with fear, anxiousness and urgency as he dropped the tray on the nearby table, moved towards Yingying to check his vitals, sighing with relief only after he thoroughly examined his entire body and found nothing, except for his still unconscious state without any reason.

“…Uncle Xichen?!” Ayuan tried again, looking into the Sect Leader Lan’s red, misty, sorrowful eyes, questioningly

Lan Xichen took a deep breath, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart and control his wayward emotions before gesturing Ayuan to wait, have some patience and focusing attention on his grieving sorrowful baby brother who seemed lost in the past reliving those memories, as he said, “Wangji! Please, calm down. Control yourself. It’s all in the past, baby brother.

You aren't Prince Zhan... neither am I the Crown Prince of Xiang Kingdom.

We're here, in Cloud Recesses. I'm Lan Xichen, you're Lan Wangji, Hanguang Jun of the Gusu Lan Clan in this life so please, try to forget the past and move on...

Look! Our little Yingying has grown so well! He looks so adorable, even more enchanting with bunny ears and such soft tail...” Lan Xichen whispered in a teary voice, watching the unconscious sweet innocent soul, lying peacefully on the bed.

While Ayuan was having a hard time trying to understand the situation, the confusing words of Sect Leader Lan on something about moving on from the past lives, the Xiang Kingdom, and some fallen Prince Ying, he watched his baba, the ever so calm, composed, and graceful Hanguang Jun stumbling and crashing to the ground, grabbing the now nine years old Yingying’s soft small hands in his tightly, and sobbed, “Ying’er! P-Please forgive your Z-Zhan gege! I didn’t m-mean any of h-hateful heart piercing and ruthless words, my Love. I was only trying to protect you.

In-instead, I lost you. I lost you! Why? Why didn’t I see that instead of saving you, I killed you myself!!! How could I...do this to you in every life! How did I fail to realise it was me- who pushed you towards death!

Open your eyes, Ying. Let me explain everything to you. I-I never hated you. You were never a curse, Ying. It was a lie. Everything was a lie from the very beginning. P-please, op-pen your eyes, look at your Zhan gege, my dear love. Please, my heart…” Lan Zhan sobbed his heart out to an unconscious Ying, too afraid of losing his soulmate once again because of something he did in their past life.

“Wangji, let Yingying rest for now. His vitals are stable but he has suffered a lot, brother. Although his wounds are healed, his sudden growth into a nine year old youngling, this won't be easy for him... He'll have much to learn, to understand about himself, about his surroundings to adapt to this change.

We need to take care of Yingying now, even more than before. I have no idea how much he will be affected by what he experienced earlier in the forest, in the back mountains and this incident, the painful memories of our previous life...

Ayuan and especially you...need to be  prepared, Wangji.

It's very likely that- he might not want to stay with us if... he too has regained the memories of the past.

Yingying doesn’t know... not even half of what we know now, about the truth behind the death of Royal Prince Ying and the events that led to it.

Although nothing would make us feel any less guilty and responsible, it will surely help our Yingying understand everything with a clear mind and an entirely new perspective.

Maybe then, he'll understand the true intentions, reason behind our actions, behind your words and finally be able to let go of the bitter memories of our past and.. start a new life, living in the present.

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