Uncle Qiren made sure to carry both of the younger boys back to Cloud Recesses, while Lan Feng brought Lan Huan on his sword. The mood was sombre as they landed, all of the warriors either exhausted, or a combination of that and worry about the casualty currently in their infirmary.
Once they land, Uncle Qiren holds the hands of both the small boys, waiting for Lan Huan to catch up with them. The boy has begun to understand nuanced orders and requests, and Uncle Qiren has a task for him.
"Please take the boys to our home and entertain them for a while. We do not know what is happening elsewhere," his eyes drift towards the path that leads to the infirmary, "and we don't want any unnecessary panic. Here, this should help." He hands Lan Huan a wrapped bundle with whatever is inside obscured by brown paper tied with a hessian string.
"Of course, Shufu." Lan Huan bows and takes it from him.
"Also, A-Huan, you were very brave and responsible today. Well done." Uncle Qiren doesn't wait for him to reply, just in case anyone overheard his praise, but he genuinely felt that way. It was a lot to ask a nine year old to fly back home on his own amid uncertainty, and then to return with a fighting force having successfully explained about the possible threat was something to be proud of, no matter how many rules it broke.
A-Huan flushes with pleasure even as he bows again, smiling through the encouragement and taking the two younger boys with him back to the Hanshi where Uncle Qiren is staying with them.
Lan Qiren straightens his shoulders and takes a deep breath before marching with determination towards the infirmary, where Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze should be, hopefully making a full recovery from their ordeal. Whatever the situation is, it is no place for the children to be, not if he can help it.
***************
Lan Zhan doesn't let go of Wei Ying's hand all the way to the Hanshi. He looks around Cloud Recesses and tries to imagine what Wei Ying is seeing, and whether or not the place is familiar to him. He still hasn't worked out just how much Wei Ying remembers of their past, and he's in two minds about it.
The need to protect Wei Ying is stronger than anything else, so he fervently hopes that Wei Ying will not remember their shared past.
The parts of their lives where their paths converged are not what concerns him; even though they had their ups and downs, it was for the most part, good, baring towards the end when Wei Ying was losing it under the weight of his grief. But what Lan Zhan hopes Wei Ying will not remember is the deaths of the people closest to him, namely the ones he saw as his sisters and brother, and Jiang YanLi's husband.
The troubles of that timeline should stay in that world, not infiltrate this new path that he is going to forge for them. Travelling back in time is as good as wiping the slate clean, and Lan Zhan is going to make damn sure their history does not manifest in the same way.
Cloud Recesses is still beautiful in the middle of winter. Frost crunches under their feet as they hurry along the path, taking extra care going up the ancient stone stairs carved out of the bones of the mountain. The snow has been swept away but it's still cold enough to freeze the remaining moisture into making their ascent treacherous.
Nature slumbers underground, keeping her fertile plants hidden in hibernation and only leaving the evergreen pines thick and heavy with their verdant leaves, and the threat of more snowfall silences even the most persistent birds flying overhead among the darkening clouds.
It is a spectacular place, Lan Zhan muses, and it is still his home but now there is an underlying detachment in his heart towards it. He loves it just the same and yet that love is no longer innocent any more. He feels as if he could walk away from it and everything it entails at a moment's notice, and never think about it again if the situation calls for it. He's determined to not let that happen, but at the same time, his love is coated with ambivalence because if the choice was between being wherever Wei Ying is and Cloud Recesses, he knows now without a doubt which one he will pick. Home, he has discovered, is not a fixed place; it is a person.
