Nameless

Chapter 12 Are you the one?

Author notes: English is not my first language, so please forgive my mistakes and awkward writing. This is NOT for profit. I don't own them. AU (as in Alternate Universe) and maybe OOC (as in Out of Character). Characters belong to their rightful owners.

Author notes 2: Thanks to @SunnyAlSorna and @JJSin2020 for editing this. All remaining errors are totally mine. Thanks for your votes and comments, they really motivate me to keep writing.

Author Notes 3: The song is Are you the one? by Sharon Del Adel and Timo Tolkki.

Chapter 12. Are you the one?

"What...? Are you the one?" Wei Ying asked, still dumbfounded by the revelation that traveled through his body.

Lan Zhan didn't answer immediately. He reflected on his own confusing thoughts. He was the one only if Wei Ying decided he was. It had never been a matter of his own choice. He carefully worded his response.

"I am, only if Wei Ying wants me to be," he stated.

Wei Ying looked at him softly, a small smile playing in his mouth. Suddenly, he felt self-conscious. He tried to joke away his own shyness.

"You have a way with words, Lan Zhan. You have to warn me before saying things like that."

"Mn."

"Could you...? I mean, do you know what happened?" Wei Ying was still confused.

"Your veil fell," was Lan Zhan's answer.

"What?! Does that thing even exist? I've heard rumors of course, but I doubted them. It didn't seem... I don't know... plausible, logical, real, all of the above?"

"It exists. You just lost it," Lan Zhan stated in a matter of fact way." His eyes never leaving Wei Ying's face.

"How do you know about it?" Wei Ying was really curious at that point.

"I've read it, and..." Lan Zhan paused.

"You read about it? Where? When? How?" Wei Ying bombarded him with questions, unable to stop.

"You are aware I'm in charge of the library, I found a book about it a long time ago," was Lan Zhan's response.

"And you...do you... have it?" Wei Ying asked shyly. He suspected Lan Zhan didn't have his veil in place, but was not sure. He was curious.

"I do not. I have been without my veil for some time," Lan Zhan said without any visible emotion. He trembled imperceptibly remembering the moment he lost his veil, since it was the exact moment he saw Wei Ying for the first time.

"Some time?" Wei Ying questioned. He was dubious, somehow it sounded like a euphemism to him. He suspected Lan Zhan was really downplaying the whole situation.

"If we were using human years, more than a thousand," Lan Zhan clarified.

"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying gasped confirming his suspicions. "Have you read about the intended one?" He needed to know, it would mean Lan Zhan had been alone and aware of his intended for more than a thousand human years.

"Mn," Lan Zhan said while nodding. He was unable to speak a full sentence at that moment. After a while, he proceeded to explain everything he knew about it to Wei Ying.

Wei Ying stayed quiet for a long time. Lan Zhan was worried. He didn't want Wei Ying to be disturbed by any of this. He was about to leave Wei Ying alone when he felt Wei Ying's hand on his wrist, stopping him.

"Does it mean...we are intended to each other?" Wei Ying finally asked in a small and uncertain voice.

Lan Zhan felt conflicted. He didn't want Wei Ying to feel obligated to anything. He must chose freely, he thought.

"In theory," Lan Zhan said, "but it's not mandatory." He looked into Wei Ying's eyes. "We can choose," he said, implying that Wei Ying could reject him at any time and he would accept his decision.

"Can we really?" Wei Ying inquired raising one eyebrow, "because for me it feels pretty much unavoidable." He said, looking at Lan Zhan's eyes with a new intensity. It seemed that Armaros' work to make Wei Ying's veil fall slowly had given Wei Ying the time to really look at Lan Zhan, and he liked what he saw.

Lan Zhan's earlobe tips were red. Did it mean...? He didn't want to hope, but the elation that unfolded within his chest could not be stopped.

"What do you think, Lan Zhan? Can we really choose?" Wei Ying insisted looking at Lan Zhan expectantly.

Lan Zhan stayed silent for a while. Wei Ying started to feel disheartened. He felt his intended was rejecting him. Finally, Lan Zhan spoke.

"I chose Wei Ying a thousand years ago," Lan Zhan stated with all the certainty in the world.

"Lan Zhan..." Wei Ying whispered. "What are we going to do? You have to go back to heaven. Can you...?" Wei Ying paused. "Can you...I don't know...work slower...stay here for a little longer?"

"I'll stay longer, if that is what Wei Ying wants," Lan Zhan answered, a wave of emotion traveling through his body.

"But, do you want it?" Wei Ying questioned, looking at Lan Zhan uncertainly.

"I want it very much," Lan Zhan responded firmly.

"I want to...get to know you better," Wei Ying said shyly, eyes downcast.

"I feel the same," Lan Zhan said.

And stay he did. He spent a long time listening to Wei Ying talk. He marveled at the astonished expression Wei Ying wore on his face every time he discovered a new color, shade, sound, smell or sensation.

Animals awed Wei Ying. He liked to play with them. He found rabbits especially lovely and liked to chase them and caress them a lot.

Sometimes Lan Zhan felt and unknown and unwanted emotion when Wei Ying caressed the bunnies. He wasn't sure why his stomach tied in a knot when he saw Wei Ying doing it. He wanted to be touched by Wei Ying like that. He desired to feel Wei Ying's touch on his skin, but he practiced restraint.

One day, Wei Ying looked particularly gloomy. It had been a year since Wei Ying's veil had fallen. Lan Zhan's heart was pained as he looked at his beloved being so sad. He wanted to know how to make Wei Ying feel better.

"Why is Wei Ying so sad?" Lan Zhan finally asked.

"I...I realized something, Lan Zhan," Wei Ying answered on the verge of tears. "One day you'll have to go away from me and..." Wei Ying stopped.

"And?" Lan Zhan questioned, wanting for Wei Ying to continue.

"I...I don't think I could bear being apart from you...I...I love you," Wei Ying finally confessed eyes downcast, blushing fiercely.

Lan Zhan encircled him in his arms, feeling his heartbeat accelerate uncontrollably. His Wei Ying loved him! He had never imagined such happiness could be felt by anybody, much less him.

"I love Wei Ying," Lan Zhan stated, his voice faltered a little. "I have loved Wei Ying for a long time and I will always love him."

"Then, don't go," Wei Ying pleaded.

"We both have missions, my love," Lan Zhan responded, his heart full of pain but also full of conviction.

"I can't lose you," Wei Ying murmured.

"You'll never lose me. I am yours. Always," Lan Zhan affirmed.

"At least..."Wei Ying started.

"What my love?" Lan Zhan inquired.

"Let me kiss you, once."

Wei Ying touched Lan Zhan's lips with his own and Lan Zhan's resolve to part from Wei Ying evaporated.