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Wei Wuxian loves to take breaks from the city. He prefers hiking; it lets him meet nature and go on adventures, as well as take photographs of both striking and common things. The fresh scents and tweeting birds invigorate his vitality and return pieces of his soul to places where the city has sucked them out.
One day on a hike, he finds an iridescent crystal statue in the shape of a person. He's amazed and transfixed—it’s so breathtakingly unexpected. The statue looks unreal and impossible, where it stands near a humble lake, surrounded by little crumbs of flowers.
He comes back to it a few times, drawn to its enigma. He also studies the place as a location for photography. It seems like a good place to capture the moon, which he is lacking good shots of. Finally, after a couple of months, comes the night with the perfect weather to photograph the full moon. As he snaps away, he detects movement in the corner of his eye.
The statue’s fingers are twitching to life.
There's a luminescent glow, and the statue turns into a man that looks sculpted out of jade, with hair black as space.
“Where did you come from?” Wei Wuxian asks, once he is done gawking.
The man points at the moon.
“Like...an alien?”
The man's golden gaze turns downcast. He speaks, “the moon fell in love with the earth. The earth was in love with the sun. I am merely the moon's tears.”
Wei Wuxian steps closer, enraptured.
“And who did the sun love?”
Their eyes meet.
Delicate wildflowers are rustled by a cool breeze. They’re resting, but spread a sweet fragrance.
“I do not know,” the man says.
Interesting. Wei Wuxian offers a smile, “what can I call you?”
"Lan Wangji, or Lan Zhan."
His voice is elegant and smooth like a polished pearl, balm to Wei Wuxian whose edges are so jaded.
“Lan Zhan, I’ve been here before, why did you wait until now to appear?”
Lan Wangji looks over the lake, “Wangji is at the mercy of his origin.”
“You mean...you turn to this form because of the full moon...like...a werewolf?
Lan Wangji side glances at him, “do I look like I have fur?”
Wei Wuxian snorts, “no. No, you don't. You're the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, I think. No. I know it. For sure.” His eyes travel over the otherworldly translucent layers of white robes. It’s like someone took a bundle of stars and spun them into threads of silk, then stitched them into lace.
But, yet again, Lan Wangji looks down, “...I am the embodiment of pain.”
“Lan Zhan...” Wei Wuxian’s chest tightens. There’s a distance that isn’t ready to be breached, that he would like to melt away.
“My heart is carved from rejection and longing.”
This won’t do. Lan Zhan can’t be thinking such sad things about himself. How could the moon be so cruel to him? He smiles again, “Lan Zhan. You're looking at it all wrong! You’re made from love! Maybe the moon was very sad, but that's only because it loved very much. So, if you're made of those tears, you're made of very much love.”
“I—” finally some sort of expression shifts in Lan Wangji’s face. It settles again, “I am the proof of rejection, not love. I have seen people, and they do not love alone. They cry alone.”
Wei Wuxian frowns and reaches out, hand hesitating in mid-air. He lowers it. He wants to touch Lan Wangji’s cheek. How long has this ethereal man been frozen here? His temperament seems romantic rather than ancient, despite his glacial demeanour.
“You should move on from these thoughts, Lan Zhan. The moon doesn't own you, and doesn’t define you. What right does it have to...to have you stuck here as a plea for pity?”
Lan Wangji's eyes tense, “pity?”
Wei Wuxian smiles sadly, “by making you stand here, the moon is using you to say to the earth, 'look how beautiful my pain is. Surely you must see how deep it is, or it wouldn't be so enchanting and innocent,'” he takes a step closer, “but you're not a chess piece in someone's yearning. You're already your own entity.”
"Why do you care?" Lan Wangji’s voice is levelled, but there’s a trace of a bated breath.
“Because I know who the sun fell in love with.”
Lan Wangji's eyes widen, “how can you know?”
“Never mind that,” Wei Wuxian waves his hand. “Lan Zhan, will you set yourself free?”
Hesitance lingers on the borders of Lan Wangji’s posture, “...it is not a matter of choice.”
Wei Wuxian looks at the place where the statue stood.
“I am bound here.”
He looks back at Lan Wangji, “you’re moving around just fine now.”
“This will end.”
Wei Wuxian paces, “does it have to? Are you sure? Have you tried?”
“I have not needed to try.”
Wei Wuxian stops his movements to lock their eyes. He can feel the fire in his own, and hopes the flame isn’t too wild. “Then...will you?” he asks.
“Try?”
“Yes.”
Lan Wangji looks up at the bold pearl dominating the night sky. He stays like that for minutes.
“I will try.”
Wei Wuxian sees then, that Lan Wangji has been here for a long time.
Wei Wuxian offers his hand, “come with me, Lan Zhan, I'll show you the way.”
Lan Wangji looks at it for a moment, before slowly extending his own. Lan Wangji's skin is a snowflake that sits on an open palm without melting, and Wei Wuxian's is a playful flame.
“Strange.” Lan Wangji says.
“What is?” Wei Wuxian says as they begin to walk.
“I have never felt warmth that is soft.”
Wei Wuxian's breath hitches, and his heart thrums. “How do you like it?” he asks.
Lan Wangji takes a moment to think before speaking, “it feels like sunrays have gathered into something touchable.”
Wei Wuxian’s heart beats louder, “so, do you like that?"
Lan Wangji nods.
Wei Wuxian breathes.
“May I know your name?” Lan Wangji asks.
Wei Wuxian slaps himself, realising he has been so absorbed in Lan Wangji that he’s forgotten to introduce himself.
“Call me Wei Ying,” he swings their interlaced hands between them.
“Wei Ying...” Lan Wangji tastes it softly, and Wei Wuxian’s chest tightens at the sight of a faint smile. It’s as delicate as the sleeping wildflowers left behind.
They walk at a slow pace. Wei Wuxian talks about his photography, explaining this and that. Tells about his favourite fast food places and computer games. Goes on about the city, how it’s both fast and slow, and always awake. Eventually, they're at the edge of the forest, and dawn is transitioning to sunrise. Lan Wangji stops walking.
Wei Wuxian reads uncertainty in his face.
“What are you thinking?”
“I am thinking that the sun will rise and consume me.”
“...the sun won't do that. Not to you.”
Lan Wangji swallows tightly and turns to Wei Wuxian. His eyes reflect a preparation for the end. If it is the end, if he will perish in a moment, then he will indulge his curiosity just one time.
“Wei Ying, who did the sun fall in love with?”
It’s the mystery of Lan Wangji’s life. How he has wondered about this infamous sun gaining the earth’s affection, causing the moon to weep.
Wei Wuxian smiles with his whole face and holds Lan Wangji’s gaze in his own, gently, like he’s precious.
“I fell in love with you, Lan Zhan.”