Chapter Text
The night still hung over the sky and Bilbo's surprise guests would be staying the night. Even as he headed towards his room, for rest that he finally deserved. Guilt still managed to weigh him down after he rejected Gandalf's offer. Hesitance began to slip through his mind. Second thoughts.
Quickly, he shook it away.
No, such a quest is death. Only death. Cruel, agonizing, horrible, burning–
"Oh!-" Bilbo jumped at the sight of his living companion standing by his door.
"Sorry."
"No. no. you're alright. It's fine. You just..startled me is all." Bilbo reassured him.
"Mm.."
"Is everything alright?"
Jiang Cheng remained silent. Still leaning against the door even as Bilbo entered his room and sat down on his bed. Looking at his friend with an almost knowing look. "You have that look again."
"..What look?"
"That look. The look." The Hobbit spoke as if Jiang Cheng knew what he was talking about. Meanwhile the man in question just looked at him with confusion. "You know that look you get when you really want to get something off your chest but you shy away from it because you feel like you don't want to trouble me with your worries."
The sect leader blinked.
"I am not!-" Jiang Cheng paused his almost shouting before lowering his voice and continuing, "I am not shy."
"Ah. Yes. And as your friend I believe you wholeheartedly."
…
"Bilbo Baggins, my attitude may be rubbing off on you but I will not hesitate to throw my shoe at you."
"Yes, well. If It makes you feel any better, I would not hesitate to return the favor if I had shoes to throw."
Jiang Cheng smirked as he shook his head in a disapproving manner.
"You know."
The cultivator looked up at the hobbit as he began to speak once again.
"You can always talk to me. And I mean that. About anything at all. You're my friend. And I want you to know that you can confide in me."
This brought a comfortable wave of silence between the two. Only for the silence to be filled with a song.
The song was…sad.
It spoke of loss.
Loss that Jiang Cheng was all too familiar with.
"I…I know what it's like." The Yunmeng Jiang cultivator began, his voice held such a solemn tone. A tone that the hobbit has not heard often.
"To lose everything. For it to be taken."
Silence once again filled the air.
In this silence, Jiang Cheng's expression softened significantly.
"My home. Yunmeng Jiang. You should see it…bright, the sun's raze shines over our lakes. Lotuses, our most common flower, grows upon them. My sister…she loved them. She-"
Bilbo could tell that it was taking a lot out of him to continue. And from the usage of the word 'was'-
"She used to make soup out of them. Lotus Root and Pork Rib Soup. It was me and my brother's favorite. Still is. She always made it for us when our days were filled with sadness or hardships. She was..always there.
…My home. Our home.
No longer do I eat her soup. Nor do I see her smiles. I do not–
I will never again see her. I watched my home burn. And even after everything I endured- what we endured, those who survived.
I rebuilt my home from its ashes. I made sure that the world would not forget us.
But even after all that.
There were some things that I could never get back."
Jiang Cheng hadn't realized it but he was crying as he spoke. Tears slowly falling down his cheeks. Which made what happened next distraught to witness.
Laughter.
Sick twisted laughter as he leaned against the door.
"Five of us. There were five of us. And I remained alone in rebuilding my home."
"My sister was married- she had a son!"
He covered his eyes with his arm. Now aware of his tears. But he did not drop his arm, no, it stayed as his tears continued to flow. "And my own nephew had to grow up wondering why he did not have his mother or why he did not have his father."
Bilbo was no longer on his bed. He was long since beside his clearly hurt companion. "Jian."
Jian. It was the nickname Bilbo had given him.
"I- I..I don't know how to go about this." Bilbo practically stuttered. He wanted to help Jiang Cheng but he felt so useless, he could do nothing to help him.
Then he did the only thing he could do.
"Jian. Could you, perhaps, bend down abit?"
The now tired sect leader, bent down on a knee. Not looking Bilbo in the eye, wanting to avoid him having to see him this way. "I'm sorry. I don't know what-" His words were cut off when he was hugged by the hobbit.
"Don't be."
Silence.
That same comfortable silence that filled the air around them. It was a comfort. A show of trust. Of their bond.
Jiang Cheng hugged him back. Still not looking at him.
Eventually they parted ways, bidding each other good night before getting the rest they so desperately needed. Though it took Bilbo a little longer to head to bed in comparison to the others inhabiting his home, for he had a lot to think about.