Chapter Text
“My heart. Don’t go, please don’t leave me. Don’t leave me alone.”
Drops of warm liquid fell onto him as blurry hands cupped his face, stroking each feature tenderly. Love poured out from the stranger’s every action. A heartbroken cry pierced through the air as the air in his lungs vanished. They had been breathing the same air just moments ago, and now, they would never do it again.
Jiang Cheng woke up gasping, mind unsettled and trying to grasp the remaining fragments of his dreams. His cheeks were wet with tears and sweat.
“What,” he murmured in confusion, “What’s going on?”
Lately, Jiang Cheng had been restless, unable to sleep when nightmares that felt more like memories constantly plagued his mind. They felt so real… so familiar . Always, he would see the same scene: a blurry, faceless figure kneeling beside him who would hold him tenderly – almost as if he actually deserved love – before he would wake up from the dream.
They haunted him. Everything from sleeping pills to calming teas were useless in the face of the dreams. His eye bags had grown considerably from last week and his siblings were beginning to get concerned. Jiang Cheng had never looked this tired, even when he was still in college and his unending deadlines piled up.
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A frail palm held his tear stained face, wiping away all traces of his sadness.
“Don’t cry, A-Huan. I wish we could have been together longer. You made me so happy. Thank you.”
“I love you.”
Lan Xichen blearily opened his eyes, blinking back tears. Why did it feel like… he had just lost something important . He wiped the tears away, feeling phantom hands brush over his face. There was a gaping hole in his heart and he didn’t know why.
Why did he feel so empty ? What was he missing? He didn’t know what to do. How could he make the sadness go away?
Everything was going fine. He had a family dinner with Wangji and Shufu planned for Saturday. He was meeting with Da-ge and A-Yao later.
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“A-Die, Baba, where are you? Please come back.”
Suddenly, he heard a shout of pure anguish. His knees hit the ground as he felt his heart break. His hope was extinguished like a fire snuffed out by water.
“BABA. A-DIE. NOOOO.”
Jingyi screamed, waking up everyone in the house. Lan Qiren burst into his room
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“A-Huan, where are you?”
Together at last, Jiang Cheng snuggled further into the warm safety of Lan Xichen’s arms. The warmth he had lacked for so long was finally with him again.
“A-Cheng, I’m right here.”
Jingyi was in between them, his small body molded against theirs as he held onto them, their combined warmths proof that they were finally together again.
“Baba? A-Die?”
Lan Xichen tightened his hold on his family – his home. He would keep them safe forever. This he promised to himself.
“We’re here, A-Yi. We’ll never leave you alone ever again.”