Chapter Text
The Xie household was especially vigorous that warm October night. Even though it was way past midnight, all servants were up without an exception. Some rushing in and out of their master's bedroom where the lady of the house was laying, others gossiping in the kitchen, keeping their voices low in fear they would get heard and others sitting together in the rock garden, calmly conversing whilst smoking.
Madame Xie, a usually delicate and elegant woman, had -after years of praying and begging the heavens- just given birth to a child, a son specifically, who could pass the family name on. She was now lying exhausted, holding her child tightly, staring at him with her eyes filled with nothing but adoration for that poor thing.
Her husband was standing soundly by the door, not knowing what to do. Rumors had already started to spiral among the servants: How the child wasn't his, how his son had been "cursed" because of that stubbornness of his, how his child would die in a few days. And all that because the kid was born with bright azure eyes and white lashes*.
No, he could never believe that the love of his life would cheat on him but the child in her arms obviously had weird characteristics. He had never seen anyone in his life that had white hair or vibrant sapphire eyes. In fact, he wasn't sure if a person like that even existed! He shushed the servants that were standing by him, closed the bedroom doors and moved closer to his wife.
The woman smiled kindly and kept stroking her newborn son's hair. After fifteen years of suffering and trying, they finally had a child for their own. She spoke:
"The moon is so bright tonight... It really is a blessed night."
She, then handed the child to its father, slowly, before closing her eyes and resting. He stayed frozen for a bit, thinking. He took a look at the child in his arms. He looked way weaker than he should be, he was too thin, even for a baby. That was until his baby son decided to gently pull at a lock of his father's black hair, as if he could understand who the man holding him was. Carefully, the man brought that poor creature even closer to him and kissed its forehead.
"My A-Bian**..." he whispered. They had both agreed on the name months before the child was brought to this world. He had chosen the name with the help of his wife, with the utmost care. Along with his last name, the name meant: "Those who make amends will always be at peace". He wished for his son to have a fulfilling life.
Mr Xie left them both and hurried to a tiny temple that was located in the middle of the manor's backyard, near the rock garden. Master Xie was a firm believer of Taoism*** and had written quite a few books about it. He was a historical writer, mostly. He sat there for a while, thanking the Heavens for listening to his prayers after so long. He burned lots of incense for the Jade Emperor**** and bowed a thousand times before leaving.
He met with the doctor that had taken care of Madame Xie, payed and thanked him. Afterwards, he entered his library. Servants were strictly prohibited from entering the enormous room as, the house library contained many rare books and artifacts passed from generation to generation. He took out a sheet of yellowish paper and started writing.
This year's February, his friend's wife had also given birth to a baby boy. That friend of his was a rich merchant who went by the surname of Fan. Even though he was more than ten years younger than him, they still were close and had decided -after learning that Madame Xie was pregnant- that if his child was a boy, they would become sworn brothers. And if the child was a girl they would still raise them together as siblings, teaching them that they should take care of each other.
He wrote a letter to the couple, informing them that his wife had given birth the same night and that the infant was a boy, telling them how lucky they were to be born in the same year, the year of the dragon etc. He gave the letter to his trusted servant, A-Cheng, and had him deliver it in the middle of the night. The two houses were close to each other, about a mile***** away. Both houses were majestic and one wouldn't be able to pick which one was more luxurious.
Master Fan and his wife had been married for briefly two years before having a baby while Madame Xie had been trying to get pregnant for many years. One could say that they were a bit jealous, but now life had blessed them with a beautiful son, they were more than happy.
~~~~~
After the kids had grown up a bit, both families agreed that it was time for them to meet each other.
Wujiu's father was a bit worried, truth be told. His son was a tad more "energetic" than other children his age. And calling him "energetic" was just the poor man's way of saying troublemaker. Even though he was only eight, Fan Wujiu was always down for a fight, there wasn't a single child he hadn't gotten into a fight with. No matter how hard the couple tried to discipline him with love and patience, Wujiu always turned a blind eye to it and kept provoking other kids, pulling girls' hair and spending his free time alone. He had lost two or three baby teeth by getting punched and his knees were always full of scratches and bruises.
He didn't mind of course. His teeth had grown back anyway and his wounds were always taken care of by his parents' servants. What Mr Fan was afraid of was that his son would scare away his friend's child. From what he had read, from Mr Xie's letters, Xie Bi'an was an obedient and gentle boy. He refrained from leaving the house because his body was still weak and he was often ill. Would they really be able to get along?
The reason they still hadn't met each other was because Xie Bi'an's parents cared more about their son's studies than his social life. He had never really left the house, let alone met other kids. There were a few exceptions but it was clear the child had no friends so far.
That hot summer day the Fan family got ready to visit the Xie household along with their son, for once. Madame Fan had spent a lot of time with Wujiu, grooming him a bit and explaining to him how the situation was: Their fathers were friends, they had made a promise, Wujiu should be gentle to Bi'an and not fight, just play peacefully and maybe they could be friends. But he was not having it. "Will we leave if I don't like him?" He tugged on his mother's sleeve. "Give him a chance, sweetheart." Madame Fan sighed and kept on brushing his hair. Wujiu stared blankly at his reflection in the mirror watching his mother put his hair up, in a ponytail with a pretty red ribbon around it. His new outfit felt heavy but he had been told that he shouldn't, under any circumstance, remove any layers, he had to look handsome today,and he hated it.
His mother had always been extremely thin and short. Even though she was now married to a rich man she loved dearly, she was somewhat unhappy. Her family was extremely poor, even servants would still treat her poorly from time to time when her husband was absent. Wujiu loved his mother more than anything. He adored his father too, but he was always missing, traveling, so he woukd spend most of his time with Mrs Fan. He didn't have many friends either thanks to his "energetic" personality.
After arriving to the manor and greeting Mr and Mrs Xie, Wujiu noticed that the child his parents had talked to him about was not present. He looked around for a bit but before he could ask, Bi'an's father noticed.
"If you are looking for A-Bi'an, he's upstairs in his room. You can go if you'd like." He said, smiling kindly.
Wujiu nodded and Mr Xie got a servant to take the child to the second floor, where his son's bedroom was. Wujiu followed quietly behind. The servant opened a door and slowly pushed him inside, closing the door behind him.
Wujiu took a glimpse of the room before locking eyes with a child his age from the other side of the room. Bi'an was kneeling on the bed near a large window just above it. He was wearing light blue taoist robes, he didn't seem to be affected by the hot weather.
He stared into his eyes again. He had never seen anyone with eyes the color of the sea, curiosity took over him. Then his eyes fell on the boy's hair. In a half up half down hairstyle, reaching to the middle of his back and as white as snow. Wujiu took a step back, feeling intimidated by the other boy's looks. Without realizing, he tried to push any stray hairs away from his forehead in an attempt to look as presentable as Bi'an.
He could feel all his courage starting to leave his body and he lowered his head, to avoid Bi'an's gaze. He shyly walked towards a low wooden table and sat by it, waiting for the other to join him and introduce himself first. He took a look at the other's room. A traditional, clean room, nothing special. He would stay seated for as long as possible,he felt uneasy under that child's stare. Wujiu had never been the shy type but that... Bi'an had made him lose all his cockiness and replaced it with a blush on his cheeks and ears.
He felt like he already hated that boy, he looked spoiled and annoying. Wujiu didn't really know why but he wanted him to approach him first, to show interest in him.
Bi'an wasn't that talkative either, now sitting across him, shamefully peering at Wujiu for quite a long time.
Before they knew it, twenty minutes were gone.
Wujiu decided he wanted to talk to him so he got up and inched closer. He pulled the other's hair, softer than he did to others.
"Ow!" Bi'an responded immediately to pain "Why did you do that?" He sounded sad and almost made Wujiu feel ashamed for his actions. Almost.
"Because you kept looking at me like I did something bad."
"I don't do it on purpose, my eyes just look like that." He hugged his arms and tilted his head, facing the floor.
"I'm Fan Wujiu..."
"...I'm Xie Bi'an"
After that, they both relaxed their shoulders and took a better look at each other. Wujiu's eyes had a deep color, a sweet brown. At first it didn't look that different from anyone else's but Bi'an seemed to like it. It radiated a weird warmth. The other seemed to be somewhat uncomfortable, opening his mouth like he wanted to say something and pulling at Bi'an's sleeve. At last he managed to talk:
"...I like your hair... And your eyes."
Apart from his parents no one had ever complimented his looks. Bi'an knew he had always looked weird, wishing to hide himself from people sometimes, but that phrase, when it came out of Wujiu's mouth... It just sounded real. The corners of his lips curled up and he smiled, mouth closed, no teeth to be seen.
"Thank you..."
Wujiu took a lock of the other's hair in his hand, gently combing through it gently, using his fingers,as if he was checking to see if it was real. His jaw dropped a bit as he continued to stroke the boy's hair.
"Why is your hair white?"
"I was born like that." He felt a bit embarrassed, knowing that Wujiu was the first person -other than his parents- to not treat him like a freak.
"It's weird..." Hearing this Bi'an's smile disappeared for a moment. He couldn't respond and watched as Wujiu kept playing with his hair.
"I like it, it's soft." He murmured as he finally let go of Bi'an's white locks.
"It's ugly." Bi'an muttered and raised his upper lip a bit, to show his disgust.
"No. It looks pretty on you." Wujiu finally sat down, by his side and pinched his arm. Bi'an looked at him slightly upset but decided to brush it off.
"Do you want to be friends?" Bi'an whispered, almost too shy to ask the boy beside him, afraid that he would get rejected.
"Okay... Want to play? What's your favourite game?" Wujiu got up and stood in front of him.
Bi'an could only shake his head in defense.
"If you don't know what to play, I have some ideas." Wujiu smiled and ruined the other's hair a bit more.
After that, they spent their afternoon talking to each other and playing until dusk, when Wujiu's parents decided to take their leave.
Before leaving, the two kids were called downstairs. Truth be told, Mr Fan expected to see Bi'an with a couple of scratches on his face, disheveled hair, maybe torn clothes, or anything else that could possibly indicate that they had a fight but they both seemed to be happy.
Madame Xie was shocked to see her shy and quiet son jumping around with his new friend and most importantly, smiling. Even while getting down the stairs, Fan Wujiu, didn't want to let go of the other's sleeve. It made her heart flutter with excitement.
Before saying goodbye Xie Bi'an hugged Wujiu and he wholeheartedly accepted the gesture. They had already decided that they would call each othe "A-Bi'an" and "A-Jiu", even though they had only known one another for a couple of hours.
When the others left, Mr Xie took his son aside.
"How was today, A-Bi'an? Did you get along well with Wujiu? " He asked while his wife was holding her breath waiting for Bi'an's answer.
"I want to see him again."
At the same time, when the Fan family got back, the same question was asked by Mr Fan.
Wujiu's answer was exactly the same.