Chapter Text
Ye BaiYi had run away. He had run from his love and jealousy. He ran to solitude where he might gain some semblance of control over his heart. He needed some distance from the man that drove his heart to madness. He was alone where he could breath a little freer. It was a peaceful period of time, even if it was marred by pining. It was peaceful until a girl trudged up his mountain carrying ChangQing on her back. He sprinted to meet her. ChangQing, the one he had fled from, was now on the brink of death. She was clearly exhausted, so he grabbed her without disrupting her hold on ChangQing and quickly got them all into the temple. He took ChangQing from her, and placed him down on his bed.
“What happened?” Ye BaiYi said as he put his fingers to ChangQing’s wrist.
“He was trying to master the Six Harmonies technique, but he’s gone into qi deviation.”
Gods above, of course ChangQing got himself in over his head the second he was alone. ChangQing’s qi was violently roiling in his meridians. Ye BaiYi froze in his tracks. This wasn’t something he could fix by just offering his own qi. He had no clue how to fix this. He was a fighter, not a healer. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and decided it was too cold. He tooks a glance at the fireplace to make sure the fire was still burning strong. He grabbed a few blankets out of the closet. He handed one to ChangQing’s savior before covering ChangQing.
“What has already been tried?”
"Meditation, acupuncture, and all sorts of herbs and medicines.”
“Do you have the manual he was studying?”
“Yes.”
“Let me have it."
She handed it to him without complaint. It was damp due to exposure to the snow, but it’s undamaged. He scowled at the damned thing. He sat on the edge of the bed and read. It was a horrid thing. He audibly scoffed at “unity between man and nature”. Complete and utter bullshit.
He racked his brain. What could he do? He took stock of the room. ChangQing was settled in bed as comfortable as Ye BaiYi could manage for the moment. He looked at this stranger who apparently shared his desire to protect ChangQing. She was still shivering just slightly. He went to the kitchen and grabbed every herb he could turn into medicine and some that would make good tea. As the water boiled he asked her about the details of everything they tried and got confirmation that anything he could come up with had already been tried and failed. He gritted his teeth against the panic building in his chest. There had to be something . ChangQing can’t- He can’t! Ye BaiYi won’t allow it. He handed her a cup of tea, grabbed a cup of the medicine, and went back to ChangQing’s side. Ye BaiYi lifted ChangQing’s head and brought the bowl to his lips. It was a slow process, but ChangQing didn’t choke on any of it and that was all that mattered.
“Ye DaXia.”
“I expect you to drop the formalities once he’s out of dangers.” Ye BaiYi said.
She gave him the slightest smile at that “In that case, I’m Chen ChunXia. You can call me ChunXia after you can save him.”
“Alright Miss Chen, what did you want?”
“I was going to ask if I should cook for us.”
He realized then that the sunlight outside was getting dimmer. He hadn’t even noticed the hours passing. “Please,” He replied. “That would be great.”
She dug the ingredients for congee out of the kitchen and made it. They ate in surprisingly comfortable silence. Once the food was done and the dirty dishes were put aside to be dealt with another day he went back to tending to ChangQing. He was declining. Ye BaiYi’s efforts to use his own qi to lull ChangQing’s into a calmer state were becoming less effective every time.
The sun was completely gone. At some point Miss Chen had gone to sleep. He was so scared of the possibility that the next time he looked ChangQing would already be gone.
“You owe me another sword and tons of alcohol for the years this stress is taking off my life.”
It hit him then what he had to do to. He couldn’t just offer up some of his qi to fix it, but maybe taking all of ChangQing’s damaged qi and replacing it with his own would do the trick. If it took Ye BaiYi’s life becoming a sacrifice to make it happen then so be it. He wouldn’t want to live in a world that didn’t have ChangQing in it anyways. It’s a shame he never got to say it, but that’s okay. He would have just gotten his heart broken anyways.
“I’m sorry ChangQing, but this seems like goodbye.”
“Miss Chen!” He waited for her to wake up and blink blearily at him before he continued. “I have an idea, but it might go wrong. It’s probably best you’re awake to deal with whatever may happen.”
The words registered and she startled into full alertness. She nodded. He turned back to ChangQing. As he moved ChangQing into a sitting position Ye BaiYi took a moment to memorize ChangQing’s features and hope he doesn’t take it too badly if it goes the way Ye BaiYi expects it to. Ye BaiYi takes ChangQing’s hands in his own and closes his eyes.
He took ChangQing’s qi and drew it into himself. Pain nearly overwhelmed him, but he clenched his teeth through it. It wanted to pull him under so he held onto it and used it as a tether instead. He will not mess this up. ChangQing’s life hung in the balance. Gods above, it hurt though. It hurt like every atom of his body was at its boiling point. When there was nothing left to take he gave instead. He did this cautiously, taking care to make sure everything he returned was safe. It eased the fire burning in his veins just enough. By the time Ye BaiYi finished he had gone numb.
He opened his eyes, and there were ChangQing’s looking back. ChangQing’s eyes were open. He was fine. Ye BaiYi distantly felt himself falling, but a moment later he wasn't anymore. There was panic on ChangQing’s face. Ye BaiYi wanted to comfort him, to say it was fine, but he was so tired. He was too relieved to fight it any longer.
He did it.
He really did it.
Ye BaiYi smiled as his eyes shut.