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The sounds of swords clashing and bodies hitting the stone paved streets ring through the otherwise silent dusk. Mingxia throws one of the bandits into the wall with a strong flick of her fan Ruo, the streets around her are finally quiet enough to take a breath and gain stock of the situation.
Dirt and blood has dirtied the bottom of her white robes, and she can hear the continuation of fighting nearby, the true number of enemies is still unknown but it’s two less now. Finally feeling like she’s caught her breath, Mingxia starts running towards the sound of fighting, hopefully she’ll run into Xiaolian or some of the boys. The roads are generally empty, some unmoving bodies of the rogue bandits but no allies until she reaches the main square where the fighting is the loudest. Mingxia is quick to act in the chaos, helping a junior in green robes take down a strong enemy cultivator. They share a brief smile that doesn’t reach much past a grimace before they both turn and enter the fight again. Mingxia twists around two bandits, sending them flying with a well placed fan flick when her eyes catch on familiar dusty purple robes. A relieved smile breaks across her face,
“Flower-” her grin on her face quickly turns to horror as she sees the love of her life motionless on the ground. Light purple robes and inky hair are splayed across the street having been dyed even dark with blood, Xiaolian’s arm is extended towards Genji laying a few feet away the blade just outside her grasp.
“No, no, no, no!” Mingxia rushes to her beloved’s side, not caring who she sends flying in her race across the battlefield. Crashing to her knees she gently gathers Xiaolian into her arms, and hesitantly reaches out to press shaking fingers against her skin searching for a sign of life. Xiaolian’s skin is cold and sticky with blood, which Mingxia desperately hopes is someone else's. The push of energy that Mingxia sends into her girlfriend bounces around like a lost ball and immediately tears start spilling down the brunette face. “No no no, i can’t— i can’t lose you”
With increased fervour and desperation she pushes more energy into her girlfriends silent body, “please no, please please my flower please”.
Her quiet chant is never answered, and the sounds of the battlefield become dull like someone has plunged her into the deepness of the ocean. Everything is cloudy and muted besides the overwhelming sound of her own heartbeat roaring against her ears, a reminder that she alone is alive. The scream of grief that reverberates across the area sends chills down everyone's spine, and the air becomes fragile like tempered glass. No one dares to make a single move, scared of what they’ll unleash if they break the sorrowful silence. Mingxia is the only one that moves as she tenderly sets Xiaolian on the ground again, before reaching for Genji and stands to her full height. White Lan robes are stained red in a cruel mockery of wedding attire, sword clutched in one hand and fan in the other; death has never looked more heartbroken. A broken scream fills that air as Ginji slashes through the air,
“How dare you take her from me!”
The first to fall doesn’t look much older than she is but sympathy has been long forgotten in those grey eyes. The other allied cultivators quickly step aside in the presence of pure anguish and reckless fighting, many politely drop their gaze while others flee to the wounded. Sword and fan sing together through the air as body after body falls to the ground staining the stones' a sick rust colour. Stepping over the prone form of a bandit the air seems to crackle around Mingxia, as she backs another enemy against an overturned market cart. Fear is clear on his face and his weapon has long been abandoned as he scrabbles backwards trying to put distance between them,
“Please, have mercy!”
Cold grey eyes meet terrified blue ones, and there’s a brief moment of silence as hope fills blue eyes before the hesitation is broken with a single swish of Ruo. Blood arcs across the air in a haunting rainbow and drips down the steel edge of the fan onto the stones,
“No.”
____
It takes a surprisingly short time before all the enemies are dead, and Mingxia looks across the bodies littering the once bustling courtyard with a detached benevolence. Blood has made her robes heavy and her hands look like they’ve been dipped in paint, still tightly clutching both weapons her gaze turns to the Xiaolian. However the space her body was laying is now empty and panic grips Mingxia's heart again. Rushing over she falls into the empty space, Ginji and Ruo clatter to the ground as hands scrabble against the empty pavement.
“No! No! Where is she!”
Head lowered in confusion she doesn't see the strong arms that come to envelop her, immediate panic has Mingxia pushing away and fighting against the strong grip. It isn’t until a soft scent reaches her brain and the familiar voice humming a gentle lullaby finally registers that she sinks into the hug. Tears are quick to come flowing down her face and she wails into the arms of Wei Ying,
“Daddy, where is she? Where did she go?”
Calm hands stroke a familiar pattern through her hair, “Hush little one, your brother took her somewhere safe”
“She was so quiet” lips tremble as more tears build in her grey eyes, “she’s my heart”.
“I know sweetheart, I know”
The sound of crying fills the space and the tears spilling down Mingxia’s face have no end in sight, Wei Ying lets his daughter continue to cry as he gathers them both to their feet. He gently swings Mingxia onto his hip, a little more difficult now than when she was a toddler but he knows she won't be able to support herself. The main goal is getting them both safely out of this field of death and bringing his daughter to her heart.
_______
By the time they make it to Lotus Pier Mingxia has passed out from pure exhaustion, not even stirring as the less than smooth landing. They’re immediately greeted by Sizhui and Jingyi, their robes still dirty and concern clear on their faces. Sizhui runs to his sister brushing the hair that’s fallen out of its ponytail away from her face,
“Shit! Is she ok?”
Wei Ying shifts her higher on his hip, “Mmmm just exhausted, how’s Xiaolian?”
The two boys share a quick look that speaks volumes of worry as they make their way into the infirmary. They’ve travelled most of the way before Jingyi has gathered himself enough to answers the question,
“Not well, her core is weak and her body is having trouble accepting large amounts of energy”
Looking down at the prone form on the hospital bed, blood still coating her entire body and breathing shallow, he wishes not for the first time that Wen Qing was still with them. How her no bullshit presence and wicked smart mind could tackle any issue placed in front of her, and how Wei Ying can picture her taking one look at his worried face and shooing him out of the infirmary with firm but calm hands. But she isn’t here, and all Wei Ying can do is trust in the skilled medical cultivators at Lotus Pier. Both the girls sleep far into the next day, but as expected Mingxia is the first to wake up. Jin Ling is on watch duty when she jolts awake nearly rolling off the bed in panicked confusion,
“What– where am I?”
“Lotus Pier, your dad brought you back yesterday”
A look of confusion passes across Mingxia’s face as she tries to sort out her foggy memory but terror is quick to repace confision as she whips her head around the infirmary,
“Xiaolian! Where is she?”
Jin Ling is quick to push Mingxia back into bed as she tries to get up, “Hey hey stop, you’re too weak to be wandering around”.
One hand pushes Mingxia further into the pillows as the other reaches back to pull aside the white curtain that’s separating the beds. Laying on the bed still as the sea before a storm is Xiaolian, her face is finally wiped clean of blood and robes have been replaced with clean ones. Xiaolian’s hair is the only stark colour on the bed, her skin is still pale and flat against the infirmary white. Any effort that Jin Ling was making to keep Mingxia in bed is wholly wasted the moment he revealed Xiaolian. The blankets are still wrapped around Mingxia legs as she falls into the space beside her beloved's bed, hands shaking she tenderly wraps them around Xiaolian’s one. Feeling the still weak, but present pulse of life flowing makes Mingxia lower her head into the blankets and cry heavy tears of gratitude. Repetitions of “you're ok, you're ok” are whispered into the blankets as Mingxia finally realises they’re going to be ok.