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I love you.
He thinks, pain blossoming upon his back, each strike of the disciple whip more painful than the last.
I love you.
He thinks between each painful breath, vision blurry as he rides Bichen towards the Burial Mounds. The thought is said again as he all but drags himself around, Bichen used as support, the wounds at his back are bleeding but he pays no mind at all. The robes are stained with dirt and blood as he cradles the last thing that proved of his kindness.
I love you.
The words slip out before he can't stop them, eyes slightly widdening but seeing the way Wen- No, Lan Yuan lights up makes him think feel warm. He relaxes as a tiny smile graces his face and, not for the first time, the pain in his back is dulled by the sight of a kind sun.
I love you.
His fingers are bleeding, but he doesn't dare stop as he tries again and again to call him. He thinks that, maybe, just maybe this time he will get a reply. He never does. At some point Lan Yuan joins him, stubborn like him as he demanded to learn so he could help. The soft snores besides him stop his hand at some point, he looks at the moon shining down upon them.
Inquiry is played no more.
I love you.
His presence is everywhere and nowhere. Faint laughter rings inside his head as he stares at people on stalls having fun. He buys Emperor's Smile every year, and every year he places them in their little space, silently offering them to someone that isn't there anymore. His brother knows but says nothing, it's appreciated.
I love you.
People say he always seem like he is mourning. He is. He mourns a lot of things: mourns for the parents he barely got to meet and the kind Wen people he met at the Burial Mounds that weren't treated right, the maybes and what-ifs, and the way he couldn't say what he meant. But most of all... He mourns the death of a star so bright it decided to burn itself out in order to shine for others.
Maybe he'll always be mourning.
I love you.
His heart stutters as he stares at a face so different than what his memories supply, body and face wrong but he can't help but hope. No one else knows that melody, it was a melody safely kept inside a cave, shared to him alone, so only he knows it.
For the first time in 13 years, he doesn't mourn anymore.
I love you.
His words are met with laughter and a brief kiss, the words ring in his heart again and again as he holds the person that means the world to him.
I love you too.
Wei Ying replies with a smile so wide Lan Wangji can't help but kiss him again, to feel that smile against his lips. He's got his hands on Wei Ying's hips and Wei Ying's got his arms around his neck, hands playing with his hair and the ends of his forehead ribbon. Lan Wangji wonders, not for the first time, if he is dreaming, but the warmth underneath his hands accompanied by the soft press of lips against his says otherwise.
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I love you, and I want to keep loving you in this life and the next.
Aaaah what to do my heart is beating too fast, Lan Zhan! Hold me a little closer, yes? I feel like I may faint from your words one of these days...
Mn.
Hey, Lan Zhan? Let's stay like this a bit longer, 'kay?
Mn. Always.