Work Text:
Leyan remembers the first time she saw someone light a fire with sticks. It was Xiao Wu, and Leyan had been delighted to see fire grow out of nothing. But then he’d gotten sicker and sicker so she’d never asked to learn.
Now having sneaked out of Chang’an for a few days to camp with Changge, she watches Ashina Sun performing the same ritual, his face serious as he sets down a handful of dead grass. Hao Du and Changge are preparing food, but no one expects Leyan to do anything to help.
She feels a sting of regret that Xiao Wu never got to meet her family. He would have laughed at her leaving her comfortable home to sleep under the stars.
The stick spins and a spark flies, catching in the grass. Leyan watches Ashina Sun nourish the spark until the sticks catch fire. She has never really understood her cousin’s husband. He rarely shows anything of himself to her.
When the fire is lit Ashina Sun holds both hands over it, warming them, and glances up to meet Leyan’s eyes. He looks down at the fire and then back to her. “Would you like to learn how?”