Work Text:
Just breathe
Lotus Pier stood surrounded by lovely, still lakes, lotus patches covering their surface floating peacefully, and calm rivers that bend beautifully. They helped commerce burst, the waterways making the transport of goods easier, and the Yunmeng Jiang one of the wealthiest gentry families in the Cultivation world.
It was a stunning land with breathtaking views, that gave its people its beauty and riches, and hid its dangers deep down into its sloshing waters.
The children of the Jiang sect learned to swim very early on, parents gently introducing them to the waters as soon as they started to crawl, a necessity in a place where potential drownings were just an accidental fall away.
Jiang Fengmian was no exception, and his children swam around like fish before their second year of life, moving their limbs like they had been born with fins, like the water was their true element and home. Jiang Cheng, at five, could out-swim children twice his age, and even jie's health issues didn't get in her way, and she went in and out of the water like it was the most natural thing to her.
“Just breathe,” their father had told them every time the dove in until he was satisfied with their progress. “Deep, long breaths, and everything will be alright.”
Jiang Cheng had done exactly that every single time, and everything had always been perfectly fine.
When Wei Wuxian joined their sect and their family, it didn't take too long for Jiang Cheng and jie to find out one detail that could, indeed, cause problems.
A wrong step on the pier while Jiang Cheng egged him on to jump in the smallest, quieter lake, and Wei Wuxian had toppled in the water. And then hadn't come back up.
He had been extremely lucky Jiang Cheng and jie were both expert swimmers, and managed to dive in, grab him and pull him up before anything bad could happen.
“A-Xian!” Jie cried, while Jiang Cheng patted his back to help him cough up the water he had swallowed. “A-Xian! Are you alright?”
“I-” another bout of coughs. “I'm okay, shijie.”
“What the hell happened?” Jiang Cheng grumbled, helping Wei Wuxian sitting down. His breathing was still ragged, he was trembling and he still looked scared. “Why didn't you start swimming?”
Wei Wuxian stayed silent, and red crept up his cheeks. Jie took one look before sighing and petting his wet hair gently.
“A-Xian didn't grown up here, a-Cheng. It's not pretty common to know how to do it in other parts of the Country, especially where there are no lakes or rivers.”
“My father taught me how to float, and how to take some strokes,” Wei Wuxian muttered, like he was trying to defend his parents. “But we never really stayed long enough to properly teach me, and then they-” His voice trailed off, and Jiang Cheng felt suddenly embarrassed to have poked into it. “I just wasn't expecting to fall in, and the lake sucked me down, and-”
“The lakes and rivers look calm, but the undercurrents can be really strong. It's very important you know what to do when accidents happen. Lotus Pier can be really dangerous otherwise.” Jie told him, her voice sweet. “Our father can help-”
“No! I don't want the sect leader to know!” He looked suddenly terrified, like somehow that would be worse than drowning. “He's already helping me form a golden core, and learning how to fight, and so many other things! I can't be more of a bother to him! He'll kick me out!”
Jie blinked at him.
Jiang Cheng frowned, confused, and pinched his mouth.
“Are you stupid? Why would he kick you out for this?” He turned to his sister. “Jie, is he stupid?”
But she didn't answer him, her face serious and kind of sad.
“A-Xian, father won't-”
“He will! Please, don't tell him! I can learn on my own!”
He was looking at the floor now, and seemed like he was trying very hard to keep in tears. Jie considered his words for a bit, then smiled softly.
“A-Xian,” the boy resisted only for a couple of seconds before giving up and raising his eyes to meet hers. “Would you like a-Cheng and I to teach you?”
“Ah?!” both boys busted. Jiang Cheng was trying really hard not to think that jie was probably going nuts. She didn't seem to notice, though.
“We all want you to be safe, a-Xian, and accidents happen. A-Cheng is one of the best swimmers in the sect,” she grinned at him, and he felt himself blush at the compliment. Wei Wuxian looked at him with what seemed like wonder.
“Really?!”
“I-” he paused. His sister was still smiling at him, while Wei Wuxian seemed to think he was just that amazing. “Of course I am!” he boasted. “I am the sect leader' son!”
“And you can teach me?!”
“Tch, of course I can! It'll be so easy!”
“Shijie as well?”
She laughed, covering her mouth with a hand. Even without her wide sleeve, the gesture was so elegant, like everything she did. Jiang Cheng was so proud to have her as his sister.
“Of course, a-Xian.” He looked so genuinely happy at the thought that not even Jiang Cheng had the heart to ruin the moment with a sarcastic comment. “Should I tell you what the secret is before we start? What is it that makes everything work out smoothly, and doesn't let you drown in the first place?”
“Yes!” The boy nodded, enthusiastically, and she leaned in and fake-whispered in his ear.
“Just breathe.”
It had always been the three of them. Nobody was more attuned to each other than Jiang Cheng and his siblings, no one had that much love, and care, and selfness when it came to family.
Jiang Cheng grew up with with his Twin Pride to support him when life was bad, and the sweetest jie that would coddle him and make him pork ribs and lotus soup when he was sad. Not even the Twin Jades of Gusu could rival that bond.
“Just breathe,” they always said to each other when they needed a boost, and then kept going together.
But there was no more air in Lotus Pier now, just ash, and smoke, and fire, the screams of his people echoing in the night while their boat floated away.
Jiang Cheng felt like suffocating.
'Just breathe,' Jiang Cheng told himself, while the Wens kicked the air out of his lungs.
He was bound and bloody, one of his eyes so swollen he couldn't even open it anymore. Wen Chao was laughing a bit further away, his bitch encouraging their men to hit him more, break his head, kick him harder again, and again, and again.
Then, quiet.
Heart hammering in his chest, Jiang Cheng risked raising his head to have a peek, just to see Wen Zhuliu approach him. He didn't seem like he was enjoying the moment, his back stiff, his face twisted in a pinch. He kneeled beside him, hands raised.
'Just breathe.'
He would not beg.
“Please,” his traitorous voice came out anyway between gritted teeth. He hated himself so much in that moment. “Just- Just kill me.”
Wen Zhuliu hesitated only for a second, then he touched his chest, shattering everything that made Jiang Cheng worthy of living.
'Just breathe,' he thought, but he was screaming so loudly he could barely hear his own mind.
At least Wei Wuxian was going to be okay.
'Just breathe.'
Wei Wuxian inhaled deeply, willing his body to relax and his mind to quiet down. It wasn't an easy task on a normal day; now, it felt borderline hopeless.
'Attempt the impossible,' he thought to himself over and over, embracing the Jiangs family motto, sitting warm and soft in his chest. He kept repeating it in his mind, like he had done since the day he had arrived in their lives, until he felt his brain slow down and his limbs loosen.
“You can still change your mind,” Wen Qing said from above him. Her voice was full of pity and disapproval, her eyes shiny with worry, but the hand holding her scalpel was firm and steady.
He scoffed, shifting a bit on the straw mattress he was lying on. A bit on his left, Jiang Cheng was deeply asleep, whatever concoction they had given him knocking him out in mere seconds.
At least he wouldn't have to hear Wei Wuxian scream.
He blinked, rolled his shoulders and took another breath in. He flexed his fingers a couple of times.
“I'm ready,” he told her, and she frowned but nodded anyway.
He knew, on some level, that she'd never forgive him for what he was making her do, but why would he care? They weren't friends, and Jiang Cheng was more important. He would always be more important.
His eyes found the ceiling and, with his mind, he reached his golden core and said goodbye.
'Just breathe,' shijie's voice echoed in his ears. Wei Wuxian smiled.
“You can start.”
It was going to be alright.