Because I indulged myself.

Lan Zhan dashed back to his room with his soulmate, Wei Ying, before they would officially continue on to Qishan two weeks later.

Lan Zhan pushed him up against the wall and kissed him on the lips. The kiss was ferocious, desperate, and promising. Wei Ying kissed him back with the same intensity, though he could hear voices in his head warning him that what he was about to do could be dangerous.

Wei Ying angrily shut that ungrateful voice and lost himself in the moment. It was the point at which he could let go of his inhibitions, his self, and surrender.

Nobody ever associated the Jiang head disciple, Wei Wuxian, with the word "submission." Yet, he was more than willing to be tamed by these hands, lips, and soul; Lan Zhan.

He relished the opportunity to be vulnerable and broken in front of his other half. Lan Zhan extinguished all of his fears, the voices that haunted him, and his insecurities.

Lan Zhan poured love into him. He poured love abundantly, as if he were a vessel to be filled, which he was.

Lan Zhan filled every inch and square of him with his love, his assurance, his words, and his touch.

Lan Zhan molded him in the way he desired, and Wei Ying could never undo it, and he would never be sorry.

After all, only Lan Zhan was capable of breaching the formidable barriers he had erected around himself.

He tore down his mask of unrealistic happiness and rebuilt it to be more genuine, more of himself; the carefree and mischievous side he once had.

Wei Ying wound his arms around Lan Zhan's neck and pulled him closer; close enough to feel their thundering heartbeats against their chests. Lan Zhan took one of Wei Ying's hands and guided it to rest above his heart and pulled away from their heated kiss.

"Wei Ying."

The man being spoken to looked at him lovingly, tears welling up in his eyes as he sensed something strange lurking beyond Qinghe, at Qishan. In spite of his best efforts to distract himself, he couldn't stop himself from grasping at Lan Zhan's white ghostly robes, where his hand rested above his chest as if it were a lifeline to him.

"Wei Ying?" Lan Zhan became awfully concerned. Wei Ying's unusual behavior made him feel extremely unprepared. Like hot wax dripping onto his body unevenly, unsure when the next would fall unceremoniously on him.

Wei Ying shook his head with a light smile, arranging itself on his lips. "I'm fine Lan Zhan. Don't worry."

Lan Zhan, I'm just worried about what might happen. I'm experiencing raw emotions in my head and heart, and I don't like it one bit. Lan Zhan. But he kept those thoughts to himself and hugged the older around his waist, digging his chin on Lan Zhan's shoulder.

Lan Zhan wrapped his arms around him, his grip tightening by a fraction with each passing second. "What is it, Wei Ying?" he inquired after a long period of holding each other and listening to the sound of their synchronized breathing.

"Lan Zhan, it's..." Lan Zhan interrupted him with a brush of his soft pink lips against his own, stealing his breath away. He intensified their kiss. Wei Ying moaned in response to the unexpected but welcome bite on his bottom lip.

After a while Wei Ying drew back, panting, dropping his head beneath Lan Zhan's chin, inhaling his scent, familiarity, and love.

"Speak to me, Wei Ying." Lan Zhan said this while running his hands through Wei Ying's combed hair, coaxing the younger to express his frustrations and fears. Sighing begrudgingly, he sank into the embrace, seeking for the much-needed warmth.

"There is something wrong Lan Zhan. I feel something more than we expect would happen. It's making me uneasy." Lan Zhan's hand on Wei Ying's hair didn't stop, neither did he become worried like Wei Ying expected him to be.

"Lan Zhan?"

"Hmm..."

"Lan Zhan, you're being weird." He finally said, pulling away hissing at the sudden cold from the breeze that flew through the window. Lan Zhan pulled him back into the favorite cocoon of his arms.

"I would not let anything happen to you. Never. I will always protect you." He said, his voice final and so comforting for Wei Ying's ears.

"Lan Zhan?"

"Hmm?"

"Lan Zhan?"

"Wei Ying?"

"Lan Zhan, I know. I know I'm never selfish. But...,"

Lan Zhan did not interrupt his love. He gave him enough space and time to gather his thoughts without being concerned about his next words. "Lan Zhan, but I really want to live. I want to live with you and be loved and give you all my love, Lan Zhan."

For a long while, Wei Ying kept his face hidden in Lan Zhan's nook until the tears he'd been holding back erupted, wracking his form with their force.

Keeping him close, Lan Zhan allowed him to cry as he pleased. Lan Zhan too wept, his tears saturating Wei Ying's hair.

Whether it took a few minutes or several hours, their eyes were swollen and bloodied when they parted from each other. A torrent of tears had covered their cheeks. They panted as they had exerted too much energy during the day, and now this.

Wei Ying was particularly affected because his body was filled with resentful energy. Lan Zhan caught him as his body swayed and laid him on the bed, curling around him right after, even though it was still early in the evening.

֍ ֍ ֍

Two weeks later, they went on horses to Qishan; the Sunshot campaign. They went to war against the crimson robed sect. Wei Ying shivered minutely.

Was it only a coincidence that his robes too were red and his favorite ribbon was a crimson fabric?

Would these ferocious clans kill him someday as well, just like they were about to kill the Wens?

Wei Ying shook himself free of those stray thoughts and continued walking. They'd gotten off the horses quite some time ago. A cool hand entwining with his own anchored him in the present, causing a whisper of a smile to touch his chapped thin lips.

They were far behind the crowd, so Wei Ying placed a chaste kiss on Lan Zhan's lips, giggling a little at how dangerous his act was. If someone saw them, it would have been an issue because cut-sleeves weren't regarded highly within the sects, so the myriad of questions would have been highly irksome.

The war at first was the resonating sound of cling and clang from the blades of swords. For a moment Wei Ying thought it was a continuous jab to his own unyielding sword, since he had little to no spiritual energy. But Lan Zhan's constant shadow by his side roused his confidence as he made eye contact with his soulmate before flying away to the highest pillar of the sect, playing his dizi.

The tune was eerie, and an unpleasant shiver ran down the cultivator's spines. His fingers raced across the nine holes, building to a jarring crescendo. It took a moment for everyone to notice that the corpses had stopped fighting with them and were now being attacked by Wei Ying's own puppets. It enveloped the dizi player in a cloud of resentment which grew stronger as it encircled his instrument. It took mere minutes for all Wen Ruohan's puppets to be subdued by his own puppets.

Wen Ruohan appeared to go berserk. How could this scrawny boy with nothing but bones in his body derail all of his plans to be the best? How could he?

"How could you? You filthy mutt." He screamed running towards Wei Wuxian to grab him and throw him away.

"Ah... I was dead once and, of course, all dead come from hell. So do I." Wei Wuxian said with a cheeky laugh. Beneath it, Lan Zhan heard more. He heard the frustration, anger, fatigue, dilemma, desperation. He wished to remove his love from this place, but it was not possible as of now, so he remained still for his soulmate. He will only stay until this is all over. Later, he would seek for Wen Qing's clan and flee, far away.

"By the way Wen clan leader, this is the Stygian Tiger Amulet not your Yin iron." He said, mockingly.

Wen Ruohan grasped Wei Ying by with his grubby fingers and raised him above the ground, choking him. In a moment, he sent an enormous wave of resentment subduing every available corpse under the control of Wen Ruohan. The clan leader was shocked, but before he could ponder on it, a sword slashed through his chest.

Wei Ying gasped as he was suddenly released falling into a familiar pair of arms, so warm and so like home. He smiled at Lan Zhan, his darling and raised his hand and cradled that soft cheek.

"Lan Zhan, take me away." Wei Ying's voice was a whisper but Lan Zhan heard him clear as day. He nodded hurriedly and picked him up flying away on his Bichen uncaring of anyone else.

He flew far far away from cultivation. He flew far away from the known and stepped into the unknown. As they had promised, After the war they fled away with Wen Qing's clan.

֍ ֍ ֍

A few years later people saw a group of farmers return to the world of cultivation. They were dressed in robes of magenta tied together with a thin black belt. There were clouds, lotuses and suns sown into the crimson embroidery at the seams. Nobody knew who they were because no one cared about some elderly farmers, three young men and a woman along with a child of ten.

People went about their business, but they were happy because the new **Shui family that appeared out of nowhere were not only farmers but such great doctors who helped the poor townspeople for free while extorting money from the rich lads and ladies who asked for their assistance.

If the people recognized anything, they knew that the fierce woman and the shy man were siblings and they were called Shui Qing and Shui Ning. The other two men were lovers, husbands who were Shui Ying and Shui Zhan, and the child was Shui Yuan, their son.

The siblings and the couple were pleasant to be around, but everyone adored Shui Ying, who played a black dizi with a magenta tassel with a lotus, sun and cloud carved into the wooden circle just above the strings of the tassel. He'd perform songs for the children and play with them from morning to dusk until his husband came around and carried a whining man back to the house to rest for the day.

The husband, Shui Zhan, was quiet but gentle. He would play the guqin at night for the townspeople to sleep with the calmest melodies he wrote for his lover and later for his extended family and now for the townspeople.

No one had seen their faces because they were all wearing silver masks over their eyes, making them unrecognizable, but that's how they wanted it, and that's how they'd keep it for the rest of their lifetimes because unbeknownst to others the three men and the woman had already successfully cultivated immortality.

Two figures stood beneath the cozy blanket of the night filled with twinkling stars and a bright visit from Cheng'er far past ***Hai Shi. The older, gentler one had his hands wrapped around the younger's waist, clasped where they met in front, and rested his chin on the younger's shoulder. The younger, mischievous one leaned against the sturdy chest, snuggling into the pleasant warmth with his hands on top of the other's in his middle.

"Shui Zhan?"

"Shui Ying?"

"I love you forever Shui Zhan."

"Mn. Love Shui Ying forever."

Shui Ying laughed and turned around, his hands clasped around Shui Zhan's neck. Shui Zhan smiled, his eyes fond, his lips lifted at both corners, a generous smile on his face. Shui Ying's heart stuttered for a long moment as he reveled in the rare moments when Shui Zhan's beautiful smile appeared at the forefront.

"A-Ying?"

"A-Zhan?"

With twinkles in his eyes, Shui Ying gazed at his lover, his husband, before leaning forward to grab those pink plush cushions between his own. Shui Zhan kissed him back as eagerly as they had the first time they kissed so long ago in a rush, but there was no rush today; they had years and years of peace and calm ahead of them. They continued to kiss for a long time, the silver bands on their fingers twinkling mischievously in the moonlight.

Their lives flowed gently like water in a river and it will continue to do so for all eternity.

**Shui- Water 

Now why did I choose their surname to mean "water" is because water takes the shape of the container so did they with their lives.

***Hai Shi- 9 pm so past  Mao Shi meant past 9 (Also, I think I should say that I don't really remember if this is the correct spellings I checked but I couldn't find it. So, I apologize if it's wrong.) 

Now don't come at me for the Magenta robes alright. There is a reason.  The mix of blue and red makes magenta. So the blue from the Lan sect and the red from Wei Ying's robes and the Wen sect. Magenta is also quite closer to purple which is the Jiang sect where Wei Ying was adopted into. The black color is their belt so I presume you have no problem with that.

My friend had a huge problem with the color magenta before she let me explain why I used it and I wanted to stab her through my laptop screen. So, here you go fellas now let me be with the colors I chose.