Wei Wuxian found Lan Zhan with the bunnies. Hair down and only loosely held back by a red ribbon, he vaguely recognized as one of his old ones from his guest student days, and in very simple robes of pure white.
It should have been embarrassing how long it had taken him to realize where Lan Zhan had gone to but considering the circumstances he was just glad that he had done so and that he wasn't too late.
"Lan Zhan!" he called - rather quietly; he didn't want to spook either the bunnies or the man who sat among them, eyes half-closed, lost in his own world.
A world Wei Wuxian was determined to take him out from. Lan Zhan had spent far too much time in there and it was time he came back for good.
"Wei Ying." A very gentle, very small smile accompanied the acknowledgement and Wei Wuxian was horrified to see the remains of tears clinging to Lan Zhan's lashes.
"I'm sorry I'm late," he offered helplessly as he went down on his knees next to Lan Zhan and accepted the bunny that was offered to him. It was warm and soft in his hands, and felt so very fragile.
Not unlike Lan Zhan. He had to swallow hard against his own tears at the realization.
Something that might have been a shrug on anyone but the always composed Second Jade of Lan was the only reaction he got.
Everyone else would offer platitudes, Wei Wuxian knew. Explanations, excuses, anything.
Not Lan Zhan. Of course not.
A second bunny came by its own accord to investigate him while the one Wei Wuxian was holding and petting had fallen asleep in his lap. Lan Zhan watched them with interest and a wistful expression.
"I remember Shijie, of course," Wei Wuxian said eventually, carefully avoiding the memory as best as he could. Later, there would time for mourning her later. "But I completely forgot…"
His own death. And, by extension, what it had done to the man who loved him. In silence and from afar, but fiercely and protectively all the same.
It had taken a couple of not very subtle hints in letters from Lan Xichen and A-Yuan to make him remember and then he'd broken every record in his attempt to go back to the Cloud Recesses. All he'd known was that he had to be here today. For the first time in eighteen years Lan Zhan didn't have to suffer alone - didn't have to suffer at all, in fact, if Wei Wuxian had anything to say about it.
Wei Wuxian had a lot to make up for and today seemed like a good day to start.
"My brother told you." It wasn't a question. Lan Zhan knew him very well, after all.
Wei Wuxian nodded anyway. "And A-Yuan. They told me in very clear terms that I'd better be here today or there would be hell to pay."
A soft sound that even Wei Wuxian couldn't interpret was Lan Zhan's reaction.
"Wei Ying being back in the world is enough for me," he said after a long pause, "as long as I know that you are out there, alive and healthy, I am… content." Lan Zhan looked up but couldn't hold his eyes for longer than a heartbeat. "My brother does not need to be concerned anymore. I won't…"
"… hurt yourself anymore?" Wei Wuxian finished. Speaking the words out was even more painful than hearing or thinking about it.
This day was the one day every year Lan Zhan took for himself, he'd been told. No matter what, he would vanish before the sun was up and come back after midnight. He refused to talk about it but those who truly knew and loved him knew that he was mourning in the only way he could. Alone and hidden from the eyes of the world who would judge him for it.
A curt nod.
"No, you won't," Wei Wuxian declared. "Because from now on I'll be here to make sure of it." He hesitated for a moment, although he was sure of his decision, had been for a while. "Not only today but each and every day, if you'll have me."
He gently deposited the sleeping bunny on the ground and slowly moved his now free hand towards Lan Zhan; giving him every opportunity to draw back or show his refusal in any other way.
Instead of doing that Lan Zhan's leaned gracefully towards him - like a flower towards the sun, or as if he was pulled by an invisible string. Not a hint of hesitation but his eyes full of pleased surprise, all shadows of grief and pain gone for the moment.
It was Wei Wuxian who bridged the last of the distance between them, who drew Lan Zhan into his arms, and who leaned in to initiate their first kiss.
He'd known it would have to be him. On the long journey back he'd finally realized that Lan Zhan had come towards him as far as he could, had fearlessly shown all of his love and devotion to the whole world, and that it now was his turn to take the last few steps to bring them finally together. It had taken Wei Wuxian two years to catch up, to find his way in a new world, to grieve and rediscover himself and what he wanted.
He now knew what he wanted and with whom. He also now knew where he wanted to be.
And through all of his journey of self-discovery Lan Zhan had patiently waited for him. Content with the knowledge that Wei Wuxian was no longer lost to him, even if he wasn't in the Cloud Recesses. Content, but not happy. Well, that was about to change.
How could Wei Wuxian ever have doubted him?
Today might not be the best day for it or maybe it was. Wei Wuxian didn't know and time would tell anyway.
Bad memory or not - the image of Lan Zhan sitting on the ground, defenses completely down, surrounded by the descendants of the bunnies the two of them had brought here together so long ago, embarrassed and happy at the same time, would stay with Wei Wuxian forever.
So would his absolute stunning, blinding smile.
Wei Wuxian simply had to lean in and kiss him again.