"WEI WUXIAN!"
"Chang'e..."
"I am a goddess! I have NEVER shouted in all my immortal life! Tell me what you DID!"
Wei Wuxian sighed and shook his head.
Chang'e shook his shoulders fiercely, making him look up. "TELL ME!"
"Fine, fine, stop shaking me!"
Chang'e let go of his shoulders and sat back, crossing her arms, anticipating what was to come.
"I... I knew that what he was going to do to me would be a core transplant... I knew he would want to use my demonic immortal's core... I also knew I couldn't let that happen..."
Chang'e nodded along.
"And I knew I had to figure out a way to prevent him... I knew I couldn't stop him from cutting my chest open and extracting the core... I knew I couldn't stop him from accepting the core... So the only way was.............." He shook his head again, tears streaming down his face as he clawed at his chest out of the pain.
"Speak!"
"I cracked my core!"
Chang'e's pale hands fell to her sides, angular jaw dropped open, eyes swelled in horror. "YOU WHAT?"
"If my core is damaged, then it won't be of much use to him. He won't be able to manipulate its powers to the fullest extreme. So the night before the transplant, I built up all the resentment I could, summoned in all the energy in my meridians, and just let my core burst. It didn't really burst as in, explode. Though that's what I hoped for. But it did get cracked. Unbroken, didn't shatter–"
"Of course not, it's the core of an Immortal!"
"But there was a crack along the side. That Doctor Liu saw it but Nie Jiuyue didn't mind, he had no other option anyway. The crack meant my core is damaged, so Nie Jiuyue won't be as powerful as he hoped to be," Wei Wuxian explained, rubbing his chest as the pains of bursting his own core throbbed through his body. "We... might have a chance of defeating him."
"You... I... I don't know what to say... Why... Wei Wuxian... Why are you like this?"
"Chang'e..." Wei Wuxian grinned through the agony. "Goddesses don't stammer."
"You're making me insane at this rate! Why did you do that? To yourself? It's worse than suicide! It's... self-torture! And you gave up your core once, tried so hard to cultivate Mo Xuanyu's one, and now you're back to square one? Thank goodness at least your being is immortal!"
"Yes, but without my core, I don't think I'm as powerful as I once was."
"Any exertion might harm you terribly, Wei Wuxian, you need to take care of yourself. Is this man letting you off now?"
"I don't think he'll let that happen until he dominates the world."
"But any other way?"
"There is. Once I gain consciousness, I can do something."
"What's that?"
"Well, now that he got what he wanted, he's going to lift the barrier around his camp so that he can call on demons and corpses and whatever. Which means I can call on LanGui and get my chains broken."
"Fantastic!" Chang'e clapped. "Then you call on your bunch of helpers and get out of there!"
"No. I'm not a runaway. I'm a fighter. The battle will begin. I don't need my core for demonic cultivation, so I can call on my demons, but I will use them to finish that bastard off. It might take a day or two for me to fully regain stability enough to call on LanGui, and I'm guessing by then Jin Ling's Fairy would have brought A-Zhan and the rest to the place by then. The battle would have begun. I'll help as far as I can–"
"Did you not hear what I just said? Exertion will harm you! You literally exploded your own meridians!"
"Can't help it, have to end this. There's no other way for me to get out of there. A-Zhan and them can't challenge him by themselves, my corpses and demons can defeat his corpses and demons."
"And after helping?"
"Well the battle will end..."
"And then?"
"I'm going back to my family."
"Uhuh? Who do you think you're lying to?"
"I'm not lying, Chang'e. I'm going to my parents. See? Not lying," he smiled.
Chang'e shook her head. "I can't do this. I just... Can I knock your head really hard?"
"I don't mind you doing that, but even you know it's not going to help."
Chang'e sighed. "Fine. So you've decided?"
"Mn."
"And what about your darling? What am I going to tell him?"
"You need not tell him a thing. He'll ditch the rest of the world and run away with me to this heavenly garden if he hears this, I can't let that happen. There's A-Cheng, Xiaolian, Nie-xiong, Meilien, my sons, so many others to think about. So don't tell him anything." Wei Wuxian clutched his head, frowning. "My head's aching. Think I should go back, just rest for a while."
Chang'e nodded sadly. Wei Wuxian took one step back to whisk away. "Wei Wuxian?"
"Yes?"
"Is there anything I can do?" Chang'e gazed at him, eyes pleading. "Anything at all?"
"Chang'e..." Wei Wuxian smiled miserably.
"I know there's nothing. But... anything I can do for your husband? Any message? Before you go?"
"Actually..." Wei Wuxian thought well before nodding slowly. "Isn't the month supposed to end?"
"Almost. You should be sending your Bouquet of Love the day after tomorrow."
Wei Wuxian sighed. "Good. Then, the morning of the day after tomorrow... I'd still be asleep then. So I'll tell you now."
"Ask. Anything at all."
"Could you send him a bouquet? Maybe he'd come to pay you a visit, expecting me to be here to give him my usual flowers. He's like that. So could you give them to him on behalf of me?"
"Sure. Which flowers?"
**********
Two days later, Lan Wangji was at Cloud Recesses to check on his brother. It was still around six in the morning and he had just returned from Guanyin's garden. Eyes wide in excitement and with a hint of delight, he rushed into the Hanshi where Lan Xichen was still being treated under Lan Qiang's care.
"Ah, Zhan-ge came? How long are you staying?"
"I came to check on gege. Will be returning in an hour or two, we're quite close to the location," Lan Zhan explained as he sat on the edge of Xichen's bed, smiling at his brother.
"My Wangji looks quite happy today," Xichen smiled.
"Mn," Lan Zhan nodded. "A-Ying's still there, he's doing well!" Lan Zhan couldn't help the excitement and glee.
"Oh? How do yo know?"
Lan Zhan delved in his sleeve and brought out a beautiful, charming bouquet.
"What's this, Wangji?"
"A-Ying sent them, gege," Lan Wangji lifted the tag on the bouquet.
Lan Qiang shook her head. "This is bad..."
Lan Xichen turned to her, eyes wide with anxiety. "Little Qiang?"
"The bouquet," Lady Lan stroked the white petals. "It's a message."
"What message, Qiang-Er?" Lan Wangji's breath stilled.
Lan Qiang bit her lip. "He's... He's saying goodbye."
"What!" Xichen sat up on his bed and Lan Wangji shot up onto his feet.
Lan Qiang nodded. "The flowers, there are five types and each one is a message in itself."
"Explain, Qiang-Er," Lan Zhan pleaded.
"Mn," Lan Qiang nodded. She tapped the little blue flowers peeking in amidst the paler shades. "Forget-me-nots. The name should tell you the meaning. 'Remember me.' And this," she tapped the white chrysanthemums. "Means 'Goodbye'."
"Remember me? Goodbye?" Lan Xichen frowned. "Oh no... What about the rest?"
"These ones," she stroked the petals of whitish-pink peonies, "are to say sorry. The white hydrangeas are to say thank you."
"Sorry and thank you," Lan Wangji nodded. "That's how he always says goodbye."
"Is it? Well, there's an addition this time," she smiled painfully, caressing the tender petals of the beautiful white and orange roses. "These are special. They're called Juliet roses and are so rarely found. But the meaning's simple. I love you."
Remember me.
Goodbye.
Sorry.
Thank you.
I love you.
Lan Zhan gulped. Shoving the bouquet into Lan Qiang's hand, he unsheathed Bichen, ran out of the Hanshi and darted into the sky.
Wei Ying. Wei Wuxian. He who loved his flowers. He who would never fail to send a monthly Bouquet of Love to his beloved husband. His flowers were always a message. So was his last.