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wisedawn13 · 11 months

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(wip) Reincarnation AU

Modern reincarnation wangxian au where A-Yuan remembers his past life, in parts, right away. He doesn't really remember specifics yet, or any of the bad things. There's only one thing he knows for sure: he needs to find his dads.

A-Yuan lives in an orphanage and is the ideal child for anyone, only that every time someone comes in who wants to adopt him, he throws a fit and acts out. He will not be taken. Not while he waits.

Then one day, he's told there's someone who'd like to meet him.

A-Yuan gets ready to do his thing—he was in the middle of a gripping story (There's a Wocket In My Pocket) and hates to be disturbed—but when he looks up he finds familiar gold eyes. "Diedie," he breathes.

The shock is apparent on Lan Zhan's face, but it quickly softens.

"Hello, A-Yuan. I am Lan Zhan. Would you like to get to know each other and see if you would like to live with me?" Lan Zhan says.

A-Yuan shakes his head. Lan Zhan's expression falters slightly and the lady who works there lets out a sigh. Then, "No! You may adopt me now."

The adults are stunned. Shocked. Entirely flabbergasted. This is not how anyone expected this to go. A-Yuan is notoriously against adoption, the lady had warned Lan Zhan about this fact and he came in knowing that, but still feeling like he had to at least meet him.

There was something drawing him to the child. He was prepared for screaming, yelling, crying. He was prepared to be denied. But then he called him diedie immediately. He said he could adopt him.

A-Yuan, on the other hand, is entirely certain in his choice.

No point in wasting time when he knows he's meant to go home with his dieie. Oh... But where is his baba? He's not here. Maybe baba was too busy to come? But that's silly. How could he be too busy for A-Yuan.

A-Yuan pouts, letting out a small huff and crossing his arms.

"Where's baba?"

Lan Zhan's face goes through many minute emotions in quick succession before finally settling again. (Baba? Not mama? There's no way he could know Lan Zhan is gay. Right? How...) He gently clears his throat. "No baba, A-Yuan. Apologies, but it is just me."

No baba? So diedie isn't with baba yet? Well that settles it! A-Yuan turns to look at Lan Zhan with determination written on his face. "Okay. You may adopt me and I will find baba for you. Deal?" He sticks out his tiny hand and Lan Zhan stares at it for a moment.

"A-Yuan doesn't want a mama?"

At that, A-Yuan squints his eyes, slowly pulling back his hand. "Does diedie want me to have a mama?" he asks, suspicion dripping from his tone. A-Yuan isn't so certain now if that means he can't have his baba.

Then Lan Zhan shakes his head.

"No, I was merely asking." Lan Zhan pauses a moment, considering something. "I am gay," he admits quietly.

A-Yuan beams and shoves his hand back out. "Great! Then I will help diedie find baba! Deal?"

Lan Zhan huffs out a laugh and shakes his hand. "Deal."

And so they get things settled and eventually, A-Yuan is finally home with his diedie. He allows himself a week. One week to settle before his next mission starts: find baba and make him and diedie fall in love!

It turns out to be much harder than he thought.

The world (their town) is a bigger place than he expected and he is merely one small A-Yuan. But he refuses to let this drag him down. He is determined.

Diedie and baba are meant to be together. He knows this in his bones. It comes to him easier than breathing. He will find him.

A-Yuan (now finally named Lan Yuan) is not getting frustrated. He's not. Only... He finally found his diedie, so why hasn't be found his baba?

Baba and diedie were always around each other. Best friends. Lovers. Happy. Perfect.

A-Yuan needs to find him, but how?

Lan Zhan notices a determined frustration around A-Yuan. Worried A-Yuan wasn't comfortable in his new home (or with him) he questioned him once and got the response of "Baba is being mean and hiding and I don't know how to find him!" with the smallest stomp of his foot.

His heart simultaneously broke and melted. So he asked if he could help.

A-Yuan slowly turned his head, eyes squinting into an almost calculating gaze. He stared for about a minute before giving one short nod. "Mn. Okay. You take me out baba hunting."

"Baba hunting?"

"Yeah! Diedie will take A-Yuan out to the park, mall—OH! Can we get icecream??—and A-Yuan will be his adorbable self to draw in the babas. But A-Yuan will find the one true baba!" He tilted his chin up, eyes closed. "A-Yuan will beat his quest!"

Lan Zhan was stunned.

So he agreed.

That's how A-Yuan and Lan Zhan spent their summer. It was... Strange. But they got a lot closer and Lan Zhan spent a lot more time out around other people (which his brother says is good for him but he fails to see the benefit).

No baba. He's not frustrated!

It's the last day of the summer, right before A-Yuan is supposed to start school, and he begged his diedie to take him out one more time—eyes large, bottom lip jutted out.

So they're walking in the park, day coming to a close, when he hears it. A laugh so familiar it hurts.

A-Yuan whips his head in the direction, frantically searching for the source. Where? Where where whe—

And then he sees him. His baba.

He's across the park heading to the sidewalk. A-Yuan is frozen for a moment, watching him laugh and walk, until his diedie touches his shoulder.

"A-Yuan?" Lan Zhan asks gently. "You are crying. What's wrong?"

Huh? Oh... A-Yuan hadn't realized he was crying. But he can't—he can't say anything. So he shakes his head.

"A-Yuan?"

He shakes his head again, a small choked out whine slips out.

Concerned, Lan Zhan kneels down.

Then A-Yuan gasps and starts to run.

His baba. His baba is walking towards a car. His baba is going to leave.

No.

No no no!

He finally found him, he can't leave!

So he runs as fast as he can, feeling all to small.

"Baba!" He cries out in a choked sob. Nothing.

He doesn't hear; he doesn't know.

A-Yuan is frantic and overwhelmed. He needs—

"BABA!"

Lan Zhan catches up, swiftly lifting him into an embrace (all to aware of the stares of parents around him at the scene of his chasing a crying child who's calling out to someone else).

He holds him tight and gentle shushes him.

"A-Yuan. A-Yuan, breathe." His voice is low and soothing.

A breath hitches in A-Yuan chest and he sniffles, staring into his diedie's eyes.

"D-diedie," he whispers. "I found baba. We need—we need to—" A-Yuan shudders.

"Shh," Lan Zhan says as he pets A-Yuan's head. "Breathe."

A-Yuan takes a big breath without hiccuping and lets it out. "Found baba. We have to talk to him! He needs to be my baba. Please!"

And how could Lan Zhan ever say no to his pleading?

"Okay. Where?"

A-Yuan whips his head around once more, searching the area he'd last seen his baba. He's...

Not there?

A small whimper squeaks out of A-Yuan. He... Failed? No. But baba was right there! How could this be? If only he'd been faster, louder, clearer, then maybe—

"Excuse me?"

A gentle voice.

A calming voice.

A familiar voice.

A-Yuan turns his head to find his baba standing close by, just off to the side from where he had been looking. He stares in slack-jawed awe.

"I'm sorry, I just—" he huffs, shifting nervously. His eyes aren't looking at him.

A-Yuan feels his diedie nod his head and then the man—HIS BABA—moves a little closer and kneels down in front of him to look into A-Yuan's eyes.

"Hey, little radish." A-Yuan's chest squeezes and he chokes out a sob. "Oh! No! Hey, I'm sorry. I just wanted to check on you."

A-Yuan nods his head frantically, twisting in his diedie's grip until Lan Zhan gets the message and lets go. All at one A-Yuan barrels into his baba and tackles him in a hug.

"Baba!" He whined as he squeezes tighter.

He hears a hitched breath and then arms wrap around him.

He's safe.

Warm.

Home.

He's finally home.

A-Yuan sobs fully and without restraint, his grip like a vice.

Lan Zhan watches this with mounting worry, he moves to take A-Yuan away from this (extremely beautiful but he's not looking) stranger, but A-Yuan tightens his hold.

"It's alright," the man says before he starts to gently rock A-Yuan while humming a song.

Lan Zhan stares and there's a weird feeling in his chest at the sight of it all. He definitely feels that he should be far more concerned about his song being in the arms of a stranger.

He's not.

There's something that feels almost right about it all. And A-Yuan...

A-Yuan ran to him, called him 'baba,' and chose to hug him.

After two months of 'baba hunting,' Lan Zhan allows A-Yuan this moment. But he's completely out of his element, unsure of what's to come.

The man continues rocking and humming, running his hands up and down A-Yuan's back. Eventually he calms, going completely limp, and it only takes a glance for Lan Zhan to realize he fell asleep.

There's a moment where he just stares at the pair and knows it feels right.

He makes eye contact with the man, and the man smiles up at him. That's when he knows for sure that he wants this man in his life.

Lan Zhan doesn't know how, but A-Yuan found exactly who Lan Zhan would want.

Exactly who he would need.

And Lan Zhan needs.

Lan Zhan reaches for A-Yuan and the man startles slightly.

"Oh, right haha you probably want your kid back," he says sheepishly, gently maneuvering the sleeping child into Lan Zhan's embrace.

"Mn, thank you. I apologize for the inconvenience."

"Not at all! No need for sorry!"

Lan Zhan pauses, something tingling in the base of his chest. He nods. "Mn."

"Ah! I'm Wei Ying!" The man—Wei Ying—smiles again. It's blinding, like the sun, and Lan Zhan never wants to look away. He's risk blindness if that smile could be burned into him.

"Lan Zhan."

Wei Ying's smile softens. "Lan Zhan. Right, well. I kinda need to go, my siblings are—and I just," he trails off.

Lan Zhan nods.

There's a beat of silence where anticipation and uncertainty swell.

"He called me baba." It's barely a whisper but Lan Zhan hears it clearly.

"He called me diedie immediately when we first met," Lan Zhan supplies.

Wei Ying laughs. It's bright and warm. "Guess that means we have to date now, huh?" It's tease. Clearly a tease. But that doesn't stop Lan Zhan's ears from heating up.

"Ridiculous."

Wei Ying smirks.

"That's me. I'm ridiculous. You know, Lan Zha—"

"WEI YING! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE, WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!" Someone yells off in the distance and Wei Ying grimaces.

"Ah... Sorry, Lan Zhan. Guess I really do have to go now." There eyes meet and no one moves.

"WEI YING!" The angry voice comes again.

Wei Ying sighs. "Right. Um. Do you—no. That's silly. I'll just—"

"I do," Lan Zhan cuts in.

Wei Ying swivels on the foot he was turning away on. "You do?" He laughs. "Lan Zhan, you don't even know what I was gonna ask!"

He feels his face get warmer, his ears surely burning. "My number." It's not a question. It's an offer; an answer.

Wei Ying's eyes widen a fraction. "Y-yeah? Okay! Cool, sweet, great! Yes. Okay."

"Wei Ying."

"Yes! Right! Phone!" Wei Ying fumbles in his pocket.

So Lan Zhan tells him his number and feels his phone buzz shortly after.

"Okay, I really have to go now, Lan Zhan!" He hesitates, staring at A-Yuan then back at Lan Zhan. "See ya."

"Mn. See you."

And with that, Wei Ying runs away leaving Lan Zhan with a sleeping A-Yuan behind.

A-Yuan wakes as they walk through the front door of their home. "Diedie? Where's baba?"

Lan Zhan hesitates, unsure on how to answer that. A-Yuan clearly views Wei Ying as his 'baba' but... They aren't. (Not yet)

"Wei Ying had to leave," he says carefully.

A-Yuan tears up. "Oh."

"I have acquired Wei Ying's cell phone number. Perhaps we may see him again."

"Really?" He asks hopefully.

"Mn. Not now though." A-Yuan deflates slightly. "A-Yuan needs to get ready for bed. He has a big day tomorrow."

"Ah, yes. School."

Lan Zhan pats him gently on the head. "It will be fine. You will do well and make friends."

A-Yuan scrunched his face. "So you say."

"So I say," Lan Zhan replies with a gentle mirth.

Getting ready for bed is a slow process, but A-Yuan is out relatively quickly.

Lan Zhan watches him sleep for a while, the gentle rise and fall of his chest soothing him, and then leaves to get ready for bed himself.

He has a lot of thoughts and feelings to sort through.

He has a text from a stranger to respond to.

He does none of that and falls asleep.

A-Yuan wakes up before his baba comes in the room to wake him. A sense of calm washes over him, relaxing his tiny body. He's held so much tension for so long, waiting for his parents and he's finally found them both.

He stares at the glowing stars stuck on his ceiling.

Despite all his wanting for his baba and diedie, he truly hadn't expected them to not be together. A-Yuan will make sure they fall in love because there's no other way it's meant to be.

He can remember so clearly the love they shared; unparalleled by any other. Pure.

He may be young, and may not know much just yet, but he knows that there has never been anyone else who loved more than Lan Wangji loved Wei Wuxian and the other way around.

Those names strike something in A-Yuan, a deep melancholic ache for a life long past.

It's not sad, exactly. He's very happy, especially now, but big emotions are a lot for a little A-Yuan.

When Lan Zhan enters to gently wake his son, he finds him softly crying in his bed. Immediately, Lan Zhan tenses as anxiety and worry course through him.

"A-Yuan," he says softly, moving to kneel by his bed. "A-Yuan, what's wrong?"

With a sniffle, A-Yuan turns his head to look at him, blinking slowly. He lets out a muffled whine and Lan Zhan's heart breaks.

Carefully and quickly he wraps his arms around him, pulling his close.

A-Yuan grips onto his shirt tightly and cries freely, tiny body shaking. He shushes him and hums, stroking his hair and back in a calming motion.

Eventually he calms, relaxing fully onto him.

"A-Yuan?" Lan Zhan asks.

He says something that's muffled by Lan Zhan's shirt.

Lan Zhan gives an inquisitive hum and A-Yuan shifts back so his face is free. Gently, Lan Zhan wipes his face with a tissue.

"Thank you," A-Yuan whispers, eyes downcast.

"Mn. What is wrong?"

A-Yuan looks into his eyes. "I found baba."

Uncertain, Lan Zhan gives a slow nod.

"I found baba," he repeats. "B-but you and baba aren't together."

Something squeezes in Lan Zhan's chest at that; the sight and sound of his son in turmoil. There might be something else, something akin to hope or desire, but Lan Zhan refuses to acknowledge it.

"A-Yuan, I—" Lan Zhan starts.

With a sniffle, A-Yuan rubs his nose and gives a curt nod. "A-Yuan will make sure diedie is happy and has baba again."

Lan Zhan feels lost, unmoored. He doesn't know how to respond to that or why A-Yuan is so determined about this.

About him.

About Wei Ying...

He quickly pushes away any thoughts of Wei Ying and focusses on getting A-Yuan ready for his first day of school.

With no fuss, they get ready and have breakfast. It feels almost too easy and he feels on edge because of that. A-Yuan doesn't seem sad to go.

They arrive at the school and Lan Zhan gets out of the car to help A-Yuan. They get his small backpack on and begin walking hand in hand to the entrance.

A-Yuan squeezes his hand, drawing his attention. "Do not worry, diedie. A-Yuan is strong and smart and a good boy."

Lan Zhan pauses, staring in slight shock. A-Yuan meets his eyes and beckons him to kneel down. He does.

Gently, A-Yuan pats Lan Zhan's head a few times. "I will be okay. Will diedie be okay without A-Yuan?"

The absurdity of the situation draws a surprised huff of laughter out.

Lan Zhan pulls A-Yuan in for a hug. "I will miss A-Yuan, but I will be okay," he tells him honestly. "I will be right here to pick you up after school."

"Mn, okay! Bye diedie, I love you!"

A-Yuan pushes back, but Lan Zhan hugs him tight at those words. "I love you too."

They stay hugging for a moment, then A-Yuan starts to wriggle. "Diedie will make me late!" he whines.

Lan Zhan quickly releases him, smoothing out his hair and clothes. "Apologies, A-Yuan. You may go now. Enjoy your day."

"You too, diedie! Don't miss me too much!"

He watches A-Yuan skip up to one of the teachers outside, cheerfully chatting with her before making his way into the school.

It's significantly more difficult than he anticipated it being to watch A-Yuan leave. He knows he'll see him again shortly, but he was so... Ready.

Lan Zhan goes to work, but he doesn't expect to get much done today.

Meanwhile, A-Yuan is finding himself rather disappointed in his education. There is no learning happening! He craves knowledge and here they are, introducing themselves and asking the kids to do the same.

They played games—which, A-Yuan reluctantly admits he enjoyed—but where is the knowledge?

When his diedie picks him up he will ask him to write a strongly worded letter to the school to highlight their faults. How is A-Yuan to learn and grow if they don't teach?

After lunch, the teacher announces that they will be moving over to the art room to meet their art teacher. A-Yuan is sceptical. Another teacher who will do nothing along the lines of teaching?

He huffs silently and follows along. He chats with his new friend Jingyi as they go.

Truthfully, A-Yuan feels a little bad. He'd been so focused on his parents that he'd forgotten to look for his bestfriend. Thankfully the universe clearly loves him.

He and Jingyi chat animatedly as they walk the halls at the end of the line.

Before they realize it, they are in another room and someone speaks.

"Hello!" The voice says. A-Yuan quickly stops mid-sentence. He knows that voice. "I'm Wei laoshi and I'll be your art teacher!"

A-Yuan whips his head so fast, his hair hits Jingyi in the face. "Baba!"

The class fills with laughter and chatter while Wei Ying stares shocked at A-Yuan. He lets out a laugh shortly after. "Ah~ I see A-Yuan is here! But you must call me Wei laoshi like everyone else."

A-Yuan scrunches his nose in distaste, but concedes reluctantly. "Wei laoshi..."

His baba laughs again then continues to do his introductory speech.

"Wei laoshi is your baba?" Jingyi stage whispers to him.

A-Yuan shakes his head. "He will be."

"Is he dating your diedie?"

A-Yuan shakes his head again. "Not yet."

Jingyi pauses, confused. "Oh."

A-Yuan, despite the excitement that he gets to see his baba at school every day, he resigns himself to a life without knowledge. It's not like he can ask to switch to a school that will teach him. His baba works here. So he's stuck.

"Alright! Everyone sit in a cirlce!"

A-Yuan grimaces. Another game? How juvenile.

He sits down with Jingyi at his side and turns his attention to his baba across the cirlce.

Wei Ying is smiling as he looks at all the kids. "Let's play a game," he says and A-Yusn sighs. He places three coloured sheets out.

"Let's take turns, going around the circle, saying our favourite colour and picking up the coloured sheet that matches in the middle of the circle."

A-Yuan glances at the sheets. Red, blue, yellow. His favourite colour isn't there. He turns to chat with Jingyi instead.

Eventually, his name is called upon. "What's your favourite colour A-Yuan?"

Dubious, he says, "Purple."

Wei Ying smiles brightly. "And can you grab the sheet in the middle that matches?"

A-Yuan squints. "There is no purple."

"Ah! But there is!"

That makes him pause.

Carefully A-Yuan looks back to the colours. Yellow. Blue. Red. No purple. He looks to Wei Ying. "Lying is forbidden."

Wei Ying laughs brightly and it confuses him. "I'm not lying A-Yuan. Purple is there, you just have to look for it."

A-Yuan scrunches his face as he looks.

Nothing.

He shakes his head.

"Okay class, everybody pay attention!" His baba moves into the circle and grabs the red and blue sheets, holding them up. "Everyone know what these are?" The class excitedly answers. "Good good! Now watch this!"

A-Yuan stares in shock and awe.

His baba moves the two sheets so they are over eachother and suddenly there's purple. The class collectives gasps.

"Some colours are made from mixing other colours," his baba explains. "Purple is made from red and blue."

A-Yuan is awestruck. He vibrates with excitement.

What knowledge! He's actually learning something? School may not be a total waste of time?

The rest of the day passes quickly now that A-Yuan is interested. Before he knows it, he's standing outside walking to his diedie.

"How was school?"

"Baba made purple!" he exclaims.

His diedie seems confused, so A-Yuan continues. "Baba is Wei laoshi. He teaches art! I thought school was a waste of time, no one teaching anything, but then I said my favourite colour is purple and baba told me to grab the colour, but there was only red, yellow, and blue!"

He sucks in a breath before continuing. "Then baba did magic! He grabbed the red and blue and put them together! Bam! Purple! He told us how some colours are made from other colours and that purple is from red and blue! I learned the knowledge! School is not a waste!"

Lan Zhan stares quietly, absorbing the information that was launched at him. "Wei Ying works here?"

A-Yuan groans. "Diedie, yes! Pay attention! We're talking about purple!"

"Right, apologies," he replies with mirth in his eyes. "So you learned how to make purple today?"

"Yes! It was magic! Baba is a wizard!"

Lan Zhan shakes his head fondly, but doesn't correct him. "Would you like to have dinner at home, or go to a restaurant?"

A-Yuan takes time to consider. "'staurant please."

Lan Zhan nods and they move to the car.

The next few weeks pass in a flurry of motion. A-Yuan gradually learning more and more at school, continuously coming home to rave about his 'baba' and what he learned.

Lan Zhan listens dutifully and asks him thoughtful questions.

Wei Ying hasn't texted at all.

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(to be continued)

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#wip #wangxian #threadfic #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #lan wangji #lan zhan #wei wuxian #wei ying #from twitter #wisedawn13 #fanfic #fanfiction

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