Lan Wangji tried not to be nervous. Many people believed that he did not get nervous. They were wrong. Lan Wangji simply did not express it in a way they understood. Wei Wuxian had become increasingly adept at reading when Lan Wangji was nervous. Most of the time Lan Wangji was grateful for that, but today Lan Wangji desperately wanted to conceal it.

Wei Wuxian was still recovering. His visible wounds were trivial by now. Mostly healed, or healed enough that they could mostly be ignored. Using the Yin Hufu so much had been taxing. Wei Wuxian was recovering from the damage it had done, but the effects were still present.

Wei Wuxian grows tired easily. He struggled to calm himself. Falling more easily into spirals that had previously become rare. Wei Wuxian had had at least two panic attacks that they could not find a particular trigger for. Seeming to be the result of Wei Wuxian's strained mind and body.

Lan Wangji was trying his best to not create any additional strain. Lan Wangji's anxiety has no actionable steps at this time. They are as prepared as they can be for A-Yuan and Nuan-er. Wei Wuxian thinks A-Yuan will be fine. He thinks A-Yuan's distress was mostly a response to Nuan-er's distress. As though it was some kind of sign that things were wrong.

It was not right that they had to leave A-Yuan and Nuan-er. Lan Wangji cannot say that A-Yuan is incorrect in this assumption. Nuan-er's reaction absolutely made sense. Especially given her experiences thus far. Lan Wangji is worried how she had been doing since they left. He wonders if she will forgive them for leaving. Wei Wuxian is worried about the same things and all they can do at the moment is wait.

Lan Wangji is good at waiting. He has waited a long time. Sometimes for things that never happened. His ability to wait does not mean that he feels calm, or content. He very much wishes that Nuan-er and A-Yuan were already here. He wants the chance to apologize for having to leave them. He wants the chance to see if they will accept that apology. Lan Wangji desperately hopes that they will.

Wei Wuxian immediately perks up when he hears a knock on the door. Jiang Yanli is the first one to enter. She makes it about half way into the room before Wei Wuxian is up and launching himself across the room to greet her. Lan Wangji vaguely registers the sounds of them speaking as he watches San-yi enter with A-Yuan in her arms.

A-Yuan blinks sleepily at them, but upon seeing them he begins fussing in San-yi's arms. Lan Wangji does not think before he steps forward. San-yi transferred A-Yuan to his arms easily, and Lan Wangji marveled for a moment at how well A-Yuan seemed to fit. One tiny hand grabbed onto Lan Wangji's hair. A-Yuan must be tired from traveling because he barely babbles before he is settling against Lan Wangji like he plans to sleep there. Lan Wangji thinks he might let A-Yuan sleep in his arms all day regardless of how impractical that would be.

Nuan-er stood awkwardly behind the two adults. Not like she was hiding behind them. More like she was compromising. A compromise between staying near her didi and wanting to stay away from everyone else. Lan Wangji felt himself struggle with how to form words. What to say to fix this. How to shorten the distance between Nuan-er and them.

Wei Wuxian of course reacted before Lan Wangji did. Wei Wuxian knelt on the ground, lowering himself so he could be on her level. Nuan-er frowned harder, chewing her lip without saying anything.

"Nuan-er. We really missed you." Wei Wuxian said softly. Nuan-er's head shot up as though surprised. Her mouth opened in a shocked 'O' before she quickly closed it to scowl skeptically.

"You left." Nuan-er stated after fidgeting in place for a bit. Her eyes occasionally darted up to where A-Yuan was held in Lan Wangji's arms, but then quickly darted back down to evade Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's eyes.

"We promised to protect you, and we had to go away for a little while to do that." Wei Wuxian said, nodding. His tone was slightly sad. Full of not wanting to leave, but the understanding that they hadn't had a better choice.

"You said you wanted to adopt us. You said you wanted to keep us." Nuan-er sniffled quietly, holding back the tears that Lan Wangji could hear building in her voice.

"We do want to keep you. None of that changed." Wei Wuxian said softly. Nuan-er remained quiet for a long time. Pulling her lips between her teeth like she was trying to keep them from opening.

"Liar." She whispered, little more than an exhale.

Lan Wangji's heart ached. His first instinct was to say that he did not lie, but Lan Wangji was not certain who she was accusing. Was she saying they both lied to her? Lan Wangji desperately tried to think of words that would be of comfort, finding his anxiety from before Naun-er arrived climbing higher.

"What did I say that was untrue?" Wei Wuxian asked. Not defensive. Not accusatory. His voice was soft and open.

"You don't want us." Nuan-er said sharply. Wei Wuxian folded himself closer to the ground to try and get a better look at her.

"Why wouldn't we want you?" Wei Wuxian asked. Nuan-er clenched her fists tight.

"No one wants me!" Nuan-er shouted at him.

Lan Wangji could almost feel how those words resonated in Wei Wuxian. As much as Wei Wuxian understood that Lan Wangji loved and wanted him, there were still times when Wei Wuxian couldn't fully feel it. There were nights, after bad nightmares, when Wei Wuxian couldn't believe that anyone would want him. Not after he had been tossed away so many times. There were bad days, when Wei Wuxian struggled to understand why Lan Wangji loved him. Struggled to even fully believe it was real.

Wei Wuxian understood now that it was the truth. That Lan Wangji wanted and loved him. It was a fact, and sometimes on bad days it was a fact that felt unimaginable. Wei Wuxian would ask for reassurances, and Lan Wangji would give them. Both of them understood that Wei Wuxian's questions were not coming from any lack of trust. Wei Wuxian trusted Lan Wangji. Which was why when Wei Wuxian had bad days he could often tell Lan Wangji what he needed. He could ask for the reassurances and support he needed.

"I'm not good." Nuan-er muttered. "I wanted you to stay, but you said you had to go... and I wasn't okay. I cried, and screamed, and I called you mean things. And I knew then that even if you did come back it wouldn't matter, because who would want to keep me if I yell and scream. A-Yuan is good. He was okay with it until I started screaming. If I was like Didi I could have been fine with it, and then just happy. But I'm bad. It didn't feel fine and... and..." Her sobs were becoming too forceful for Nuan-er to keep talking.

Wei Wuxian pulled Nuan-er into his arms carefully. Slow at first, as though looking for any cues that the contact was less than welcome. Wei Wuxian slowly wrapped her into a tight embrace. A-Yuan was beginning to fuss, and Lan Wangji was worried he might wake. Nuan-er was being considerably quieter than her previous meltdowns, which Lan Wangji assumed was the reason A-Yuan hadn't woken yet.

Lan Wangji locked eyes with Jiang Yanli. A few quiet gestures and Jiang Yanli was lifting A-Yuan in her arms and stepping out of the room with him and San-yi. Lan Wangji hated sending A-Yuan out of the room. Wei Wuxian had not even had a chance to hold him yet, and Lan Wangji knew how desperately Wei Wuxian wanted to do that. Lan Wangji hoped Jiang Yanli wouldn't take A-Yuan too far, but he was asleep. Nuan-er needed their full attention right now.

"Baobei," Wei Wuxian whispered gently into Nuan-er's hair. "We hated leaving you too. We missed you so much. We hated not getting to play with you, or say goodnight to you. It was so hard to be far away from you. Even though we knew we needed to do it, we weren't happy about it." Wei Wuxian said, dropping a kiss onto the crown of Nuan-er's head.

Lan Wangji carefully came to kneel beside them. Wei Wuxian flashed him a slightly pained smile that made Lan Wangji's heart ache. Cautiously, and feeling absurdly clumsy, Lan Wangji placed a hand on Nuan-er's back while wrapping his other arm around Wie Wuxian.

"Nuan-er is good." Lan Wangji said softly, and... felt so inadequate because she was not adult Wei Wuxian who understood just how much those words meant. She was a child, an emotionally distressed child who had not had enough time to even fully settle into her knew family before her new parents had to leave to fight a war. It was not reasonable to expect those words to be enough for her.

"Mn. Lan Zhan always speaks the truth. There's no arguing with your A-Die. If he says you are good then you have to accept it as fact." Wei Wuxian said lightly. Lan Wangji froze at the same time that Nuan-er's breath hitched. Lan Wangji saw the exact moment when Wei Wuxian realized exactly what he had said.

"A-Die?" Nuan-er's voice asked, still tight with tears. Her head tilted just enough so one eye could peak up at Lan Wangji from behind her hair. "You're my A-Die?" She asked hesitantly.

"Mn." Lan Wangji nodded and hoped he would not mess this up. "If you will have me." Everyone was quiet for awhile.

"What about Xian-gege?" Nuan-er asked. Wei Wuxian sucked in a breath.

"I'd be your Baba, if you wanted. But I'm okay staying your Xian-gege if you prefer." Wei Wuxian said quietly. Another pause.

"You. You want me? Even though I'm not good?" Nuan-er asked.

"Baobei. We want you. You're wonderful." Wei Wuxian said softly.

"But I said mean things. And I cried. And screamed lots. And made A-Yuan upset." Nuan-er's voice was insistent.

"Sometimes, when you feel things very strongly, you cry and scream and say things you don't mean. As you get bigger, you can learn how to do other things with those feelings, but we understand. It was scary for us to leave. We hated it too. We love you Baobei." Wei Wuxian said gently.

Nuan-er cried for a long while. She needed a lot of reassurance from them, but slowly began to accept that they still wanted her. Later Jiang Yanli brought A-Yuan back. They only spent a few minutes confirming with Jiang Yanli that the DafanWens were safe and settled. Wen Qing was staying with them, leaving the second bed free for Nuan-er to use. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji already knew that it would not be used that night.

They spent the evening learning to be together as a family. Something Lan Wangji expected they would be working on for quite awhile. When it was time to get everyone settled for bed Nuan-er quietly fidgeted in place. Building up the courage to ask a question. She tugged on Lan Wangji's robe before quickly drawing back her hands.

"A-Die?" she asked quietly. Lan Wangji felt the breath catch in his lungs before he forced it out of his chest in a response.

"Yes Nuan-er?" It was, more than he would normally have responded with, but the slump of relief in Nuan-er's shoulders made it worth it.

"Can I sleep with A-Die and Baba tonight?" Nuan-er asked. Lan Wangji felt like his heart might burst.

"Mn." Lan Wangji said. He lifted her up onto his hip locking eyes with Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian was staring in wonder, his eyes shiny with tears. Wei Wuxian had heard her. A-Die and Baba.