As Wei Ying and Kirin entered the inn it was immediately apparent that their lives were to begin changing and it would start today. Little Kirin reached over and tightened his fingers around Wei Ying's hand and Wei Ying gripped back. Three strangers sat at the usual table, which had been extended for the new arrivals. Lan Xi Chen sat at one end next to Lan Zhan, and he rose to make room for the younger children, who bowed deeply and took their seats. Lan Zhan was even more silent than usual. His face was pale and still, hard like white jade. He stared silently into space, aloof and expressionless. His new demeanor frightened Wei Ying. When he sat close to his friend, Wei Ying ventured to touch the motionless hand under the table. He felt a slight tremor, but it was immediately quelled and grew still again. It was as cold as ice.

Lan Qiren began.

Thank you, Jiang Fengmian..."

The kind-looking, slightly hesitant man to Lan Qiren's right nodded to the Lan Sect Master.

Then he turned and added, "And thank you, Sergeant Lan LingXiang and Lady Lan AiJing..." 

The couple on his other side bowed nervously. They were not used to being in such close contact with the austere Sect Master and were clearly not comfortable, but the Lady had a kind and gentle face and her attention was drawn immediately back to the tiny, frightened Kirin, who looked precariously close to tears. She barely heard Lan Qiren.

"I am grateful that you all responded quickly to help the boys. They have become important to my nephews, and they have asked my aid in finding homes for them." His stern voice clearly indicated that he found the request an annoying waste of time and that he had simply bent to the pressure of his own charges. "I am sorry for the inconvenience."

 The other three adults saw the embarrassed color on Wei Ying's face and the mortification on the young Lans' faces as well. Jiang Fengmian hurried to the rescue. He had been, for a long time now, used to smoothing feathers and calming tempers far more frightening than Lan Qiren's.

"Oh no, no, absolutely no inconvenience, Lan Sect Master. It is my joyful honor to adopt young Wei Ying. His parents had been close friends of mine, you know, and I can not imagine him going anywhere but to Lotus Pier."

The pretty lady at the end of the table could not contain herself any longer. She had been watching the small child on the verge of tears as he twisted a napkin in his tiny hands, and she wanted to soothe and calm him NOW. She stood and bowed. "Lan Sect Master. We are thrilled by this unexpected chance. I have always wanted to be a mother, but the gods have never graced us. You have made this possible, and we are deeply grateful...May I ask Kirin a question?"

Lan Qiren stared at her, suitably fattened by her earnest flattery, for a moment, then nodded assent. 

"Little Kirin. Would you mind coming to sit by me for a bit? I would like to get to know you."

Kirin looked startled, but he had been sneaking glances at the woman with a gentle face, too. He looked up at Wei Ying, who whispered. "Go to her. I think she likes you a lot."

 Kirin was handed down to Lan XiChen who placed him on the floor. The Lady knelt down and impulsively opened her arms, long empty and desperate to be filled, and Kirin just as impulsively fled to the shelter she offered. Her husband looked on, tears standing in his brown eyes as he watched his new son embrace his mother for the first time. In fact, his were not the only tears that morning. As a lone one traced Wei Ying's thin cheek, he felt Lan Zhan take his hand under the table and hold it tightly. Lan Zhan swallowed his own tears, refusing to show them, while Lan XiChen wept openly. Both felt jolts of envy and longing. They wished they could change places with Kirin just for a moment and feel that kind of warmth in their lives as well.

Kirin found himself between The Sergeant and his Lady, and he looked up at the well-built man beside him. 

"Wow! You look like the world's strongest man!" He piped up joyfully. "Are you really a soldier?"

The man smiled happily. "I am! And more than that, I am a Flyer in the Corps. Would you like to learn to fly one day?"

"Really? Fly for real?" 

"As close to the way the birds do it, as possible."

"Yeah! Can we start now?"

His new father laughed; he had a warm voice, like honey melting on a steamed bun. He said,  "When we get home. I can put you in front of me on my sword and take you for a spin."

A spark of hero worship began to shine in the midnight irises of Kirin's eyes, and Wei Ying felt nothing other than happiness. His little brother would be safe and loved, and life for the youngster seem assured.

Jiang Fengmian saw the nervousness in Wei Ying, and he addressed him now. 

"Young Wei, How do you feel, about coming to Lotus Pier with me? I knew your parents well in my youth and would like for you to join my family."

Wei Ying drew a steady breath and bowed to his new mentor. "I would be honored, Sir. Very honored. And I will dedicate my life to working hard, using all my talents and fealty to help your Clan in any way. I look forward to meeting Lady Jiang."

"First, I must caution you. She has chosen to retain her family name Yu.  It is best to call here Madam Yu when you meet her. She is very...formal...in that respect. I also have a son, Cheng, and a daughter YanLi. Cheng is somewhat like his mother and YanLi is a little Mother Hen. You will love her immediately."

Wei Ying smiled engagingly at The Jiang Clan Leader.  He did feel encouraged, and hopeful, yet he was still a little nervous at having to impress three new strangers as soon as he arrived. "I am excited to see Lotus Pier."

"It is lovely and charming. You will find the training hard, but I think you will make an excellent archer. We train the best in the world. I am not bragging, it is just a fact."

"I love shooting bow and arrow. I am good, but not well-taught. I would like to start formal training as soon as possible."

"My boy, I think you will astound us all."

The ice was broken for Wei Ying and Kirin. But Lan Zhan, mute and withdrawn, felt a cold film beginning to form around his core, slight but there, and he recognized it. A protective barrier, barely discernible, that he had first felt after his mother's death, and again after he woke from his coma. He was startled that it was resurfacing. But horribly, he found himself almost glad. He was facing life without his only friends now, and he found himself wondering if he should just stop struggling against its inexorable advance. It was becoming almost irresistible. Perhaps his future was meant for this pull toward austerity and distance. It was alluring and terrifying all at the same time.

After breakfast, Jiang Fengmian asked Wei Ying if he wanted to return to his home to retrieve any belongings he may want to bring with him. The boy glanced at the very still, Lan Zhan. He was feeling ill at the thought of his new patron seeing where he had been living all this time and Lan Zhan sensed his hesitation. He rose quickly.

"No need to attend Wei Ying. I will go with him, Leader Jiang. I know the way."

"Yes, Sir! There is really very little that I wish to bring with me."

Lan XiChen rose as well, smoothly and most politely. "Thank you, Brother. Uncle and our guests do not have long to visit, and your help will enable them to do so."

Lan Qiren swallowed the objection that was already forming and agreed, reluctantly. He was glad that the brat in red was leaving soon. The less exposure to the young miscreant, the better for Lan Zhan.

The two moved slowly down the dusty road to the shack under the bridge. Both were silent for most of the way. Their hearts were heavy and they could not have spoken if they tried. They pushed their way in and Lan Zhan produced two slings, a purple one for Wei Ying's belongings and a light blue one for Lan Kirin.  The only things that Wei Ying wanted to save were the clothing, toys, and sports equipment purchased for them by Lan Zhan. They pulled everything out and up the dried embankment to the shade of an old oak tree. They quietly, carefully, slowly folded each item and divided the toys chosen by their Wangzi for each of them. Then, as one, they turned to one another.

"I..."

"I..."

"Lan Zhan?  I...it has been a long time...since I had anyone look out for me. I was tired to the bone when you saw me the first day." Tears began to flow from those strange silver eyes. "I don't know how or what to say..."

Lan Zhan whirled around, his crystal eyes glowing fiercely. "Then say nothing more. I have never had a friend in Cloud Recesses. It is only Brother and less of him. Uncle saddles him with constant duty and responsibilities.

You came. Then Kirin.

You made me happy. And we are losing it. I cannot bear this. " His own tears, suppressed all morning were streaking down the perfect face, crystal rivulets, impossibly, beautifully tragic.

For a long time, they sat opposite each other, knees touching, gripping hands, trying to save one another from drowning. Eventually, the tears had to stop. Don't they always, when there are no more to shed? Yet they still held on, staring into each other's eyes. until the tears dried on their devastated faces. 

Before they bent to shoulder their slings. Wei Ying reverently raised Lan Zhan's right hand to his lips and kissed the elegant, slim fingers. Dazed, unbelieving, Lan Zhan raised Wei Ying's hand in turn, but reversed it at the last moment and pressed his own kiss in the center of Wei Ying's palm. Wei Ying felt the cold lips, and his palm burned at the single touch. Then they never spoke again, on the long walk back to town.

**********

By the time Lan Zhan emerged from the isolation of his private palanquin that pulled up to the Lan Sect gates, he had changed. His core was encased in ice, his voice and face eerily calm and emotionless. His heart had room only for his Lan XiChen and their bothersome cousin Lan Qinyang. 

 From that return onward, for six years, memories of Wei Ying were locked in a box hidden deep in his mind, marked Yiling. lying next to the box marked Denver. And the only fleeting tingle that tried and failed to gently bring recollection to the surface, came at the hint of a warm kiss on fingers that could not remember...

Until he turned sixteen, however, and The Lectures were revived and he began to hear a clear, loud, and annoying voice bounce off the shocked peaks of Cloud Recesses...

"Lan Zhan!! Hey, Lan Zhan...!"

THE END

A/N If you want more of their adventures, please read the Life Among the Clouds Trilogy beginning  with Book One, called Unconventional Cultivation.

Thank you for reading this Sequel/Prequel of Frozen In Time. Glad you have enjoyed the boys