A/N- For some reason that pose looks so beautiful but also sad because I can imagine him with an arrow struck through his heart like that... because I've seen a K-pop choreography (I think it's Dreamcatcher's BOCA) with one of the members, I think it was either Yoohyeon or SuA, in that position with an arrow through them and imagining Lan Zhan with an arrow through him is not an image I want to see... regardless of that, the fanart is beautiful as usual!

AFTER WEI WUXIAN'S death, Lan Zhan was seriously affected. He would barely even socialize with anyone except his brother and you, and even then, you rarely saw him. You had been friends since childhood, and it hurt you to see him in such pain.

As months passed, you managed to coax him out of his shell, and make him feel better. He had been forever weakened from his experience with depression. He hadn't eaten in a long time, so his body was weak. Now he was eating again, but it would take a long time for him to regain the strength he had in the past. All his muscles had been eaten up by his body to keep energy. He looked like a stick, and felt like one as well. When you touched his hand, you could feel his brittle bones and the dryness of his skin. It scared you.

As Lan Zhan recovered, his enemies moved in on him. They knew that now was a good time to try and attack him, when he was just regaining his strength. One of them, a man named Wen Xu, the son of Wen Ruohan, who despised Lan Zhan with a great hatred, snuck into the palace under the guise of a hopeful disciple. Lan Xichen, Lan Zhan's brother, was impressed with Wen Xu's combat skills and took him as his student.

This was perfect for the scheming Wen Xu. Xichen was very close to Lan Zhan, his intended target. All he had to do was gain Xichen's trust, and then he could see Lan Zhan for himself and accomplish his goal, which was to abduct him and bring him to Nightless City, his home. Envisioning Lan Zhan, the famous younger Twin Jade of Gusu, pressed under his body and begging for help made him smile- a scary, hideous, toothy smile.

Over the following weeks, Wen Xu excelled in his studies and made Xichen pleased. When he asked Xichen for permission to ask Lan Zhan to train him, Xichen declined and said that Lan Zhan wasn't strong enough to fight yet, but soon he would be.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Wen Xu said. "Do you mind telling me where he is right now? I want to give him my well-wishes, and introduce myself to him."

Xichen was suspicious of this, but he told Wen Xu that his brother was sleeping and where he was asleep, in his room. Wen Xu thanked his teacher and rushed to Lan Zhan's bedroom, which was coincidentally where you were as well. He threw the door open and put a sword to your neck, ordering Lan Zhan to come with him or he would cut your head off.

"Lan Zhan! Don't listen to him! Stay where you are! He's trying to trick you!" you cried out, wincing as the movement of your neck made the blade cut you. It was a thin cut, only skin deep, but it still hurt quite a lot.

When Lan Zhan saw your blood, he began to panic. He began to hyperventilate, imagining Wei Wuxian's blood covered body falling off of the cliff over and over again in his head. He reached out for you, but Wen Xu struck him across the face hard, making him fall down to the ground, where he lay in a crumpled, crying, anxious mess.

You wanted so badly to run to him, hold him in your arms, and caress him until he stopped crying, until he stopped worrying. But you couldn't move, or Wen Xu would slit your throat. so you just stood there, crying for your friend, and crying for yourself.

"Get up, Little Jade. March!" Wen Xu said.

Lan Zhan couldn't move. He was terrified. He didn't want to lose you like he had lost Wei Wuxian.

He couldn't lose you like he lost Wei Wuxian.

He wouldn't let it happen.

Staggering up to his feet, he grabbed onto your arms and whispered, "I'm sorry, Y/N."

Then he looked at Wen Xu and said, "Take me. Do whatever you want with me. Just don't hurt Y/N."

"Lan Zhan!" you cried out, throwing yourself on him. "Don't go! I can die, as long as you live, I'll be happy."

Lan Zhan looked at you with sadness in his eyes and said, "If you die, I'll kill myself."

Then he let Wen Xu shove him out into the hallway and tie his wrists together with his own headband. The bindings looked tight, and he seemed very uncomfortable, but he went out with his head held high.

"I'll get you back, Lan Zhan! I'll rescue you!" you yelled.

"Don't trust them," Wen Xu said, shoving Lan Zhan into a wall and making his nose bleed all over his neat white hanfu. "They won't come for you. Nobody will."

"Shut your damned mouth, you bastard!" you cried out.

Wen Xu laughed and threw a small knife at you. It hit you right in the stomach, and you watched queasily as your blood pumped steadily out of your stomach.

Losing your consciousness was a welcoming event.

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~Lan Zhan's POV~

Wen Xu threw you down onto the ground of a prison cell in the Nightless City, and chucked a bucket filled with dirty water at you.

"This is where you drink from," he told you. "Don't drink too much- when that's gone, it's going to take a day to get some more, so you'll be thirsty for a long time."

You weren't even listening to any word he said. Your thoughts were back at Cloud Recesses, back with Y/N. Wen Xu had thrown a knife at her, and you had heard her pained scream. You were praying they weren't dead. If they were dead, you couldn't go on with your life. They were the only thing keeping you alive, the only thing you wanted to see in this pitiful life.

Wen Xu closed the door to your cell and sat there staring at you for a long time. When you looked up and met his eyes, you felt fear tremble up your body. Your hands began to shake, and you covered your face with your arms.

You were having an anxiety attack, right in front of your greatest enemy. That was just great.

As you trembled and sobbed, you could hear Wen Xu laughing at you and calling you names.

"Hey, Little Jade, tonight I'll bring you Big Jade to sleep with if you need comfort," he said.

"G-gege... d-don't hurt gege..." you gasped out through pained breaths.

"Aww, you still call him gege? How childish. Turns out that you're just a big baby!"

"N-no... d-don't... s-stop..." you whimpered. "Gege... please... I need you."

"Xichen is miles away, and he doesn't even know you're gone," Wen Xu said. "He can't save you, Little Jade. Only I can. And I refuse to. So you can just burn in hell."

You heard his footsteps receding, and you lifted your head up to see an empty hallway in place of him.

"Y/N... Xichen... please, save me..." you whispered, curling up in a ball on the floor and taking deep breaths, trying to contact them through your mental links with them. "Brother, please, I need your help. Y/N... please tell me you're alive."

"Wangji?! Wangji, what's wrong?"

Xichen's voice rang out in your head. It was weak, but it was there. Hearing the voice of your older brother calmed you down.

"Wen Xu kidnapped me," you said. "I'm in a prison in the Nightless City. Please, save me!"

"Wangji, I can't hear you! What's wrong?"

And just like that, your anxiety was back. He couldn't hear you? Why couldn't he hear you? Your link was weak, but it should still function!

You exerted the last of your power and yelled out as well as transmitted mentally, "I'm in a prison in the Nightless City! Save me!"

Spent, you closed your eyes, welcoming the warmth of unconsciousness.

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~Y/N's POV~

Lan Xichen had finally figured out where his brother was. It was time for you two to go save him, as you had promised.

You placed your hand over the wound on your stomach, which was just closing up into a scar now. Xichen had begged you to stay back at Cloud Recesses so that your wound didn't open up again or so that you wouldn't get injured again, but you had flat-out rejected him, saying that you had promised Lan Zhan that you would rescue him, and you would damn well be there when he was saved.

You winced when you bent down to slip your boots on, and Xichen was by your side immediately.

"I told you you shouldn't come with me," he said. "Look, it still hurts you to move! You should be in your bed sleeping, young one, not going on a foolish adventure with me!"

"I love Lan Zhan," you snapped. "And I will not abandon him just because of a flesh wound."

"Just because of a flesh wound?" Xichen cried. "You nearly died because of this 'just a flesh wound.' Don't you dare make it less than it is!"

"Xichen..."

The elder Jade was trembling just like his brother did before he had an anxiety attack. You laid your hand on his shoulder, and he pressed his cheek to it and took a few deep breaths.

"I'll be fine," you told him. "Both of us will be fine. We'll save Lan Zhan, and we'll bring him back home with minimal injuries. I promise you, neither of us will die."

"I'm afraid, Y/N," Xichen said in a soft voice. "My brother... I'm afraid we'll go to get him and he'll be covered in scars and injured and-"

You covered Xichen's mouth with your hand, silencing him.

"Don't worry until we get there," you said. "Or better than that, don't worry at all! Everything is going to be perfect!"

"I hope so, Y/N. I fervently hope so."

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Xichen's POV (I'm switching up POVs like mad in this one shot lol)

You stood by the door of the prison compound in Nightless City. The atmosphere was toxic, choking you and covering your vision in a black veil. Next to you, Y/N stood silently.

You drew your flute out of your pocket and played a sad melody, making them cry. They were smiling with their lips, but their eyes were filled with tears and sadness. They wouldn't be comforted by anything except Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan... my brother... please tell me you're alright...

"My flute playing should have cleared away any spiritual obstacles that were awaiting us," you told Y/N. "Shall we go?"

They nodded mutely. They hadn't spoken much this entire journey. You could tell they were stressed. They kept on touching their stomach wound and shifting their gaze to objects that were insignificant, as if they were enemies.

"Don't worry until we get there," you said, repeating their words to them. "Everything is going to be perfect."

Together, the two of you walked through the prison. It was clearly abandoned, it hadn't been taken care of in years. Rust and dirt lined the walls and floor, and when you touched one of the bars of the cells, it broke away in your hand and sprinkled shards of rust all over you. You weren't bothered by that, though, and just continued moving on.

As you got deeper into the prison, the quality got worse and worse. You saw some cells that only had half of their bars, or not even any of them. There were buckets stuck in the corners to use as bathrooms, and they were coated in dirt.

Among these disgusting cells, there was one perfect one that stood out from the few. And in that perfect one, with polished bars, an oiled door, and clean walls and ceiling, your brother Lan Zhan was lying curled up on the ground, blood and dirt coating his beautiful hanfu.

"Brother! I'm here, brother!" you cried out, rushing towards the door.

A flash of pain in your side made you turn around to see what had happened.

Wen Xu was standing behind you, holding a short knife in his hand. He had a sword sheath on his hip, but his sword was nowhere to be seen... oh...

You looked down at your own hip, and noticed the hilt of a sword protruding from it. The crafty Wen Xu had managed to sneak up behind you and push his entire sword into your hip bone. It hurt to move, and you knew you were going to lose consciousness very soon, but you had to save Lan Zhan.

With trembling hands, you put your flute to your lips and played a mysterious melody. The sad sound of it made Y/N and Wen Xu, both of who were engaging in an open battle, turn around and look at you.

As the blood flooded out from your hip, you played the sad melody which you had titled 'Elder Jade's Longing.' You had played this song for Lan Zhan when you were yearning, longing for him to feel better, and when you missed him, you played it as well. It represented the deep love you held for your brother, and how much you longed for him when he was absent from your side.

When he heard the melody, Lan Zhan stirred, and was awoken from his deep sleep. He opened his eyes and saw you standing before him. Filled with shock and love, he didn't notice you staggering in your steps towards him, or the blood that was flowing from your side. He didn't notice that you were injured unto death. All he knew was that his brother had come to save him, as he had wished.

"Gege... you came," he said, sounding awestruck.

You smiled at him as blood trickled from your mouth.

"I'm here," you whispered, collapsing to the ground and dying immediately after.

~Y/N's POV~

"Lan Xichen!" you cried out, falling down to your knees at the side of the elder Jade of Gusu. "Please, Xichen, don't leave this world yet!"

It was too late to save him. He was already gone.

You heard the laughter of Wen Xu- that disgusting, horrifying sound- and turned around to see him standing behind you with his throat slit, bleeding onto the ground by your feet.

"The elder Jade... dies..." he gasped, choking on his own blood and dying soon after.

You heard the loud sound of Lan Zhan screaming, and turned to see him reaching out for his brother through the bars. When he couldn't touch him, he started to scream and thrash around on the ground.

"Gege! Gege!" he yelled, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Don't go, gege!"

You took the key to Lan Zhan's cell from Wen Xu's belt and unlocked it, throwing yourself onto the floor and wrapping your arms around the writhing young Jade. You stroked his hair, his cheeks, his hands, anything you could, caressing him all over as you cried with him. Lan Xichen was like an older brother to you. He had taken care of you in your childhood and mentored you in your fighting. Besides, he was just a good man in general. You would miss him.

"It's going to be alright, Lan Zhan," you said, knowing that you were lying. Whatever. It was a sweet lie. Those weren't too bad.

"Gege, m-m-my g-gege..." Lan Zhan whimpered, burying his head in your chest. He was completely broken, and it hurt to see.

"Your gege is watching over us in heaven," you murmured gently to him. "He's so proud of us right now."

"I-It hurts, gege... I... I want to die..."

"I know. I know, baby," you said, trying your best to comfort you.

Lan Zhan looked directly into your eyes and threw his arms around you, screaming your name over and over again.

"I thought you were dead... I thought both of you were d-dead..."

"Hush, my love. I'm not dead. I'm here, with you. I won't leave you."

"We need to bury him," Lan Zhan said.

"Let's go back home and do that," you agreed.

You let go of him, and he grabbed onto your sleeve, digging his nails into your arm and making you cry out in pain.

"D-don't let me g-go..." he begged you.

"I won't," you promised. "I won't ever let you go."

Together, with your hands intertwined, you left Nightless City, carrying Lan Xichen's body in your arms.