Epilogue

At a wine shop somewhere not too far from Yiling, two men walked in. They were both tall, one a little shorter than the other, and they both looked almost regal with their straight backs, despite their plain clothing. They were still full of vigour, even though they weren't young. The hair of the taller man had turned fully white, and it was kept long, a silken frosty waterfall, caught in a loose half-bun at the back of his head. The shorter one wore his hair the same way, but his hair was still black, even though it was shot through with grey. It was a style that was now old fashioned, but it suited them well.

The shorter man walked with a happy bounce, prattling constantly, which the taller just let it stream through him, a small smile almost gracing his lips. But it wasn't that that caught the eye of the other patrons. It was that they were holding hands, the younger swinging their clasped hands between them happily, tugging the taller one to a table in a corner.

A grumpy looking patron watched and muttered a dark curse, from which "cut-sleeve" could just be heard.

"Are you sure you want to say that in this part of the world?" an old timer asked sharply.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"You must not have not heard about the Twin Jades of Gusu, and their husbands, the Yiling patriarch and the Soft Blade of Gusu?" 

"I heard about those shameless cut-sleeves, but that was a hundred years ago," the grumpy one sneered.

"Indeed, it will be a hundred years exactly from their wedding next month. And what a wedding it was!" the old timer said, his eyes lighting up. "My mother was a small child then and she used to tell me about it. Everyone from the cultivation world came to see the two couples marry. Everyone. Even Lan QiRen, the uncle of the Lan brothers, who had resisted their unions until the last. And so did Jiang Cheng, Wei WuXian's adopted brother, that old sour puss. But they came and it was the most magnificent wedding in memory. It went on for three days and even the ones who were most sceptical came away convinced of the deep love the two couples had for one another. Their love had survived separation and grief, and even death and rebirth."

The grumpy one scoffed. "So what? I repeat, that was a hundred years ago."

"There are still many in this region who remember the good deeds they did for us back in the day. They worked tirelessly to keep us safe. You remember hearing of the Xuanwu of Slaughter? That was them when they were still young. What about the Terror of Nanchang? Lan WangJi & Wei WuXian, Lan XiChen and Xie XiYue, all their adopted sons and daughters and all the disciples they had trained all worked together until that great evil was gone from this world."

"Wasn't the Yiling partiarch an evil man?" a younger man in a nearby table interjected.

"It turned out that despite his odd methods, Wei WuXian only tried to do good. But evil men distorted and twisted his efforts. And he died for it. After he came back, no one had any bad word to say about him, even those who didn't approve of him marrying one of the most renowned men in the region." 

The old timer's eyes grew misty. "They lived to a very old age, so some say, and died hand in hand together, that Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian. But some say," and he looked at the grumpy one sharply, "that they found the secret to lasting youth during their travels, and that they live to this day, still strong and hearty, and still as deeply in love with each other as the day they married. They don't wear their clan clothes anymore, they say, so as not to be recognised, but they still cultivate, eradicating evil where it bothers good people like us."

"Old wives' tales," the grumpy one muttered, but he looked a little spooked.

"Perhaps, but do you want to take that chance? They were, all four of them, the most renown cultivators in the land. They were fair but hard and I heard that the two brothers would not let any insult to their husbands go unpunished. Lan WangJi, I heard, was especially hard on anyone who judged them just because they happened to fall in love with other men."

The old timer rose, and so did the three strapping men he had been sitting with. "Whatever the truth about that, I wouldn't be here today, nor would my son, or my grandsons, if it wasn't for Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian and their family. That Terror of Nanchang attacked my mother, you see, and if it hadn't been for them, she would have died before she had a chance to marry. So take care, we do not take kindly to anyone here who says a bad word against them." The old timer nodded at the grumpy man, and left, his son and grandsons glaring at the grumpy one threateningly as they passed him by.

The grumpy man looked around and saw only cold faces. He muttered something, threw some money on the table and left.

"That was nice," the shorter of the two men who had prompted this exchange said to the taller one. "That they are remembered kindly, I mean."

The taller lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of his hand. "Mn."

"But I wanted to hear more about the wedding. They must all have been so handsome in their red robes. And so happy on that happiest of days. I hear it was a fair day, even the sun shining on them."

"Mn."

"I'm sure that the way Lan WangJi looked at Wei WuXian that day made Wei WuXian's heart tremble. It must have been a marvel for them to stand beside each other on their wedding day after all they had gone through. I wonder if either of them wept with joy?"

"Mn."

"I think so, too. Xie XiYue surely did, he was well named, don't you think, the Soft Blade of Gusu, and that Lan XiChen can't have been able to take his eyes off him. And Lan WangJi, do you think he kissed his handsome husband that day?"

"Mn."

"I think he didn't stop kissing him, actually. Why should he? It was their wedding day. It must have been the shock of that wedding, for them to be so outrageous and bold, but what could anyone do?" He smiled wistfully. "Do you believe that, by the way? That those two are still roaming the earth, cultivating as they go?"

"Hm."

"I agree. I think they've earned their rest and a little cottage somewhere where they raise fluffy bunnies and plucky chicken, and where they spend their days taking care of each other and making love and talking about everything under the sun. Although from what I heard, Lan WangJi never was much of a conversationalist." The shorter one laughed impishly.

The taller man gave him a look that others might have taken as stern, but the shorter one doubled over with laughter. When he recovered from his fit, he looked at his companion tenderly. "Whatever is the truth of that, I believe—" and he leaned over and kissed the taller man full on the lips, and lingered there, their kiss deepening, the hand around his waist tightening. The innkeeper saw and stopped, an indulgent smile on her lips, and turned back. The liquor could wait.

"... I believe," the shorter man resumed, a little out of breath, with the most beautiful smile on earth stretching his lips, "I believe, like that old timer said, that they are still as much in love with each other today as they were on the day of their wedding. Don't you?"

"Mn."

"Words, L— darling."

The taller man kissed his husband again, just because he could, and because it was a beautiful day, and because he wouldn't tire of kissing him in a hundred years.

"Yes, my love."

THE END

---

A/N:

Why isn't there more about the wedding, you might cry. Well, I know nothing about ancient Chinese wedding ceremonies, fictional or real. Plus I wanted to end the story in a way that at least hints at a long, happy and loving life for the two. 

In my head canon, 'Wei Ying' means 'my love', and 'Lan Zhan' means 'darling', even if Wei WuXian didn't always know it himself. He might have said 'Lan Zhan' carelessly, teasingly, sarcastically, even, but it always meant 'darling'. Lan WangJi meant 'my love' from the first time he said 'Wei Ying', at a time when he couldn't express his love for him in any other way.

This is the end of my fanfic. Thanks for all the votes and comments! 

Picture source:https://www.zerochan.net/2433216