Chapter Text
The sky above the Nie Sect was an expanse of stars, serene and indifferent to the turmoil stirring in Wei Wuxian's mind. He had fled from his room, unable to bear the grip of the nightmares that held him prisoner, ghosts of his past that never left him. He walked slowly through the gardens, where every tree, every stone, seemed to have eyes judging him. The cold night wind lashed his face, but he couldn't shake the oppressive weight that rested on his chest.
Every breath he took felt like an act of defiance, a declaration of existence in a world that he already considered dead. The sects had condemned him, abandoned to a cruel fate. Jiang Cheng, the brother he had loved more than himself, had turned his back on him, and Lan Wangji, the man he had perhaps loved in secret, had not hesitated to join the others in the hunt. But the Nie Sect… the Nie Sect had not participated in the massacre. This fact, this omission, had been the only thread of hope that Wei Wuxian had held onto.
Wei Wuxian walked slowly, his thoughts darker than the starry skies above. Each step was accompanied by a growing doubt: was what he believed to be a choice of compassion on Nie Mingjue's part really like that? Or was this simply another display of opportunism? Perhaps with all his strength and righteousness, Nie Mingjue had decided that Wei Wuxian was more useful alive than dead. Or, simply, he didn't want to get his hands dirty with the blood of a man everyone already considered stained.
He stopped under a tree, his shoulders hunched under the weight of fatigue and pain. His breathing became ragged as the tears he had been holding back for too long began to flow freely. In that moment, Wei Wuxian realized how lonely he was. He had nowhere to turn, nowhere to feel safe. Even there, among the disciples of the Nie sect, he was nothing more than a refugee looking for a home that he didn't even know existed.
Nie Mingjue paused for a moment, looking at the lone figure of Wei Wuxian across the courtyard. He had just finished examining some documents, but the sight of the young man, lost in his thoughts and pain, forced him to block his steps. Something deep and unexpressed stirred inside him, a silent but powerful push that brought him closer, step by step, to that point of no return. Each step was a decision, a choice that seemed to be made without a full understanding of why, but that somehow he felt was inevitable.
Wei Wuxian was an enigma. A man who had defied the entire world to protect those he loved, but who now seemed empty, reduced to a shadow of the warrior he had once been. In tales of the war, Nie Mingjue had always respected this bold, however controversial, young man. And now, seeing him so vulnerable, her connection to him became even more palpable. A connection that he couldn't fully explain, but that he felt with a clarity that scared him.
There was something in Wei Wuxian that spoke to a hidden part of Nie Mingjue, a silent understanding that seemed to surpass words. But along with that understanding, a fear also grew. A fear that that connection might be seen by others as a weakness, or worse, as an act of opportunism. His own mind tormented him with these thoughts, wondering if his protective gesture was truly genuine or if it was just another attempt to balance the weight of his responsibilities.
When he was close enough to see the tears streaming down Wei Wuxian's cheeks, something inside him broke. All questions, doubts and fears dissolved in that moment. He could no longer remain silent, he could no longer ignore what he felt. The sight of Wei Wuxian, so vulnerable, awakened a sense of protection in him that he had never felt with such intensity.
Without thinking too much, Nie Mingjue moved closer until she was just a few steps away from him. “Wei Wuxian,” she called her name in a voice softer than she would have liked, almost afraid of breaking that moment of fragile intimacy.
Wei Wuxian looked up, surprised, and saw him approaching. In his eyes, a mixture of surprise and vulnerability, as if he didn't expect anyone to approach at a moment like this, as if he had forgotten what it meant to be consoled.
Nie Mingjue knelt down next to him, his heart beating faster in his chest. "You don't have to go through this alone," he said, him voice deep but strangely sweet. He felt there were no right words to comfort him, but in that moment he realized that it wasn't the words that mattered.
Wei Wuxian didn't answer right away, his gaze lost in space. But when he finally spoke, his voice was cracked, brittle. “I don't know what home is anymore, or whether it still exists for me. Everywhere I go, I am but a ghost. Perhaps I should have stayed dead.”
Those words struck Nie Mingjue like a shot to his heart. Without thinking, he reached out and placed his palm on Wei Wuxian's shoulder, squeezing it delicately, trying to convey comfort through that simple gesture. “You're not a ghost,” he replied determinedly. “You are not a man who deserves to remain dead. And as long as you're under my roof, I will never allow it."
Wei Wuxian looked at him, tears still flowing silently. And then, without saying a word, he let go, resting his head on Nie Mingjue’s shoulder, allowing himself to give in to the comfort he didn’t know he wanted, but desperately needed.
Nie Mingjue held him close, feeling the young man tremble slightly against him. His heart pounded, a sense of deep protection enveloped him. In that moment, all his uncertainties and fears dissolved, leaving only a silent promise. He would do anything to protect the man beside him, to show him that, despite everything, there was still a place for him in this world. A place beside him.
With that thought, he wrapped his arm around Wei Wuxian, squeezing him a little tighter, and gently rested the young man's head on his chest. In that gesture, Nie Mingjue found the answer he had sought: it was not opportunism, nor a sense of duty. It was something deeper, more deeply rooted. It was the promise not to leave him alone anymore.
Wei Wuxian, feeling the reassuring warmth of Nie Mingjue's body next to him, let himself go completely. It was as if all the tension, all the pain he had been building up for so long was finally finding its way out. The tears continued to flow, but now they were accompanied by a sense of relief, of peace. He couldn't remember the last time someone had held him like this, the last time he had felt protected and safe.
Nie Mingjue's broad chest, solid and strong, seemed like an impregnable fortress, a refuge where all of his fears could be kept at bay. With a deep breath, Wei Wuxian surrendered completely, resting his head on the shoulder of the man next to him, letting Nie Mingjue's warmth and strength envelop him.
Feeling the young man relax against him, Nie Mingjue felt a wave of tenderness pass through his heart. It was a sensation he had never experienced with such intensity. Wei Wuxian's vulnerability, the implicit trust he was giving him in that moment, affected him deeply. With an instinctive gesture, as if to protect that precious cargo, Nie Mingjue looked down at him and delicately moved a lock of hair from Wei Wuxian's face.
Seeing his eyelids slowly close, and his breathing become more regular, Nie Mingjue realized that Wei Wuxian was falling asleep. At that moment, everything else disappeared; all worries, all uncertainties were put aside. The only thing that mattered to him was the man he held in his arms, so fragile yet so incredibly strong.
With extreme care, Nie Mingjue tilted his body slightly, allowing Wei Wuxian to lie more comfortably against him. He felt the warmth of the young man against his chest, his heartbeat slowly synchronizing with his own. Without hesitation, she wrapped an arm around him, holding him even tighter, as if she wanted to make sure that nothing and no one could ever take him away.
Then, in a gesture that came naturally to him, Nie Mingjue lowered his head and placed it delicately on top of Wei Wuxian's, feeling the soft touch of his hair against his skin. He closed his eyes, letting the emotion overwhelm him. The beating of Wei Wuxian's heart against his chest was a soothing rhythm, a silent promise that everything would be okay. As he heard Wei Wuxian's steady breathing, Nie Mingjue whispered a promise to himself, no need for words out loud. He would do anything to protect the man he held in his arms, to show him that he mattered, that there was still someone willing to fight for him. As long as he had breath in his body, as long as his heart continued to beat, Wei Wuxian would always have a safe place beside him.
The night was wrapped in a cloak of stars, which shone peacefully above them, like silent witnesses of that moment. The fresh evening air carried with it the scent of the surrounding nature, a mixture of pines and damp earth that almost seemed to envelop them in an invisible embrace. The tree branches, tall and majestic, swayed slightly in the wind, creating a sweet and reassuring background. Moonlight filtered through the branches, casting delicate shadows on the ground, and illuminated Nie Mingjue and Wei Wuxian's faces with a soft, silvery light.
The rustling of the leaves, barely perceptible, was the only sound that interrupted the deep silence of the night, a silence that seemed almost sacred. The cicadas, who had been singing until shortly before, were now silent, as if they too wanted to respect the tranquility of that moment. All around them, nature seemed to be holding its breath, as if it knew that something important was happening under her benevolent gaze.
Nie Mingjue could feel every detail of that natural landscape more vividly than ever. The cool night breeze seemed to take his worries away, as the smell of the earth and trees penetrated his senses, grounding him in the present. However, it was the light, reassuring weight of Wei Wuxian's body against his that truly caught his attention, above all else.
Nie Mingjue's heart beat hard, but in a constant and reassuring way, as if he was trying to calm the internal storms that had plagued him up until that moment. The emotions he felt were multiple and complex, intertwined in a tangle that he struggled to untangle. There was the tenderness, deep and sincere, that he felt for the young man sleeping against him. It was a tenderness that made him want to protect him from everything, to be his shield against a world that seemed to have rejected him.
But there was also fear, a subtle but persistent fear, that made him doubt himself and his intentions. He wondered if he was doing enough, if he was truly the person Wei Wuxian needed. The fear of being judged, not only by others, but also by himself, tormented him. What if he was wrong? What if, in the end, he was unable to keep the silent promise he had just made to himself?
However, beyond all this, there was a deeper, almost ancestral sensation that pushed him not to let go. It was a sense of belonging, of connection, that he had never experienced with anyone else. As if, in that moment, under the starry sky, in the arms of nature, he had finally found a missing piece of himself, something he didn't even know he'd lost. The young man in his arms, with all his frailties and his strength, had somehow become indispensable to him.
The sweetness of the moment, the calm that came from simply holding Wei Wuxian close to him, surpassed everything else. It was no longer just an obligation or a rational decision. It was a deep need, a longing to be there for him, not as the leader of the Nie sect, but as a man. A man who, despite all the doubts and fears, had finally found something - or someone - worth fighting for. And so, Nie Mingjue remained there, under the stars, with Wei Wuxian's breathing harmonizing with his, feeling the world around him become bigger and more beautiful, but also more fragile. He knew that whatever the future held, he would never let this connection, this sweetness, slip from his grasp. No matter what he faced, protecting Wei Wuxian had become not just a duty, but a burning desire, a commitment that was rooted deep within his being.
With one last glance at Wei Wuxian, who slept peacefully against his chest, Nie Mingjue realized how fragile and precious that moment was. The young man in his arms finally seemed free from his torments, at least for a few moments, and it filled Nie Mingjue's heart with a sweetness she had never known before him.
Then, he looked away for a moment and noticed something on the ground before them. Two little birds were moving through the grass, almost unnoticed. One was slightly larger, with more brightly colored feathers, while the other, slightly smaller, followed him with uncertain and awkward steps. The larger one stopped in a point not too far away, finding a small refuge among the fallen leaves, and the other one joined him shortly after, placing himself next to him.
The birds seemed to reflect what he felt in his heart. The older one, protective and attentive, guided the smaller one towards a safe place, just as he tried to do with Wei Wuxian. And the youngest, with his total trust in his companion, seemed to find peace simply in following him, in being close to those he knew he could trust.
Nie Mingjue felt a strange feeling of peace while observing that simple and natural scene. Perhaps, he thought, this was all life was about: finding someone to share your path with, someone to protect and build a safe haven with, even in the midst of the most violent storms. Perhaps, it didn't matter if the outside world would judge them, if they would have to face criticism and challenges. That moment of serenity, that silent connection, was all they needed.
With a deep breath, Nie Mingjue let go a little more, holding Wei Wuxian with greater sweetness and determination. Even though the path ahead would be difficult, he promised himself that he would do everything he could to protect this fragile balance, to guard their refuge, just as the larger bird guarded her mate.
Nature continued to whisper around them, and under that starry sky, Nie Mingjue felt, for the first time in a long time, exactly where he needed to be.