To Bring You Back Within My Reach by ablaiseofglory
To Bring You Back Within My Reach
by ablaiseofglory
M, WIP, 20k, Wangxian
Summary: Lan Wangji, tired of the distance created by his own hand, does not know if his husband will ever be happy in Cloud Recesses, if he will ever get to see that beautiful sunny smile directed at him ever again. He knows that the way his husband avoids him now, won't speak to him now, is his own fault. He knows he was too harsh, too cruel, at the beginning of their union to ever be the reason that Wei Ying smiles again. He watches his husband smile wistfully at their youngest disciples from a distance, his uncle never letting him anywhere near them, and thinks if only Wei Ying had a child to dote on, to love, that he would be happier. Knowing he has lost his chance for that child to ever come from him, he turns to all of the children he has seen his husband give food to in the streets, all the children he has smiled at, been kind to, and played with until a disciple pulls him away, and thinks, perhaps, he knows how to make Wei Ying happy again. AKA a historical romance fic which features the Lans being terrible, Lan Xichen focused on fixing that, Lan Wanji focused on simply fixing his relationship, and Wei Wuxian focused on being a surrogate parent to as many children as he can find (eventually). Kay's comments: Important disclaimer that this story hasn't been updated in three years, so keep that in mind, if you start reading it. When I just entered the fandom, I was absolutely obsessed with this story and even now, I think of it every now and then and re-read it recently and it really holds up. Definitely angst-heavy, the kind of story that puts Wei Wuxian through an emotional blender. The misunderstandings are heavy in this one, but so well-done. Excerpt:It had been, possibly, the worst 6 months of Wei Wuxian’s life. He felt that he had truly tried his hardest not to break a rule, and it almost seemed at this point as if Lan Qiren and the elders had it out for him, and had invented new rules just to spite him. His husband was the worst of all, always reprimanding him or making him kneel for hours, for what seemed to Wei Wuxian to be small infractions. He could not understand why Lan Wangji would treat him this way. Surely, he thought, husbands are supposed to help their omegas adjust. Surely they should not treat them like this. His husband had never offered him a single kind word. Wei Wuxian almost flinched at the sight of him now. The day after his wedding, he had tried to make friends with him, joking and cajoling, and had been met with glares so harsh you would think that he had murdered a baby right in front of him. He had tried speaking to his husband cordially at dinner, far more formally than he had ever tried speaking with anyone in his life, let alone a man he was supposed to be close to, and all that had happened was Lan Wangji saying that mealtimes were to be passed in silence. When he had tried to speak more, Lan Wangji had taken the food away! Sure, it was bland fare, but he was still starving! When he had protested that, Lan Wangji had stated that further infractions would lead to another punishment in the library on proper decorum. On and on it went that way, with Wei Wuxian trying to make any overture towards kindness or friendship, and Lan Wangji punishing him severely for each attempt. After three months of acting like it did not affect him, and trying again, he had finally succumbed. One could only be forced to kneel so often before they broke, he supposed.
pov alternating, canon divergence, omegaverse, arranged marriage, alpha lan wangji, omega wei wuxian, angst, hurt/comfort, emotional hurt/comfort, strangers to lovers, slow burn, misunderstandings, miscommunication, good sibling lan xichen, yu ziyuan being an asshole, gusu lan sect punishment methods, mental health issues, mating cycles/in heat
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