Mark My Place by BenevolentErrancy
Post-canon 1 chapter, complete 28k words [Restricted to logged in archive users. Getting an account requires an invitation, which you can ask for at https://archiveofourown.org]
Wei Wuxian shouldn't have to be alone.
It was with a cold, still voice that Sizhui voiced these thoughts. He couldn’t bear to look at anyone, couldn’t bear to think too hard about it, because that would break this fragile equilibrium.
His fathers would be leaving. His father was being driven out.
Sizhui didn’t want to be left again.
“So we have to change the rule!” Jingyi declared. “Not force Wei-qianbei out! He’s your father, Sizhui, don’t you want him here?”
The normally delicate features of Sizhui’s face flushed an angry red. The still water at the bottom of that cold lake began to stir. How could Jingyi even suggest otherwise, how— “Of course I do. But I want him happy too, I—”
“Great! So it’s agreed? We have to get rid of that rule.”
Sizhui stared at Jingyi, because how could he be so flippant when they were discussing something so serious, so potentially devastating?
Except Jingyi’s expression was nothing but serious. His mouth was pinched and brows were drawn; he looked more like he was preparing for a nighthunt than discussing dry sect rules. But Lan Sect precepts were quite literally set in stone, how did Jingyi expect to change one, just like that?
“How?” demanded a junior.
“Right, how?”
“We’ll help!”
“Wei-qianbei and Hanguang-Jun have to stay! It’s their home!”
And just like that, Sizhui felt his head break water and his lungs seem to fill with the first real breath since Jingyi had delivered his news. Said like that, it was really so simple, wasn’t it? The Cloud Recesses was Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian’s home. So it was only correct that it was welcoming to them. It was Sizhui’s home too, and so it was only correct that both of his fathers were here with him. They were not changing the impossible, but simply correcting an error. And he wasn’t the only one that understood this.
Dropping down suddenly, Jingyi knocked aside the papers that had previously been spread out on the table for poetry analysis. He pulled over a fresh sheet and a brush.
“Right. First things first. We need a plan.”
This story begins post-canon. The Yiling Laozu has been exonerated, but people still remember the Sunshot Campaign and after.
As we begin Mark My Place, a new Lan rule had been etched into stone: "Interacting with Wei Wuxian is forbidden". As Lan Wangji threatens to leave Gusu Lan entirely over the new rule, Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui begin to work on a plan with the aid of the Lan juniors.
The beginning of that plan involves getting Wei Wuxian to help guide the juniors in their morning drills. Despite punishments for all involved, including instructors, this becomes a daily occurrence that lasts until Wei Wuxian is assigned official training times and a certain rule is quietly removed.
Similar events occur among the Nie, Jiang and Jin.
The story culminates at the Spring Performances, a chance for sects to demonstrate what they've learned. This year held by the Yao sect, who hold a decidedly "anti-Yiling Laozu" perspective.
I really enjoyed reading the various interactions between Wei Wuxian and his students. The climax of the story is refreshing, and the pre-Performances clash between juniors of the four major sects was pretty funny.