Title: In the Light
Fandom: Guardian
Rating: Teen
Length: ~1400
Summary: Wang Hualing gripped the piece of paper with the name of the man she was supposed to find hard enough it was wrinkled and smudged by now, but she'd already memorised every stroke, just in case.

Shen Wei.


Wang Hualing gripped the piece of paper with the name of the man she was supposed to find hard enough it was wrinkled and smudged by now, but she'd already memorised every stroke, just in case.

What do you want to do on the surface, the man who'd helped her come to Haixing had asked. When she'd replied, almost embarrassed, that she'd like to study, he had written the name for her.

Shen Wei, a professor at the university and apparently someone open to helping people like her.

She'd heard of universities. Had dreamt of attending one ever since she learnt such places existed from one of the Haixing novels she'd gotten at a black market.

And there she was now, at the campus—actual, real-life campus, with classrooms and students (even if she was really anxious when there were more people around, sure someone would point out her too-pale skin or ask a simple question that she wouldn't be able to answer)—and headed for the Faculty of Biology. That was all the info she had: name, faculty, and room number.

It'd taken her a week to gather her courage to even come here. She hoped it wouldn't end in finding a closed door, or worse, learning that Shen Wei didn't even exist.

The biology building was big, or at least, she thought it was. She had no idea what the norm was here. No one asked her anything as she entered, which was a relief, but it also left her a bit lost. Still, at least she knew the room number.

It took her a while to localise it—the numbers didn't seem to follow any logical order—and then she stood in front of the wooden door and found herself unable to knock on it.

It was just . . . so much depended on it.

But she'd already made her way to Haixing. This couldn't be more difficult. She knocked.

"Come in," a voice called from the inside.

She took a deep breath and went in.

And froze mid-step.

The man behind the desk was younger than she expected and very, very beautiful, but both of those barely registered in the short moment before she saw the power coursing through him.

Her power wasn't really very useful. Before coming to Haixing, she'd assumed she could see the dark energy in others; now she knew the same was true for the light energy in Haixingren.

The man in front of her had both.

But that was impossible. How—

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Wang Hualing nodded, shaken. He seemed okay—pale, but so was she—but the maelstrom of energy inside him looked painful. Was he of Dixing himself? Is that what could happen if she stayed too long? Was he of Haixing, attacked somehow?

Or were her powers just unreliable in Haixing's sun?

"I—yes," she said. "Professor Shen?"

He nodded and smiled, encouraging her to speak up.

"I was told to find you," she said. She stepped further into the room. "I'm Wang Hualing. I'm . . ." I'm from Dixing, she wanted to say, but the words stuck in her throat. There were a few pieces of advice she'd gotten before coming here, and the most important one was: never tell anyone where you're really from. Instead, she lifted her hand and briefly summoned dark energy to her. It was more difficult here than in Dixing and she'd never had that good of a control over energy manipulation anyway, but she only needed to show him for a second to make him understand.

"Ah," he said. "Of course. Let's take a walk and talk, shall we?"

He led her back outside the building—it took way shorter to reach the exit when you knew the way, it turned out—and, as they stepped into the warm afternoon sun, he angled his head just so for a brief moment, smiling almost imperceptibly.

So he was from Dixing too. That moment of surprise at seeing the sun was all too familiar.

She didn't say anything, not until they reached a small park—still in the campus! It was amazing—and he sat on a bench, gesturing for her to do the same.

She'd rather have talked in his office, in a safely enclosed space. She felt insecure, out in the open like that, but he must've had his reasons for taking her here.

"University applications open in a three months," he said. "Depending on your field of interest and what you know already, you might try applying then, but it is soon. Waiting a year could help you acclimatize to being here. Either way, I can check your documents before you submit them." He turned to look at her, and there was something in his eyes, kind and understanding, that let her relax. "Tell me about yourself."

She did, surprised at herself even as she talked. She didn't like strangers, but Professor Shen was friendly and welcoming. She told him about her mum teaching her how to read and write and then giving her all the books she could find. She told him about the oppressive night of Dixing and the first time she'd seen a postcard from Haixing and learnt that the picture on it was real, that there was a world with a blue sky; how she'd learnt about universities and hospitals and public libraries and all the things that didn't exist in Dixing.

She even told him the part of her plan that she hadn't shared with anyone before: that once she'd experienced it all for herself, she wanted to go back to Dixing; help make it better.

"Not many people want to do that," he said quietly when he heard it.

She shrugged. "I've been here for a week and I can't blame them. The sun—the air—" She still didn't have the words for them. "But Dixing still is home."

"Admirable," Professor Shen said. "I hope you succeed in your goals."

She ducked her head. "Thank you."

"I should thank you," he replied. "Those are noble plans."

"I couldn't—why do you help people like me?" It didn't really make sense that he'd risk like that. "You don't even want money."

"I believe that everyone should have access to education," he said calmly.

"How do you avoid him, then?" she asked, because that was important, too.

"Him?"

She lowered her voice. "Lord Envoy."

"From what I've gathered, he won't track you down unless you harm anyone. You came here to see the sun and to study. Could anyone argue that's wrong?"

She couldn't believe how naïve he sounded—but then, he had been here for years. He clearly knew what he was doing.

"But it is illegal. I don't—I don't think it's fair he's the only one allowed to come here."

Professor Shen locked eyes with her. "You're right. It's not."

"Shen Wei!" a male voice reached them.

The pure warmth that seeped into Professor Shen's expression at that was almost too much to look at. He stood up as another man his age jogged up to them, so Wang Hualing stood, too.

She should've stayed sitting, she thought, once she took a good look at the newcomer and had to cover her shock. He was clearly of Haixing, but there was dark energy mixed in with his, too—or no, not mixed in, but around him, as if . . . protecting him?

She looked at that, looked at Professor Shen's energy, at the way the both of them smiled at one another, and wondered if she'd gotten it all wrong when she thought the light and dark energy inside Professor Shen looked painful. Maybe it was a consensual exchange, like . . . Like a marriage ceremony. Dixingren and Haixingren used to live together; who's to say there weren't old traditions dating to those times?

"Zhao Yunlan," Professor Shen was saying, "what are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't it be me asking that?" the man, Zhao Yunlan, pointed a lollipop of all things at Professor Shen. "You said you'd be at your office."

"Ah. Right." Professor Shen looked at Wang Hualing. "My student needed some help and we decided to step outside."

Wang Hualing tried not to show her surprise. Professor Shen had seemed friendly, yes, but she didn't expect him to lie for her.

"Right. It is a nice day. Okay, I'll wait, no rush—"

"No, we're done for now," Professor Shen told him. He looked at Wang Hualing. "Please think about what we talked about and come back when you decide."

"Yes, Professor Shen. Thank you." She bowed at him and at his friend and walked away, resisting the urge to look back. She had more questions, but they could wait.

Professor Shen didn't doubt she could make it into the university, and that gave her hope.