Title: Wait for Me
Fandom: Word of Honor
Pairing: Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu
Rating: R - not for smut, but for the content warnings below.
Length: 2,345
Content notes: SPOILERS for all of Word of Honor. Mentions of blood, drinking, death, and grief.
Author notes: written for Challenge: Reunion. / Canon Divergent AU that makes a mess of the timeline! :D
Summary: Did you wait for me? Zhou Zishu thought and sheathed his sword.

If no one had come for him, this deep into the Ghost Valley, then it was because there were no ghosts left to fight.


--

Did you wait for me? Zhou Zishu thought, someone else’s blood on his skin and sword in hand as he made his way through the empty paths of Qingya Mountain.

No ghosts came down to greet him and no ghosts came down to strike him down.

Behind him, nothing but silence and shattered promises to a man who would have broken Zhou Zishu himself if it meant keeping him. Nothing but bodies of those who tried to stop him from leaving and doing what his heart demanded him to do.

Here, now, all Zhou Zishu could feel or hear was the panting of his own breath.
Did you wait for me?

It had taken longer than Zhou Zishu had expected. He knew he would—they would—need time to make this work. The pieces would not fall into place without careful planning and thought; such were the ways of revenge.

Zhou Zishu wondered what would have happened to him if things were different. If they had not met again when they did. If they had not realized who they were to each other. If they had not decided to put an end to the root of their pain and regret.

Would Zhou Zishu have left Tian Chuang alive? Would he have left at all?

Would he have condoned himself to a slow death by driving seven nails into his body if it meant a few years of freedom?

Zhou Zishu didn’t like to think about it.

For the first time in quite a long time, he had other things on his mind.


**


This cannot become a habit, Zhou Zishu thought as he drank the last of his wine and sat in one of the dark rooms of Siji Manor. No matter how easy it makes for you to forget.

Zhou Zishu wished to forget. Yet here he was, reaping the consequences of his own actions.

It was impossible to ignore the pattern once the blood, once again, soaked through Zhou Zishu’s robes. People died around him, yes, but not at this rate and not when they were someone Zhou Zishu swore to protect.

Every week, another flower Zhou Zishu painted red.

Every week, another one of his men dead.

It was not a coincidence. Zhou Zishu knew his own power and abilities and knew that of the men he trained. For them to be picked off like this, one by one until their numbers lowered? It was done by someone’s hand, someone’s will, and someone’s word.

Zhou Zishu’s mouth twitched up in a bitter smile.

There was only one man powerful enough to do it. There was only one man with enough influence over Tian Chuang and its people whose orders would not be questioned. Not even by Zhou Zishu himself.

Or so it had been.

There were questions now. Questions Zhou Zishu didn’t need to ask because he already knew the answer to them: a man whose people were dead would cling to the only person left breathing.

So it was time to put a stop to it.


**


Did you wait for me? Zhou Zishu thought and sheathed his sword.

If no one had come for him, this deep into the Ghost Valley, then it was because there were no ghosts left to fight.

Zhou Zishu ignored the pain of his sore muscles and bruised body and kept walking. Instead, he clung to the flicker of hope that sparked in his gut and went to find his heart.

Maybe their plan had worked, if the Ghost Valley was no more.

Maybe their plan had worked, if what was left of Tian Chuang was no more.

Maybe their plan had worked, if the rumors Zhou Zishu heard about the fall of the Five Lakes Alliance were true.

Did you wait for me?

They had agreed to meet here after it was all said and done. Their goals differed, and so did their means, but one’s quest served to further the other’s. Revenge was revenge was revenge and Zhou Zishu and his heart knew its bitter taste very well.

Zhou Zishu took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Ahead of him: red.


**


I know you, Zhou Zishu thought when his eyes caught sight of a man walking through the bustling market.

The man towered over others, his long brown hair shining almost gold under the sunlight, and his eyes scanned the street as if looking for someone. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry. Not with the hold he leisurely held a white fan in between slender fingers and stopped to buy some sweets.

I know you, Zhou Zishu thought again as he observed him. I know those hands.

Zhou Zishu took a stumbling step forward despite himself. He had been drinking again, as he did while trying to ignore the grief that threatened to choke him and focused instead on assembling a plan to end Tian Chuang and take his remaining man with him, but there was no denying the recognition that stabbed him right in the chest.

He thought those hands dead like the rest of Healer Valley, rotting on a field beyond his reach and gone with time. Zhou Zishu had been too young to do something about it, anything, but he never forgot his Master’s biggest failing and worst regret.

“I know you,” Zhou Zishu said while he put himself on the path of a ghost.

Said ghost stopped short of Zhou Zishu, grip flexing around his fan, and smiled. “Do you? I don’t believe I would’ve forgotten such a beauty if we’d met before.”

Zhou Zishu reached for him.

Zhen Yan side-stepped away from him with no effort. He made it seem like a dance, even, with his graceful movements and smile not leaving him face. Zhou Zishu wanted to smile back, but not when he felt like his heart was in his throat.

“If you want to be that familiar with me, you’ll need to buy me a meal first,” Zhen Yan said.

“I will buy you however many meals you want,” Zhou Zishu promised.

Zhen Yan raised an eyebrow and let out a small laugh. “So forward. Tell me, who do I have to thank for such kindness?”

Zhou Zishu was never one to think too deeply about the consequences of his own actions.

And so he said, “I am Zhou Zishu. Your shixiong.”

At once, Zhen Yan’s smile was gone.


**


I love you, Zhou Zishu thought and kept thinking as he walked the final steps up and was reunited with his heart. He wondered if this was what Wen Kexing had looked like the day he claimed the Ghost Valley: bloody and with fire in his eyes.

“A-Xu, you’re filthy,” were the first words out of Wen Kexing’s mouth when he saw Zhou Zishu. He rushed to him, one arm coming down to wrap itself around Zhou Zishu’s waist. “And hurt?”

Zhou Zishu shook his head. “Bruised,” he said, and then let himself smile and bump his forehead against Wen Kexing’s temple so he could lean in and nip at the edge of Wen Kexing’s jaw. “Happy. You waited for me.”


Wen Kexing huffed out a laugh and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Of course I did. Like I’d leave without my A-Xu after so much time spent apart.”

“Three years,” Zhou Zishu said.

“Three years,” Wen Kexing echoed. That was how long it took them to move the pawns into place and enact their revenge the best way they saw fit. “Did you do it?”

Zhou Zishu nodded. Tian Chuang could only exist if it had men. By taking those loyal to him and relocating them to a safe place and killing those who were left, it was done.

“Did you do it?” Zhou Zishu asked, nuzzling Wen Kexing’s cheek.

“Yes,” Wen Kexing murmured and pulled him into a biting kiss. Blood always tasted sweeter when it came from Wen Kexing’s lips.

“Gu Xiang? Luo-yi?” Zhou Zishu prompted after pulling back to catch his breath. Ghost Valley had not been a kind place, but he knew Wen Kexing had not been without a family here.

“Luo-yi would gut you if she heard you call her that.” Wen Kexing grinned and then kissed Zhou Zishu again. “Safe. This was their home, but they understand why it had to be done.”

Lost souls would find better homes than the Valley, they knew. Luo Fumeng and Wen Kexing would make sure of it. Ghost Valley was filled with too much hurt and bad memories. It was time for it to end.

“They helped, didn’t they?”

“You’re not the only one who knows and understands killing, A-Xu,” Wen Kexing reminded him. “You were not the only one with dreams of revenge either.”

Zhou Zishu knew there was a story there, but not one meant for his ears. At least not at this moment. Instead, he held Wen Kexing tight in his arms and kissed him again.

“And Five Lakes?”

Wen Kexing let out a sigh. “What did you hear?”

“Tales of public humiliation and murder,” Zhou Zishu told him. “And something important going missing?”

Wen Kexing grinned at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, A-Xu. I’d never steal anything in my entire life. Not when I have such an attentive husband who loves to spoil me.”

Zhou Zishu snorted. “Lao Wen.”

“A-Xu.”

They stared at each other. They weren’t married, not yet, but it was only a matter of time.

“The Zhang family suffered no casualties,” Zhou Zishu said instead.

Wen Kexing gave him a pointed look and then sighed. “I couldn’t leave him without his family.”

Zhou Zishu blinked. “Who?”

“The youngest son! Such a little idiot. I met him once when I went down to the human world and he tried to be kind to Gu Xiang! Can you imagine?”

“The horror,” Zhou Zishu said dryly.

“So I couldn’t leave him without his family,” Wen Kexing explained. “He didn’t deserve that sort of suffering.”

Zhou Zishu’s gut twisted. Neither did Wen Kexing or himself, but life was not as kind to them.

“We’re here now,” Zhou Zishu said with a soft kiss to the bridge of Wen Kexing’s nose.

“I’m all bloody,” Wen Kexing complained, wrinkling said nose.

“For the last time,” Zhou Zishu said and the words felt heavy between them.

“Yes,” Wen Kexing whispered. “For the last time.”


**


Wen Kexing, Zhou Zishu thought. Wen Kexing.

Wen. Ke. Xing.

That new name suited the person who used to be Zhen Yan.

“Are you going to keep staring at me?” Wen Kexing asked, smiling a little and holding his chin in his hand.

“Are you going to keep staring at me?” Zhou Zishu threw back at him.

Wen Kexing laughed.

At least this meeting was going better than their first. They weren’t in public, for one, but renting a small room at a very fancy inn Wen Kexing was familiar with. Wen Kexing was laughing instead of staring blankly at Zhou Zishu like he’d seen a ghost himself before turning on his heel and disappearing through the crowd.

This was better than their second and third meeting, as well. Those ended in fights and with Wen Kexing spitting blood on the ground as he clutched at his head.

This was better than their fourth meeting. That was the one Zhou Zishu didn’t like to think about. There were tears involved, and hugging, and too many apologies between them.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh time they met, they plotted. It was the thing to do after stitching the pieces of their lives together and the truths and lies that lay in between.

And now…

“I’m going to miss you,” Wen Kexing told him as he made his way towards Zhou Zishu on the bed.

Zhou Zishu sighed and didn’t move away when Wen Kexing pressed tight against his side, even when that pulled at the shallow wound on his arm. Wen Kexing himself still had blood on his hands. The first step of their plan: complete. It only took a little bit of murder and chaos and incriminating people who were not themselves for it to begin.

“We will see each other again,” Zhou Zishu answered, a silent vow between them.

Wen Kexing hummed and leaned in even closer. Zhou Zishu could feel the warmth of his breath ghosting over his shoulder.

“Will you leave me with nothing, A-Xu? Not even the memory of a night together to remember you by?”

“Lao Wen.”

Wen Kexing tilted his head down. His mouth brushed softly over the shell of Zhou Zishu’s ear. “What am I?”

“Lao Wen...”

Wen Kexing closed his teeth around Zhou Zishu’s ear and bit down. Hard. “What am I?”

Zhou Zishu hissed and slapped Wen Kexing’s arm to make him let go. “Lao Wen!”

Wen Kexing let go, but looked rather pleased with himself. “You keep calling my name, but won’t answer me?”

“What do you think you are?” Zhou Zishu asked him instead, holding his ear.

Wen Kexing smiled at him, soft and unlike anything else, and said, “You know.”

Zhou Zishu did.

Zhiji.

So he leaned in and caught Wen Kexing’s mouth in a kiss.


**


You waited for me, Zhou Zishu thought, fingers tangled with Wen Kexing’s as they left the Valley behind.

They had other plans now, but this time not of revenge.

It was time for them to come back to their people now. Jiuxiao, Han Ying and the others, Gu Xiang, Luo Fumeng. They would be waiting for news; either of death or of success.

Zhou Zishu had to admit that planning for living and for life was not something he was used to. He appreciated the challenge.

Zhou Zishu smiled and squeezed Wen Kexing’s hand.

You waited for me.

Wen Kexing turned to him, lips curled up, and squeezed back.

Always.