Someone Else's Memories

Lan Wuxian and his husband Lan Yibo were the first people to give Kim Mitzuki a chance when he came to Liánhuā Hú around nine months ago. For Kim Mitzuki it's a night that will ever remain etched in his pastel heart. Once he'd recovered enough to communicate coherently, Kim Mitzuki was told how these two men saved him from the streets and probably himself.

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(Story as told to Kim Mitzuki by Lan Wuxian)

The torrential downpours had swept into the region a few days before we found you and it'd brought a scathing, desolate wind. The kind that makes you feel like it's slicing you a thousand times through your skin to your bones and no matter how many layers you're wearing it freezes your marrow solid. The kind of cold that encourages most people to stay indoors and cuddle in front of the fireplace or, if you're unlucky enough to have to be outside for even a short a trip as from your front door to the letterbox and back, it was the bitter kind of cold that would encourage hypothermia.

Yeah, it was that type of cold that swept in fiercely and looked like it was planning to stay for a while.

Lan Zhan and I saw what we thought was a huge bag in the doorway of a store we used to go from across the street. Me being so curious as I am I brought it to Lan Zhan's notice. My wonderful husband didn't hesitate to agree because both of us felt like something was wrong. Crossing the street carefully in the rain to the doorway where the bag was but as we got closer we found there was a scrawny teenager hiding behind the huge bag and there was something very wrong with them.

Huddling in the doorway of the abandoned department store in the middle of a huge thunder storm we saw a young person, maybe in their mid-teens. What would have previously been brightly coloured hair had faded badly and grown out and the person's hair was dirty, greasy and matted. The person we saw was curled up as small as possible, trying to shield themselves with a duffel bag from the bitter night, the teenager didn't have a jacket or even a skivvy on.

We observed for a little while, wondering if you were going to be picked up by someone, maybe you were waiting for a friend or something but we realized as we looked at the pitiful sight that something bad had happened to make this young person end up here on this freezing night and we understood without speaking that we would be taking you home with us.

I assessed the teenager who was shivering violently behind the oversize bag for what might be wrong and the shivering was not entirely because of the weather but also because you were running a dangerously high fever as well. Lurking around you was the rancid smell that had to be an infection running wild in your body, indicating there was at least one large wound and also let us know you hadn't bathed in a while either.

You probably won't remember but I introduced both Lan Zhan and I, even when I sincerely doubted you would even know I was speaking to you, "I'm Lan Wuxian and this is Lan Yibo. We're out walking together and we saw you here. Are you okay?" When you looked up at us with eyes as vacant and emotionless as mine were from that time...

We agreed the teenager in front of us had obviously been abused and broken. You hadn't eaten a full meal in a really long time since all your clothes hung loose on you and we could see your collarbones, you looked skeletal. Visible scrapes and bruises on your huddled frame hadn't healed and they were infected, you were delirious with fever and hallucinations. I was worried you didn't have anyone to care for you or to bring you back from the place that's as dark as it gets like I had my Lan Zhan to save me.

Lan Zhan saves me every day and I know he will always catch me if I fall. We are here now and we will catch you if you fall.

"You can't tell him where I am. You CAN'T tell him where I am! He will take me, he will find me, he will kill me when he finds me, he can't find me - he CAN'T find me!! You won't tell him will you? Please don't tell him you found me or he's going to kill me! Don't let him see you talking to me, if he see's you talking to me he will hurt you - he will kill you! Stay away!! Stay away from me, nobody can help..." Your voice was hoarse and it cracked as you fell into a panic attack.

I crouched down and helped bring you down from your panic attack because you were hyperventilating - your body was shaking so hard I thought any minute you'd fall to pieces. Lan Zhan stood with the umbrellas open for us and heard me promise that you would be safe now, you'd be safe and we wouldn't let anyone find you because we are the only two people who know where you are and I promised that you would be safe for as long as you want to stay with us.

Me and Lan Zhan didn't even need to look at each other to know what we were going to do. Since we moved to Lotus Lakes we got a reputation for taking in 'strays' as the locals call them, everyone knows that we Lan's take in broken people, heal them and help them. I knew we were going to adopt you as soon as I saw you shivering behind that huge bag of yours and that we were going to protect you from whatever it is that hurt you so badly, from whatever caused your eyes to look so lifeless.

What we didn't know at the time is how far away from home you were - the many, many hundreds of miles from the place you used to call home but we sorta knew you didn't know anyone local or else you'd be inside somewhere warm instead of out in the bitter freezing cold, dying on the sidewalk.

Once you had calmed down and let Lan Zhan give you spiritual energy enough to be coherent and understand enough for us to move you to safety, to get you out of the weather, I'd picked you up with one hand under your legs and the other supporting your back. I know I frowned at how light you were because I remember my husband asking what was wrong. I shook my head and moved closer to him, he'd taken his overcoat off and placed it carefully over you being lifted in my arms before collecting the duffel from the doorway where it was leaning.

My wonderful husband adjusted the umbrella and after wrapped his other arm on my waist to keep me steady while we walked back to Wàng Jī Lǚdiàn, our home.