She's sitting outside with nothing but a single lit candle and Goutou for company, and doesn't notice when he open the door and stops to look at her. He's surprised that she decided to sit here by herself instead of showing up at their door like usual.

"Princess?" He asks, and she jumps at the sound of his voice, not expecting anyone to walk in on her. "What are you doing out here?" His daughter stares at him for a second, then she shrugs, not answering at all. Whatever it is, he's gonna have to guess is he wants to know.

"Couldn't sleep?" A nod. "Bad dreams?" Another nod. "About what?" She doesn't answer, turning to look at the stars once more, but she scuttles to the side to open space for him to join her, if he decides to. Mo Ran kneels, and takes the offered seat, pulling her closer to him.

He waits for any indication that she'll bring up whatever it is she dreamt about, but knowing she probably won't. It's funny, how she is so alike Chu Wanning in that regard, preferring to keep quiet instead of saying what's wrong. Both preferring to suffer in silence.

She, however, is easier to coax than Chu Wanning. All she needs is a little nudge to know she's safe to put away whatever walls she decided to raise. Like he and Mo-zongshi tended to do with their husband, he decides to open up first. "I had a bad dream, too."

That gets his daughter to look at him, curious. "Did you?" She asks, and he nods in response. "About what?" Taxian-jun closes his eyes for a second, then sighs. "About things that happened once. About things I don't want to happen at all." "Bad things?" "Bad things." He confirms.

At that, his daughter makes a sound he knows means she's thinking, probably comparing her own nightmare to his, to decide if it's worth mentioning. He gives a little nudge. "What are your bad dreams about, princess?" He asks, hoping she'll feel comfortable enough to share.

Just like Chu Wanning, she has the habit of dismissing any feelings that she feels might inconvenience someone else. "My bad dreams are about things I don't want to happen." She says, using his very words to describe it. Taxian-jun hums, petting her hair as he waits for her to

continue. "Baba?" "Yes, princess?" "Will you not want me anymore one day?" The question is so unexpected that it has him speechless for a while, unsure of where it came from. "What? Of course we will always want you, my princess." He moves to turn her to face him, making sure

she can see he's being honest. "Me, your a-die, we'll always want you. We love you." "Are you sure?" She asks, and it takes Taxian-jun everything in him to keep his composure as he meets her eyes. His daughter was a beautiful thing, looking enough like both of them that one could

look at her and be reminded either of him or of Chu Wanning without much effort. Not unlike what he imagines his husband looked like while young, and with dark purple eyes that remind him of himself. "I'm sure. As long as we're alive, we will always want you," he kisses her

forehead. "Do you promise?" His daughter asks. "I promise we will always want you." He responds with the same intensity he wished he had heard growing up. With the same sincerity he wishes Chu Wanning could have heard in his life. With the love of someone who'd never let his own

child ever doubt the love her family felt for her. With her in his arms, Taxian-jun lets her hide in the crook of his neck, talking to her and hoping she'd fall back asleep again. "It's that what you dreamed about?" he asks, hearing a drowsy mhmm in return. "It was only a bad

dream, then." Taxian-jun reassures her, moving to stand up with her in his arms. "Do you want to go back to your bed?" He's already pushing Goutou back inside and closing the door behind them, waiting for her answer as she thinks about it. "I want to sleep with you and diedie."

Taxian-jun hums, but doesn't say anything else, simply walking towards his room with her. "This way I know diedie and baba won't disappear when I'm not looking" she adds before yawning one last time. When Taxian-jun lies her between him and Chu Wanning, then lies down to hold

both of them in his arms, he promises they'll always be there, no matter what. It's a promise to her, and a reminder to himself. And that's something no nightmare could convince him otherwise.

~~🌸~~ I'm cheeeeeeesy

@Goth_Wanning HIS BABY IS HIS EVERYTHING 🥺 He'll never let her forget it 🥺