Winter Moon | Xiao x Fem Reader

Graveyard of memories

You woke up gasping, lungs burning and your heart beating fast. What was the dream you just had? You tried to think back on it but you couldn't remember anything. You knew it had to do with the time you held your position as a god, but anything specific just slipped your mind.

You clutched your chest with a whimper. It hurt like hell. It felt like there was a fire being lit up in your lungs and burning you from inside out. You tried breathing through the pain as sweat dripped down your face in droplets, your eyes filled with tears that you refused to allow to spill.

The moment you stopped thinking about that peculiar dream though, the pain stopped as it had started; suddenly and without a warning. You let out a huge breath in relief. What had just happened? Why did it happen? The questions were buzzing in your head.

It was just resurfacing memories you guessed. After all, today was the anniversary of Ah-ma's passing and you wanted to visit her. You hadn't been able to do so in over a few centuries and the guilt ate you up. You'd mull over that damned dream another time.

---

The gates of the graveyard were just a few steps away, the tips of the gravestones peeking from their enclosure. You clutched the small bouquet of flowers in your trembling hand as you took a deep breath to calm yourself.

The Qingce cemetery wasn't big but it was taken care of grandly. There were fresh flowers surrounding every gravestone, hung on the gates and the stone walls.

You knew there was no way the gravestones from 3000 years ago would still stand today but you couldn't simply not visit one of the most important people in your life.

Ah-ma's grave wasn't really Ah-ma's anymore but her body was somewhere under this earth and that was enough for you. What you didn't expect to see though was the back of a certain someone, standing over her once grave with a bouquet of his own in his hand.

"Xiao?" You asked tentatively, watching as he turned around, startled. "What are you doing here?"

"O-oh, uhm-" he stuttered uncharacteristically, unsure of what to say before he exhaled in surrender. "I was just visiting some... people," he said but his eyes refused to meet yours.

You stood beside him in front of the gravestone, staring down at it. The name on it was one you didn't recognise.

"What a coincidence, huh? That we both have someone to mourn in the same cemetery." You tried to smile at him but as you turned to him you saw the way his eyes were downcast, heavy with what you recognised as sadness. Your chest constricted at the scene.

"Here," you reached into your bouquet and pulled out a qingxin. You waited for him to look at you lest you startle him by touching him out of nowhere and reached your hand out, placing the flower in his hair. "They say the smell of qingxin is very relaxing. So you can keep this one to keep the unwanted thoughts from your head."

He only looks at you quietly, eyes blown wide. Instead of the comfort you wished to bring him though, his eyes become more sorrowful, features falling in a defeated look.

"I-I'm sorry. Did I do something wrong? I apolo-" Your hand that was still in his hair pulled away, still clutching the flower, but your words were cut off when he caught your wrist in his hand and brought it to his head again, his breath ghosting on the inside of it.

"No," his breath was hot on your skin, "You just reminded me of someone." You placed the qingxin back in his hair, smiling ever so slightly, ignoring the way your body shuddered under his watchful gaze.

"Is it that person you told me about? The special one?" You asked him in a quiet voice, ignoring the unfamiliar pang in your chest.

"Yes, her favourite flower used to be qingxin." His voice was low and far away, probably reminiscing about that person you guessed.