a/n: today's chapter is from Yixing's point of view. there will be a lot of conevrsation so I hope you don't mind it. enjoy and don't you lose control ^^

Ever since the day you left my fate's been set unknown.

How many years to walk this path alone?

So much to see tonight, so why'd you close your eyes?

Why can't I shut mine?

Is it something we did?

Is it something we did to them?

Is it something we did?

Save me. I'm trapped in a vile world; where the endings are the same as every other

We're only here to die.

Save me. I'm losing my only dream.

I can use some guiding light, some place to go.

If you hear me let me know, if you hear me let me know.

(Avenged Sevenfold - Save Me)

Yixing walks faster when he finally reaches the front of The Palace of Heavenly Purity. This is the residence of the Emperor, and since His Majesty still can't get up from his bed, so the meeting will take place at His Majesty's residence. He even almost runs, being impatient to see his long lost brother. He's been waiting for this day to come, the day when he will see Yifan after eleven years. Actually he knows that if he acts this way, there would be some friction between his other brothers, moreover Lu Han and Yifan. But he hates none, holds grudges to none, so he definitely has a reason to greet Yifan warmly.

And there he is, the second prince of Forbidden City. There is a foreigner with red hair whom Yixing assumes Yifan's wife.There's also a pretty cute little girl, whom he assumes Yifan's daughter. Yifan tilts his head to see who's coming, and he smiles softly to panting Yixing. The younger is still trying to catch his breath because he ran. He smiles brightly to his brother as he bows, showing some respect.

"I, the third prince, Prince Yixing, have come to welcome Your Highness, the second prince, Prince Yifan and the Lady, as well as the Princess," Yixing says.

"I, the second prince, Prince Yifan, humbly thank Your Highness, the third prince, Prince Yixing," Yifan replies. When he lifts his head, Yixing does the same. They both smile to each other. "Long time no see, Yixing. I just found out that your wife is pregnant, so congratulations."

"Yeah, thank you very much, gege," Yixing says. "I am sorry for being rude but may I assume that the women here are your family?"

The red-haired lady bows. "Yes, Your Highness. I am Prince Yifan's wife, and the little girl here is our daughter."

It's not really a surprise to see Yifan marry some foreigner. After all, the Yifan whom Yixing knew before was fluent in English. When the Emperor paid a visit to English speaking countries, the one who accompanied His Majesty was Yifan. As a crown prince, Lu Han also learned English, but it's just that none could beat Yifan's intelligence in linguistic. His pronunciation is perfect, like a real foreigner. Now that he married a foreigner, he must have been seeing no problem at communicating with his wife. And judging by the way his wife talked, Yifan must have taught her mandarin. They look good together, and the daughter makes the picture perfect.

Just, Yixing thinks his elder brother broke the law.

They hear some footsteps behind Yixing. When they check on it, it was Zitao. As Yixing expected, Zitao's eyes show spme unfriendliness and it makes the former uneasy. It's not like Yixing doesn't know that Yifan can't notice; of course he notices and he understands why. Once you or your clan makes a mistake, it will be remembered forever, even the history will tell about it. Also, what else can Yifan do? It had happened anyway.

Zitao only bows a little and says a few words. "Welcome back to Forbidden City, Prince Yifan," and with that, he lifts his head before Yifan could even bow back.

"Tao, that's rude to your brother!" Yixing yells.

Zitao snorts. "You're still so naive, Yixing? Now that he's back, you're no longer the second place in queue of the throne. You should be mad at him," he hisses lowly, but Yifan somehow could hear it.

"Tao! It is not about the throne!" Yixing murmurs harshly. "Please, ask for apology."

"I'm doing nothing wrong."

Yixing knows better than to argue. Taking a deep breath, he bows to Yifan. "I am sorry, it seems like Prince Zitao is tired," he says. He feels relieved when he sees Yifan's smile.

"I don't mind," Yifan says. "Prince Zitao, I heard you now are the commander of the army. I know it might be too late, but congratulations on your promotion. I wish you happiness and prosperity."

"Uh, thanks," Zitao replies awkwardly. Yixing has to giggle seeing this.

Yixing and Zitao are so tense when they hear another footstep. Seeing how tense his younger brothers are, Yifan immediately knows who's coming. Yixing and Zitao know very well that it's Lu Han's; they're close enough to recognise the rhythm of each other's footstep. They all set their sight on Lu Han who brings his first wife, as if they were real emperor and empress. Yifan, Yixing, and Zitao bow to him.

"Welcome, Crown Prince and Princess," they say.

When Yixing and Zitao lifts their heads, Yifan and his family are still bowing to Lu Han.

"I, the second prince, Prince Yifan, give regards to the Crown Prince and Princess, as I have come back to the Forbidden City," Yifan says.

Lu Han and his wife bow back. "I, the Crown Prince of The Forbidden City, welcome you back, the second prince, Prince Yifan, and the lady, as well as the Princess," Lu Han replies as he and his wife lifts their heads, and Yifan and his family do the same. "Welcome back, Yifan. We all have been waiting for this day to come."

Now, Yifan is on his knees. The others, including his wife and younger brothers are surprised to see that. Lu Han somehow knew it was going to happen, so he remains calm. His wife kneads his sleeve, as a sign of worry, so he takes her hand on his and gives her an assuring look. She lets go of his sleeve when Yifan begins to speak up.

"Forgive me, Crown Prince, for I have sinned! It was my fault, it was all my fault, that my mother committed crime towards you eleven years ago. It was my incapability to stop her from doing so. I know I don't deserve to receive your apology, but I am truly sorry for what happened. I wish you and your family a long life, Crown Prince," Yifan says loudly. "Long live, long live, long live the Crown Prince Han!"

Without Yifan knowing, Lu Han squats in front of him, smiling softly. "Please lift your head, Prince Yifan. Let me see your face," he says. When Yifan does so, he continues, "I have forgiven you long ago. You were never at fault, you know that. Your mother was the one at fault, but I even have forgiven her. Please, do not feel uncomfortable with me, do not feel guilty anymore. Now that you're back, we're brothers again, aren't we? We're always brothers, together with Yixing and Zitao. We're still and always invincible together."

Yifan doesn't cry, but he's touched by Lu Han's words. He nods, saying thank you to Lu Han for many, many times before Lu Han asks him to stop and stand up. Yifan's wife and daughter bow to Lu Han, and the latter does the same. He then takes a few steps back to his wife. His wife takes his hand in hers, as a payback for before, and Lu Han thinks it is such a good day... somewhat.

Yixing goes to the Royal Household's place to brew some dried tangerine peel. His wife still feels nausea so he, as a caring husband ever, initiates to make some friendly medicine from herbs to reduce the nausea vomiting. He has asked the herbalist to bring good dried tangerine peels to the Forbidden City. He even asked the herbalist to let him make the medicine for the emperor. Of course, Yixing also asked the herbalist to supervise him. The other days, the herbalist has taught him about the herbs used in the Emperor's medicine and how to brew it. So that's why, he joins the herbalist to make those medicines today.

When Yixing arrived, the herbalist is already there, brewing some medicine. Yixing thinks that it's weird since the herbalist promised to brew the medicine together with him, so why he's making one now? Judging from the herbs, it seems like the herbalist is making another medicine. This triggers Yixing's curiosity. He decides to ask; he's always up for new knowledge of herbology after all.

"What medicine are you making?" Yixing asks the herbalist abruptly.

The herbalist flinches. He stutters, "I... um..."

Yixing raises his eyebrows. The herbalist tries to cover the herbs he's doing, and Yixing thinks it is really unusual. He drags the herbalist out of his way, to see the herbs clearly. He sees the familiar herbs, the ones he had learned. There are cinnabar, golden thread rhizome, liquorice root that has been roasted, and two other roots he recognises as rhemania and angelica root. Wait, he has read the formula before. He tries hard to recall, thanks to his forgetful habit... but somehow he gets an idea. He looks at the herbalist in anger before pulling his collar harshly.

"Whose medicine is it?" he asks loudly.

The herbalist doesn't dare look at the prince, moreover to answer.

"I won't make your life easier if you don't answer me," Yixing says. "You can lie about who the person is, but if you dare lie to me, you know what the consequences are."

The law says that the Royal Household members cannot lie to the Royal Family. Keep things secret is an option, but this time, Yixing needs an answer. The herbalist knows very well than to hide the truth, because sooner or later, Yixing would find out anyway. After all, he is the herbalist for the Royal Family exclusively, so the one who consumes the medicine must be one of the Royal Family members. When he promises to give a name, Yixing releases him.

The herbalist takes a deep breath.

"It is Crown Prince."

Yixing runs fast to Lu Han's chamber. In no time, he arrives at the said chamber. Not caring to announce his arrival to Lu Han's eunuch, he storms in. Lu Han is there, lying on his bed, with his two wives around him, wiping his sweat and giving some fresh air from the hand fan. Noticing the Crown Prince's brother's arrival, Lu Han's second wife approaches him.

"I am sorry, Prince Yixing, my husband is now not in a good condition," she says apologetically.

Yixing shakes his head. "I need to talk with His Highness. Only the two of us alone."

Before the second wife could answer, the first wife does it instead. "I cannot allow that, Prince Yixing. Crown Prince is sick right now."

"That's why I need to talk to him!" Yixing almost yells. "Please. I promise it won't be long. I'll look after him when I talk to him."

Lu Han's wives exchange look at each other before reluctantly agree. They leave the chamber, and Yixing walks closer to get a clear look of Lu Han. He takes a seat on the edge of the bed, gazing at his brother sadly. Lu Han is struggling with himself, as he frowns and the sweat rolls all over his forehead. Just when Yixing cups his hands, Lu Han gasps, his eyes are open, and Yixing knows he has overcome the nightmare. The third prince still gazes at him sadly when the crown prince realises who's on his side.

"Yixing? Why are you here? Where are my wives?" Lu Han asks after he catches his breath.

Yixing pulls Lu Han into a hug, and the latter can somewhat feels calm. Yixing's hugs are always calming like this, even Zitao acknowledges it. Yixing doesn't cry, but Lu Han notices that he's trembling, so he pulls out. Yixing gives him the towel; he knows that Lu Han only allows his wives to wipe his sweats, so he lets the crown prince to wipe it himself. Yixing exhales, looking away.

"How long?" Yixing asks.

"What about?" Lu Han replies.

Yixing's eyes are on Lu Han's. "How long have you been suffering from insomnia?"

Lu Han pauses. He stops wiping his sweat; it is no longer a problem. "How do you--oh, the herbs?" he chuckles after receiving a nod as a reply. "From that night when His Majesty fell ill, I guess."

"What else do you experience other than insomnia?" Yixing stares outside the window.

Lu Han takes a few seconds before responding. "Hm... I don't know, but is fast heartbeat counted? The palpitations are continuous, too. I don't know, really. I can't tell exactly."

Yixing nods. "When you were sleeping earlier... I saw frowns on your forehead. Not to mention the sweat. Why is that?"

Judging from Yixing's tone, Lu Han knows that Yixing already finds out the answer. So, he plainly says, "It was a nightmare." He is telling the truth. It was the same nightmare he has been having these days. He doesn't know why but his sleep is disturbed.

"Do you constantly have nightmares lately?" Yixing asks again.

Lu Han can't help but think that Yixing's instinct is animal-like, almost the same with Zitao's.

"Yeah, every night," Lu Han says. "Wait, what do you assume? I thought I'm just suffering from insomnia?"

Yixing's stare is back at Lu Han. The latter flinches when he sees the sadness in the former's eyes. Those eyes which as if saying that it is not true; it is something bigger. Lu Han doesn't know what to do and how to react if that said something bigger is a serious matter. He doesn't even get a courage to look back at Yixing.

"Without you knowing, Lu Han," Yixing starts, "you're suffering from a disease called panic attack."

a/n: I usually update the chapters two hours faster than this but you see, I was hectic this week, so hectic that I fell sick and today I got work to do. I could somehow make it. Forgive me for the two hours late update (I believe that in other part of the world today is still Sunday though lol). I am also sorry for the shorter chapter than the previous one was. I hope you understand >.< so, I can't really promise whether I could update a chapter next Sunday or not because for the next week I will be hectic again. Work, ugh, but anything for money lol. But I'll try. If there's no new update on the next Sunday then it would mean that I can't leave the workload. I hope this chapter is interesting though? yeah. Thank you for visiting! ^^