As Qing led them into the kitchen, Wei Jian felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him. It was the sound of Jiao Li's voice humming the century old lullaby while she prepared food. It was something that happened rarely, but it was always felt like a special occasion because it was just for the two of them. In his minds eye, Jian could see his sibling dressed in her traditional garb as she worked over a tower of bamboo steamers. Every few moments she would fan the flames beneath them so the smoke didn't die out. As a child, Jiao Li had been his complete world...until Bai Yue had stolen his heart.
At the look of surprise on her face, Wei Jian felt his chest tighten. Would she accept him being here? Would her promise to the Empress take precedence, and would she send him away? The younger man knew that his sister would never purposefully hurt him; sending him away before had been the only way to protect him, and that meant it could happen again. Yet, he didn't care. Seeing her eyes well with tears as she came to stand before him, Wei Jian knew he'd made the right choice. He'd gone so long without seeing her beautiful face, without hearing the love in her voice. He wanted nothing more than for Lily to know her, even if it was only for a short time.
Wei Jian himself was unaware of just how much emotion could be read in his face as his sister approached, but he could see her own. And when Jiao Li wrapped her arms around him, the younger dragon felt all of the tenseness he'd been carrying evaporate. She smelled and felt like 'home'. He only drew back as he felt Lily's hand detach from his own, and that is when he watched her try to gain his sisters attention with a tug on her apron. The dragon watched silently as his sibling crouched down to the little girls level and ask softly who she was. The smallest of smiles appeared as Jiao Li called the child a 'princess' and she wasn't so far off the mark. That's when Lily did something quite touching, as her tiny hand brushed away one of his sister's tears. Jian reached out to brush against the little girl's hair, "Bai-hé, this is my sister, Jiao Li. Jiao Li, this is my daughter, Bai-hé." Wei Jian prepared himself for an even more shocked expression. It had been 25 years, so it was certainly plausible he would have a child.
Even Qing was waiting for that shock, so she tried to lighten the mood a little by crouching to tell Lily, "Jiao Li is such a mouthful though. I bet she'll let you call her JiLi, Lily. Lots of special people call her that."