Guest: Thank you!

This is it. Thank you so much to everyone who followed, favorited, left a review, or even just read this. It really encouraged me to stay motivated throughout the journey. Hopefully you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I'm definitely going to write a little story for Amber's birthday (8/10) but aside from that, I think a break is in order lol. Again, thank you for reading.

Paimon smirked.

Amber grinned back, complete with side eying Aether with a look of amusement.

As for the adventurer himself, he remained oblivious to all this, instead focusing on the drink in front of him. An innocent mistake...

"So you see Timmie, that's how your mother and father met!"

"Pffftbhttt!"

Well, now he was DEFINITELY paying attention to the other two. Unfortunately, the contents of the drink were now spilled all over the floor thanks to that statement completely catching Aether off guard. Plus this maneuver resulted in him dropping his glass in shock (though fortunately it survived the floor). Still, he looked at Paimon in absolute horror at what in the world he just heard.

"W-WHAT are you talking about?! Paimon!"

Amber then interjected and proceeded to face the fourth seat that surrounded their table. "Oh absolutely, he was a real looker back in the day!"

"Not you too!"

Both fairy and archer laughed at his reaction to their joke as the blonde went to retrieve a towel and wipe up the mess he made. The fourth chair they had set up was empty, only a week had passed since Aether visited Liyue again, and everything was fine.

Well, mostly everything. As Aether returned to the table, he couldn't help but notice Amber's smile fade.

As for where the trio specifically was? That was a question that did have a simple answer, but one nobody would believe without visiting first. After all, it technically wasn't in Mondstadt, Liyue, or any other region in the land of Teyvat. The truth was that when Aether had gone to Liyue for the gift he was promised, he ended up receiving a bit of a new home. The person responsible for providing him this was actually Madame Ping, another adepti he had met and befriended during his first visit there. After helping her- and a certain Pyro lawyer- Aether was rewarded with something called the Serenitea Pot, a massive pocket dimension that hosted a castle and several islands, now belonging to the adventurer. In the days that had followed, he had returned to Mondstadt, begun to fill it out to make it feel more like a home, and invited Amber in multiple times.

Sadly this gift had limitations of its' own. He wouldn't dare say it out loud, especially not now, but Aether secretly hoped the Serenitea Pot could somehow provide a way for Amber to visit Inazuma while still living in Mondstadt. But that was impossible. At the end of the day, the teapot was just a portal to a temporary haven for him, nothing more. The two would still be separated when he left.

Thinking like this made Aether antsy to change topics. Luckily for him, an idea quickly came.

"Hey Amber, do you think you could help me with target practice again?"

His closest companion jumped in, temporarily ignoring the food in front of her. "Oooh, Paimon can't wait! This is always so much fun!"

The Honorary Knight looked down in an embarrassed grin. She wasn't saying that because he was some kind of a natural at wielding a bow, just the opposite. His continued struggles with the weapon were so great that Paimon (and Amber, though she tried to hide it) were always…entertained, to put it one way. But this was actually Paimon's idea in the first place, for him to learn some archery. Now whether it was because she enjoyed watching Aether struggle or not…that was unclear. But regardless, the Honorary Knight immediately agreed with her for less embarrassing reasons. Inazuma could bring anything with it, there could easily be a time where having a bow was necessary for survival. Since it would be just Aether again, he knew he had to at least learn the basics before leaving. And who better to teach him than Amber?

At this question, the Outright eagerly stood up as the slight frown on her face disappeared. "Sure~"

Aether promptly got up as well and opened the front door of his castle (even as he still felt weird calling it that), allowing for her to walk out first. The two then proceeded to head straight for the east side of the main island, where some training dummies and spare weapons laid strewn about.

It wouldn't occur to Aether until much later that despite her enthusiasm, Paimon purposely stayed indoors.

Grabbing a practice bow, the blonde first checked his surroundings like he had been taught and took a ready stance. Meanwhile the actual archer just examined his movements and made mental notes.

The strangeness of this situation did not go unnoticed by Aether either. After the Windbloom Festival's archery game, he thought he would never use a different weapon, but especially a bow, ever again. Thanks to the teapot being what it was however, it gave him plenty of opportunity where he could actually practice without wasting anybody's time. Plus Amber enjoyed teaching him the finer points of how to wield one too, so it was at least enjoyable for them both.

Aether gripped 'his' wooden weapon fiercely, lined it up with the tip of the training dummy and pulled back in a quick motion, trying his best to mimic Amber. A moment later he released his grip and watched as the arrow hopefully cut through the air and connected.

…In reality, the arrow did indeed fly through the air. But the catch was that it was absolutely no where close to hitting the target, flying off eastward and even failing to stick in the ground, instead choosing to fall horizontally and lie among the grass.

"Aether, you're still making the same mistakes we talked about before." Amber's voice quickly came down as soon as the shot landed. She grabbed his hand that was touching the base of the bow and began working on his fingers. "Your grip is too strong, you have to relax your muscles and let the arrow glide. Also, lower your aim…when I was just starting out, I always found it easier to hit targets at chest level first rather than neck-level. The difference between the two may be slight, but it's important to find the easiest position to accommodate for your center of gravity. Speaking of…" She then looked down at his feet. "Hmm, your positioning is good here…since this is flat terrain, it works. But remember-"

Aether grimly nodded along with all her points. It was a little frustrating knowing that he was continuing to mess up the basics, but he did tell Amber to be honest with her criticism when they first started. Of course, since this was Amber after all, she tried to sugarcoat her words at first, but he noticed that right away, which led to a quick chat and the current situation. Though Aether tried his best to concentrate on what he was being taught, it was admittedly a bit of a challenge when Amber went in for a bit of "hands-on teaching" like she just did. Still, if she was able to put her feelings aside when she corrected him, so could he.

"So are you ready to try again?"

-0-

One of the benefits of the Serenitea Pot, at least in Aether's opinion, was the absolutely amazing view it offered. Just like on the tallest peaks of Liyue, the floating island sat above a layer of clouds and smaller scattered pieces of land. The sky itself seemed to also be in a perpetual state of sunset, meaning the entirely of the realm was covered in a warm light at all times. Satisfying both his adventuring spirit and fondness for a moment of relaxation…Aether smiled at this. Madame Ping was right, this place was made for me. They had finished up today's (largely unsuccessful) training and were now sitting down to relax. At some point during the session, he had noticed that Paimon hadn't come out of the castle yet, probably for obvious reasons.

An amusing thought occurred to him, thinking about the fairy some more. I hope she isn't getting jealous…no, Paimon is too supportive for that.

Sadly, that playful imagination quickly evaporated as he glanced to his right and saw Amber with a melancholy expression. Sadder still, he knew it wasn't the first time this had happened, even for just today. In fact, Aether had caught her frowning more and more on their various dates. And he knew why, of course he did: Every day that passed, every date they went on, everything they did together brought them one reluctant step closer to when he would have to leave for Inazuma. Now that they were at the end of another day, those feelings came back strong.

Aether quietly sighed. At first glance, he thought that not having a hard date set for his departure was a good thing,..but it quickly became obvious that wasn't the case. Simply put, there was no way to know when it would be the last time the couple could see each other. Katheryne could literally ask for him tomorrow and tell him that Zhongli had found a way. He would just have to…accept that and say goodbye to Amber if it happened. The worst part was that there was really nothing he could do about it, going to Inazuma was close to impossible now, he HAD to take any chance he could.

It could be at any time… The adventurer grimaced at the thought. Oh great, now I'm frowning too…

"Aether? Are you ok?"

This time, it was Amber who had noticed his reaction, but she had actually spoken up about it. The 'sunset' didn't hide her eyes from the look of concern she was giving him. Both of them were sitting on a bench (made by Aether of course), on a small lower layer of the main island. Despite being the owner of the realm, he wasn't allowed to actually place anything here out of fear of being so close to the edge. But after a few hours of persuasion, Aether finally convinced Tubby, the Pot's guardian, to grant permission to build one study bench for the two of them on the west side.

And it was on this bench, facing a fake sunset and the sea of clouds below…that this story ends.

"Yeah…I was just thinking about the future…about how many more chances we'll have." The blonde nodded slowly, voicing the uncomfortable truth made it feel all the more present.

"Heh, I was thinking about the same thing." Amber replied. "It's gonna be tough, huh?"

Agreeing again, Aether slid over to his girlfriend and put his arm around her. "It will…but I made a promise with you, and I intend to keep it. Nothing in the world is going to stop me from seeing you again." He tried to project as much confidence as she did when she made an 'impossible' statement.

Amber smiled as she squeezed his hand. Thank the archons. "I know you will, I believe in you!"

A brief silence. Then, "And…if you see Lumine again…please drag her back to Mondstadt for me. I have a lot of questions for her after all."

Getting a slight kick out that, Aether decided to try and use it as a springboard to a bit of a lighter topic. "Of course. And how long will the questioning take?"

"Oh a couple of days, I'm sure! And it's not just me. Diluc, Kaeya, and Jean will all have a LOT to ask her. Not to mention Lisa might hear a bit of what's happened and help out as well."

Lumine has to answer for a lot huh? Aether silently laughed, this was almost enough to make him temporarily forget that his sister was the leader of the Abyss, the way they were talking about scolding her like one would give to a young child.

"Well then, I'll definitely bring her back now. But first…" Aether embraced Amber with a sudden hug, he just couldn't resist her warmth any longer. However, unlike the one at Angel's Share, he didn't immediately release this time. Unfortunately (or perhaps very fortunately) Amber also didn't have her back to the bench at the time, which mean there was nothing to fall back on. Noticing this a bit too late, Aether stuck his right arm out to brace them against any impact. With some luck, his hand would hold up them both and allow the two to calmly separate after.

…

…

It didn't work. In a interlocked heap, the two landed on the seat part of the bench with a light thud, almost as if Aether had been pushed from behind onto Amber.

Opening his eyes slowly, all the boy could see from his point of view was the Outrider looking back up at him with her golden eyes and back lying across the bench. On the other hand, her legs were still in the position of somebody sitting down normally. As a result of this, her waist was raised to one side, making it look like quite uncomfortable. Aether saw to quickly rectify this (as well as get them out of this awkward position), so after whispering a word of apology to her, he began to slowly push himself off the seat.

…Or that was the plan anyway, but Amber wrapped her arms around his chest when she saw that he pulling away.

"A-Amber? What are you-"

"Shhh…just for a bit longer. If you want to…" Surprisingly, Amber looked pleased with herself, almost as if she knew what he was going to do before even sliding over.

He felt a grin grow across his face as he stopped pushing. She had adapted to his accident quickly and was now using it against him. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he brought over her to the teapot today, but he had no reason to complain.

If Paimon was here, I wonder what she'd say… Chuckling to himself some more, he looked back down and moved around on the bench to adjust their positions.

Now, Amber twisting her hips like that was doing no favors. So instead of continuing to raise his body away from her, Aether extended himself length-wide, raised his left knee up from the seat, and proceeded to spread out his own legs slightly. Of course, this meant that the only parts of his body now holding him up were his left arm, right arm, and right leg, so he silently prayed for Amber to hurry before he went tumbling down again. Luckily, all of his movements provided the necessary hints for her…and soon enough, Aether saw her legs land on the bench and go underneath his body.

Unbeknownst to him since they were still around his back, Amber's own hands were currently removing her gloves. It took a bit longer due to the lack of vision, but eventually they were off and proceeded to get absentmindedly tossed into the grass below, where they would remain for the rest of the day.

With both of them now set, Aether began to lower himself an inch at a time. Remaining in full control of himself was the most important thing now, giving into any sudden urges and losing concentration would almost certainly mean him (or worse, her) getting hurt. There was just one thing left to do…

Aether barely whispered his thoughts. "Hey…"

He took a precious pause.

And the final words came out.

"Please…watch over me."

It took just a second for Amber to realize what he meant. Switching to a look of pure happiness, her smile was enough to melt every bit of doubt Aether had left. "Of course I will…" Her bare hand fell off Aether's back and started gently touching his face.

As a result, Aether could no longer tell what felt warmer at the moment, his chest or the 'sun' that covered Amber in a radiant glow. Hearing her answer, he continued to lower himself…close…so close.

Close enough to feel her breath.

Close enough to hear her heartbeat.

…Close enough to touch her lips.

The electric feeling neither of them wanted to forget…it was back in full force. Both would eventually tire themselves out and peacefully drift off to sleep.

Under a sunset that would never end.