Author's note:

Hi, this is a story I've been thinking about for a while after seeing a meme about Ganyu's story quest on Reddit. One where she returned to Liyue without telling Xiao so he waited for her the day after for nothing. This is a canon divergence story. I will try my best to stay in line with the canon. I will also try my best to not to turn existing characters into OOC. There will be freedom taken regarding the canon worldbuilding and interpretation in this story.

Genshin Impact belongs to Mihoyo, I own nothing except my own OCs.

Prologue

A week after the Osial defeat, Ganyu came to Xiao, asking for him to train her. As she thought herself unfit to remain around Liyue any longer because of the last will of Rex Lapis. The one saying he wishes for humans to stray away from the gods and fend for themselves. Every adeptus were surprised by her decision, Xiao the most. They have always known each other but never know one another more than their very apppearence. He accepted nevertheless. For all the good works she has done for Liyue since its creation, he knows she is worthy of his time.

The idea somehow made him smile inside because after all these years, Ganyu may finally stop doing human work for them and get to embrace her adeptus side. Xiao doesn't hate Humans. After all, protecting their lands is the whole meaning of his existence. But he is still an adeptus and adeptus, above all, make sure to respect the border between them and the mortals. Even if Ganyu is a half qilin, she is also half human. Xiao will focus a part of the training on how to detach herself from them for good.

Ganyu was first skeptical of asking Xiao, knowing his aloof personality. As such, she didn't go to him first. Actually, he was the last of her choices. She asked all the other adeptus before but they all told her to ask the Yaksha instead.

"He is simply the best for the job." She heard that everytime.

It is not that Ganyu believes all the fearsome rumors about him, that he brings bad fortunes to those close to him. She has been around for longer than Liyue's existence itself. It would take her more than baseless rumors to believe someone represents bad karma itself. But she never knows him more than meets the eyes. And going straight into the unknown is a weird feeling.

That is the thing she is afraid of.

They both expected nothing much from their first training. And Xiao, for sure, didn't expect the traveler to accompany Ganyu. He was exasperated their sight, knowing those two like to poke their nose in everything. As long as they don't disturb his training program, he will allow their presence. He made sure the first training will give her a taste of what it will be like in the future. He is strict and full of expectation so she better lives up to them. By being quite harsh with his words about her low self-confidence, he wanted to see if she was ready to take hurtful critics. To improve oneself, one must face their defaults.

All went well until Xiao sensed a human getting close to them. He knows well what the man want. Seeking to meet an adeptus and ask for wealth and power. With all the years he has been around, he has met with hundreds of those people. Xiao hates them. They won't stop trying unless you beat into them a good understanding of the word 'Greed'. Letting out an annoyed breath, he knows just the way to deal with it today.

"Ganyu, this is another step of your training. I will leave him to you."

He disappeared right after the order, not leaving time for the man to get a sight of him. One may think he is fleeing away. But if Ganyu is to become a real adeptus, she needs to deal with that way more than necessary.

Unbeknownst to Xiao, after dealing the greedy pilgrimer, the traveler managed to convince Ganyu to return to Liyue. Because from the start, she misunderstood everything. She is part of the harbor and they have never thought about rejecting her. The Qilin agreed to return to Liyue to confirm the traveler's word for herself. In her haste, she may have forgotten to tell someone about her decision to go back. And that will only turn her fate around into something more complicated.

The next day, Xiao showed up in the same spot as yesterday, feeling curious about how she dealt with yesterday's matter. He was alone when he arrived. And he was also alone once the sun was set because not a single soul showed up during the entire day.

He may have forgiven her, if she would just show up late. But at this point, where the night had already fallen, there was no way she is just being late. For sure, that Qilin forgot about him, about their training. The yaksha wasn't clueless, he had his own idea of why she wasn't here. People in the harbor may be looking for her and that would explain the traveler's presence yesterday. For sure, Ganyu went back to Liyue. He couldn't care less about a wasted day nor the fact that she returned there this fast. But he agreed to her training request and was quite serious about it. Their agreement was a sort of contract.

'I will not accept this offense. She asked to be my pupil and now I will teach her the weight of words.'

Xiao wasted no less time to head down to Liyue, going straight to the Yueheng Pavilion. He didn't know where she lives but he was certain he will find her around there. Standing on the hills behind the area, he quickly sensed her presence inside. It was easy to figure it out. She has the strongest aura among all the regular human ones.

The first thing he noticed when he stepped inside is that the room has a strong scent of flowers, mildly reminding him of Jueyun Karst. Xiao also noticed how messy of a person Ganyu is. Scrolls and books are all over the place. He quietly wondered how she can exerce her duty with such a terrible working place.

It was only after a moment did he notice her sleeping on the table, in front of huge piles of paper works. She probably passed out while reading the scroll buried under her face. Seeing that sight of her made him feel a bit guilty for being angry at her. He knows well how devoted she is to the job Rex Lapis gave her thousands of years ago. In a way, they are the same, having the same unshakable devotion to the Geo Lord. He let out a sigh as he mentally put everything into pieces.

'Even if the Qixing said they will no more rely on no one else than themselves for Liyue's future, they still need her around. And she still came back to them. This, even without informing me of her decision, means our contract is over. How can I even lecture someone this devoted to these lands ?'

"Mmh-..."

A soft sound came off when he was about to leave. The sleeping head seemed to be having a bad dream or, just catching a cold. He let out a chuckle at that thought. A Cryo vision bearer catching a cold ? Unlikely. The next thing he did, even he himself didn't know why he did it. Turning back on his feet, Xiao picked up Ganyu and carried her to bed before wrapping a blanket over her body.

'If you are tired, stop working and sleep properly… '

The next morning, Ganyu found herself in her bed and couldn't figure out how she ended up in it. Because of her overloaded work, she usually falls asleep on her desk. She felt like something is missing and it is quite important. But the Qilin quickly brushed the worry out of her head. It is part of her life as the Qixing secretary, forgetting details left and right because of the very many things she has to take care of. If a problem is caused by her forgetfulness, she will make sure to handle it.

AN: Here is the prologue. Short one I tried to make. We know Ganyu's story quest alreeady so I avoided writing too much details into it. English is also not my first language so forgive me if some grammatical errors ruined your reading experience. I will gratefully accept your critics (good ones).