Authors Note: Enjoy the finale. I think I have Aether and Lumine brain-rot. I love seeing these two happy together.

Lumine POV

I was able to have a restful sleep for once. Hopefully being with Aether will take away the nightmares forever, not just a one time thing. Slowly I move my hands towards my eyes to rub them. The soreness is mostly gone and I should be able to walk around now. Better not push myself too hard. I don't want to cause Aether too much trouble and make him worry about me.

It's a lot more bright today than it was yesterday. The bleakness of the air is almost completely gone, instead being replaced by a gray cloudy sky. Judging by how bright it is, the sun is definitely out and is being covered by the seamlessly never ending clouds. It will definitely rain later today and we're still here on this beach with no protection from natural forces. Miraculously there are some trees and greenery to the west of here we can use as cover from the eventual rain. I slowly stretch while still laying down as the grogginess becomes less and less. I'm wide awake now, but what about Aether?

I look to my right and see him soundly sleeping, right in front of my face. You always moved around in your sleep, the only time you didn't was when I would cling to you. I really want to feel your warmth again, to cling on to you like a small animal does to its mother as it sleeps, but I'm afraid to ask, afraid of being rejected and letting our bond get weaker.

I look at Aether's face and notice how calm and restful he looks. Nothing like the mess of emotions his face displayed yesterday. Did something happen to him while I was sleeping? He's probably just having a nice dream. A dream without me in it, where I'm just thrown to the side as I watch him and his true loved ones enjoy each others company. A dream where he slowly forgets about me. Forgets about all that we've been through together, all our countless days together since our conception. Wake up Aether. It's just the two of us again, so please only think about me. Work yourself to the bone so I can be happy. Stay with me forever. Don't leave me again, don't let me experience that despair that would drown me everyday never giving me a moment to breathe.

Why must I be so pessimistic? These unsavory thoughts get worse every time I awake from my slumber. Maybe I should stay asleep forever. It would be for the best. Who would want to spend time with a murderer, a disgusting human who committed genocide against their own race just to hopelessly cling on to a single person. But if I disappear then you would be all alone brother. Never mind, that was the stupidest thing I've thought about so far, not like I can die that easily anyways. Me and Aether are made of solid stuff, we're the only ones who know the other best. I'll stay with you forever Aether, even if the only thing in your heart for me is hate. But you don't hate me right? After all you brought me to safety at this beach, healed me, fed me, showed me care and affection with that hug we exchanged. So then why do I keep thinking you only have negativity in your heart towards me Aether? Are you capable of telling me why brother? Do you know the answer as to why I doubt you so much?

I sit up slowly and carefully as to not wake him up. I find myself staring at his sleeping face. I subconsciously reach out my hand towards him, to his left cheek with my left hand. I want to touch him and see what goes through my mind when I do. I need to know how I really feel about Aether. Do I really love him or am I just using him as a means to drown this sorrow, pain, anger, guilt? But as I'm about to make connection I see something at the corner of my eyes. Standing near the only exit of this place, where all the untouched wilderness is, or whatever is left of it, is a small floating humanoid with white hair and clothes that have the triquetra on them.

I've met this person before once, around 6 years ago during the earlier days of Aether's journey. Yes, I remember now. That floating insect that was by Aether's side in the domain with the upside down statue of the seven. Paimon was her name. Unease starts to invade my body.

She raiser her right arm and hand forwards. I hear a slashing sound zip by my cheek. It's bleeding. Like second nature I jump back and get into fighting position while materializing my sword. I had used up all of my abyssal powers when fighting the Sustainer of Heavenly Principals, so all I have at my disposal are my own powers, not that they're anything to scoff at. Aether is somehow still asleep. Crap, Aether! I lunged towards his body in an attempt to grab him and throw him behind me to protect him.

"Get away from him," she coldly says, and I am thrown backwards onto the sand. I manage to regain balance while in the air and land on my feet. She wasn't a fighter, or was she just hiding her powers from Aether and everyone? Wait, this presence that can barely be felt on her feels familiar. It's weak, extremely faint, but I can feel it. This is….. that damned god!? I thought I killer her!?

"You're wondering right? Why you can feel her in me? Truth be told, I'm a little piece of her. She knew Aether would soon wake up from his 500 year slumber, so she sent me down and gave me the mission of 'Spectate the outsider and see what he does while regularly reporting to me. Should he prove to be a….hindrance to me, dispose of him.' A problem happened though. As I descended from Celestia, my memories somehow began disappearing. Eventually I fell unconscious and managed to land in the ocean near Aether. Then Aether fished Paimon up and the rest is history." All of this is said in a unamused tone, completely deprived of emotion. I could attack her right now, but lets see what else she has to say. I keep a close eye for any movement from her. She might try some funny business with Aether.

"When you dealt the final blow to her, Paimon's memories came back and some of her powers came to me, only a minuscule amount. Now I'm here to carry out my mission. Aether is a hindrance, a threat to all the cosmos if he's willing to let his sister destroy everything just so he doesn't have to hurt her." Her tone swiftly switches from one of melancholy to seriousness. She called herself Paimon but reverted back to the first person.

"You don't deserve to be with him. Only we do. The Knights of Favonius, those from the Liyue Qixing, our friends from the disbanded Resistance in Inazuma, so many more, and Paimon. Why did you kill them? Why did you destroy our adventure, our happy times? But soon we'll all be together again. Did you know? There's an afterlife in Teyvat, and I'm bringing Aether with me."

Crack. Something in me snaps. You're bringing Aether with you? You mean you're going to separate us? Not once but twice? You're going to take away my source of happiness, my one and only brother, my Aether? No, no, no, no, no. I refuse. I won't let that happen. Anyone that gets in our way is a threat. Anyone that dares separate us even for a split second is an enemy. And enemies must be destroyed, even if they're Aether's friends.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" I scream out a war cry at the top of my lungs. Readying myself to attack her at full power. I feel like I'm going to explode. So much strength is coursing through me right now. My body is radiating a golden glow, as if reacting to my current emotions. Right now the only thing I feel is fear. Fear of returning to those wretched days where I was all alone in the abyss, where there was no Aether and only the empty husks of humans who would call me 'Your highness.' I'll do anything to stay far away from those dreadful days. As I shoot myself towards her, I catch a glimpse of Aether awakening and swiftly standing up.

"Paimon? Lumine!? ST-" Before he can finish talking I zoom by him at full force, his body being thrown to the side by my speed. I'm sorry Aether. I can't go back to being brother-less, I can't, I'll break if I do, my heart will shatter into a million more pieces, I'll die. In an instant I'm right in front of Paimon. I was too fast, she had no time to react. I plunge my sword into her chest and slash to the right with tremendous force, without remorse. It all happened so quickly. I'd say it was only 2 seconds. I watch as Paimon's face goes from one of shock to relief. What? Why?

"Thank you Lumine. Thank you for letting me die as Paimon and not as her slave." She hits the ground and turns into particles of light scattering about.

I killed Paimon. Paimon, Aether's guide, Aether's first friend in years. I killed Aether's friend right in front of him. All strength in my legs melt away as I give away onto ground. What have I done? Aether will never forgive me now. I'll be doomed to wander the galaxy alone, with no comfort, no safety, no joy, no warmth, no brother, no Aether, nothing.

"I….I did- I didn't wa-want this. NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOO!" I'm crying now, full on wailing. Not because I know I killed Paimon, but because I know Aether will leave me now. I truly am disgusting, not crying over the death of someone, but because I have to face the consequences. Yet I still cling on. I turn back towards Aether. I need to convince him to stay with me. I can't let him leave me, we have to stay together for all of eternity! Please don't reject me, don't abandon me, don't throw me to the side. I glance at his face. He's not looking at me, only staring at the place where Paimon had fallen. My vision becomes blurry. I can't see anything. It's so cold. It's over.

"AE...hah...agh!...brothe….aaahhh!" I can't say his name. I can't call out to him. Only hiccups and groans and hysteria escape me.

"Don-don't lea-leave mmm-me!" It's all I can say. I yell at him pleading and begging. Everything is my fault. Back then when we met in that domain, I should have abandoned my role as the leader of the abyss and returned home, returned to you. I still can't see anything. My chest is hurting, it hurts, it hurts, it burns so much. I start grasping my chest. I begin hyperventilating. It's getting harder to breathe. No, where's Aether? He'll know what to do, he knows how to fix me, he always knows how to make me feel better. So where is he!? Why won't he come to my side!?

"aETHer! Wh-where are you!? AETHER!? PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME, BROTHER PLEASE!" I'm screaming like a maniac. I must be the most pathetic thing to exist of all time. I need to accept reality. I need to accept that Aether is gone. He'll never come back. The only thing left for me is that pitch black hole, as deep as the aby-

"Wha?" Something is hugging me, arms are wrapped around me. Who? Who is it? One of their hands start to move up and stop at the top of my head. That hand begins stroking my hair. But the only person that does that is Aether, the only person that knows I enjoy that is him. He's not here though, so then who is- A voice cuts my thoughts off.

"Shhhhh…..It's okay Lumine, cry as much as you want, I'll be right here, I'm not going anywhere anymore. From now on anywhere I go you'll be there, and anywhere you go I'll be right next to you. We'll be together for as long as you want. I'm your brother, so I'll stay with you forever if you want. We won't be separated anymore. I want to be with you and spend my whole life with you."

What? Why? How? But I caused you so much pain. Are you saying even though I hurt you so much you still want to be with me? Even though I turned you down when we first met? Even though I left this world that had your friends in utter ruin? Why? Did I do something in my past life that made the universe indebted to me? I don't understand you Aether. It's like a dream come true. All my doubts about him start to fade away one by one, being replaces with relief and safety. Why do I have the best brother of all time?

"Ae-Aether! Aether! Aether! Aether!" I can say his name, It's all I can say, I call his name out like if I stop he'll disappear. He continues to hold me and caress me as I cry into his chest. He rests his chin on my head giving soft pecks on my hair every now and then. Am I the luckiest person in the world right now? I'm not dreaming am I? I won't be able to handle it if this is a dream. I embrace Aether tighter and he reciprocates it. Slowly my wounded heart begins to mend.

It's not cold anymore, it's so warm and fuzzy and everything good. I keep calling out his name, he periodically responds to me with my name. Hearing him say my name fills me with so much joy. He says it in such a way that I can't even begin to explain. I continue to cry into him as I repeat his name to myself. How did I get so lucky as to have someone like Aether in life? I don't know and I can't stop questioning it.

I promise Aether, I'm gonna be the best sister in the whole universe, of all time. I'll go down in the history books as the number one sister. I promise you Aether! I promise! This same delight and joy and glee and everything else I feel right now I'll make you feel it too!

As soon as I stop crying that is. I eventually stop but he stills keep reassuring him with his warmth. I'm exhausted. We fall onto the ground as I topple on to him.

"Aether, I'm gonna take a quick nap….." I start to dose off while he holds me. Dammit, why does it feel so great? Is it okay for me to have a happy ending?

"Sleep for as long as you want Lumine" His voice sounds so sweet and awesome and great and, and, and so much more. Thank you Aether, you're the best thing to happen to me in my whole life. Oh. I just realized I was able to show emotion, I was able to show Aether how I feel about him. I guess Aether really did know how to heal me. I get reminded of those awful thoughts I had. But I'll sort that out some other time. Right now I just want to fall asleep in my brothers warmth. And I do, and I'm able to have another restful sleep.

Aether POV

I hold Lumine as she sleeps, trying my best to stay still. She seems to be doing better, a huge smile plastered on her face. Hearing Lumine scream out my name and her telling me not to leave her was quite the experience. I was still shocked from seeing Paimon…. disappear in front of me, due to the hand of Lumine too.

But as I heard Lumine scream out my name and her pleas, I remembered the choice I made last night. To live as your brother. I chose you and from now on I always will, I chose to be with you. I'll be the best brother of all time. My name will be revered across the cosmos. Calling someone an Aether will be like receiving the best compliment ever! Er, anyways.

Your wellbeing comes first before mine. That doesn't mean I'll just ignore how I feel and put them to the side. I'll find a balance between yours and mine. Speaking of my wellbeing…. I look towards the spot where Paimon had fallen. Something catches my eye.

"! That's Paimon's hair accessory…." I put Lumine to the side and walk towards it. This black star like shape she always wore on the left side of her hair. I hold it in my palm and look at it. Memories with Paimon start flooding in. I smile at all the good and rough times we had in those 6 years of adventuring.

"Thank you Paimon. In a sense, because of you Lumine was able to get better. There's still a long road to go for her to fully recover though. But I'll be able to handle that. So, thank you Paimon, for being the best guide and friend ever. You're someone irreplaceable to me now. Goodbye Paimon." The gray clouds that covered the sky make a hole, as if responding to the sun to let it shine through onto me.

"You're welcome Traveler!"

Paimon… Geez, you could never stay quiet you know that? I shoot a smile to the sky and the clouds move to cover the sun again. I put her hair pin in my right pocket, I'll decide what to do with it later.

"Hmmmmm….Aether…..come back" Sleep talking? That's new. Lumine is grasping at the air around her, searching for me. This time I get closer and let her grasp me. I embrace her again and in a flash she returns it. It feels nice. I feel whole again. That empty feeling I had has finally gone away. And it's thanks to you Lumine. "Thank you Lumine, I really love you, you know? There's no other person I'd rather be with than you. You're like a light illuminating my life, my own sun that I get to hog all to myself. How do you feel about me Lumine? I'll wait as long as it takes for you to tell me." I embrace her even more, landing a soft kiss on her forehead. She hugs me even tighter and a slight smile appears on her from the kiss. I'm slowly repairing her heart. Still, we shouldn't be laying down on the sand. I readjust and sit semi cross legged. I put Lumine on top of me, this way I'm more comfortable and we can still hug each other. Never mind, it's still uncomfortable. Now I have a face full of hair. A few more days and Lumine will be fit enough to start world traveling again, or maybe even today. I'm starting to get excited, this is gonna be great. Just like old times, right Lumine?

2 hours pass by and Lumine wakes up. The sky has cleared up and the bright sun shines down on us. I guess it won't be raining today.

"H-hi Aether." I look down and see her staring at me, as the sun shines down us. Her eyes have a little bit of color in them. "Hey Lumine, did you sleep well?" I ask and she smiles at me. "Yeah I did, thanks to you of course." "That's good to hear." I begin stroking her short blonde hair. A huge grin appears on my face. Lumine begins to fidget and makes an uncomfortable face. "Sorry, I'll stop now." I start extending my hand away but she quickly puts it back. "No, I...still enjoy it when you stroke my hair." She averts her gaze downwards. "Alright then." I continue petting her. We both stay like this for a while but this position is still uncomfortable.

"Hey Lumine, sitting like this is getting tiring." She seems to get the message. "Oh...okay," Her mood instantly worsens at the loss of touch as we separate. She's gotten clingy to me. And so have I. It's only been a few days since she stopped being the abyssal princess so I'll continue to spoil her for now. I kind of enjoy doing it to be honest. I stand up to do some stretches and Lumine follows along. After a few minutes of stretching I hear her call out to me.

"Hey Aether? There are some things I need to tell you." I turn my full attention towards her. Her face is still pretty bland and so is her voice, but there's hints of emotions in them.

"Go ahead."

Lumine POV

My heart is beating. It's not easy telling someone you love about all the odd things you've thought of them. But this is a good thing, I won't be able to fully move on unless I don't tell him the truth. I have to steel myself. I also have to apologize. Even though he won't show it to me I know he's still hurting.

"First I want to apologize for…..you know, th-the thing with Paimon and everyone else and that this was the o-only solution I can come up with." I'm a stuttering mess, I look down and avoid his gaze. This is extremely difficult.

"Ah….. since you're being honest with me I should be honest with you too." I nervously look up to him. His face is one of slight pain and he has a melancholic smile. Calm down Lumine, no bad thoughts. Aether has shown multiple times he doesn't hate me.

"Yeah, I forgive you. At first I was hesitant to be near you. Me showing you that yesterday must have hurt you. When we finished eating and you fell asleep I took the moment to sort out my feelings. Although the pain in my heart won't heal that quickly from the loss of my friends, I managed to over come it a little bit. So I'm not upset at you for that, and if you ever thought I would come to hate you then stop."

Aether…. "I'll be honest with you Lumine, there's nothing you could that would make me hate you. I love you too much for it to possibly dwindle and let it be replaced by anything else. Long story short I decided that I want to be with you Lumine. And in order for me to do that I put being your brother as my number one priority. I don't need the camaraderie or love or anything from others as long as I have yours. There's other things I could say, but saying them out loud is embarrassing….." Aether starts blushing a little bit. Ah crap, the water works are starting to come in full gear again.

"Aether…...I'm not sure what to say. Thank you. I-I feel so happy and blessed knowing that I have someone like you as my brother and in my life. It makes me feel relieved knowing you wont come to hate from our time in Teyvat. Now that you've spilled you heart out to me I guess it's my turn now." Okay, here goes nothing.

"I…..didn't have the most pleasant thoughts about you when I first woke up and until...that breakdown I had stopped. These thoughts were the complete opposite of pleasant. My mind was a jumbled mess. On one hand I began thinking that you belonged to me and that if you ended up not feeling thankful or love towards me I would force you to. I would say things like 'my Aether' and that you belonged to me. i thought that I was just using you as a means of escape. On the other hand I thought that you hated me and you didn't want to be anywhere near me. That you would resent me forever. That you would rather b-be with your friends th-than m-me. It filled me with fear when I thought of that possibility."

I start crying and stuttering, but I don't break eye contact with Aether. I'm determined to tell him everything in my heart.

"I wanted so badly to just ask you how you felt about me but I was so afraid! I-I couldn't! I didn't want to hear anything else other than what I wanted to hear…. Suddenly Paimon showed up and she began telling me how she regained her memories and!" I take a moment to breathe. "That she was a part of that god that separated us and when I heard that I lost it and...killed her, and then I had my breakdown, an-and then you told me how you felt about me! That you would stay with me! That you wanted to be with me! It made me so happy Aether! Like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders!" I begin crying harder and harder. I throw myself at Aether and he catches me. I hide my face from him by stuffing my head into his neck. I don't want him looking at me right now.

"Lumine….like I said, I wont ever come to hate you. I will always love you and I want to be with you for as long as possible. For the rest of time even." Now the both of us are crying. We embrace each other and let our tears do the rest of the talking. We stay like that for a long time. I eventually pull back and look at him without fully letting go.

"Aether, I also want to be with you, for as long as possible. Hey, you said that you would stay with me forever if I wanted right? Then I accept." I can feel it. There's a smile on my face, a real genuine one. Aether smiles back at me. I missed that beautiful smile. "It's a deal then!"

"But first, those other thoughts you had about me are definitely weird." He flicks my forehead lightly.

"Why'd you do that for?" I look at him slightly upset.

"That's for not telling me the truth of this world and making me spend 6 years traversing Teyvat." He makes a sheepish smirk.

"Oh. Haha...sorry about that." I whisper out. He simply gives me a light nod.

I grab Aether's hand and intertwine my fingers with his. "You up for an adventure Aether?" He tightens his grip on my hand, it's warm and strong. "With you? Always." We both bring out our wings and fly off into the sky. I notice he's having a rough time. I get next to him and support him as we fly. "Thanks." "You're welcome."

Aether takes one last look at Teyvat. There's not much to see now, but I know in his head memories of his journey are playing. He brings out a black star from his right pocket. That was Paimon's. He throws it into the wind and it seems to fly back down towards that coast. Where he and Paimon first met. "I'll be fine on my own now Paimon, thank you for being my guide until the very end." He smiles and looks at me.

"Lets go sister. Our boundless future awaits." We fly off in search of another journey and adventure, hand in hand, together, just like it has always been and always will be.

"Oh, Aether, I love you too." I look at his face as we fly across the sky, slowly approaching space.

"I love you too Lumine." He looks at me and in my heart I know there's no doubt about the words he just said to me.

Aether POV

Today marks the 100th year that Lumine and I left Teyvat and truly happily reunited. I don't think much about Teyvat nowadays. It's like a far off memory that wants to be forgotten but refuses to disappear. Of course it won't disappear. I made sure to engrave everyone's names and faces and Paimon. Well, only the vision holders and archons. Sorry everyone else.

Right now me and Lumine are in a modern world. We've only been to modern worlds 4 times in total and we've been traveling for hundreds of millenniums. They're hard to come by. But we always make sure to stay in these longer than other worlds. 50 years is the amount we chose. Any traces of her time with the abyss have all but disappeared from Lumine. Now she's back to her old self, with some unfortunate side effects.

"Aeeeetheeerrrrrrrrr, It's so cold. Hug me please!" I spoiled her a bit too much. 'It's the middle of summer...'

"Fine fine, you can't go one day without a hug can you?"

"And who's fault do you think that is? Hmmmm?" She makes a smug smile at me.

"I know, come here then." I pat to the right of me on the sofa. She quickly sits down and I hug her.

"Heehee, thank you Aether." She holds on to my arms as my hands rest on her sides. "You're welcome." I barely have any time for myself. Even if I do have time to myself, I don't end up doing much. Then I guess my time is better spent with Lumine.

"Aether? Do you still think about Teyvat?" This is the first time she has asked me this. She has a sad look on her. "Yeah, once a year." I plant a kiss on her head and lean my head against her shoulder. She gets slightly happier. "Do you?" I ask. She shakes her head. "No, I don't enjoy reminiscing about those times. But I kinda do wish I was able to have met and known your friends." She looks at me slightly worried. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure they would have loved to meet you too. Umm, if you weren't the abyss princess that is." "Ahahaha...yeah." "They really were something else..." "Aether...I-" I cut her off. "Ah-ah-ahhhh. No apologizing. Now they're just a fond memory I have, really Lumine, don't worry about it." I lean my body into hers and she hugs me. "I know, I just can't help myself from thinking." Hmm, what to do?

"Hey, lets do something today. It is a special day after all. 100 year reunion anniversary!" I say that even though I didn't come up with any plans. "Any ideas?"

"Hmmmmm...we can just...stay home and you can spoil me?" Of course you say that. And of course I respond with...

"Sure, sounds good to me." We embrace each other and enjoy each others company as day turns into night. We head off to bed after eating and washing up. Lumine clings on to me and wraps her arms around my waist as I wrap mine around her back. "Good night kiss? Please?" She looks at me with puppy dog eyes. "Mwah!" I lightly peck her cheek. "Heehee!"

"I love you Aether." "I love you too Lumine." Not a day goes by when we don't say that to each other.

"Goodnight Lumine"

"Goodnight Aether"

The twins have been happily reunited. Now, they spend all of eternity together, never taking each other for granted and facing any and all obstacles that come their way, happily together.