Hello! This story is inspired by a tweet from KiraShion who has given me permission to write this story based off of their artwork. This is only the second Genshin Impact story I've written so please let me know your thoughts on it. This story hasn't been proofread yet, so if you see any mistakes, just let me know and I'll fix them. Enjoy!
Link to the artwork: /kirashion/status/1401925671526584322/photo/1
Remember: Always ask permission before writing a story based off of a tweet, or when using the artwork as the story cover like I did!
Childe wasn't surprised when there was a pounding on his door during one of the few chances he got to sleep. He quickly grabbed an over coat he kept near his bed, threw it on, and proceeded to stumble to the door.
"What?" He grumbled, trying to blink the sleep from his eyes.
"Orders from the Tsaritsa." Nadia didn't bother with a greeting; she knew what the young Harbinger was like in the morning. She extended an envelope to the man.
"Great." Childe leaned against the doorframe as he took the letter and carefully opened it to examine its contents. He felt a mix of emotions as he read the new orders.
"Prepare the troops, we return to Snezhnaya at first light tomorrow." He ordered, tossing the letter onto a table behind him.
"Right away, sir." Nadia gave a quick nod of her head before turning on her heel, "Oh, do enjoy your rest." She said politely before making her exit. Childe scoffed at her back but nudged his door shut and shrugged out of his overcoat anyways.
Childe dropped his body back onto the bed, but despite his tired state, sleep evaded him. He was ecstatic to be able to return to his hometown, but at the same time, Liyue had become his home too. He was in Liyue for longer than he thought he would be, but he hadn't dreaded his time here like he thought he would. Originally, he interacted with the citizens of Liyue as part of his networking duties for the Fatui, but now, he genuinely enjoyed the conversations he had with the people. The people, the culture, the scenery, he had grown to love everything in the nation.
He desperately wanted to go home, but it pulled at his heart to have to leave.
Childe groaned as his dilemma continued to plague his brain, but he knew he had to go. He couldn't just ignore orders from the Tsaritsa. He closed his eyes and tried to doze until it would be a more acceptable time for him to roam the city one last time.
Zhongli sighed as he finally managed to get away from his duties with the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and stepped out into the free air. Despite the fact that it was just now becoming early morning, he had already been working several hours. Hu Tao insisted that this matter had to be dealt with this early, but he had yet to be convinced that was true. Zhongli rolled his shoulders out as he made his way back into the main area of Liyue. He felt the cold bit that the air had to it and decided that it would be nice to get a cup of tea from Liuli Pavilion before continuing his day.
The former Archon wasn't surprised to be stopped along his path as people greeted him and tried to engage in a conversation with him. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sit down with his tea, but networking was part of his duties, and he did genuinely care about the lives of the people he spent so long looking over that he couldn't resist a conversation with them, even if he tried to keep it short. It didn't take long for two women to notice his predicament and swooped in to help him.
"My, my, Zhongli, look at you being alive at his hour!" The first woman teased.
"I've have been awake for far too long, I'll have you know." Zhongli grumbled but opened his arms none the less to welcome the hug he knew he had no chance of getting out of.
"Hu Tao certainly knows how to keep you busy." The older woman gave him a small smile. "Yanfei release the man, I'm sure he has things to do."
"Madam Ping, how have you been?" Said man asked politely.
"You would know if you stopped by more often." Before Zhongli could respond, Yanfei gave his ribs one last squeeze for good measure before pulling her arms away and allowing him to breathe properly again.
"She's got you there, Zhong-Zhong!" Yanfei laughed. Zhongli gave her a look at the nickname and intentionally reached out to mess up the bangs that stuck out from under her hat, earning him a squawk and a slap to his hand for his efforts.
"I'll work on improving that." Zhongli said to Madam Ping as she watched the two with an amused smile on her face. It was nice to see that the tough exterior that Zhongli had surrounding him for so long had started to crack.
"You said that last time, my dear." Madam Ping chuckled at him. She waved her hand at him, and Zhongli bent over and allowed her to pat his cheek before quickly snapping back to his full height when Yanfei tried to return the favor to his hair. "Now go, I'm sure we're keeping you from somewhere."
Zhongli bid them both farewell and waved his hand in dismissal when Yanfei swore she was going to find a way to get him back. With his mood now improved and feeling less guilty about not having seen Madam Ping for a while, he continued his way to Liuli Pavilion without any further interruptions.
Childe wasn't entirely sure what called him to go to Liuli Pavilion before he had to leave, but he found his feet leading him there. It was one of the first places he went after arriving in Liyue, so he thought it would be fitting if it was one of the last places he visited. As he walked through the city, he felt the bite the air held and was suddenly glad he never stopped wearing gloves even with Liyue's warmer weather. The thought of his homeland's cold winter flashed through his mind, reminding him that this wasn't anything close to cold when compared to Snezhnaya.
It didn't take long for Childe to spot the large fan that was displayed at the entrance to Liuli Pavilion. Chile took a moment to admire the mountain details on the fan and look at the other interconnecting buildings. He glanced at the stalls getting their first customers and noticed the unique smells of Liyue's cuisine starting to fill his nose. It would be strange not to have those smells fill his nose every time he went out, or the usual enticing calls the vendors used to advertise their food. Childe made a mental note to grab some recipes on his way out so he could make some of the dishes once he returned home.
"Welcome to Liuli Pavilion! How many are there in your group? Do you have a reservation?" The women outside the front greeted him.
"Hello, Licai, how're you this morning?" Chile greeted, choosing to ignore her questions. He didn't have a reservation, but he knew it wouldn't be a problem. Not with the relationship between the Fatui and Liuli Pavilion.
"Oh, Mister Childe! I am doing well. How nice of you to join us once again, please follow me." Licai gave a small bow before immediately taking him inside. She led him around a dividing shade, intending to take him to one of their private rooms when she heard his footsteps stop.
"Would you mind if I sat over there?" He asked when she turned around. There was only one other person in that area, so she didn't see the problem. Other people might try to insist that he sit in the private section, but she certainly wasn't going to try and persuade the Harbinger.
"Of course not! Sit anywhere you'd like, and I'll send a server over shortly." Once the man had nodded his thanks and began making his way over to his chosen table, Licai began hunting for the lead server to inform her of the VIP guests' location.
"Here is you table, enjoy your meal, Mister Zhongli."
"Thank you, Licai." Zhongli said as Licai gave a small bow and returned to her spot out front. Zhongli wasn't surprised to see that the Pavilion only had a few guests scattered about as he took a moment to look at his surroundings. It was probably a good thing; he wasn't sure how far his influence would go if it was in the middle of rush hour, and they were booked out. It didn't take longer for a server to come over and give her speech of the days specialty teas and take his order.
Zhongli wasn't an easy man to surprise given his vast knowledge that he had accumulated over the many years he was alive. It didn't matter if the attempted surprise came from a verbal conversation or on the battlefield, Zhongli was prepared for everything. What did surprise him, was the familiar voice close to his ear as he took a sip of his tea.
"Mind if I join you?" Zhongli glanced in the direction and wasn't prepared for the blinding smile and ginger hair that greeted him.
"What are you doing here?" He asked shocked.
"It seemed like a nice morning for some tea, and it seems that you would agree." The ginger said as he lowered himself into a chair next to the other man.
"Don't tell me you got cold." Zhongli said with a smirk starting to sneak onto his face.
Childe was saved from having to respond by the server appearing at his side, "Welcome back, Mister Childe. Do you know what you want, or would you like to hear the specials?"
"I'll just have what he's having, thank you." Childe said barely breaking eye contact with the other man.
"Why?" Zhongli asked after the server left, he narrowed his eyes, "We never have the same thing here."
"Why not? I like to try new things, you know that."
"Really? 'Why mess with good tea. Tea is tea!' was what you told me, wasn't it?" Zhongli's smirk was covered by him raising his cup to take a sip of his tea, but he knew Childe could tell what his expression was.
"I thought you liked my spontaneity!" Childe laughed, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Well, don't blame me if you don't like it then."
"You usually have good taste, so I'm not worried. I mean, I'm one of those choices, aren't I? Not everyone has tea with the great Zhongli." Childe almost jumped out of his seat when Zhongli nudged his leg with his foot. Zhongli would've kicked him if they weren't in such a nice place, but he was pleased with the startled reaction he received.
A couple of minutes passed before Childe's tea arrived, and he glared at Zhongli around the server the entire time. Zhongli was aware that he now had a second person plotting against him today, but he didn't really mind. After Childe gave his seal of approval to Zhongli's choice of tea, they continued their conversation. They jumped from topic to topic and each one was filled with jabs at the expense of the other, but they both knew it was all in good fun. Childe rambled on about who or what he encountered and fought on his missions, and Zhongli kept him up to date on the happenings in the city as they chatted away.
Time passed quicker than expected, and when Zhongli finally remembered to check the time, he was shocked by the hour it showed.
"Time to go?" Childe asked when he saw the expression on Zhongli's face.
"I believe it is, I have a few other things I must attend to today." He said as he started to make a mental list.
"I'll join you." Childe declared.
"What?" Zhongli asked, surprised for a second time today, "Don't you have more important things to do today?"
"There is absolutely nothing I need to do, so I might as well spend the day with you." Zhongli gave him a look but didn't have a reason for him not to join so he dropped his argument. He sighed, turning to grab the attention of their server.
"Don't even think about it." Childe warned, slipping a pouch into the server's hand as she approached. Zhongli looked like he was going to argue but Childe raised his hand, "Did you even bring your wallet, Xiansheng?"
"I did, thank you very much." Childe laughed at him in a way that made it obvious that he didn't believe him.
"So, where to?" Childe asked after he got control of his laughter.
Zhongli had to admit it was nice to have company as he went about his duties for the day. There wasn't anything particularly exciting on his schedule today, but Childe seemed more than happy to simply follow him around and stand beside him as he worked.
It hadn't been that long since Zhongli had last seen Childe, but it had been a while since they had last been able to spend more than a short amount of time together. Zhongli hadn't realized how much he had missed bantering with the ginger, and just being able to relax with someone. He wasn't a former Archon with him, he wasn't a respectable member of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, the wasn't someone who people went to when they needed an answer to something, he was just a guy doing his job and trying to enjoy his day. He didn't have to maintain a façade, he was allowed to be tired, he was allowed to speak how he wanted, he could complain. Childe would be there to accept all of it and even fire back at him. Zhongli had missed this, he wasn't sure when this opportunity was going to happen again, but he was glad he got today.
They continued in that pattern for the rest of the day. Zhongli walked into a building all respectable and Childe remained quiet and polite off to the side until they took a step outside, and their personalities completely changed. Zhongli let his shoulders hunch and he complained of how many more things he had to complete before the day was over, and Childe proceeded to entertain them both by saying what went through his head while he was waiting.
Childe hadn't realized how much he missed Zhongli's chuckles at his sarcastic comments. He missed being able to just make stupid comments and having the person he was with a laugh instead of giving him a weird look or reprimanding him for being childish. The thought that this was the last time he was going to be able to be this way for a while lurked in the back of his mind, but he was determined to ignore that thought and enjoy his last day. He felt a little guilty about not telling Zhongli, but he didn't want the man to worry just yet. There wasn't much else for him to do anyways, anything he needed was already packed and ready to go for his journey, and his officers were getting everything else organized and prepared. He just wanted to enjoy the day, and that's what he was going to do.
The sun dropped close to the horizon much faster than the two men felt it should have, but neither one of them could deny the time that had passed. They had managed to get through Zhongli's list and complete his duties for the day, and also remembered to stop and get lunch along the way. Childe was debating about how he was supposed to tell Zhongli he was leaving when Nadia appeared a couple of steps behind him and cleared her throat.
"Duty calls?" Zhongli asked.
"Excuse me for one moment." Childe requested and earned a wave from Zhongli as if he was telling him that it was fine. "What is it?" He asked as he approached Nadia.
"Forgive the intrusion, Sir, but everything is prepared. We are set to leave at dawn. Is there anything else you need before we depart?" She questioned.
"No, there's nothing. I'll met everyone just outside the city in the morning." Childe rubbed his eyes; it was unavoidable now. He had to tell Zhongli now if he had any hope of getting some sleep before they departed. Nadia gave a bow and disappeared just as quickly as she had come.
"I'm assuming your time with me is up then?" Zhongli gave him a small smile; he knew the day wouldn't last forever.
"Yeah, about that." Zhongli arched a brow at Childe's guilty look, "I've been recalled."
"Oh, you're going back to Snezhnaya?" Zhongli knew that Childe wasn't going to stay in Liyue, but he wasn't prepared for the sudden news.
"I've had an extended stay in Liyue, the Tsaritsa thought it was time for me to return home. My duty here is done." Childe said without really looking at him.
"Then go." Childe looked up at him with a shocked expression on his face. "You have spoken of your home and your family many times. You miss them both greatly, so go, go see them again."
"But Liyue-"
"Has stood the test of time and will be here when you return." Zhongli finished for him. Zhongli gave him an understanding smile, he knew this was hard for the younger man, but it wasn't like he was going anywhere. He had become much more patient than he used to be after all. Childe straighten up and nodded at him, turning around to start to head to the Northland Bank.
"Don't miss me Xiansheng," He said over his shoulder, "I'll be back before you realize!"
With that, Childe took waved a goodbye and took off. He began to mentally review everything that needed to be done. He was going to confirm with Nadia that everything was completed before he returned to his homeland.
Childe froze, the phrase "his homeland" kept replaying in his mind. It was true, Snezhnaya was his homeland, but it wasn't his home. Not anymore. Sure, his family lived there, and his heart ached to see them again, but the city, its people, they were strangers to him.
Childe realized he wasn't returning home; he was leaving it.
Childe could feel his heart break as the realization slammed into him. As much as he adored his homeland, it had been a long time since he had called it his home. The harbor that he had been assigned to live in, gather information, conduct missions out of, somewhere along the line, that harbor had become his home. The place he wanted to return to. The people he wanted to return to. Childe made up his mind, he'd spend time with his family, and hang around for a few months to appease the Tsaritsa, and then he would find a reason to convince the Fatui that he was needed back in Liyue. It shouldn't be that hard, Liyue was a massive trading hub and a huge source of information after all.
"Nadia, give me the full report." Childe ordered as he entered one of the Bank's back rooms.
Nadia felt numb as she walked through the brightly lit streets. She still couldn't believe it, no one could. It wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't supposed to be possible. A woman yelling about food snapped Nadia out of her thoughts. It had been months since she had been in Liyue, she had forgotten how loud parts of the city could be. She never thought she would return like this. She never thought she would return for this reason.
She didn't even know where to begin looking, her brain was too fried to even think as she continued walking down the street. She tightly gripped the object that felt like a lead weight in her hands. Thankfully, no one argued when she asked in a voice barely above a whisper if she could have it. His family wouldn't understand, they never knew what his real career was after all. She didn't know what possessed her to ask for the object, but she knew there was one person who would want to have it. There was only one person that this object should go to.
"Nadia?" A voice called out. She slowly glanced in its direction. "It's Nadia, isn't it? Are you okay?" The voice seemed to be concerned.
"Zhongli?" She asked almost confused as to why the man was speaking to her.
"Yes, are you alright? When did you get back?" He tried again. The poor woman looked exhausted; he was worried she was going to collapse any second.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Zhongli, I-" Tears slipped out of her eyes, and sobs were ripped from her throat as her mind registered that she finally found the man she was looking for.
"For what? Nadia, what are you sorry for?" Zhongli asked confused. He gripped her shoulders to try and ground her. He knew that sometimes the Fatui went on dangerous missions that meant they weren't always there when they returned, but this seemed to be different. His arms slid down to her biceps as he crouched to look into her eyes when he noticed that she was holding something like her life depended on it.
"Nadia what is this?" He questioned as he tried to get a look at the object.
"It's yours." Zhongli gave her a concerned look and she sniffled, "I-I mean, you should, you should have it. He would-" Nadia couldn't finish her sentence. She thrust the object she was holding into his hands and turned on her heel to walk away. She couldn't tell him, there was no way she could be here when Zhongli realized what he was holding.
Zhongli was tempted to follow her, but the familiar feeling in his hand made him pause. What was it? Zhongli wished he had never looked. He wished that he never called out to the woman. He wished that he had simply carried on with his evening because his life was forever changed.
There, cradled in his hands, was a Hydro vision.
His breath caught in this throat as the realization dawned on him. There was only one reason that Nadia would mention a "he" and say that he should have someone's vision. Someone's faded vision. Nothing could have prepared the former Archon for the emotions that flooded him. He was one of the most powerful men to exist, but this broke him in an instant. A part of his brain tried to tell him that he was wrong, that this could be anyone's vision, but he knew. He didn't know how he could tell, but he could.
The faded Hydro vision in his hands used to be Childe's.
Zhongli summoned power he hadn't used in a long time. Power he didn't think he would need to use again. The city felt like it was closing in on him. He used his power to bring him to a mountainside overlooking Liyue. He felt his power radiate off of him in waves after he dropped to his knees in the soft grass due to his emotions making it harder to control his power.
Zhongli sat there for an amount of time he would never know. He stayed in that position, on his knees with this head resting on the vision he still clutched in his hands. He thought of a smile so blinding that it put the sun to shame, the fieriness in battle that he didn't think anyone would be able to defeat, the love that was in a heart bigger than you would think someone would have in that career. Zhongli felt tears leave his eyes as he recalled the last words that Childe ever said to him.
"Ajax." Zhongli raised his head to look out over the sea, "Forever is a long time not to miss you."
First off- I'm sorry, I hurt myself with this one. Second- this turned out much longer than I thought it would. Once again, a big thank you to KiraShion for allowing me to write this story based off of their artwork (and to use their artwork as the cover)! Definitely go check them out on Twitter, they're art is amazing! If you have a second, please leave a like or comment to tell me what you think. They help me to improve and help to keep me motivated to write more. See you next time! ~Kiera540