Noelle's Task for Today involves a quick delivery to Liyue Harbor. Of course, as the Maid of the Knights of Favonius who always keeps an ear out, she overhears a conversation nearby the boats between two kids.


AN: No beta we die like chilichurls


"Here you go, Uncle Sun, Uncle Gao." Noelle dumped multiple crates onto the floor in front of her.

Two fishermen, one with light clothes and the other with darker ones nodded. "Thanks for coming all the way over here for this." Uncle Sun, the one with lighter clothes, helped her bring the crates back to their stalls.

"And thanks for keeping quiet about our… business strategy." Uncle Gao, the one with darker clothes, scratched the back of his head.

Noelle nodded. "Of course. As wine bottles are corked, so too are my lips sealed."

Besides, two stalls basically playing good knight, and bad knight to get more profits as a return was not the strangest thing she could do.

There was Diona's destructive but productive business practice of course. She wanted to destroy the wine industry but often makes impressive cocktails. Of course, she'd only ever heard of them.

Since the day she made the ice cream stall, Diona was vigilant in keeping her away from anything and everything relating to alcohol.

"That should be all," she laid down the last crate onto the ground. "All packages to Liyue Harbor delivered. Thank you very much for receiving."

"And once again, thanks for delivering," They both bowed.

Uncle Gao stood straight up. He then noticed a small trinket on Noelle's chest plate.

"Hey, Noelle, was it?" he called out.

Noelle nodded. "Yes, that is me. How am I be of service?"

"Just wondering, but if you don't know the answer or you don't want to answer, you can refuse to," he initially told her. "Where'd you get that?" he pointed to a badge on her chest plate. Uncle Sun followed the other fisherman's finger. His eyes widened.

Noelle, unaware of their reactions, looked down at her chest plate. "You mean this? I got it from someone in Wangshuu Inn."

"I see, can I ask how you got it?"

"I don't mind," she traced the edges of the badge. "I got it from Teacher Jianxue. He's a person who fishing but is not a fisherman. He taught me how to fish. We even caught the Serpent of the Seas!" The maid sighed as she reminisced.

The two fishermen stared at Noelle, then they shared a glance. They shared a short chuckle.

"So, he calls himself Jianxue now," Uncle Sun looked at the sky.

Noelle titled her head. "Do you know of him?"

The fisherman shook his head. "That's not important, don't worry about it," he smiled. "Anyway, thanks again. You have other deliveries to do, right?"

Noelle's eyes widened. "That's correct! I must go. I cannot be late." she ran off with her trolley. Waving behind her all the way until they were out of her vision.

"Take care!"

"Come by sometime! I'll give you a special discount on super fresh fish!"

Noelle smiled. She couldn't reply. But she was sure they knew what her answer would be.

Not too long after, she overheard a conversation right by the Adventurer's Guild's booth. Two children, a girl wearing green clothes, and a boy wearing reddish ones. But that wasn't what caught her attention.

"I wonder where Little Meng is…"

"I haven't seen him in a while. I'm getting a bit worried. Aren't you, Little Fei?"

"W-What? N-No. Why would I be worried over that guy, psssh. What are you saying, Little Lulu?!"

Noelle's eyes widened.

"Where is mother and father?"

"They'll be fine. I'm sure. Why, are you worried, little Noelle?"

"W-What? No! I'm certain they'll come back home and safe, Mr. Varka! Which is why I need to keep training! I need to become strong enough that they won't have to leave the house. They can leave absolutely everything to me!"

"Gahahahaha! That's the spirit!"

Noelle shook her head, dismissing her thoughts. It wasn't any of her business to intervene, after all. But that didn't mean she couldn't bring her concerns to the Milelith.

But for now, her delivery. Next stop, Bishui Plains.


'And that's all of my deliveries done.' She sighed in relief.

Turns out, the last delivery she had was to this beach house on a tree. On a tree! From far away it looked like it was just some tree on a mountain. But no! It was a tree house! Granted it wasn't as big as Wangshuu Inn. But come on! It was a tree house!

It took almost everything Noelle had not to let her excitement show.

'All that's left for me is to head on home and check whatever tasks I have left for today.' she pumped her fist to herself. Though she wanted to take the scenic route, so she went through the coast and walked on the sand.

One step, two-step, twirl!

Noelle giggled to herself. Then she remembered that she was in a public place. She hastily looked around for anyone who might have caught her. She sighed in relief when no one was there.

And she skipped along the sand some more.

"Can I really do this?"

Once again, Noelle was brought out of her thoughts. The voice came near the ocean. She turned towards it and she saw a child, a boy, in blue clothes, drawing on the sand with a stick, looking quite crestfallen.

Her brows furrowed.

"Why aren't Mother and Father back home yet, Mr. Varka?"

"Children shouldn't have that look on their faces. They'll be home soon, Little Noelle. Don't you worry."

"It's been two weeks already…"

"Do you want to show them the results of your training that much? You can train some more and impress them further once they get back."

"That too but… I miss them…"

Unlike before in the harbor with the two kids, this time, she decided to go up to him. Upon getting closer, she saw what the boy had been drawing in the sand. A pirate ship with three kids on the sails.

Noelle cleared her throat. "Hello there." she smiled.

The boy slowly looked behind him.

'Woah, pretty.' he shook his head. "H-Hello!"

"My name is Noelle. I'm a maid of the knights of Favonius in Mondstadt," she bowed as she introduced herself.

The boy abruptly stood up and mimicked her bow. Noelle thought it was cute. "M-My name is Little Meng."

"Nice to meet you, Little Meng."

"L-Likewise, Miss Noelle."

They shook hands and Noelle sat on the sand next to him. "That's a nice drawing you have there."

Little Meng sat next to her and nodded. "You think so? Thanks."

"I know so. Who're the other people on the drawing?"

"T-Those are my friends. We play pirates a lot together."

Noelle smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Playing pirates?"

Little Meng blushed. "Y-Yeah. We always argue about who the captain would be, who the first mate would be, and all sorts of stuff like that," he smiled as he looked at the drawn pirate ship. Three kids were drawn with smiles on their faces. "We wanted to see the world."

Noelle could tell that this was who the previous children in the harbor were talking about. It appeared that he too was sad about not seeing them.

'But why though?'

Was something stopping him? Did something happen? Should she even ask?

"M-Miss Noelle? Miss Noelle are you okay?"

Little Meng called her out. It brought Noelle out of her thoughts. "Yes. Of course, I'm alright," she smiled. "How about you?" she turned the question to him.

"A-Ah I'm fine." he told her.

Noelle titled her head. "Apologies for possibly overstepping my bounds, but you seemed quite somber just earlier."

Little Meng froze. "Eh, what?"

"Yes," Noelle nodded. "It's why I thought I'd say hi."

'What's with this lady?' Little Meng thought. "It's nothing big. Don't worry about it." he told her.

Noelle resisted the urge to sigh. This boy wouldn't be telling her anything anytime soon. But she couldn't just leave the kids alone either.

Unless…

Noelle stood up, wiped down her skirt for sand, and went behind Little Meng.

'Is she leaving?'

Little Meng turned around. The maid was still there, though now she was back to sitting down and… digging sand?

That wasn't all. One look around Noelle's perimeter revealed multiple plastic shovels and buckets. A closer looked showed Noelle was… building a sand castle?

She was already done building one tall castle and- wait she was building more!

'What is with this lady?!'

Calling what Noelle was building a sandcastle would be a massive understatement.

Little Meng was content to stay still and watch Noelle play with the sand as she built a castle. But eventually, the urge to join in was too strong what with Noelle asking to help her every few minutes.

But even with him helping, he still thought that Noelle did most of the heavy lifting for him.

Where was he again? Oh right, the 'sandcastle'.

Yeah, it wasn't a castle.

It was an honest-to-Rex Lapis recreation of the entirety of Liyue Harbor!

"I-I what even- How?"

Noelle smiled brightly. "This is the fruit of our efforts."

'Don't say that as if I actually did anything!' He resisted the urge to say that out loud. He decided to put his gaze back onto the replica of Liyue on the ground.

"Wait… is that…?"

Over the harbor, near where the fisherman stalls were supposed to be, there was a replica of a simple ship that looked just like the one they always played in. But that wasn't what caught his attention.

It was the three miniature figures, one was of a girl who had her hair in buns, another had a hat, and the last one had glasses.

"Little Fei… Little Lulu…"

That's right. They'd play in that same pirate ship every day. Sometimes the traveler would play with them. Sometimes they would fight. Sometimes, they would get in trouble. But whatever they did, they did together. All three of them.

'How long has it been…' Days? Weeks? It felt like a year to Little Meng since he'd seen them. Were they mad? Did they play without him? Did they forget about him?

"Ah, so those were your friends," he heard the lady beside him. "They're worried about you."

Little Meng spun towards her. "H-Huh?"

"I overheard your friends talking earlier this morning," she smiled. "They're worried about you."

"I… I'm relieved," he slumped down. Losing energy in sitting straight. "I-I thought they would hate me, or blame me, or something."

"And why would they do that?"

"Because…"

"Because?"

"Because…" he struggled to find the words. "Why do you want to know anyway? Don't you have something important to do?"

Noelle shook her head. "This is important."

Little Meng's hands balled into fists. "Why? Why me?"

"There shouldn't be a big reason for someone to help another," she smiled. "Besides, someone once told me that children shouldn't make that face. So here I am," she took out a napkin and wiped a tear that Little Meng didn't know was streaming down his face. "That's why I'll be here until it either gets too dark or maybe you'll finally decide to tell me-"

"I'm leaving for Sumeru soon."

Noelle's eyes widened. "Oh," she nodded. "They didn't take it well?"

Little Meng shook his head. "It's not that. It can't be that. I haven't even told them."

"Oh, why not?"

Little Meng hugged his knees. "Because I'm scared. I don't know what to tell them. I don't know how to tell them."

"Do you not want to go to Sumeru?"

"No I want to go but… I…" he held his head. "I do but… my friends are here and I-"

Little Meng didn't get to finish as Noelle suddenly enveloped him in an embrace.

"W-What?"

Contrary to what one might think, Noelle's armor might as well have been non-existent when she hugged him.

"It's tough. Leaving the people you know. Trust me, I know," she smiled. "But remember, your friends care about you. I think they deserve to know about this trip of yours. You look forward to it, after all, right?"

Little Meng sniffled. "Y-Yeah, I do. I wanna see the world," he said. "B-But what if they get mad? Or they get-"

"Are you sure?"

"H-Huh?"

Noelle put a hand on his head. "Are you sure they'll be mad? You'll never really know for sure unless you tell them."

"I… I guess," he looked up at Noelle. "W-What should I do?"

"You tell them. You tell them everything about it. Why you've been gone, how you feel about it, you apologize, and you reconcile," Noelle didn't even have to think about it. "You're not leaving yet, right? This way, you can spend more time with them and they can spend more time with you before you have to leave," she said. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

Yes, yes it would be. Meng nodded. He clutched Noelle's shoulder. "W-Will you come with me? I'm… I'm scared."

"Here, my little Knight. There's a training area right here. You can knock down the dummies with this training sword for now until we can trust you to a real one, okay?"

"Will you come with me, Father?"

"What for?"

"I'm… scared."

She helped Little Meng stand up on his feet. She wiped his tears with a napkin. Noelle smiled.

"Of course."


"Come on! We just have to play like usual, Little Lulu!"

"But Little Fei! to play pirates we need Little Meng to be here!"

"B-But he isn't here! Hasn't been for a few days now."

"Doesn't matter! I'm not playing pirates without Little Meng!" She pouted.

Little Fei groaned. Why couldn't they just play without Little Meng! Sure, he could notice the difference with just the two of them. But what else would they do?

"You've been like this for the past few days already. When can we play?"

"When Little Meng shows up!"

He sighed. "Sure. I'm going to snap my fingers and Little Meng will suddenly be here."

"Someone call me?"

"Ahh!"

"What the-!"

Little Meng walked onto them at the deck of the ship, Noelle trailing not too far behind, but not close enough to impede. He sheepishly smiled.

"Hello!"

Outside, Little Meng was smiling. But within, he was shaking.

How would they react? Would they be mad? Would they get angry? Would they hit him? They've never done that. But you never know.

Inwardly, he prepared himself for physical damage. He could see them nod toward each other. Closer and closer they approached. When they were close enough, he instinctively closed his eyes-

'Huh, they punch like- wait a minute!'

Little Meng opened his eyes. The punch seemed a bit weak, and there was heat coming from all around him.

He was being embraced by his friends.

Though Little Lulu pinched his elbow. "You! You! You! You!"

"M-Me?!"

"Yes! You!" she glared at him. He could see tears in the corner of her eye. "We were so worried! Where have you been?! Do you have any idea how we felt when we couldn't see or hear anything about you for the past few days?! Huh! Do you!?"

"I wasn't as worried as her, but basically what she said." Little Fei wasn't as emotional as Little Lulu, but he could see he cared.

Little Meng went deeper into the embrace. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I made you worry."

"It's okay now, you're here." Little Lulu shook her head. "We can go back to playing again."

They then broke off the hug. "Before we do that, I have something to tell you both," Little Meng and Little Fei nodded.

"Does this have something to do with how you've been gone recently?" Little Lulu asked.

He nodded. "Yeah," he took a deep breath and steeled himself. 'Well, no better way to say this.'

"I'm going to Sumeru. It's set in stone. But I don't know when we're leaving yet. Right now, it's just a plan. But it'll definitely happen."

Just like that, he felt a weight off of his shoulders. A look towards his friends told him they were shaken by the abrupt news. 'I could've handled that better. But I couldn't think of any other way.'

Little Lulu looked teary-eyed once again. "Little Meng-"

"Hang on, let me finish," he held a hand up. "I didn't tell you because I thought you'd be mad. I would be leaving you, my friends, behind. I didn't know whether or not to tell you. I didn't know how you'd take it."

He paused. He took a breath. "But yeah. That changed when someone told me it would be better to tell you guys about it," he spared a glance towards Noelle. She smiled and gave him a nod. "That's why I'm telling you about this now. So we can play and play until I have to leave," He gave them both a smile. "So I can spend the time I have left here with you both."

There. He laid his heart down. The ball was no longer in his court for this one. All he could do was wait for their reaction and accept whatever comes his way.

The wait was nerve-racking. Seconds of silence felt longer than they actually were. Until-

**FLICK**

"Ow!" Little Meng scratched his forehead. "Okay, maybe I deserve that."

"Of course you do, dummy!" Little lulu glared. "Of course, we would be mad if you didn't tell us about this and just left one day! We're already like this just from you going missing for a few days," her tone suddenly turned somber. "If you went away without telling us… and we wouldn't see you again for a long time…"

Little Lulu trailed off. But she didn't have to finish her sentence to make her point. Little Meng felt really bad now. 'What was I thinking?'

"Though it's okay now. You told us about it. We can still play until you go," she smiled. "Though it makes me wonder how we'll play once you do go to Sumeru."

Little Meng smiled. She was always a tough girl. "Don't worry. You'll-"

"Don't screw with me!"

Little Meng and Little Lulu turned towards Little Fei. His eyes had tears in them, glaring at Little Meng with his hands balled into fists.

"That's it? He's going all the way to Sumeru and that's all you can say?!" he swiped his arm in front of him. "Screw that noise! He's leaving us!"

Little Meng pursed his lips. "Little Fei-"

"Little Fei, you know that's not true!" Little Lulu defended him. "You heard him! He isn't going away yet! We can still play."

"That's not the point!" tears streamed down the boy's face. "Why… why do you have to leave? This… this isn't fair."

Noelle's eyes widened.

"Why… why did Mother and Father have to leave me alone, Mr. Varka?"

"I'm sorry, Little Noelle. Believe me. I'm so sorry…"

"I know it's not your fault. It's just… This… This isn't fair. This isn't fair at all! Give them back to me! Give them back to me now!"

Little Meng frowned. Little Fei had always been the boastful one. To see him like this…

"Little Fei-"

"Sometimes, people leave. Some people stay. But what matters is the time they spent while they're by your side." Noelle walked up to them.

"Miss Noelle…"

Noelle walked up in front of Little Fei. She crouched and put a hand on his head. "You've been through a lot, haven't you?" she asked. "You're afraid to lose people. Afraid to let them go. You're afraid you might never see them again."

Little Fei couldn't help but be mesmerized by her passive caring gestures. He couldn't say anything, nor could he move. But to Noelle, that was already saying a lot.

"I know the feeling. It hurts. But if it weren't for that pain, there would be no point in having bonds with others," she smiled. "We eat because we don't want to go hungry, we rest because we don't want to be tired, we work because we don't want to be poor, and we love because we're afraid of not being loved."

She traced a small heart on the boy's chest. "It's tough. Knowing your friend is leaving someday, but sometimes, people have to go places to grow. So they can see new things, new people, so they can mature."

"L-Like Captain Beidou!" Little Meng exclaimed. "S-She goes around places, and brings new stories and crewmembers most of the time! But she and Lady Ningguang are still the best of friends!"

Noelle stepped aside as Little Meng and Little Lulu walked toward Little Fei. "I'm not going to be gone forever. I'm still here. And when I leave, I'll come back someday," he smiled. Like a certain maid, he wiped the tears off of the boy's face. "And when that day happens, we'll play pirates again. Who knows, maybe I'll have a real ship. Sound fun?"

Little Fei stood up straight. He wiped nudged Little Meng's hand away and chuckled. "Heh," he playfully punched Little Meng's shoulder, smiling. "Says you. I'll get a bigger pirate ship, and way before you do!"

Little Meng and Little Lulu's eyes lit up.

"Heck yeah, you're on!"


The challenge had spurned on a game between Little Fei and Little Meng. They were playing pirates again, but they were rival captains. Whoever lost would be part of the winner's crew.

And from the looks of it, it would be a stalemate.

'I think if I left them alone, Little Meng would still end up telling them,' she looked at the two children playing on the ship. 'But I'm happy I intervened when I did.'

Watching the boys play in the pirate ship gave her a sense of fulfillment. 'That's more like it. Children should be happy. Children should be…'

"Big sister Noelle?"

She was brought out of her thoughts as the girl called out to her. "Were you busy? Did I disturb you?"

She shook her head. "Of course not," she then titled her head. "Big sister Noelle?"

Little Lulu grew red. "I-It's just, Little Meng told us about you. How you helped him. How you basically brought him to us," she looked to her feet. "I… I just thought it right to call you big sister. You look like someone we can depend on. Not to mention I'm the only girl in the group," she stared up at Noelle, eyes shining. "Can I do that?"

'Oh, that's just adorable.' She smiled. "Absolutely! It would be my pleasure!"

Little Lulu beamed. "Great! Now, can you wear this?" Noelle saw her bring out a silver nylon bracelet with a pendant. She narrowed her eyes and saw the pendant actually had a drawing of a small skull with bones going through it. The skull also had two buns akin to Little Lulu's.

"This is…?"

Little Lulu giggled. "It's a bracelet that says you're part of the Little Lulu Pirates!"

"Then I shall gleefully accept," she chuckled. "You're the captain?"

"Yeah! But don't tell the others. They'll throw a fit." she put a finger to her lips and winked.

Noelle liked this girl. She was breezily mature earlier, but she could be cheeky when she wanted to.

'These three really are great friends.'

She accepted the bracelet and put it on her arm. She gave it a look before she smiled. She bowed. "Thank you."

"No, thank you, Big Sis Noelle." she mimicked Noelle. "Little Meng says you're a maid of the knights of Favonius."

Noelle nodded. "Yes. I plan on becoming a fully-fledged Knight in the future."

"They hold a huge ceremony or something for that, right?"

"Yes. They do."

Little Lulu beamed at her. "Then once you do, and you're going to become a Knight at the ceremony, I want you to call us! No matter how far we'll be, we'll be there to congratulate you!"

"Do you really have to go, Mr. Varka?"

"I do, Little Noelle."

"B-But-"

"I know it's been hard for you ever since, but if you don't get past it, you'll never become stronger."

"I… I understand."

"...Listen, Noelle. It's tough. And the pain will never go away. But I hope you let your new family, your Favonius family, into your life."

"But my family is-!"

"I'm not asking you to replace them, Noelle. I'm asking you to not let that hole in your heart stay for long. I'm asking you to give them a chance. It's why I made you a maid. So you can learn from others, teach others, and in time, learn to have bonds with others. Bonds you'll treasure."

"I… I don't exactly understand."

"Gahahahaha! Nothing worthwhile in life is ever that easy to understand, Little Noelle. Just keep my words in your heart, remember them always, and keep training hard, alright? For you, and for the people around you."

"...For the people around me… Yes! I will!"

"Gahahahaha! That's the spirit."

"Please, be safe, Mr. Varka."

"...You too, Little Noelle. And hey."

"Yes, Mr. Varka?"

"When you finally become a knight, and I know one day for sure that you will, I want you to call me. No matter where I am, I'll be there to congratulate you."

Noelle shook her head. 'What is with today. Why am I remembering all of these now?'

"Are you okay, Big Sis Noelle?"

Noelle gave her a reassuring smile. "Of course," she put a hand on Little Lulu's head. "I'm going to tell you something, will you listen?"

"Yes, of course, I will."

Noelle nodded. "Great," she pat her head. "Since you're the most mature of the three, and they trust you, it needs to come from you. So I need you to keep this in your mind to tell them once Little Meng has to go, okay?"

Little Lulu smiled. "Okay!" Noelle gave her another smile. She was so adorable.

"People can be here for you one day, and then the next they can disappear without warning," she kneeled down to face Little Lulu at eye level. "It's scary, knowing that. But I think that's more reason to treasure the bonds you have. To treasure the friends you have. Before they have to go, one way or another."

Seeing that Little Lulu was listening adamantly, she continued.

"I'm saying these to you now because I wish someone had said this to me earlier when I was younger. Maybe then… Maybe then I could've…" she bit her lip, then she shook her head. "Nevermind. I want you to take good care of your friends there. But I'm not asking you to keep track of their every move, or watch out for whatever they do. You're all still kids."

Little Lulu nodded. "You want us to make every moment we spend together special?"

Noelle smiled and shook her head. "Close. Every moment you spend together is already special. I'm telling you that just because someone is leaving soon, it doesn't make the moments you spend with each other any less special," she brushed a stray strand of hair off of Little Lulu's face. "Besides, you were quite angry too. Even more so than Little Fei, am I right?'

Little Lulu's eyes widened. "How did you-"

"I've been around a lot of people. I've seen many things. I know," Noelle hugged her. "One day here, next day gone. Remember?"

"I… I just can't imagine it," Little Lulu began sniffling. "We've been together since forever and now… I just can't-"

"And that's okay. It's okay." Noelle began stroking her hair.

"I-I'm the eldest, so I have to be the strongest. I have to be the one to break up fights. I have to be the one to calm them down. I have to be responsible. I have to be strong," she hugged Noelle tighter. "But…But this is too much. Little Meng…"

"Then let it all out," Noelle told her. "Children should have fun. Children shouldn't be sad. But our world isn't perfect. And neither are the people living in it."

Little Lulu sniffled. She slightly broke off the hug to face Noelle. "Does that mean-"

"But it doesn't mean we can't try," Noelle shook her head. "To be better people. To be a better person. For yourself, and…" she glanced at the two boys playing at the ship. Oblivious of their third member's internal dilemmas. "For other people too."

Noelle wiped the girl's tears with her fingers. "What… what should I do then, Big Sis Noelle?"

"I can't tell you what to do for sure, that's something you have to find out for yourself," she told her. "But what I can say, is that in a world where people inevitably come and go, there's only one thing you should go," she smiled. "Say hello when they come, and when they leave, open the door for them."

"And say goodbye?"

"No," Noelle shook her head. "You say thank you."

"H-Huh?"

The maid chuckled. "I can imagine why you thought that, but that's not necessarily correct," she said. "You say thank you, to give thanks to the memories they made with you. To the lessons, they taught you," Noelle put a hand to Little Lulu's head once more. "Keep my words in your heart, okay?"

Still sniffling, Little Lulu smiled and nodded. "I'm not sure I understand everything, but I'll keep it in my heart forever!"

"Good girl," Noelle smiled. "Besides, it's not like this is goodbye forever for you three. It's not a goodbye, but a see you again. Remember that too."

"See you again… I like the sound of that," Little Lulu jumped forward and hugged Noelle again. "You really are a Big Sis, Big Sis Noelle!"

"Glad I could help." she returned the hug with just as much force.

Children should be happy. Children were precious. But the world wasn't kind to anyone. Time flew by fast, the world doesn't stop spinning, and people grow older by the day.

But perhaps at least with these three kids, Noelle could be at peace. Even apart, their hearts would still be together. Noelle felt proud in saying that she had a hand in such a thing.

"I wonder. Would you be proud of me if you could see me right now? Mother? Father?"


AN: Recently finished the questline for Little Meng when he has to go to Sumeru. Thought I could make a chapter about that. I felt the whole quest line was lacking in interaction with the other two. So here's my take on it.

Bittersweet if I do say so myself. But this series of chapters can't go on if it was always the same optimistic theme every time. Might as well put down some of my headcanon for Noelle's backstory too. Make this thing more fleshed out by the chapter.