She was nineteen.

Another two years passed by in the blink of an eye, two years with her burying her deepest secret in the deepest part of her heart for fears she doesn't quite understand. Over the two years she grew increasingly certain that the emotions she felt for him two years ago wasn't a spur of the moment feeling, she is undoubtedly attracted and in love with him.

She kept justifying the reasons for not trying to be frank with him. She values their friendship, and she's afraid that they can no longer be friends if he was aware of her feelings for him and he doesn't reciprocate it. She rationalised that they are both Masters of the Knights of Favonius and she cannot afford to have any discord breaking out between the both of them for it will undoubtedly affect the efficiency of the organisation, which will translate to affecting the protection the knights can afford for Mondstadt and their people.

No, she cannot jeopardise the safety of an entire city due to her own personal feelings. She is the Dandelion Knight, Mondstadt and her people will always be her priority.

Those thoughts do nothing to quell the feelings she has for him. If anything, it only fanned them to grow even bigger.

She would forever remember the Windblume Festival that year when she was nineteen. It is a festival that celebrates love and friendship. Tourists from all over the world will flock over to Mondstadt to immerse themselves in this festive season. Naturally, the workload of the Knights of Favonius will increase at this period of the year because the sudden influx of tourists would mean that they have to step up the city's security. As Masters of the Favonius Knights, they have to oversee the city's security. She and him were not exempted from work that day.

She would forever remember that day when he proposed that they both take a breath of fresh air and enjoy a change of scenery by going out to patrol the city while the festival is ongoing, to see for themselves that everything is really as alright as their knights reported them to be. She agreed, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart when she realised that she would be going out with him, alone, during the period of a festival that celebrates love and friendship.

No matter how she looks at it her traitorous mind keeps reminding her that this just looks too much like a date and she has no idea what to do! What do girls do on a date, their very first date?! They have to dress up, right? But she's in her uniform! And… And… Does she look fine? Is anything out of place? Should she have put on lipstick that she only ever puts on, in like, less than five occasions in the nineteen years of her life? Should she have changed into a dress instead? But she's on duty! Should she then try letting her hair down, maybe style it into something different? But she had never tried tying her hair up into any other style before and she doesn't know what kind of look he prefers!

God, she is a complete and utter mess. The only thing she could do was to pray to Barbatos in the depths of her heart to please, guide her.

She wasn't given much time to dwell on the huge panic going on inside her mind, because he was holding her hand and pulling her out of her office the very next second. This time, she couldn't even hide the blush on her face no matter how she tried because he's holding her hand! Calm down, Jean Gunnhildr, this is not the first time you touched his hand! You did it plenty when you both were younger!

She doesn't know if he truly is unaware or if he had noticed the flush on her face but said nothing. All she remembered was that she was awkwardly shuffling her feet and evading his eyes the entire time they were on patrol and walking side by side with each other. She was thankful for the citizens that greeted them when they were patrolling the streets, because returning their warm greetings provided a brief distraction for her from this otherwise awkward situation, however temporary that distraction might be.

However, she can run from the moment, but she cannot hide forever. Soon, it was just them alone again.

"You are being awfully quiet today."

"I-Is that so?" She stuttered nervously and determinedly looked anywhere but at his face, trying to act as calm and collected as she can be even if she knew it would be for naught. In front of him, she is like an open book for him to read.

Drats.

"I hadn't done something to accidentally earn your ire, did I? Because it seems to me that you are avoiding me on purpose. If so, I really do apologise."

"N-N-No! Of course not!" She immediately denied any and all of such thoughts vehemently. By now, their footsteps had brought them to the large courtyard right at the front of the Church of Favonius, just right before the large statue of their Anemo Archon Barbatos. Right beneath the statue are offerings of various flowers found within Mondstadt for the selection of this year's Windblume and it made a very pretty sight that she etched into her memory.

"Then what's wrong? Wait, don't tell me you are feeling unwell?" He immediately leaned forward and rested his palm against her forehead and she felt her face exploding with heat immediately from the sudden close contact that she could never prepare herself for.

"You are burning up, I think you might have caught a fever. My dear Jean, I told you many times to always rest if you are not feeling well, did I not? Come, since we are already here we might as well bring you into the church and let Barbara take a better look at you."

He held onto her hand and started pulling her towards the direction of the church and she frantically struggled to free herself.

"I-I-I'm fine! Really! I just-! I just…"

Her voice slowly descended into a whisper and trailed off, unsure of what she should say.

"Just…?"

"...Nothing."

"This doesn't seem like nothing to me."

She looked up hesitantly, spotting that large grin on his face and suddenly a wave of dread washed over her.

He couldn't possibly know about her deepest secret, could he?

"W-W-What? Is there something on my face?"

"No," He replied as he raised a hand to gently tuck a stray strand of her light blonde hair behind her ear, causing her face to flush once more from the sudden intimate action and her body to suddenly go rigid. "But there is something that I want to confide to you, my best friend."

She looked at him in both curiosity and worry, because if it is something that he wants to confide to her on his own initiative, it definitely has to be important.

"I fell in love with a girl."

Her heart dropped at the news. She felt her body go cold and numb, her brain understanding the words but unable to register the meaning of it. Unaware of her inner thoughts, he continued speaking.

"We have known each other since we were little. She was the one who first approached me, and from the very moment we introduced ourselves to each other I just knew that she would eventually grow to be someone great, the signs were all already there. I never thought that I would want to associate myself with someone like her, because she shines so brightly and someone like me could never compare to her."

That look in his eyes is so full of hope and happiness but it just further sharpened the sudden ache in her heart at this moment, so much that she almost was unable to maintain eye contact with him because that person that he is talking about couldn't be her.

"But, she's also the person whose very presence alone pushed me to keep doing my best. She's so unbelievably gentle and has always been there by my side through thick and thin. She's the person who I strive to be and one of the few who brings out the very best in me. I can say for certain that without her, I would never have been able to be the Wolfclaw Knight, that is how much she had unknowingly influenced my life."

She looked down. She cannot help but feel a little jealous of whoever that woman might be but she has no right to say anything. For two whole years she had the chance to be that woman which he had been talking about but she had never taken any action. Also, how could she have not known about such a person despite being each other's best friends?

Suddenly, she felt that she's not a very dutiful friend for not knowing so much about him.

"I didn't know when I first started developing romantic feelings for her, but when I realised I did it was too late. I had contracted a chronic terminal illness called love and no matter how I tried to make it go away it's always there, those feelings I had were undoubtedly reserved for her and her alone. I tried to get her to notice me, like trying to find excuses to find some time alone, bring her out to go fishing with me on our rare day offs together, or even if it's some light sparring alone, or trying to get her to take a hint with the kind of romance novels I helped to sneak into her room on her request to make sure nobody finds out about her secret hobby but can you believe it? Three, whole, months. I have been trying to see if she shares the same feelings as I do for three whole months but she can be so incredibly dense in the matters of the heart. What does it say about me, I wonder, when all the important women in my life are all incorrigible workaholics that always put others above themselves? First Noelle, then her."

He brought out a small rock from within his pocket and with his power of Geo, he let it crumble, revealing the numerous dandelions hiding within and swaying with the gentle breeze on the palm of his hand.

"I'm glad that I attended the Windblume Festival with her today, because it is now that I can be certain that she shares the same feelings as I do. Do you want to know what that woman who had taken my heart prisoner looks like? She's tall, her skin fair and smooth. She has grey-blue eyes and gold-blonde hair that she usually ties into a ponytail and it looks so good on her that I can stare at it for an entire day, not that she ever noticed it because her focus is always on her paperwork instead of me. I never thought I would ever be jealous of the paperwork until then because she spends more time staring at those papers than looking at me. She likes her pair of gold cross earrings, because it is one of the few presents she had received from her father. She is so incredibly gentle and kind, she is also one of the strongest swordsmen of Mondstadt and is never a picky eater unlike me. She is my one and only rival and my most dependable partner and said partner is now gawking at me like a goldfish. You are going to catch flies in that mouth of yours, my Dandelion Knight."

He gently blew at the dandelions on his palm, letting them scatter with the wind as the flower scattered and floated all around them, surrounding them in a mesmerising shower of white. He gently takes her hand in his, raising it so that he can plant a soft kiss on the back of her hand as she continues to stare at him in disbelief, still unable to bring herself to believe that this is happening.

"My chosen Windblume is the dandelion and always will be, because it is the favourite flower that she likes so much. Jean Gunnhildr, I have no idea when it started, but you have succeeded in making me fall hopelessly in love with you. Will you… go out with me?"

She had known him for so long, but this was the first time she had seen such an unconfident Nolan. It was then she realised that he really really really liked her too, just as much as she likes him.

"Yes," She whispered before repeating herself once more, this time with more confidence in her voice.

"Yes, yes!"

She could not control herself in her excitement and threw herself at him, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck as they both laughed in joy. They could care less that all eyes are now on them as he hugged her and spun her round and round and round as they laughed and giggled like a pair of children. She never felt so happy when the people around them finally understood what was going on as they shared their joy with cheers and applause and it was the talk of the city for the next entire month that the Dandelion Knight and the Wolfclaw Knight were now seeing each other.

She was nineteen when the Windblume voted by the city for that year was the dandelion.

She was nineteen when they both realised that they shared the same feelings for each other.

She was twenty when she was married to her Wolfclaw Knight under the great tree of Windrise.

If people were to ask them why they decided to marry at such a young age, the answer would be that it simply felt right. She had her worries, of course, having witnessed the divorce of her parents and had experienced what such an ordeal could do to children. She would never want her own children to experience what she did so she had always been apprehensive when it came to the idea of marriage.

However, he always had ways to ease her fears and make her want to try taking the next step. They are both certain that the other will be the only partner that they would ever want to spend the rest of their lives with and so they see no need to delay the inevitable.

Under the blessings of their families and friends and also from the entire city, their union was made. That day, her family finally got together once again. They finally managed to get a family portrait together: Her, Barbara, and their parents; something that had been missing from her life at a very young age. All of this is only possible because of his love.

He whisked her away to the neighbouring nation of Liyue for their one month honeymoon so that it wouldn't even be possible for her to be worried about work. She will admit that it was the right choice to make. Right there, she is simply Jean Gunnhildr, not the Master and Dandelion Knight. He is simply Nolan, not the Master and Wolfclaw Knight. They are simply newlyweds looking to have the best time of their lives together and enjoy the sights and culture that they would otherwise never experience in Mondstadt.

Their days are enjoyable and their nights equally passionate. Everything felt so right with him around, he is her bedrock just like she is his gentle breeze that soothes his worries. They made so many unforgettable memories together in Liyue, memories that she will cherish for her entire life.

Their honeymoon coincided with Liyue's Lantern Rite Festival, and that year's festival was the biggest festival to date. They constructed their Mingxiao Lantern together and wrote their individual wishes on it before setting it into the dark night sky. They easily blend into the crowd because they are wearing the Liyuens hanfu instead of the usual attire worn by people from their nation.

"What did you write?" She asked him as she leaned into his chest with him gently hugging her from behind, the both of them looking up into the dark night sky of Liyue that is dotted by the lights illuminating by the countless Mingxiao Lanterns released.

"Something similar to what you would always say," he teased with a grin.

"For Mondstadt, as always?" She laughed in reply and he shook his head in fond exasperation.

"Close, but not quite there."

"Tell me," She egged on in a rare display of her girlish side, suddenly feeling mischievous. He leaned down and whispered into her ear, his breath tickling her ear in a pleasant way that only he could do.

"For you, as always."

She felt her face blushing up as though she was a young girl of seventeen falling in love all over again. She felt him pressing a light kiss on her forehead before she could react and she knew her face had just flushed even redder than the Jueyuan Chilli she saw being sold on the street markets of Liyue.

He laughed out loud when she buried her face into his chest from the embarrassment and her fists silently pounded onto his chest to get him to stop. It only served to make him laugh harder.

She was twenty when they decided to become each other's lifelong partner, and it's a decision that she had never regretted taking.

She is now twenty-one.

She closed her eyes and massaged her temples with a knuckle. She had just received a report from Amber via a messenger hawk that she found a lost Traveller and is on the way to guide him back to Mondstadt and will probably be arriving by tomorrow. For some reason, she felt especially lethargic today. To be more precise, she had been feeling a little tired for the past week and she knows that she is very close to having her husband force her to take a period of absence from work once again.

However, Mondstadt needs her now, more than ever. Grand Master Varka had taken more than half their forces on an expedition and they were short on manpower on all fronts. It's just her and her husband left to keep things up and running and ensure Mondstadt continues to prosper in his absence.

Still, she knows that her husband will worry if she doesn't at least get her health checked, so she forced herself to temporarily put down her work, stood up, and made her way to the infirmary. The usual doctor isn't in today and Albedo is standing in temporarily. He is not a true doctor, but he is knowledgeable enough in this field to handle anything short of an emergency.

She started to worry when Albedo's frown started to deepen after asking her a series of the usual questions and running a series of checks. Is something wrong with her? Has she contracted some sort of weird illness? Is it contagious?

Then all of a sudden, that frown on Albedo's face disappeared and its place, a look of realisation.

"Congrats, Master Jean."

"Congrats?" She asked perplexedly, and what Albedo told her next had her reeling in from shock. Even when she exited the infirmary and returned to her office she still hadn't quite recovered from the daze. She numbly sat back down on her chair, her hand subconsciously resting on her abdomen as she stared at how flat it is right now. It would not be flat for much longer.

She still couldn't believe it.

She heard the door open and she looked up, seeing her husband and the Wolfclaw Knight entering their shared office and she greeted him with a smile. He spotted the oddity in her right away.

"I would say that you seemed rattled, but you look happy too. What happened?"

As expected, she is an open book to him.

She walked up to him, her smile never leaving her face. She gently took his hand in hers and placed it over where that new life is now growing within her. She will forever remember how his eyes slowly widened in realisation.

"Jean…"

"We are going to be parents, Nolan."

She saw for herself how he was stumped into silence for the very first time since they knew each other. She would forever remember the joy that followed thereafter as they basked in each other's warmth and look forward to a future that she could only used to dare and try to dream about but never expected to experience.

She is twenty one now, and she is happily married to her love of her life and a mother to be.

She is twenty one now and she still loves him, and will continue to do so for the rest of her life.

She is twenty one now, and she now has many more things to protect. Not just the city and its people, but also him and their child. It's a promise that she plans to uphold for the rest of her life.

For you, as always.

~END~

AN: As per tradition, one 3 chapter short story to commemorate the anniversary of me being a writer on FFN. This is the third anniversary so far, the first story was for the Demon Slayer fandom (Butterfly's Tree), the second story was Naruto (Red and Purple), and the third story is Genshin Impact (This one), and hopefully there will be a fourth, a fifth, and so on and so forth, each of them being a short story relating to a different fandom.

Many thanks to all of you who had been sticking around and reading my stories. It puts a smile on my face whenever I receive messages or reviews that my stories had made your day just as your words had made mine. Truthfully, I had recently been harbouring thoughts to cease writing but your encouragement made me push on.

I think it's been a rough year for everyone. For me, I had started work for more than a year and I do not have as much time to be able to continuously write and update stories, which accounts for the relatively less frequent updates compared to prior years. And even when I finally had free time, sometimes I simply would be too tired to be able to continue writing, or experienced writer's block, or simply unmotivated to do so. Yeah, writing can be very difficult.

Every year on this specific day is like a milestone. For me, this is a time where I would check my follower and favourite count to see just how much I had improved from one year ago. As of today, I have archived 2,186,844 words, 30 stories, and is on the favourite list for 3542 members, which is a huge leap from 8 Dec last year where I archived 1,940,197 words, 26 stories, and is on the favourite list for 2276 members. It really does put things into perspective after looking back at the things I did for the year.

Once again, thank you for your support thus far, and I hope that you have enjoyed this story. Hopefully, I will be able to continue writing, and that we can continue to meet again in this manner next year.

Stay safe.

Cheers,

BANIX