Disclaimer: I do not own Genshin Impact nor the front cover (Source: (https)/twitter(.)com/Anmi_?s=20t=pgLEiOvPcKKiajIr_3K4iQ)
-Dracaena Somnolenta/Viator Story-
~Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy~
Friendship level: 10
'Today, people from the Adventurers Guild in Mondstadt had visited the Sangonomiya shrine, two weeks since the Raiden Shogun had abolished the Sakoku decree that now allowed outsiders to enter without restrictions, and I personally took up in becoming their tour guide, -3'
Pausing, Kokomi couldn't help the smile that was slowly making its way on her face.
Once more, she glided the lavish pen across the smooth white surface of her diary.
'A grey haired boy with goggles got flung by a anemo spectre and fell into the deep pool leading to Enkanomiya, luckily, he was saved by the Captain of the Swordfish II just in time, (plus) 2'
By now, she had a massive grin and flushed cheeks, remembering hours ago on how she had witnessed him unhesitatingly diving and then expertly swimming to save the poor boy with grace and ferocity that had left her impressed.
Kokomi could only watch as the traveler now pulled the silver haired boy towards land.
"Come on Benny! You'll be fine!"
"Ugh."
Grunting ever so slightly, the blond traveler then holstered the boy on his back as he began to climb up.
The Sangonomiya priestess though couldn't bear to see them struggle any longer.
"Traveler!" She called out to him, "Let go! But hold onto him tightly!"
Hearing her words, he could only nod in confusion at her command, but complied nonetheless.
As he let go from the edge of the cliff wall and now falling back towards the deep pool, she then summoned a torrent of water that shot upwards, a tall pillar manifested that now caught the traveler and the boy.
"Woah!"
The pillar of water then continued to rise, and now as they were airborne, Kokomi then engulfed them into a large bubble, carefully floating them down towards where she and the rest of the adventurers were.
Landing safely, she dismissed the bubble around them, splashing water everywhere.
"Are you alright travel-"
Stopping, her eyes widened and mouth agape at the sight that greeted her, making her stop to stare at them.
"O-Oh my-"
Aether looked absolutely dashing as his entire body was riddled with running water after he got out with the silver haired boy slung over his shoulders, the way the liquid gilded all the way down to his exposed chiseled abs, how his wet long golden braided hair shone against the dull late afternoon sunlight, giving him a gentle yet authoritative afterglow that made her nearly swoon, along with his soaked dark crop top and pants, appearing like a disheveled yet heroic captain that she proudly assigned to him all those months ago.
Truly, it was a sight to behold, one that will remain imprinted in her memories forever.
She did her best to hide that she was almost drooling and watching them so intently, most especially the former captain of Swordfish II, she didn't want to appear like she was ill-mannered, or worse yet, depraved, all because of the accumulated fantasies she had from reading the numerous unique novels from Yae Publishing.
"Uh, Kokomi?"
Snapping out of her trance, she was instantly brought back to reality upon hearing the traveler's voice.
"O-Oh, right!"
Running towards them, Aether then placed the boy down on the grass as she neared them.
Assessing his injuries as she knelt down beside him, Kokomi then summoned a small jelly fish that now floated over the grey haired boy.
Running her hands over his chest, she then felt a slight recess in his midriff, indicating that he had at least one or two fractured ribs, most likely from when the anemo spectre blasted him with compressed air.
"This will hurt a bit, so bear with it okay?" she said, her voice gentle.
The boy nodded.
Without further delay, the floating jellyfish then let out a pulse of liquid that now enveloped the grey haired boy.
"AH!"
Squirming, he then shut his eyes tightly, his fist clenching.
Kokomi then placed her hands on his arms and head.
"It's okay, the pain will be gone shortly." she cooed.
"T-Thank you, miss Sangonomiya."
Giggling at his shaky reply, she admonished him.
"Hehe, you're very welcome, and no need to be formal, just call me Kokomi," the jellyfish then pulsed as another wave of soothing energy wrapped around his body, making him feel even more relaxed as the pain further diminished, "I'm afraid I haven't learned your name, mister?-"
His expression turning even more embarrassed than pained (to her relief), he stuttered in reply.
"A-Ah B-Bennett, my n-name's Bennett."
She giggled once more.
"Okay then, Bennett, be more careful next time? You're lucky that the traveler here saved you on time."
"T-That's-"
Sending the blond traveler a look of appraisal, this time she focused her eyes on him.
"Well, how about you? Do you need help with any injuries?" she said, gesturing towards him.
Shaking his head, the blond only shrugged reply.
"You don't have to, only a couple of shallow scrapes, nothing too serious."
She hummed.
"Hmm, are you sure?"
Staring into his eyes, it felt like an eternity as she challengingly gazed deep into his golden orbs.
He didn't appear to let up, as he unflinchingly stared back at her.
She sighed.
"Well if you say so, but just know that I'm here if you need help with anything, okay?"
He nodded, giving her a small smile.
"Will do, "Miss" Kokomi." he said, a faint grin now forming on his face.
She could only pout.
"Hmph, at least Bennett here knows when not to be stubborn and seek help."
Not expecting to be mentioned as he was silently watching their exchange, Bennett stuttered meekly once more.
"I-I'm sorry, it's just that I have very terrible luck that I always get into accidents, so you don't have to scold the traveler too much, he's not at fault here."
She quirked an eyebrow, not expecting that he would defend him with such a strange reasoning, she then turned to the traveler, who only shrugged at her in response.
Feeling that she may have overstepped her boundaries and veering the topic into more sensitive areas, Kokomi smiled at him, deciding that she needed to end the conversation there.
"I see, well then, at the very least you're fine now, be extra careful next time then."
After she healed whatever injuries he may have sustained the moment they got back to land, and while the grey haired boy was flustered by her close proximity, muttering to himself that he was instantly reminded of being healed by a nun idol in Mondstadt, the blond traveler on the other hand simply rejected her offer, saying that he wasn't hurt by any means.
As much as she was disappointed that she couldn't run her hands- heal him, she was fully aware that he was simply built differently, he did after all survive the Raiden's Musou no Hitotachi and lived to tell the tale, so she didn't insist on it any further.
Clapping her hands in relief once the worst of the boy's injuries had fully closed, she announced.
"Okay! Now that that's been settled, let's continue onwards with the tour!"
"Yes, miss Sangonomiya!"
Giving their collective nods and vocal agreements, they then tailed behind her.
Even the previously injured boy now joined his fellow guild mates, as if the threat to his life from before didn't matter.
Even the traveler now stood right beside her.
Immediately, she became curious.
"Oh? So you're coming with us for the tour?"
He only shrugged again.
"Yeah, and since I'm basically a part of the Adventurers Guild, I wouldn't mind giving a helping hand, I might even get a reward from the guild too."
She giggled at his explanation.
"I see, well then, you'll be my co tour guide for the rest of this journey."
And with that, the tour with the rest of the Adventurers Guild's members went smoothly without any further incident.
Smiling once more as she finished reminiscing the events from earlier, she couldn't help but let out a contented sigh.
She then placed the pen down, deep in thought.
'Hmm, maybe I should lengthen my diary entry this time around…'
If she were to write down the highlight, it would be much longer given that she wanted it to be in full detail, making it be too short like she usually does won't do it justice.
Kokomi wanted to jot down the events about the traveler who decided to tag along after his very heroic rescue, who would then offer his own opinions as an adventurer, since also he basically explored every part of the island.
While she provided a brief history of every single known landmarks of the island they come across, he would often add his own comments, like how he came to know the information based on how he learned about them, either through the people scattered around or the books he could find, or even how he just accidentally stumbles upon them, even down to the hidden crevices the island had which even she wasn't that well versed with, it was honestly very captivating hearing him share his own insights that coincide with what she knows.
He spoke like a true traveler, never biased and only shared his knowledge that stays true to their origins, albeit the way he was too experienced for someone who looked no older than she is was definitely unusual.
And it was because of that fact that it made her curious on what other kinds of stories he could tell, given that he appeared to had been through so many places that she herself haven't been able to traverse, she wanted to know more about his numerous exploits in these different nations.
It was totally not an excuse to see him, nope totally not, not at all.
Staring outside to see that the sun had now set and the stars slowly becoming visible, it was then she realized that she was taking too long in writing down her current diary entry.
Before, it would only take her less than thirty minutes, she would just write it down in specific detail and be on her merry way to retire for the night.
Now, she was struggling to get the words going, feeling unsatisfied with what she had written, and it took her more than just an hour.
'Hmm, what a rather peculiar dilemma…'
In her past entries, she would often put minus or plus signs to indicate how her mood worsened or improved, but at the moment, every single thing that happened was far too complex for her to label it as on both extremes as either negative or positive.
One moment she was annoyed, the next she would be relieved, and then finally she would be happy.
It wasn't just stressed or calm, like before.
It was refreshing, if she was being honest.
During the times when the Sakoku decree was still active and the Shogun still on her vision hunt crusade, she wasn't even given time to sort out her feelings as she was too busy trying to land a strategic blow on their forces and put a stop to their relentlessness.
Coupled with the fact that her side was practically on the losing end since the shogunate's army was vastly superior to her own (a fact that she wouldn't want to admit out loud), having the traveler arrive during the period when they were at their wit's end was truly a miracle that could only happen once in a lifetime.
And fast forward to the present, weeks after the vision hunt had been terminated, now even the Sakoku decree had been abolished as well.
Everything was moving forward too fast, and for the priestess, it was positively overwhelming.
Sure it was not all sunshine and rainbows even though the entire war had come to a close, the lingering resentment and hostility between her people and the shogunate were still ongoing and wouldn't be appeased anytime soon, a lot more rebuilding had needed to be done as well since they lost more than they gained, especially after the debacle with the fatui and the delusion distribution that nearly ran rampant within her ranks.
Despite the hurdles they were currently facing, the fact still remains, now they were free from the oppression, and it was all thanks to the traveler who appeared at the right place and at the right time.
At the time of their darkest hour, he had shone a light, gave them hope, and ended a war despite all odds.
It was that thought, of the feelings of gratitude and even an emotion that she couldn't describe that was beginning to swell inside her, that her grip on the pen tightened with determination.
Ripping the page and starting anew on a blank one, she then dipped her pen on the ink.
Her hand from that moment on moved unhesitatingly.
'Today, the Adventurers Guild from Mondstadt came to the Sangonomiya Shrine, I became their tour guide, an accident happened though and one of their members got injured, luckily he got saved by the traveler on time and I healed him before it got worse, afterwards, the tour continued on but this time the traveler joins me as a co tour guide, it was a fruitful and eventful day,'
Pausing, she tried to think of a number, though just before shaking her head, as she felt like she didn't have to think too hard about it.
Her hand then randomly scribbled on the paper.
'(plus) 22'
And with that, she closed her diary, tucked it in beneath a secret compartment where no one could find it (the last time was embarrassing enough as the traveler was the only one to find it), and promptly collapsed on her work desk.
The next day, she woke up, feeling very refreshed despite her clearly uncomfortable position of being sprawled all over her desk
Though, the instant she walked out of her work station, she was instantly bombarded with birthday greetings.
At first, she was confused.
Then it hit her.
'It's my birthday today!
She even checked the calendar just to be sure, and lo and behold, it read February twenty second, her birthday.
She had forgotten, again.
Regardless, she felt incredibly happy, because this time, she could celebrate it without constantly worrying about the fate and future of her people.
Just when she thought that her day couldn't get any better, Gorou had informed her that the traveler was currently in Inazuma city, even though she expected for him to leave since he didn't have any more business after the Adventurer's Guild from Mondstadt had all left.
Immediately, she scrambled to write a letter to him.
Traveler, welcome back to Watatsumi Island.
Since early this morning, everyone has been sending me birthday wishes.
I smiled and thanked each of them one by one. It makes me very happy to be able to feel everyone's affections and trust.
But now, just for a moment, can I go "behind the scenes" to talk to you?
It's quite unusual that I find myself wanting to chat with someone, so if you're available, I hope you'll come and see me.
Signed, Sangonomiya Kokomi.
It was crude and hastily written, but it was satisfactory for her.
She then gave the letter to her most trusted general, who eagerly went for Inazuma city.
Now, all she had to do was wait.
Though it looked like she didn't have to for so long, as only few minutes after Gorou left, he was immediately back, this time, with his hand pulling someone from behind him.
It was him, the former captain of Swordfish II, who despite looking out of breath (she presumed that Gorou dragged him all the way here), looked to be happy to see them.
Walking towards him, she smiled.
"Hello, Traveler."
"In my spare time, I enjoy taking a walk on the beach by myself like this to clear my mind. I'm very happy to have your company today."
The weather was perfect, the sun was high yet not too scorching, the wind was cool yet not freezing, and the gentle waves that crashed to shore were soothing to her ears.
With a pleasant smile, she then turned to the person walking beside her, who was carrying a silver box which was filled with clams that they had been collecting, with his small companion happily picking up random eels from behind them.
It was truly the best way to celebrate her birthday, with the hero who she now cherished by her side.
"Thank you, Aether."
The traveler smiled back at her.
"Anytime, and Happy Birthday again, Kokomi."
A/N: Happy Birthday Kokofish! As much as you can't crit and that I had to skip you, this time on your first rerun I may pull for you since Hoyoverse is making erosion more common than ever.
Also, title is based on the lyrics of "Across the Universe" by The Beatles.
