dndkeg: Yup, it comes down to how much she trusts their relationship, and how much she trusts Aether specifically.

Remember when Inazuma was first accessible to us.

"Th-Thank you Jean! I promise I'll work twice as hard when I get back!"

"Oho, you hear that? Twice as hard means less work for me~ That gives me plenty of time to do…certain other tasks."

"Lisa, your work ethic is…extremely commendable." A third voice sarcastically quipped.

Not failing to pick up on that tone, but choosing to ignore it, the woman laughed. "I know, isn't it? With the extra time, I could arrange a vacation, just for the four of us. After all, why should Kaeya and Diluc get to just leave for the archipelago like that? Oh wait, I suppose Aether will have to come with us, for Amber's sake if nothing else~"

The aforementioned party's face began to grow just a tad pink at that comment. "H-Hey Lisa, that's not nice…"

"Don't be like that, dear. I'm sure he'd like to see you wear a summer outfit of your own. Maybe I could even convince him to try something a bit different as well…Oh speak of the man of the day, here he comes now."

"Huh?" Amber turned around completely, and sure enough, Aether had emerged from the stairs and began walking to the four females, sporting a pleasant look on his face.

Embarrassment from Lisa's jokes put aside, Amber happily greeted him right away before a single word could be uttered from him. "Hi Aether, what's up?"

Now at this, the adventurer paused for a bit. He couldn't tell Amber of all people that he wanted to talk with Eula (who was watching him right now while leaning against headquarters) alone, that would look extremely suspect, especially with how close the Outrider and Spindrift Knight were. So he opted for the next best thing to say instead.

"Just going around, chatting with as many people today as I can. Kaeya actually told me you three went here to 'get the Grandmaster out of the office' as he put it. And from the looks of it…" he shot a look behind Amber towards the woman herself. "It seems you succeeded in doing that, well done."

"Heh, it's harder than it looks. I'm still amazed Klee actually convinced her to come with you that one time…but I guess it was actually Alice who was responsible for that, huh?"

"Yeah…I wonder when I'll get to see her…that'll be a day to remember."

Amber smiled and was about to speak again when Jean herself called out to him. "Ah, Honorary Knight?"

Man, that title really only has a few hours left. Aether walked over to her expecting a pleasant chat.

…What he got instead was a punch on the shoulder.

Well, that was an overstatement. In reality, Jean's fist did indeed meet that part of his body, but the audience of three people would be hard pressed to call it a "punch" with the light impact it delivered. Still, the sheer unexpectedness of her move caused him to take a step back in shock. A semi-tense moment passed, as Aether just stared up at Jean dumbfounded.

"You know, next time you need Klee to do something for you…would it be so hard to talk to me about it?" At the second half of that question, Jean's serious demeanor broke as a light smile crossed her lips. The tension in the air switched back to one of a typical afternoon in Mondstadt. Aether rubbed his shoulder in mock pain as she finished.

"Suppose I deserved that, didn't I? I'm sorry for unnecessarily worrying you today."

Amber chimed in. "Oh yeah, why DID you say Klee could leave solitary confinement early anyway? You still haven't told me."

Before he responded, Aether stroked his chin to try and hide his embarrassment. The truth is…we- that is, me and Paimon,- we met Bennett right before hearing the news from Katheryne. Then when going to talk to Jean, we overheard…you, Amber talking with her already. I…I just didn't think I could tell you about what had just happened so suddenly, so I went to the solitary confinement room instead. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to run into Klee there, but I ended up telling her everything and asked her to find Bennett while I went to see Jean. I guess she didn't go back to solitary confinement after that though…"

At the part he had to confess about being nervous, Lisa let out a very audible whistle and even Eula couldn't help but chuckle. Not helping diminish their reactions was the fact that Amber's face grew light pink, clearly not expecting that to be the reason for his actions. Jean, always paying attention to the couple, decided that now would be the most appropriate time to drop the news.

"Well, overlooking your decision with Klee, I can respect the choices you made today. And you'll be pleased to know I was able to work out a schedule with the rest of the Knights…to let Amber go with you to Liyue and see you off."

For just a moment, Aether imagined her saying Inazuma instead…that would have truly been a miracle. But he was still very grateful to the Acting Grandmaster for allowing this to happen, the Knights of Favonius seemed to always need all hands on deck. So being allowed to take Amber even just to Liyue Harbor was very much appreciated.

"Jean. Thank you." He bowed. "This really means a lot to me."

"It's the least I can do, Aether." After that, the conversation between the five of them turned to small talk while the minutes passed, including Aether finally relaying what Sucrose had mentioned about what was going on at Dawn Winery to Jean. While this was going on, he kept eyeing Eula throughout these chats, trying to find an opening to talk to her one-on-one, but there just wasn't any opportunity. Until Lisa spoke up, that is.

"Aether, where is Paimon? Did you two get separated?"

The boy in question looked confused for a minute before he shook his head. "Oh no, I actually saw her on my way up here. She was chatting with Fischl, Razor, and Bennett. Barbara and Noelle joined them too."

"Ah so that's where Barbara went…" her sister mused out loud. But then Aether let out a frustrated sigh as he pulled out some prepared food- specifically, the Chicken-Mushroom Skewers that Sara had given him just a few hours earlier.

"Dang, that was actually my perfect time to give Paimon one of these…or I guess, two of these." He laughed, remembering what the owner had said to him. "Speaking of…this one is for you." He passed one of the skewers to Amber, which she took happily.

Meanwhile, Lisa's grin grew a bit devilish. "Well I see no reason why your cute fairy friend has to go hungry." Snatching the two remaining skewers away from Aether in a flash, the librarian put her hand on Amber's shoulder, surprising her. "Amber and I can deliver the food on your behalf. Right, dear?"

"Uh, sure." The girl responded with some pause. "Come on Aether, Paimon must be going insane from hunger by now, heh."

Predicting this reaction, Lisa played a trick. "Oh, that's a marvelous idea Amber~ If Aether comes with us, I can ask him about what kind of summer clothing he'd prefer to see you in."

"L-Lisa?!"

And that was how Amber and Lisa left to find Paimon and the others, with the former's face bright red. Jean merely shrugged her shoulders, shook her head, and began to tail the two, citing a desire to talk with Barbara. Aether blinked, now skewer-less. He wasn't exactly sure what had just happened or why Amber got so embarrassed, but he was now alone with Eula, just as he'd hoped. Knowing that Lisa could only keep the archer away for so long, it was best to not wait.

But he barely got started. "Hey Eu-"

"Honorary Knight." She took her arms off the guardrail. "This is about something for Amber right?"

Ordinarily, he'd be surprised at the correct guess. However this time, "That obvious huh?"

"What do you take me for? I'm smarter than my uncle, thank you very much. If you mean to imply that I didn't see such an obvious distraction coming, then I warn you: vengeance will be mine." Despite all of her words, she was saying this with a smirk on her face, as both Aether and her knew that it wasn't a serious threat.

The blonde just laughed. "Hey, this was all Lisa's idea, not mine. But if you know what I'm going to ask about, I can skip some steps." With this said, he whipped out his new "home" again, the Serentea Pot. "Want to come inside?"

The Spindrift Knight shook her head. "What's the point of that? You'll have to come back here anyway."

Aether playfully rolled his eyes. "Suit yourself."

-0-

About five minutes later, Aether "stepped" back out of his teapot and into Mondstadt again. He took a quick look around and spotted Eula, now with a book in hand, probably poached from the library while he was gone. A bit of a shame, he thought, I was going to ask her how it looks when I go inside. For Aether's part, he was now carrying a certain medium-sized package that he'd gotten from his bedroom bookcase. Without any acknowledgement, but rather because she just knew, Eula stood up and faced him again.

"What's that?"

Aether looked over his package, as if there was going to something he'd missed despite it being his, then handed it over to Eula, who gave it the same examination. The rectangular container had absolutely nothing special about it, not even the outer wrapping had any deviation outside of its' flat brown color. The only thing of note were the lines from where the package had been folded around….well, whatever the item inside even was.

"Did you stuff Paimon in here?"

Was that…a joke? Eula looked strangely pleased with herself for asking that, so Aether was forced to gently correct her. "I don't think she's that small…"

"Obviously." She dismissively responded. "So again I ask, what is this?"

"Well…I know what I just said, but you're not completely wrong. That's a birthday present. For Amber."

A pair of blue eyes met his golden ones. "…Right, that is next month, is it not?"

Aether nodded. "Yeah…but I don't expect I'll be back that soon. When I went down to Liyue and met the Captain of the Crux, she told me how dangerous the trip to Inazuma is, both in terms of weather and what's going on in the region itself. Because of this, not many ships are permitted to leave, so getting back is going to be an additional challenge itself . And of course, I still have to actually complete my objective." Inhaling, he added sadly. "I'm going to be gone for probably the next few months…so if you could do this…"

He really expected Eula to ask for more details as to what this "objective" actually meant, he didn't know how much the Spindrift Knight knew about what was going on in Inazuma. But instead of asking about that topic, she fired a different question right back at the Honorary Knight. "Why me?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you trusting this to me? You know Lisa and Jean far better, and I'm sure you have plenty of other friends here you could rely on. And as you know, we Lawrences don't tend to be the most trustworthy of people." All of this was said extremely matter-of-factly, with no wanting for pity, just genuine curiosity. "So why?"

Taking a moment to figure out just what to say to that, Aether responded. "Well, if you're a friend to Amber, that means you're already in my good books. I know that you aren't like your uncle or your ancestors, so I feel like I should put my trust in you concerning this. Also…" He put his hand to his chin and grinned "When I return, I would really like to get to know you better Eula. "I've realized that despite being in Mondstadt for so long, there's still a lot I have to learn about the people who live here…For example, what does the famous Spindrift Knight do when she's not dealing with the Fatui?"

A wry smile crossed Eula's face. "Is that right? Well, I have a solution."

"Wait, what do you mean a solution?"

"I don't just accept a request from anybody who asks…you know, unlike somebody I could name." She smirked at him. "So when you return, Honorary Knight, let's have a duel."

"A duel?"

"Are you going to question everything I say?! Yes…a duel. I'm interested to see how a sword style from another world measures up against my own abilities." Closing her eyes and looking down, she maintained her confident look. "After all, you want to get to know me better do you? Then this is the best way."

Shifting the package to one hand without waiting for an answer, Eula thrust out her other palm. "Well? If you want me to accept your favor, you'll agree to my terms."

To be honest, Aether had a sneaking suspicion that Eula would have delivered his gift to Amber no matter how he answered here. But he did mean what he said about wanting to get to know her better, and a duel between the two of them was a good a place to start as any. So with those thoughts, he took the Spindrift Knight's hand with his own and shook it.

"I agree. Looking forward to it."

-0-

After that conversation with Eula, the final day gradually grew to a close. Lisa, Amber, and Jean returned with Paimon and Barbara and the now group of seven chatted for a while longer before Aether said a temporary farewell and left with his floating companion, citing the need to talk with anybody else. It wasn't that simple, as Jean asked him to say a few final words to everybody at sunset, to which he of course agreed. But after that, he and Paimon were off, talking with people like Noelle, Diona, and any other Knights who wanted to speak with him. Naturally, he made absolutely sure that they weren't forgetting anything else in this last hour.

But eventually the sun did start to dip below the horizon, meaning that the day was finally, officially, over. An instant later, Amber appeared before Aether, who had moved to a bench next to the Adventurer's Guild.

"It's time. Everyone has gathered around the square for you." She let out a reassuring smile and held his hand.

Aether smirked back. Standing up, he directed a 'See you in Inazuma' to Kathyerine and walked up the main stairs for the final time. There, of course, was mostly everyone he had spoken to this day, complete with several other Knights, sisters of the church, other adventurers, and even people who didn't belong to any of the mentioned groups, like Ella Musk. Even with them spread out among the upper level of Mondstadt, the sheer number of people standing in one place was very impressive.

"Hey, there's Aether!" Bennett's voice was heard out over the sea of faces, and it acted as a call for any lingering conversation to dial down for the moment. Eventually, Aether was facing an expectant audience, in an atmosphere so quiet that the pages of a book turning would be heard clear as day.

Oh gods… He gulped and turned his head back to Amber and Paimon, standing right by the aforementioned receptionist. They both smiled encouragingly, clearly pushing him to say what was on his mind.

No regrets….

Aether turned back to the crowd and began. "I'm…I'm really not sure what to say here. But I guess I'll start with…thank you everyone. Thank you for everything you've done for me, no matter how small it may seem."

"When I first arrived in Mondstadt, I-I was a mass. I felt completely lost without my sister, I…had nothing left expect my sword and some weird emergency food named Paimon." This earned several chuckles from the crowd, relaxing Aether…and a huff courtesy of the fairy behind him. "But you all…you gave me a purpose, a role as the Honorary Knight, and I'm very grateful to everyone for accepting me, an outsider, as part of Mondstadt."

"I leave now for Inazuma. It'll be a long journey…and potentially a very dangerous one. But I have already made several promises that I will make it back. And I have every intention of fulfilling that. So for now, I'll always remember what Mondstadt has taught me, to let the wind lead and guide my path."

He felt some tears begin to wet his eyes, but he refused to wipe them away. Instead, Aether chose to stand even straighter, even prouder than before. He could make out some muted gasps at the show of emotion, but there was no need to be concerned . "So…for the final time, thank you everyone…thank you for making me a part of your family."

A stunned silence was the immediate reaction…but it was one that quickly vanished as someone (Bennett again? Barbara?) broke out into furious applause, one that spread around the crowd in a flurry. Despite the noise, Aether thought he heard Klee sniff back some tears, along with other people doing the same. (in fact, he was fairly certain Paimon had also cried a bit behind him)

But that was it. The Honorary Knight was no more…at least, for the foreseeable future. So with the clapping providing a backdrop, he spun around and gave the crowd one final wave.

Waiting at the bottom of the stairs were of course Amber and Paimon. If there was anybody in Mondstadt that somehow hadn't figured out that the archer and adventurer were together, their interlocked fingers as they strode out of the City of Freedom would finally make them realize what was going on.

As the three crossed the stone bridge, "Paimon never knew you had that in you Aether! Paimon's impressed!"

"I just said how I felt…" Aether responded while looking away and sheepishly grinning.

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way." Amber confirmed for him. "Alright, let's move!'

There were three marked paths out of Mondstadt, one that went to Starfell Valley and the north-east corner of the region, one that went to Springvale and eventually the Stone Gate that separated them from Liyue, and one more road that led to the Thousand Winds Temple. The direction they had to pick was obvious…and yet…

"Say Amber, can I make a slight detour?"

"Huh?" The girl still holding his hand was confused. "I don't mind…but where do you want to go? We need to be at Liyue tomorrow, right?"

He nodded. "Right, but there's…somebody else that I want to see. It shouldn't be long."

"…Alright then, shall we?"

-0-

"You know, every time I come here, I'm always impressed by the sheer size of this. It's just massive."

After a short hike, the three of them were now staring at a Statue of the Seven, with an absolutely towering oak tree just behind it. The "detour" Aether wanted to take was to Windrise, which luckily wasn't too far off the path. Good thing too, for the sun had completely vanished from sight and darkness had just started its' nightly takeover. As to why they were here?

"Venti!"

Both archer and fairy were stunned at the outburst, but then they realized that neither of them had seen the bard at all today. Of course, Aether kept it in mind that Venti's real identity was still unknown to Amber, so he purposely avoiding calling him anything else. Despite what Paimon was thinking too, there was no intent to find out about any past events…this time at least. Clearly the recipient of the adventurer's call knew this as well, because in the next instant:

"Is that the Honorary Knight I hear? Oh and Amber and Paimon too!"

Briefly, they looked around them to make sure they weren't missing anything obvious. But then someone with the appearance of a young boy dressed in all green jumped down from one of the tree's thick branches, smiling all the way while holding a certain lyre. Sure enough, it was Venti.

Amber took a moment to process this. "V-Venti? What are you doing here? I'd really thought you be at Mondstadt today."

"Heh heh, don't get me wrong, I'll be stopping by tonight for some leftovers. But for now," He turned to Aether. "A little birdie told me you would come looking for me, so who am I to abandon my guests?" Tossing a fresh apple to the adventurer, he asked, "So, you have something to tell me hmm?"

Aether nodded. "Well, I already said something similar to everyone when we left Mondstadt, but ..thanks Venti. Without your help, I don't know if everything would've worked out the way it did."

The bard in question looked proud of himself. "You're welcome! But really, I owe you just as much. You helped me re-connect with a long lost friend…Plus, I bet you could've taken on Duvalin all by yourself!" He laughed at the thought, but it faded upon seeing Aether with, of all things, a confused expression on his face.

"Huh? No…I'm thanking you for talking with Diluc and getting him to clear out Dawn Winery that day. The lack of distractions really helped me to focus about what I wanted to say to Amber…well, that and having Diluc criticize me."

There was no quick comeback from Venti this time. A breeze flew by, rusting up some nearby leaves.

"C-C'mon, Honorary Knight, that wasn't me…"

"Oh?" Aether's face grew a savage grin. "Well if you're right, can you do me a favor? Tell Kaeya that we send our thanks to his partner." For their parts, Amber let out a laugh at what was going on while Paimon just smirked. "As for us, we've gotta get moving to Liyue. No further detours!"

Laughing now, the trio quickly walked away back towards their destination. It took a minute, but eventually Venti's own face snapped out of its' stupor and gained a look of pride.

The bard got out his lyre once more and began to play his favorite tune. "See you both around…oh and Paimon too of course."

-0-

If there was one benefit to the Serenitea Pot that Aether didn't acknowledge much, it was definitely the fact that needing a proper place to sleep was now a thing of the past. As an adventurer by nature, there were only a few spots that he absolutely wouldn't make camp at, but with the portable home in his possession, those 'few spots' had vanished.

Of course though, they still couldn't just set up shop anywhere, lest the teapot be exposed to hillichurls, Treasure Hoarders, or the like. Although Aether still had no idea what a spectator watching would see when they went inside, the mere thought of waking up inside an enemy encampment wasn't exactly a thrilling prospect. With that in mind, the three travelers agreed amongst themselves to crash at Stone Gate, where the teapot was at least overseen by guards, however oblivious they themselves might be to the pocket dimension.

The aforementioned key word was "crash", because that's exactly what Aether and Paimon did. Mentally exhausted from all the day's events, they could barely muster a 'goodnight' to Amber before the fairy fell on her couch while Aether went to his room at the end of the hall. Fortunately, the archer had done this several times before, so she took "her" room (technically the guest room) on the opposite side.

…

However, several hours later, Aether actually woke up again. Despite having absolutely no evidence for this, there was a gut feeling that it would still be dark in Teyvat and not the eternal sunrise the teapot was adorned with. He should really get back to sleep…but there was something weird about this. His legs felt warm…and immobile, like they were stuck to the sheets. Maybe this should've sent a panic signal off somewhere, but there was also something…gentle about this. He slowly sat up, eyes gradually adjusting to the dark room. And as for what he saw?

"…Amber?"

Indeed, the archer lay on top of his legs, arms around his waist as if she was going in for a hug but had been blocked by the bed. Did she come in here by accident or…? Whatever the reason, the lack of any response alerted Aether to the fact that she was out like a light, probably for the same reasons as him. It had been one hectic day after all, no wonder they were tired. With everyone he needed to say goodbye to, he'd almost forgotten that Amber had volunteered to go to Dawn Winery in the morning, adding another task to her plate that was already full from being the only Outrider in the Knights…

Aether's chest began to ache at that thought, and he knew why. It was quite a cruel twist of fate. Among numerous other things, he loved Amber because of how devoted she was to her position and the city of Mondstadt. Yet it was precisely because of that very devotion that made her coming with him to Inazuma an absolute impossibility.

Of course, not like I'm much better. He thought. There's nothing stopping me from just…ignoring what Lumine said and settling down with Amber. Nothing at all…but…

"Once you reach the end of your journey, you will come to understand the world's true nature."

His hands balled up into fists on the bed as that memory bounced around yet again. Unfortunately, stopping in Mondstadt now was another impossible thought, he HAD to find out what his sister meant. And the first step to that was going to Teyvat's seven regions, meeting with all the Archons-

"Mmmm…." The archer still laying on him stirred, but didn't wake, dispelling his sudden frustration. Right… Aether mouthed, calming down. Amber accepted what I need to do for Lumine, just like me accepting what she has to do for the city…I'm a lucky guy, huh?

Looking down again, Aether was struck by three immediate options for handing the present situation. The first was to slip out of Amber's grasp and carry her to the guest room, the second was similar but it had him taking the other room for himself, just for tonight. And the last way….

The adventure smiled warmly. If this is to be our final night for a while, I'm not going to abandon her.

Lightly grabbing her arms and shoulders, he calmly brought Amber up higher on the bed, until eventually the archer's legs were no longer touching the floor. After being satisfied that neither of them were about to take a tumble down, Aether lowered his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes. The warmth from Amber was so overwhelming, he knew he couldn't fight anyway.

His last conscious thought that night was feeling a grip on his chest tighten and hearing a giggle.