This chapter is actually my failed attempt to write something for the Lumine Femslash week, but I hit a roadblock so badly that I eventually give up and almost delete it entirely before this idea come to mind ಥ_ಥ ಥ_ಥ
The first time these fox ears heard about the news, the woman is half intrigued and half disbelieved.
A warrior in the form of a small young girl, capable of defeating the Dragon of the East, Dvalin, one of the four winds of Mondstadt. Slaying the ancient god of the storm, Osial, and saving the nation of Liyue from getting erased from the map in the process, renowned as heroes by the two nations, all of them are just as unbelievable as it was intriguing.
But still, after hearing all of those accomplishments that mysterious person they call the "Traveler" have made, Miko couldn't help but to pray with all of her heart so that Inazuma will be the next nation the heroine will stop by, so that not only she could see first hand the appearance of the person her ears have listened to for the past few months, but also in hopes that she could lend her a hand in saving her dear friend from the isolation that she had put herself into. Day by day would the woman never ceases to at least spend an entire hour standing beneath the glorious Sacred Sakura Tree of this great Grand Narukami Shrine. Just so she could ease her mind as she waits patiently for that day to come, the day this long condensed desire would finally come true.
And it wasn't until a day before the destined day where Miko realized her big mistake. Her mistake for even having a speck of disbelief inside her heart.
The winds from afar had brought itself to the nation of eternity known as Inazuma. And along with it, came a familiar scent that Miko never imagined to have it entered her nose again. The way it tickled her sensitive nose, the pleasant feeling she felt at the back of her mind as the sweet sweet scent of the unknown entered her lungs. The scent that she remembers coming out from stands of bright coloured hair that belongs to a certain someone that she's unable to remember their face or voice at all. It is exactly what her subconsciousness told her, it was the scent of the stars, one that is the same one as the one she used to smell so much when she was around thatperson. The person that she used to love so much to the point of almost never leaving their side with each passing moment. The mysterious girl that Ei had told her stories about countless of times before, back when the two are used to live together before the woman had left her behind as she isolate herself from the rest of the world.
Thinking about the thought of having to finally meet that girl that has plagued her mind for the last 500 years has certainly filled Miko's heart with some strange emotions that she was unsure of. Was it happiness? Happy to finally have her wish came true? Not just her wish to save Ei, but also to meet that person that she loved so much again after so long? Or is she frustrated? Frustrated that this person has left her for so long without even saying a proper goodbye and forgetting about the promise that she had made back in the day? Miko doesn't know, the only thing that can answer her is when she saw that person again.
And so, that day came. A simple request was made for her to check whether or not the master swordsman from the local dojo had been possessed by an evil spirit judging from the way he acts, trembling and mumbling some random words that have some recognizable names on them. Knowing full well that the man is just one of the many victims of the Vision Hunt Decree that that puppet has foolishly declared, Miko knows better that it was merely another of many symptoms that came from having one's Vision forcefully taken away from them, no evil spirits involved whatsoever. But she supposed she could go and entertain them even if just a little. After all, it's not healthy for staying inside for so long, and also, the familiar scent is just outside of her doorstep, so the long-awaited person has finally arrived at her place.
If it wasn't for the fact that there are so people here, and that she doesn't want to act out of her character in front of them, Miko would've probably run outside and jumped into that person by now. But she quickly brush off the idea and decided to simply act like her usual self, concealing this euphoria accumulating inside her heart.
She steps outside of her living quarter inside the Shrine, facing the crowds outside that are looking at her. With the night sky of Inazuma as the background, accompanied by the falling leaves of the Sacred Sakura, Miko laid her eyes on the two indistinguishable figures behind the crowd. A small floating creature thing with white hair and a white dress, certainly something that Miko saw before. And then the bigger girl who has short blonde hair that shone under the moonlight, with her pristine white dress elegantly reflecting the soft white glow to any observer's eyes enough to make them astonished by it. And then the pair of beautiful golden orbs for eyes, who shines like gold illuminating the darkness around it.
Well... The last part certainly wasn't right...
Her eyes are dull, darkened, and there are a lot of mixed-up emotions bottled up in them, emotions that some are able to decipher by Miko, and some that even the Kitsune is unable to understand. Fatigue, anger, confusion, sadness. Those are some of the emotions Miko can see inside her eyes.
What's with those Shining gold eyes filled with bright light, so positive and so carefreedescriptions that Ei has told her before? It was as if what she was seeing right now is the exact opposite of what Ei has been telling her this whole time. Has Ei been lying to her? Or has something had happened sometime during the past 500 years period that made this girl to lose the bright light that she used to possess?
Well, whatever the case is, Miko is still glad that she was finally here, in Inazuma, again.
"Well... You certainly have changed a lot, huh?"
"So were you."
Sitting in front of her across the small wooden table. The girl with short blonde hair that emitted the familiar otherworldly scent, with her eyes that are gold but visibly darker and dull than what she remembers, Lumine is staring at her, eyes half-lidded, and mouth was kept in a neutral state.
The two found themselves sitting inside the Tenshukaku, on a terrace where they decided to have a nice cups of tea while they talk, with the nice scenery of the nighttime in Inazuma adorned the background.
As expected, her flawless plan would never fail. She now finally has Lumine back, successfully restoring the girl's lost memories and making her remember the important things she had forgotten about Inazuma. Her arrival prior to Cataclysm, her befriending the twin Electro Archons and their friends, and lastly, the close relationship she had with Miko during those days in the past. Nothing can't describe this feeling of happiness of reuniting with an old friend she has loved so much like this. It made Miko's heart blooms with comfortable warmth that she never felt before, perhaps she had felt the familiar sensation during that day when she met with Ei again after so long of not seeing each other. But the sensation that day is no match with the one she's feeling right now.
But even though she was successful in bringing back Lumine's shattered memories. It seems like it would take a whole new level for her to fix this brokenstate Lumine was in. Perhaps it may be even impossible for her to do so, with the only visible answer as of now being to make her meet with her brother again and save him from the clutches of the Abyss.
Miko has seen someone with this kind of situation before, it was none other than Ei herself who suffers from a similar case in the past, 500 years ago after whatever happened during the Cataclysm had finally been resolved. Losing not only her dear friends that she has spent a very long time with from before and after Inazuma was born, but also her older twin sister, her very own flesh and blood, the other half of her soul, her entire being. Ei was never the same again after that, the light in her eyes has been diminished, almost to nothingness if it wasn't for Miko to still be there for her. Providing with as little as comfort that her younger self could provide. She faintly remembers the feeling when Ei holds her that day. The Archon held her in her arms as she pull the tiny fox close to her chest, with droplets of water coming from her tears wetting Miko's fur, which the fox would normally protest if it wasn't for what happened that day.
These two have suffered from a relatively same cruel fate, there is nothing as painful as losing a member of your own family, not to mention that the effects are similar too. The only difference between them however, is that So was provided with a 500 years to grief and wept about it, with Miko is still being there by her side, watching as the last remaining of her caretaker slowly and gradually get over her sister's death, even if the fact that she's not completely over it and still has flashes of bad memories every now and then, it was enough to make Ei keep going and do her duties as the Archon of Inazuma, just like what Makoto entrusted to her, never mind that her ways of doing said duties are far different than her late sister did.
And then there is this girl, Lumine, Who also lost the other half of her soul. Despite of her brother having been confirmed to be alive, having him to directly refused her offer to go home and even turned a blind eye to her begging and tears, perhaps not knowing him to be alive at all was the better option. Unlike Ei, Lumine did not belong to this world, she doesn't have the obligations to interfere or even be bound to the various affairs of this world, and yet she chooses to involve herself with some, all for the small hope that someone, anyone, would know about her brother's whereabouts to no avail.
The poor girl clearly doesn't even have the time to let herself relax and overcome the pain of losing her brother, first, of him being taken away and mysteriously disappeared, and second, of finding out that he is the one leading the enemies that she had fought all this time. For more than a year she had roamed this world, and even that wasn't enough to calm her bleeding heart and tired mind even for a little, heck, the girl doesn't even sleep! Or at least that's what her mysterious floating companion told Miko. As commissions came after commissions, the people surely really likes to put this girl into work, not to mention the amount of Mora they gave her is a little unbalanced when compared to everything that she did to her too. On the bright side though, this tendency seems to spark some people's sympathy, and just like how some rude clients tend to put her into hard work and provide her with only a minimal amount of Mora, some kindhearted people recognize the Traveler's feats and respect her, at least that's what she thinks after seeing some street vendors often gives Lumine some free snacks whether when she likes it or not.
Not forget to mention that she suffered from some nightmares too. Usually, nightmares are only an occasional event that someone could have whenever their minds are stressed and heavy. And when that happens, it usually didn't have such a big impact on someone's life and eventually, it will be forgotten as time passed. But to Lumine, her nightmares are nothing but normal. It wasn't just some occasional appearance, it always happens whenever she tried to sleep, a demon who snatches away the peacefulness of the dream world from her forever, her nightmare prevents her from sleeping, and all the girl could do is either to just sit there or go outside and doing some night activities until it was morning, a fact that greatly frustrates Paimon.
Oh, how Miko really wants to help this little girl with that problem, but unfortunately, dreams and nightmares are not her exact specialities. At the very least, she didn't have to worry about Lumine not getting enough sleep anymore, for the girl's mind is now recovered enough after having her memories getting put back together.
"So... How are you feeling? Surprised to see me? Happy to know that I am now a full-grown-up fox? Are there still some things that you haven't remembered yet?" After the long silence between them become a bit unbearable, Miko decided that she should be the one to carry on this conversation, seeing that Lumine is not in the mood to do that. She has somewhat become a lot quieter, far from the lively and cheerful person she remembers if her memories serve her correctly.
"Admittedly, there are some things that are still vague to me," Lumine answered, sighing a little. "But thanks to whatever Makoto did to me, I can now remember most of them, the important ones at most." The tone of her voice is equally as blank as the expression on her face, Miko wonders if she could at least provoke her into turning that lips upside down just so that she could smile as she used to always do in the past.
"Hmm, I do hear Ei said something about that in the past, but are you sure that you really met with Makoto that night?" Miko asked with a raised eyebrow, taking a sip from the cup of tea in her hand. "I know that some Youkai like the Kitsune clan are able to preserve some parts of themselves long after death by transferring their memories to the Ley Lines, but can an Archon do the same thing?" Looking outside, Miko saw the full moon that illuminates the land of Inazuma, remembering that it was also a full moon that night when the miracle happened. "Oh well, who am I to ask, only Celestia knows the answer."
"Maybe..." Lumine silently agrees, nodding her head. "Every God has their own special abilities. I've heard once before from Zhongli that there are some Archons who are capable of outwitting death through various means like reincarnation or sealing a fragment of their souls into an object to prevent them from fully entering the realm of death. Not to mention that I have seen some examples of that during my past travels to the other worlds too." Gently taking the full cup of tea in front of her that Miko had so kindly prepared, the blonde girl took a sip of the warm liquid, feeling its pleasant taste slowly going down to her throat. "Maybe Makoto is able to do that too, to temporarily create a projection of herself into the physical realm while her soul remains in the astral realm. That's my conclusion after I am unable to seethe core of her elemental energy when I see her again."
"Hmm, is that so? I do naturally possessed an elemental sight like most of the other Vision wielders do, but I only use it to see traces of elemental energy on objects, not these elemtal flows inside someone's body, care to explain it to me? I think I'm starting to get curious." Resting her chin on her palm, Miko asked as her purple eyes stared curiously into Lumine's dark golden one, as if she wants to get inside those golden orbs.
"It's an ability that only I solely possess actually." Sighing, Lumine tapped her head, gesturing to her eyes. "It was something me and my brother have since we awaken our powers. Using my divine gaze, I can see through any solid material as long as it wasn't passed the thickness limit. And when I received the blessings from the statue of the seven, the elemental sight I received from it was merged with this ability, and over time, as I continue to gather more elemental powers, my gaze gets even more powerful to the point of now I can see what I called the transparent world where I could peek through someone's body and see their organs, to check if a certain parts was damaged or not." Raising her cup of tea again, Lumine finished it with a satisfied sigh at the end. "Although, for an Archon such as Ei, doing so will only resulted in me seeing this tunnel system like veins inside her body, with elemental energy, one that matches the element she controls, flowing inside it. This is the hidden prove of her identity as a god. A being made from pure elemental energy."
"Pretty interesting. Must be nice for you to be able to see everything that someone hides behind their backs or inside their pockets, huh? I'm kinda jealous. I wish that I could have a similiar abilities so that everyone around me would stop hiding their secrets from me, dealing with those kind of people can be pretty annoying sometimes." Miko said with a small chuckle, covering her mouth with her fingers as she did so.
"I won't deny that these eyes has served me well throughout it's years of use. But as now, I rarely ever use it except if the situations calls for it." Lumine replied with a sigh, closing her eyes.
"Oh? And why is that? Don't want to make it unfair to your enemies during battle?" Miko asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, but because using it too much will give me an eyestrain, I might go blind if I continue to use it for a long period of time." Although she wasn't lying about the eyestrain part, Lumine doubt it if she could really go blind if she overuses this abilities of her, because if that's really the case, then she would hate it if she needs to rips out her own siblings eye just to terminate the side effects completely. "And besides, I would hate it if everyone starts calling me a pervert because I could also see the things underneath their clothes should I active my gaze while in public."
At this explanation, Miko starts chuckling again until she suddenly stops when a thought crossed her mind. Her purple eyes narrowed as she stared at Lumine cautiously. "Hold on... If that's true, don't tell me that you actually-"
"No Miko, I do not have my sight on right now." Lumine quickly answered, already knowing what the fox lady is about to say. "I'm not interested in that kinds of stuff. Better use these power for important matters only, not some lowsome act like that." The blonde girl added, crossing her arms as she leaned herself against the doorframe just behind her.
"Fufufu, you're not interested you say? But aren't you and Ei is dating now? You sure about that?"
"And your point is?" Opening her eyes, Lumine have the older looking woman a raised eyebrow.
"Well, you do knows what a couple do during the night right?" Miko asked with her lips turned into a teasing smirk. "When two lovers has loved each other oh so much, they might start taking their relationship a step further, and when that happens, you know that you'll eventually have to enjoy the astonishing sight eachothers' bodies, without any thread getting in the way." She said with a chuckle, while mentally grumbled when Lumine's face remain unchanged.
"I don't see myself doing that anytime soon." Lumine replied with a small sigh, taking another sip from her tea. "Ei and I are lovers now, that's for sure, but that woman never shows any interest outside of meditating and thinking about eternity. Sure, she loves simpler things like desserts and a good sparring session, but I don't think our status as a couple would change much of our relationship that we have already forged in the past." The blonde haired girl explained with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Hmm, you are no fun to tease." Miko muttered with a narrowed eyes.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
The two continue to sit there in silence, sipping at their respective tea as they observed the view outside of the Tenshukaku, the city of Inazuma is just right outside, and Lumine found herself astonished by the sight of the beautiful city that she couldn't believe that she had forgotten about. Seeing the current state of this nation and comparing it to the ones in her memory, the blonde girl finds it hard to not let herself overtaken by a string sense of nostalgia, if only she could relief those much more simpler times all over again...
"You're still haven't answered my question."
"Hmm?"
Lumine turned her head to look at Miko beside her, finding the fox lady is staring at her, how long has she's been doing this?
"I asked you whether you are happy to see me again or not. And you haven't answered it yet." Miko repeated, causing a sigh to come out from Lumine.
"I would be lying if I said I don't. But do you really even have to ask? Of course I do, there is nothing better than to reunite with an old friend like this." Lumine said while closing her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Is that so? But why do I see your expression betraying your words?" Miko asked again, causing Lumine to open her eyes in wonder.
"My... Expression?"
Lumine ponders about what Miko is talking about for moment, that is until she realized the way her lips has formed. She is frowning, is this what Miko is talking about? That Lumine is frowning in front of her despite of the words she just said. Was it such a big deal for her?
"Why do you have that frown on your face? Is there something unpleasant running through your mind when you saw me again?" Miko asked, perhaps a little pushy in her question, almost demanding to know what is bothering the blonde girl's mind so much. "Is everything that just came out of your mouth are just lies, I wonder. You know that I hate liars, right? Do you wish to know what happens when someone dares to lie into my face, hmm?" Miko continued, eyes narrowing into a dangerous level, and her lips has lost its usual smirk and replace with a frown, one that speaks that she is very unsatisfied now.
Seeing this forces a sigh out of Lumine. The blonde girl lightly shook her head as she looks away from Miko, eyes half lidded as she stared into the distance, particularly into the night sky of Inazuma. For six months she has seen the same sky again and again, but in this particular night, Lumine felt like the sky is different. The one she saw in her memories and the one she is seeing right now is somehow different from each other.
"I'm not lying to you, Miko. I really am glad to see you again. Its just that..." Lumine paused for a bit before saying the next bit, fully closing her eyes now. "Along with all of these pleasant memories I'm having, there are also the unpleasant ones that are entering my head right now."
Ah, Miko knows where this is going, but the woman choose to stay silent for now.
"I am glad and happy, to see you and Ei after so long like this. But at the same time... Whenever I look at your face, seeing you have changed a lot like this, I couldn't help myself to get reminded of the past." Crossing her arms across her chest, Lumine sighed again, looking downwards with a half lidded eyes. "And its not all of those pleasant memories of when we were so close to each other. But instead it was the memories I have moments before everything went black." Flashes of those memories appeared inside Lumine's head, and the blonde girl shuddered from seeing all of it again.
"After Makoto made me remember everything, I starts comparing everything that I have seen in Inazuma this year, and the ones I saw back in the past. And after I see just how much everything around here has changed, it made me realize just how long I have been away, how long I have wasted my time in that deep slumber, how much I have missed the important things happening in this world."
As the blonde haired Traveler continue her monologue, Miko is still sitting silently on the side, her purple eyes carefully inspecting the form of the smaller girl in front of her, how she is sulking and her body radiating complicated emotions that are mostly composed of sadness, regret, anger, and some degree of hatred too, but it seems like the said hatred is not directed towards anyone. Oh no, it was indeed directed towards someone, but that someone is none other but her own self.
"Khaenri'ah is destroyed, and the entire Tevyat is plunged into ruins, many people had died, even Makoto and lady Saiguu are dead too. And what did I do during the entire ordeal? I ran. I ran away, abandoning my friends, abandoning the billions of cries from below, abandoning those I had made a bond with. I abandoned you." After saying that, Lumine paused a little, she brought one of her hands up, covering her face with it, as if she is about to cry, but she couldn't. "I was so selfish... I tried to reason with myself that I should just leave this world, because I was never part of it to begin with. That as long as Aether is with me, I can always make another friends in another world that we're going to visit next after we escape from this hell called Tevyat. And look at what that decision have cost me..."
Lumine release a small dry chuckle, laughing in the midst of the storm of emotions that is raging inside her mind right now.
"I was separated from my one and only family, he went to become the leader of the enemies of humanity, while I was asleep as if nothing had happened. I lost a good chunk of my soul, my own will to live, and just when I pursue that lost half of my soul to regain my whole self, he chooses to abandonme in favor for his mission, all because I'm too late! Because I wasn't there for him throughout those 500 years period. But perhaps the worst of all of them..." Lumine release her hand from her face, looking straight at Miko who is staring back at her, golden eyes meets purple. "...Is that I have forgotten all of these memories I have about all of my precious friends here in Inazuma."
"Are you... Mad at yourself for forgetting me?" After a while, Miko finally gathered the courage to ask, her purple eyes narrowed.
"Of course I do." Lumine replied with a slow nod of her head. "Lady Saiguu, Lady Chiyo, and even Makoto... Everyone is gone that day, and yet, I couldn't cry and wept over their passings because I couldn't remember. How am I supposed to forgive myself when I didn't cry for the deaths of those who are precious to me like that?"
Saiguu will be very displeased if she ever saw her like this. The girl in front of her is being an entirely different person right now, and Miko could felt that the emotions she is feeling right now will be mutual if that elder cousin of hers is still alive and sitting here with them.
"And then there's the part where I left you two to deal with everything all by yourselves." Sighing again, Lumine visibly calmed down a little, her expression return back to what it was at the beginning. "Ei is left to isolate herself from the rest of the world to pursue an eternity that even herself is unsure of capable to maintain forever, and even with you by her side, she has gone too far to turn around, look at what her eternity had brought, nothing but suffering to the people of Inazuma for having their ambitions taken away by force, a fatal part of their being. And there's you, Miko, who could only watch in the sidelines. In spite of your desire to save Ei, you could only wait for the next hundreds years just to find someone capable of helping you, no? And that person is me, coincidentally and fortunately."
"Hmm, you're right." Miko replied taking her cup of tea and finish it all with one big gulp. "I am waiting for someone that I'm one hundred percent sure of capable to help me in bringing out that childish woman out of her bedroom to touch some grass. You couldn't imagine how excited it was for me to hear all of your deeds across the two nations, only to later learn that it was you all along. Tsk tsk, if only we didn't met that day when many people had gathered in the shrine, I would have already called you out without attracting any attention." The fox lady softly muttered with a small smile on her face.
Sighing again, Lumine leaned herself against the doorframe again, closing her eyes. "You remembered me, even though I didn't remembered you. You saved me, even though we have only met once, a big difference to Ei who tried to kill me during our reunion. You really are something else, aren't you, Miko?" The blonde girl asked, still with her eyes closed.
"Fufu, I've heard that many times before." Chuckling, Miko shook her head a little before staring at Lumine again. "So, is that all? Are those why you couldn't even give me a smile during this reunion? Because what you see of me right now brought back awful memories to you?"
"More or less."
"In that case... If I changed back to my original form... Will that bring you good memories of our time instead?" Miko asked, putting a hand under chin as she watched Lumine opens her eyes at the question.
"Your original form?" The blonde girl asked with a raised eyebrow, before scoffing and roll her eyes. "I doubt that will work, and also, do you even able to do that? Now that you have grown and all."
"Well of course I can, all Kitsunes can do that. I tried to show it to you in the past in an attempt to maybe jog your memory. But you said that "we don't have time fool around. I need to complete this training quick!"" Miko muttered, sarcasticly adopting a parody of Lumine's voice and the way she spoke those words several weeks ago when the fox lady had taken the girl to the training device in Byakou plain.
Lumine only rolled her eyes again at this, scoffing at how ridiculous Miko sounds like when she mimics her voice.
"Knowing you, you'll probably said "In your dreams" or something should I express my interest in that." Lumine replied, causing Miko to burst out laughing.
"Can't fool you, huh?" The Kitsune mumbled with a smirk. But she quickly clears her throat and get back to being serious. "But in all seriousness though, do you want to see it?"
Lumine went silent for a while, her mind is thinking about Miko's question. She really wants to, but the thought of the overwhelming emotions she's going to get if she said yes prevents her for saying anything.
"Forget it, I don't think I could bear it." Lumine said with a heavy sigh, she closed her eyes again, and turns her body around so that her back is facing Miko. "The past is the past, Miko. I don't want to think about them anymore, lest that it will makes me feel sad and guilty again."
She didn't hear a response from Miko after saying that, so she stayed silent for a while. However, there was a strange noise coming from behind her, like something heavy has been taken off from the ground, replaced with something much more smaller and lighter that landed softly on the wooden floor with a small thud. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Lumine somehow already knew what is going on behind her, but her body could only react a little bit later once her ears catches an eerily familiar sound.
"Kyuun..."
She could feel her eyes opened, slowly widened as her brain registered the familiarity of that noise as the same one she heard so much back in the past. She has the urges to quickly turned around to face the source of that noise, but she couldn't, she kept body still, instinctively knowing that without even moving her body, those tiny little legs will eventually moves on their own to approach her. And she was right, without making so much as a noise, a familiar weight is pressed on her shoulder, along with a familiar sensation of four furry little legs on skin, and last but not least, that fluffy soft tail wrapping around her neck. Lumine move her head a little bit just so her eyes could look down to her right shoulder, finding that same tiny creature with pink colored fur is now staring back at her, with those deep purple eyes that is the same as the one she saw all of those years ago.
Lumine could only sighed at this, closing her eyes again and dropped her head, various emotions entering her mind. Miko on the other hand close their distance even further, rubbing her head against Lumine's cheek. What a familiar sensation.
"How long do you plan on doing this to yourself?" It is weird, but Miko is talking to her despite of being in her fox form. She's using telepathy to directly speaking into Lumine's mind. "Did you see how much concerned your friends are seeing you like this, hmm? Have you ever considered thinking about their worried looks? The pain in their eyes? As they saw you like this?"
"I... I do." Lumine silently muttered, with a little nod. Remembering exactly what Miko described on the faces of her friends every now and then. The way their eyebrows furrowed in worry, the way they silently express their concerns for her. "That's why I..."
"You keep on wearing a mask throughout your journey until now. You smiled and you acts polite, but those are nothing but a ruse to ease everyone's worries, right?" Miko asked, her voice sounding calm, as she recalled a conversation she had with the tiny pixie known as Paimon. Remembering every last complain the little creature had told her about her traveling companion. "You buried all of your emotions underneath, not wanting to express it with anyone around you, because you don't want them to continue their worries, to prevent them from getting further involved with your problems, is that right?"
"Yes..." Lumine replied again, raising her head a little. "I am aware that I'm just a pathetic girl who lacks the strength to take my brother back from the clutches of the Abyss. I have made it my sole mission to bring him back, but I never expect that I would met so many people who would accompany me in my journey like this. And when they saw me in this pathetic state like this... They starts to get concerned, they always worried about me, always asking if I'm okay and some of them even tried hard to cheer me up. Little did they know, I barely pay any attention to them, I brush away all of their concerns for me, but after all of the things they have given me for the past year and a half, even I felt bad to ignore their concerns too. So that's why I put on a mask, I smiled and try to be cheerful around them, to ease their worries and made them think their efforts is not in vain."
"And have you ever considered to actually return their feelings back instead of faking it?" Miko asked again.
"I do. I keep on wearing this mask for a long time. But it wasn't until that day when I met with Aether again that it was completely shattered. Completely exposing my weak side to everyone around me, made worse with the fact that Paimon told this to everyone so they could formulate a plan." Sighing Lumine looks up, the scenery of Inazuma city in front of her. "While I was breaking down from the overwhelming sadness that plagued my heart, Aether came to me in my dream. Thanks to him, he managed to pull me out of the darkness of my own heart, and urges me to restore my fragmented memories, in hopes that it would restore some of my old self. And to do that, I started with appreciating the feelings my friends has given me, genuinely this time. For the first time in so long that I finally let myself open to people around me again. But even that is not enough to restore this broken heart of mine, that is until I arrive here in Inazuma, where I met you and Ei, two of my precious friends that has helped me with restoring my memories, and made me remember all of the things I have lost again."
"Hmm, is that so? But if you are indeed regained some of your old self again, then why are you still sad?"
"Because, it's just like I said before. Seeing you again made me remember all of the unpleasant memories I have. It has nothing to do with me faking my emotions." Lumine said with a sigh, slumping her shoulders.
"So how about this form then? Does it make feel any better?" At this question, Lumine looks down at the tiny fox sitting on her shoulders, looking at those tiny little eyes as the small Kitsune looks up at her with a somehow widened eyes full of concern. And by seeing it makes Lumine snorted and her lips quirk up into a tiny smile.
"Maybe." She replied, multiple memories of her spending time with this tiny little fox entered her mind. All of those times Miko asked for shoulder rides, all of those times she insists on coming with her in her exploration, all of those times Makoto gave her a slightly envious glare as her beloved pet is now being clingy to Lumine to the point of always gave her cheeks a good rub with her furry head whenever she came back to Tenshukaku in the evening. The spoiled little fox has now grown into a lovely woman... And just the thought of it makes Lumine happy, even just a little, to learn that her dear little friend is now all grown up. "You have changed so much, Miko. I wish I was here to watch as you grow up, but what can I do about it now? Even seeing you like this already made me happy."
"Hehe, so my plan is working then."
The two shared a giggle after Miko said that. Their interactions were never like this before, wether when it was in the past, or during the present time before Lumine regained her memories, and Lumine find herself wanting more to see this new side of Miko that she never seen before. She's probably going to spend the next few days hanging around with her two old friends, to make up for her absence in their lives.
"From now on, you don't need to bottle up all of your emotions all by yourself, okay? Me and Ei will be here for you, we won't let you shoulder them alone. Think of it as favor for what you did for me that day. Let me be the light that guides you through the darkness, my little starlight."
"Hmm... Thank you Miko, for everything. I've missed you so much, little one."
"Kyuun! Kyuun!"
The two continue to sat there silently for the next few hours. Looking at the magnificent views of the city of Inazuma below, and the glorious night sky above. Enjoying each others' company as they continue their catch up. Lumine is happy, to remember everything precious to her that she had forgotten. And Miko is happy too, to finally being reunited with the girl that she loved the most, perhaps not above Ei and Makoto, but on a whole different level. It's just a matter of when will Lumine will realize and reciprocate this.
Just like what I said in the summary, this story will be a collection of short one-shots, because it will take a long time to cover some small plots around the Be My Eternity series through long one-shots.
So yeah, just ignore the completed status of the story, because more chapters will be added every now and then when I have the idea.
You can also provide me with some of your ideas if you like to, just simply check out my Twitter (NaughtyTome) and tell me what scenario I should write for future chapters.