A/N: Hi everyone. This is the first crossover story I have ever written. I am a fan of both Genshin and Final Fantasy 14. I had a random thought about what would happen if Sucrose and Alphinaud met. Would they fall for each other, rivals in academia, or good friends? This is how "I Wandered as Lonely as a Cloud" is named after one of my favorite poets William Wordsworth poems. In the future, I hope to do more Alphinaud x Sucrose stories as well. :) I'm writing in this universe with a talented A03 author Branches_of_Azazel. They will be writing the Alisaie side of this story, but her waking up in Liyue. With that being said, all characters involved in romantic relationships in our stories are 18+!
The first time Sucrose laid eyes on the silver-haired youth, Alphinaud Leveilleur, he was muttering nonsense about a dandelion and spooking Lynn.
"Oh, not again," the young alchemist groans, coughing due to the smoke from the explosion. She grabs her notebook near her makeshift work area on the ground. Several charred vials make up a pile beside Sucrose and her depleting carrier wooden tray of flasks. Out of the twenty vials of liquids she had brought along with her, Sucrose had managed to make eighteen vials explode when mixing them with sweet flower seeds.
'This will never do, I wanted to bring Mr. Albedo at least something back worthwhile," Sucrose's shoulders slump with disappointment. These last few months have been a continuous struggle for the inquisitive alchemist. Sucrose wandered Mondstadt, turning over leaves, pebbles, and the occasional hilichurl searching for discoveries to quell her boredom... Or so everyone thinks. Her true agenda involves making those dreaded ears of hers go away.
Sucrose touches her left ear and quickly retracts her hand as if touching fire when she hears the rustle of grass. She whips her head around and sighs in relief. It is only a cute little fox.
'Its ears are adorable on it, mine are just odd looking.'
The baby fox trots over to Sucrose and allows her to stroke its ears. Its ears feel like velvet, and the fox lets out a little purr of satisfaction. Sucrose pats her lap, and the baby fox obliges and sits across her nap. Sucrose always had more of a way with animals than with people. People could be very cruel. Sucrose was desperate to find a formula that would take away her dreadful ears. However, Mr. Albedo would not be too pleased with her doing this to herself. She would need to use her alchemist skills to ensure that whatever she created would pose as a groundbreaking discovery.
Her mind begins to wander to a memory.
Somehow, since meeting that mysterious traveler, Aether, and his companion, Paimon. Sucrose became more painfully aware of how odd her ears are and how she does not like them. Sucrose had developed a crush on Aether throughout his time in Mondstandt. Aether intrigued Sucrose, and she'd accompany him and Paimon on a commission quest throughout Mondstandt. It was an unusual pairing, such a shy girl with two outspoken people. However, Aether's face would light up with each new source of information. Sucrose would provide for him and Paimon.
"Hey Sucrose, can you make something with this?"
"What does this do? "
"Can you do this for me? I'm afraid I'd be really bad at making this, ha-ha.
"Hey Sucrose, I brought this for ya!"
"Sucrose, you're the greatest!"
Those were the phrases she became accustomed to throughout their time together. Aether brought out a boldness in Sucrose that she never thought she'd find. Aether, Paimon, and her would spend several nights under the stars sharing theories, stories, and food after expeditions.
"You know Sucrose," Aether said one night when Paimon was fast asleep. "I wish I had met you in my world. You're one of a kind and you're beautiful." As he said this, he averted his eyes away from her ears. Sucrose observed this action from him. Her cheeks grew hot with embarrassment from his words and movements. Confusion fluttered in her heart.
"I-uh- thank you," Sucrose replied. Before she could hurry away, Aether's lips met Sucrose's. There was a passionate hunger behind his kiss, his hands entangled in her hair as Aether deepened the kiss. His wandering hands made contact with her right ear and Sucrose felt him recoil against her.
"S-sorry. I didn't mean to touch that thing. I mean uh it! Your ear!" Aether stammered.
Sucrose cringed at his comment, "I understand," she said, breaking apart from him.
To make up for his blunder, he sighed and grabbed her hand gently.
"Sucrose, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I-I just got nervous is all. It is my first time doing this too," he chuckles lightly. "I guess, I have gone and messed that up by being stupid and saying all the wrong words again. I wish I knew how to sound as smart as you sometimes," he said sadly. "My sister would have bonked me on the head for hurting your feelings. She was usually the one that kept me in check on me using dumb words or acting like a child," he looks at the sky with a forlorn look in his eyes.
"If you hate me now and want to stop, I understand. I'm just an idiot," Aether sighed, moving away from Sucrose.
"No, you do not have to. It's okay. You're just like me. Sometimes, I am not great with vocabulary myself. I am not used to being around people," Sucrose told him. Aether's eyes light back up.
"I guess all we have is each other then," Aether replied. He squeezed her hand and made eye contact with Sucrose. Tears shimmered in his eyes, making Sucrose's heartache for him. Her insecurities about her ears hurt his feelings.
Sucrose leaned in to kiss him gently on the lips. She trembled as she did so, alarmed at her boldness.
"Sucrose, can you do the rest with me?" Aether asked her. He looked off to the side when he asked this.
Aether could barely get out the words.
Sucrose hesitated but nodded. The words Aether said felt very sinful to hear, much less think. Sucrose wanted to be closer to him and he wanted to be closer to her. It would only be right.
Aether wordlessly kisses her back and lies in the field of flowers pulling Sucrose on top of him.
When the sun rose, Sucrose had her first kiss and was no longer a virgin.
The next day, when Sucrose rushed back from her fieldwork to see Aether, she caught Amber and Aether in a heated kiss near Good Hunter after Amber had confessed her love to him. Aether accepted this love confession with eagerness. After that, Sucrose heard from others that Aether, Amber, and Paimon set off with Liyue together. Sucrose pretended she had gotten sick from a lousy alchemy mixture and could not see them off on that horrible day.
Tears fall on the fur of the baby fox in Sucrose's lap. The fox yelps lightly and peers at Sucrose. It nuzzles itself against her hand, attempting to comfort her. Sucrose wipes her tears with her free hand. She chuckles lightly through her tears. "Oh, little fox. I am alright. Don't worry." Sucrose did not want to worry the small fox. She had read animals are very receptive to human emotions.
"Aether, why, this is a flower covered in aether! Miss, do you not know how valuable this is?" Sucrose frowns and looks around.
'Who said that? Aether? An aether flower?' She lifts her glasses and rubs her eyes. In the distance, she could see a very expressive young man dressed in blue attire thrusting a dandelion toward Lynn who looked confused and slightly frightened.
"Erm, I am sorry to tell you, odd traveler. This is a dandelion. There is no such thing as an aether flower in Mondstadt, sir. I'm sorry, but I cannot trade any food for a dandelion. These are quite common in the area."
The little fox jumps out of Sucrose's lap. It sprints toward the action; it pauses at the halfway point as if encouraging Sucrose to come along.
'Oh dear, I do not want to go over there, but Lynn is my friend. If she's in trouble, I must do something.' Lynn is not a vision user and if something went wrong, she would not be able to defend herself if this guy wielded a vision and attacked her.
Lynn's kindness to Sucrose is something she appreciated. The first time Lynn witnessed Sucrose on one of her Mondstadt expeditions, Lynn patiently waited until a crimson face Sucrose stammered out that her name is Sucrose and she was looking for Calla Lilies. Lynn pointed her in the direction of Springvale and gave her the path that was least dangerous much to her relief. After that time, Lynn would give Sucrose delicious Sunsettia jam in exchange for a new fact or advice about the many flowers that bloomed through Mondstadt.
Sucrose hurriedly begins to pick up the charred vials in her lab specimen disposal bag. She figured her lab tray should be fine while sitting idle in the bed of flowers.
"Please, let me be brave," she whispers under her breath. Sucrose steps over to where the fox is watching the exchange between the young man and Lynn. He appears to be close to her age. Upon closer observation, she could see his hair was white and not gray as she initially guessed.
He did not appear angry. He appeared…excited?
"Um, e-excuse me. Lynn's right. That is a dandelion," Sucrose reaches to grab her notebook from her satchel. She flips to the pages about the dandelions and opens it toward the young man. He takes his attention off Lynn and looks at Sucrose and then at the notebook.
"Um, if you want proof. I have a drawn-out map of the flowers native to this area along with their scientific names, and their uses whether it be food or alchemy. I also have hypothesized uses for them too that I haven't been able to prove just yet, but you can't have those!" She blurts out that last part. She quickly closes the notebook when she gets to that section. The whole time she is diffusing this situation she is scarlet.
'Oh, no. That wasn't very smart of me to yell like that. I've probably gone and upset him.
To her surprise, the young man looked captivated.
"Fascinating! I only caught bits and pieces of the information you've shown me because you've closed your notebook so swiftly, but those seem to be some detailed and impressive notes," he says to Sucrose.
"Are you a scholar of this world? I'm afraid I am lost. My name is Alphinaud Leveilleur. I am a scion of Eorzea," Alphinaud says bowing for Lynn and Sucrose. Lynn looks relaxed now that Alphinaud is done with his incessant behavior. She mouths a "thank you" to Sucrose. "My apologies, this dandelion's color reminded me of an energy source we have back home called aether."
Sucrose visibly winced at that name but nodded. "I see. A traveler from a different world. This has been occurring more and more. I wonder what the cause of this phenomenon is," she says aloud more to herself. Her eyes brighten. "A new phenomenon!" She beams. "Mr. Albedo would be pleased to learn more about this aether you speak of. If I am being honest, I would like to know more about this as well and how you got here. Oh, would you mind coming back with me? Why, I am so excited that I could just burst. It has been so long since anything groundbreaking has happened here ever since …" she trails off thinking about Aether's arrival.
Sucrose shakes her head. "Never mind that, I am sure the Knights of Favonius would be delighted to welcome you as well," she adds. Though she had not been around the Knights as much ever since the day Amber, Aether, and Paimon left. The thought of walking in there made her head swell with anxiety.
"Lead the way! I would be honored to meet with your Mr. Albedo and Knights. I have been wandering aimlessly for three days in the wild. I am afraid I have lost my sister. Her name is Alisaie. I believe we were both sent to this realm. However, when I awoke, she was no longer beside me. It would do me some good to see an actual city for guidance on finding her."
'Oh goodness, not this again.'
Sucrose pales remembering the very similar situation with Aether when he first arrived.
Sucrose nods and leads Alphinaud toward the city. She would take him to meet Mr. Albedo first. It would buy her time to mentally prepare herself to meet with the Knights of Favonius again.