For the people of Mondstadt, life has been going about as normally as it had been for most parts of their lives. Windblume had just been a few weeks away, and the spirit is high for the commonfolk to enjoy the festivities, and for the merchants and businesses to provide them with their annual time of celebrating their loved ones with events and promotions for the occasion.

Though for a certain vigilante of the night, his routine of late-night destruction on Abyssal and criminal activities had taken a new fork in the locations that he'd frequent. An additional stop to the city now part of his long unchanged route.

He kept telling himself, that it had been something that he'd been doing for the requestee's sake. If she hadn't been the one to implore him, then he'd feel far less compelled to indulge in their request.

Of course, the initial hesitation had been palpable. Above all, she knew that he was going to hesitate. When he finally found the will to ease past his reluctances, he would finally make his way towards the city – only to find her standing just beside the city entrance; hands folded out of its crossed disposition with relief.

"So, you're finally ready to take me up on my offer?"

Unsure of what to say, he merely shrugged. His eyes stuck on her as she gently patted his shoulder and motioned for him to fall in line with her. Comfortable silence descending upon them whilst they made their way towards the Knight's headquarter.

It had been well past midnight. Even though he had a dozen questions over why she was still roaming around the city wearing her official Knights uniform, he knew better than to ask with the fact that the same could be asked of him.

They reached the steps leading to the headquarters, and Diluc couldn't help but to pause midway and simply… stare. Taking in the fact that it has been years since he last stepped foot into the establishment.

Yet, the sensation of resentment still left a deep pit within his heart. The emotions boiling onto his expression.

Which, she evidently hadn't missed.

"Just wait out here."

Her hand softly tapped his forearm. His burrowed frows disappearing when he met her understanding gaze.

"I won't be long," She flashed a thumb towards her office, "I only have few things to take from the office. We'll head out soon."

Shaking himself from the momentary stupor, he nudged his chin in affirmation, "Right." Settling his foot back down to the base of the staircase, he waved towards his position, "I'll be here."

Smiling with a nod of her own, she proceeded to disappear through the doors of the headquarter. And it was only then did he even realized that there were still two guards stationed to the sides of the entrance. Both of them visibly eyeing one another, whether or not were their anxiousness due to the fact that the wealthiest man in Mondstadt had just casually showed up to their headquarters in the middle of the night – with their Acting Grand Master no less, or was it due to the fact that they were in presence of a senior. Regardless of the fact that he no longer had any connection with the Knights in the first place.

In the end, he had no interest in figuring out which had been the more accurate assumption – and simply chose to stand there in silence.

After a tense few minutes of trying to ignore their curious glances, Jean finally popped out of the headquarter. A few pieces of documents in hand, she walked down the steps, "I apologize for the wait." She then waved towards the two Knights standing guard, unaware of their flinching selves when she suddenly addressed them, "Hanser, Otto, have a good night. Be extra cautious of increased criminal activity. Windblume is inching closer and there are more prowlers on the lookout for an opportunity to steal merchant supplies."

Scrambling to maintain their postures, Hanser managed to choke out, "W-We will do just that, Grand Master Jean!"

With a nod acknowledging their understanding, she diverted her attention towards the man who had only been watching her from the side and urged to fall in line with her once again.

By the time he was sure that they've walked out of their earshot, he decided to convey his concerns which she may have overlooked for herself.

"Aren't you at the slightest bit concerned?"

Jean hummed quizzically, "About?"

"You and I. In the middle of the night, leaving the headquarters together." Trying his best to mask his concern with indifference, "They might spur up a few unsavoury rumours within the grapevine."

Mulling over the notion for only a split second, Jean flashed him a light grin.

"Let them talk. I'm not inclined to give it anymore than an afterthought." Nudging his shoulder, her voice grew gentle, "I'm simply being there for someone important to me. Nothing else matters."

For others, they might have missed the fact that she hadn't meant to sound dismissive at the slightest. But he knew better than to take her words for granted.

They would venture back towards her domicile with idle silence. Neither of them wanting to rush to discuss anything that they might be able to save for the night that they have ahead of them.

When they arrived at their destination, it didn't take long for Diluc to feel the difference. Though the size of her house hadn't been anything like the space he had been used to at his mansion, it more than makes it up with the fact that it had been something that Diluc could honestly describe as "home".

The varieties of trinkets that he would come to recognise had been a welcome surprise. She still kept the same romance novels that she'd gotten all those years ago, a beat-up training sword that he'd recognized from all those training at the Knight's sparring rooms safely tucked away on top of a counter, and old pictures that include both her family when they were still intact, and their friendship when it had been as free and innocent as it was.

All of them brought upon a hollow sense of realization to his heart.

The realization that while he had tried his hardest to forget and bury the past, she had been right there trying her best to keep hold of all that remains from those moments where life had been much more lenient on the both of them.

While he took a seat in her living room and merely pondered, she wordlessly brought out some refreshment for them to enjoy. Uttering nothing until she had poured a cup of tea for the two of them, sat by his side, and set her short coat aside.

"So, how was your day?"

And their conversation felt light afterwards. Sentences and stories of their activities pouring out of one another; mostly him for the better part, seeing as she had pressed him in order to squeeze out all the details. Making sure that he had nothing to hide from her.

To which, for the better part, he had no intentions of hiding anything in the first place.

Nights such as that became a reoccurring theme from the moment of its inception. The hesitation that he had deceived himself in wanting to hold on to, dissipating completely by the time he had come round to seek her for the third time.

They began to develop workarounds through their routine. The spontaneity of his escapades meant that the time he shows up would be in varying degrees of midnight. Putting itself within the chance of her still working overtime in the office by the time he stepped into the city gates. The workaround he found being to observe the lights of her upstairs unit, with it being off meaning as a signal to showcase that she had yet returned home.

Initially, he was about to turn on his heel and just make his way back home. But he ended developing a little question, which soon turned into an idea. Which is when he decided to use this little arrangement of theirs to make sure that she would be willing to uphold her end of the bargain. Turning away from the city entrance and towards the Knights' headquarter.

"I would like to make some amendments to our previously discussed deal."

Jean almost flinched out of her chair when his voice suddenly permeated through her office, the sound of her door shutting still reverberating alongside his words. Her constitution hadn't been prepared for a sudden conversation with the man, and simply defaulted to following into the flow of the conversation in an instant.

"A-Amendments?"

Walking to her side of the table, he leant on the frames of her window, "Since I have been so willing to make the trip all the way to appease your unwarranted concern for me-,"

"I wouldn't say that it's unwarranted-,"

"Minor details, but the point of it all is that I'm willing to compromise for the sake of our arrangement." He motioned towards himself before turning it towards her, "I'm interested in seeing if you are willing to make some compromises of your own."

She mulled in confusion for a few seconds, before tracing his eyeline towards the abundant amount of paperwork that she was still dealing with – even when midnight is approaching. The notion brought upon a light smile on her lips, but she simply leant her head on the support of her knuckles while she stared at him with amusement. Wanting to hear it from himself.

Clearing his throat, he trudged closer to her desk, "Whatever time it is that I decide to show up on your doorsteps, whether it be here at the office, or back at your house…" He slowly picked on all the papers that she had been working on and stacked them onto a neat pile before pushing it aside, "You will be obligated to drop everything that has anything to do with the work being done as the Acting Grand Master, and refrain from returning to it for the rest of the night."

Well, it was a lot blunter than what Jean had been expecting. Yet it is somewhat of a fitting notion for him to have said.

Casting a sly grin, she asked with an elevated sense of cheerfulness, "Are you saying that I should ignore my duties and invest the rest of the night, solely to attend to you?"

As per usual, Diluc showcased no signs of stepping back, "It would either be you 'ignoring' your work, or you ignoring your health instead. To which I think the choice that I would prefer, should be inherently obvious." He stood between her and her paperwork, "Besides, I vividly recall someone mentioning that they would drop everything whenever I came knocking at their door."

Feigning a groan, Jean huffed whilst she looked away, "Archons… I'm never usually one for thinking that you'd ever use my own words against me."

"When it comes to dealing with you…" He nudged her leg with his to garner her attention. A light grin feathered on his features when her azure blue orbs connected with his crimson ones, "I'll use everything that I have at my disposal."

In the same breath, Jean wasn't about to just give in that easily, "Don't you think that you are being somewhat unfair?"

"The only sense of injustice we have around here is what you are subjecting your body through." Blocking her vision from the pile of paper he had placed aside, he crossed his arms, further staving his ground, "I'm not backing out of this one, Jean. Not when you need it more than you know it."

Any other person, then she probably would have pressed the matter further. But if she were to be honest, she had neither the reason nor the right to make it anymore difficult for him than it had probably already been.

So, with a relenting sigh, she stored her ink and quill away. Pushing her chair back to allow her legs space out of the table's underside before standing up to meet his gaze once more.

"Fine. I won't fight you on this any further."

And from then on, the deal had been uncontested and unchanging. He was to check in with her should a midnight intervention had been required from him, while she has to abide by his presence and to cease all form of work by the time he showed himself within the view of her dominions.

The routine became much more streamlined since then. The following month featured occasions where Diluc would get chided on throughout the night whenever he suffered scars that had actually been quite preventable, while Jean would get light reprimands if the man had caught her wanting to sneak in more work whenever he took the slightest of chances to look away.

But at the end of it all, it gave them both what they wanted out of one another.

An unmistakable verification that the other had someone, or something that would be there to take care of one another.

Sure, it ended up being them taking care of each other, but neither had any quarrels with undertaking such a role. Diluc's nights had been far less desolate than what it used to be, while Jean finally felt like her nights were filled with more purpose than ever.

Time became ever the more meaningful for their own separate consciousness.

Thankfully, the veil of midnight made it so that not many people became privy of their secretive rendezvouses. Though Jean hadn't stressed that it was something needing of hiding, the guards took it upon their selves to grant their benevolent Acting Grand Master a favour. Or rather, they took it upon their selves to pay it forward, considering all the things that the Gunnhildr had done for them as a whole.

Beyond that, their hearts knew that it hadn't been a relationship deserving of the stains that come from gossips and words of the mill. Not when it had been plainly evident how much brighter the two people involved had grew to become, the longer they indulged in their meetings. So, they kept their silence, and simply watched on with idle adoration.

However, as much as they could observe when everything had been right. It wasn't hard to spot if something had gone wrong.

Abyssal activity had suddenly ramped up to Jean's expecting worries. She knew that by putting their forces in a more distributed manner just a week before Windblume had been a strategy that the underhanded Abyss Order would be more than willing to do. If they were willing to distract a whole city just to get a one on one against the man that had been foiling their plans, who's to say that they won't try to attack the nation during a time where people had begun to let their guard down.

Placing their attacks in different cornerstones of Mondstadt would mean that their already thin forces would be spread to numbers that even hands could count. Not for the lack of trust of those left within their ranks, but Jean knew the basics of battle. Going in outnumbered will always be a disadvantage, no matter the capabilities of those within the respective squads.

A dilemma she had long been pondering over the moment Kaeya brought in the intel that the Eula and her team had brought during their return to headquarters in the afternoon.

"Let's go over this once more. Starting from the intelligence up north." She pointed out towards the markers on the map. Both Kaeya and Eula paying close attention to each marks, "Substantial number of abyssal forces has been spotted within Stormbearer Point and its mountains. Possible chances of more in the hiding?"

The reconnaissance captain immediately jumped in, "Highly likely. The amount of supplies that they've set for whatever their operations are must have required more manpower than what we have seen."

"Can the same be applied to the rest of the sightings reported from the rest of the locations?" Kaeya interjected; his question answered by a firm nod from the Lawrence.

"They seem to be preparing for something bigger than the previous attack on the city. Especially considering their sizes down south and west." Eula theorized, clicking her tongue in the process, "We are ridiculously underpowered if the scale of the attacks had been in line with what information we got so far."

Jean exhaled with her own bit of frustration, "We will worry about the numbers when it comes to it. For now, we should focus on making sure that the border remains steady." She took several pins and began placing them down on points within the map, "Kaeya, take your squad and ensure that the path from Stone Gate leading up Stormterror's Lair is clear of abyssal danger. Have a provisional squad set up within the Lair beforehand if you have to."

"Got it." Kaeya shortly affirmed.

"Eula, have Amber scout the borders of Dragonspine and Dadaupa Gorge. We haven't seen concrete activity there, but we must ensure that there is nothing culminating there." Jean ordered before pointing back towards the Lawrence, "Station yourselves within the road leading up to Dawn Winery to make sure that nothing gets into the vicinity of the city without the proper inspection applied to them."

Eula nodded, "Copy that." Before motioning towards a certain area on the map, "But what about North and East? Surely you don't plan on ignoring that side of the land?"

Shaking her head at the notion, Jean kept her eyes on the map, "Absolutely not. I will check on the areas myself after making sure that security is tight in Wolvendom."

The two captains shared an identical gaze between one another, but Kaeya had been the one to voice his concerns.

"Wouldn't it be risky to scope out an area of that size by your lonesome?"

He was right; Jean knew that. But, she had her own reasons to make such a plan. But it wasn't one that she was willing to divulge into, so she had to get clever with a recent piece of news that she just heard from the townspeople.

"There was news that the Honorary Knight had been spotted back in town. If we are lucky, I might be able to acquire his assistance for this operation." Jean then motioned back towards the area of the map they had been focusing on before, "But south and west are our priorities for now. So, we better get going to save us more time in the case of further attacks."

Understanding the ultimatum in hand, the two captains saw that there was work to be done and simply nodded before turning to rush to their respective stations. But it wasn't before Kaeya, who already had an inkling suspicion towards the inconspicuous letter stashed hurriedly under a couple of documents, whispered back towards her.

"Do implore him to be careful." He remarked with a sly smirk, "Or else he'd risk upsetting his precious dandelion."

Sixteen-year-old Jean would have fallen right into the trap he had just set. But, she knew better than to take the bait, and instead chose to retort right back at the cunning Alberich.

"I'd rather warn you to be careful with your words." Jean feigned more of a snarky response, "Or would rather that I assign you to stable duties after the fact?"

Zipping his mouth shut, even Kaeya could feel the cold sweat running down his back, "Alright. I'm going, I'm going…"

Despite the situation, Jean couldn't help but to let out an amused scoff at the sight of the man scurrying out of her office. Yet, such form of reprieve could on last for so long the moment her concerns grew tenfold at the sight of letter that she had received just before the meeting. The contents of which could only amplify her worries after all the new information that she had just received.

Massive abyssal activities spotted. Leave north and east to me.

Keep the Knights away.

I'll see you tonight.

-D.R

How was she supposed to not worry when the man is basically taking on the burden of protecting half the nation all by his lonesome? Why is it that when it comes to his safety, her heart began blaring as if the world had been signalling its end to her mind.

He was never one to shy away from fighting the world by himself, but it still doesn't grant her the immunity of pain and concern whenever she had to imagine him doing so.

It all but exacerbated the need for her to get on to Wolvendom and clear out all her duties on that side of the map. With any luck, she might be able to help the hapless idiot fight his battles.

Wasting no more time, she stored the letter away and rushed out of her office and began making her way to Wolvendom. Stopping by the church to keep them updated with the newly formed plans before continuing on to the path outside the city.

The trip had been without trouble, and she was able to clear the perimeter of the area before making sure that a squad will be dispatched to the vicinity to further bolster its security.

To her surprise, the Archons had seemed to smile upon their cavalries for the day. Just as she had finished coordinating the squad meant to take care of Wolvendom, she had ran across the blonde Traveler on the way back to the city. After accepting the services that he had offered, she felt more than confident in leaving the area to his watch. Coupled with the fact that the man had ample experience in dealing with Andrius himself, she knew that he would be able to handle anything that may go awry in any scenario.

However, it didn't prevent her from only being able to make her way towards the north and east side of Mondstadt by the time the sun had gone behind the horizon. Not only that, but the moon had also begun flying high into the sky. Though it would normally mean that the man she was seeking would probably be on his way to the city, it didn't stop her from wanting to make sure.

Her first stop had been an old ruin up in Stormbearer Point. A part of her dreaded what she might see as she got there, but only to feel relief when she found nothing other than what semes to be an abyssal camp dismantled to the ground. Dying embers from the charred boxes and stick lying around leading her to think that whatever altercation had happened here, has long since passed the hours of the day. Meaning that he had probably been long gone from the location.

So, seeing as the coast had pretty much been clear, she made her way towards the Thousand Winds Temple. Praying to the Archons that nothing unbecoming have fallen upon his shoulders.

Though evidently, the moment she stepped foot into the temple, it was clear that something unbecoming had happened to the abyssal forces that had apparently been within the area.

Charred grounds and remains of a fight had been evident from the get go. Massive abyssal constructs had also been ruined to the ground, and even the Ruin Guard that frequents the area had been soundly put out of commission. The sparks of damage further showcasing that it had thoroughly been destroyed out of its wits.

Venturing further into the temple, she had found nothing but utter destruction. A great mix of abyssal remains and unconscious mobs lay around the pathway to the temple basement.

Deep down, she had already prepared herself for the ruthlessness she was about to witness by all the damage strewn about. Seeing how merciless he was against an organization of humans, brought her no surprise to see the lack of restrain against an organization of monsters and abnormal beings.

However, as she observed the final bits of damage, she began to notice an unusual pattern being splayed sporadically onto the wall, that had begun from the nether of the temple. Though it had been light marks on the structure, the darkened crimson colour of the patches had garnered her full attention.

Taking a glove off to touch the matter, she placed a finger upon its surface to discover its slightly sticky properties. Furrowing her eyebrows at the thickness of the dried out liquid as she began tracing its path back up to the surface.

It was only when she spotted a damning pattern at the end of the hall that she previously missed, did she reached the harrowing realization of what the matter had been.

It was blood.

And judging by the gloved hand print that she just discovered.

It had been his blood.

Her heart sunk into the pits of her stomach.

"He's hurt."

Just like that, her mind completely turned into mush, and her feet began carrying her unthinking body back towards the city. Inattentive to her burning muscles that shouted out in complains of suddenly exerted to maximum usage without warning. Her vision was mostly covered in white, all the way until she finally reached back to the city gates and made her way straight towards the Angel's Share. Opening the door up to find no one but Charles seemingly closing up for the night.

"Ah, Master Jean. What can I-,"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Charles. But have you seen Master Diluc by any chance?"

Noticing her urgency, Charles wasted no time in replying, "No, I haven't. He has not returned from his… nightly businesses."

Damn it to hell!

Leaving a confused Charles behind, she promptly made her way towards the city centre once more. Initially with the thought of heading straight for her office to check if he had left anything, before her eyes caught wind of an unorthodox sight involving the window of her flat.

There was light coming from within her home.

It took her a moment of pondering, before she realized what it had meant. Completely abandoning her plan of going to her office, and instead rushing up to the doorsteps of her building, and rushing for her unit.

She had tried to rush through her door, only to find that it had been locked. Quickly materializing her keys, she shoved it with such ferocity that the moment the door went unlocked, she almost flew past the hinges and fall flat to the ground. Only managing to stabilize herself just in time, before she hears that voice that she had been looking for the entire day.

"You sure took your time…"

Trailing his voice, her eyes widened at the sight of him loosely smiling at her. His coat had been laid off on a random chair while his hand had held his side. Which clearly had been bleeding out for quite some time now. All the chaotic realization didn't even give her time to bring up the fact the fact he had somehow got into her house with the door remaining lock.

Rushing to his side, she knelt down to pry at his hand. Choosing to remain silent as she assessed the wound, internally sighing in relief at the fact that it hadn't been that terrible of a wound. Yet, still wincing at the fact that he had probably lost a lot of blood from the moment of its inception.

"Be quiet, and take your shirt off." She commanded before summoning a Dandelion Field around him, hurriedly imbuing a nearby sanitary towel that she had always kept at the ready with liquidized anemo before giving it to him, "Keep this on the wound, I'll grab some bandages."

He simply nodded. Following her instructions to a tee while she watched him disappear to another room, coming back in a flash with a tray of medical supplies. Rummaging through them to produce a roll of bandages, ripping one open as she motioned a hand behind his back. Throwing another towel to the paddings of her couch before turning back to him.

She momentarily froze when she laid her eyes back to him. All the scars that he had garnered, presumably from his solo expeditions all lay bare in front of her. Though some have faded significantly, it didn't hide the fact that a lot of them had been enormous in size. Even when she had seen some of the more recent nicks that he took, this was the first time she had ever gotten the chance to have an unrestricted view of all of them.

Shaking her head off of her stupor, she thrusted her chin towards the couch.

"Can you move to the couch?"

"I can-, Ugh…" He grunted in discomfort while she supported him, "…Try."

Slowly, she kept her hand on his lower back while they eased towards the couch. Jean gently lowered him through his mumbles of pain and only let go of her hand on him when she was sure that he had been thoroughly supported by the confines of the couch.

Gently prying his hands off of the towel on his wound, she replaced it with a hand of her own. This time, boosting the resummoning her healing field whilst boosting its regenerative powers through channelling her own breeze of anemo through her hand.

Diluc could feel the wound slowly close up over time. His eyes glued on her while he finally regained control over his breathing, unable to stop marvelling at how proficient she of a healer she had grown to become.

"What happened?"

Her question had come so suddenly, yet so softly. He looked at her to see that her eyes were still focused on healing his wound. Her eyes lacking the concern that it had been drowned with when she came in the room, and replaced by a glaze that he couldn't quite comprehend.

She didn't let him answer, "I assume that you eventually let your recklessness get the better of you." A sigh coming out of her, "How long did it take for you to realize that going against such a number of foes by yourself is near damn close to suicide, hmm?"

It all brought him back to the conversation that they had at Windrise, after the Abyss' first attempt to attack the city.

A mirror repeat; to say the least. He'd managed to upset her once again.

That being said, he did agree that he had let his recklessness get the better of him, but not for the reasons she might have thought, "Rookie mistake while interrogating one of the mages." He hissed through gritting his teeth in pain, "Suffice to say, a mitachurl got a free swing at me."

Reverting back to the silence she held before, Jean began to wordlessly wrap the coil of bandage around his torso. Satisfied with how much the wound had closed up, she twirled the piece of fabric to tighten around his abdomen and looped it over his shoulder. Repeating the process until she was sure that it was tight enough to keep his injured body in a tight leash.

Cutting off the bit of the bandage from the roll, she rose up to store it back to the other room. Coming back to his presence with a fresh black button up which he stared at quizzically when she made the move to hand it over to him.

"It's my father's. I kept some of his belongings that he forgot to take from mother's home." When he took it off of her hands, she mused, "It might be a little tight on you, but it's better than wearing your bloodied one."

Slowly putting the shirt on, he smiled in agreement, "Thank you." He began buttoning it up while she took her spot next to him once more, "I'll be sure to return it to you tomorrow."

Again, silence fell upon the room. Jean said nothing as he finished buttoning up the shirt. Straightening out all the wrinkles that had crumpled up by his waist, making sure that it wouldn't take much effort to iron it out later on.

It was then did he froze when he felt her hands on both his cheeks. Holding them gently to turn his attention towards him. Their eyes connecting as remained in apprehensive silence. Her azure orbs practically shouting in desperation that she just couldn't say out loud.

What am I going to do with you?

Shifting forward, she then pulled him close. Tucking him into the crook of her neck whilst her hands idle searched him through the strands of his hair. Feeling his presence for all that it's worth.

And he just lets her do so.

What else could he have done? There was never a chance in the world where he would be cruel enough to deny her of this reprieve. He knew that he had caused her a far greater deal of worry this time around. Whatever it is that she needed to know that he was right there with her, he would gladly give.

"Do you have any clue how terrified I was?"

Even though her hands on his hair had been strong, he could still feel the uncertainty. The hesitation that still asked; was he really there?

It was then did his own hands found its way around her back. Making sure that she knew that his presence there hadn't just been a figment of her imagination. That he was really there with her.

"I know." Of course, he knew. He would be too if it had been the other way around, "I'm sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

"I'd rather that there won't be a next time."

A reasonable request had it been any other person. But this was him, she had been talking about. She knew very well that such a request had been out of the spectrum of things she can expect out of him.

"Well…"

"…You can't stop. I know that. You have your purpose, I know that." Jean justified himself for her own sake, his heart clenching at the desperation that grew in her voice, "But for a moment, just let me have my wishful thinking be a reality. Even for a second, just let me have it."

Diluc wasn't sure how he was supposed to react. He didn't know how to make that wish of hers a reality. Even when the solution had been inherent so simple.

But it was never just simple between the two of them.

Yet, it also explains why his heart had been beating ever so loudly when she began to pull him close to her.

It had been a different kind of home for his heart to settle in.

"I won't have you make promises. I know better than to ask that of you. I won't chastise you further since you made the right decision to come straight for my aid." She pulled back to lean her forehead on his instead, "Just know that there will always be a time where I can help you before your collection of scars grow in numbers."

Her eyes finally opened, linking back to his own, "Please, Diluc. I'll beg if I have to, but you have to ask me for help next time." She sucked in a shaky breath, "I've had to imagine it before, but now I can't bear to see it because I…"

A ponderous pause filled the ends of her sentences. He gazed at her with a question of his own stuck within the power of his stare.

"…Because you?

Gently, she ran a thumb on the surface of his cheek.

"Because I love you too much to see you get hurt like this."

And now, more than ever, did his heart began to understand itself.

How it had hurt when he saw her trudge through the burdens of her life. How it had clenched whenever he saw that gaze of concern in her eyes. How it had longed to be within the embrace of her arms. How it had just felt so right to be there, tangled up in a way that allowed their hearts to speak to one another.

It had been so right; because it just had to be her.

Though his heart and mind had never been so sure of a fact, his words had been the one to fail him.

"J-Jean, I…"

She placed a finger on his lips, preventing him from spluttering out whatever incoherent response that he had wanted to choke out through the throes of his heart.

"I don't need your answer now. I just thought that you should know." She left a light peck on his forehead, "If you ever feel like the world is going against you, just know that I'm right here. My door is always open for you, and so is my heart. All you need to do is give me the time."

Her hand snaked to her waist to grab one of his own.

"Or rather…"

Intertwining his hand with her own, her smiled had further illuminated the night in his eyes.

"Give us the time."

That's all she wanted from him. That much he completely understood now.

The time to let each other into the other's life. The time to understand one another through the thoughts of their hearts. The time to take the lessons of the past and turn it into a path towards the betterment of their future.

The time to turn you and I, into us.

He had nothing but one last lingering question.

"…However long it takes?"

She smiled. A gentle nod to follow suit.

"However long it takes."

Honestly, he didn't need the time. But he knew that there were better moments that to simply profess what he has unknowingly held dear in his heart when his mind wasn't in the correct frame to proclaim it.

So, by her request. He chose to take his time.

"Then… After the Windblume festivities." He suggested, playing with their cojoined digits, "Would be willing to spare the time to pay Dawn Winery a quick visit?"

Her giggles had never sounded so heavenly in his ears, "Am I wrong in considering that to be an invitation for us to go on a date?"

"If you think of it to be worthy of such an invitation, then I would be more than happy to oblige." A smile now layered on his own lips at the sight of her amused chuckling.

"Well then…" Exhaling with content, she tilted her head with a smile, "It's a date."

Nodding to the radiance of her gaze and smile, he wordlessly affirmed her suggestion.

To nights above, the moon had been shining just as how it had always been.

Yet for the woman who had been basking in the warmth of his hold, and the man who had been cherishing the affections of the woman within his grasps…

…The moon had shone just that little bit more brightly.