"Hey, Guizhong," Lumine raised a hand in a simple greeting. Her other arm cradled a potted Glaze Lily. Behind her, Paimon floated, solemn and quiet. Before them was a simple, unmarked gravestone, around which a number of other Glaze Lilies were planted. A dish of alcohol was placed before it, mostly evaporated now, but enough remained that Lumine guessed that Zhongli had visited not long before. The grave was unoccupied, of course – but the ground had been scattered with dust, the remnants of the Memory of Dust. Zhongli had solved it, at last, and then removed the modification keeping it whole. Its remains served as another memorial.
"It's been a while, but I thought I'd stop by one last time before I head to Inazuma," Lumine said. "I finally found myself a boat! Beidou held a tournament – which I won, naturally – and so now she's obligated to give me a ride. Between you and me, she's kind of a softie, at heart. I'm sure she would have helped me out, regardless. It was all good fun, though!"
She set down the plant, and began to excavate a hole in the ground with her hands next to the other flowers. "I miss you, you know. It feels so… lonely, now, just me by myself. It's strange that it's hitting me this hard; I lived a long, long time alone in my body, and after sharing it for just a couple months, it's like it was the most natural thing in the world. You and I were as close as it's possible for any two people to be, and I doubt I'll never be as close to anyone else again. It's left me feeling… a little empty inside."
"I wish I could have given you more time to spend with Zhongli. There's no denying you made good use of the month you did have, though! You were like a couple of insatiable newlyweds." Lumine blushed heavily at the memory, in spite of herself, but her voice was tinged with fondness. "You remember how happy Hu Tao was, don't you? Seeing us together with Zhongli, all lovey-dovey – I'm sure she felt like she was Liyue's greatest matchmaker! I wonder what she'd think if she knew Zhongli was actually two-timing me with you… Heh, don't worry – I don't really think of Zhongli that way. Our situation was… a really exceptional case. And you had more right to his heart than I ever did."
Lumine transplanted the potted Lily to its new home, and began to scrape dirt back into the hole. She sighed, sadly. "Losing you again was hard on him. Maybe even harder than the first time. Your death then was sudden, tragic, and unexpected. But this time… he could see your end coming, the entire time you were together. He could count down the days. And on the last day, when the time came, he was holding our hand. And after it was done, he was only holding mine."
"Hu Tao was unexpectedly helpful. I'm not sure there's a soul on this world that understands death better than she does! She picked up on our grief right away, and some of the things she said to comfort us… well, they really were comforting. I think she was pretty upset that you didn't leave a body behind to bury, though! How did she put it? 'What good are employee benefits if you aren't gonna use them? Fine, whatever, you get a free coffin anyway. Do what you want with it, I don't care!'" Lumine giggled at the memory. "I think seeing her so lively and annoyed helped Zhongli cope even better than her consolation did. He keeps the coffin propped up against a wall in his house, now. He's been putting books in it – the ones he'd 'like to bury', as he puts it. The guy can be a pretty harsh critic, when he wants to be!"
Lumine stood again and clapped the remaining dirt off of her hands. "Anyway, you'll be glad to hear that he's pretty much back to his old self, now. And he's still definitely carrying a torch for me. He tries not to show it, but I can tell by the way he looks at me, when he thinks I can't see it. He doesn't want to burden me with his feelings, when he knows I can't return them."
Lumine closed her eyes and sighed. "But you know what? I have a confession to make. He might be wrong. I think… I'm kind of holding a torch for him, too. I've been missing him when we're apart, thinking about him a lot. At first, when I realized it, I thought it might be you. Some bit of you left behind, that we didn't remove properly. I tested, though. I used the methods you and I came up with, and I'm pretty sure everything left is me. With that out of the way, I wondered if it might be something physical. I'd gotten awfully used to the intimacy the two of you shared, after all. But no, it's definitely not lust." Her cheeks colored again. "Well, not JUST lust, anyway."
She planted her fists on her hips and scowled. "It's really inconvenient, you know! I have too much to do now, to be falling in love." She sighed again. "The heart does as it pleases, though. Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of settling down with him, however tempting the idea might sound. Finding out what happened to my brother is too important. I need to know why he's… doing the things that he's doing. Why he sided with the Abyss. What he's planning on doing next. Whether… whether I'll be forced to stop him."
"It's gotten me thinking, though. About the future. When all this started, it was all so simple. I was going to find Aether, and the two of us were going to leave this place, travel to other stars. Continue our long journey. It's what we've always done. But now… there are things clearly tying him down to this world. I have ties here, as well – and not just Zhongli. The friendships I've made are stronger than any of the acquaintances I've made on any of the other worlds we've visited. You were there when Zhongli suggested I open a restaurant… I've been thinking about that, lately, and the idea actually sounds kind of fun. So, maybe…" She shook her head. "There's no sense in thinking about maybes. There's too much that could change before my journey here is done."
"Anyway, I'm glad to have known you, even if it wasn't for long. Thanks to Hu Tao, I know that souls on this world have another realm they pass on to after death. You were a copy of a soul, and a fragment of one, at that. Still, if there's any justice, I hope that you were able to find your way there safely, and have something better for you waiting on the other side."
She turned to her companion, who was sniffling, now, and teary-eyed. "You have anything you'd like to say, Paimon?"
Paimon floated forward, clapped her tiny hands together, and bowed. "Paimon's sorry that Paimon made things so hard for you when she found out about you! You were a great person, and not a body-snatcher at all! Paimon's sorry for throwing salt at you, and Paimon's sorry for trying to get Chongyun to exorcise you, and, and, all the other stuff, too! Paimon wishes she spent a little more effort trying to be your friend." She sniffed again, and wiped her nose on her sleeve. She turned to Lumine. "Okay, Paimon's good, now."
Lumine reached up and gave Paimon's hand a squeeze. "Don't worry, Paimon. I'm sure she forgives you, for everything."
"Right, of course she does!" Paimon perked up. "Anyway, I'll bet Beidou's getting tired of waiting for us. We should head to the Crux right away! I can't wait to get to Inazuma! I'll bet they have all kinds of great new foods to try!"
"Well, I'll have to get practicing if I want to add them to the menu of my future restaurant, won't I?" Lumine smiled, as the two walked away from the humble grave.
"That's right! By the time we're done, your menu's going to have everything in the world on it! Ooh, Paimon's drooling just thinking about it!"
"Now, don't you start thinking you're going to be getting food for free at 'Traveler's Chow'! You'll need to work for your grub!"
"Aw, don't be mean! And what kind of boring name for a restaurant is that? It should be called something cool, like 'Lumine's Unbelievably Delicious Comestible Extravaganza!' With three exclamation points, at a minimum!"
"That's way too long! And it sets the customers' expectations too high! I'm thinking more of a humble, hole-in-the-wall kind of place that you can only find if you know a friend who knows a friend who knows about it. Low profile."
"Hmm, Paimon guesses you have a point – if too many people know what a great cook you are, you'll be too busy cooking for them and not have any time to cook for Paimon!" She grimaced, "Still, there's gotta be a name with a bit more pizazz than 'Traveler's Chow'…"
The two companions chatted animatedly as they departed. New horizons awaited, with new mysteries to unravel and new realms to explore. There would be new companions to befriend, as well, but neither would they be forgetting those left behind.
Author's Note:
And that's a wrap!
From nearly the beginning, I'd planned for an epilogue from Lumine's perspective, in which she comes to the realization that she was starting to return Zhongli's feelings. I'll confess, though, that I hadn't anticipated it would come in a setting quite as maudlin as this one.
I kind of wrote myself into a corner with Guizhong's rebirth – I needed to return (mostly) to the status quo, and that meant I needed to get Guizhong out of Lumine, and none of the ideas I came up with as far as giving her someplace to GO were very palatable. So, the final chapter wound up being a visit to her grave. For what it's worth, her short life was a deliriously happy one. Rest in peace, Great Tinker.
Just as in my previous work featuring Aether and Ganyu, the question of "do they get together?" is left an open one (or, at least, it was before I wrote three sequels sealing the deal… But it was INTENDED to be open-ended, originally). Perhaps after her adventure is done, Lumine will settle down with Zhongli, open that restaurant, and live as a happily married couple until erosion do they part.
I have no sequel planned for this story (which is, of course, exactly what I said before writing sequels to "Change"), but I do have a few ideas rattling around in my head for future Genshin Impact related works. Time, inspiration, and opportunity will decide whether they ever see the light of day!
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story!