The morning after, Amber has breakfast with Esther in their kitchen, her gaze silently stuck on her eggs on bread, while munching on them without enthusiasm. Her mother stares at her and sighs.
"What happened?"
"Huh?" Amber looks up and as her eyes make contact with Esther's questioning ones.
"Did you stomp on an elderly's foot while at the retirement home?"
"No." The outrider chuckles slightly, with bitterness.
"Did you spill a child's ice cream?"
"Thankfully, no."
Esther thinks carefully for an instant.
"I got it! You accidentally killed one of Timmie's pidgeons!"
"Mom, I'm not fifteen anymore."
"Sure, but I'd like to remind you of how you used to mope all the way home every time something like that happened".
"Come on, it didn't happen that often."
Esther raises an eyebrow.
"Okay, okay a few… dozens of times, but it doesn't anymore! I'm more than twenty now, I'm careful and responsible."
"You stepped on my foot this morning, too."
"Mom!" Amber punches the air with frustration. Esther laughs thunderously.
"So, dear, want to talk about it?"
Amber stops in her tracks and goes back to staring at her plate, grabbing her fork and playing distractedly with a few crumbs of bread.
"I met Eula Lawrence."
"Ah, she used to be your grandfather's favorite student."
The girl nods, slowly.
"Yes, well, Jean sent us on a mission together, but Eula was incredibly rude for the whole trip. I tried to figure out how to talk to her, but when the mission was nearing its end, I wound up screaming at her after she told me that being an outrider is useless nowadays. We didn't talk for the rest of the mission and after I reported to Jean I ended up crying behind Grandpa's house." Amber turns to face the blue sky outside the window.
"So, is that why you seem so down?"
Amber lowers her gaze.
"No, Eula came to apologize to me shortly after, she explained that she thought I was only being kind to her because Jean told me to and she hates this sort of behavior; I think that comes from whatever she went through with her family and with the town's folk, but I don't really know the details. I think Jean cleared up the misunderstanding. She asked me what she could do to make it up to me, so I said that she could buy me dinner and she did without even thinking about it!"
"But something else happened, didn't it?" Amber nods again.
"Some people were talking trash about Eula at Good Hunter, she ignored them, but I couldn't stand it and so I put them in their place, then they went quiet. But they weren't the first people to say something like that behind her back, for sure."
"I know. Unfortunately, many people in Mondstadt hold prejudices against the Lawrence clan. Do you feel sorry for her?"
"Yes, there's that, but there's also something I can't stop thinking about." Amber takes a few seconds to breathe; Esther looks at her and waits.
"She said it's hard to trust people when you're born a Lawrence, so I told her that I'm not the Lawrence clan. But when I got back home I realized that maybe I wasn't being much better than them anyway, I mean, isn't lying to her about being an alpha kind of the same thing the Lawrence clan or the town's folk do? If not worse. Isn't it hypocritical to say I'm different from her family when I'm hiding what I am, when I'm the first to lie to everyone?"
Esther listens silently. Once Amber finishes she sits next to her daughter and puts a hand on her shoulder.
"You'd only be a hypocrite if you were consciously deciding to lie to her, but honey if you told anyone you're an alpha you'd be exiled. I know that if it were up to you, you'd tell her in a heartbeat, but you and I, and even Eula, know that alphas aren't welcome in Mondstasdt."
"It's that… I want to try and make friends with her, but I'm scared I'll ruin everything once she finds out I've been lying to her this entire time." The woman strokes her daughter's back.
"You shouldn't hold yourself back just because our nation decided that people like you aren't wanted, if you want to be Eula's friend then do that without worrying and when you'll feel ready and know you trust her you can tell her. But this is about survival, you don't have to feel guilty for hiding something that society itself wants you to hide. Eula was Grandpa's favorite student, I'm sure she'll understand when you tell her, but you need to be ready to first and foremost. You might even simply remain acquaintances, stuff like that can happen. You know, I'd also love to see you bring home a friend from time to time, I've been preparing a super mom introduction for the last twenty years." Esther smiled.
"You're right, I can't take such an honor from you." Amber faces her mother giggling.
"See, you understand."
Amber hugs Esther, holding her tight and hiding her face in the woman's shoulder.
"Thanks, mom." The mother smiles and caresses Amber's head.
"For what? I just forced some common sense into my little girl." The woman squeezes her daughter close.
"Mom, I can't breathe!" The two of them start laughing.
Time goes by peacefully. Eula and Amber keep going on their missions, both of them are often sent out of town to scour and they rarely happen to be in Mondstadt at the same time. Every time the outrider sees Eula coming back she invites her to eat together at Good Hunter, and not much time passes before even the stoic captain of the Reconnaissance Company starts returning the gesture every time she can.
"I was hiding in some tree branches, so I took my bow, I infused the arrow with pyro, I shot my shot and then boom!" Amber raises her hands up and mimes the effect of an explosion. Eula listens to her while slicing the cut of meat in her plate with elegance. "I got rid of three hilichurls and broke a mitachurl's shield in one go, the rest of it was easy. I simply made a few baron bunnies explode here and there and just like that, cleaned up a hilichurl camp."
"More like wiped out a hilichurl camp."
"I mean yeah, you could say that, but it's still effective." Amber takes a bite out of her steak with a satisfied look on her face.
"How about you? How did your exploration go?"
"Nothing that exciting, no exploding hilichurls for sure, we just investigated some traces left by the Fatui you found, but they didn't really lead us anywhere."
"Come on, espionage isn't that bad, though I know it isn't your forte."
"Close range combat with a claymore is a noble art to which I dedicated years and years of training, it seems only logical to want to use it on the battlefield."
"Are you trying to distract me from the fact that your weapon is usually gets you found out more often than not?"
Eula blushes and clears her throat.
"That is but a superfluous detail."
"You didn't deny it."
Eula goes back to eating.
"I'll get my vengeance for this." She hides her mouth with her hand and mutters as she chews. Amber laughs.
"Tomorrow's your day off, right?" The outrider lunges across the table, closing in on Eula.
"Yes."
"Let's go hang out then."
"I beg your pardon, where exactly would you make a lady hang out?"
"On the shores of the lake near the city, passing through Springvale and if you feel like it, Windrise."
"You think I also want to spend my free time trekking?" Eula raises an eyebrow.
"Well, it seems kind of inconsiderate to ask you to spend time in town." Amber rubs her thumbs together. Eula lowers her head, a hint of a smile on her lips.
"I accept your invitation. I'll wait for you on the shore not too far from the bridge in Springvale's direction, early morning."
"I'll be there." Amber tilts her head a bit and stares at the subtle smile on Eula's face, she blushes lightly.
Once she's home Amber throws herself on her bed and squeezes a non-explosive version of Baron Bunny tight, smiling. She lifts herself and stares at a picture of her and Grandpa, it was taken the first time she managed to catch a prey; she was barely seven years old and she was holding a bunny by its ears triumphantly sitting on Zhiruo's shoulders.
"You know, Grandpa, I think I've never met someone as stubborn as Eula, now I get how you've always managed to be so patient." The girl smiles, taking the framed picture into her hands.
"I thought that since she used to be your student I could try and befriend her, surely, if you chose her to be your trainee, she must be very understanding, deep down! You know, the more I talk to her and the more I think she has an underlying sweetness she hides under her stoic noblewoman façade." Amber stops smiling.
"You know, Grandpa, I really did try to make friends for years, and yet every time something in the back of my mind told me that no matter how much effort I put towards it, if me being an alpha was ever found out not only would I have been abandoned by everyone, I would have ruined our family's life." Amber grips Baron Bunny tighter.
"So in the end I managed to go meet everyone, smiling endlessly, but always backing down when I was faced with the next step I needed to take to actually become friends. I admire Eula for being able to stand this every day. I thought, maybe if it's her, even if one day she were to find out she would understand, don't you think?"
The outrider hugs the picture and baron bunny close to her chest, snuggling in a fetal positing.
"Hey, Grandpa, is it okay for me to have friends? Even if I'm a liar?" Nothing answers her, but silence.
Amber falls asleep shortly thereafter, she thinks back to Eula, to what the people in town say behind her back. A single question echoes in her mind.
"Would she also leave me if she found out?"
The morning after, Amber wakes up early, as usual, gets out of bed with a smile, takes a bath and carefully chooses what clothes to wear. There's not many options outside of her outrider uniform, so she settles for her usual garments. She feels more at ease while wrapped in her red jacket and shorts a little over her knee. That would have also prevented her tan lines from showing.
She looks into the mirror, fixing her bangs, staring at her face thoroughly for any imperfections, eventually she takes the red bandana in her hands, gazing at it and smiling, remembering the day Grandpa gave it to her.
She just got back home after her first hunting session with Grandpa. Amber was covered in mud and dirt from head to toe, her hair was tangled with small branches and leaves. She was full of scratches on her face and arms, and yet a beaming smile extended on her lips while she held the rabbit by its ears. Her body held a small bow proportioned to her size and she sat on the man's shoulders.
"Now I'm altho a real outrider like you, Grandpa!"
"That's right, Amber, and what an outrider! That rabbit stood no chance!" Zhiruo raised his fist, hitting Amber's much smaller and more fragile one with softness.
"You'll thee Grandpa, when I'm all grown up I'll help you protect Mondthtadt, and then we'll go on missionth together, tho you won't feel lonely anymore." Amber hugged her grandfather's head.
"Oh, Amber, I don't feel lonely at all. Here, let me show you something." Zhiruo helped his niece down, careful to avoid her getting hurt. Amber looked at him as he lowered down to her height.
"You see this bandana here?" The man pointed to the piece of cloth that held his hair tied together.
"Yeth, you alwayth wear it."
"Well, see, this was gift from you mother, you know why?" Amber shook her head in denial.
"One day, I was coming back home after many days were I was believed to be lost in the woods, this one time your mom and dad were scared they were never going to see me return."
Amber started to rub her foot against the ground, her gaze low.
"I don't know how I'd do without you, Grandpa, I'm thure mom and dad were altho very thad." Zhiruo pat his granddaughter's head with a sweet smile.
"They were also very, very sad, Amber. When I knocked on the door and your mother saw me, she practically jumped me and hugged me incredibly tight! I swear, she was trying to squeeze me to a pulp."
"Momma does that because she loves you tho tho much! Thith much!" Amber raised her arms to form an imaginary circle in the air.
"That's right! That night we all ate a hearty meal together and the morning after, your mother came into my room, she had dark circles around her eyes and it was noticeable that she didn't get to sleep much, so I asked her if anything had happened and I swear, her answer really touched me!" Small tears started to form on the edges of Zhiruo's eyes, Amber took a handkerchief from her pocket and dried them.
"Don't worry Grandpa, I'm right by your thide!"
"Thank you, Amber, I couldn't ask for better company."
Zhiruo blew his nose and took a deep breath.
"Your mother handed me two bandanas, this red one and this white one, and she told me: wear them every time you go out on a mission so that you'll remember you have a family at home that is waiting for you at home, that we love you and you aren't alone. I swear I burst into tears at that, so she tied my hair with the red bandana and told me I had to keep her words in mind because the family was going to grow soon and I couldn't die before getting to meet my granddaughter. That's how she told me she was expecting you, dear." Zhiruo's stroked Amber's cheek, as tears came back, stinging in his eyes; the little girl promptly dried his face once more.
"Did momma thtay up to thew them for you?"
"Yes, she cut the pieces of fabric and embroidered stripes on them, and now I want to gift them to you." The man untied his hair and gestured for Amber to turn her back to him, Amber obeyed.
"Every time you feel lonely in the forest remember that as long as you have these bandanas with you we will always be with you, even if not in person. You'll just have to close your eyes and touch the fabric, and then like magic, you'll be able to feel our love to remind you aren't alone." Zhiruo tied the bandana on his granddaughter's head; Amber turned to face her grandpa and touched the fabric, she smiled as her sight became muddled by a few tears, she let them stream down her chubby cheeks, before vigorously drying her face.
"Thankth grandpa! I thwear I'll treathure them!"
"I'm sure you will, happy birthday Amber."
Amber started hopping on the spot with enthusiasm.
"You remembered!"
"Of course I did! How could I forget the most important day of the year? Now come, I'm not supposed to tell you, but your mom baked a huge cake just for you." Zhirou winked, as Amber's hops went even higher.
"Yeth!" Grandpa let Amber sit on his shoulder, heading towards the city humming, accompanied by his granddaughter's voice.
Amber ties the bandana around her head and lightly slaps her face with both of her hands to encourage herself.
"You can do this, Amber!" She smiles at her own reflection in the mirror.
She heads to the kitchen, where Esther has already made breakfast for the both of them. She eats it rapidly.
"How come you're so enthused today?" Esther looks at her, while sitting facing her.
"I'm going to meet with a friend for the first time outside of work or charity stuff or anything else, so I'm super pumped!" Amber gestured wildy with her hands in the air and practically hopping on her seat.
"I can tell. I'm happy for you, knowing it's your day off, but don't be too late, okay?"
Amber stands up and kisses her mother's forehead.
"Don't worry mom, I've been an outrider for years now and the captain of the Reconnaissance Company is coming with me, remember?" Esther sighs.
"I know, you're a big girl now." The woman pretends to dry a tear; Amber laughs.
"Love you, mom." Amber opens the door.
"Love you too." Esther answers back; the door closes.
Amber begins her walk across the city heading towards the exit, hopping around with a radiant smile, greeting everyone she comes across by name. Occasionally, she lets herself loose and spins around for a bit, before resuming hopping along the way. The sun isn't up yet, so the light casts an orange tint, despite Mondstadt itself already being bustling and lively. She crosses the bridge and takes a turn towards their meeting spot, but Eula isn't anywhere to be found. She decides to keep walking until she gets to the beach, worried that something may have caused a change of location.
Once she catches up to her, Eula is dancing with her eyes closed, accompanied by a melody only she can hear.
Amber stops in her tracks and, without realizing, ends up admiring the woman's graceful and precise moves.
Her breathing slows down; she blushes as her eyes follow the dance carefully.
Eula had headed towards the beach to ponder without distractions. She had started dancing a few minutes prior, immersed in thoughts she never could have guessed would have clouded a Lawrence's mind.
"Dance of sacrifice: act 3 – Flickering Candlelight".
Her body begins moving following the melody imprinted in her memory, without even having to think about each step she has to execute.
"What would be most proper while accompanying a friend?" Her mind races through unknown paths as she reflects upon each individual possibility she never could have anticipated.
"I read somewhere that friends usually share their passions and interests with each other, should I also share some of my own with Amber?" The imaginary music flows with her thoughts.
"What if I happened to make Amber uncomfortable because of some enjoyment of mine that is much too peculiar for a common citizen?" Eula's steps keep grazing the ground, until the moment she catches an unmistakable red jacket in the corner of her eye.
"I don't have any more time to think, it's time to act without trepidation!" Eula stops her dancing, without looking at the outrider.
Amber observes Eula's posing figure and swallows emptily.
"Are you here to spy on me?" Eula's tone sounds almost accusing as she turns to face her.
"Uh? No, I was just… worried you might be in danger…"
"Not yet…" Eula extends her hand towards Amber with a smile. "It takes two to tango. Shall we?"
Amber suddendly blushes, to the top of her ears and to the nape of her neck
"Huh? H-huh?"
"Curses! I really went and said that! Okay, calm down Eula Lawrence, now is not the time to succumb to panic after making such a bold proposal of dancing with a commoner!" Eula blushes too and with quite some effort, manages to maintain her smirk on her face.
Amber grabs the captain's hand and smiles at her.
"I guess I can't refuse if you ask me so solemnly." Both of their cheeks are still very much red.
"I'll have to warn you though I can't dance, so I may step on your feet… more than once, eheh." Amber puts her left hand on Eula's shoulder and uses her right one to hold her hand. Eula places her right hand on Amber's waist and starts guiding the both of them, following the silent notes of a melody residing in her mind.
Amber follows her lead, keeping her gaze stuck on the ground in an effort to understand what movements she needs to do to avoid stepping on Eula's feet, the tip of her tongue sticking out from her lips, a sign of her genuine struggle.
"You know, it's not that polite to look at the ground when a noblewoman asks for a dance."
Amber's cheeks darken all at once; the outrider observes the captain's indignant expression.
"Sorry, it's just, I'd really hate to hurt you, I've never been good with this kinda stuff." Amber giggles, her voice is low as she speaks.
"I wouldn't have asked you to dance if I couldn't manage to endure your- ouch!" Amber steps on Eula's left foot.
"Oh gosh, I'm sorry! Are you okay?" They stop and Eula moves her foot to check on it.
"I didn't think you stepped on feet with such vigor."
"Well, there's a reason why you're the first person to invite me to tango."
"Okay, now that I understand your situation I get what kind of approach would be most befitting your inexperience." Eula grabs Amber firmly.
"What do you mean?"
"I will teach you to dance; now follow me, we'll take it slow. One, two, three… one, two three, memorize the steps with your feet so you can do that again without looking."
Amber nods with verve and returns to stare at their feet with the tip of her tongue peeking out from her lips. Their movements have gone slow and they repeat them until the outrider is able to execute them without trampling Eula's feet.
"Okay, let's try to up the pace, follow my lead. One, two, three… one, two, three."
They speed up the rhythm, occasionally Amber steps on Eula's feet, but the more they dance the more such mistakes become fewer and fewer. They keep going until Eula stops the dance with a casquè; she holds Amber close in her arms while looking at her eyes. Amber's gaze brightens.
"Gosh, so cool! What's this?" The outrider smiles radiantly.
"That's a casqué, it's a dance move typical of tango." Eula straightens Amber's posture.
"Wow, that's like, super cool! I think it's nice to have someone you trust enough to do that." Amber shakes her fists in the air.
"Sorry, maybe I should have asked for your permission." Eula looks down.
"Aww Eula, don't worry, I trust you, so there's no problem if… " Amber rubs her chin with her hand, as if lost in deep thought; Eula looks at her as she feels her breathing slow down.
"I'd like for you to also trust me, so I promise I'll train a lot and next time we dance I'll be the one taking the lead and making you do a casqiè!" Amber squeezed Eula's hands with enthusiasm.
"It's called a casquè, and do you seriously think a lady of my caliber would let a commoner dance with her and take the lead, no less?"
"Why don't you want to?"
"I, well…" Eula blushed to the tip of her ears "I must confess I'm not entirely against your proposal."
"Yes! I knew it! I'm so happy that I'm starting to get you, Eula! I promise once I've become a tango pro I'll invite you formally to dance with me." Amber separates their hands and bows in font of Eula copying what little she does know of the noble folks' etiquette.
"I will have vengeance for this ungracious promise of yours." Eula averts her gaze and hides the smile making its way on her lips behind her hand.
The two stroll along the lake's shores surrounding the city silently, one next to the other.
Even so, neither of them feels the need to force themselves to talk.
They enjoy the fresh early summer morning breeze. Amber occasionally skips away, going further than Eula but always coming back to her with a smile. Eula observes her, serenity at the forefront of her mind.
They reach the bottom of the enormous tree in Windrise as they sit among the roots.
"By the way, Eula, why did you ask me to dance so suddenly earlier?"
Eula turns to face Amber and gazes at her sunset colored eyes.
"I thought that seeing as we're spending time together I should share one of my private passions with you."
Amber stares at Eula, feeling moved.
"Can I hug you?"
Eula's brows knit together as she guards herself.
"May I ask for what reason?"
"It's just, you've made me so happy by saying this just now, that I'm barely keeping myself from bear hugging you, but you know, I get how you are, you and all your nobley rituals that I'm not really an expert in and so I don't want to offend you by doing something rash like that." Amber shakes her fists in the air and jumps on the spot. Eula laughs.
"I didn't think you'd be so thoughtful of others. Fine, I'll allow you to hug me just this once." Eula's voice maintains a solemn tone while she opens her arms narrowly as if to invite Amber. The outrider jumps with her arms extended towards the captain, making her lose her balance, resulting in both of them falling in the grass while tightly hugging each other, Amber on top of Eula
"You're smothering me."
"Sorry, I let myself get out of hand sometimes." Amber laughs as she weakens her grip just enough to allow her to breathe normally. Eula exchanges the gesture, tickled by the grass brushing against her cheeks; usually things like this would bother her, but in this moment, surrounded by Amber's arms, she can only think of the pleasant warmth that formed between the two of them. Maybe the warmth itself is coming from the outrider's pyro Vision or the early summer sun reaching through the tree branches, maybe something else entirely not ripe enough to start showing its first fruits.
Amber gets up beaming, sitting beside Eula and swinging happily on the spot.
Eula lays on the grass for some moment more, in the attempt to engrave the feeling of that contact and Amber's smell of wild herbs in her memory. There's an unusual undertone in the outrider's scent; Eula doesn't really know how to describe it, she just knows it's delicate and pleasant and that it has given her tranquility the instant she caught a whiff of it. Eula gets up and turns to face Amber.
"Seeing as I told you about dancing, would you like to share what you do in your own free time?"
Amber lights up and nods with liveliness.
"You see, I love sewing! Especially plushies, and I also like making small explosives."
"Is that how you invented baron bunnies?"
"Exactly! No one would suspect there's a bomb inside a plushie, right? It's the perfect strategy to distract enemies and take them by surprise!"
"I'm sure it is." Eula smiles.
The two of them spend the rest of the day leisurely, fishing their own lunch and heading back to the city for dinner to enjoy some of Good Hunter's sticky honey roast.
In the Knights of Favonius' headquarters, Jean and Lisa observe the Mondstadt map laid out on the table in front of them.
"I don't get it, there doesn't seem to be any connections between the attacks, though the increase of hilichurl activity in all of Mondstadt can't be a coincidence." Jean rests her hands on the table as she lowers her head. Lisa draws closer to her, caressing her shoulder.
"Jean, darling, it's not good for you alone to worry over this; we need to call a meeting of all the units' captains tomorrow." Jean sighs as she interlocks her fingers with Lisa's.
"You're right, the attacks are becoming too persistent, I'll send an urgent notice to all the captains in town and Amber, I reckon she's ready." Lisa nods as she strokes Jean's forehead, moving her bangs from her eyes.
"We'll get through this, together."
Jean's lips hint at a smile. The sun sets outside their window.
Note:
In case you were wondering where I got the way Amber acts when she's happy, that's what I do when I'm happy lol.
Anyway, we got through the fourth chapter, the plot is thickening and I can only answer to that with an evil laugh. Savor the fluff 😉.
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