On steel wings

"Ack…"

Her small body hit the dirt, a hacking sound came forth as her precious air was let out of her lungs forcibly "..ghhhk." it took a second for the world to stop spinning as she tried to growl like a wild animal though the squeak was more adorable than threatening.

She pushed herself up shakily to one knee with the help of a wooden stick, glaring snidely to the side seeing precious little behind her black locks.

Tired, angry, and dirtied…

Another normal afternoon for her.

"C'mon get up I thought you were going to finally hit me today?" he calmly stated with his hands behind his back utterly uncaring for how she was going to rearrange his face "Or are you just going to give up… It is getting a bit late."

The girl shook her head rapidly like a dog and bared her teeth at the man…

...Damned bastard...

"AAAAH." she yelled out to the sky as she struck the wooden blade into the floor and made a mad dash to her target, crossing the distance as if a black flash her right hand put into a fierce fist ready to clobber…

Only to be grabbed lazily and pushed into the floor once more this time with a bit more force cracking the floor underneath her.

She heard his sigh and it made her deep hatred flare evermore.

"At least try to attack me with a bit more tact next time…" he said with a deadpan tone "...do you really expect to hit someone with such a move… you're strong but that's all you are."

Shirou looked down at her with those same bored eyes… as if she couldn't even make him try…

She bit back a snarl.

"Can I get up?"

He stared at her for a second before letting go of her arm, she grunted in relief as she shook it trying to make the blood flow properly again standing up with a frown of disappointment… well more of a pout really but he wouldn't dare say that.

Every single day for the past month she would try, and every single time the same thing happened… she was starting to hate the spars.

And what did he do towards her failure?

Laugh of course…

"No need to feel that bad kid, if you were able to get something in after only a few months I would call you the biggest prodigy I've ever had." he shook his head at her a kind smile forming on his face "You'll find that experience is usually the winning factor in these things… you've only just started let things take their course."

...easy for him to say…

"How are things going with your vision?"

Her anger vanished as she looked down at the strapped mirror object in her pants.

"Slow I guess…" Shenhe said with a shrug as if uncaring, the way her eyes turned dour though said otherwise "… I have no idea what I'm doing."

She looked back up and bit the inside of her cheek slightly, she didn't really want to ask for help and have yet another thing she couldn't do alone… but she had hit a wall, and no matter how hard she tried nothing came of it.

So with measured steps and nervous eyes, she asked…

"Did… did you ever have students with a vision like mine?"

He looked down at her with a sideways glance as if debating something before he answered "Only ever three."

The little girl nodded and gave him an expectant stare the question was clear but not something she wanted to verbally ask.

He frowned at her try at manipulation but decided to throw his student a bone nevertheless.

"There really isn't much to say I'm afraid." he explained sitting down on the floor and calmly motioning for her to do the same in front of him "Visions are a personal thing and most people who have them create their own unique style on using them."

She simply plopped down her legs crossing "Well I tried that but besides freezing blades of grass I didn't really do much."

"Have I told you that these things take time by any chance?"

She glared fiercely…

"Thought so…" he sighed out "...cryo from what I can tell is one of the hardest to experiment and you're young, far younger than any of them when they had it…" he explained slowly his eyes aflutter with a bit of nostalgia "… and even then it did take them quite a bit of time to see any results..."

Shenhe leaned in as he recounted his former student's exploits… he hardly ever talked about his past much less that of people he knew so any bit of it was something to behold.

"… they also used their visions in wildly different manners, one used it as a form of blunt attack, giant spikes of ice that kind of thing he wasn't much to wait around preferring to finish a battle quickly, the other one used it more as a…" he clicked his tongue thinking for a second "… I guess control the battlefield? She used it more to trick and annoy the opponents, turning the ground into ice was a favorite of hers most opponents didn't figure it out until it was too late and they already were falling to the floor."

Shenhe sighed and leaned back staring at the clouds above "None of those seem right, to be honest."

"Because they aren't yours…" he said calmly "… that's why I haven't really tried to help you with it."

She looked back down staring at him curiously "What do you mean?"

"What you have there is meant as proof of your conviction… of your ambition." he stated as he pointed towards the small trinket strapped to her leg "As such only you can forge the path ahead."

"My conviction huh." she murmured quietly as she grabbed it with care before looking back up "I don't really understand what that means…"

"It's not really something you have to figure out right now, you have plenty of time."

She frowned slightly at the notion… she didn't really want to figure it out later, there had to be some way to get through this wall…

"...conviction…"

Shenhe grabbed it with more force allowing the magic to take hold of her senses as she closed her eyes.

But nothing happened… it all fizzled out as if a mirror had been broken.

"This is useless…" she scoffed as she grabbed the object and threw it away in a bout of anger before dropping back into the grass with a huff.

Shirou shook his head at her actions while standing up, patting down his clothes from any wandering dirt "Just open your mind to it, I'm sure something will come up with something eventually."

She watched him go with a frown… he always did those things talking to her like she was a kid, as if she didn't really understand but at the same time not really explaining anything, it was more than frustrating.

Something did come to mind though, something he left out…

"Wait." she yelled out stopping him as he turned back "You said there were three right? How did they use their vision."

"Ah…" Shirou sighed rubbing the back of his neck "Well… she didn't."

"What do you mean?" she asked her eyes narrowing.

"She never really got the chance to use it much, unlike you, she got her vision when she was much older and by that point, her fighting age was behind her." He said casually while shrugging "She did use it to cool off meat if that gives you any ideas."

She stood up looking at him in confusion "You took someone in without a vision?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Shenhe opened her mouth to counter his question but found nothing, he never did state what the purpose of all this training was for, other than getting her ready…

"This isn't a place to create warriors Shenhe… not really." Shirou stated noticing how far gone she was "In fact, all of this was kinda just happenstance, I few kids needed help and things just kinda went from there before I knew it I had rebuilt my house with more bedrooms and other stuff." he spoke in a nostalgic tone as he looked behind his shoulder towards the wooden door before looking back down at her "I'm training you because you need help to control your powers more than anything else… I've had students that were scholars, some that were warriors of legend, and others that simply led an average life."

"I… see." she said absentmindedly as she mulled over his words carefully… It wasn't exactly what she expected especially after finding out what he was. Adepti for the most part were considered the guardians of Liyue more akin to Gods than anything else, to find herself being taught by one was something that she took a bit of pride in… just a bit… but now he made it sound so mundane.

"Shenhe." he called out to her with some authority making her stand straighter and giving him her full attention "What exactly do you see yourself as in the future? The power you have goes beyond that of a normal human but that doesn't mean you can't live as one… that was my promise to you and I intend to fulfill it… but that still leaves out your own intent, your own ambition… what is it that you want at the end, what made you survive all this time?"

The little girl took a step back looking struck before getting her baring back.

"I…" she managed to croak out, her voice tiny and her eyes wavering, she looked down at her small hands "I don't know."

"Few people do." Shirou stated kindly before grabbing her trembling hands with care rubbing circles in her skin "It's fine if you don't but it's something worth thinking about… but don't let it consume you alright?"

She nodded while taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

The man exhaled as he noticed his little charge calm down slightly "You know I was thinking about something…"

Shenhe tilted her head in confusion but said nothing.

"Tomorrow I'll be going to buy a few things in a nearby settlement…" he said carefully as if he was selling her on something "… maybe it'll do you some good to come along with me, you know being around other people."

Ah, so that's what it was…

She didn't really have much of a problem with it, it might have been a bit since she had seen any other human and she had never been the most popular of children even back home but it wasn't as if she was trying to hide from the world.

So with a shrug, she gave her answer "Sure why not…"

It might help her think of new things to bypass this wall she was currently beating her head into.

The man helped her up gently then messed up her hair a bit more with his right hand as she slapped the offending arm away with no avail… not that she tried very hard nowadays to do so.

She blushed slightly at those thoughts huffing away from his smirking gaze.

"Well then sleep early today, it's a bit of a long walk, we'll start before the sun is up."

The girl groaned at that… perhaps she didn't think things through fully.

(Next day)

Hop, hop, hop…

Half-lidded eyes looked at the zig-zagging stone roads underneath her feet, she jumped in between the lines as she tried to make her own little games to stave off the utter boredom she felt.

She sighed as she wobbled around slightly and grazed the separation line making her the sore loser of her solo game.

She huffed loudly towards the sky, now slightly angry as well.

She wasn't really tired but just bored out of her mind, at first the scenery seemed to be a good enough change of pace, she had even tried to catch a few of the wandering animals but that had quickly lost its luster after a while.

"Are we there yet?"

The man sighed for a bit before shrugging "Nothing's really changed since you asked thirty seconds ago Shenhe…"

"Whatever…"

She kicked a loose rock petulantly sending it flying to the side with far greater force than she had intended to, hitting a nearby tree toppling it to the side crushing a few birds that were resting underneath its shade. The girl looked at the mayhem she had caused without meaning to with a bit of surprise in her stare before shrugging and continuing on.

She quickened her pace a bit to catch up to the man as they finally reached the top of the mountain getting to see what was on the other side… the scenery changing from nature to man-made.

Houses and other such buildings colored the horizon, this must be the settlement he mentioned… she hadn't expected it to be so big.

It was more like a small city than anything else, far bigger than her little village, and from what she can tell still in construction, they seemed to be trying to continue upwards to the sky rather than use the rest of the land making taller buildings rather than wider ones…

She shook her head… it didn't really matter, not as if she was curious about how these things worked or cared much really. Still, she couldn't help but inch a bit closer to Shirou as more and more people passed by.

She could see guards, merchants, and even other kids playing around outside of the city borders… it made her stomach feel a bit antsy.

A little voice told her to reach out and take his hand but she squashed it like a bug.

It took a few minutes to reach but reached it they as the large sign over them told exactly where they were.

Jingwei…

She tilted her head in confusion… what an odd name for a city.

"Are you coming or not Shenhe." Shirou yelled out to her as he turned around.

Her head moved back down again in surprise at being called out "Coming…" she said absentmindedly walking forward with measured steps taking in the new sights "...sorry."

Shirou sighed but couldn't really hide his smile "It's fine, I'm guessing this is pretty new to you?"

"Never really been to a city before…" she stated her voice a bit strained as if she was confused about what she was supposed to feel "... there are quite a few people huh."

"Does that scare you?" he asked kindly.

The girl simply shook her head, she didn't feel comfortable but not really scared either… more like anxious.

Once again he ruffled her hair around a bit, something that actually helped even as she glared as he did so.

"Just take your time, we'll move when you feel comfortable okay?"

Shenhe opened her mouth to stubbornly tell him she was just fine…

"Oh my." a sweet voice called out from behind the taller man "It has been quite a while little bird."

...but something stopped her.

His eyes widened and his body stiffened as the girl looked on in utter confusion.

She had never seen him like this.

He started to rigidly turn towards the voice slowly as if in disbelief.

Was it really someone that serious… she couldn't keep her curiosity abated so she decided to have a look...

Her eyes widened much like his at first sight…

...Pretty…

...was the first thing that came to mind.

Blue hair and small stature, dressed in something that revealed… well let's just say it didn't exactly leave much to the imagination when it was pretty much glued to her skin, though that wasn't exactly what she found important. No that would be her eyes, she had never seen those like hers before, it was a mismatch of gold and purple that seemed to glow under the sun's light, though the bags of tiredness under them did leave a bit out of the shine of them… still didn't change how different she was from anyone the little girl had ever seen before.

She stared on utterly stunned at the otherworldly being not even noticing the two curved horns in her head.

"Ganyu…" Shirou said breathlessly.

The woman pouted as she heard her name uttered in such a fashion "Really? That's a bit mean of you little bird…" she stated a bit petulantly her cheeks puffing "… I remember what you used to call me when you were little

""Aaaah…" a small blush appeared on his face as he awkwardly scratched his cheek "… that was quite a long time ago but fair enough… mother."

The woman now named Ganyu simply clapped her hands once as a wide pretty smile of happiness appeared on her face "That's a lot better." she beamed towards him before dipping slightly to the side to look at what was behind him, a hand coming to cover her mouth conveying surprise "Oh? You seem to have gotten a new hatchling… how very curious."

Shenhe stiffened as she felt Ganyu's eyes looking all over her with something akin to fascination, unable to really say much.

The bluenette nodded cheerfully seemingly content in her search "She seems good…"

"Yeah." Shirou said matter-of-factly "She's been with me for six months now."

"Just her?" she asked unable to mask the hope from her voice.

The white-haired man simply sighed "Yes… just her."

Ganyu frowned slightly "I see…"

The two adults looked at one another in something akin to a staring match.

It was a bit ridiculous to have them gaze into each other in the middle of the street with such purpose but it did give her enough time to get her bearings and think things through more clearly. This was another adepti, obviously, the horns in her head were proof enough and she had a history with her teacher too.

Little bird huh...

"Wait…" she called out to the duo "...Who are you?"

This made them stop their little match as they both looked down right back at the little one with such intensity that it made her step back a little… though that was only for a moment as another sweet smile crossed the bluenette's face again.

"My apologies it seems I haven't really presented myself." she said kindly and sweetly as if sugar was a voice "My name is Ganyu… and as for who I am, well you could say I'm the one who raised this stubborn bird by your side."

Shenhe stared at her and then at him, then at her and her kind smile… then once again at him and his serious face.

She couldn't help but look at him in judgment.

He was raised by someone like that and he turned out this way… huh.

His eyebrow twitched as he noticed the meaning behind her stare.

Shenhe on the other hand simply glared harder.

"My, my…"

They stopped as a melodic happy laugh reached her ears...

"...I haven't seen you act this way in quite a while…" Ganyu teased warmly as she gazed at the duo in front of her "...Now that we know each other better why don't we talk for a bit, I know a tea house around here that's… good enough." she motioned for them to follow her and didn't wait for an answer simply walking away.

Shirou sighed but moved after her regardless, walking right beside the smaller woman as if a well-behaved child.

Shenhe on the other hand stood a bit behind as she watched the duo walk side by side for a bit. It was sort of weird to see him this way but she guessed that even his kind were kids at one point… he clearly deferred to her, not out of a power thing but more like he respected her choices and decisions.

Like a parent or something...

Weird but it did make him more human, thus easier to understand, something that had become more and more true as she had gotten to know him further.

Wait…

Her mind snapped back from her wandering thoughts.

...was that a cryo vision on her hip.

(Tea house)

...Too much sugar…

Shirou looked at the chocolate cookies with a critical eye, finding them wanting… the flavor of the chocolate was almost nonexistent in them, and badly backed as well, the outside being a bit burned. The tea was fine though, not amazing and he could probably do better back home but good enough.

Ganyu set down her warm tea on the wooden table with a content sigh feeling refreshed as she drank the warm beverage.

They had sat around for a while on a table near the entrance, not that this place had much in terms of space anyway. The girl guessed that's why called something cozy… she found it more restricting than anything.

Regardless though that wasn't really what was on her mind...

"How come you have a cryo vision?" Shenhe spoke up getting tired of the silence as the two adults seemed far more preoccupied with just sipping tea.

The bluenette looked at her surprised by her question "Oh?" she looked to her left at the trinket strapped to her side for a second before looking back at the curious young lady "Well… I got mine a long time ago little one."

The girl's head tilted slightly in confusion "But I thought you didn't really need one." Shenhe said as she looked at Shirou.

He shrugged "Just because I don't have one doesn't mean an adepti can't have it." he answered.

Ganyu simply giggled "This little thing helped me quite a bit, not really in terms of power though, or at least as you would understand it.." she said in a nostalgic tone a carefree smile blooming in her face "… it exists as proof of my direction in life and that I was needed."

Shenhe mulled over her words with a frown not finding them really all that helpful.

"She has one as well…" Shirou stated while drinking "She's having a bit of a difficult time using it though."

Her eyes widened in surprise "Oh my… so young too, well when I started using mine it was like another pair of hands was helping me through the motions and I just went with the flow… though from what I gathered that isn't really a common sentiment." Ganyu said as she moved her hands widely trying her best to explain her own experiences before shrugging "Don't worry too much about it though I'm sure it'll work soon enough for you too."

Shenhe sighed, always the same thing, always the same answer. Was she really just supposed to wait until something just clicked in her mind.

It was slightly maddening, they weren't even helpful, she wouldn't mind if she had to train for it but all they were saying was for her to simply wait... how the hell was that supposed to help.

Shenhe grumbled in her seat as she watched the amber-colored liquid with disdain.

She needed to take a breather.

"Hey, Shenhe." Shirou called out to her suddenly making her snap back in surprise as he waved a paper in front of her "You wouldn't mind running some errands for me would you?"

"I very much would…" she immediately said without thought.

"I'll let you buy whatever you want if you do."

She looked back at him with a raised eyebrow "You're bribing me now?"

He shrugged "If it makes you do what I say."

Shenhe gave him a nasty stare before relenting "Fiiiine…" she said as she grabbed it from his hand and swung out of her chair, leaving the small building without another word.

"Well, she's certainly… cute." Ganyu said carefully as she watched her go with an odd expression.

Shirou merely snorted "I'm sure you've noticed her problem."

The half qilin nodded "Are you sure you're doing this the right way." she tried to advise her hands carefully tracing the edge of her teapot "It might be best to leave her to… others."

He gulped down the warm liquid before setting it down with a sigh "I know what you're trying to say but I won't use the red rope that's…" Shirou shook his head and frowned looking away from the smaller woman who was now a bit worried "… as long as she's near me she'll be able to control herself."

"Will you force her to be near you forever then?" Ganyu admonished him with a glare, her voice rising in volume before settling down "Have you really thought things through?"

Shirou shrugged "She needed help…" he simply stated as if nothing else mattered.

"Some things never do change huh…" Ganyu sighed, a bit of tiredness leaking from her voice…

He looked at her apologetically but the smirk removed any seriousness from it.

"Though honestly, I might need some help with a few things."

"Oh?" Ganyu asked surprised by the admission, it wasn't often that he left things to others "What do you need."

The man rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly now seemingly embarrassed "Well… she might have potential with adepti arts but…"

"But you suck at it." Ganyu finished with a smile, trying her best to keep from giggling "Well, sorry to say but I'm far too busy for that, though I might be able to make cloud retainer do it."

Shirou groaned slinking down into his seat as if he were melting "Anyone but her please."

The bluenete chuckled and waved her finger around "Sorry I can't really think of anyone else."

The man sighed and shook his head "Fine, just tell her to keep the stories to a minimum."

Ganyu snorted in amusement "You might as well ask the ocean to dry." she said waving her hand around in dismissal "If I had been able to stop her I would've done so a long time ago, don't you think?"

They both laughed, the air around them feeling homely and light… the sound petered off after a while but the ambiance remained.

Nothing could last forever though...

"When did you get back?" Ganyu suddenly asked her eyes a bit downcast and sad "You didn't say anything…"

"Around two years ago…" Shirou sighed unable to look directly at her "I… I didn't really want to cause a problem."

He jumped in his seat as Ganyu smacked the table hard cracking it slightly as she stood up glaring down at him…

She was far smaller than he was nowadays but he couldn't help but feel like a kid again when she looked at him like that.

"Why are you always like this, you leave Liyue for hundreds of years and you say nothing…" she rattled off angrily her arms shaking "… Jingw…"

"Shirou."

He interrupted quietly his voice barely being heard but it was enough to stop her as she looked oddly at him.

"Shirou?" she asked breathlessly, the name passing through her lips like it was a curse, she sat back down soon after, her anger forgotten "You found something?"

Shirou looked at her sideways before shaking his head "Nothing big… just a name."

"I see." Ganyu gulped her face a mix of apprehension and sadness "That's… good."

"I didn't find anything." he derided grinding his fingers against his palm "Something is missing but I can't find it anywhere."

Ganyu leaned into him, putting her head into his shoulder while caressing his hand gently until he stopped hurting himself "One day I'm sure you'll find that hidden piece."

He simply stared at their interlocked fingers with an odd look not quite believing her.

"What are doing here anyway?" he asked softly.

She yawned before answering "They've been talking about rebuilding this settlement into something bigger, it's close enough to Sumeru to become a new trading hub…" she stated tiredly while stretching a bit, seems like it was close to nap time for her "… I volunteered."

Shirou scoffed bemusedly "Riiiight… when did you know I had returned to Liyue?"

She immediately sprang up with a worried expression "What... I didn…"

"There's only one thing that would make you leave that dreaded desk job." he interrupted her immediately with a smirk enjoying the embarrassed blush that was rising on her face "If you knew, why didn't you just visit me?"

"Well…" she fidgeted nervously in her chair for a bit, as she looked down at the floor with a bit of sadness "...I thought after that day you wouldn't want to see me again."

"You had nothing to do with that." he said gruffly his eyes darkening for a bit before he sighed "Besides if there's one person I wouldn't kick out… it's you."

Ganyu looked back at him with a sweet smile her eyes slightly misted with tears "I guess I was being a bit silly." she said while cleaning her eyes a bit.

"By the way… are you going to change the name of this place?"

"Nope, no can do buster."

She started laughing at his annoyed face, their earlier conversation completely forgotten as they fell into another comfortable silence… though some nervousness was still clear in the bluenette's eyes.

For someone who had lived for so long and gone through so much, she had rather easy tells… though perhaps it was just that he knew her a lot better than anyone.

Whatever it was that was on her mind she wasn't going to ask. It wasn't that she didn't really have the courage for it but more so that she didn't want to add weight to his plate with her problems.

She was honestly far too good for this world.

Though it wouldn't do to just leave things unsaid…

"Ganyu." he called her out as gently as he could, she could take much but he would never be able to live with himself if he hurt her further "Is there something you want to ask?"

Her frame shook at his words as she fidgeted in her seat… the fact that she couldn't look directly at him was telling.

After a while though she gathered her strength taking a deep breath her shoulders going up defensively.

"Well…" she started shakily her pointer fingers twirling around one another "...I was just wondering if you're sticking around this time…" she looked up at him with her big eyes a clear hope in them.

Aaaah…

of course.

"I…" now it was his turn for the words to fail him as he turned his body away "...I'll stick around until Shenhe is ready, I plan on having her go with me, It'll do her some good to see Teyvat… if she agrees of course."

"I… see." her voice was tiny and hopeless as if the world was crashing around her.

"I'll come back." he said immediately a lot louder than he intended "You know I always do… so stop worrying."

The woman smiled sadly at him to reassure him though it didn't quite reach.

"It's fine." she said with a bit of a hiccup, her voice tight with emotion "Just… remember that I'll be waiting alright?"

He nodded stiffly unable to verbally promise such a thing, the world was a big place and he had already walked through the gates of death before. He wasn't one to promise something he couldn't keep.

Ganyu caught that but didn't bother to force it out of him further… it didn't really seem like she had the energy to do so either as another big yawn erupted from her mouth, her eyes going half-lidded as she forcefully tried to keep them open but to no avail, as her head dropped and she curled slightly snoozing away.

Seems her internal clock was still working… or maybe she was overworked again.

He stared at her for a second eyes full of care "Nothing's really changed huh." he chuckled and took out his coat putting it on her instead before going back to finishing his forgotten tea… it had gotten cold by now but it wouldn't do to leave things half finished.

A waitress came around finally as she noticed the two had stopped their lunch.

"You don't happen to know where she lives do you?" he asked her as she grabbed the utensils and cleaned the table.

She looked at him for a second and then at the woman sleeping soundlessly at his side, she would have started questioning his motives if it weren't for her overhearing some parts of the conversation while she cleaned around.

"Miss Ganyu? I believe she's staying in the hotel near the market… It's the only one we have, you can't miss it." she said with a professional warmth.

He nodded gratefully at her and grabbed a few gold coins from his pouch paying for everything and leaving a tip to the helpful waitress who took it with a simple thank you and left the duo alone again.

"Now what am I going to do with you?" Shirou asked getting up from his chair chuckling as she murmured slightly in her sleep.

With care and gentleness, he grabbed taking her slowly from her sleep so as to not disturb her, taking her into his arms as if she was weightless.

He had to make sure she was safe after all...

… just as she had done countless times in the past.

(Shenhe)

"Thank you for your patronage." yelled out the kind old lady from behind the register.

Shenhe simply waved her hand not bothering to respond as she scanned the paper in her hands thoroughly.

Done and done… well unless she had missed something but if he was going to complain he might as well have done it himself. Not that she was very angry about that, at first she was a bit anxious about walking alone but that soon left her.

It was sort of a calming experience just working through a task all day and the bit of change in routine was welcoming on its own so, for now, she wouldn't complain about doing all the work especially since it seemed those two wanted to talk alone.

She wasn't totally useless about social cues and that adepti woman was clearly begging to catch up with him.

Shenhe harrumphed the sound coming from the back of her throat as she stood straighter…

Clearly, she was too good of a person.

"So you finished huh…" an annoying lazy person said from behind her "...sorry about leaving things to you this time Shenhe."

The girl simply turned around with a frown "Just don't do it again."

The man chuckled and put a finger above his left chest "Cross my heart…"

"I hope you die." Shenhe finished the saying dryly as she dropped some of the bags on his feet.

That made him laugh even harder, especially at the cute little glare thing she had going, she really thought she looked dangerous.

"Let's go home, shall we?" he asked her with a kind tone.

She put up her glare for a bit longer but gave up soon after… the day had been fine even a little fun but she was kinda tired and she felt like she made no progress the want for sleep was calling her out and they still had a bit of a walk.

"Seems you're still thinking about something…"

Shenhe sighed of course he could tell… "I'm still in the same place I was."

A breeze passed through the duo ruffling their clothes slightly. The sun was going down by now but the earth underneath them was oddly almost unnaturally warm to the touch…

"Have some patience." he said calmly his eyes set unto the horizon "I believe you can do it eventually."

She scoffed "Is that supposed to make me feel better."

Shirou sighed and ruffled her hair "Have some trust that I know what I'm talking about alright."

She slapped away his hand, at this point a trained movement, as she thought about her earlier conversation with the woman of blue and how she described the feeling of her vision. Shenhe dug deep into her side pocket grabbing the trinket looking deeply into the mirror seeing her reflection in the light blue.

"...the proof of her life.."

She murmured quietly to the wind…

Was there truly such a thing for one like her.


Hello gents It's been a bit... well i did plan to update in december but my pc went kappuff and those plans quickly ended but well at least I got it done i guess. Not really much to say hope ya'll had a good holiday season full of cheer and all that crap, mine was pretty good spent the week with some friends... it was normal but normal is good nowadays.

Anyway hope you guys enjoy the chapter and hope you like Ganyu... I know a bit different but that's just how it's going to work a character like shirou being in their lives tends to change a few things this is what i meant when i said i wasn't going to change much lorewise but more so character wise, I hope it makes sense given the context though I'm not trying to change stuff for changing stuff's sake.

Also i know jingwei is mostly a girl's name i just think it fit okay...

Thanks to Ivan Tridelan for all the help.