Chapter 2

Aether, the blonde traveler, was slamming his fist against the door, much to the disapproval of onlookers, while his floating fairy, Paimon, was floating close to him, trying to peek through the second-floor window.

What was she supposed to do now? She didn't know why they were here or what to say to them. Worst of all, a crowd was beginning to gather as Aether was about to break down the door with his fist. And Furina realized, horrified, that some people from the crowd were starting to stare at her. Quickly, she realized she had to accept the lesser of two evils: she had to talk to Aether and Paimon; otherwise, she would have to face the crowd. So, she slowly approached them.

"Are we at the wrong address, Aether? She doesn't seem to be here at all," Paimon asked, confused.

"She's here; she just doesn't want to talk to us for some reason."

"Why don't we just call her name really loudly, then she'll know it's us, right?"

"No, Paimon, I told you already; we don't want to draw attention to the fact that she lives here."

"Well, you say that, but look at the crowd you've gathered by banging on the door so much," said Paimon as she turned around. "Oh, Traveler, there she is!"

"What are you two doing!?" asked Furina, terrified. "Look at how many people are watching!"

"We just wanted to..."

"Quickly, get inside, please!"

Furina quickly opened the door, and without looking at the crowd, she let Aether and Paimon in and slammed it shut.

"Oh no, I hope no one recognized me..."

"DO YOU SEE, AETHER? I TOLD YOU SHE JUST WASN'T HOME! And you just slammed the door for 20 minutes straight!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Calm down."

Furina turned to her unexpected guests:

"And what are you doing here, actually?"

"We wanted to see you, Furina, to check how you are doing," calmly explained Aether.

"You... wanted to see me?" asked Furina, somewhat flustered. "And how exactly did that involve breaking down the door, if I may ask?"

"Because we already came here!" said Paimon. "Several times in the last few days! And you never answered the door. Navia and Clorinde also said they came a bunch of times, sometimes knocking for minutes, but you still never opened. Paimon wanted to yell, "Furiinaaa, are you heeree?", but Aether said we shouldn't yell your name like that. And today, Aether was determined to knock for as looong as it took until you opened the door."

"Look, Furina," said Aether. "You departed so quickly after the whole mess that we didn't get the chance to talk. Then we thought that you needed a few days to yourself just to process everything that happened. Neuvillette told us not to push you, but after a week we started getting worried and at least wanted to make sure you were doing alright. But you never answered the door, and we couldn't even see you through the window. So, I decided that today we would stay at the door until you opened it, even if it took the entire day."

"You were prepared to wait for that long... for me?"

"Aether even threatened Paimon that he would stay the night and sleep on the street if he had to. And Paimon believes him; he did crazy things like that in the past," said Paimon begrudgingly.

"Oh... well... I'm sorry, I just... I didn't know who it was, and I was worried... but anyway, what was it so important that you wanted to see me about?"

Aether and Paimon looked at each other. They seemed nervous. Did they not know what to say, or maybe how to say it? Furina thought it must be important if they were willing to go to such lengths to talk to her. Was it some trouble? If Navia and Clorine were involved, maybe it had something to do with Poisson? Maybe the people there hated Furina so much they wanted to put her on trial again?

"Wellll... how should we say this... Paimon thinks Paimon will let the Traveler do the talking this time, ehehe," nervously laughed Paimon.

Aether seemed pensive, like he was trying to think of the best way to say something that was difficult to express in words. In truth, he couldn't figure out a way to say it that didn't sound cheesy or clichéd.

"Paimon, could you go and buy the cake that Neuvillette said was her favorite?"

"Yes, good idea, Aether, right away!" Paimon seemed happy to escape the scene.

"Is it some kind of big problem?" couldn't help but ask Furina.

"No, no, don't worry; it's nothing like that. It is... something that we should say to you. Two things, actually. The first one is, I am sorry."

"Sorry? For what?"

"For the way we treated you before we knew the truth. I am so, so sorry. We all are. So, so sorry."

Furina didn't know how to react. She just stood there silently, trying to understand.

"You see," continued Aether. "We believed that you knew some truth that could save Fontaine, that you didn't want to share with us for some reason... which in a sense was correct after all, but we didn't know how things would turn out. Please believe me, we were only acting with everyone's best interest at heart."

"Yes, I know that. I know. There's really no need to be sorry. I mean, thanks for saying it, but there really is no need to apologize. In fact, I should even thank you for doing so much for Fontaine. Even though you have no connection to it, you still wanted to help. Even going as far as to possibly challenge an Archon."

"Still, we hurt you so much. You were completely devastated once the trial was over. Even though I wasn't sure what to think of you back then, I still felt sorry for you."

"I appreciate you saying this, but really, there's no need to apologize. And what's the second thing?"

Aether paused. He then came very close to her. Even closer than that time in Poisson.

"Thank you, Furina. For everything you've done. From all of us and from the entire nation of Fontaine. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must have been for you. You are without doubt the kindest, strongest, bravest, nicest, and most selfless person I have ever met in my entire life. What you did rivals and even surpasses many of the Archons' most amazing feats. For me, you will always be the true Hydro Archon because you've carried the entire weight of Fontaine on your shoulders. You never once wavered and took the entire burden upon yourself while still caring for your people. You saved Fontaine just as much as Neuvillette and Focalors, and much more than I or the others did. All while your suffering must have been... simply unimaginable. You deserve nothing but love, affection, and happiness in life. I cannot even begin to fathom what you must have endured. To me, you are truly divine. Words are not enough to express the amount of love, respect, and gratitude I have for you. Thank you so, so much. Truly. For everything."

Furina was not expecting this. She couldn't move, speak, or do anything. She just stared at Aether. She looked directly into his eyes and saw that he meant every word he said. He was even tearing up a bit. Only now did she notice that tears were running down her face uncontrollably. Aether came one step closer, hugged her, and pressed her tightly. She felt his body against hers and his hands on her back, and she hugged him back. She rested her head on his shoulder, unable to stop the tears, and could only utter one thing: "Don't let go."

"I won't," he said softly into her ear.

And he did not.

She didn't know how much time had passed like this—maybe hours. She could no longer cry. Her tears had dried up. Aether was still pressing her tightly with one hand and patting her head with the other. She took a deep breath and finally let go.

"You have no idea how much this means to me. I... I..."

"You don't have to say anything," said Aether, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I understand."

Only now did Furina notice that her face was completely dirty from the tear stains. She also noticed something else: Paimon had returned and had placed a huge cake, her favorite one, on the table.

"Ah, Paimon, thank you so much!"

"Of course, anything for you, Furina," smiled Paimon. "You'll share it with us, right?"

"Oh, Paimon, you can't just..." sighed Aether.

"Ahahaha, no, I'd love to share it with you! Come, take a slice, and you'll understand just how exquisite my taste in cakes is!"

After finishing a delicious slice of cake, Aether said they had some commissions to attend to, so they needed to go. At the door, Aether gave her a hug again. Furina hesitated for a second, then asked, "Aether... uhm... if you have time tomorrow... could you maybe... come by again?"

"Of course!" he smiled. "We'll drop by in the afternoon."

Furina hopped all the way to her bedroom and went to bed. She turned to the side and smiled. A single tear ran down her face, but that wasn't out of sadness. She could not remember the last time that happened (years... decades?), but she knew that she would fall asleep happy.