Chapter XI

Neja: Thank you so much! I'm glad you think so and that you took the time to read this!

I don't own Genshin Impact.

Kaeya looked around and when he didn't see a living hilichurl in sight, he put away his sword, feeling quite satisfied that he and Diluc got them all. Then he saw a dandelion and without much thought, he plucked it out of the ground with a small smile.

About a week and a half had passed since Diluc's birthday and a lot of things have happened, though at the same time, not a lot has happened. When Kaeya and Diluc stopped crying and hugging each other, Diluc promptly freaked out when he finally noticed the blood on Kaeya's back. Luckily, before he could accuse Kaeya of lying or downplaying his injuries (which he actually didn't, Kaeya just didn't get to finish his sentence), Jean appeared. She quickly healed the worst of the cuts on Kaeya's back and assured Diluc that Kaeya wasn't in any danger of dying.

This did calm Diluc down though he absolutely refused to leave Kaeya's side when more knights arrived and Kaeya eventually got taken back to the cathedral. Not that anyone even dared to try to split the brothers apart. Even Barbara didn't voice any objections despite Diluc hovering over her shoulder while she healed Kaeya.

While Barbara stated that Kaeya's lacerations wouldn't scar and that he would make a full recovery shortly, she did unsurprisingly lengthen his required bed rest from a couple of days to a whole week. If Kaeya thought that this was a tad excessive, he wisely kept his mouth shut. Barbara didn't say anything about it but Kaeya could tell that he had scared her. He knew he definitely scared Rosaria, who despite Barbara's chastising (and Diluc's disapproval), silently walked into his room and slapped him upside the head before going back to her room to recover.

Needless to say, Kaeya had been relieved to see that she was going to be just fine.

"Are you gonna wish for something?" Kaeya looked up to Diluc staring down at him, his arms folded but with a small smile as well.

When Kaeya woke up the morning after that very eventful night, he had, for a brief moment, been afraid that it had all been a dream. That Diluc hadn't saved him with both terror and rage in his voice, that he hadn't hugged him, that he hadn't wanted Kaeya as a brother again. But then he found Diluc by his bedside, sleeping sitting up with his chin all the way down to his chest. Kaeya's fear quickly went away and he let himself delight in the warm feeling that had coursed throughout his chest.

Because Kaeya had been wrong. Diluc still loved him. He had been angry at Kaeya, yes, but he had never once hated him.

And as if to prove Kaeya wrong further, immediately after Diluc woke up, he asked Barbara if Kaeya could finish recovering at the Dawn Winery. Which, after some consideration, she accepted.

"Hmm…" Kaeya said, twirling the dandelion as he pondered. Did he have anything else to wish for?

Then he recalled the conservation he had Jean a couple of days ago.

"Yes," Kaeya continued before he blew on the dandelion, causing the fluffy seeds to float into the air, each seed going in a different direction.

"...So...what did you wish for?" Diluc asked with a raised eyebrow as Kaeya threw away the empty stem.

"Oh Diluc, you know I can't tell you," Kaeya said slyly. "Or it might not come true."

Diluc opened his mouth as if to protest but then seemed to think better of it because he shook his head with a sigh.

"Fine, keep your secrets," Diluc said as he started to walk off. Before Kaeya could wonder if he somehow made his brother mad again or if his brother was just nervous about accidentally driving Kaeya away, Diluc continued. "I guess I'll just withhold your evening wine."

"Hey!" Kaeya protested as he followed Diluc, even though he knew that Diluc's threat was an empty one. "That is uncalled for!"

Diluc merely chuckled, a sound as beautiful as one of Venti's many melodies. While this wasn't the first time Diluc had laughed in the last several days, the sound still made Kaeya beam with happiness.

Not only had he made his brother laugh, but that laugh also meant that Diluc was finally healing too.

"Well, you are technically still recovering," Diluc said when Kaeya caught up with him. "That's why Jean won't let you go back to work yet, right?"

Right, that was the story he told Diluc.

"Technically," Kaeya said as he clasped his hands behind his back. "Though she did let slip about those hilichurl camps."

A few days ago, when Kaeya's required bed rest was scheduled to be over, Jean and Barbara came to the Dawn Winery. When Barbara happily gave Kaeya a clean bill of health, Kaeya had expected Jean to want him to go back to his duties the next day. Mondstadt needed its Calvary Captain after all, and Jean, Lisa, or whoever couldn't cover for him forever. However, after she privately pulled him aside, Jean suggested that he should stay at the Dawn Winery with his brother just to make sure he didn't suffer a relapse. While she didn't say it, Kaeya knew his best friend well enough to know that she was reluctant to cut his and Diluc's bonding time short after so many years apart.

Luckily, this worked out well for Kaeya and after some discussion with Jean, she happily agreed to Kaeya's plan and scheduled him to come to work later in the week, tomorrow in fact.

"If that slip was on purpose, the knights really have grown more inefficient if they couldn't take care of those small camps," Diluc grumbled with a deep scowl. Kaeya's smile disappeared at his brother's small sign of anger and resentment but he had nothing to say to that. He couldn't even blame Diluc.

If a knight had told him that Diluc had died and he only found out hours later by chance through two civilians that he hadn't died after all, Kaeya would be upset too. With that said, Kaeya couldn't really fault Adler and Fynn. His Vision did go completely gray and empty and the lightning stopped his heart. By all accounts, Kaeya really had died. Adler, being Kaeya's second-in-command, had every right to declare Kaeya dead and to send Fynn off to warn Jean. And Fynn, while he really should have gone straight to Jean, wasn't exactly wrong either in telling his closest family member first. Or at least, Fynn's decision was understandable.

Not understandable enough to be spared a lecture and a harsh scolding from Jean though, as Rosaria told him later (and yes, she had been about to tell him that Diluc thought he was dead before Jurian broke into the cathedral). That was right after she sent a couple of knights to the Dawn Winery to clear up the misunderstanding of course (according to Adelinde, the knights arrived shortly after Diluc jumped out the window). And if Kaeya knew Jean, she would make sure that mistake would never happen again.

Diluc knew that too, but that knowledge wouldn't be quite enough to erase the memory of hours full of unneeded heartbreak.

"Now, now, all's well that ends well," Kaeya said as he patted Diluc on the back. "What do you think Addie is going to make for lunch?"

Kaeya actually knew full well what lunch was going to be, but the abrupt change in subject caused the anger to leave Diluc's eyes.

"Hmm...sandwiches maybe?"

"Good guess," Kaeya nodded as he hid his smirk while they started to ascend a hill. "Though we have been taking care of hilichurl camps all morning, my guess is perhaps steak and potatoes? Maybe even a honey roast?"

"I can see steak and potatoes but the honey roast is more a dinner meal than a lunch one," Diluc said. Then he pulled down his new gloves, which thankfully were not ruined by Kaeya's blood. "Do you want honey roast for dinner? I'm sure Addie would be happy to make you one."

Diluc had done this a lot in the last few days, doing everything he could to make sure Kaeya was comfortable and happy, like getting an extra blanket for him in the middle of the night or making sure Kaeya had plenty of books to read in bed. Not that Kaeya was at risk of being bored during bed rest, since Diluc only left Kaeya's side when he absolutely had to. He even brought his paperwork to do in Kaeya's room.

Kaeya knew that this was partly due to Diluc trying to make it up to him after everything that had happened. He had thought about telling his brother that he didn't have to be guilty anymore but then Kaeya got an idea. An idea that allowed Kaeya to help make it up to Diluc too.

And an action that spoke louder than any words Kaeya could muster up.

"Maybe, in any case, we're here," Kaeya said as they came to the top of the hill, giving them a clear and beautiful view of the Dawn Winery.

Their home.

Diluc nodded before they descended the hill. The rest of the way home was filled with both comfortable silence and easy, mild-mannered chatter. Though Kaeya had to work to keep his building excitement under wraps. Luckily, if Diluc suspected anything, he didn't voice his suspicions.

Then they came to the door.

"Adelinde, we're ho-" Diluc started to say as he opened the front door.

"Surprise!" Thanks to being at Diluc's side, Kaeya had a marvelous view of his brother's face and how his eyes grew as wide as saucers while their guests stood there with beaming smiles in front of a table full of food, like steak, potatoes, sandwiches, grape juice, and honey roast.

"W-What is this?" Diluc managed to ask softly, obviously still in shock.

"A birthday party, silly," Lisa said with a wave of her hand, which brought Diluc's attention to the banner with the words, 'Happy Birthday' somewhat sloppily written.

"Klee, Diona, and Razor made that," Klee said proudly as she pointed at the banner, while Diona nodded in satisfaction.

"Happy birthday," Razor said as he threw a small bundle of confetti into the air.

"But my birthday already-."

"Happened, we know, but it got ruined thanks to the stupid Abyss Order and that awful Jurian," Diona explained. "So we're celebrating it now!"

"It was all Kaeya's idea," Jean said. At this, Diluc turned his head to Kaeya.

"Kaeya?" Kaeya's grin was as wide as it could be. During one of the few moments where Diluc wasn't at his side, Kaeya's mind drifted to the fact that while he hadn't died, he had still (albeit, not intentionally) ended up attaching another dark memory to Diluc's birthday. If the likelihood of Diluc ever happily celebrating April 30th wasn't nonexistent before, it definitely was now.

So the simple solution was to just move it to today, May 9th. He shared his plan with Jean, who quickly told him about the hilichurl camps as a way to distract Diluc so they have the morning to set everything up. Lisa helped Adelinde with some of the food and decorations and Jean set Eula in charge of the knights so she and Lisa could both attend the party (which Eula readily agreed to, since she felt somewhat guilty for not finding Jurian in time). The kids, who had been visiting Kaeya frequently over the last several days and are now close to Diluc too (Diona's lingering animosity towards Diluc died when she found out that Diluc only took over the Dawn Winery because their father died), happily requested to do the banner.

Looked like everyone came through and everything looked perfect. Granted, he didn't see Venti and Rosaria, but knowing them, they probably found a way to sneak into the wine cellar. That or they got caught and were getting lectured by Adelinde since he didn't see her either. Both were very plausible.

"Well Diluc, are you aware that there are people born doing holidays and festivals like Windblume?" asked Kaeya as he leaned his elbow on Diluc's shoulder.

"Uh, sure, but what-"

"Well, you see, some of them, to avoid their birthdays getting lost and forgotten in all the festivities, just simply celebrate the day of their birth either before the holiday or some time after it. So I figured since your birthday was so maliciously ruined, why not celebrate today?"

Diluc just silently stared at him, and Kaeya honestly wasn't sure what to make of his expression. Maybe Diluc didn't know what to make of his feelings either. Then, before Kaeya could start to worry that he made a mistake (even though he kept the party small and only with people that Diluc either liked or respected), a shuffle of movement caught his eye. Kaeya turned his head just in time to see Adelinde, Venti, and Rosaria walk into the room, the former composed and the latter two unashamed. Venti, once he saw the brothers, gave him a smile that surprisingly wasn't mischievous but instead warm, like he was happy for the brothers.

Then Diluc grabbed the arm that wasn't on his shoulder and pulled Kaeya close.

"Thanks, Kaeya," Diluc said into Kaeya's shoulder, hugging just as tightly as he did about a week and a half ago. "Thank you."

Kaeya smiled as he returned Diluc's hug, joyfully basking in love and contentment.

"You're welcome."

And that's a wrap! I hope this final chapter was everything you guys wanted it to be. Thank you for being patient, for reading my story, and for the lovely comments. I can't believe it's over, but I am quite satisfied with how this turned out. I just hope you guys are too.

Au revoir.