"Still, mind yourself when you face the Shogun. I still get goosebumps just thinking about her drawing that blade..."

"…"

"Again, we'll just have to trust Guuji Yae. She is close to the Shogun, so maybe she will have a way..."

"…"

"Let's pack up our things and get ready to head to the Grand Narukami Shrine."

"…"

Their words had become a discombobulated mix of nothing within his distracted mind.

Though the thought of progressing towards their goal should be an uplifting notion for his heart, it had yet to move on from what it had lost.

While the three had been chatting away, his body had subconsciously retreated itself into the doorway. Finding support on the doorframe, when a returning weight pulled his equilibrium to the side.

He wanted to rejoice at the progress they had made.

He had wanted to immediately to head back to the shrine and keep their momentum going.

But there is only so much running that he can do, before the dark clouds finally caught up to his evading emotions.

"Traveler… are you alright?"

Turning towards the voice, he saw Ayaka sticking her head out of the room. A look of concern evidently plastered on her face.

He didn't want to cause any of them any more worries.

"I'm fine." A quaint reply as he shoved himself back to his feet, his mouth curving a deceptive smile, "Ayaka, can I leave Paimon here for a bit? I'm gonna go get a bit of fresh air."

It hadn't sounded like a request by any means, but Aether couldn't find it in himself to care.

"O-Oh, of course…" She replied, before hesitantly adding, "You have somewhere in mind?"

Aether mutely pondered.

"Not at the moment." He had answered truthfully, but forced another smile, "I'll just find someplace that's quiet. That should do the trick."

"Alright then." Ayaka nodded in reply, flashing a smile of her own, "Be careful out there. We'll wait for you to return."

Of course, he hadn't missed the glances of concern that she couldn't hide under her professional guise.

"I will." Heading towards the Teahouse entrance, he gave her a small wave, "I'll see you later."

The doors closed as fast as they had been opened. He hadn't wanted to give her any chance of persuading him to stay.

Ayaka could only watch longingly, before turning her attention back to Paimon. The little fairy noticing the downtrodden expression on her face.

"I hope that he'll be okay." Ayaka admonished, "It looks like he has a lot of things on his mind right now."

"Paimon can only hope as well." She lamented, recalling the events of the day, "Paimon thinks what happened to Teppei must have hit Aether pretty hard."

From what Ayaka could tell, the blonde man rarely gave his full opinion on the matters that he had involved himself in. He wouldn't deceive them in any way, but he wouldn't exactly be an open book to them in the first place.

Which makes thinking about what to lift his spirits up with, be a lot harder.

"I wonder if there's anything we can do to cheer him up…"

"Ugh, even Paimon doesn't really know what to do." The fairy flailed about. Frustrated at the fact that she didn't know what to do for her companion, even when they've spent so much time together.

She could really only wish for a guide of her own, and there's only one person that her mind can think of when it came close to understanding what the stoic blonde could be in need of.

"If only Lady Keqing was here…" She said as she laid her head on the table, "Paimon's willing to bet that she would know what to do."

Aether, on the other hand, couldn't keep his mind straight.

He had to find a place to recuperate, and fast. Lounging around in the open would only risk capture via the doushins.

Qingyun Peak had been the first location to pop into his mind, but with the disruptions to the outer teleport waypoints, he had to quickly dismiss that idea from his train of thoughts.

Anywhere in Narukami Island would mean that he couldn't afford to fully let his guard down, as the Shogun's military forces have branches spread across the mainland. As is the case with Kannazuka and Yashiori Island.

And in Watatsumi's case…

It would've defeated the whole purpose of his efforts of running away.

Dragging his thoughts away from that topic, he decided to form a compromise with himself.

In a split second, he had found himself in the shores by Byakko Plain. His legs immediately making its way towards Amakane Island. Where, as he had thought it to be, would be empty in the middle of the night, as all vendors and doushins had packed it up for the day.

But instead of picking the spot where he had watched the fireworks with Yoimiya, he found himself sitting at the edges of the sister island, the one that had overlooked the ocean expanse that separates Inazuma and Liyue.

And as he let his body recklessly slam itself onto a nearby group of works, his bones complaining at the uncomfortable pressure, his sigh brought about all of the thoughts that his mind had been hounding him with, for the entirety of the sun's time.

For the first time in this part of his journey, he was painfully reminded of just how much losing someone can really be.

Especially someone who's just had their whole aspiration, grasped from their awaiting arms in the blink of an eye.

Teppei…

The rage that had come from the actions of the Fatui had melted away from within him. That unsavoury encounter with the sixth Harbinger was enough to beat his senses back to a more neutral state.

A miniscule part of him had been tempted with the thoughts of thanking the slimy little bastard. Taking that steam off of his wild swordsmanship might have saved him from one or two reckless injuries.

Yet, he couldn't help but feel his blood boil once more, when he remembers that the little douchebag had most likely been the one behind the smuggling of Delusions in the first place.

Which makes him directly responsible for what had happened to his fallen friend.

With the anger out of his system however, all that's left is a gaping void within his heart. Leaking vestiges of regret and sorrow, seeping into the recesses of his emotions.

And again, it hard hurt.

Badly.

His mind began to search around for a distraction. Anything that would pull him away from the weight that made gravity feel ten times heavier than it usually is.

There was nothing.

He couldn't get the images out of his head.

How the man had became livelier the more he was able to provide more contribution to the cause that he had so ardently believed in. How proud his eyes had been the more he moved up in the ranks of their resistance.

Aether scoffed at himself.

Scolding his thoughts at the notion that he should've pressed on when they noticed that he hadn't look to be in good shape.

The sudden improvement in achievements, the way he always sounded as if the wind had just been knocked out of his lungs every instance where they came across him, the series of coughs he would always attempt to repress. How his words filled with hope suddenly felt more like an empty promise.

They should've known.

He should've known.

The one time he decided to turn a blind eye, it had proven to be fatal.

Can he really blame himself? He doesn't know the answer to that per se. But, would such a question prevent him from doing so all the same? Most definitely not. A tendency that Lumine had never liked from him. A tendency that he had tried to get rid of, only to come running back to it when such a situation presented itself on a silver plate.

His conscience just wouldn't allow him to let it be.

Not when there was something that he could've done about it.

Again, he turned his thoughts away. This time, looking for anything around him that could give him any hope of moving away from the images in his head.

Anything.

The ocean, the sky, the ground, and the winds that have gone by.

It gave him nothing.

He laid flat on the rugged rocks of the beachside.

Closing his eyes, he just wanted to see the darkness.

Until a tiny spark flickered at the edge of his vision.

He turned towards the source of it, located just at the entrance to the marketplace.

It was a flickering lantern.

The sight of it prodded at his mind. As if trying to reach out to him in a way that he couldn't quite place.

Then it hit him.

The lantern.

His thoughts gathered itself, and swiftly materialized the item in question.

The golden glimmer of its edges formed the glistening silken cloth it had been wrapped with. The electro crystal within crackling with excitement, ready to be recharged as it was finally called upon.

Using his newfound power of electro, he gave the crystal a light jolt. Static electricity culminated for a split second, before the crystal finally flared up from within.

The beautiful violet that it shone, greatly amplified by the lantern itself.

It was as if it had turned into a beacon on his hand. A beacon that gave him that little bit of brightness he had sorely needed.

He raised the lantern to level of his eyes, and suddenly, everything around him seemed to glow a bit brighter. Things that had been enveloped by the darkness of his surroundings, and the darkness of his mind, began to come into view.

A group of shirakodais idly playing amongst each other just a few meters away from him. The stars that had watched over him now showing itself as the sky became a blanket of silhouettes. Inazuma City now shining in the distance as their yellow night lights blended onto the nature's canvas, unintrusive even with its stature.

He couldn't help but to allow himself a tiny fit of laughter.

Laughter that brought about a sense of reprieve.

"It really isn't just any old lantern, huh…" He muttered with amusement, his thoughts finally wandering away from the shadow of the pit it was muddling itself into. "You gave me a way once more…"

As far as distractions goes, it certainly did an incredibly good job.

Gone were the images of someone who he can no longer do anything for, and in comes the paintings of hope that he hadn't known to have had in his mind.

That time in Qingyun Peak. The fun they had during Lantern Rite. How she had given him a new home in the midst of all the uncertainty that he had in his journey. How beautifully she had glowed when she presented him with a yet another guide out of the dark tunnel.

"It might look like any old ordinary lantern…"

"For those tough times, when you need that little bit of light in your life."

It felt foreign, it felt unfamiliar. Yet, it had all felt as if it had been with him for a long time.

It had felt so right.

His heart didn't even bat an eye at the fact it had been so full of her.

Naturally, he wanted to stay at such a place within his soul.

Unwilling to dwell on that rocky surface any longer, he summoned his serenitea pot, and promptly made his way in. Finding himself standing in the unchanging bedroom of his estate.

He'd wanted to head out and take in the realm's serene surroundings, but a sudden thump from the neighbouring room brought his footsteps to a halt.

A sound that could really only mean one thing.

She's… here?

Frowning, he looked at the time. His suspicions confirmed as the clock hands pretty much told him that it was almost midnight on the dot.

Don't tell me she's already back to working herself to the bone again.

Making his way out of the room, he walked up to her door. A hand raised at the ready to knock. He paused for a moment, before rapping a soft series of hits on the wooden panel.

No reply.

In any other state of mind, he would've given a bit more thought to the situation in hand. But he wasn't in the mood to be wracking his brain through a variety of scenarios that would only lead him to doing what he had been repeating through for the better part of the day.

Gingerly, he pushed the door handle. The gentle click of the latch signalling to him to push it open.

He peeked inside, hesitantly calling out her name.

"Keqing, is everything okay?"

His eyes then fell onto a sight that he could only initially describe as… interesting.

In all honesty, he didn't really know how he was supposed to react to the scene in front of him. He knew that it wasn't completely out of the realms of possibility, he just didn't expect this particular thing to happen in this specific setting, this early on from its establishment.

With her head resting on her arms, laid a sleeping Keqing. Lightly snoring atop of what he could only assume to be the culprit to her slumber, which unsurprisingly, were what he assumed, to be the paperwork that he had always warned her to not spend her late nights on.

The stack of books sprawling on the ground beside her desk gave him enough of an understanding of what the sound had been.

She must've knocked it over in her sleep.

Keeping his footsteps light, he nimbly grabbed the books off of the floor. Taking a quick look at its labels to place them back to their proper places on the bookshelf. He'll be damned if he were to go against her organizational skills and simply placed them back with no attention to its respective locations.

Satisfied with the placement of the books, he turned his attention towards the sleeping beauty laying soundly amongst the myriad of items atop her desk.

A breath that had varying layers of frustration and fondness escaped his lips, all while his hands rested on his hips.

He leant on the desk space by her side. His hands immediately prodding at her shoulders, trying to see if she was merely half-asleep. Only to throw that idea out of the window as she simply mumbled incoherent gibberish, and scowled at the intrusion while remaining in her slumber.

"Huh, you're out cold alright." He remarked, placing his hand atop her forearm. "What did I say about pulling all-nighters like this, Keqing."

At first, he had only heard light snoring as a reply.

But the moment he shifted his touch, she pounced on his retracting hand. Pulling him down along with the motion, effectively trapping it under the warm pads of her cheek. She gave it a quick nuzzle, making sure that the sudden source of comfort is securely wrapped under her unwavering arms.

Her peaceful, incredibly endearing expression made Aether swore that his heart was about to nose dive out of his ribcage.

He quickly clasped his mouth with his free hand, realizing the squeak that was threatening to leak through as he took in sight of her essentially bear-hugging his hand. The heat on his face unmistakable to his own touch.

Shit, shit, shit… that was unfairly adorable!

Peeking back at the scene of the crime, his vision ended up noticing something other than the incredibly disarming face that he obviously didn't want to look at any further, which ended up being the paper that she laid atop of.

Scribbled neatly at the top of the parchment, had been words that he didn't expect to be reading out of her paperwork.

"Dear Aether…"

It wasn't paperwork after all.

She had been writing a letter… to him.

Is it rude to read someone's unfinished letter, even if you are the intended recipient?

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

If there ever was a time to be using philosophy as an excuse, he'd gladly use it for this exact moment.

Carefully nudging the paper from under her arm, he successfully wiggled it out of her grasp while making sure that he does not interrupt her slumber.

The paper itself had been warm. A sign that she might have been lying on her desk for a period that does not suit his own preference, nor her back's if he were to be frank about it. That position certainly hadn't looked all too comfortable to stay in. Much like the way he had laid on the rocky edges of the beach.

Putting that thought aside, he cleared his throat. He had almost began reading out loud before another set of mumbles reminded him of the daydreamer who's keeping one of his hands captive, and thus, guiding him down the safe path of simply reading the letter in his mind.

"Dear Aether…

Thank you for the letters. Though it hadn't exactly done a great job of letting me know that you are okay, I can certainly tell you that there won't be any need for me to revise them.

To be honest, I couldn't think of anything to write back as a reply to them. As busy as it is, the life of a Yuheng probably isn't all that charming to an adventurer of your calibre.

Which kind of puts me on a dead end.

If anything, it had been a good distraction from work. My recent nights have been spent just trying to get something going. I don't think I've ever thrown this much paper away without writing anything remotely usable."

Intrigued by her confession. Aether took a peek at the waste bin at the other side of her table, and sure enough, it was stack to the brim with crumpled papers of what he can only assume are all her failed attempt.

He chuckled. His thumb began to run itself on the surface of her cheek, as his entrapped hand shifted to a more comfortable position.

His eyes traced back to where he had been on the letter.

"But I wanted to, at the very least, give you one reply from the couple that you've sent me. That being said, I can really only write whatever it is that had crossed my mind.

So here goes…

Life in Liyue had pretty much been the same. Though members of the Adventurer's Guild looked a bit on the busy side, seeing as one of their top members suddenly became unavailable to take on the more unique commissions.

We, the Qixings, have gotten a lot more divisions being made under our new structure. Both Ningguang and I think that an improvement of our delegation process, would help future tasks be done in a more effective manner.

Of course, this also meant that you won't be needed to remind me when I relapsed of my old habits.

You can trust that I've been getting much better sleep these days."

"Yeah, right." Aether commented, "As if you're comfortably sleeping on a proper bed right now."

But seeing as she had done it for his sake, he decided that he'd let her off the hook this time.

"However, even with the same hustle and bustle, there's just something that seemed to be missing from our Harbour.

Some merchants had wondered where you had gone.

The kids who often played by the port really misses their blonde friend who often plays pirates with them.

Granny Ruoxin had also asked me about your whereabouts when I paid Qingce Village a quick visit.

You've really have been all around Liyue, haven't you?

Even the millelith realized that you've solved a great deal of trouble that would've required their services. And they're starting to feel the brunt of your absence.

It is their job however, so I wouldn't give too much thought to that complaint.

Your friends have also missed you.

Ningguang and Ganyu wishes for your safety. Seeing as Inazuma had been quite treacherous for outsiders.

I met Master Xingqiu on a trade discussion a few days back. He's quite excited to show you his new book should the time comes for you to return.

Chef Mao and Xiangling wondered if you were going to bring some Inazuman recipe for them to get their hands on.

And for some reason, I've been bumping into Mr. Zhongli quite often. He seems to enjoying a lot of leisure time all over Liyue.

Did he get fired from his job?

Maybe I should ask Director Hu, if we get the chance to meet anytime soon that is."

Reading the bit about that Archon's human persona, he couldn't but smile gratefully. The last second request he had made to the old geezer hadn't turned out to be wasteful after all.

"A contract is a contract, huh, Zhongli?"

"In any case, that's about as much I can write without rambling excessively.

As for me, there isn't much to say, really.

I miss you.

Huh…

It's much easier to write it down than it is to say out loud.

I miss our talks. Short or long, there's always something to take away from our conversations.

I miss your poor, yet successful attempts at distracting me from work.

I miss you, right there beside me.

Your presence never fails to calm my heart.

In any case…

I hope things in Inazuma are going well, thought judging by your letters, you've got your work cut out for you.

Of course, as always, if you need my help, simply leave a note and I'll do my very best to be there for you.

Oh, and do visit Tubby more often, or at least, give her some friends. She might not say it, but she's probably feeling a tiny bit lonely with no one to regularly interact with. Seeing as apart from my working self, no one really visits this teapot that often.

That's all I've got for this one.

Be safe out there, okay?

I worry for you all the same.

Sincerely,

-K."

Deep within him, butterflies began fluttering about in his stomach. A funny sensation that had almost made him act like a kid who was just promised a candy bar. If he could let his emotions fully take over his body, it certainly would be an interesting sight.

"A-Aether…"

A soft whisper brought his eyes back to her, thinking that he had woken her up by simply being way too chaotic internally.

Only to find that she was still sound asleep, only deepening the hold on his hand as she nuzzled on it once more.

"Warm…"

His heart swelled at the whispers of her words.

Smiling with pure content, he began caressing her hair. Moving away the few strands that had strayed the back of her ears. His finger running in a line down her cheek as a loose smile of her own rose to her features.

"That's my line, sleepyhead." He whispered back to her, hands back to feeling the smooth tangles of her lilac hair, "That's what's been saving me, all this time."

Just like the warmth that she is providing through the virtues of her body's consciousness, she once again gave him the ground that he needed to stand on. Even when she's at her most vulnerable, she still manages to find a way to look after him. To lift him up when the world beats him down.

"It's the warmth you hold, that's always there for me."

Leaning down, he closed the distance between his features and her figure. The scent of her hair gently tickling his nose, wafting through the recesses of his senses.

His inner being wishes for time to keep their distance as such.

But he knows that there is still more to be done, and before such a time arrives…

It would be worth his patience to wait for the correct moment.

Pressing his lips to her hair, she shifted ever so slightly. A mumbled sigh of satisfaction escaping her breath, all while her grip on his hand turning to what is essentially a mini cuddle at this point.

Aether could only smile fondly at her sleeping face.

"Sweet dreams, Keqing."

Keqing groaned as the sunlight poured through the blinds of the study window.

Thinking nothing of it, she simply yawned and stretched the rest of her sleep away. Unaware of her location, before her mind decided to kick in.

"W-Wait a minute…" Her voice still groggy from the sleep that was left in her, "When did I…"

Her eyes caught a sight of something foreign on her nightstand.

Rubbing the crust out of her eyes, she reached out for the item. Only properly identifying it when her vision finally adjusted from the watery blur that it had previously been.

"A letter…?" She flipped it to the opposite side, where the writing had caused her face to heat up tenfold, "To the sleeping beauty who fell asleep on her desk last night… Excuse me!?"

Her mind began racing out of its wits, ashamed that someone had caught her in such a state of unprofessionalism.

But then again, she knew that there was really only one person who dares enter her study without her permission.

"Well played, mister."

She opened the letter with a fury. Almost ripping it to shreds.

"Let's see what you've got to say for yourself."

Only to have said fury evaporate on the spot as she read the eloquently written note that was stored within.

"Thank you for the letter.

I owe you one, big time.

And I miss you too.

Hopefully we'll see each other soon.

I'll let you off the hook for your choice of where to sleep this time, since you were writing a letter for me. Try to use the bed more often, alright?

I care for you.

Wait for me,

-A."