Chapter 8

A familiar knock on the door made her jump from her chair, run towards the door, open it, and jump into Aether's embrace. She heard something splatter, and he heard some commotion, but she didn't care what was going on.

"Furina, what's wrong? Are you crying?! Has something bad happened? I thought you weren't even home; the lights aren't on, and it's already dark," asked Aether with panic in his voice while he was practically carrying Furina back inside the house.

As the reliable method of head pats for Furina was working its magic, she slowly calmed down and told Aether what had happened and what she was thinking about. To her surprise, he was smiling.

"I can tell you that every day and never get tired of it. You are simply the kindest and nicest person ever," said Aether, pulling her closer.

"Hey, don't laugh at me! And keep patting my head."

"I'm not laughing," Aether resumed the head pats. "You just never cease to amaze me. Look, Furina, this time is supposed to be about you. You should be taking time to heal the wear and tear on your soul, not constantly worrying about others. Although I say that, I know it won't help very much. You are simply too kind and selfless. Maybe instead of thinking about what you can't do now, think about all the good you've done for Fontaine so far!"

"It's not that much!" stubbornly persisted Furina. "Fontaine has poor people living in sewers. And organized crime. And-"

"The other nations also have their fair share of problems. Mondtsadt had a dragon attack while its knights were away. Liyue has poverty and depopulation, despite being the richest nation. Inazuma had oppression and a bloody civil war. And all those nations had an Archon with actual powers... and Sumeru imprisoned their archon while oppressing their desert-dwelling population. And I can guarantee that none of them had an Archon going door to door to help people in need. Barbatos spent his time as a drunk bard, Rex Lapis as a dragon in the sky, Baal hid in her own realm while an emotionless puppet was ruling. Nahida gets a pass; she was put in a cage by others."

"Wait... How do you know that I went to people's homes?"

"Well, I've... uh... heard it from Fontainians," said Aether, not wanting to bring unpleasant memories to Furina.

But she could not be fooled so easily.

"I've been meaning to ask you... when you touched my tears... you know, back at the Opera... you saw something, didn't you? Don't stop with the head pats," reminded Furina.

Aether sighed; apparently, there was no escaping it. "I saw you... the real you. Your thoughts maybe. Or your memories. Your strongest emotions, probably. I saw the day Focalors spoke to you through the mirror. And your first day as an Archon. It... broke my heart honestly."

"Why?"

"Why? Because you were so kind, and sweet, and honest, and gentle, and caring. And it all blew up in your face because of people's doubts."

"I was just doing what I had to," shrugged Furina.

Aether shook his head. "You still don't understand how amazing you are, do you? Furina, the vast majority of people in the world could not have done what you did. And of all the Archons I have met, the only one as gentle and caring as you is Nahida, and she had been caged for the last 500 years. I truly believe that if you had actual divine powers, you would have been the best Archon for your people by quite a stretch."

Furina looked away. "You are saying this just to make me feel better."

"No, I don't. Look at me. Furina, look at me. I mean every word I said."

She looked into his eyes. She loved his look. It was so determined, so sincere, so sure. Against her own will, she believed him. Or at least she believed that he believed that. And she was melting in his arms.

"More head pats," requested Furina. "What else did you see?"

Aether looked at her. She wasn't going to let it go, she wanted to hear everything. And he knew he was weak; he just couldn't resist her wishes. "I saw... moments that were important to you, I think. How you tried to investigate the waters. How you helped people in need. There was this woman... You helped her son, I think? And you remembered her family for generations. You were incredible. And... At the end, I saw myself. I was quite touched, really. That you thought about me. That you even considered telling me, even for a fraction of a second. We weren't really friends back then, mind you. But you wouldn't have told me, would you?"

"No. I couldn't. I wanted to so, so badly. But I had a duty."

"And this is why I keep telling you that you're amazing. As I've told you, I can't imagine anyone else I have ever met doing that, never wavering for a second. That must have been so excruciatingly painful, I... I..." Suddenly, Aether got emotional and apologetic.

Before he could say anything else, Furina interrupted him. "This seems harder for you to talk about than for me to listen to."

"Furina, my heart broke! Seeing you suffer so much for so long... It was tragic. At the end, I was in shambles."

Furina put her hand on his neck, pulled him, and kissed him. "You are a sweetie, aren't you? But my suffering was still less than others', right?"

"No... actually, it wasn't."

"What? What do you mean, of course it was..."

"I... heard you, Furina. In the Fountain of Lucille. All of Fontaine's emotions end up there, right? The very first time I approached it, I felt anger, hatred, and sadness. It was coming from the Oceanids, the girls that were kidnapped and dissolved. After the case was solved, their emotions remained for a short while, then dissipated. And then I could hear something else. It was faint, so very faint. But especially in the evenings when all was dark and everyone was going to bed, I could hear it. And one night, when there was no one around and nothing made a noise, I walked into the fountain... Paimon thought I was crazy... and I heard it. I heard you. Crying. Sobbing. I wasn't sure that it was you, and I couldn't make the connection until we learned the truth. But do you realize what this means, my love? Your emotions, your suffering, was as strong, or stronger than everyone else's, so that it condensed in the fountain, and I could faintly hear it."

Furina understood. She didn't know what to say; she just embraced Aether, pulled him even closer, and kissed him again. There was no need to talk, so they just sat there together, in mutual understanding.

After a while, Aether finally complained. "Furina... my hand is more tired from patting your head than from the entire day fighting slimes, could I-?"

"No! More head pats!" lovingly teased him Furina. "How did you call me a while ago, Aether?"

Aether switched his head patting hand before answering. "Uh... Furina?"

"No, you dummy! You called me 'my love'!"

"Did I? I hadn't noticed. Do you like it, my love?"

Furina didn't answer. She just smiled and rested her head on him again.

After a while, she noticed that poor Paimon had been standing there the entire time with nothing to do and nothing to eat. "Oh, Paimon, sorry for ignoring you for so long!" Furina said.

"No worries, Paimon's just resting from a whole day of adventuring with the Traveler," answered Paimon. "Besides, Paimon neeever gets tired of being the third wheel. It's fine as long as you feel better, Furina."

"Hehe, sorry." Talking to Paimon made Furina realize something. "Oh, I really wish I had some more cake right now! After Neuvillette came by, I forgot to buy more!"

Aether and Paimon fell silent for a second and looked at each other. "Well..." started Aether. "We did actually buy some on our way here..."

"What? You did? Well, where is it now?"

Paimon slowly flew up, opened the door, and pointed at something while saying "Ehehe...".

A rather huge, undoubtably delicious cake of her favorite variety lay splattered all over the pavement in front of her house.

"You jumped on me so suddenly..." started apologizing Aether, barely able to hold back his laughter at the look on her face.

"Oh, no... I can live through everything that happened today, but not this!" said Furina, her eyes filling with tears, as Aether couldn't help but burst out laughing.