I banged my head for so long trying to think of a logical way to have Aether and Furina to go to Inazuma to meet Ayaka. But Hoyo appears to be one step ahead of me, since they're bringing Ayaka to Fontaine next patch, so that makes my live a lot easier.
I promise I'll get to writing more emotional chapters later on, I just don't feel like it at the moment, so prepare for a mild cheesiness overload in this one. I had a ton of fun writing it over the weekend (binge wrote it until 3 AM, just got to editing it today), so I hope you like it and aren't bored of chill chapters :).
Chapter 14
The following morning, Aether somehow managed to wake up after Furina again, and when he went to the other room, he found her going through a mountain of letters one by one. He kissed her on the cheek, looked at the letter in her hands, sat next to her, and said, "You've got a lot of mail. What's it about?"
"What do you think, dummy? Consultancy requests, invitations to co-direct performances. Even invitations to perform in musicals," responded Furina with a bit of annoyance in her voice. "The last ones automatically land in the discard pile," she said, pointing to another mountain of letters on the floor. "I want to decide when and if I should perform again." She threw the letter she was holding onto the floor.
"You barely read that one. How did you decide so quickly to reject it?"
"I know a lot of these names from the past. A lot of them are directors who are already successful. They don't need or probably even want my help or consultation. I bet they just want to slap my name on one of their plays to attract more attention, and they think a bag of mora will win me over. Ha! Dream on. Others are troupes that are already moderately successful but have not yet made it to the big stage. They probably think that because I helped one small troupe, I will help them as well. They don't understand that it was a special case. Frankly, they aren't worth my time. Especially if they want to perform cliches like "The Sleeping Melusine" or the dramatization of "The Boar Princess." What do they want my help with, boring the audiences to death?" She took another letter, saw the name on it, and threw it in the reject pile without even opening it. "I want to express myself, but this time I want to do it the way I like it. I want to make something meaningful that's worthy of my time and talents," Furina finished somewhat theatrically.
Aether smirked, got up, and kissed her on the cheek again. "That's how I like you the most. Confident and quirky. I'll make breakfast while you go through them."
Furina smiled. "Ooh, talking sweetly and making breakfast. What a dream boyfriend you are! Lucky me." She tried to playfully slap his butt... only she aimed at the left cheek, forgetting that's where the bruise was.
"OW!" screamed Aether. "Is that the reward I'm getting?!"
"Sorry!"
When he came back with breakfast and coffee, the reject pile had grown huge. Only a handful of letters remained at the table, and Furina was reading the last one carefully.
"Hmm, a film co-directing offer," she told Aether. "With the possibility to star in it. I don't think I want to appear in a film yet, and I've never directed one. Frankly, I don't know much about cinema at all, at least in comparison to theater and opera. Court cases are always live performances, after all. But it sounds interesting, I think I might try it. Some novel experiences can't hurt, can they?"
"Heh, I actually once starred in a film. Back in Inazuma. I guess Xavier hasn't released it yet."
Furina turned to him with widened eyes. "You starred in a film? I haven't starred in a film yet!" It appeared she took it as a personal offense. "It's decided then; I want to direct a film! Tell me all about the film you starred in."
"Hey, don't decide this only because of me!" he laughed. "Anyway,'starred in' is a bit of an exaggeration; I mostly helped the director, Xavier, and the actors." Aether told her about Xavier and the film he was shooting.
"I see. Quite remarkable. But how did you even get mixed up in all that?" asked Furina, puzzled at the end.
"I learned about it at the Yashiro Commission, which Xavier had requested funds from. At the time I was... uh... hanging out at the Yashiro Commission headquarters, the Kamisato Estate quite a lot." He really hoped Furina didn't ask him why he was hanging out there so much.
"Yashiro Commission... that was the cultural body of Inazuma's government, correct? Makes sense that they would sponsor a film."
"Yes, they are in charge of ceremonies, shrines, festivals, and cultural events," expertly said Aether.
"Well, you seem to know a lot about them. The latter sound like they're up my alley."
"Yeah, we are actually quite good friends with its commissioner, Kamisato Ayato, and his sister, Kamisato Ayaka. Ayaka also has great affection for music and dancing; maybe I should introduce you to her if we ever visit Inazuma," he blurted out, then he thought about what he was saying and paused. "No... actually, maybe I shouldn't."
Furina looked at Aether and raised an eyebrow, which he pretended not to notice. She understood more than he was telling her, but he seemed rather flustered, so she decided not to ask more questions about that... for now. Instead, she just asked, "So what are we doing today? Can we go train again some more?"
"Yes, of course!" He seemed all too happy to change the subject. "Let's go after breakfast."
Aether hadn't trained with people who had just received a Vision and wasn't sure how quickly one was supposed to progress, but he was pretty certain that Furina was learning extremely fast. It was barely her second day of training (not counting the unintentional flooding), and she could already shape and maintain the form of a giant Armored Crab, which she affectionately called Mademoiselle Crabaletta. She could even instruct it to attack Aether. Its attacks were slow and clunky, and if Furina lost concentration, it fell apart almost immediately, but Aether was very optimistic. She even tried creating other shapes with her Hydro powers – a Ball Octopus and a Bubbly Seahorse, and just like the day before, managed in only a few tries. She had trouble controlling all three at the same time, but Aether was sure that would come with time.
With all her summons and Furina's own (albeit clumsy) sword attacks, Aether could no longer lazily swing like the day before; he actually had to pay attention. Naturally, her abilities were still a far cry from his, but even the fact that she made him move a little bit was impressive on its own. Around noon, however, Furina was already sweating and panting. She still didn't have the stamina to use her powers for so long, so Aether decided to call it a day. After all, she had plans to train the next day with Clorinde and Navia, and he didn't want to overwork her.
They had an improvised picnic on the patch of grass where they trained. They had brought some food and a blanket from home, as they knew they would be out for a long time. As Paimon had decided not to come with them, they only brought reasonable quantities of food. Furina sat on the blanket and ate her meal in silence. She was incredibly hungry and felt dead tired (why was fighting so tiring? She could perform for hours, and performances were extremely tiring as well, weren't they?) but she was also happy with her progress and felt full of determination. As she was finishing her food, she noticed that Aether couldn't take his eyes off her. His sandwich was still only half eaten in his hand.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Don't it taste to your liking?"
For a second, Aether looked like he had fallen from another planet. He looked at the unfinished food in his hand, as if he just remembered it was there, and then back at Furina. "No," he said, "it's just that... you had that look on your face..."
"What look?" Did she look funny? Did she have a piece of food in the corner of her mouth? Or maybe something in her teeth?
"Hmm. It's hard to describe it. But it's like your eyes are full of confidence, determination, and enthusiasm. It's wonderful. I love it."
Furina felt fuzzy and warm on the inside. How did Aether always manage to say these things that excited her so much? She lay down on the blanket and put her head on his lap, looking up at him and hoping that breadcrumbs from his half-eaten sandwich wouldn't fall in her hair.
"Hmm? And what else?" She wanted to tease him, but her voice sounded more like she was purring than playing around. She didn't care. "I'm in a mood for compliments today," she smiled at him brightly.
She expected him to tease her himself or to start joking around with her, like he often liked doing. But instead, he put the rest of his food away and started caressing her face and her hair.
"You see," he started, "I always thought that you fall in love with a person only once. But then why do I fall in love all over again every time I see that look on your face? Or every time you smile? Or every time you play with my hair and call my name?"
That was a bit too much for Furina. She was dead sure he took that from some cheesy love romance he read or a play or movie that he saw. But damn, did it work. Maybe she liked hearing it because she was overly dramatic at heart... or maybe it was just because Aether was saying it. Her heart skipped a beat, and she felt like she was going to melt.
"Oh, Aether," she exclaimed. Was that really her voice coming out of her mouth? "Stop it; you're going to make me emotional!" she mock-complained.
"But it's true," he continued. "I can't describe the feeling. It's like... trying out wind gliding for the first time... but every time it feels like it's the first time. All of the excitement, feeling the wind in your face, feeling absolutely free and weightless. Uh... but with love," he finished the sentence quite clumsily. Way to kill the mood, he thought.
"Well, I wouldn't know," said Furina. "Wind gliding isn't really my forte."
Aether looked at her, shocked. "Wait, you haven't tried wind gliding?"
"I have..." said Furina defensively. "Some years ago." With her, that could mean 2 or 200 years ago.
"I always have my glider with me! Come on, let's do some wind gliding!"
"Uhm... do we have to?" she asked nervously.
"If you want to go adventuring with me, you have to know how to glide, it's essential. It's often the quickest way by far to traverse distances for me. You're not afraid of heights, are you?"
"No, no. You've seen me in high places; I'm not afraid." Furina was so comfortable with her head resting on his lap (and with him saying all these lovely things about her) that she didn't really want to get up. But she saw that it was important to him, so she sighed and forced herself to do it. "Where should we glide from?" she asked, looking for a small hill or maybe a big rock they could climb.
"Over there," responded Aether, who pointed up. Furina followed his finger to see one of Fontaine's huge cliffs towering over them. Suddenly she wasn't so sure about this anymore, but Aether was already putting the blanket and the rest of the food away.
They climbed for what felt like hours until they finally reached the top. Thank the Archons Furina had put on one of her more comfortable suits for the training session; otherwise, she probably wouldn't have managed it. Not to mention she was still tired from said training session. But she didn't want to disappoint Aether, so she didn't say anything and just followed him to the peak.
The view up there was truly beautiful. She could see almost all of the Court of Fontaine from here and could even recognize some of the buildings. In the distance, she could clearly see the Opera Epiclese and even the Tower of Ipsissimus. But when she looked down and imagined throwing herself off with a measly wind glider, she suddenly felt terrified. Below them was the deep terrestrial lake, which seemed like a dark, bottomless abyss from this high up, stretching in all directions and between all the islands of Fontaine.
"Uh, Aether. When I said I wasn't afraid of heights, I meant that I wasn't afraid as long as I still had solid ground below my feet. I'm not so sure about this."
"Don't worry, Furina. I'll take you in my hands. I only have one glider anyway. It will be fine."
"Are you sure one glider will be enough for both of us?" She was grasping at straws at this point.
"Yes, of course. I did it with Yoimiya once, and she is larger than you." He closed his mouth shut so fast that he felt his teeth cracking. What was wrong with him today? Not that Furina noticed or cared who Yoimiya was; she was still looking down with a horrified expression.
Aether took her hand gently. "Love. Do you trust me?"
Furina looked him in the eyes. Is that why he sweet-talked her so much earlier, so they could do dumb stuff together afterwards? She sighed; she knew that wasn't his intention. She grasped his hand firmly and said, "I trust you."
"It's going to be fun, I promise," smiled Aether.
"Is it?" she was still unconvinced.
He put his right arm on her back and lifted her legs with his left one, then he stood near the edge of the cliff. Furina gulped and wrapped her hands around his shoulders. Before she could say anything else, he started running and jumped. As they started falling down and she started feeling weightless, she wanted to scream, but her voice was somehow stuck in her chest. The wind glider opened promptly behind him, and instead of falling, they started gliding diagonally at a speed that was way too fast for Furina.
"Aetheeerrr, I'll kill youuu!" Furina screamed while hiding her face between her arm and his chest. Her nails were probably sinking so deep in his neck that she was hurting him, but she couldn't care less at the moment. And instead of answering, Aether just laughed. The asshole was laughing! Furina wasn't going to forgive him that easily; he was definitely sleeping on the couch for a week. Well... maybe just tonight.
But slowly, as they were gliding down, Furina did eventually pick up some courage and looked away from Aether's chest. Looking down was still horrifying, but looking in the other directions was actually... pretty interesting. In all her years of ruling Fontaine, she had never seen it from exactly this perspective. The domes, and towers, and houses of the Court, and the trees and peaks around it, and the great terrestrial lake joining everything. It was quite beautiful.
And she felt the wind in her face, she felt weightless, and she felt absolutely free, just like Aether described, and she loved it. All the cares and worries she had—about Fontaine, about herself, about her future, about her past—seemed so far away, as if they had remained on top of the cliff they had jumped from. There was no place for them right here and right now. She could only live in the moment. She felt Aether's hands on her back and her legs, grabbing her tightly, and she felt safe and secure—well, safer and more secure than before, at least. Her grip on his neck and shoulders relaxed. It really wasn't so bad after all. She turned to him and looked at his face. She had lived so long and had known so many people, but if she could pick the one to share this moment with, it would definitely be Aether.
At least until he said, "I might even drop you into the water from here; it's not even that high!". Even though she knew he was only joking, her heart jumped into her throat, and she instinctively grappled his neck and shoulders as hard as she could.
"Don't you dare, asshole!" improper for a lady as it was, Furina didn't feel like mincing words at the moment. "Or I'll leave you for a Blubberbeast!"
After a while, Aether swirled a bit, and she felt terrified again, but just for a second. She understood that he was adjusting their course to account for the wind's direction, so they could land where they wanted. And they landed on the main island, relatively close to the Court of Fontaine, just as Aether had intended.
They landed softly, and he let Furina go, closed the wind glider, and waited for her reaction. He wasn't sure if she was going to kiss him or slap him, and he suspected she probably had reasons to do both.
Furina stood up, put her hands on her sides, and said, "There. Easy-peasy." Her legs were visibly shaking like soft cheese, she could barely stand, and there was a somewhat maniacal look in her eyes. "When do we do it again?"
Aether couldn't help but burst out laughing. He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.
"Am I sleeping on the couch tonight?"
Dammit, could he read her thoughts?
"No," she answered, still shaking in his arms. "You are sleeping with me in bed tonight, and you are going to comfort me from all the nightmares I am inevitably going to get." She sighed. "And then... I guess we can buy a wind glider for me in a couple of days."