XXX

For the rest of the noon, you continued to make conversation with Xiao. It was small, and kind of stilted sometimes, but you saw the small smiles and the slow relaxing of his shoulders. Talking about anything from his favorite color (amber) to laughing at the historical inaccuracies in the books that told of Rex Lapis and co. Seeing Xiao's face scrunch whenever you recounted a story made you giggle and turned Xiao's cheeks a light red as he scoffed with a near invisible smile.

You were in the middle of retelling a story between Rex Lapis and Barbatos when Xiao scoffed and caused you to break out into a laugh. "What?"

"That did not happen." Xiao's eyes rolled, a huff from his lips as he grew more exasperated with the "historians" of Liyue.

"You're telling me Lord Morax and Lord Barbatos didn't get drunk on one Lantern Rite so long ago and shoved their tongues down each other's throats?" You practically wheezed out.

Xiao blushed this time, a more angry and embarrassed red than bashful pink. "Please don't say that so crassly."

"Oh come on Xiao." You giggle more, slowly gaining my breath back.

Xiao shook his blush away before furrowing his eyebrows and tilting his head to the side as if trying to listen to something more closely.

Your chuckles die out and a more concerned look grew on your face. "Xiao? Are you okay?"

"Your little traveler friend is back." Xiao says, a hint of disappointment to his tone.

"Oh, Aether's back from his meeting with Ningguang?" I stand from my balcony chair and reach out to take the plate that once held Xiao's almond tofu. "I'll go see him, and I'll take your plate down to the kitchen too."

You were about to leave when Xiao's hand shot out and wrapped around one of your wrists. You stopped, letting him squeeze your wrist and waiting for him to speak as he bowed his head and turned away from you slightly. You couldn't see his face entirely but you saw his mouth form words he tried to speak. It took a moment and a deep breath before he finally was able to push them out. "I enjoyed... speaking... with you today."

Heat filled your cheeks and a somewhat dopey smile at the yaksha's shyness pulled at your lips. "Yeah? I enjoyed it too. Like I said before, I'll be in Liyue a while longer, so we'll see each other again." You gripped his own wrist of the hand that was holding yours and gave it a gentle squeeze.

With a final smile in his direction, you left the balcony, quickly dropping off the plate at the kitchen before standing in front of Wangshu Inn, calling out for Ariel.

The angel landed in front of you, a calm smile on his face. "You ready to go back to the inn in Liyue Harbour?"

"I am." You practically jumped in Ariel's arms (not on his back so you wouldn't crush his wings) and he carried you bridal style. "Xiao said Aether was finished with his meeting with Ningguang."

Ariel spread his long, fairy wings. The sun filtered through them, creating jewel-like patterns on the grass and causing the gold in his wings to shimmer brightly. He took off, the flimsy look of his wings being a complete mask as they beat strongly in the air.

"How was your flight after you left me with Xiao?" You called over the sound of the wind. You tucked your face to his neck so your mouth could be closer to his ear and you didn't have to yell.

"Relaxing." His feathery, white hair whipped in the wind as the two of you flew.

"Oh good. Everyone had a nice day."

The two of you finally landed outside the harbor and walked quickly to the inn in order to meet Aether. You and Ariel entered the shared room to see Aether, once again, flopped on his bed.

At the sound of your footsteps he turned his head to look at you, Paimon draped, face down, across his stomach. His double fishtail braids that you tied this morning had strands of hair sticking out as they spread across the bed. "I'm over Liyue. I wanna go back to Mondstadt."

You chuckle sympathetically as you sit down beside him, patting an exhausted Paimon on the back. Ariel went to your bed, sitting down and looking over at the three of you with a fond smile.

"What happened kid?"

Aether sighed and sat up, adjusting Paimon so she laid in his lap easier. "We went to meet with Ningguang and she led us on to a trail on the Fatui. Paimon and I have to go out in a few to investigate the Fauti's research on Sigils of Permission and whatnot."

"Sounds rough, kid." You pat Aether's head. "Want me to go with you? Keep you company?"

Aether looked up at you with thankful eyes. "Would you?"

"Yeah, course kid. Lemme redo your braids, get my weapons, and we'll be out of here."

Aether moved to sit on the edge of the bed as you quickly redid his double fishtail braids, making them look pristine and nice. You patted his back when you were done and he began to coax Paimon into floating as you got your bow and sword, choosing to leave behind your claymore for this fight.

-

The three of you arrived at the place where Aether said the Fatui research was. You and Aether jumped into action as Paimon floated off to the side to give her ever valuable moral support.

You stayed a little farther back at first, Aether fighting swiftly with his sword and you supporting him in the back with your steady aim. When an agent got too close to you, you swung your bow over your shoulder and pulled your shining sword from its sheath to block a knife strike.

The fight was quick, with the length of your sword keeping the agent far back enough that he rarely got a chance to strike. The most he got was a cut to your cheek as you sunk your sword into his side. With a 'shing' you pulled your sword from him, the white metal coated with blood, as the agent staggered back with a growl.

Not long after, all the agents had retreated or fallen unconscious from their wounds and you, Aether, and Paimon gathered around a crate covered with sigils of permission. While Aether and Paimon theorize about the sigils and the Fatui and Childe, you stared off into space.

You were thinking about the future battle with Childe. In the lore Aether beats Childe on his own with his own elemental abilities, swordsmanship, and combat skills, but in the gameplay a full team of four of a certain power level was needed to beat Childe. Given that Childe was a person now, you had no telling of whether his power level would be closer to pre-nerf or post-nerf Childe, and because Aether had no team... it might be rough.

"...Paimon hates being late!"

You snap out of your thoughts at those words and tune back into Aether and Paimon's conversation. "What about being late?"

"We have to go meet Zhongli in Dihua Marsh." Aether explained. "Are you coming with us?"

You shrugged with a smile no longer feeling the burn on your cheek from the cut and threw your arms over his shoulder. "Lead the way kid."

-

The three of you arrive at Dihua Marsh soon after Zhongli. The man looked as regal and sure as always, standing under Liyue's afternoon glow that bounced off his cheekbones and reptilian-like amber eyes. His arms were crossed and a content look was on his face, like standing in the marsh itself brought him an immeasurable amount of peace.

He smiled and greeted the three of you, not so much as blinking at your arrival when you hadn't been there for the rest of the process in preparing the Rite of Parting. He gave a long lecture about glaze lilies and how they grow before pointedly staring at you and Aether when he mentioned the singing aspect.

"You want one of us... to sing?" Aether questions hesitantly.

"Yes." Zhongli confirms. "Your or your companion's singing will surely bring out the richest fragrance of these flowers."

"You're on your own with this one kid." You step back with your hands raised in surrender.

Aether frowns and grabs your wrist, pulling you back. "Nuh-uh. I hear you hum when you brush my hair. This one's on you."

"Kid, no."

"[Y/n], yes."

You and Aether have a little stare down and a smirk crawls on his face as you blink and let out a sigh. "Fine. Whatever." You turn to Zhongli, who had been watching your argument with hidden amusement. "Take us to the flowers... I guess."

Your small group walks along the marsh, searching for a small cluster of glaze lilies. The first patch you found, you simply hummed too and they ended up turning to a pack of whopper flowers that you and Aether had to fight off together. Afterwards, you all had a brief word with Ganyu where she pointed you all to another patch of real glaze lilies.

When you finally find them you all gather around in a small circle. You step a little closer to them. "Alright kid, last chance to show off your singing prowess."

Aether chuckled and shook his head with that same smirk on his face. "I think I'm okay."

"Gotcha." You murmured and thought of something to hum or sing or whatever. "Do I have to go full song or something or...? Cus last time when I just hummed you didn't look too happy bout it."

"It just simply wasn't enough for true lilies, so it's preferred that you sing a full song or much of one. I'll keep watch of the lilies and tell you to stop when I find them satisfactory." Zhongli smiles with a reassuring nod.

"Yeah, okay." You took a deep breath as you tried to muster the best singing voice you could.

"My love, My love

My fearless love

I will not say goodbye

Sea may rise

Sky may fall

My love will never die

Go on, Go on

Go bravely on

Into the blackest night

Hold my breath til' your return

My love will never die

My heart, My heart

My drowning heart

Oh all the tears I've cried

Oh I may weep forevermore

My love will never die

My love, My love

My fearless love

I will not say goodbye

Sea may rise

Sky may fall

My love will never die

Sea may rise

Sky may fall

My love will never die

My love will never die"

You ended up going through the whole song when you didn't hear Zhongli say to stop. When you were done, you took a deep breath, not having to sing in such a while, but winced when you thought back to the off-key moments in the song and the times your voice cracked. Other than that, you thought you gave a fairly average performance. Not grating, but nothing grammy worthy.

"So, uh... that good? The lilies fragrant enough now?" At Zhongli's silence you sighed. "Please don't tell me to sing again, I can't think of another song I can sing all the way through right now."

"No no no, it's fine. Your singing was perfectly suitable. I was just curious about the song."

"Oh uhhhh," You search through your mind for a reasonable explanation. "It's just one that's been on my mind?"

Zhongli merely hummed and nodded, picking the flowers with a gentle hand and soft eyes. "I believe these lilies cover it, our preparations for the Rite of Parting are mostly finished."

"I suppose so." I turn to Aether with a playful glare. "And you didn't help one bit!"

"I think you held your own pretty well."

"Oh that is so NOT the point."

Paimon cuts in through your playful banter with a somewhat forceful, "I think we should head back to Liyue Harbor now!"

You hear Zhongli's thick, deep chuckle and the four of you begin walking (and floating) back to Liyue Harbor.

A/n - I have two questions for y'all. One, I really want Aether to have a nickname for MC, but I really can't think of any and I have an unusual pet peeve for [n/n] so... any thoughts? And two, I've been playing around with the idea of Aether having a love interest (it's not definitive, please no pitchforks, it's an idea) and I was wondering if there's any characters you guys would be willing to give up as love interests. Just thoughts. Have a good day!