Chapter Text
Lumine and Childe stayed with Albedo for three more weeks until Lumine was stronger again and also eating regularly. Childe kept close watch on her and always went with her to visit Aurora’s grave. In those weeks the gap between Childe and Lumine closed more and more.
One of those times the two of them were staring off the cliff into the distance. The air was very clear that day and in the distance the mountains of Liyue were visible. With effortless normalcy their shoulders were touching and Lumine leaned a bit into Childe. In turn he put his arm around her shoulders. Suddenly he hesitated and Lumine looked up to him. Childe then put both hands onto Lumine’s shoulders and turned her towards him.
“Lumine, I love you” he confessed “and I don’t ever want to see you this hurt again, both mentally and physically. Please let me be by your side and take care of you.”
She lifted her arms to his cheeks and caressed them. A slight smile appeared in her face, the first one in days.
“I love you, too, Childe. And I would be happy to be with you and take the time to heal from all of this...” Her eyes got watery again but before she could cry, Childe softly kissed her.
“Lumine, please stop calling me Childe then. You should use my birth name, it’s-“
“Ajax” she breathed and he gulped visibly.
“So you remember”
“Yes, Ajax, I would never forget anything about you. Even back then I already loved you, I just didn’t realise at first. It took your death for me to finally set my feelings straight and even then, I always pushed away the thought that you might feel the same.”
“I also realised in the afterlife... Without you it was terrible there” they smiled at each other and Childe kissed Lumine’s forehead.
“But I thought because of you just having recently split from Scara and your condition, I shouldn’t say anything and wait until this is all resolved... Lumine, if I had known of little Aurora earlier...”
“You would have killed Scara and slaughtered every regisvine in all of Teyvat all by yourself possibly dying in the process. And if that didn’t kill you, being outlawed by the Fatui would have.” she deadpanned.
Childe chuckled probably also for the first time in days. He was flooded by cautious hope, wrapping his arms around Lumine and hugging her tightly.
“Thank you for being with me” she murmured into his shirt.
“Thank you for putting up with me” he answered.
“Ajax without you I would have missed out on so many experiences, good and bad...”
She trailed off, turning around to take a look at Aurora’s grave upon which the ice-Windwheel-Aster was rotating in the wind. The small blonde took Childe’s hand and with it dispelled all the doubt he had left inside.
“I love you so much, Lumine” he told her again.