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It has been a year since that incident happened and for the longest time, Lumine and tried to not let the nightmares get to her. Her efforts worked after trying for nine months. But as she kept on messing up her sleeping schedule from work, the nightmares easily crept back to haunt her.
The silhouette of her brother walking away from her as he left her by the roadside. She begged him to come home, come out of the darkness, but what else can she do when the shadows of evil have deeply consumed him.
Lumine had tears pooling in her eyes as she dragged her tired body to her balcony. She screamed her lungs out, trying to dispel all the pain she felt in her heart. She didn't care if it was in the middle of the night or how her neighbours would react to suddenly hearing a banshee-like scream.
As the pooled up tears fell down her cheeks, she fell down to the ground. She continued to scream towards the ground, still not able to relieve her aching heart.
And not long after, a figure hurriedly climbed up onto her balcony. Gloved hands held her by her shoulders, causing her head to snap up and make eye contact with the person.
Lumine's eyes were red and tears didn't stop. The figure gently pulled her into a hug, softly caressing her back. Her tears dropped from her eyes, down to the figure's jacket and her screams were muffled in the figure's shoulder.
"It hurts so much Xiao... I can't do it anymore..." Lumine said with a hoarse voice, her hands gripping tight to his leather jacket.
"Let's go and take some fresh air okay?" Xiao suggested as he gently pushed her back and met her eyes.
Xiao pushed himself up from the ground and extended both hands to Lumine. When her small fragile hands where in his, he carefully pulled her up and continued to hold her hands as she stabilized herself.
Her eyes were still glued to the ground, tears continue to lodge in her eyes. She let go of Xiao's hands to wipe off some of her tears. Xiao took his right hand to help her rid of some of the tears.
Soon after, he brought his hand to her left hand and tenderly intertwined his fingers with her. He took a few steps and she followed with tiny steps. He turned around and caress her head slightly.
And they stood still for a while as Lumine's tears started to fall once again.
Xiao had already started his bike and worn his helmet. He held out another helmet towards Lumine but she was lost in her thought to realize until he called out his name.
She snapped out of her thoughts and reached for the helmet. But with unsteady hands, she almost dropped it. It would have hit her feet if it weren't for Xiao still holding onto the helmet.
Without much question, Xiao helped Lumine wear the helmet and fastened it neatly for her.
She held onto his jacket as she hopped onto his bike, his left hand on top of her left hand to help her get on, knowing how her weak mind has a big effect on her physical strength.
Lumine wrapped her arms around Xiao's waist and leans her head slide ways against his back, her vision looking towards the left, away from her house.
Xiao peaked at Lumine through his side mirror and took a deep breath before he revved his bike and rode away, towards the city lights.
Xiao kept on the main street, that was depleted of traffic and with eyes busily looking for a place to bring Lumine that won't remind her too much of her nightmares. But in almost every place in the district laid a piece of her memories with her brother, the good and the bad.
As he was still trying to formulate on what else he could do to help Lumine, she was taking deep breaths as they zoomed passed block by block. He noticed how her breaths got deeper in some places as he felt the shifts of her body against his back.
That made him even more worried about Lumine, but just before he decided to slow down and stop any the side of the road, he saw the signage to a park on the other side of town.
Without hesitation, he accelerated towards the park, having the streets all to himself. The revving of his engine played like an organ in an orchestra as they passed through numerous tunnels and with him going almost 150 km/h, the cold breeze hit Lumine causing her to want to close her eyes and fly away from her nightmares. The turns Xiao took became like a rocking cradle of sorts, making Lumine sleepy that if she was in bed, she could sleep without worries.
Xiao sped down steadily as the view of the lake in the middle of the park came into view.
And it didn't take long for they've reached the park in 20 minutes, which is half the time compared to heavy workday traffic.
His bike slowly to a stop, right in front of one of the many park benches facing the lake. Xiao let down the side stand and carefully tilted his bike, not wanting Lumine to accidentally slide off and fall.
He placed a hand on Lumine’s, helping her get off without a hitch.
She took a couple of steps to stand in front of him and took off her helmet. She handed it back to Xiao as he got off the bike as well. He took her helmet and placed it on one of the side mirrors and proceeded to take off his as well, placing it on the other side mirror.
As he died the engine down and took out his keys, Lumine took a seat on the bench and stared into the lake.
Xiao kept his keys away and stretched a little. His eyes darted towards Lumine and saw her tightly clutched hands. He took off his leather jacket and placed it snuggly on Lumine’s shoulders.
He sat next to Lumine, his thigh brushing lightly with hers. He leaned back onto the bench and she did the same. As she watched stray fallen leaves being floated away on the surface of the lake, her head slowly fell onto Xiao’s shoulder.
Xiao slipped his gloves away from his hands and stuffed it in pockets. His warm hands found its way to Lumine’s chilled hands, engulfing it cosily with warmth as he gently squeezes her hand. His thumb caressed her hand, making the cold in her hand dissipate.
“Do you want to drink something? The convenience store isn’t far away. I’ll walk and get you some tea,” Xiao asked while intertwining his fingers with hers.
“It’s fine. I just want to rest,” Lumine responded with her hand holding tightly onto Xiao’s, sending him a signal that she doesn’t want to be alone.
“Remember the first time I brought you here?” he asked with a timid smile carved on his lips. His eyes locked on their interlocking hands.
With an amused sigh, she answered, “How can I not, you didn’t give me a helmet that time and drove just as fast as you did just now. My hair was like a bird’s nest.”
Xiao snickered. He took his other hand and ruffled her hair to become slightly messy. When he took his hand away, they fell into a bubble of silence. Just staring emptily at the lake.
They saw how the late-night breeze made the floating debris on the surface of the water twirled and how the flowers alongside the water’s edge swayed as if they were in a trance.
The stray birds without their flock picked among the cobblestones for food and Lumine let out a tiny giggle as she saw a baby finch managing to find food and jumping as it ate.
“Lumine,” Xiao called out her name and she hummed as a response. She noticed the seriousness in his tone and the way he called her Lumine instead of Lumi.
“Do you really not want me to help him out? You’ve been having too many nightmares. I don’t want to see you hurt too often like that.”
She heard his hefty sigh at the end of his sentence but she could only pause and take a deep breath. She turned her head slightly, leaning her forehead against his shoulder.
“Maybe sometime in the future…” Lumine said in a whisper, her eyes pooling up again.
Xiao caressed Lumine’s hand with his thumb gently, a gesture of him listening to her.
As he left out a huff and Lumine having buried her forehead deeper into his shoulders, he was reminded to the expression he saw on Aether as he watched him leave his sister by the street, still calling out his name with so much care and love.
‘ Just how deep are you stuck into Aether… ’
They spent the hour on the bench, talking about memories and enjoying the warmth of each other, both emotionally and physically.
That was until Xiao heard a tiny rumble.
He stood up, hand still holding onto Lumine’s hand. He pulled her up and they once again rode his bike to find someplace to eat.
Xiao zoomed from one place to another, to all the places he knew Lumine loved to eat at and he thought would open even late at night. But as they arrived at the street stall that even opened at midnight, it was dark.
In the end, he brought them to a convenience store near the stall.
Lumine tried to not laugh as he came out of the store, finding it funny that the night owl didn't realize how most shops and stalls wouldn't be open in the dead of the night. He leaned against his bike as he handed her a small carton of strawberry milk, "Shut up Lumi".
She took the milk with both hands and giggled. She tore it open and leaned against the bike next to Xiao.
"You know, we spent the whole hour trying to find a place to eat that it's already time for McDonald's to have their breakfast menu ready. Pancakes and hashbrowns are great after being in the cold," she suggested, while she handed the milk at him, gesturing him to drink it too.
Xiao took the milk from her and drank a couple of gulps. He passed back the milk to her and went to wear his helmet. He had his visor up and sent a glare to Lumine as he climbed over his bike.
He snapped down the visor and started his bike. Lumine let out a chuckle as she finished up the milk and tossed the empty carton to a nearby trashcan. As she reached for her helmet, the gently pulled up Xiao's visor and gave him a smile. Her nose scrunched up as she smiled.
She pulled down his visor and wore her helmet. Xiao let a smile underneath his visor. His eyes soften at the sight of a happy Lumine.
And so, they made their way to McDonald's for a very very early breakfast.
It was the break of dawn when they arrived in front of Lumine's house.
Lumine took off her helmet and passed it to Xiao, who hung it on his side mirror. She had her hands on her head, trying to redo her hair. When she finally felt satisfied with her hair, Xiao took the chance to ruffle her hair to its messy state.
She gave him a cute glare as he took off his helmet as well. He stared at her with a calm gaze.
The morning breeze was gentle and filled with slight aromas of flowers from her garden, which let out their fragrances from the morning dew. The gentle wind blew some of her longer bangs in front of her eyes. And the same happened to Xiao, but with the hair strands he had tucked behind his ear.
"It was fun," Lumine said as she tucked back Xiao's hair behind his ear. He held the hand she used to tuck his hair and gently pushed her back, giving him space to get off his bike.
"The breeze felt nice with you," she confessed, proceeding to hug Xiao, her face buried in his chest.
He hugged her as well in return and placed a kiss on top of her head.
"I'll always try to be the wind that blows away your sadness. Just call my name whenever you need me Lumi."