Chapter Text
Bare feet along the shore, bathed in the dying light of the setting sun, two figures walked alone.
"Ah... ojou-chan, it feels nice by the ocean, doesn't it?" Childe said, breathing in the saline scent of the waves.
"It does." Lumine said, staring across the rippling waters.
Sometime, somewhere, was her brother under the same sky, longing for her presence? She recalled how, in a different world, she and Aether had laughed among pink-frothed waves. They had seen countless mysteries and the wondrously strange.
And now, staring across the waters, watching the stars reflected in them that had lost their lustre because her brother wasn't by her side to make them shine, she felt a strange ache. It was as though the stars were calling her, steady as the rhythmic ebb and flow of the waves at her feet, a persistent tug at her soul. She had not found the answers she sought; was it time to leave once more?
Childe glanced at Lumine, seeing her faraway expression as she stared longingly out upon the waters.
He wasn't a good man. He didn't deserve Lumine.
But her couldn't bear to let her go.
Childe reached out to cup her cheek, turning her face towards his. She stared wordlessly up into his ocean eyes as he gazed into her golden ones. Childe could see the anguish, the longing, in her beautiful golden irises, and his heart shattered like fragile ice in his chest. Lumine had such a gentle soul. She didn't deserve to feel such pain.
If anyone, Childe deserved it the most.
He pulled Lumine into an embrace, cradling her against his heart.
She didn't resist.
Her body felt so small, so fragile in his arms, and Childe couldn't help but tighten his hold on her protectively.
They stayed like that for a while, Lumine's head resting on his chest while he breathed in the scent of her hair.
Birds called from above and the sun sank ever lower. Time went on, but for now, it was just the two of them, alone together.
* * * * *
At last, when it was nearly evening, and the last light from the sun was beginning to fade, Lumine stirred in his arms. Childe reluctantly released her, instantly missing her warmth and the light, airy scent of her hair.
"Thank you." Lumine said, walking forwards, towards the sea and away from him.
"For what?" Childe asked.
"For everything." Lumine said simply.
"Why did that sound like a goodbye, ojou-chan?" Childe pouted playfully, refusing to acknowledge how his chest felt tight at the words.
"It might be," said Lumine, tilting her head up towards the stars, drifting farther away from Childe, "I don't know."
She walked as though in a dream. Now knee-deep in the waters, she tilted her head back and glanced past Childe, as though speaking to someone else entirely, "Is it time for me to leave this world?"
Childe's heart stopped in his chest at her words.
"Ojou-chan -!"
She lifted her hand, and Childe saw that it contained a small blue starconch, its delicate shell glittering mockingly at him.
"They say in Liyue," began Lumine, her voice sounding distant and faraway, "that when you place a starconch to your ear, you can hear the longing calls of the ocean." She let her hand holding the conch drift to her ear. Her eyes closed as she listened.
Childe stared at her figure, unable to speak.
Lumine stood alone, bathed in the soft dying glow of the sunset, eyes closed. There was a serene, peaceful expression on her delicate features as the orange-tinged waves whispered around her. The white drapes of her clothing trailed along the water and hugged her soft curves as she held the starconch to her ear. Lumine looked almost ethereal, like an angel descended from Celestia.
Her eyes opened. Full of sorrow, regrets, and apologies, her golden gaze fell on Childe.
"The oceans... are calling me onwards. I don't know where the waters might take me, but I promise you, I will come back. I will always, always find my way back to you, Ajax."
"Ojou-chan, how-" Childe's - Ajax's - eyes were wide. He didn't know what to feel nor what to say.
"The stars and the seas tell me many things, Ajax. I merely listen."
"Ojou-chan..." Childe's voice broke. "Can I... hold you? One last time?"
Lumine stepped into his arms, and he cradled her against his chest, savouring her warmth and the familiarity of her body against his.
"Ojou-chan..." Childe breathed, cupping her face in his palms. "I will wait for you, until my very last breath." And he pressed his lips to hers.
The kiss was gentle and slow, full of longing and unspoken love.
They stood together for a long time, their foreheads resting against each other's, breaths mingling.
* * * * *
Under the night sky, alone as the stars glinted down at him and the waves washed against his bare ankles, Childe stood silently as a tear trailed down his cheek. In his hand lay a small blue starconch.
And if he brought it to his ear, he would hear her last words, the longing calls of the ocean,
Wait for me.
I will come back.
I will find my way back to you.