Archive of Our Own

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A Genshin Impact Fanfiction

Reconnected

By: Knowlee Raven

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“Hi, it's Lumine! I can't answer at the moment since I'm busy, but go ahead and leave me a message and I'll get back once I'm able!”

A brief loud beeping tone wrapped up the message, before silence filled the other end. Venti took a deep breath to help calm his nerves before starting his spiel. “Hey Lumine, it's Venti again! Just letting you know that I finally entered myself into a song competition. I remember you always trying to get me to put myself into one of them, but I kept refusing. But, nope, not this time! Hehe! I decided that since you're out fulfilling one of your dreams, that maybe I should try to do that too. I mean it's like you always said, 'life's too short'. And well, I decided to take this chance to just try and see. I'll let you know how it goes! Until then!"

It wasn't until after he hung up the phone that the nervousness he had before the call slowly started to go away. And though his friend wasn't there on the other end to answer, it still helped knowing that in some way she was available to help him get control of his spiraling emotions. Even with that however there were some that would consider the amount of calls he had made to her during the last six months to be excessive.

Fifteen. That's how many voicemails he had sent her. And the sad part about it? She'd never hear them. It wasn't because she was dead or anything. Archons, no! It was because just shortly before he starting his habit of leaving voicemails, Lumine and her brother Aether left to go on a long world tour and since their numbers would only work in Mondstadt and not in the rest of Teyvat, there wasn't a way to contact them.

Sure, they could probably use other means to communicate, but since they'd be moving around so much it'd be no use to even try. So, instead they made the decision to keep their old phone numbers up and ready for when they returned. Whenever that would be…

While Venti was glad that his friend was going out and achieving her dream, he couldn't help but feel sad at her absence. He had lost one too many friends during his life and he hadn't wanted to lose another. And though thus one wasn't to death, the separation still hit him hard. Unfortunately that was life and though he was able to overcome the sadness from his other losses with only some pain left, this time somehow felt worse. And he supposed that was because for this friend, he was in love with her.

Initially he didn't know it until the moment she told him they were leaving. Upon hearing those words come from her mouth, it hit him like an arrow to the chest. And while he did come to the decision to not tell her of his now realized emotions, he debated at first if he wanted to or not, ultimately he had come to regret the choice he made.

There were moments he wondered how things would be if he had actually confessed his feelings instead of bottling them up. Would they be together? Or perhaps, would they not have been returned? Or maybe she would have returned his feelings, but still left, promising to be together when she came back? Thus leaving the possibility open that they would gradually lose those feelings as time went on. Though considering how he was at the moment, he knew that he probably would still be swooning over her on his end. For Lumine, even though he wasn't 100% certain, he knew that based on the previous relationships she had been in, she loved wholeheartedly and would undoubtedly try and keep those feelings alive even with the distance.

He sighed, sitting down at his desk with resignation. Regardless of how that possibility would've turned out, he knew that it didn't matter now. She was gone and he was here. Short of continuing to leave her short and somewhat sappy voicemails, that would be the closest to that conversation he was ever gonna have with her. And even if the third scenario did happen, he would've probably still let her go. As someone who prided themselves on letting others make their own choices, it would've devastated him more if he held her tied to him while they weren't official in any sense. If she did find someone else out there while they were apart, though it would've hurt him emotionally, he would let her go to them. Her happiness was much more important than his would ever be.

Opening up one of the drawers of the desk, he pulled out a notebook and set it upon the surface. Pulling back the cover, he saw the written words on the page that made up the song he had been composing recently. When he heard about the event coming up, a little voice in his head that suspiciously sounded like Lumine told him to go for it and to use that song as his entry.

He smiled as his thoughts returned back to her, fingers trailing over the page. Venti had written this song with her in mind. Even with the chances of her hearing it being slim to none, a small part of him wanted her to know it was made. Especially considering he had promised her to write a song in her honor when he finally started to get into it. And now with the opportunity presenting itself, who was he to not fulfill it?

Grin still on his face, Venti pulled out a pen from a nearby cup and started scribbling down a few more lines. Though this song was nearly complete, the artist in him wanted to make sure it was absolutely perfect.

~~

“Well, Lumine I'm about to go on stage now. I admit I'm a bit nervous, but I know I can do it! Xiao and Barbara are here to give me their support, but honestly, I wish you were here too. You were always my biggest fan and this song...” He hesitated a bit before pressing on, “is one I know you would've liked if you were able to hear it. I hope...you're having a good time traveling the world. Make sure you bring me back a souvenir! Maybe one day you'll hear the song yourself, though I kind of doubt it. But on the off chance you do, I hope you get to see why I said I thought you'd enjoy it. I'll talk to you later, need to get up there! My audience awaits!”

Venti hit the 'end call' button while simultaneously trying to fight off the incoming anxiety he was starting to feel. Though he knew everything would be alright once he got up there and got into his comfort zone, his rapid thoughts were trying to tell him otherwise. He took in another deep breath while pocketing his phone. He could do this.

He heard his name being called from the other side of the curtain. Well, looks like this was it. Gripping the guitar in hand, he made his way past the cloth and to the seat he was meant to take. Chancing a glance out towards the crowd, he felt relief when he saw two of his friends amongst them, Barbara being the one to give him a wave and Xiao just looking at him. He felt touched that they came, especially since one of them didn't care much for crowds and was probably more nervous than he was about all this. Still, he was glad he made the effort.

Venti's heart stopped for a moment when he thought he caught sight of bright blonde hair, but ultimately it turned out to be someone else instead of who he was hoping. Sighing, he got into position and brought the microphone closer. Time to get this show on the road. “Hello, everyone! A close friend of mine is the subject for this song. And I promise it won't take long.”

~~

The door gently shut behind him, his hand letting go of the knob with a sense of defeat. Well, that could've went differently. Though Venti was happy about placing, he was still hoping for an outright win. He sighed. Oh well, that just meant he needed to work harder on his next piece and since he had gotten his name out there a bit, it gave him more of a chance to garner a following the next time he entered something.

Still…

His green eyes glanced over at the picture he had sitting on a nearby table. In it, he was smiling back at himself with Lumine sitting next to him, her own smile glowing on her face. Actually playing that song for the first time for someone other than himself made the pain he felt at her absence hit him even harder. How he wished she were there to hear it. Though he was sure embarrassment would make him scared to speak the words to her directly, in the end those lyrics were his way of expressing his emotions and were meant for her to hear.

Sighing again, Venti stepped away from the door, entering his tiny kitchen and heading straight for the fridge. He opened it up to see a bottle of Mondstadt's finest wine waiting for him. Grabbing it, he closed the door and went to find something to open it with. Might as well celebrate his success with a drink.

~~

Slurring his words a bit, Venti brought the phone up to his ear. Though normally he tried not to say anything remotely close to how he felt about Lumine during any of the voicemails he left her, tonight he felt brave. A part of him knew it was just the alcohol talking and that he would regret it in the morning, but for now, he was going to say what he wanted and not hold back. It was his freedom to do that, right?

“Lumine, hi! Hehe, it's Venti again!” By this time usually his nerves would start to get the better of him, but since the wine was flowing through his system, it was more muted. But even with this, it took some work to force the words out. Did he really want to do this? After another moment's hesitation he realized, yes, yes he did. “This… this call is a bit...different from the others...”

He sighed, swallowing down his anxiety and forcing the words out of his mouth once more. “And instead of just drawing out the conversation and all that, I'm just going to come out and say it. ...I love you, Lumine. I have for a while now. I just… didn't realize it until you said you were leaving with your brother to travel the world. And, I didn't say anything cause I didn't want to keep you from going after your dreams.”

Venti's eyes welled up with a few tears. The alcohol was definitely starting to hit him now as the sadness he'd been holding back was starting to leak out. He tried to fight them back, but he knew it was a losing battle. “You deserve more than being stuck here when you could travel the world and do anything you ever wanted. And beyond that, you deserve to be with someone who isn't just a musician with a drinking problem. I thought-” Venti went quiet for a moment, some stray tears breaking through. “I thought I'd be able to handle the separation, but apparently...I was wrong.”

During his conversation he had walked from where he had been drinking in the kitchen to his bedroom, the phone still up to his ear. He sat down on the bed, the mattress sinking where he sat. “I guess that's why I started leaving you voicemails as a way to deal with it. I thought, well, since you'd probably never get a chance to listen to them, this would help me get used to you not being here.”

Venti laid back, his head hitting the pillow. He laughed lowly, thinking of how ironic this message was being. “Even now, I know the likelihood of you getting this message is low so...I know you'll never get to hear my confession and who knows, maybe that's a good thing. I'd hate to know that by me saying this that you'd just stay out of an obligation. Like I said before you should be free to make your own choices. That's all I want. ...I don't need anything else.”

More tears flowed from his eyes. He wanted, no needed, to say more, but before he could get another word in, his phone made another tone indicating that the time length had been exceeded.

Venti let go of the device, it slipping from his hands down onto the bedsheets. He blankly stared up at the ceiling, his mind empty of all his usual thoughts except for those of Lumine. He clenched his eyes shut trying to fight off the images. He shouldn't be selfish. He should let her go. She didn't deserve to be stuck with him, she deserved to be free.

Venti felt his breathing start to slow with the early stages of sleep. A small part of him wanted to call her back and say that the last message he left was just a joke and for her to just ignore it, but honestly, deep down he didn't really want to. Though those words would never be heard, it did feel good to get it off his chest. Bottling things up definitely didn't feel good in the long run. But it was his burden to carry. Not hers.

~~

Lumine breathed in deeply once she stepped off the plane and into the tunnel leading into the airport. While she loved flying, the idea of doing it with lots of other people always tended to unnerve her slightly. Unfortunately though it was what she had to deal with. Neither she or Aether were rich enough to afford a private plane, plus it definitely wouldn't help the environment any if they went that route. Gripping the handle of her luggage bag, she continued to follow the path, her brother by her side carrying his own. Upon reaching the end of the hallway, a sign showing their location shone brightly.

'Mondstadt Welcomes You!'

She smiled. It felt so good to be home.

After the two had passed the threshold leading into the main hub of the airport, they each pulled out their phones, eager to let their friends know of their return. Though unfortunately it looked it was taking a bit for their phones to reconnect to their old service line.

“Aether, you did have it set up right? Cause my phone's not connecting.” Lumine glared at the 'no signal' sign at the top corner of her phone trying to will it to get back up full bars.

Aether sighed. “Yep, made sure to pay the bill in full for the entire year just in case too. But mine's not connecting either.” He went ahead and connected to the airport's wifi instead since that still worked regardless of their service. “At least we can still get someone to come pick us up. I mean at least it isn't like how when we were in Jueyan Karst where we had to walk for miles just to find a guide.”

Lumine groaned, pocketing her phone since it was basically a brick at this point. “Don't remind me. Though I don't mind doing some climbing and hiking, that was ridiculous! It'd be nice to have service wherever we went, but no, I wasn't the one who was determined to make it seem more authentic if we went without it.”

Aether chuckled at his sister's annoyance. “Can you blame me? It wouldn't feel like being in another world if we just relied on how we always did things. But regardless, at least we're home now. I wonder how everyone's been while we've been away. Once we get service back, we should give them all a call and have a group meeting after we get over the jet lag.”

Lumine nodded while staring out at the passing cars waiting for the one that Aether said would be picking them up in a few minutes. She definitely wanted to see everyone again that was for sure, but there was one out of the bunch she wanted to see more than the others. She smiled as his familiar grin came to mind.

“Oh, ride's here!” Lumine pulled herself out of her thoughts to see the car Aether was indicating. She sighed in relief. Soon she would be home in her own room and in her own bed. Oh, how she missed it.

~~

As soon as they got home, Lumine immediately went to her room and plopped down onto her bed, her back falling down onto it. Ah, the feeling of being in one's own bed was definitely a feeling that she didn't realize she missed until she left. Just as she felt like closing her eyes and going to sleep, she decided against it. She still needed to get unpacked.

Begrudgingly, she lifted herself off her mattress and stood to grab her luggage. Luckily there wasn't much she needed to unpack, except for the amount of souvenirs she had bought which would take a minute to go through and she didn't feel like doing that at the moment. Luckily she and Aether didn't plan on seeing anyone until tomorrow at the latest so she was glad to leave those alone. But as far as her clothes went she did need to throw those in the wash just to make sure they were clean and there was something else she wanted to unpack as well.

After putting her clothes into the bin located at the edge of her bed, Lumine's eyes caught sight of a worn and well filled notebook at the bottom of her bag. She sighed as she gingerly lifted it up and sat it down onto her bed. After returning her luggage back to it's space on the floor she sat down next to the precious item and brought it up to her lap, hesitating for but a moment before opening it up to the first page. And there on it was his name written at the very top.

Venti.

Her hand grazed over the words while her eyes looked them over. His name started the beginnings of a letter. Of many letters actually. Each one acting as a diary where she was pretending to write to him during her travels with her brother. As to when that started, she couldn't pinpoint the exact date, but she knew it was shortly after they had arrived at their first destination.

There was something she had seen that made her immediately think of Venti and instead of being able to call or text him letting him know of it, she remembered sadly that she couldn't. No matter where they went or how she tried to get a signal, he was unreachable. And it hurt her immensely.

It was so bad that at one point her brother had noticed and asked what was wrong. At first she didn't want to say the reason why since she felt it would be selfish to point out her loneliness when she knew he was feeling the same about some friends he left behind, but after he prodded her enough she finally told him. And the words he said afterward made her come to the realization that she didn't just miss Venti, she was in love with him. It only took her leaving and not seeing him on a near daily basis that made her see it for what it actually was.

After coming to that revelation, she found herself wondering if he felt the same. Aether wanted to hint that he was sure he did, but until she actually heard the words come from the musician himself, she didn't want to entertain that thought just in case it wasn't true. So when Aether told her that he wanted to head back home earlier than they initially planned, she jumped at the chance.

She wanted, no needed to see him again. Not just because she missed him and wanted to give him the biggest hug ever, but she wanted to find a way to confess her feelings and perhaps see if there was something more there between them. And while yes, traveling was fun and she'd love to do it again, the idea of not having Venti by her side to enjoy it with her felt devastating.

The sudden vibration of her phone startled her, nearly making her drop the precious item in her hands. She glanced over the device, picking it up to see what had made it go off. Lumine's expression formed into a happy one when she saw that her service had returned only to have it immediately turn into one of confusion when she saw what one of the notifications was.

Seventeen voicemail messages?! Who would send her those? She groaned thinking it was perhaps spam callers trying to get a hold of her about her 'car warranty' or some other crap like that. Lumine wanted to just remove those notifications immediately but a small voice in her head decided to just listen to them to see what they were about. Though she'd probably delete them anyway, she knew the little icon telling them of their existence wouldn't go away until she actually let them speak their piece.

Well, might as well get it over with. She clicked on the first notification, putting her phone on speaker and dropping it on her bed while moving to put the notebook on her desk. The first message started. “Hehe, hey Lumine, it's Venti here...”

She dropped the notebook.

Immediately she turned back around to the phone, grabbing it with a sense of speed she never knew she had and put it to her ear, taking it off the speaker. His voice started filling her ear causing a few tears to well up in her eyes as she smiled. Oh, she never knew she missed how his voice sounded until hearing it again.

It wasn't until the next three messages played that Lumine realized that all of the other ones were probably from him too and her initial annoyance disappeared into one of happiness. She needed to call him once she got done listening to all these.

A few made her laugh at the updates he was giving about all of their collective friends' lives and she felt joy when he told her about finally signing up for a song competition. She had been trying to get him to do that for a while now after he showed her a few of his works. Though Lumine was upset that she didn't get to see him do his performance, she felt proud of him nonetheless. At least he was finally seeing his potential.

After the sixteenth message ended, Lumine eagerly awaited the last one. According to the timeline it was sent last night during the time they were flying back into Mondstadt which meant that it literally was the latest thing Venti had done which made her feel touched that he had been trying to keep her updated on things even though he couldn't actually talk to her.

The voicemail started. “Lumine, hi! Hehe, it's Venti again!” Lumine frowned. Why did he sound so sad? She pressed the phone closer to her ear. Nothing happened to him, did it? Sure he lost the competition, but why did he sound like he was about to cry?

“This… this call is a bit...different from the others...And instead of just drawing out the conversation and all that, I'm just going to come out and say it. ...I love you, Lumine.” Lumine's eyes widened as she nearly dropped the phone. Her heart jumped.

“I have for a while now. I just… didn't realize it until you said you were leaving with your brother to travel the world. And I didn't say anything cause I didn't want to keep you from going after your dreams.” Oh...oh, Venti… She felt tears building up at hearing the sadness in his voice.

“You deserve more than being stuck here when you could travel the world and do anything you ever wanted. And beyond that, you deserve to be with someone who isn't just a musician with a drinking problem. I thought-I thought I'd be able to handle the separation, but apparently...I was wrong.” Her tears were streaming down her face now. “I guess that's why I started leaving you voicemails as a way to deal with it. I thought, well, since you'd probably never get a chance to listen to them, this would help me get used to you not being here.”

If it wasn't for the sad tone in his voice she would've laughed. Cause he made these thinking she would never hear them only for the exact opposite to happen. “Even now, I know the likelihood of you getting this message is low so...I know you'll never get to hear my confession and who knows, maybe that's a good thing. I'd hate to know that by me saying this that you'd just stay out of an obligation. Like I said before you should be free to make your own choices. That's all I want. ...I don't need anything else.”

Lumine's vision blurred with the amount of tears she was crying. No, he was wrong! He wasn't an obligation, he was what she wanted, no, needed! Damnit, Venti! How dare you try and put yourself down!

She waited for his message to continue only to hear her phone let her know the message had ended. Without another thought she quickly saved it and immediately went to dial Venti's number. The tone indicated the call had connected and shortly after, it started ringing. It rang for a few times before going to his own voicemail. And while she was tempted to leave him her own, she needed to hear his voice. Not a recorded one, his real one. He needed to know how she felt, needed to know he was important, needed to know that her choice was him, no one else!

The first call went unanswered. As well as the second and third. Lumine was just about to go ahead and grab her coat and notebook and head over his apartment herself because she needed to talk to him as it couldn't wait, but before she could Aether entered her room. He stopped upon seeing her face which made him immediately concerned. “Lumine, what's wrong? Why are you crying?”

She sniffed as she tried wiping what was left of the tears away, but the redness of her eyes and nose would remain as indicators of what had happened a few moments before. “It's Venti….”

Aether tensed, thinking something horrible had happened to their friend. “What about him? Is he hurt?! Do we need to go to the hospital?”

Her stomach fell. “Oh, Archons, no, I hope not. He...” She took in a deep breath to help calm her breathing. “He left me some voicemails where in the last one he told me he… he loved me and didn't say anything because he didn't want me to stay out of an obligation to him. And the idiot doesn't realize that I love him too.”

Her tears started to flow again despite her trying to stop. Desperate to help his sister feel better, Aether leaned over to give her a tight hug which she returned. After ensuring that she felt a bit better, he pulled back smiling a bit and wiping away her tears. “Well, then that would explain this video that Barbara sent me. Apparently she recorded Venti's performance with the song he played at some competition he entered and she said it sounded like he was singing about you.”

Lumine's eyes widened as she went to grab the phone from her brother's other hand and saw the video in question loaded up on the screen. Swallowing down her nerves, she pressed the play button in the center to get it to start and immediately felt more tears return upon hearing Venti's song. She smiled a bit as she remembered the promise he made to her about writing a song in her honor and she felt touched that did it.

As the lyrics continued to play, Lumine knew that he had put a lot of care into the song as every note he played and every word he sang reflected it. This made her only fall in love with him more knowing that even with their distance apart, he still continued to think about her. Just as she did for him. His many voicemails also helped prove that. Both of those things made her more determined to go and see him in person.

Once the video came to a close, she gave Aether's phone back to him before returning to what she was doing just before he entered her room. “Where are you going?”

She threw her coat over her shoulders and grabbed her notebook off the floor. “I'm going to go see him. After seeing that video and hearing his voicemails, I need to talk to him. And since he won't answer my calls, I'm going to show up at his apartment where he'll have no other choice but to do that.”

“Wouldn't he just refuse to let you in?” Aether joked trying to lighten up his sister's mood after being in the emotional mess she was previously in.

“He would know better than to do that especially after saying those words to me. Plus this is Venti we're talking about. He couldn't refuse me even if he tried.” Lumine walked to the door only stopping to put on her shoes and grab her keys.

“Well, good luck! Text me if you're going to stay the night!” Lumine blushed hard at Aether's implication. She quickly walked out the door to keep from retorting back. Though she knew they weren't at that stage in their relationship, Lumine couldn't deny that she would want to experience that with Venti someday.

~~

Venti hissed in pain as his head started pounding upon waking. Although he clenched his eyes shut, trying to fight it off, he knew until he took some medicine to help alleviate it, it would continue to get worse. It was moments like this that made him question why he ever drank in the first place, but he knew the only reason why it was this bad was because he drank more than he was supposed to have and didn't have any water to drink in between. But with his emotions all over the place like they were last night, it also wasn't a surprise to him that he woke up like this.

Groaning while also trying to stave off the nausea he was feeling, Venti finally got himself to his feet and started his slow walk to the bathroom. Upon finally making it there, he began trying to use what little sunlight filtered through his blinds to try and find the much-needed medicine. He knew if he turned on the light, it would only make his headache get worse so for now it would remain off.

It took a couple of seconds, but once he had the bottle in hand, he immediately grabbed the amount of pills needed and put them into his mouth while grabbing a nearby cup to get water from the faucet to use to swallow them down. Now with that done, all he had to do was wait. Which was honestly, probably the hardest part because it felt like it took forever for the medicine to finally kick in. In the meantime he decided to lay back down in his dark room to help keep his pounding head from getting worse.

Though the trek felt like it took a bit longer going back, Venti finally made it back to his bed and laid back down, dragging the blankets back over him. As he laid there waiting for the headache to go away, he tried to think back to what he was doing last night, as his memory was vague at best.

He remembered getting home and going to the fridge to get the Dandelion Wine, but after that, everything was a blur. What did he do last night? Hopefully nothing embarrassing…

It was then that he noticed his notification light on his phone blinking. He was filled with a sense of dread. Oh Archons… he didn't drunk call someone, did he? Though the only person he could think of doing that to wasn't in the area, so there wouldn't be a way for them to call back or for him to get a hold of her at all. The only logical explanation left was that it was a notification for an app of his.

At first he was going to ignore it since he could wait to look at those later when his head wasn't killing him, but instead he decided to just see what it was. His thoughts weren't going to leave him alone until he did anyway.

He grabbed the phone and tapped the screen, making it light up with his locked screen and notifications in full view. A missed call? Multiple missed calls?

His nausea came back. He clicked on the icon in question. 'Missed calls from Lumine'.

The sound that came out of his mouth was unworldly. He dropped the phone. What the hell? How was she back? ...What the fuck did he do?!

Okay, okay. Calm down, Venti. Everything was going to be fine. Just breathe. He took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. Maybe she was just calling to let him know that she and Aether had arrived back in Mondstadt and that she wanted to see him again? Yeah, that probably was it..

He opened up his phone which then opened up to his call log since he had clicked on the icon before opening it. His eyes widened at what he saw then.

He had made a call to Lumine? Last night? When he was drunk?

He threw the phone to the other side of his room in his shock. He dragged the blankets over his head. Oh Archons! He was dead. He was completely dead. Did he confess to her?! Sure, he had left her multiple voicemails, but none of those had anything like that in them to even suggest that. So when he called her last, it had to have been what he done. Otherwise why would she call him not one, but three times?!

His thoughts were spiraling so bad, he nearly missed the doorbell ringing. At first he was a bit annoyed. Who would be here at this time trying to bother him? He remembered Lumine. Oh, Archons, was it her?

The doorbell went off a couple more times which told Venti that it definitely was someone that was trying to get a hold of him. After another ring where he didn't answer, it went silent for just a moment before he heard his phone vibrate from the other side of the room. He tentatively peeked his head from under the covers, looking in the general direction he threw the phone and could see her picture light up on it's screen.

He squeaked. It was her at the door. The doorbell rang again.

Venti wanted nothing more than to just ignore both the door and his phone, but he knew how Lumine could be. Once her mind was set on something, she wouldn't let go. And considering that he had an idea of why she was here, he knew he needed to talk to her. Regardless of how he felt about it, she deserved an explanation. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her in the dark.

Taking in a deep breath, Venti pulled himself out from underneath the covers and out of bed. Time to face this head on instead of running away. He took slow steps towards the door to his apartment, his anxiety trying to rear its head. Upon putting his hand on his doorknob, he could hear his phone vibrating again from his bedroom. Her muffled voice came through the door. “C'mon, Venti just answer the phone. I know you're in there...”

His chest hurt at the desperation in her voice. Was she that concerned over him? Maybe he didn't confess to her over the phone and instead said something else that made her worried? He did have a tendency to be more open when drunk, maybe it was his darker emotions that came out and that was what he confessed instead. He sighed. Well, there was only one way to find out. He opened the door.

Once the barrier between them was gone, there she stood, phone still up to her ear trying in vain to get him to answer his own. Venti's heart soared at seeing her again. She looked just as beautiful as the day she left. “L-Lumine? What are you doing--?”

Before he could finish, the girl launched herself, wrapping her arms tightly around him and nearly causing him to lose his footing. Luckily he managed to catch himself before they both fell and even managed to close the door behind them. “Lumine!”

Her face pressed into his chest. He could feel his shirt getting wet with what he assumed was her tears. Archons, did he scare her that bad? The guilt started to overwhelm him. Before he could speak another word, she made her thoughts known. “You idiot! Don't scare me like that! Next time answer your phone when I'm calling you!”

He was torn between being upset that he had worried her and being elated at seeing her back. “Ehe, I take it you heard my voicemails then, huh? Sorry, I was a bit drunk last night, so I've been dealing with a headache from that. Thankfully the medicine has started to kick in, so it's not that bad now.”

Lumine pulled away from him causing him to instantly miss her warmth and looked at him directly. Venti had to admit he felt a little unnerved, but with eyes as beautiful as hers, he didn't mind the staring. He watched as she took in a deep breath, one of her hands coming up to play with her hair. “Did you mean what you said?”

Venti faltered for a moment, confused. “What did I say?” Was this about his last voicemail he sent? His heart broke as he saw her face fall for a moment. Oh, he must've said something important. Why did he have to forget things when he got horribly drunk?

His green eyes caught hold of a notebook sitting in her other hand that she gripped tightly. “Venti.” He looked back at her with rapt attention. “What do you...what do you feel about me?”

His cheeks grew warm. Oh, there were many, many ways he could describe how he felt about the woman in front of him. To pick just one though was a challenge in and of itself. Her question, however, made him realize that he did say something in that last voicemail about his feelings towards her. That made him blush harder. His anxiety started building again.

“Venti?” Lumine grew concerned for a moment, reaching out with her hand to grab his own. Venti squeezed it back, glad that for all his faults, she was being patient with him.

He breathed out, swallowing in an attempt to keep himself focused. Her hand did wonders in helping him ground himself from his anxious thoughts. Though he still had his reservations about telling her, he knew that if she was the one to bring this up instead of the other way around, he had no choice. “I...I love you, Lumine.”

Her eyes lit up at the words while he pressed on. “I didn't know it until you told me you were leaving, but I think I've been in love with you for some time, so I can't exactly say when it started. And I didn't say anything cause I didn't want you to feel like you needed to stay cause of me. I'm not worth that-”

Before he could get another word in, all he could see was her fierce glare getting closer to him and then all he knew was her lips were on his. He froze, shocked at the sudden action she took, but at the same time, he felt his body grow warm with delight. Venti closed his eyes a few seconds after the sensation hit him and began to eagerly return the gesture.

Eventually he lost count of how many kisses they had shared before she pulled away, her forehead touching his. “Don't you ever say you're not worth it. You're worth everything, Venti.”

Venti opened his eyes. His green meeting her gold. He smiled a bit. “Heh, I take it you return my feelings then based on what we just did.”

She looked so pretty when she blushed. Red was definitely a good color on her. “Yes, I love you too, Venti.” If it felt like his heart was going to explode before when they kissed, it was definitely in pieces now after that confession.

“Though, like you, I didn't realize it until later. For me, it was after we had left. I remember seeing something that made me think of you and suddenly realizing that I missed you being around. Then a few more things happened that well, ...honestly, to get a better idea of what those things were, you might want to read this.”

Venti's attention was brought back to the notebook he had noticed her holding earlier. “Oh, what's this?”

She flushed even more as she held the notebook out to him. Venti took it into his hands. “It's a notebook of letters I wrote during my trip. I was… I was pretending that I was writing to you with them. Kinda like how you were doing the same thing but with your voice instead. Since there was no way of me contacting you through my phone since we were out of range no matter where we went, this was the only way I had to cope with it. Especially after I realized how much I actually cared for you.”

Lumine turned her gaze from him, looking down at his floor. “So when I heard your voicemails, especially the last one you sent me, I knew I had to come see you and let you know how I felt. Especially since you had started to talk down about yourself and decided that I didn't need to be with you.”

She returned her golden eyes back up to his. “You said that I should be free to make my own choices. Well, Venti, I chose you. And I chose you because I want to. There's no other reason why but that.”

Venti breathed out slowly, feeling his eyes burn a little from tears that were trying to fall. Did she...did she really mean it? Looking down to the notebook in his hands, Venti knew the truth lay here. Was he sure he really wanted to read this? Glancing back up at her to see her nod, he knew what to do next. He opened it.

It took him a few moments to read them through, but the page he opened up to along with the few others he thumbed past told him all he needed to know. She was telling the truth. A tear fell from Venti's eye. He was nearly startled when he felt her arms wrap back around him again. “Sorry that it took me traveling halfway around the world for me to realize something that had always been there. And I'm sorry I made you feel sad while I was gone. I should've tried a bit harder to get in contact with you. Even if I had to use a hawk to send those messages, I would've.”

Venti laughed, wiping away the tear that had fallen. He hugged her back. “There's no need for that Lumine. I don't blame you. Unfortunately it took just that for us to realize our feelings. It's as the saying goes 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'.”

She huffed. “Though it makes it grow fonder, it still doesn't make it hurt any less.”

He chuckled. “That's true. But that's then and this is now. I'm sorry for scaring you with that last message. Though I can't remember any of what I said, I know it had to have been something that brought you to worry about me. Sorry about that. I won't do it again.”

Lumine pulled away from him slightly, glaring. “You better.” She glanced down at his lips before returning her eyes to his, her own question easy to read. He smiled in response.

Their lips pressed together again and as they continued to exchange kisses for some time, their actions started to become a bit more heated before Lumine's phone went off with a text message. She growled in annoyance, moving to grab her phone to put it on silent, before first stopping to see what the message said. Venti grew concerned when her face grew red again and cursed under her breath. “Damnit, Aether...”

Though he liked to give people a degree of privacy, especially with their phones, he couldn't help but be curious. “What?”

He watched her furiously type back a message before putting it on silent and tossing it onto the table where it remained for the rest of the evening. “Oh nothing. Just brothers being brothers.”

Although Venti was confused by her response, he wasn't able to dwell on it for long as Lumine had put her mouth back on his, eager to get back to what they were doing before Aether's interruption. Oh well, he could figure out later just what her brother wanted. There were more important things to focus on right now.

~~

“Venti…

I'm not sure why I'm writing this like I'm going to send it to you later when I'm not able to, but I guess I just wanted to get this off my chest since it's been slowly building up inside of me since I left. And honestly it probably has been building more even longer than that.

I can't pinpoint exactly when it started, but the strong emotion I've felt for you has always been there ever since we started high school. We've always been friends and that's all I ever thought this feeling was until just a few days ago when Aether and I came across this little village in Liyue that was throwing a small party for someone who lived among them. They used music and everything to help celebrate that person and it was during that time that I was hit with a sudden feeling of loneliness since I knew that this was something that you would be thoroughly enjoying if you were with me.

After that party, the feeling kept hanging around to the point where even Aether noticed. I know you're thinking 'Aether, he noticed something?'. Yes, even my dense brother can notice things sometimes. At first I didn't want to tell him since I didn't want to ruin this trip for him, but he kept pushing it until eventually I told him and you know what, after we talked I finally realized what it was I was feeling towards you. And I'm glad to know I finally have a name for it.

Though it's both an exciting and terrifying thought to think of, I know I need to say it otherwise, I'll explode.

I love you, Venti. I'm sorry it took me so long to see it and realize, but I do. I really do. And as soon as me and Aether get back in Mondstadt, I'm going to find you and tell you that myself in person. And I pray that you'll return my feelings. And even if you don't, at least I'll know that they've been said.

A small part of me is afraid that I'll ruin our friendship by saying it and potentially messing up what we have, but honestly, if Aether is hinting correctly, you probably do return them wholeheartedly, but until I hear those words myself, I don't want to get my hopes up.

But until I hear them from you myself, I'll just continue to write mine for you here. I love you, Venti. I have for a long time and I hope that it'll stay that way. Always.

-Lumine'