Work Text:
“You want me to what?” Ningguang asked Beidou with a scrunched up face.
“Ok well, I just wanted you to have a change of pace, y’know. Being cooped up here with all this work isn’t going to help with...you know.” Beidou’s eyes softened.
Ningguang sighed.
“Beidou, I really appreciate your offer and intentions, but there is just so much work to do. So many things must be done now that Rex Lapis has passed away and I need to prove to the remaining politicians doubting me that I am capable. Plus...I can’t just leave all this work to Keqing and Ganyu. They’re already constantly working overtime and, to be frank, both have a lot on their own minds too.” Ningguang rubbed her temples. A massive headache was coming.
“Then, how about instead of a week, you come on a joyride on The Crux with its captain for a day? Surely Ganyu and Keqing can manage for a day, and you can give them a day off after or something. Plus, you’ve been staring at this one document for the past 20 minutes, what progress!” Beidou taunted.
“Well someone has been distracting me for the past 20 minutes.” Ningguang tried to come back with a witty retort.
Ganyu walked over to the two bickering over Ningguang’s desk with a stack of papers.
Ganyu bowed, “I apologize for eavesdropping, Lady Ningguang, and Captain Beidou...but Keqing and I wouldn’t mind if you took a day off. We could manage it. Plus, I think you would benefit from a break.”
Beidou gave a thankful look to Ganyu, and returned a playful one to Ningguang.
Ningguang sighed again, her head drooping.
“Thank you Ganyu…I’ll see if I can make time for this…” Ningguang trailed off.
“Date?” Beidou lowered to Ningguang’s eye-level, grinning.
“Whatever. Please leave now. I have lots of work to catch up on now that a little someone has planned a “date” for me.” Ningguang glared.
“I wonder who.” Beidou laughed as she left Ningguang’s office.
And like that, Ningguang somehow got herself into this so-called “date” with The Crux’s captain at 4:00 A.M. in the morning a few days later.
The sky was still dark and the moon gave out a faint white glow. The weather was cool and crisp. A gentle breeze swept Ningguang’s long white hair as she stood on a dock for The Crux.
“Hello, Tianquan. Looking quite beautiful today.” Beidou grinned as she waltzed off of her ship onto the dock. She bowed and put out a hand towards Ningguang.
Sighing for the hundredth time this week, she took Beidou’s hand and walked into The Crux. Aboard Beidou’s ship, Ningguang was warmly welcomed by her crew, taking her belongings to their prepared room. She immediately noticed how clean the ship’s deck was compared to previous visits.
“We and Beidou scrubbed the ship from top to bottom to accommodate your arrival, Lady Ningguang!” One of the younger crewmembers piped up.
Others tried to shush him, but Ningguang seemed quite touched by this.
“Thank you for your care, though, you really didn’t need to go through such measures. The Crux is always in good condition anyway thanks to all the care you guys put into it.” Ningguang smiled.
“Aw, why thank you, Lady Ningguang. Please, make yourself welcome aboard The Crux for this one and a half-day voyage to Guyun Stone Forest!” Beidou announced.
All of a sudden, her brain finally woke up and several hundred trains of thought went through her head. Day and a half? Didn’t she say it was only a day? Of course Beidou would be so unpredictable. And...why was she even on this ship? Her reputation would be irredeemable if she was seen on The Crux, sailing away, leaving all the work needed to be done to the rest of the Qixing. Why did Ganyu and Keqing agree? She didn’t even have time to think this morning as she was dragged out of bed by the excited half-adeptus and shoved out into the harbor by the Yuheng. Why-?
“Hey Tianquan. Why do you think we got you out here at 4:00 A.M. in the morning?” Beidou put her hands on her hips.
“Still, you never know when people might be lurking about. Additionally, another half day means I’ll be even more behind on work… Plus, don’t you guys need to do a few more rounds of shipments of whatever you guys bring every time to meet your monthly quota?” Ningguang questioned, “Not to mention, there are many ruin guards and hilichurl camps all across the islands. It’s quite dangerous.”
Sighing, Beidou said, “Hey now. I put a lot of thought into this whole thing, so don’t worry about anything other than loosening up a bit. I said half a day as an over-estimate in case we have to take a detour. It should only be about a day. Plus, your Qixing will take care of things while you’re gone and I’ve got my whole thing sorted out. I know these islands like the back of my hand. We’ll take the safest route and I’ll protect you from any danger!”
“I-” Ningguang was about to go off on another lecture.
“If you’re really worried, on this trip we’ll be collecting crystal cores and starconches. Crystal cores always sell a pretty penny and a certain Snezhnayan who’s loaded is quite interested in starconches. I swear Ningguang, if you talk about work again, I’ll literally…” Beidou’s head shook.
Ningguang nodded drowsily. Her body finally caught up with her and she didn’t have much energy left to rebuke Beidou, not that there was much to chide her...this whole thing was planned out pretty decently, considering Beidou was behind all of this.
“Why don’t you take a relaxing, refreshing, and well-deserved sleep until the sun rises, considering you can’t really do anything else.” Beidou put her hands on Ningguang’s shoulders, her grip tightening, “Unless you’re willing to jump off this ship and swim back onto the harbor to continue your work.”
Beidou’s passive-aggressive demeanor and frightening smile made Ningguang break into a small sweat as she was pushed into the living quarters of The Crux.
“Oh boy.” Ningguang thought, “This is going to be a long one.”
===================================================
Ningguang felt light. Strange. She opened her eyes and realized she was standing back on the Jade Chamber.
“Why must my brain hurt me like this.” Ningguang cringed.
She looked around, and suddenly noticed a tall man with white hair nearby, smiling at her.
“Father.” she breathed.
He glanced at her vision, his smile grew wider. He seemed to be saying something, but the rain started falling. She couldn’t hear what he was saying. She ran towards him, she still couldn’t hear anything.
“Father! What are you saying?” she was starting to panic.
I just want to hear you once more.
A storm was brewing, Ningguang could feel the rain pelting onto her body. She heard a loud roar and froze.
Osial.
She turned around, only to find that her father was gone.
“No...No, no, no, no…” now she was trembling.
After a particularly large bolt of lightning struck the Jade Chamber, followed by an ear-deafening clap of thunder, she felt it lowering. The ground beneath her was crumbling.
Falling, she was only getting closer to Osial.
All alone.
===================================================
When Ningguang awoke again, she could hear the hustle-bustle of Biedou’s crew outside. The warm sunlight was leaking into the room, emitting a light yellow glow. When was the last time she slept in this late? Although she hadn’t dreamt about work this time, this nightmare was probably worse. Her head hurt.
“Perhaps taking a breath of fresh air will help.” she thought.
Upon stepping onto the deck, she was greeted by a few crew members and the wafting scent of food.
“We bought some food from Wanmin restaurant to heat up, just in case the food we make on the ship doesn’t suit your taste. We are almost done preparing for breakfast, so please take a seat, Lady Ningguang.” a crewmember explained.
“Ah, thank you very much.” Ningguang nodded.
At the table, Ningguang could hear the lively banter between the crew members on The Crux. She didn’t mind the noise, though. It felt much more calming and welcoming than formal dinners between other politicians. She felt at ease here, and nobody treated her like a rival or some superior being. Not to mention, the food was quite good as well. The atmosphere was immaculate.
“Of course it’s good. I personally chose to fund this restaurant.” Ningguang smiled at the thought.
“Ooo, hehe. You're smiling~ That’s a good sign!”, Beidou appeared right next to her, with a grin.
Ningguang choked on her tea.
“I- *cough* Beidou! You scared me-” Ningguang was cut off with another round of coughing.
Beidou almost couldn’t hide her laugh while the rest of the crew members grew tense at the sight of the Tianqian being treated like a regular friend.
“It’s quite rare to see the Tianqian break her character. I’m so glad this is happening.” Beidou wheezed.
Ningguang’s face was flushed from the coughing, embarrassment, and annoyance, “Beidou, please do not walk behind me like that. I thought this whole ordeal was for me to enjoy myself. What will you do if I don’t make it back alive from one of your jumpscares?” Ningguang glared back.
The crew members relaxed after Ningguang’s sarcastic remark and conversations between each other arose again.
“Daww, I’m sure you can withstand a few of my jokes. After all, you are the Tianqian of Liyue that battled Osial and managed to-”, Beidou realized what came after that incident and immediately felt guilty, “Sorry.”
Ningguang shook her head, “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to excuse myself from the table.”
“Yeah... Alright.”, Beidou gave a small nod.
Ningguang walked back into her sleeping chambers and sat on the bed.
“How embarrassing.”, Ningguang thought, “I should be over that already...the sacrifice of the Jade Chamber was necessary for the safety of Liyue. It’d be selfish to save the chamber and jeopardize Liyue. It’s already been a month since it’s happened. I should be over it.”
She decided to return to the table quickly so others wouldn’t question her absence and worry about it. She could make the excuse of using the lavatory or needing to get something from her luggage if she made a move on now.
As hoped, nobody but Beidou knew what happened, and breakfast came to an end. Despite the crew’s protest, Ningguang helped clean up the table and dishes.
She wandered aimlessly around the ship after, realizing the first time in many years that she didn’t have anything to do. She heard a couple of children call her name.
“Lady Ningguang! Lady Ningguang! Can you play with us?”, a little boy and a few of his friends scurried over to her.
“We are going to play pretend and fight off an evil sea monster just like you and Beidou have!”, a girl with pigtails exclaimed.
Their parents soon caught on and rushed to their childrens’ sides, chiding them and apologizing to Ningguang for their lack of respect. Ningguang waved it off and said she’d be more than happy to play with the children, and the parents gave their thanks to her.
“Playing with the children would probably be better than wandering all over The Crux. I don’t know what else I could do to use up this free time…” Ningguang thought.
And so, Ningguang and the children took up a small corner of the deck to play pretend. Each took turns being the sea monster and fought against the others. Some pretended to have a vision, others armed with wooden swords or shields. Although they were playing, they seemed to have some fighting moves reminiscent of Beidou’s fighting style.
“Woo, not bad Little Yue! Good stance.” Beidou seemingly appeared out of nowhere again.
Beidou and Ningguang’s eyes met, and Beidou shot Ningguang an apologetic look. Ningguang nodded, indicating to her to not worry about the incident anymore.
“Beidou! Beidou! Teach us more fighting skills!”, Little Yue pleaded, along with the cheers of the other children in agreement.
“Sure! Lady Ningguang, would you like to join us?” Beidou asked.
Ningguang agreed, though she wondered how she would help, considering she used a catalyst and heavily relied on her vision.
Beidou taught them how to hold a sword properly, reminded them of a proper fighting stance, and how to swing a sword effectively. Ningguang played along, albeit slightly embarrassing for her, she had fun.
The girl with pigtails shyly walked up to her, fidgeting with her hands, “L-Lady Ningguang, could you show us your vision? I heard you can form crystals using your hands!”.
“Hmm, I suppose I could…” Ningguang trailed off.
If she were to be honest. She hadn’t used her geo vision ever since crushing Osial. There wasn’t a need for it, and Ningguang didn’t want to use it anyway.
“We must be careful, though, so we don’t hurt anyone.” Ningguang pointed out.
She focused and formed a shimmering yellow crystal floating atop her hand. The children huddled around it at a safe distance in awe, murmuring amongst themselves.
“Wahh! I’m so glad Captain Beidou let us on the ship this time! I want to get strong as fast as possible so I can be like Lady Ningguang and Captain Beidou and help Liyue fight bad guys!”, Little Yue grinned.
“His demeanor is strangely similar to Beidou…” Ningguang mused.
“Consider yourself lucky Yue. Last time I heard from Juza while I was gone you sneaked onto a ship...along with this blonde traveller...Either way, it’s dangerous in the sea. I’ve only let you come because you managed alright last time, and since we are so familiar with Guyun. You must be prepared before you go on a true voyage next time.” Beidou chided.
Ningguang was surprised that someone as carefree and wild like Beidou would give such an earful about safety and such to a child. Can’t judge a book by its cover, it seems.
Playing with the children made her realize how much she had missed her own free time, to bask in the sunlight without a worry, and laugh with friends as they enjoyed little daily activities. Then again, she never really had that many chances to do those things in her life in the first place. She had always had to fight to survive, to feed herself when her father died, to maintain her position in Liyue to survive, to keep everyone in Liyue safe.
“It’s a nice change of pace.” Ningguang’s thoughts were interrupted.
Someone called Beidou, telling her it was her shift to sail the ship. They mentioned to Ningguang that they’d be arriving soon to Guyun. Ningguang decided to get herself situated in preparation for the arrival at Guyun Stone Forest.
Upon stepping onto the sandy beaches of Guyun Stone Forest, Ningguang felt the soft sand under her high heels and a gentle breeze caressing her hair. She was wary, however, as Guyun had a hilichurl encampment in almost every island. Someone put a hand on her shoulder.
“Relax, you’ve got me here.” Beidou smirked.
“As if I need you to protect me.” The white-haired Tianqian whipped back.
“Feisty, huh? As expected of Liyue’s Tianqian.” Beidou returned playfully, “Crew! Enjoy yourselves today! Meet back up by nightfall.”
“Let’s climb this massive thing. It’s really beautiful at sunset up there.” The captain pointed to the largest cliff on the islands.
“Uhn...Alright…” Ningguang looked at the tall cliff uneasily. Would she be able to climb the cliff in her heels? No. It’d be embarrassing if she couldn’t. She clearly didn’t think about her attire for this trip clearly.
As if reading her mind, Beidou spoke up, “Don’t worry. I know the easiest way up. Though, it still might be kinda hard with your heels, but I believe the Tianqian can do it, hah!”
It was slightly difficult climbing up, but they did it one step at a time.
Ningguang noticed something yellow peeking out of some rocks along the way. She went over and chipped away the stone with her geo vision, revealing a dazzling cor lapis.
“Damn. That’s a nice one.” Beidou commented over her shoulder.
“Mhm. Perhaps I can gift this to Keqing. I remember her saying something about liking cor lapis…” Ningguang mused.
Eventually, although progress wasn’t the fastest, the two made it up to the top of the cliff. Just in time, too, the sun was starting to set.
The wind was slightly stronger at the top, and there was not much footing near the end. But Beidou was holding her hand, she felt safe. Ningguang looked around, there were a few beautiful qingxin swaying gently in the wind. She smiled and bent down, picking them up.
“Ganyu would love these. Only a few things make her so visibly happy… fresh qingxin is one of them haha. She’s quite cute.” Ningguang’s smile grew slightly bigger.
“What about me? Am I cute?” Beidou looked at Ningguang with an attempt at puppy eye.
Ningguang glanced away, “Yes, you are very cute too, though I think handsome fits you as well.”
Beidou’s eye slightly widened, her pupil enlarging. Ningguang thought that she might’ve been blushing too, but the glare of the sunlight made it hard to tell.
“Seems like you really care about your acquaintances, huh?” Beidou gave her a smile, though Ningguang felt like there was a hint of sadness in it.
“Along this whole trip, you’ve been trying to make others happy. Playing with the children, which was clearly out of your comfort zone at first, and looking all around for things to gift your acquaintances, all of this...But…” Beidou’s face became serious, “What about you? Are you happy? Are you enjoying yourself? Are you ok?”
“I-'' Ningguang was shocked at her question. Why would she ask that? What did she even mean? Was she ok? To be honest, she wasn’t sure herself. At first, the only thing she could think of was surviving. When she became possibly the richest person in Teyvat, she’d be pressed with work, expectations, and responsibilities every day. She never really stopped to actually think about how she felt. Perhaps she didn’t want to, either. She didn’t want to acknowledge the idea that she was hurting.
Beidou went for Ningguang, giving her a tight embrace, “You don’t have to hurt alone, Ningguang. You have me, and Ganyu, and Keqing... You can rely on people, y’know?”
Hearing those words made her heart wrench. And so, for the first since her father died, leaving her to fend for herself, since all the troubles she had to deal with in Liyue, since all the times people tried to take advantage of her, since Liyue was almost destroyed by Osial, since the time that she had to sacrifice the Jade Chamber, that she put her blood and sweat into for Liyue, Ningguang cried. She clutched onto Beidou, sobbing into her strong shoulder. She cried out all the years of pent up anger and sorrow.
The sunset illuminated the two on the top of the cliff, encasing them in their own world.
When Ningguang finally calmed, she wiped off her tears with her hand.
“Better?” Beidou asked.
“Mmm.” Ningguang nodded.
“Oh my, the qingxin, they’re kinda smushed…” she sniffled.
Beidou pulled out a box, inside was a mist flower corolla, “Here, put those in here.”
“Sorry.” Ningguang murmured.
“Don’t be.” Beidou gave her a soft smile.
“Ugh, how am I going to return to the ship after crying so hard?” Ningguang mumbled.
Beidou opened the box again and held onto the mist flower corolla for a while.
“Hoo, cold!”, Beidou laughed.
“What are you doing-?”, before Ningguang could finish, Beidou put her cool hands on her eyes.
“I heard that putting something cold on your eyes can reduce the swelling. Hope hands work too.”, Beidou grinned.
They stayed like this for a while, and when Beidou removed her hands from Ningguang’s face, she nodded, “Mmm. It’s better now. Plus it’s getting dark, so they probably won’t be able to really notice.”
“Thanks. Thanks for all of this. I...” Ningguang spoke.
Beidou scratched her head, “Eh, don’t worry about it. I told you you could always rely on me, so...yeah.”
“How should I repay you for this?” Ningguang asked.
“Huh? Oh, no, you don’t need to. My pleasure to treat the Tianqian, haha.”
Though it was getting dark now, Ningguang could tell she was getting flustered.
Beidou leaned close to Ningguang, “Though, if you really want to treat me, how about a…”
Ningguang’s heart was pounding, “Whatever you’re thinking, no.”
“Aww c’mon. I haven’t even said anything yet. Plus I was just gonna joke about how you can lower my fines…” Beidou trailed off.
“I’ll...I’ll think about it.” her heartbeat was still going insane.
They made their way down the large cliff while Beidou caught crystal flies left and right. By the end of it, the sky was dark but she had a bag full of them.
“Woo, not bad for a laid-back haul.” Beidou commented as she inspected the materials they collected.
She and her crew members lifted all of the cargo onto the ship’s storage compartment and lifted The Crux’s anchor. Soon, they were sailing back to Liyue.
Aboard The Crux, they were eating the remaining food from Wanmin Restaurant. Lively banter amongst the crew members rose once again, and this time, Ningguang listened to some of the conversations.
“Did you see how I managed to defeat that metachurl? I still can’t believe I managed to break that shield with one swoop! My sword broke, though, but I can always get a new one.” a young man boasted.
“Yeah yeah. You’ve told us this 3 times already. Juza could probably do what you did easily. I bet Beidou could defeat 4 without breaking into a sweat!” another chimed in.
“C’mon now. Let me have my moment! And plus, remember that time when Beidou slipped on a wet starconch and ended up drop kicking that hilichurl? They can’t always be badass…” the young man protested.
“Oh I remember that haha!”, the other laughed.
“Huh?”, Ningguang blurted out.
There was a slight pause in the conversation, surprised at Ningguang’s sudden noise.
“Beidou hasn’t ever told you that story, huh?”, the young sailor asked.
She shook her head.
“Ooo, we better hurry before Beidou comes back then, haha. During one of our trips, we encountered a hilichurl camp with several mitachurls. Beidou and a couple of others made a bet to see how fast they could break the shields. I guess Beidou got too cocky, so she wasn’t aware of her footing and slipped on a wet starconch. But Beidou being Beidou, she used her greatsword as a pole and drop kicked that mitachurl instead.”, the young sailor explained.
“Also, don’t tell her I told you, but I’m pretty sure I heard a rip in her clothes,” he whispered.
Ningguang, once again, choked on her tea. She started laughing uncontrollably at the image of Beidou, who always seemed so confident and strong, slipping and possibly ripping her clothes.
Everyone stopped eating and stared at the Tianqian laughing at such a story.
“I see you’re enjoying yourself.” Beidou smiled, breaking the silence.
Ningguang realized what she was doing and became embarrassed.
“But I’m glad. This is the first time I’ve seen you laugh so hard, it’s cute.” Beidou commented, “Though, what were you guys talking about? I’m genuinely curious what made you laugh this much?”
“I, uh.” Ningguang glanced at the panicking sailor, “We were talking about…”
“It’s about the time I slipped on a starconch isn’t it?” Beidou sighed.
Ningguang choked back her laughter.
“They never let go of that story, I swear…” Beidou dramatically put a hand over her face, peeking at Ningguang who is trying to keep her composure, and smiled, “Though, perhaps it’s a good thing, making you laugh so hard. I’ll deal with these guys later.”
The rest of the time, The Crux sailed peacefully across the water. It was about 4 in the morning when they docked a few miles from Liyue. Ningguang woke up groggily as Beidou shook her awake.
“We’re a few miles away from Liyue so that people won’t see you come off of The Crux. Gather your belongings and let’s go.” Beidou spoke softly.
They silently walked off the ship and onto solid land.
“Well, this is it. I hope you had fun.” Beidou grinned.
“I really did. Thanks for doing all of this for me…” Ningguang said.
Silence filled the air.
“As for your payment…” Ningguang glanced at Beidou, placing her luggage on the ground.
She leaned close to the captain, she could feel Beidou’s heartbeat as she placed her hand on her chest. Ningguang went in and gave Beidou a kiss.
“That’s your “treat” for now.” the white-haired Tianqian grinned back, “Thanks again. I’ll see you around, then.”
And with that, she walked away.
Beidou stood in place dumbfounded, a hand on where she received the kiss, “Oh…”
Both returned home blushing.