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A Genshin Impact Fanficiton
Windblume Wedding
By: Knowlee Raven
~~
To say she was nervous was an understatement. And, in some strange way, it was hilarious. She had fought monsters, gods, demons and strange creatures and didn't bat an eye. But this? This was terrifying. And what exactly was this, pray tell? It was the preparation of presenting the Windblume for the annual Ceremony to the Anemo God, Barbatos.
While she had done this once before and knew what to expect, her anxiety was still setting in. Probably because instead of choosing one of the local flora to give to the god, she was going to be the one presented in its place. And while to an outsider this would seem blasphemous, to her and those that were her friends knew how it made perfect sense especially since she had been dating Barbatos' mortal form, Venti, for some time now.
Lumine’s golden eyes looked at herself in the mirror as one of those said friends, Barbara was brushing her hair, readying it for a veil to be set in. She took in a deep breath to try and quell her thoughts, focusing on the feeling of the comb moving through her hair to let her body relax. Although her body was in a fight or flight mode, in reality she knew she had nothing to worry about. In truth, she and Venti had been speaking of doing this for some time now, but unfortunately in between their respective duties and dealing with the Fatui and Abyss Order trying to fight them at every turn, they never had a chance to sit down and discuss dates, plans, or other details regarding it.
Of the few things they had discussed, they had decided that they would like for it to be small, outside preferably and to have Zhongli make the rings. Beyond that, it was a blank. And even with it taking some time for them to come up with something, they always tried to be patient considering all the things they had to deal with at the same time. But deep down, she knew that Venti was getting close to just stealing her away and marrying her in private as his patience was beginning to wear thin. Hell, he even joked at one point “I’m Barbatos, surely I can officiate my own wedding!” She laughed. Though she knew he was only kidding, at the same time she knew he would do it if push came to shove.
The sound of the brush being put down onto the vanity effectively pulled Lumine out of her own little world, bringing her attention back to the mirror where she saw Barbara grinning and looking at her hair which she managed to style perfectly even with all it’s short edges. “There it’s done! I would put the veil on, but first we need to get the dress. Jean should be here in just a few moments with it.”
As if on cue, a soft knocking came from the door catching the two women’s attention. Barbara walked over, opening it a crack to see who it was before letting the person on the other side walk in quickly and then closing it back behind them. In the mirror’s reflection, Lumine could see it was Master Jean who had entered and was holding in her hands the dress they had made for this event along with a box containing the bouquet and other necessities. Lumine nerves shot up again at the sight. This was it. It was for real this time. No more just talking about it.
Jean smiled at the young woman before her and could see her nervousness peaking through. Though she was a trained warrior and could easily handle herself in any situation, this was definitely something out of her field. And though she knew what was going to happen and that nothing bad would come of it, the nerves were completely understandable. It was a life-changing event that Lumine was about to experience. That particular one being her getting married to the man she loved. In a way Jean was jealous, but that negative emotion got drowned out at the pride she felt. Of all the people in Mondstadt she knew, Lumine deserved to have this. She had done so much for their city so if they could give her at least this, it would only help pay her back a small amount for all that had sacrificed for them.
Putting the box and dress down onto the nearby chaise, Jean motioned for Lumine to stand up so that she and Barbara could start the next part of the preparation. Acting as ladies in waiting, she and Barbara helped Lumine out of her usual attire and into the dress she’d be wearing as the bride aka Windblume that she would be at the wedding. Once it was properly fitted, Jean set about making sure that everything on it was in order while Barbara went to open the box to reveal the cecelia flower crown that lay inside. Gently lifting it up, the deaconess walked over to Lumine and placed it on her head softly before grabbing some hair pins to ensure it’s security as the woman moved around. Then she took the veil off the vanity and pinned it to the back of the crown, allowing it for now to trail behind her until the moment they would need to use part of it to cover her face.
Jean walked back over to the box and grabbed the last thing remaining inside: the bouquet made out of cecelias. Heading back over to Lumine, she gave it to her to hold and stepped back beside Barbara to look her over to ensure everything looked perfect. Barbara wiped a tear as she looked at the young woman. “Oh...you look so beautiful, Lumine!” She giggled. “Venti won’t know what to think when he sees you!”
Lumine blushed at the compliment. She had been called many things before, but to be referred to as beautiful was certainly something she didn’t hear often. At least not from people other than Venti. He would constantly refer to her as beautiful, his flower, his melody, etc. And even though she had heard him say it all the time, it never failed to make her smile and blush knowing that someone saw her like that and not just as a warrior. She also felt grateful. Knowing that she and Venti had tried their hardest at getting this done before and getting nowhere with it only to have Jean and the others manage to make something up in the matter of days was definitely something she appreciated though at the same time she felt guilty knowing that they could’ve done it on their own. Though the possibility of that was very, very slim. “Thank you. Also all of you didn’t have to do this for us, we could’ve handled it…”
The two women smiled at her while Jean walked over to place a hand on her shoulder to give her reassurance. “Nonsense. It’s the least we can do for what you’ve done for us. Both you and Venti.” Pulling away, Jean’s warm smile remained. “All we need to do now is get you to the spot where the ceremony takes place and all without Venti knowing. So remember, don’t speak a word.”
Lumine nodded knowing that the reason for this was due to Venti’s Anemo powers. He was able to hear things on the wind so if she or anyone said something related to what they were doing he would know. Hence why they were only talking about it inside and not outside where the wind kept it’s presence. She breathed in once more and smiled, a bit of excitement overtaking her nerves. She couldn’t wait to see his face once he saw her.
~~
Venti wasn't sure exactly what was going on. Sure, things looked normal, but he could see there was something beneath the surface just waiting to be revealed. What it was though, he couldn't quite put a finger on it. And that annoyed him greatly.
Of course, however, there was another thing that irritated him more which was the fact that he couldn't find Lumine anywhere. A small part of him was concerned that she might be hurt or something, but he knew that to not be the case simply because with the festival going on there weren't any commissions available for her to take to increase that chance. So that left his ideas of where she could be down to almost none.
She could be with Klee or Diona playing some of the games that were set up. That could explain why she hadn't been able to tell him specifically where she was since those two were known for dragging her off randomly to go play without any warning. But then again...why couldn't he hear her playing with them? The wind didn't bring him anything like that to his ear. And what made the situation even more curious was that he didn't even hear neither one of them either. Course they could just be indoors, Diona did work at a bar and Klee could be in solitary confinement so that could explain why.
Even with that rationale though, something just didn't sit right with him. And he was going to find out what it was. The seat next to him scratched the floor as it was pulled out to be used. Venti didn't recognize the stranger at first until they spoke. His voice almost sounding familiar to hers. Which made sense considering who he was. "Not getting yourself drunk are you? I'd hate for you to miss out on the whole festival because of that habit."
Venti laughed, glancing over at the man next to him. "Nah, I think your sister would kill me if I did. Besides, I'm saving that for later. I promised her I'd stay sober during the bulk of the festival so we could enjoy most of it together until the last day. Then I could go ahead and enjoy the rare wines they only make during this time. Hence why I'm drinking apple cider instead." He tapped the glass in front of him for good measure to show he wasn't lying.
Aether chuckled. "That's nice to know."
Venti took a sip of his drink, holding it in the air for a moment before setting it down. Surely it wouldn't hurt to ask him. If anyone knew where she was, it would be her twin. "Say, Aether, you haven't seen your Lumine around, have you? I've been looking for her all morning and I've had no luck. Seems strange for her to leave like that, especially without leaving a note, but maybe she just didn't think about it…?"
Aether hummed, seeming to mull over the situation before answering. "She could be just getting your Windblume present ready. And the reason why she didn't leave a note was maybe because she's keeping it a secret? I dunno."
That could very well be true. While Lumine didn’t really have the flare for dramatics, that was more his thing than hers, she did take pride in doing nice things for people and if she could make it a surprise then that was a plus. Smiling, he felt his chest grow warm. It was just one of the many things he loved about her. Taking another swallow of his cider, Venti decided to calm down about the situation. Lumine wasn’t the type to leave him high and dry and besides he was looking forward to seeing what his flower came up with. And if that was what she was up to, then perhaps he should speed up making his own gift for her.
He was almost done with the lyrics portion and now only had the melody left. Venti tried thinking hard about how it should sound, but none of what he came up with really stuck. He couldn’t haphazardly do it either. It had to be perfect.
Deciding to leave his own love life for the time being, Venti turned his attention to the man next him. Smirking, he knew he was going to enjoy teasing him. If only Lumine were here to see it. “Speaking of gifts...what are you gonna get a certain Yaksha? The winds tell me that you two are supposed to meet up here soon.”
The flustered expression that immediately spread onto Aether’s face made Venti cackle loudly, making a few bar patrons look in their direction. Aether attempted to ignore them, but it was difficult to do so when the two of them were widely known in the city. Venti being a famous bard known for his amazing ballads and Aether being the twin brother of the Honorary Knight and former leader of the Abyss Order. Though that last bit of knowledge was tightly kept within the higher ranks of the Knights of Favonius, he still heard the occasional whispers and felt the stares of those who suspected him.
That story was definitely a tale in of itself and Aether was extremely grateful that Lumine was able to convince the Knights to keep it under the rug. To make the story short, he had apparently been brainwashed by the darker powers he had been messing with to have the desire to destroy the entirety of the world and human population in it. While the Abyss was correct in needing to gain revenge against the gods for destroying their home, killing innocent people just to punish them wouldn’t do the thing they wanted. It would make them no different from those they wished to destroy. But the darkness had altered his viewpoint and made him more willing to do the darker aspects of the plan.
After being freed from its influence and learning that not all the gods held a hand in the destruction and some even wanted to go against those who had, made him change his stance a bit. Unfortunately it wasn’t the same for the rest of the Order. Unable to be freed or willing to, they rallied around the new leader, the Abyss Herald, and continued its mission, but with the ‘kill all mortals and immortals’ plan intact.
That in turn led him to join his sister and her friends in their journey to meet the Seven. And while he had met some of them in the past, he had a feeling that their stances may have changed since that incident 500 years prior or perhaps like Zhongli and Venti, they had no connection to it. That and with the revelation that the Tsaritsa, the Cryo Archon, was gathering the Archons’ Gnosis’, it made him wonder if they were trying the same as the Abyss but with less bloodshed.
So join them, he did. And after doing that he had the chance to meet the rag tag teammates and friends that Lumine had gathered. One of which was someone who, without realizing, had caught his attention and his heart: Xiao.
The two didn’t interact much the first time he met, something Xiao later admitted to being because he sensed a darkness from him and was concerned he was trying to trick them, which honestly was a valid concern considering his history. But after finding out the reason behind it and revealing that he experienced a similar situation with someone using him for their dark designs, they slowly grew closer. And as that distance disappeared, it came to a point where they admitted there were strong emotions between them. And now Xiao had told him he was going to try and come to the festival, which made Aether’s heart jump with excitement, especially since he knew how awful the adepti was with crowds.
Granted he knew Xiao was also coming here for another reason as well, but that did nothing to quell the positive feelings. And that reason being? Aether breathed out slowly, trying to control his embarrassment while also sending a sly glance towards the bard next to him who had returned to drinking his cider. Well, that definitely involved the Windblume gift that Lumine was a part of.
Aether wasn’t exactly lying when he told Venti about the possible reason why Lumine wasn’t easily found by him. She was preparing for his Windblume gift, but it wasn’t the one she planned on giving him. In fact it was even a surprise to her that this was going to be a thing. And what was it? Well, it was none other than their own wedding.
He had heard Lumine many times during moments where Venti wasn’t around ranting to him about them trying to get a date set and other things planned, but still being unable to deal with all the crap they were having to deal with. It led to him even joking that if he was still in charge of the Abyss, he’d order them to stand down for a week or so to let them have time to have the ceremony and spend time together afterwards. Unfortunately their new leader wasn’t so relenting as he was.
He got the same from Venti about it too. Saying that he wanted nothing more than to marry Lumine, but it seemed like the whole of Teyvat didn’t want them to. And while at first Aether would admit he was a little irritated at how close the two were being, but upon seeing their interactions and seeing how Venti helped comfort and took care of her, along with hearing from other companions and Paimon how he did the same while Aether was still in the Abyss’ clutches, his stance changed into one where he was supportive.
So when he heard from Master Jean and the other people they had traveled with that lived in Mondstadt that they wanted to do something for the two, as they were both special people in the city; Lumine being one of its heroes and Venti, it’s god, he thought about the wedding they had been trying to plan for months and brought it to their attention.
And somehow during that discussion it turned into an entire event where they decided they would plan the wedding for them, and after secretly getting details of what they both wanted from the two, they came up with the brilliant idea of having it be done during the upcoming Windblume Festival. The thought being that it would take place shortly before the Windblume Ceremony and instead of choosing one person to be the Windblume Star, the whole city would be instead and the Windblume they would offer to Barbatos aka Venti would be none other than Lumine herself.
It was honestly a brilliant idea. Once Venti and Lumine had arrived back in Mondstadt to celebrate it, they would quickly clue Lumine in on what they had come up with and then proceed to keep it a secret from Venti until the moment of the big reveal. Of course that was easier said than done, especially considering he was not just an immortal or their god, but he was also the former Anemo Archon which meant his powers were based around wind and he could use that to unravel their little scheme.
That was where he came in. With him using his knowledge of both individuals involved, he would distract the bard and keep him occupied until the reveal happened. Which according to their plan would be today. And, based on the time he glanced at on a nearby clock, would be very soon. “Not entirely sure yet what I’m going to get him, but seeing as you know him too, do you have any ideas?”
Venti chided the man, wagging a finger at him. “Dunno if Lumine told you, but one of the biggest rules for the festival is when giving your loved one a Windblume gift, you have to do it yourself. It’s especially true if you’re doing it before you two are even together.”
“Ah, is it? Well, then perhaps you’d like to at least follow me around the city while I come up with some ideas? That way you won’t be helping me but just keeping me company. At the same time I’ll be able to look at the stuff being sold to try and come up with something.” Aether wasn’t sure if this would get him to come with him to the place they needed him to be, so he decided to add something else to his words. “And maybe we can spot Lumine somewhere so you guys can hang out. Even if she’s getting your gift ready, I’m sure she could spare some time for you.”
Apparently that was enough to get his attention. “Sure, why not!” Finishing up what was left of drink, Venti dropped a few mora down on the bar and stood up to follow Aether to the door of the building to leave. As they both headed outside, Aether couldn’t help but smirk. He was looking forward to seeing the look of surprise come across the bard’s face when they finally got to where they were actually going.
~~
As Aether and Venti reached the main square where the fountain was located, they were both surprised to see Barbara standing near it, a small crowd forming around her. The two were curious as to what she was up to since she was nowhere near the church where she could normally be found. Venti was even more perplexed as wasn’t she supposed to be helping get things ready for the Windblume Ceremony that was supposed to happen a few hours from now? So why was she here? Were things already done, perhaps? From what he could hear, there was some more work being done, so then why…
Before he could ponder further, the young woman started singing one of the many hymns the church played during the festival that, of course, honored him. As the lyrics started to fill the air, Venti realized that he would never get over the feeling of surrealness that came with hearing the songs they made praising him. Sure, even he had a few he had written himself, but that was mostly to help keep suspicion off as to who he really was, plus to help pass down tales from bygone times. So to hear others’ words about him was definitely something else.
As Barbara continued the song, Aether glanced behind him, acting as if he just realized something. He hoped he was convincing enough to have Venti believe him. “Crap, I just remembered I’ve got something I need to pick up at the harbor.” Inclining his head towards that direction, he looked at the bard. “Let’s go over there real quick and get it before I get too caught up with looking for something for Xiao.”
Even more confusion built up within Venti. Why did Aether have to go to the harbor? Maybe he ordered something and it finally arrived? Although he wanted to ask and see exactly what his friend was getting, he also didn’t want to push it. He’d find out in a few minutes anyway. Instead, he laughed and decided to tease while following him. “Hehe, sure. Though I will say, I’m curious to see what you’ve got. A gift for me, perhaps? Ooh, Lumine’s gonna be jealous.”
Aether laughed. Oh, he had no idea how he had actually hit the nail on the head with that statement. “Maybe…? Though I can’t say for certain. It’s definitely something I’ve been waiting for for some time now.”
“Ah, now I’m even more intrigued.” The two began retracing their steps back towards the bar, except this time they went down the flight of stairs near it rather than to the building itself. As they neared the exit leading outside to the harbor, Venti sighed, wondering where Lumine was at this time. While he knew she was probably off doing her own thing at the moment, he still wished she was near so that they could spend more of their time together. With all that tended to go on in their lives as of late, moments like that were becoming rarer and rarer.
Nearly bumping into Aether, who had for some reason just stopped walking, Venti’s curiosity spiked again. ...why were they not going towards the port? He leaned his head over, his eyes narrowing when he saw no one waiting there for them. It was all empty boats. What the heck was going on here…? Looking back up at the man in front of him, he was about to ask, wondering why Aether would just lie to him, when Jean’s voice sounded behind him. “Ah, there you are! You made it just in time.”
The two spun around, seeing Jean standing before them, a wide smile on her face. Venti relaxed a bit at the familiar face. Maybe this was who Aether was meeting? Even so, he still had questions. “Oh, hi, Master Jean! Fancy seeing you out here.” He turned slightly to face his companion. “Were you meeting Master Jean to get the item you needed?”
For some reason the smile that formed on Aether’s face bothered Venti. It felt like it was one of the smiles he would put on. Like the one he would wear when he was up to something. He glanced back at Jean and felt the same emotion. ...Was there something going on here that he didn’t know about? Aether turned to look at him. “Actually, yes, I was meeting Master Jean here.” He looked back at her. “So I assume it’s ready then.”
Venti looked between them again just as Jean responded. “Yes, it is. If you two will follow me, I’ll bring you to what you’re looking for.” Turning completely away from the harbor, both Jean and Aether began walking towards the grassy area next to the walls of Mondstadt. They had walked a small distance before realizing the bard wasn’t following and turned to look at him. Aether smiled. “You coming?”
Venti tiltled his head a bit, a bit wary. Why were these two acting so...weird? Though his anxiety over what was going on almost unnerved him to the point where he wanted to disappear and go straight to Lumine, he calmed himself. He didn’t want to show how nervous he was. “Are you sure you guys need me? I mean, Aether you did say it was for you, right?”
Picking up on Venti’s reservations, Jean walked to him, smile still on her face to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Venti. You can come. In fact, you might want to. Especially since what is there is for you.” She laughed a bit at his furrowed brows and confused expression.
“What do you mean?” Wasn’t it for Aether? Why was it for him? Why did it have to be here? His thoughts were scattered like the wind around them as he tried to pick a thought and focus on it. Unfortunately every one of them kept getting away, preventing him from doing so. Before he could ponder on it further, he felt Jean move her hand from his shoulder to his back and use it to push him forward, towards the grassy plains. Some dandelion seeds flew past them as they walked by.
Though her voice was reassuring, Venti couldn’t help the nervousness he felt. It definitely didn’t help either that the wind was telling him nothing. What was going on? Where was Lumine when he needed her?
~~
Lumine was dealing with her own set of nerves. After getting dressed and prepared, the trio , that being herself, Master Jean, and Barbara, made their way down to the place where the ceremony would happen. Granted it wasn’t as luxurious as it probably could be since it was two very important people in Monstadt that were getting married, it still was just as beautiful.
Married. Wow. The word hit her full force and just like earlier when she was getting ready, she had to fight her fears down. She was getting married. To Venti. Today. She would be his wife and him, her husband. Lumine brought the bouquet up to her face, covering her blushing cheeks. She felt a hand on her shoulder and moved the flowers down enough to see that it was Amber giving her a smile in an attempt to reassure her. Lumine returned the gesture and looked out at the small crowd surrounding her. Nearly everyone in Mondstadt and even a few from Liyue had come. It made her smile knowing that all of these people here supported her and Venti’s relationship and wanted to see it go a step further.
While she was a bit disappointed that the two didn’t have time to sit down and do it the old fashioned way, she was still glad it was finally happening. Lumine could only hope now that Venti would accept the surprise and they would be able to do what they had been wanting to for some time now. She took in a deep breath, watching as the dandelion seeds they had placed nearby fly in the wind. Her heart stopped as she heard Venti’s voice echo over the small hill in front of her. Her hands clenched her bouquet to try and get rid of the nervous energy she had pent up inside. There was no going back now.
Her heart racing, she watched as three individuals crested the hill: one her brother, another was Master Jean and the last...was Venti, whose facial expression nearly copied her own nervous energy until suddenly it shifted from confusion as he saw everyone standing there, to shock when his eyes caught sight of her. Her face grew so warm she almost thought Klee had let off a bomb nearby. His voice was quiet as Master Jean started pushing him towards her, his tone a mixture of fluster and confusion. “Wha-What’s all this?!”
Just as they were a few feet from each other, Lumine watched as his own face grew flush from seeing all the details of how she was presented. His eyes widened as a look of realization came over him. “Wait a minute! Is this…?”
Before he could finish his sentence, Master Jean spoke, Venti’s eyes finally pulling away from her and looking up to the woman next to him. “We knew you had been trying for some time to try and make plans to get married, but with all the chaos surrounding the enemies we’ve all been having to deal with, we knew you didn’t have much time to plan anything, so we decided to do it ourselves.”
Venti’s eyes widened further and though he wanted to speak, his words failed to form. They did this all for...them? Another voice spoke out nearby and Venti’s attention went to it. It was Kaeya this time. “And considering that the Windblume Festival was coming near and we knew you two would attend, we figured it would be a perfect time to do it. On top of that, we knew with Mondstadt needing to present its god with a Windblume showing him our love, we decided why not make that the theme? We Mondstadtians are the Windblume Star and Lumine,” He waved a hand towards Lumine who was looking so beautiful that Venti knew no love ballads he could play would ever be enough to detail how lovely she looked. “is our Windblume to you.”
Venti’s blush grew warmer. “Oh, oh…” That was...definitely not something he expected. Though he could not deny that the Windblume being presented before him was definitely one of the most beautiful ones. The other? Well, that would be the one Lumine presented to him a year ago when she was chosen as the Windblume Star. As he continued to look at Lumine...his bride, wow, his heart stuttered at the realization, he could see her nervousness start to shine through. Despite his own restlessness, he knew he wanted to reassure her. Especially considering he had an idea of what she was thinking. “Lumine?”
She looked at him, seeing him hold out hand towards her, and, after a moment, her hand reached out to take it. Them both squeezing each others’ hands in reassurance which helped bring their collective anxiety down. Biting her lip, she made out his shape in front of her, slightly wishing the white veil wasn’t over her face at the moment, but she would make do. “Venti? Do you want to? I understand it’s not how we planned, or tried to plan it anyway…”
Venti stopped her before she could go any further. “Yes. More than anything.” His smile was so blinding that it caused one to break out on Lumine’s face too. Taking a few steps closer to her, he finally managed to tear his eyes off of her to look towards Jean. “Well, shall we?”
Jean smiled, walking over to take her place in front of them to start officiating. Venti and Lumine followed suit by standing next to one another, looking into each others’ eyes, their hands never letting go. Jean began her speech, all of their friends around them looking on, some crying and some smiling from ear to ear at being present at this joyous moment. The dandelion seeds continued flying around, some of them surely helped on by invisible wind spirits in their own little way of giving their blessing to their god, helping the area look more ethereal.
As it came time for the rings to be given, Zhongli walked up to the couple, giving each of them the rings he had specially crafted by the finest in Liyue. They were made to last for a long time and each contained details that showed the personality of those who were to wear them. After he stepped away, nodding his head towards the two to give his blessing, Jean turned to Venti, the man in question holding Lumine’s hand before him as gently as possible, the ring in the other. She smiled, her heart filled with excitement over what was about to happen. “Venti, do you take Lumine to be your wife? To have and to hold until death do you part?”
The expression and look in Venti’s eyes made Lumine’s heart skip a few beats. “Yes, I do.” Slowly, he slipped the ring in his other hand onto her finger, making sure it was firmly on there before he moved to let go of it, his eyes then taking on a sneaky expression before he lifted her hand up to kiss it while still never letting his gaze leave hers. Her face flushed harder.
While a part of Jean wanted to tell Venti that he wasn’t allowed to kiss the bride until they were done, she also knew that technically he didn’t exactly do that. At least not in the way it was meant traditionally. However, she decided to give him a pass, as that wasn’t the important thing right now. Turning her attention to Lumine who now had given her bouquet to Amber for safekeeping, she watched as the woman took Venti’s hand with one of her own and his ring in the other. “Lumine, do you take Venti to be your husband? To have and to hold until death do you part?”
She smiled as she pushed the ring onto his finger. “I do.” Slowly the two intertwined their hands together, taking a few steps closer, their eyes filled with heavy emotions.
Jean smiled again, knowing that these two were definitely eager for the ceremony to end. “With the power invested in me by Grand Master Varka, I now pronounce you married before all of Mondstadt and Teyvat.” Those in the crowd cheered at the announcement. And while both Venti and Lumine had heard it and blushed at the words, they were too lost in their own little world to really pay attention. “Venti, you may now kiss your bride.”
Laughing despite himself, Venti let go of Lumine’s hands, and lifted up the veil covering her face to pull it over her hair. Without missing a beat, Venti immediately pressed his lips to hers once it was out of the way, both of them smiling the entire time.
~~
The new husband and wife were now laying underneath the large tree at Windrise, content to just bask in each other’s presence now with the ceremony over and the two now alone without anyone to bother them. The smiles on their faces that formed when their first kiss was made never left and seemed to even grow wider as the day went on. Lumine traced the edge of the green cloak Venti wore around his shoulders, focusing in on the designs while Venti’s arms were wrapped around her keeping her close. She chuckled, remembering something happened earlier that day shortly after their impromptu wedding. “Did you see Xiao give Aether those Qingxin flowers? My brother’s face was so red.”
Venti returned her laugh. “I did. Xiao was blushing too.” His fingers rubbed up and down her spine, making her shiver at the feeling. “Hehe, you think we might see them do the same here soon?”
She smiled, looking up into his verdant eyes, her heart skipping a beat at the love in them. “Maybe. Honestly both of them deserve all the happiness they can get after what they both have gone through.”
“Agreed.” Leaning down to touch his forehead against hers, he gave her a sweet and slow kiss, which she returned with the same energy. That kiss turned into another, then three, and started veering into four, when Lumine suddenly pushed him back, making him pout and whine at the loss of contact.
“I still have to give you your Windblume present.” She pulled back a little bit further to reach for a box she had in her pocket. Once she had it firmly grasped in her hand, she pulled it out holding it in front of her. Venti smirked a bit, a teasing expression forming.
“Oh? But I thought you were my Windblume present this year. Though I’m not opposed to getting another, even though this one is my favorite.” Venti relished in the blush that formed on Lumine’s face. She slapped his chest in mock annoyance.
“Oh, stop it! Technically, yes, I was your gift, but this gift is one I had planned on getting you before Jean approached me about what they were planning. So while I was Mondstadt’s gift to you, this is mine.” She pushed the box into one of his hands that had unwrapped itself from her and watched as he removed his other one to open it. She waited with bated breath as his expression changed into one of wonder. ...Did he like it?
“A charm?” His eyes looked over the box to her. “Is it for good luck or…?”
“It’s a charm to find me.” She watched as his eyebrows came together in confusion, so she hurried to explain. “It’s similar to some charms me and Aether had before our separation when we landed here. It’s been attuned to me like this one,” She pulled out her own charm she had hidden underneath her dress that looked similar to her own except while his had a golden stone in the middle, hers had green. “has been attuned to you. It’s supposed to help us in the event we get lost from each other and find the other person it’s connected to.”
She returned her charm back to its original place, making sure it stayed secure. “I figured since we have all this stuff happening around us, not only would it be a nice thing to have, but it might help us out one day just in case something happens.”
Venti smiled, his hand caressing the stone representing her in its center. “I love it, my flower. Hopefully it’ll never come to that, but I do understand the thinking behind it. I’ll treasure it always.” Moving to pull it out of the box, he sat up, grabbing his fake vision that hung from his hip and clipped the charm there where it could be easily found and would be attached to him at all times. He laughed, rattling the bundle of trinkets so that she could see it. “There we go. Now I’ll be sure to have it just in case.”
Pushing herself up off the ground, she leaned against him, closing her eyes and smiling against the soft breeze making its way through her hair. She was happy and content. If only all her days could be spent like this. Suddenly she heard the tell-tale sound of Venti’s lyre being summoned. Confused, she wondered why he brought it out. While she wouldn’t mind hearing some of his music, was there another reason why it came into being?
Seeing her questioning look in her gaze, Venti laughed, glancing over her with a loving look. “My Windblume gift to you was a song I had composed detailing my love for you. Though I was still in the process of writing it before this all happened.”
Lumine looked up to him from the instrument in his hands. “Oh? So it’s not finished yet?”
Venti smiled, plucking a few strings, trying to find the right notes to start playing. “It was. I had most of the lyrics figured out and the melody was still something I was trying to decide. But... after today’s events, I believe I found just the inspiration for exactly how this song should be played.” He turned to her hoping his eyes fully showed how much he cared for her. “Shall I play it for you?” She smiled at him, her eyes reflecting his own as she nodded.
Reluctantly turning his attention away from his wife and towards the instrument in his hands, he started playing the tune forming in his heart. His wife next to him looked at her husband with adoring eyes, her heart beating wildly with every word he sang.