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"What is your favorite place in Teyvat?"
"Hm?"
His voice is a low hum, almost indiscernible with the way his face is pressed into the pillow. Aether's braid is in disarray, more tangled strands than actual plaits. The shirt he wears to sleep in is wrinkled, riding up his stomach, revealing his navel and the smooth muscles of his abdomen that rise and fall in time with his breath.
He's beautiful.
Lumine turns onto her side to fully face her brother, smiling to herself as she takes in the image of a half-asleep Aether. Perhaps she should leave him be and let him sleep the day away, but she woke up half an hour ago, and in the calm silence of the early morning her mind wandered to her travels across this world. All the adventures she had and the friends she made, the places she discovered and things she learned. All of them cherished memories.
Memories without Aether.
They don't often speak about their time apart. It's still painful, raw. A wound that is dressed but still bleeding. They carefully tiptoe around the subject, choosing instead to hold each other close and push the pains of the past out of their minds. (Or so they tell themselves.)
A gentle breeze enters through the open window. The lace curtains bloom under the air, billowing up and out. Sunlight dances across Aether's skin and hair, blending in with his natural coloring. Her ray of sun, her golden light. Her partner, her other half.
She places a hand on his stomach and begins tracing feather-light circles around his navel. He sucks in a breath and giggle. "Lumi, that tickles."
"My favorite place is... hmm, I think it's the Thousand Winds Temple," she says, ignoring his half-hearted protests.
Aether's mouth twitches in a smile as her gentle fingers move to trace the lines of his abdomen. "Why there?" He asks, sighing.
"Oh, I don't know. It's a bit of a lonely spot, isn't it? Abandoned ruins and all, a civilization and its history lost to time." His hand twitches, briefly clenching the bedsheets. But he relaxes it, and feels his way across the fabric until he finds Lumine's unoccupied hand, threading his fingers with hers. "But it's also beautiful because of that, in a way. The parts that remain have somehow withstood the tests of time, and now we can behold them. I find it inspiring, I suppose.
"And, also," she continues, looking away as she feels her cheeks warm, "I like the sundial. It's a nice invention from this world. I know it tracks time, but I like to think of it as tracking the sun. It... reminded me of you. I thought maybe it could point me to you."
Lumine keeps her gaze pointedly to the window, watching the curtains shift with the wind. She can hear Aether's breathing beside her. It's no longer the slow, deep breaths of slumber. He's wide awake now, yet he doesn't speak or offer a response. Her hand falters on his stomach. She starts to draw it away, but he grabs it and holds it to him. She looks back at him and sees his bright, golden eyes, open wide and staring only at her.
"Sometimes, at night, I would climb up the cliffs that overlook Liyue Harbor. Sit there and watch the city come alive. I'd look for you in the crowds, hoping that you would one day appear. You never did." His voice is rough, groggy with the lingering traces of sleep, but his eyes are clear and stay locked with hers. "But the moon felt so close from that spot. Like I could reach out and touch it.
"It felt like you watching over me."
Her heart warms at his confession. A smile breaks out on her face, and she laughs in relief and joy, resting her head on his. "We're the biggest saps in the universe, aren't we?"
Aether brings her hand up to kiss her knuckles. "I don't mind," he mumbles against her skin. "Do you?"
"No," she answers. She kisses him, again and again and again. A kiss for everyday they were apart. "I don't mind at all."