Archive of Our Own

When she’d last looked up at those storm clouds, she could feel naught but anger and indignation at the cruelty of fate. Even when residual sparks of the overcast lightning had struck her skin, prickling at her nerves and forcing a tremble down her spine that was not helped any more by the cold pitter patter of rain against her pale skin, she was ever a warrior – an adventurer and steadfast traveler true. No matter what life threw at her, she was certain to bounce back.

That, even if she would be too humble to admit aloud to the others around her, was something that she took much pride in. The ability to rise against all odds, the strength and determination to brave any storm, any weather that stood in her way.

She’d truly believed that – held onto the last lingering, fleeting shred of dignity she had left… until even the winds had turned on her.

The moment her feet had slipped and she felt herself clatter against the sharp, hard edges of the rocks beneath the cliff she stood upon, and when she’d finally lost momentum long enough for her battered, bruised body to roll onto its back to allow her a clear view of the angry storm clouds that hung above her head – Lumine knew that she’d lost hope, and lost what little will she had left to lie to herself about it.

She couldn’t feel from her neck down, she couldn’t feel the sting in her eyes as rainwater poured onto her face and began collecting in a puddle around her drenched dress.

And she couldn’t hear anything but the howling of the winds, carrying the sounds of thunder and the scent of judgement along with it – all congregating above her like nature knew, knew that this would be her very last moments of life.

And above all else, she couldn’t even hear her own voice as she sobbed, brave, dignified and confident stride of the goddess now stripped from her as she laid at the mercy of the elements.

In her head, she conjured an image of her brother – sweet and dear and always the very picture of love in her heart… until it had been tainted by the color of the abyss, by the expression he wore on his face as he turned away from her, refused to give her an explanation for his distance and left her alone with nothing but a searing pain in her heart that never truly faded since that day.

She’d journeyed far and wide – first through the quaint city of freedom that was Mondstadt before tackling the ever more intimidating port nation of contracts that was Liyue. She’d fought many adversaries, met many a man both friend and foe… all for the sake of finding him.

And yet when she finally did, he’d leave as soon as he appeared… and she could tell from the hardening of his honey hued eyes that no longer shone with the childlike innocence and cheer she’d recognize from his since they were children – that her twin brother was no longer a symbol of peace she could lean on for solace in her darkest, bleakest moments.

Given reason to doubt the purpose of her journey, she’d carried her burdened thoughts to herself – even with Paimon’s insistence for her to share her feelings.

A wary wanderer she had become overnight, a traveler who no longer found joy in the art of travel.

And now as laid upon her back, watching the flashes of lightning threaten to strike her very head, she was even a woman who had lost the remaining ounce of strength she had left to get back up on her feet.

What was the point even if she did?

The sound of the distant waves crashing against the shore, along with another snap of the thunder forces the blonde to shut her eyes, and in a moment amongst the sorrowful shower, she feels something land upon her forehead.

Lumine had thought to ignore it, and let the elements claim her in her ignorance willfully… but something in her heart compelled her to raise her hand and pick the offending item off of her face, holding it up to the air as she slowly opens her eyes to stare up at it.

A maple leaf. Whole and with nary a single tear or hole upon it. It was drenched from the rain, fluttering about without grace as the wind battered upon it… but whole nonetheless, and burning a bright scarlet hue that shone vibrantly against the dreary greyish backdrop of the stormy night sky.

The young woman sighs, and she thinks for a moment to loosen her grip on it before she reconsiders – an unexplainable, instinctual urge to tighten her hold around the leaf snatching her heart like a vice.

It reminds her of something – of someone. And for the first time in days since she’d been stranded alone on this island, she felt something upsettingly close to tranquility as she brings the maple leaf down and holds it to her heart, before allowing the corners of her lips to drift upwards into a small, melancholic smile.

“Starry, lovely cloudless night. Upon the wind our hopes carried.”

Ah, what was that last line again?

It was something beautiful; something that had made Lumine’s heart soar the very first time she’d heard him recite it… something that had made her chest constrict as she gazed upon him, upon the hues of autumn in his eyes that were lost to the stars on that evening.

It made her feel at ease – just as the memory of him now was filling her with a misplaced peace that she knew would be soon to fade.

But just for once, the outlander wished to preserve that precious, fleeting feeling in her. That ease that she has not felt since the fateful reunion she’d had with her brother.

There is no salvation for her… but she could perhaps die with a smile on her face, and this peace of mind in her heart – even if it is but a small white lie she had to tell herself.

That, undoubtedly, would have been what Kazuha would have wanted for her too.  

When she’d met the wandering samurai upon the crux fleet, Lumine hadn’t formed much of an opinion of him. In fact, aside from the youthful looking man’s penchant for poetry that rivaled even the songs the Anemo Archon would compose, there wasn’t much to the entity that was Kaedehara Kazuha that stuck out to her – especially when he stood next to the likes of somebody with a far more intimidating and commanding presence such as Beidou.

That wasn’t to say he was plain, ordinary or even unassuming, far from it. He was certainly easy on the eyes, and he possessed of a voice as smooth and sweet as leaves rustling upon the wind.

But Lumine has met her fair share of handsome, attractive looking people in Teyvat, much less in her life outside of this very realm… and his flowery vocabulary was something the outlander had merely chalked up to being the likes of a sweet talker similar to a certain cavalry captain she’s had far more numerous run ins with during her time in Mondstadt.

And so she never thought much of him – never thought she’d grow to be as drawn to his presence as much as she would later on…. She was stuck to the confines of her own wayward heart before she’d even realized her emotions had been swayed.

And when she’d finally realized her blossoming feelings for the young samurai from Inazuma, it had been through an incredibly innocuous act of kindness from him – his gesture to remove a fallen gingko leaf that had been stuck in her hair with a light and airy chuckle that caused Lumine’s heart to tumble and spiral down into the pits of her stomach, bright pink color blooming across the expanse of her cheeks that spread all the way up to her ears so far that Paimon mistook it as her coming down with an illness….

And the blonde could only curse inwardly at herself and question… Why?

Why, of all people, was it Kazuha?

Of all the suitors in Teyvat, of all the bright sparks of passionate, strong and steadfast bachelors like Diluc… or the intelligent, resourceful and charismatic wit of Albedo…. Or even the duality that was Childe’s charming cunning clashing with the gentler, more thoughtful side of this secret family man she and she alone in Liyue was privy to…. Why did her heart stir for only Kaedehara Kazuha? And when did her heart even begin to be moved at the sound of his voice calling her name?

Was it the moment he’d shared shreds of his past with her? Was it the very moment she’d caught a glimpse of the tattered, but not completely broken heart he possessed that she related so deeply with?

She thinks back to the evening they ran into each other in Liyue harbor, and agreed to share a meal together at Wanmin restaurant much to the delight of Paimon before parting ways at the inn.

Lumine remembers when they’d next meet upon the road on her way to a commission, and how delighted Kazuha had been to hear that her destination had been the very same as his.

Of course, she could never forget the awe the young man showed upon his face when she’d first introduced him to the city of Mondstadt, and she was certain the haikus he’d written on that day would have been carried into the wind and delighted the ears of Barbatos.

For as much time the two of them have spent together, Lumine could not pin-point exactly when or even why she’d begun developing feelings for Kazuha. She simply knew that she had, and she was certain it’d be a secret she’d have to take with her into the very grave.

And when it finally came time for them to part ways, she’d reluctantly watch him from the deck of the Alcor as it slowly began to pull from the dock of Liyue – forcing a smile upon her face as she saw his gentle wave grew more and more distant… until she could only make out the very shape of him turning around and finally walking out of her view.

She had asked him to come along with her on her journey – of course she had… though the momentary frown Lumine watched cross over his face and the sound of sincere regret as he apologized for having to reject her offer had made her wish she hadn’t. But she understood his sentiments – knew even before asking him that requesting the man to follow her to Inazuma would perhaps bring up memories he’d been repressing. She had simply wished to be selfish – for once in a long while. Even if he was a member of the Crux Fleet now, there was simply no way somebody who has gone through great efforts to escape the painful ties of his homeland would agree to going anywhere near back to it.

And so he’d deigned to stay in Liyue, and the pair had savored their remaining days together traveling to and from the two cities by foot until it was finally time for them to part.

It was only when she’d finally been left alone – no longer in his presence and no longer able to be graced by prose of his own penmanship that she’d figure out just what it was about him that she held so dear to her heart.

He was akin to still waters on a midsummer night, a gentle breeze carrying scarlet autumn leaves. Wherever she went with him, and whatever they did together, being with Kazuha always seemed to be able to bring her inner peace.

Even when he did little more than sit in silence as he watched the clouds above their heads drift by leisurely, or even during the numerous times she’d watched as the nurturing calm in his eyes were replaced with a ferocity of a honed, experienced fighter when he unsheathed his katana… there was always something about the enigmatic Kazuha that made Lumine feel at ease – like she could, even momentarily, forget about her own worries and burdens to simply live in the moment – to simply savor the moment by his side.

It wouldn’t mean much to most people – it certainly didn’t mean much to Paimon who had chalked his behavior up to simply being eccentric. And Lumine would admit too without much hesitation, that she never thought she’d be the type to allow her heart to be stirred by someone who looked at the horizon more than he did other people.

But after what had happened with her brother – after days that turned to weeks of nothing but aimlessly searching for answers to questions that she was beginning to fear asking… of a truth that she now knew would hurt her to know more than if she’d been left in the dark… perhaps someone who was able to let go of the past and bask in the moment, someone who could hear the very whispers of the wind telling them to hold on to hope… was exactly the type of person she needed now more than ever.

She needed not the blazing passion and justice-minded will of a man like Diluc that she already possessed within herself… nor did she need the thrill of conflict and battle that her future was sure to be promised at the side of the harbringer Tartaglia.

She needed someone to lean on, somebody she could be honest with.

She needed… she wanted to be with Kazuha.

How wonderful would it be to be able to live life in that way, she’d wondered. How would it feel to get to rest in his arms at the end of a long, arduous day… to sleep beside him and hear the very sounds of his breaths after a treacherous journey together?

But there was no way he would feel the same.

Lumine resigned herself to that fact- was content even in coming to terms that there was simply no way Kazuha would see her in the same way that she did him. Why would he? There was nothing in her that Kazuha himself lacked… and the life of a wanderer such as himself, for a man who took pleasure in the nothing more than the simple act of living in the midst of nature, would mean he’d probably care little for trifling matters of the heart.

And so it was with that new regret – a fresh wound in her heart that she’d left Liyue with the Crux Fleet on her way to the next chapter of her lonely story – to the nation that had scarred the first man she’s come to fall in love with in this realm.

She hadn’t counted on the storm to be as bad as it had been. Sure, she had been warned about the dangers of the waters that surrounded the borders of Inazuma – Beidou had even assured her that the Alcor was prepared to withstand any and all that the electro archon would dare to throw their way all in an attempt to stop their advance upon her little haven of eternity.

But it was as if all of the world in itself – all the stars and fate of this realm had aligned to ensure that Lumine would never be able to set foot in Inazuma – and that she’d regret even attempting to do so in the first place.

Before she knew, the winds had begun to pick up, and the waves rocked the ship so violently that a poor, hapless child that had not taken his mother’s advice to stay below deck had tripped and was about to topple over the edge of the railing and into the merciless, battering ocean waves.

If he had, the belly of the sea was sure to swallow him whole… and Lumine couldn’t just stand idle and watch that happen.

Where she was born, she and Aether was known as the twin deities of light and wind – gods that resided and watched over people who traversed the sea and ensured that they would get to their destination safely- wherever in the world that may be, far or near. They would swoop in from the skies, transcendent and bright, rescuing crewmates who had fallen overboard and into the sea and carrying them to safety. They were worshipped for their altruism, for the symbol of safe and prosperous travels that they represented.

But that was back when she had wings – and those were a luxury she has long learned to regret taking for granted.

In an instant, without even a moment’s hesitation, she’d thrown herself forward and grabbed the child by the hands, tossing the child back towards Beidou’s safe, waiting arms before she felt her back knock against the sides of the railing.

And by a final cruel twist of fate, did mother nature decide to sentence her to death.

“LUMINE!” was the last thing she heard before she felt her feet lose contact with the wooden floorboards of the ship deck, as she felt herself being thrown into the mercy of the gusts of wind and rain. And before she’s even had time to process the fact that the momentum of the boat’s rocking had tipped her overboard, she was already sinking – further and further into a cold and dark pit where she could hear nothing but the deafening ringing in her ears.

It’d been three days since she’d found herself stranded on this uninhabited island – three days since she’d awoke upon a beach with neither the sword she’d been gifted by Albedo nor the normally talkative, loud and carefree floating companion whose presence she’d become so accustomed with.

And Lumine supposed, even despite her own impending sense of dread and isolation, that it was good that it seemed like nobody has landed in the same predicament as her – at least not anybody that she could find on this island.

Better to stranded alone perhaps, then to have another innocent civilian be dragged into the mess with her.

The island had been swarming with hilichurls – abandoned and lacking in any signs of human activity as it was… and with each battle she’d have to face alone in order to defend herself, the outlander grew more and more wary, more and more unsure of the chances of ever being found by any passing ship – if there would even be any. None of her smoke signals drew any attention, none of her campsites ever lasted long or felt safe enough for her to linger.

Before long, she’d found hope being drained… and here she was, back in the midst of a raging storm once more – hungry, tired, bones aching from her earlier fall.

And all she has is a singular leaf, a singular memory… to hold onto as her tears mixed with the pouring rain water.

‘ If Kazuha were here, he’d surely know what to do. He’d surely not be in such a mess like me. How pitiful.’

It was selfish for her to wish – she’d found herself being more selfish when it came to Kazuha somehow since she’d first met him, because perhaps she felt safe enough to be. But it still felt wrong to wish for him to be here, to be able to hear his voice and feel the tender touch of his hands… to save her from the storm of sorrow and despair she felt too helpless to pull herself out from.

Even as Lumine felt life draining from her very limbs, and the throbbing in her head morphing into an eerie drowsiness that she had no energy to fight against, her thoughts were occupied by his singular voice – and the words he’d uttered as they sat beneath the boundless and free starry midnight sky.

“Starry, lovely cloudless night. Upon the wind our hopes carried.”

It would have been nice to remember the last lines of the haiku, to hear him recite one more poem for her before she died.

How nice… How hopeless a dream would it be to hear the sound of the autumn’s whisper one last time.

It smelled like maple. It smelled like the wind.

For the longest while, it felt like she was floating within a dream… like she was weightless within the clouds of heaven, drifting endlessly through the skies.

Has she been freed from the confines of her helpless, mortal body of Teyvat? Has she finally been rejoined with Celestia?

There’s a weight over her eyelids that keeps her from lifting them – but even despite that, a fear of learning of the truth of her own fate keeps the woman from opening her eyes. What would she do if she were to truly see heaven’s gates right before her?

But then she smells the odor of burned firewood, feels the weight of gravity against her torso and head…. And suddenly, she’s fallen back to the earth.

The first time Lumine saw the moment she opened her eyes was not darkened heavy rainclouds, but stone – still dreary and a depressing grey color… but somehow far more preferable than having her eyes assaulted by the downpour of salt water interlaced with a hint of electro energy.

She feels cold – utterly drenched from the rain as she were, it was certainly no surprise…. But there’s also a warmth by her side that comforts her, and it compels the blonde to turn her head and squint as her eyes attempt to refocus their vision.

A campfire?

It takes a long while for her mind to work as intended and process the fact that she was under the safety of some kind of shelter… and that a fire has been started beside her to keep her warm… and it takes her even longer still to come to realize that in her unconscious, and very much useless and fatigued state, she could not have possibly been the one to have hauled herself from the rain, much less gathered wood and conjured a fireplace all on her own.

“Lumine?”

That voice sends a pang of pain, of relief, of an unbridled joy that almost threatens to bring tears to her eyes into her heart… and Lumine feared she might have hit her head so badly she was beginning to have auditory hallucinations.

When she fails to respond, she feels a hand grip her shoulder and roll her onto her back, and the sight she’s assaulted with as she turns her head up has Lumine’s pulse jolting and all sense of rational thought spinning out of control.

Add visual hallucinations to the list of symptoms of potentially permanent brain injury she’s sustained… because there was no way…. There was just no possibility that this could be true- that her wildest, most self-serving and undeserved wishes would come true in a place and time like this.

“Lumine? You’re awake, yes? Can you hear me?”

It was beginning to feel too unsettlingly real for it to be a hallucination – too vivid and too clear for it to simply be a lucid dream, even for the catastrophe that was her lonely maiden’s heart. And when Lumine fails yet again to respond to the call of her name, she’s given full reason to finally believe that this was no dream – that he was here, in the flesh… the very object of many late night thoughts and wishes that she believed only the wind would hear.

“……Kazuha….?”

Relief floods his expression; his eyes soften down at her… and Lumine feels like she was worth nothing and worth the entire world all at the same time under the grace of his gaze.

“You’re okay.”

She doesn’t know if he’d said that more as a reassurance for her, or more for himself… But Kazuha repeats those words once more, slowly and tenderly as if he were reciting a poem, before he settles down on his knees and lowers his hand down to her shoulder.

“I’d feared I was too late when I found you unconscious in the rain. It didn’t seem like you’d sustained any fatal injuries… But I’m no chirurgeon, so I wasn’t entirely sure…” The samurai murmurs, pain at having to recollect the memory – the dread he’d felt when he first found her evident in his voice, yet the smile on his face never once fades as he speaks. “I’m glad that it seems the worst of my fears were unfounded.”

It feels like wool has clogged her ear canals because try as she might, Lumine just couldn’t get herself to process his words – still too shocked still by his very presence to even get a word out in reply.

She’s assaulted by the urge to express joy, to express relief and utter words that she’s had to bitterly swallow down for the past several weeks…. But has enough self-restraint to bury her unfiltered emotions down into a pit where it belonged to finally mutter out a question that her more rational, sensible and unemotional side of her approved of.

“How…. How are you…..?”

“Oh.” Before she’s even finished her question, Kazuha is already answering, gentle smile unwavering even as he responds so matter-of-factly. “I built myself a boat and sailed here… I’d tried to enlist the help of some of the boatmen in Liyue, but understandably, none of them wanted to venture anywhere near Inazuma… So I had to rely a little on my own ingenuity.”

Utter disbelief that Kazuha was capable of crafting a whole boat all on his own and that he’d sailed all the way to the island from Liyue without aid set aside, Lumine feels a lump collecting in her throat with yet another question as she forces herself to sit up, propping her body up on her elbows.

Unaware of the inner turmoil the blonde woman was struggling with Kazuha merely pulls his hand away, his smile now morphing into a boyish chuckle that only serves to deepen the whirlwind of guilt and confusion stirring within her.

“Full glad am I to see my efforts paid off by finding you.”

“That’s not….”

“Hm?”

Lumine attempts to stand, evident by the trembling of her arms and bending of her knees as she attempts to push herself up… but she is weighed down by the grip of Kazuha’s hands around her shoulders… and the view of his expression hardening down at her.

“Lumine-“

“That’s not what I meant.”

She tries again, but to no avail, body lacking in strength and energy both from three days of nothing but fighting and fleeing… and she finally concedes by sitting back down and tilting her head up to look at the boy before her.

“I meant… how did you know I was here?”

It was a simple question, really… and a very much justified one. In any other situation, Kazuha would have perhaps been able to answer without missing a beat – carefree, honest, well-meaning as he is.

But there was something about the tone of her voice- about the look in her golden eyes staring into his own that has the young man stopping for several long seconds before he can even think to answer, before he can allow the pause in his breath to steal the illusion of being unaffected by her presence from him.

And when Kazuha finally answers, with his ever-peaceful trademark smile adorned upon his face, his voice is filled with so much sincerity that Lumine almost feels her heart cave into itself.

“The winds were picking up… and the scent of the sea breeze…” the samurai pauses, looking almost sheepish as he answers, but he is quick to shake his head free of any hint of embarrassment before continuing. “It was wrong, unnatural… and it had a hint of you within it.”

When they’d first met and interacted through Beidou’s strange little tournament, and Kazuha described her ease and experience in battle by the scent of her and the very little sounds of her every flex and movements, Paimon thought to express how weird she thought Kazuha was. And while Lumine herself had been understanding enough to express a different opinion – she after all being someone who was in her own ways, also hyper aware of the elements around her despite her lack of a vision… she hadn’t expected Kazuha’s hyper-sensitivity to the tidings of nature to be as strong as they were proving to be- that he could tell from even the scent of the wind that carried her cries she thought would go unheard all the way to him.

If she didn’t know any better, she’d have thought this to be proof of some red string of fate at play.

It didn’t stop Lumine from giving in, even for a little while however, to the wishful thoughts in her head that would compel her eyes to grow damp from tears as she begun to sob, unable to stop herself from letting little bits of her sorrow ooze out of the crevices of her broken heart even when Kazuha begins to visibly fluster at her sudden outburst.

“L-Lumine? What’s wrong?”

She’s unable to answer him, hands raised up to pitifully catch fallen trails of her own bittersweet tears as they poured from her wary, tired eyes… and she feels his hands tighten their grip upon her shoulders.

He may be closely attuned to nature, a fact that has granted him the luxury of ease when it came to deducing the physical wellbeing of Lumine whenever they traveled together (archon knows the number of times she’d lie about being perfectly fine despite suffering from some form of minor ailment or even tiredness), but it did little in the way of bearing her heart to him – which the woman was evidently very talented at keeping under lock and key, despite his best efforts.

He’s tried – multiple times… then and even now. He wished that she could bring herself to trust him with her worries, promised her that he’d be a good ear to listen to whatever she wished to share – how ever painful it may be. But in recognizing his own hesitation to share more than a little glimpse of some parts of his own grief did he understand expecting her to do otherwise would be a hypocrisy unbefitting for the heart of a samurai.

And so he’d allow her to keep her distance, watched as the waves carried her further and further from his grasp… and he dearly wished that he hadn’t.

The sounds of Lumine’s sobs scald his heart, and while Kazuha normally had an unflinching patience of a tranquil, untouched lake, he’s grown to realize that he couldn’t bring himself to say the same when it came to her – especially if it meant her suffering or anguish.

“Lumine.” He calls her name, firmer this time, and the blonde outlander finally composes herself enough to blink past her tears and look up at him. “You are not a woman who would cry for your own sake…. So if it is over my safety that you are shedding tears… then-“

He knows so much – yet so little at the same time… He feels like the closest thing to home, yet also the furthest away from her reach. She couldn’t understand, couldn’t begin to comprehend the jumbled mess that was her emotions, of the ugly mountain of words she’d pent up within herself left unspoken for the past many days and nights she’s known him.

So she doesn’t bother – she lacks the strength to hold her own heart steady any longer… and so she doesn’t.

“You… you came all this way… you found me. You found me, and yet…”

Words tumble from her lips, honest and painful and exceedingly shameful. But she no longer cares.

“I don’t deserve your kindness. I don’t deserve….all that you’ve done for me.”

A pillar of strength, a steady mountain, a tranquil flowing river and a peaceful autumn breeze. Kazuha was and will ever be a great many things for her. Despite never having asked to be, he was her hope… her sole glimmer of light when she was lost in the dark, afraid and unable to come to terms with the fact that she simply wanted someone to be there beside her.

“I don’t deserve how cherished you make me feel.”

She was but a traveler who has lost the only reason she was even traveling in the first place – a goddess who has lost her powers, a woman who has lost her dignity, pride and self-worth.

And within those broken pieces of herself, she saw Kazuha reflected back… grew to rely on his smile and didn’t even realize until it was too late.

She didn’t deserve him… He deserved better – at the very least, somebody who would be able to return the earnestness and sensitivity he’s always shown to her.

Lumine couldn’t bring herself to look up at him as it fell silent within the cave, the only sounds accompanying her choked sobs being the pattering of rain outside and the crackling of the fire over wood. She couldn’t tell what expression Kazuha wore – and quite frankly, she didn’t want to know.

It was a suffocating few seconds, what felt like an eternity of pain until she would hear his voice again.

“Lumine.” He says, voice deepened and serious, and she grimaces before shaking her head. “Look at me.”

“I can’t.” She refuses, moves her arms up in an attempt to shake his hold off of her until she feels his hands wrap around her wrist to pull them away from her face.

“Please.”

He’s cheating, he knows he’s cheating… In an instant her resolve is shattered at his heartfelt plea, and she could only whimper as she opens her swollen eyes to look up at Kazuha’s face.

Autumn leaves pass her vision, the scent of the wind carries her high into the sky. And the warmth of his lips are like a fire – comforting and steady as it burns against her own.

Her body stills in shock as she feels the man press closer to her – so close that she could feel the tip of his nose nudge against her own, the broadness of his chest as he pulls her forward against him – steady and assured even as she’s trembling like a leaf.

When their lips finally part, her mind is still blank with confusion… and Kazuha, ever the blissfully tranquil soul he is, smiles in the face of her bewildered expression.

“W-what…? Why-“

He doesn’t allow her to finish her question until he’s leaning back for seconds- his second kiss more forceful than the first as if hungry and yearning – yet still somehow gentle all the same. Kazuha tilts his head, deepening the kiss… and Lumine’s primal self foolishly allows her eyes to close and lips to part as she lets out a muffled hum against him.

Their parting is more reluctant this time, their heads pulled back slower only out of obligation to breathe as Lumine’s eyes hesitantly open only to be graced by the delightful spreading of color upon Kazuha’s cheeks.

The samurai smiles again, his hands loosening their hold of her wrists to tangle his fingers through the gaps of her own as he leans his head forward, forehead nudging against her own.

“I think you should know something about me, Lumine.” He finally deigns to explain, despite his own wishes to taste her lips again. “That though I live from each day to next, wandering free like a bird in the sky… My heart has yet to stray.”

The outlander’s confusion has her cocking her head to the side, and Kazuha chases after her by brushing the very surface of his lips against the bangs of her bright blonde hair and the dampened, rain-soaked skin of her forehead.

“From the moment we first met, in you, I found a kindred spirit. And no matter how far I’ve traveled, or how distant we may be… I’ve always listened to any hints of your voice whispering your wishes upon the wind.”

She never imagined she’d ever get to feel this – feel Kazuha embrace her as he murmurs into the crown of her head, planting chaste kiss after kiss upon her hair as if he’d been longing to do so for the longest time.

But she does – right in this moment. She feels his arms wrap around her, holding her against his sturdy chest so tightly she could not help but to tilt her head up and press her face into his neck and allow the overwhelming feeling of safety engulf her very being.

“If you believe yourself to be in my debt, then trust in my words when I say that I’ve always felt that the debt between us was mine to repay.”

How can someone make her feel so dangerously at ease like this? Make her feel like all is right in the world?

Despite the pain she feels, despite all the suffering, wariness, doubt and despair – but a single word from him was enough to wash them all away, replaced now with a peace of mind that makes Lumine want to selfishly pursue him more than she already has.

Though, with Kazuha’s words… he would no doubt claim that she wasn’t being near selfish enough for his liking.

She truly doesn’t deserve him.

“Starry, lovely cloudless night. Upon the wind our hopes carried...”

Lumine feels Kazuha stiffen against her as she murmurs against his skin, before he pulls back to look down at her with a surprised, but joyously entranced smile.

“Dreaming of a brighter tomorrow, may your dreams take flight.”

He remembered, because of course he does… Because he was the ever sensitive, gentle, wonderful and kind Kazuha that she’s fallen in love with. That she doesn’t deserve to be loved back by. Whose words are enough to make her feel like she may live to see a better future by his side.

“May I ask something of you, Lumine?” He asks, threading his fingers soothingly through the knots in her hair as she nods in response. “Next time your heart is troubled… would you allow me to share in your burdens?”

The outlander nods, pushing herself forward against the man, who could only huff softly as he shifts backwards and sits down, watching the woman pull herself into the safety and warmth of his lap. And when she finally sinks against him, pressing her head to rest against his shoulder, he feels his heart soar.

“You know…. You mentioned once before that you had lost a dear friend, right?” Lumine asks, and Kazuha responds with a wordless nod before raising his hand up to gently rub and soothe her back, feeling the beginnings of a sob rumble through her chest against his own.

“I……I lost somebody too.”

“Lumi… Lumine.”

A voice beckons with her name, light and airy as the freshened air. The scent of the morning dew lingers and wafts into her nose and compels the blonde to finally stir from her sleep and lift her eyelids.

Awakening to the sight of Kazuha staring down at her, smile seemingly brighter than even the sunlight was certainly something she could get herself used to… and for the first time, she’s found the will to believe in that – to smile back at him without a trace of deceit in her heart.

“Good morning, Kazuha.”

“Good morning, Lumine.” He greets her back, hand raised in offer for her to take. “I hate to interrupt you when you seemed to be sleeping so soundly… but a new day awaits us, and I’d like to show you something.”

She has no complaints as she pushes herself up, and places her hand into his own awaiting one, feeling her heart skip a beat as his fingers closes around her own and pulls her up onto her feet.

As far as she can tell as they exit the cave they’d taken shelter in for the night, the rains have finally ceased and the clouds have parted to reveal a clear dawn sky, with the chirping of songbirds cheerily greeting the daybreak mingling with the sound of the ocean waves pushing and pulling in tides along the nearby sandy shores.

Kazuha leads her by the hand, light on his feet and seemingly carrying the excitability and innocence of a child as he takes her past the dense layers of jungle foliage and canopy of trees that towered over them... until the pair finally arrive upon the very same beach that Lumine recognizes she had washed up on, alone, terrified and in less ease than she was feeling now.

“Look.” The young man gestures, pointing forward with his free hand and guiding her eyes towards the horizon – where her breath is stolen away by the sight before her.

Peeking out from where orange pink skies meet the sparkling sea was the bright sun, incandescent and carefree as it slowly but surely began to rise from its slumber, higher and higher into the sky. The surface of the ocean water reflected the sun’s rays, almost blinding in its radiance, as light beamed down upon the island she’d once saw as nothing but her own personal abyss.

No words passed between the pair as they watched the sunrise in peaceful silence, until the blonde is finally the first to tear her eyes away from the scenery to look back at Kazuha.

“You woke me just to see the sunrise?” Lumine asked, not that she was complaining mind, but out of a genuine curiosity that seemed to elicit a light, knowing laughter from the man beside her.

“’Just’, you say… Well, when you put it like that, I suppose it is a trivial reason to have disturbed your much needed sleep.”

The outlander is about to protest against his words until she feels him tug at her hand, pulling her closer to his side and flashing her a smile so vibrant and warm that she wondered how the sun could even hope to compare.

“But last night, you wore the eyes of someone who has begun to see nature as your enemy. I merely thought to… gently correct that notion.”

“…….Archons, really?”

Was that all that was to it? Did Kazuha… sweet, understanding and too sincere for his own good Kazuha… truly drag her out her to see the sunrise… because she had begun to spite mother nature for all the torment it’s put her through thus far?

She wants to say she’s surprised, shocked even by the earnestness of his sentiments…. But truthfully, it wouldn’t be Kaedehara Kazuha if he hadn’t, now would it?

He chuckles, and she feels her heart sway to the sounds of his voice being carried into the wind.

“Somebody who sees nature as their enemy cannot hope to look forward to the future, Lumi… I believe- no… I know that you share my opinions on that matter.” He explains, scarlet eyes narrowing as he stares into her own golden hued ones. “At journeys end, you of all people deserve to be happy.”

Kazuha’s expression softens as he closes the distance between them once more, and Lumine cares not to resist as he presses his lips against her own.

The scent of the autumn breeze washes away her doubts, and she’s slow and selfish as she savors the warmth of his embrace until they finally part, and she smiles up at the man with a heart free and unburdened by the worries of her own doubts no longer.

“I could say the same for you, silly.”