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“Childe, you can’t be serious right now,” Lumine frowned, her arms crossed. “Please tell me you didn’t just ask everyone out to hot pot to celebrate my birthday.”
Childe smirked. “You already know I can’t tell you that.”
“Why, you! I thought I told you to keep quiet about it!”
“But don’t we all need to celebrate our dear Traveler’s birthday?”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Oh, come on! I’m sure all of them want to thank you for saving their beloved nations. Besides, I’m sure they’d never forgive themselves if they found out.”
“Yup!” Paimon chirped in. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything earlier!”
“And why did our emergency food decide to tell Childe, of all people?” Lumine sighed, her hand massaging her temple.
“Hey! Paimon is not emergency food!” Paimon pouted.
“Aww, don’t be so mad girlie! It’s all to celebrate you after all.”
“That’s exactly what I don’t want.”
Childe clicked his tongue. “Not the right attitude Lumine!”
“What do you want me to say…”
He took a deep breath, then spoke in the squeakiest, high-pitched voice she ever heard. “Childe! You’re the absolute best! Thanks so much for inviting all my friends! I love you so much!”
Paimon snickered.
Lumine frowned.
“So? What did you think? I got it exactly on point, didn’t I?” Childe smugly said, a wide grin on his face.
Her face darkened. “It seems like our dear comrade is in need of a spar.”
Childe’s face turned pale. Usually he’d be up for a good spar, but something about Lumine didn’t sit right with him. If he didn’t leave immediately, one of the Fatui harbingers might go missing. Permanently.
“Ah, anyway, I found out that I have something to do. But hey, remember, Wanmin Restaurant! Got me? Yeah, you got me. See you later!”
He dashed off, narrowly avoiding the massacre that would have happened if he stayed even a minute longer.
Once Lumine saw his figure fade away, she groaned loudly. Of course Childe and Paimon would arrange a birthday party of sorts for her.
“Lumine? What’s wrong?” Paimon asked worriedly. “I’m sorry we didn’t ask for your permission, but we thought it would be a great surprise for you!”
She gave Paimon a light smile. “Sorry Paimon, I was just surprised. I’ve never had a birthday party after all.”
“Ehh? No way!”
“Haha, yeah. I’ll apologize to Childe later too. I know you guys only wanted me to have a good birthday. I was just… really surprised.”
It’s not that she wasn’t happy. She was flattered that they thought of her and wanted to celebrate the day of her birth with all their friends. In fact, she was grateful.
But it wasn’t just her birthday after all.
When Lumine said that she’d never had a birthday party before, she meant that she had never had one without her brother. She still remembered. She remembered how her brother would always wake her up first, yelling into her ear that it was their birthday. She remembered how they would weave flowers into each other’s hair. She remembered how they would eat their favorite food together, talk about which worlds they would visit next, and sleep under the glittering stars.
She missed those times dearly.
“Mm, Lumine?” Paimon said, unsure of whether or not she should interrupt Lumine’s train of thought.
“Yes?”
“It’s almost time for us to leave!”
Lumine forced a smile on her face. “Let’s see what this surprise party is all about!”
As Lumine walked down to Wanmin Restaurant with Paimon floating behind her, she couldn’t help but think of her brother. Where he was, and what he was doing right now.
She missed him. She missed home.
She shook her head. This wasn’t what she needed to think about. Her friends spent so much time planning this out for her. She needed to be happy.
When she arrived, she could see all her friends sitting at a large table.
“Happy birthday Lumine!” All her friends cheered, greeting her with smiles.
“Thanks everyone. It’s great to see you!” Lumine smiled. She could recognize so many faces, and she dearly missed all of them. From the Knights of Favonius to the Liyue Qixing… She really did meet so many wonderful people on her journey.
They all glanced at each other.
“Mm, Lumine?” Childe piped up.
She sighed. “Yes, Childe?”
“We have a special surprise for you. Let’s all go outside for a second.”
Confused, she walked outside, the rest of the guests following suit.
“Soo… we all knew you really missed your brother,” Childe started, a wide grin on his face.
“So we wanted to do something special for you!” Amber chipped in enthusiastically.
From behind them they all revealed a lantern, to which Lumine tilted her head quizzically. “Lanterns?”
“Hehe, well, these aren’t just any kind of lanterns! These are the ones where you can send wishes in them,” Yoimiya smiled.
“... Wishes?”
“Yup, Traveler! If we all wish really really really hard, your brother has to hear our wishes! If your brother is somewhere in Teyvat, no way he can miss this!” Klee exclaimed, holding out a lantern for Lumine to take.
“Your brother’s your twin right? This is our way of sending our birthday wishes to him as well,” Kaeya murmured, putting a hand on Lumine’s shoulder.
Tears welled up in Lumine’s eyes.
Of course her friends noticed that she’s been feeling down. Ever since she discovered that her brother was the Abyss Prince… she hasn’t been her usual self. She was worried that maybe, just maybe, her friends wouldn’t accept her brother. She didn’t know his true intentions after all. But she knew that they were family.
She took the lantern that Klee offered to her and held it close to her chest.
There are many things I wish for. I wish for us to talk. I wish to talk about my adventures, about my many friends I met while trying to find you. I wish for you to tell me all about your time here in Teyvat. I wish for you to tell me why. Why be the Abyss Prince. Why you can’t come back to me. There’s so many feelings bottled up inside me that I don’t know who else to tell them to except for you. But… today, I remembered you. I remembered us. I wish for you to be happy, my dear brother. Happy birthday.
And with that, she released her lantern. Her friends all released their lanterns too, adorning the night sky with their wishes.
She smiled. Her wish would surely go out to him.
“T-thank you all… so very much…” Lumine started, voice breaking.
They all shared a quiet, but comfortable silence.
“Let’s go inside now,” She smiled. “I’m starting to get a bit hungry.”
Xiangling beamed. “I made lots of food to celebrate!”
“Time for wine!”
“No.”
“Aww, don’t be such a downer Diluc!”
“Yes, please restrict him from any alcoholic beverages. I don’t think we want another fiasco on our hands.”
As they all chuckled, they went inside to share dinner together. The lanterns still shone bright, flickering in the air.
Even from a distance, it was easy to see the dozens of bright lights in the night sky. All of Liyue must have seen it by then. Perhaps one could see it from even further.
Happy birthday, my dearest sister.