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Fate had never looked kindly upon him.
It was something he had always known, something he had years to accept, and after centuries passed and his memory all but faded, all that remained was the cool ache in his chest that served as a reminder of times long past.
And yet, there were moments when even he dared hope.
Hope that maybe one day he will be able to redeem himself for all the blood he had shed, all the lives that had been lost in the fight he had been unable to win, but most of all, for the oath he had broken.
He was a man stripped bare from his title, position and ambitions- reduced to nothing but a shadow of who he once was, cursed and doomed to wander the world with his memory all but fading.
Except for her.
The memory of her never dulled, the way her eyes would light up in the bright rays of the early morning sun, her lips would lift into that soft smile reserved only for him to see, and he wondered if maybe that too, was his curse.
Until the day fate had allowed their paths to cross once more.
The moment molten gold locked with cool turquoise he felt his chest constrict, his heart humming as every fiber of his being calling for that one person whose light would be enough to chase all the dark demons whispering to him away.
And regardless of what would happen, the memory of her would never fade.
“Dain.”
The soft chime of her voice carried to his ears through the cool night-air, the warmth it once held missing and Dainsleif wanted to smile bitterly at the realization of just where they had met once again.
The bright rays of the moon illuminated her lonely form standing at the top of Starsnatch Cliff, the gentle breeze making her golden tresses that cascaded down her back swing softly in the night air.
“Lumine.” He mumbled her name, the taste it left on his lips one so sweet he would never forget, and the moment the sound reached her ears he could have sworn to have seen her expression falter ever so slightly.
It had been months since he had last seen her, the day he had rushed through the portal just to end up at Mondstadt’s outskirts all alone still fresh on his mind, and to have her stand within arms reach in the place he had first lost her was making his chest burn.
Lumine turned to fully face him, golden eyes breaking their gaze to flicker to his face, to his suit, and when they lifted once more and lingered on the mask covering the right side of his face- covering the most vulnerable part of him only she had gotten to see.
“I didn’t expect to meet you here.” Lumine confessed, the way her voice had softened ever so slightly betraying the carefully masked expression she had taken to wearing. “Our paths seem to cross rather often, lately.”
And with every time they did, the spark- that foolish, little spark in him grew.
Dainsleif was not one to believe in coincidences, knowing that fate set you on paths meant for one to travel, but he also believed that it was up to oneself what you would make out of them.
It ate him up from the inside out, the knowledge that she as well felt that very same spark, that the Lumine he had fallen in love with and very much still was in love with was still in there, beneath that cool exterior she had put up.
She did it to protect herself, to protect him, and although it was meant for the greater good, he felt his chest tense in frustration at the knowledge that out of all people, it had to be her whom they had chosen.
They had taken advantage of her kindness, of her loyalty and guilt that ate her up with every day that passed while he could only offer her comfort as he watched the woman he loved fall apart by the hands of her memories that haunted her with every waking moment.
“Your brother is traveling through the nation of eternity.” Dain cooly returned, brows lowering ever so slightly. “So why are you here?”
Here, in that very place they first met, in that very place he had eventually lost her.
It was then that he could have sworn to have seen something in her golden orbs flicker, a brief emotion flashing in them as her gaze softened for the smallest of bits.
“I could ask you the same thing.” She returned, tilting her head aside ever so slightly in a way that revealed her sweet, slender neck to him and his mind flashed with the memory of how his lips used to taste the sweet skin over her pulse. “I come here when I need to think.”
Dainsleif’s lips thinned at the confession, the way her voice had dropped an octave not going unnoticed by him and although every rational part of him screamed at him to turn around and leave before that spark would ignite once more, he refused to turn his back on her any longer.
“About your brother?” He found himself asking, voice calm and collected despite the way his gloved hand gradually curled into a fist.
She regarded him for a long moment, the way her eyes locked with his making his chest tighten.
“Aether will be fine, it’s not him I’m worried about.” She replied, voice having softened and Dainsleif felt his blood burn, the Boughkeeper hoping, praying that she wouldn’t say it, wouldn’t give him hope- “It’s you.”
And just like that, he felt the spark in his chest spread like a wildfire that made the blood in his veins burn, the sincerity that laced her gentle voice making him wish that she hadn’t said it, wouldn’t feel the same way he did because it hurt, it made him selfish and crave that one thing he had been denied.
“You should leave.” He mumbled, the firmness his voice held making her eyes spark in the bright moonlight bathing her form and when he saw her lips curl upwards into the ghost of a smile, his heart clenched painfully in his chest to the point he nearly felt himself unable to breathe.
“What if I don’t.” She challenged, eyes shining in that defiant way he had last seen hundreds of years ago and when she spoke once more, her voice softened.“Would you make me?”
Dainsleif’s jaw clenched at her challenge, the Boughkeeper knowing very well that she knew best how much he hated to see her walk away, but he was no longer the patient and understanding guard he had been centuries ago.
The sound of his boots hitting the soft grass echoed through the silence around them as he approached her, steps slow yet firm, turquoise orbs not once straying from her golden ones as she moved back, the glint in her eyes calm and the second her heel reached the edge of the cliff and the sound of the waves crashing softly against the shore reached her ears, she stopped.
“I’m not the one I once used to be, Lumine.”
I’m not the one you fell in love with all these years ago anymore.
His steps slowed but didn’t cease, the distance between growing closer, the air warmer, filled with her sweet scent, and it was when he was within arms reach that he finally came to a halt.
Lumine regarded him for a long moment, not once breaking their gaze and after a few seconds of silence passed, the mask she wore finally cracked.
For the first time in years he was granted a glimpse of the her he had believed to be lost, the way her gaze softened pulling sharply at his heartstrings and when her lips lifted into a soft, sad smile, he felt his chest constrict painfully.
“Neither am I.” She softly admitted, and when he saw her lift a small, delicate hand to ghost the tips of her fingers over his mask, he felt the leylines beneath it pulsate hotly and come to life. “But we both know that it doesn’t change anything.”
And with that, she stepped back.
The second he saw her lean back he felt his heart painfully drop, the blood in his body running cold and before he realized it himself, he had already moved.
He rushed forward at the speed of light, gloved hand brushing against hers just in time before firmly taking a hold of it and pulling her sharply into his chest.
The sound of his heart slamming rapidly against his chest echoed loudly in his ears as he held her, the realization of what she had just done making him tighten his grip on her to a painful degree but just when he pulled back and was about to ask her what the hell she was thinking she was doing, he felt her feathery touch on his face.
Her small, warm hands gently caressed the side of his face as she gazed up at him with a smile so gentle and familiar it pained him, and when she spoke, her voice was nothing but a whisper.
“You’re the only one I trust to always catch me when I fall, Dain.” She mumbled, thumb ghosting over his skin and leaving a warmth that instantly made him tighten his grip on her. “And as long as you promise to always catch me, I will gladly take the fall.”
The meaning her words held made his fingers dig painfully into the soft curve of her hip, the way she gazed up at him making it nearly impossible for him to deny her and when he felt her breath ghost over his lips, he felt himself yield.
His gloved hand reached out to entangle into her golden tresses, his last restraint snapping and with one, swift motion he bent down to crash his lips against hers.
Years of longing, of craving her touch and missing her soft caresses came crashing down on him at once, the feeling of her hands moving to slip around his neck to pull him closer making the blood in his veins burn hot as he kissed her like a man starved for the warmth of the one and only person ruling over his heart.
His hand on her hip slid to her lower back to push her closer against him, the need to feel her soft, warm body against his consuming him and causing the last bit of rationality he had left to slip away.
And then, there was only her.
The way she touched him with care as if to assure him that she was right there, the way she tasted so sweet that he felt himself drown in her, and when he finally pulled away for air and allowed his lips to hover over her rosy, swollen ones and rested his forehead against hers, he knew that he would always catch her.
No matter when, no matter how many times, he would always be there to catch her when she would fall, regardless of how deep he would have to fall to reach her- or how long he would have to wait until he would feel her warmth brush against his once again.
Lumine exhaled a shaky breath against his lips as she buried her fingers in his blonde locks, eyes fluttering close as her nose gently brushed against his.
“Just a little longer, Dain.”
Just a little longer until all of it would be over, until all the pain and waiting will finally have been worth it-
Until they will finally be together once more.
His gloved hand moved to gently caress the side of her face, his touch making her golden eyes flutter open once more and when their eyes locked, he knew that if she told him to, he would wait for her as long as she needed him to if it meant that one day, he would be allowed to selfishly claim her once more.
“I’ll be there.”
Her lips curved up into a smile, his expression softened, the Boughkeeper leaning down to claim her lips into a passionate kiss once more, allowing himself to selfishly savor the feeling of her until their paths would have to part once more.
Her back softly hit the grass, his heated caresses trailing all over her small body that instantly leaned into his touch as the stars twinkled merrily above them, allowing them to become one once more.
And although fate had never looked kindly upon him, he knew that she always would.