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“Wow, Liyue Harbor is even bigger than you described, Kazuha. I’m glad you’re here or I’d definitely have gotten lost by now.” Gorou’s tail flicked back and forth happily as he gazed around at the hustle and bustle with undisguised wonder.
“Mm. It can be a little overwhelming at first,” Kazuha agreed with an amused smile, as Gorou’s tail increased in speed. “But there’s something truly welcoming about this place. Like you could come from anywhere in Teyvat and you’d be able to make a home here.” After a slight pause Kazuha continued in a lighter tone, “Imagine if I had to inform Her Excellency that her most dependable war general had gotten lost in Liyue Harbor somewhere.”
Gorou’s tail stilled and his ears drooped slightly as his attention returned to Kazuha. “Ex war general.”
That look in Gorou's eyes was familiar.
Back when Kazuha had fled from Inazuma with the blank vision clutched in his hand, he hadn't realised just how much life was going to change. He'd always been a wandering samurai with no real goal in mind, but it was a life that suited him, and it was only after he'd set foot in Liyue, when he'd finally had a moment to reflect on what had happened, that he'd realised his life could never go back to how it was. Suddenly he knew that he would have to forge his own path from that moment on and it wouldn't be an easy task.
He could see that realisation in Gorou’s expression now.
“Sorry,” Gorou said. “I didn’t mean it to sound like that’s a bad thing. It’s just…” He sighed and looked out over the ocean behind them, back in the direction of their homeland. “If I’m not fighting in a war, what am I supposed to do now?”
Kazuha reached down and slowly took one of Gorou’s hands into his own - smiling gently at the way it made his ears perk up high on his head. “What do you want to do now? That’s the question you get to ask yourself,” he said, in such a soft voice that it was almost a whisper. “You can take as long as you want to look for the answer. Maybe you’ll find it in the whisper of the wind through the grass... or the sound of raindrops tapping on a sturdy inn window... or perhaps in the way the lights glow in the sweet smelling evening and hum of a night in Liyue Harbor. You can experience all of these things and find inspiration. Or perhaps not. It’s for you to decide who you are and what you want to do.”
Gorou’s bright teal eyes shined with an excitement that Kazuha was used to seeing in them on the battlefield, and his tail resumed its gentle waving.
“Thanks, Kazuha.” Gorou squeezed their hands together. “You know,” he continued conversationally, “I hear a lot of soldiers say that they always considered you to be mysterious and quiet - a ‘samurai of few words’ they would say - but I’ve always found you to be…” He grinned, his fangs flashing in the fading evening light. “Well, full of words.”
Kazuha laughed and entwined their fingers. Without their gloves on it was easy to feel how Gorou’s hand was calloused and battle-hardened, just as he knew his own would be. “Only with you,” he said eventually.
He was rewarded with the sight of a pink bloom that spread across Gorou’s nose, though it could have just been a trick of the soft Liyue lamplight glowing around them.
Gorou seemed lost for words and that only fuelled the fond warmth blazing in Kazuha’s chest. He felt so lucky to be with him here. They had truly come out of the other side, and now they were free.
Eventually Gorou scratched at one of his fluffy ears and finally turned to face Kazuha, with the boldness and courage of a true general. “Then I would like it very much if you and all your words accompanied me on my self-discovery journey." His ears flicked down bashfully and his voice softened as he added, "If you uh- want to, that is.”
“Nothing would make me happier.”