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It’s an abnormally beautiful day in Ritou. The sky was clear, there wasn’t a sign of storms anywhere to be seen and the sun was shining brightly down on the port town.
Thoma smiled to himself as he walked amongst the merchants, so many people had taken the opportunity of the nicer weather to come and shop, and the atmosphere was almost festive. He had been doing his usual rounds of the port, making sure that nothing was amiss and that everyone was getting along as best as he could manage. While he was here, he hadn’t passed up the opportunity to do a bit of shopping for himself as well, so he had a small cloth bag slung over his arm carrying his purchases.
It had been several weeks since the Sukoku Decree had been lifted by order of the Electro Archon, and trade had resumed with a vengeance in the island nation. Ships from the other nations were arriving on a near daily basis, bringing goods from all corners of Teyvat to Ritou. Thanks to the work of the resistance, along with the Traveller Lumine’s efforts, the Raiden Shogun had been convinced to reverse her restrictions on Inazuma and life was slowly returning to that which it had been before the quest for eternity had begun. Thoma was right in the thick of things, assisting with the flow of goods into the nation as well as soothing ruffled tempers between the merchants, so finding a moment to spare for himself was rare.
As much as he was enjoying himself, he would much rather be spending it with Lumine, however he hadn’t seen her in several days. She had been caught up in the changes just as much as he had, attending meetings in the capital, acting as moderator between the various sides in peace negotiations, as well as continuing her work with the adventurers guild. Their previous ability to find time to see each other had dwindled and Thoma was sorely missing her company.
Thoma sighed to himself as he continued to move with the flow of people towards his final stop. Children laughed as they ran amongst the crowd, merchants called out their new wares, and the scents of all different kinds of food and drink warred with each other in the air. The crowd of people seemed to get thicker as he went until he noticed a large group standing stationary off to the side, tucked up against the giant tree in the middle of the courtyard. There were quite a few people and they all seemed to be facing something specific. He made his way closer and that’s when Thoma spotted a familiar head of golden blonde hair in the middle of the commotion. He smiled, if Lumine was here in the market, maybe he could convince her to join him for the rest of the day. That thought was quickly extinguished when he saw what was happening.
Lumine had been cornered by a group of admirers. She was sitting on a bench, smiling softly at the people crowded around her. They all jostled for position, trying to be the one she focused on next with her golden eyes.
“Oh Miss Lumine, here, please try our newest snack,” says one young man, Thoma recognizes him as one of the chefs at the nearby restaurant as the man holds a small paper bag out towards her.
“Miss Lumine, which of these colours do you think look better for our new design?” asks someone else, holding up two different swatches of cloth for her to see.
“Honored Traveller, please take this gift as my thanks for all you have done for our nation” says a third person, offering her a bouquet of flowers. This last person is a young man, and his eyes and hands linger against hers as she takes the offering from him.
She smiles at all of them and takes the time to acknowledge everyone who approaches her, regardless of how ridiculous their statements are or how ostentatious their offerings are to her. Each person who talks to her is graced with a few quiet words and her undivided attention, even if it is only for a moment or two.
Thoma’s stomach flops over on itself and his vision blurs. Ever since Lumine had faced down the Shogun and helped bring about all the changes to Inazuma, she had been incredibly popular with the locals. It didn’t matter where she went, people would flock to her and offer her gifts and their admiration, much to Thoma’s embarrassment. He preferred to stay in the shadows, fixing problems before they could become full blown issues, and making sure that everything happening around him went off without complications, so seeing the way that people were treating her made him uncomfortable. Plus, it seemed that every eligible young male, and some who aren’t so eligible, we’re flinging themselves at her, trying to woo the heart of the beautiful traveller.
His heart pounds painfully in his chest. He knows that he shouldn’t feel this way, they are just supposed to be just friends, but seeing all of these people crowded around her makes him want to grab her wrist and drag her away until it’s just the two of them. But he doesn’t do that. Thoma is too embarrassed and too considerate of others to do anything but watch as the next person presents themselves in front of her, asking for her opinion on some jewelry before presenting her with the piece she points at.
Without alerting Lumine to his presence, he backs away, disappearing back into the crowd of the market, eager to finish his tasks, hoping that he can get over his emotions before he returns to the estate.
***
Later that afternoon, the sun is just starting to set as Thoma makes his way through Inazuma City, his feet are just starting to sting after walking all day across the entire island and his heart is still painfully thumping in his chest every time he thinks about Lumine. After he had seen her in the market, he had finished his inquiries in Ritou before heading to the capital to check on things there. It had been a long day and a lot of walking so he had slowly been making his way back to the Kamisato estate in time for dinner. Normally he would have tried to invite Lumine to join him for the meal, but he just can’t get the way that she had smiled at all of the other young men in Ritou out of his head. It had been so long since she had smiled at him that he longed for it, and the sound of her voice was haunting him, causing him to whip his head around every time he thought he heard it.
The main road through the city was quiet as most of the people and families prepared their dinners, but he noticed that a couple folks were still manning their carts and shops. His nose catches the scent of his favourite food, so he makes his way towards the smell, thinking he’s deserved a treat. With a small smile and an exchange of a couple coins, he grabs a skewer of dango and finds a spot to sit down on a stone bench off to the side of the road to enjoy it, taking a moment to rest his feet.
As he sits, he watches the few people who are still out as they walk past, enjoying the few moments to himself as he eats his snack. Mostly he lets his mind wander but he can’t help but wonder where Lumine is. Has she returned to the inn that she had been staying at, or is she off at another meeting? Was she still here on the main island or had she left for Watatsumi to see the resistance? Thoma sighs again, he’s so fixated on her that he barely notices what’s happening until a couple of voices snap him out of his thoughts. He looks up to see two of the young guards from the Tenryou commission walking by. He ducks his head, not wanting to make eye contact, and tries to focus on finishing his dango but he catches what they are saying as they draw closer.
“I wonder if the Traveller is going to be at the festival this weekend, do you think she still needs an escort?”
“Really? Man, I can’t wait to meet her. Maybe she’ll be up for a dance or two if she does go, I’ve heard she’s gorgeous when she moves, so I’d love to spin her on the dance floor for a while.”
“Oh come on, I know which kind of ‘moves’ I’d like to see her make, if you know what I mean!”
Thoma’s ears burn, and he feels his throat stick as he tries to swallow his last bite of dango. He looks down at his lap as the two make their way past him, hiding his face as the men continue to joke with each other about Lumine and her qualities. He should jump to his feet and defend her, but he’s too embarrassed and jealous to move a single hair. Instead, he waits, with his head bowed, until they are out of sight.
Why would Lumine ever give him a second glance when everyone was so enamoured with her? He’s just a lowly housekeeper, a foreigner, with practically nothing but his skilled hands to his name. She’ll be better suited to someone like Commissioner Ayato than the likes of him. As much as he likes to think that he is skilled at keeping the island running smoothly, the truth is he really isn’t anyone important, surely not important enough to be with someone as incredible and famous as her. His eyes clench as he bites back tears at his own emotions running amok before he stands, turning towards the stairs that will eventually take him back to the estate. His stomach is protesting and his fingernails are digging into his palms as he clenches his hands, but he does his best to fight down the feelings that have been so hard to keep bottled up lately.
***
That night at dinner, Thoma is uncharacteristically quiet. Usually, when surrounded by the Kamisato siblings, he chats nonstop about his day and the people he had worked with, allowing the commissioner and his sister to get to know what is most important in their circles of influence at the moment and if there is anything they can do to assist. But instead, he is silent as he stirs his dinner around his plate, barely eating anything.
Commissioner Ayato is sitting at one end of the table, his presence so rare at the estate that everyone on the grounds knows when he is around and there is a definite shift in the atmosphere that the staff all notice. His smile is infectious, and his voice is calm and authoritative, making him the ideal leader of the Yashiro commission.
His younger sister Ayaka sits at the other end of the table. She is usually shy and doesn’t speak much, but she has a strong personality and is quick to defend the helpless and the weak. The repealing of the Vision Hunt Decree had been a lifelong goal of hers, and now that it had been accomplished, she had set her hand to help assist the people who had been damaged by its actions and help them regain their lives.
Thoma sits at the long end of the table between them, closest to the door in case anything arose during the meal that he would need to attend to.
Ayato clears his throat, breaking the silence, and he looks at his sister at the other end of the table. “Ayaka, is there something I’ve managed to miss around here today?” The commissioner is looking at her, but Thoma can sense that his lord’s attention is on him instead.
“Not that I’m aware of, brother” she replies delicately, dabbing the side of her mouth with a napkin. “All was well across the island today, people were out enjoying the good weather from what I heard. Isn’t that right, Thoma?”
Thoma jerks his head up and he paints a smile on his face as he turns his head towards her. “Yes, Lady Ayaka. The market was full and people were enjoying themselves” he replies, nodding his head. His reply sounds robotic to his ears and he winces slightly before continuing. “There were no complaints to be had of the merchants and nothing was amiss that I could find.” He turns to the commissioner. “Is there something I should know about, sir?”
Ayato places a single finger against his chin and looks at him questioningly. “It’s just not like you to be so quiet and have such a lack of appetite, Thoma.”
Thoma flushes and bows his head, trying to hide his face. “I… I just had a long day on my feet, sir.” Thoma continues to stare at his plate, wringing his hands in his lap as he fights with himself. A few more moments of silence pass before he speaks again, “If it’s ok with you, my lord, may I be excused?”
The commissioner sighs and nods while Ayaka pouts slightly. Thoma gets to his feet and makes his way to the door of the dining room before turning and bowing respectfully to the siblings before leaving for his rooms, his dinner virtually uneaten.
His feet take him back to his suite without his head really thinking about it, and he finds himself shortly back behind his own closed door, where he lets out the breath he had been holding in a large sigh. He leans back against the door and rubs the heels of his hands into his eyes until his vision is splotchy. What is going on with him? Lumine isn’t his property, despite how they had been spending so much time together over the past few months. So why is he so upset over everything that happened today?
Ever since she had first landed in Inazuma, he had done his best to make time to see her and help her with her journey. She had literally saved his life when he had been seized by the Tenryou guards and he had saved hers in return when he helped her escape the strike of the Shogun. After that, they rarely didn’t spend more than a day without seeing each other, either for dinner at the Komore Teahouse, lunch here at the estate, or just a walk along the beach at any time once their tasks for the day were completed. His feelings for her had exploded out of nowhere and it was swiftly progressing past the casual crush he had first thought it was. He was becoming so obsessed with everything about her that it was starting to hurt, both emotionally and physically, when they were apart. It was only recently that it had become harder and harder for him to find her, as she was now so completely surrounded by thankful citizens and people who would want to steal her attention away from him that she rarely had time to spend with him.
Then, not only seeing her today being showered with gifts by other men, but hearing about how they thought she was attractive and the things they would wish to do with her, it made him physically ache with longing for her. It had been nearly a week since they had seen each other, not counting today, and he had been missing her so much. The happiness he had felt this morning when walking through the market had been the first time that his mood had been pleasant in a while and he had managed to forget his heartache for a while, but it had come back tenfold when he had seen her smiling at the people who had surrounded her with gifts and flattery.
It was so embarrassing that his jealousy had become so apparent that even Ayato had noticed, he was usually so good at hiding his emotions from the commissioner. It wasn’t his place to cause issues, it was his job to fix them. How could he maintain his responsibility as retainer if he was the one having problems? Now that Ayato and Ayaka had seen him like this, it was inevitable that they would try and pry whatever was bothering out of him and try to help, but he was determined to not drag them into his own internal battle with his heart.
Thoma makes his way across the room, shrugging off his jacket and tossing it over the back of the chair in the corner, before removing his gloves and belt and flinging himself down onto his bed, face down. He squeezes his eyes closed and grips the blanket below him with both fisted hands as he groans with frustration.
What is a man to do when he’s fallen in love but is too embarrassed to say anything?
~~~
It’s an abnormally beautiful day in Ritou. The sky was clear, there wasn’t a sign of storms anywhere to be seen and the sun was shining brightly down on the port town.
Lumine welcomes the refreshing change in the weather. After spending so much time in the warm climate of Liyue, the initial shock of the cool humidity of the ever stormy Inazuma had taken her a while to get used to. But today the sun shone a golden balm onto the land of Electro and she wasn’t going to waste a single moment of it. She set off from the inn with the intention of roaming the marketplace in Ritou. Maybe, if she was lucky, she’d finally cross paths with the first person she had met here, back in the place they had originally been introduced.
Thoma had all but disappeared from her life recently, caught up in the chaos that occurred after her confrontation with Ei at the side of the resistance and Yae Miko. She had been thoroughly enjoying their time together, and he was the first person in all her years to actually make her have second thoughts about her wandering ways as a traveller. If it weren’t for her self appointed task of reuniting with her beloved brother, she would be sorely tempted to settle down right here if it meant she could continue to spend time with the kind and talented housekeeper and retainer of the Yashiro commission. So, after how well they had been getting along, why was fate being so cruel to them now? It had been nearly a week since the last time they had seen each other, and even then it was just in passing. She missed his smile and his warm green eyes that she so easily found herself drowning in. Her dreams had been full of him holding her in his strong arms and whispering things to her as she cuddled into his warm embrace, and there was nothing more Lumine wanted than to try and make those dreams a reality.
With a sigh and trusting that things would work out eventually, Lumine hopes that the bustle of the market would allow their paths to cross at some point today. Lumine hurries her steps and joins the crowd of people making their way towards the docks, not wanting to miss the opportunity to catch him as he would inevitably be checking on things in the market. The commotion was reminiscent of Liyue Harbour and the constant commerce that occurred there, and seeing this kind of enthusiasm in Inazuma made her smile, knowing that once again she had helped bring a positive change to the people with her own hands and efforts.
Unfortunately though, this brought about something that she had come to dread.
“Miss Lumine! Do you have a moment to spare?” The voice was new, but it spoke words that she had come to expect constantly in the recent days.
The citizens of Inazuma were enamoured of her, seeing her as some kind of saviour as opposed to just one small part of a giant wave that had brought about the new changes. Kokomi and Gorou had struggled for months, forming and training the resistance forces, Ayaka and Thoma had worked tirelessly against the Vision Hunt Decree, and Kazuha had even left the country entirely to find help in the form of Captain Beidou. So why the average person only seemed to see her as the sole reason for everything that had happened was starting to wear on her. However, a memory of her brother had been floating around her mind ever since it had started.
***
Aether sat on a tree stump, cleaning his sword. He had just taken down a great beast that had been terrorizing a small town, and he looked as calm as if he had just been out for a casual training session. The townspeople had begun to gather around him, offering him food, drink, and admiration, and he sat there and interacted with every single person, making them all feel as if he gave them his undivided attention, if only for a moment. She remembers walking up to him and whispering to him, asking why they didn’t just leave and brush the clingy people off. He shook his head and said that he would never disrespect someone’s feelings by treating them as insignificant. He told her that people like this base their value on how valuable their opinions are to important people, and in that instance, if he is able to increase their own assumed self worth just by sharing a couple words with them or gracing them with a smile, he would always be willing to do so and that she should be too if she were to ever find herself in the same position.
***
Lumine sighs inwardly and turns toward the voice. She spots a young girl looking at her with wide eyes, surrounded by others around her age. “Miss Lumine, please, we wish to be adventurers like you one day, we want to know how it is that you’re so strong and brave?” Lumine smiles and offers them some words of encouragement, saying that they should always try their hardest to help others and to practice their adventuring skills every single day. As she is speaking to the youngsters, people have noticed that she is there and a crowd is beginning to form around her, blocking her off from escaping into the market as she would have preferred to do. As soon as the would-be adventurers leave, there is another person wanting to speak to her, followed by another and another, until there is a line of people all jostling for position to ask her something or present her with a gift. She has been backed up against the large sakura tree in the middle of the market and is graciously offered one of the benches to sit on, but the crowd only continues to increase as word spreads through Ritou of who has arrived.
She does her best to keep her spirits high and remember her brother when he dealt with people like this, but large crowds have always made her slightly nervous. If only someone would appear and rescue her from this, someone like Thoma. She wouldn’t mind if he were to whisk her away from the crowds and find a place where it could just be the two of them for a while. She looks past the people standing around her and thinks she spots his distinctive headband amongst the crowd, almost as if her prayers had been answered. Her heart flutters and she strains her neck to try and see around the people in front of her, but it’s too crowded and the sight of him slips away. She quickly turns back towards the latest person to approach her, a young man who is offering her some flowers. Her hands tingle as she accepts the bouquet and he uses the excuse to run his fingertips along the back of her hands and down her fingers as he pulls away, a sly smile on his lips. She bites back a hiss as her skin crawls from the unwanted contact but she paints a polite smile on her face and thanks him anyways, not wanting to show her discomfort. He steps away and she places the flowers on the bench next to her amongst the other gifts she has been given and looks back towards where she thinks she had spotted Thoma, only to find his headband gone and no sign of his coppery blonde hair anywhere in the area. She feels her face fall and her heart thump painfully in her chest as she realizes that she must have just imagined him being there in the first place and that there was no rescue coming for her. That she would just have to endure the attention until it naturally died off. She greets the next person to present themselves in front of her, trying to look polite and carefree even though inside she feels like crying.
Eventually, the crowd around her thins and she is able to escape the market as all of the people who wanted to interact with her have had their turn to meet her and had moved on with their days. It’s nearly sunset and she is exhausted, both mentally and emotionally, but she still longs to find the one person she actually wanted to find today.
She hurries around the streets of Ritou, trying to find Thoma, but there is no sign of him in the dwindling crowds. Eventually, she resorts to asking one of the merchants directly if they had seen him today.
“Of course Miss Lumine, Thoma stopped by earlier to see that everything was in order, just as he always does, but that was some time ago.” The lady at the jewelry shop had smiled at her question, and was happy to share the information, not knowing how much it made Lumine’s heart hurt. She thanks the lady and walks away, heading for the outskirts of town and the inn that she is staying at. Just like she had feared, she had missed him, all because she had been surrounded by all of those people. Maybe he had seen her in that crowd and had thought that she was avoiding him?
Her breath catches in her throat, what if Thoma thought she didn’t want him around anymore? She grips the front of her dress with her hand, her heart stuttering painfully as she looks back over the last few weeks. Thoma had been polite to her when they had crossed paths, but had seemed almost nervous and shy, which was completely out of character for him. His sunny personality was one of the things she adored about him, and seeing him withdrawn like that had been odd for her to see. But maybe, it was something deeper than that. Was he jealous of all the attention she had been getting? It’s not as if she encouraged it, and she certainly didn’t enjoy it, she was just trying to be polite and follow the advice given to her so long ago by her brother. But what if he didn’t know that? How could he?
Oh no. What has she done? Has she driven away the man she wanted to be with just by being nice to others?
She is glad that no one seems to be paying attention to her at the moment, because she’s sure that she looks like she’s about to cry. She takes off, running towards the sanctuary of her room as fast as her feet can take her, not stopping until the door of her room is closed solidly behind her. It’s there, where no one else can see, that she lets her emotions out and begins to sob, holding her face in her hands as her tears flow freely down her face. All she wanted was to be happy, but why did it feel like the only one who wasn’t happy right now was her? She had worked so hard to be nice to everyone, but by doing that she feared that she had driven away the only person she wanted to be around.
Lumine collapses onto the bed, her body shaking with sobs as she curls up on her side around one of the pillows. How she wishes she could be held right now by a strong pair of arms while the subtle scent of smoke and musk surrounded her. His warm and calloused hands running up and down her arms as his voice comforts her by whispering in her ear. She craves him now more than ever, when she feels vulnerable and small, but she’s hopelessly and painfully alone in her room.
Time slowly ticks by as she cries out her sorrows. The sun sets, casting orange and gold shadows through the window onto her face. She scrunches her eyes from the glare and pushes herself up onto her knees, rubbing her hands across her blotchy cheeks. Her nose is stuffed and her head twinges with pain right across her forehead, she feels absolutely miserable. She kneels on the bed trying to calm her breathing and get herself under control.
There’s a noise at the door to her room, a soft scrape of wood and quiet footsteps leading back down the hall. Lumine curiously crawls off of the bed, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand as she crosses the room and opens the door quietly. She looks down and spots a tray on the floor in front of her door. Someone has brought her dinner, probably one of the inn staff. She blushes furiously, realizing that this mysterious person had probably witnessed her abrupt return and maybe had even heard her sobbing in her room. She bends over to pick up the tray, the pressure in her head causing her to wince as she straightens up again, and closes the door behind her, placing the tray on the low table in the corner of the small room.
She stares at the tray, a covered plate, a bowl of fruit, and a glass of water, with a piece of paper sticking out from under the plate. Removing the cover reveals an assortment of meats and cheeses, along with sliced vegetables. Something light for her already upset stomach, indicating that the person who brought it definitely had heard her crying. Lumine closes her eyes and groans, just what she needed, someone feeling sorry for her. Even though she appreciates the kind gesture, it’s just another reminder of how people are treating her. But the piece of paper has piqued her curiosity, is it a note from the mysterious provider of the meal? She slides it out from the tray and holds it up to the light coming from the window. It’s an announcement for a festival to be held on Amakane island that weekend, sponsored by the Yashiro commission. Maybe the person who left the meal was hoping she would attend?
Her first reaction is to decline, after her emotional outburst today there’s no way she wants to be around more admirers so soon. But she stops and stares at the poster further. Sponsored by the Yashiro commission? That would mean Thoma must be involved and would most likely be there in attendance.
A plan forms in the back of her head. Maybe there’s a way she can still fix everything.
A smile creeps forward on her face, even as her tears are still drying on her cheeks.
***
“A disguise, what for?”
It’s early the following day, and Lumine is sitting at one of the tables in the Komore Teahouse across from her friend Ayaka over a pot of tea and some of their favorite snacks. Her question had been received with curiosity, if not some suspicion to its origins.
“Ayaka, I’m tired of being mobbed everywhere I go,” she sighs, taking a sip of her tea. “Plus, all of the attention seems to have scared off someone I really care about, and I’m about to go crazy if I can’t get away from the people for like 5 minutes and just tell him how I feel.” Lumine had been honest with her friend about her situation, even if she had refrained from sharing the exact identity of the person she is talking about. She still doesn’t know how Ayaka would react if she admitted to being in love with her housekeeper. “The festival this weekend, I’m hoping I can find him there and tell them everything, but I won’t be able to do that if everyone recognizes me.”
But Ayaka is sharper than she thinks.
“So that’s why Thoma has been so upset lately, huh?” Ayaka replies with a sparkle in her eyes, placing a finger against her cheek.
Lumine sputters on her tea, shocked. “How did you know I was talking about Thoma?”
Ayaka chuckles, passing Lumine a napkin to wipe her tea-splattered cheeks with. “I’ve seen how the two of you look at each other, and he tends to wear his heart on his sleeve, so I knew there was something wrong after how he behaved at dinner last night. You saying just now that you were missing someone like that just pulled it all together.” She smiles at Lumine, who is blushing like crazy under her gaze, but continues. “Thoma is my dearest friend, and it would make me so happy for you two to be together, and I hate seeing you both so upset, so if there is anything I can do to help your plan, count me in!”
“Wait, Thoma feels the same way?” Lumine's voice trembles and she blushes a bright red at Ayaka’s words. “He’s… he…” she stutters as she holds her face in her hands.
“Yes, I believe so,” Ayaka replies, looking towards the ceiling of the teahouse. “He has been acting rather odd lately, he barely sleeps, he is constantly distracted, and whenever anyone mentions you specifically, he either gets flustered and runs away, or he hangs onto their every word like it’s the only thing he cares about. Ayato and I figured that something is bothering him, so this could be the reason why he has seemed so upset lately.”
Lumine’s heart is pounding furiously in her chest. Thoma likes her. He wants to be with her just as much as she wants him. She hadn’t scared him off, if anything he sounds like he’s jealous of the attention she is getting and is probably just too shy to say or do anything. The half formed plan in her head takes on all the more importance after this realization.
“Thank you, Ayaka,” Lumine whispers, still completely embarrassed after all but admitting she was in love with the Kamisato family’s faithful retainer, but grateful that her friend is willing to help her regardless. “I just… need some way that I can get close to him and talk to him without people recognizing who I am at the festival. Think you can figure something out?”
“Leave it to me!”
~~~
With a festival approaching, the Kamisato estate was abuzz with activity. Vendors were coming and going at all hours of the day, and the staff were busy with decorations, food preparation, and planning of the events and ceremonies that would take place during the festival. Thoma had been doing his best to participate but his heart just wasn’t in it this time. He couldn’t help but feel drained no matter what he worked on, be it preparing meals for the household or completing his daily cleaning and organizing of the estate. He often sported dark circles under his eyes and his shoulders were slumped forward, as if he carried the weight of the entire nation on his back.
It wasn’t until Ayato ordered him back to bed shortly after breakfast the day of the festival that he truly felt like he had let his adopted family down.
“Thoma, please, let the staff take care of things for once and get some rest,” the commissioner tells him, a steady hand on his back pushing him towards his rooms. “Everything is prepared for this evening, so please get some sleep so you can be present by Ayaka’s side, ok?”
Thoma nods and shuffles towards his room, looking as weary as he feels inside, and he feels Ayato’s eyes on him, watching him the entire way to his rooms until he closes the door behind himself.
It’s true, he hadn’t been sleeping well, and his fatigue was starting to be overwhelming. His dreams were often haunted by a pair of golden eyes and a soft voice, often speaking words he longs to hear while awake.
Thoma, I miss you.
Thoma, I need you.
Please, Thoma? I want to be with you.
He doesn’t go to his bed, instead he collapses into the chair by the fireplace, flinging an arm over his eyes as he slouches down into the cushion. He knows he needs to escort Ayaka to the festival this evening, as she doesn’t like being surrounded by guards but prefers the presence of a friend instead. Ayato has an important meeting to attend meaning he won’t be present, so it’s the younger of the two siblings that needs to preside over the event, meaning he has to be there too. He doesn’t want to go, but Ayaka has insisted, saying she won’t accept anyone else.
Oh why can’t he get Lumine out of his head? His longing for her has made the rest of his life a walking nightmare, and he just doesn’t know what to do anymore.
His exhaustion finally catches up with him as he eventually dozes off, still dreaming of her gentle touch on his face and her silky hair running through his fingers,
~~~
Lumine is standing in front of a full-length mirror in her room at the inn with Ayaka moving around her, placing the finishing touches on her outfit.
Her hair has been braided with lengths of golden ribbons to make it seem longer and then tucked up under a crown of flowers. She is wearing a long blue yukata with white and silver trimmings and a blue and silver mask hangs from her fingers, waiting to be placed over her face. Ayaka had used several different cosmetics to accent her face, darkening her eyelids, softening the color of her cheeks, and emphasizing her lips, making her look so completely different yet still herself, almost as if she had been distilled in the true essence of who she is inside. Lumine had never spent much time focusing on her looks, rather she would prefer to practice her skills in fighting, but in Ayaka’s talented hands, she was amazed with the results. She almost didn’t recognize the beautiful stranger staring back at her in the mirror.
“Well, what do you think?”
Ayaka’s soft voice snaps her out of her thoughts, and she turns to her friend and smiles.
“I don’t really know what to say, the whole outfit looks incredible,” Lumine replies, bending and twisting her body around to see the finished disguise in its full glory in the mirror. “Do you think this is really going to work? I still kinda look like me…”
Ayaka laughs, covering her mouth with her hand. She normally would have her fan with her, but she had her hands full getting Lumine ready for the festival. Ayaka was already dressed in her outfit for the event, a gorgeous adaptation of her usual everyday dress without all of the additional armor pieces and it absolutely glistened with silver and gold threads and tiny gemstone beadwork. Once she finished here, they would depart the inn and split up, approaching the island where the festival was being held from different angles to deflect any suspicion. Thoma was supposedly already there, overseeing the final preparations, and Lumine was positively vibrating at the thought that she would finally be able to see him again. Ayaka promised that she would keep Thoma there until they could finally talk, stating that she had requested his presence specifically and he wouldn’t leave until she granted him permission to do so.
“Lumine, do you doubt my skills? I have been doing this ever since I was a small child, and when it comes to ensuring that myself or someone I am assisting needs to look gorgeous and put together, I have yet to find someone who equals my skills.” Ayaka preens under Lumine's appreciative gaze, and waves her hands at the outfits they were wearing. “Plus, Ogura Mio did a wonderful job on our outfits, so I can’t exactly take all the credit.”
Indeed she had, the materials were incredible and the intricate embroidery on both of the costumes was more beautiful than anything Lumine had ever seen before.
Lumine turns back to the mirror again and lifts the mask to her face, tying the ribbon behind her head, and tucking it in around the flowers. With the final piece in place, she actually thinks that this may work.
“Ok, let’s go.”
~~~
Thoma sighs, he is standing next to Ayaka off to one side of the festival area, and he can feel the weight of his exhaustion pressing down on his shoulders again. Ayaka seems distracted, almost as if she is looking for someone or something, but he tries to ignore it and focuses on watching the space around them for possible troublemakers or threats.
Ayaka hears his sigh and turns towards him, looking up at his face with concern in her eyes. “Thoma, can you please tell me what is bothering you so much lately? My brother and I are so worried about you.”
He winces, and rubs the back of his head with his hand.
“My lady, it's nothing you should be concerning yourself with. It’s just a… personal problem,” he replies shyly.
She reaches out and grabs his other hand in one of hers. “Thoma, you’re one of my closest friends, please tell me what it is that is upsetting you. Seeing you like this makes me so sad, and I only want to help you.” She smiles at him, trying to draw him out like she has so often done before.
He smiles back at her weakly, and he nods. Ayaka pulls him down a path leading to the rear side of the island, with a view of Ritou to the north. Here they find a spot away from the crowds of the festival and a quiet area where they can talk.
Thoma spills his heart out, confessing everything that he had been feeling over the past few weeks. How he hadn’t seen Lumine in so long, how he wanted to spend time with her, and how his heart longed to be more than just friends with her. He also tells Ayaka how he had seen her in the market several days prior and saw the other men offering her gifts and how she had smiled at them in return. At some point tears had formed in the corners of his eyes and when he confessed how upset he had been after that, they started falling down his cheeks.
“I just… want to be with her so much it hurts, my lady,” he chokes out, his shoulders shaking with repressed emotion. “I know it’s not my place to want this, but she has stolen my heart and I don’t know what to do. I just fear that she doesn’t feel the same way, and I don’t think I can stand to be rejected.”
Ayaka smiles at him, taking his hands in hers, squeezing them softly. “Thoma, my friend, I think that you have to have faith that things will work out ok. You are strong and kind and you deserve to be happy, so please trust me when I say that you are not alone in your feelings.”
Thoma notices that Ayaka had been glancing past him, back up the pathway, during her little speech, and he blinks at her, suddenly confused by her words.
“But my lady, how can you know that everything will be ok? I feel as if I’m going to fly into pieces if I can’t figure out my own heart.”
“Why don’t you see for yourself?” Ayaka says, letting go of his hands to grab his shoulders and spin him around, so he can see what she was looking at behind him.
His heart stops.
~~~
Lumine shyly makes her way through the festival, wincing any time someone looks at her for more than a fleeting moment, dreading that her disguise won’t hold up and someone will recognize her. However, her fears are laid to rest after she notices that the majority of the attendees are also wearing masks and outfits just as elaborate as hers, and that she blends in quite nicely.
Ayaka had said that she would be towards the back of the event with Thoma, and that she would try to stay on the north end of the island if they needed to step away for a moment. Lumine had a suspicion that Ayaka would try and draw Thoma out before she got there, to maybe try and get him to open up more about how he is feeling, so that he can’t bottle everything up again and try and deny his feelings. The last thing she wants is for this to drag on any longer. She had barely slept the night before, and her nerves were wound so tightly she felt as if she was about to vibrate into pieces if she had to deal with her feelings for another day.
She reaches the end of the pathway and spots Ayaka leading Thoma down the hill, obviously heading for someplace quieter. She follows behind them, staying out of sight but remaining in earshot of the pair. Ayaka positions them so that she is facing back up the path with Thoma’s back towards her, this was she can slowly approach them without him spotting her.
Her heart is fluttering in her chest as she hears him tell Ayaka everything he’s feeling, an exact copy of what she had confessed to Ayaka days before. How they longed for each other, how they couldn’t find the ability or the location to finally confess, and how the pain of being apart was becoming too painful to deal with anymore. She hears the anguish in his voice, and it’s enough to bring tears to her eyes. She stands silent behind him, overhearing every word he says, until Ayaka spots her, making eye contact for the briefest of moments before turning her attention back to him.
She hears Ayaka’s reply, “Thoma, my friend, I think that you have to have faith that things will work out ok. You are strong and kind and you deserve to be happy, so please trust me when I say that you are not alone in your feelings.”
Lumine’s heart stops for a moment, this is it. She reaches up and unties her mask, pulling it from her face so that he can see that it’s her.
“But my lady, how can you know that everything will be ok? I feel as if I’m going to fly into pieces if I can’t figure out my own heart.”
The emotion in his voice is enough to crack her heart, but she takes another step closer towards them as Ayaka reaches out and spins him around.
“Why don’t you see for yourself?”
~~~
Thoma can barely breathe. There, on the path behind him, is Lumine. She’s just as beautiful as he remembers, even more so dressed in an elegant festival dress with her hair pulled up into an intricate arrangement on her head.
“Lumine,” he gasps, taking a step towards her, holding his hand out towards her, almost as if she can’t possibly be real.
She smiles at him, her eyes glistening with tears. She reaches both of her hands out towards him and closes the distance between them with a couple steps. When their hands touch, it’s like a bolt of electro passes up his arms and he gasps again at the sensation.
“What are you doing here?” he asks quietly, his voice trembling as he still can’t quite grasp that she’s finally in front of him. “Did you… how long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough,” she replies with a quiet laugh, reaching up with one hand to brush a tear from his cheek with her thumb. “I heard what you told Ayaka, and I have to admit, it’s everything I could have ever wanted to hear, because it’s the same thing that I told her days ago.”
Thoma spins his head around to gape at their friend. Ayaka is standing off to the side, looking across the ocean towards Ritou, pretending to not pay attention, but the tips of her ears are bright red. Lumine guides his face back towards hers and continues.
“I’m sorry if I ever did anything to hurt you.”
His brain short circuits for a moment. “Lumine, you didn’t do anything,” he chokes out, shaking his head as if he’s trying to shake water out of his hair. “I just… I saw you with all of those other men and thought that there’s no way you would want to spend time with me over any of them.”
Lumine shakes her head in response. “I was only trying to be nice to them, my brother taught me that you never turn away someone who is just trying to be appreciative. But in all honesty, it makes me uncomfortable, and I don’t like all the attention. I…”
She looks down towards their feet and her shoulders hunch forward.
“I would much rather spend my time with you.”
Her voice is barely a whisper, but it pierces his heart like a spear. All this time, she had wanted to be with him? How could he have been so stupid? This whole time, he had thought he was the only one feeling this way, but in truth she had shared his feelings.
He bends over slightly and touches her chin with a single finger, tilting her face upwards again so they can look at each other face to face. She looks up and he falls right into her golden eyes, so full of longing and desire that he can’t resist. He leans in and presses his lips against hers.
The touch is gentle at first but, after just a heartbeat, she flings her arms around his neck and pulls him closer, their noses squished between their faces as she clings to him and deepens the kiss. He smiles against her lips and wraps his arms around her waist, lifting her off of the ground as he molds their bodies together as close as he can.
They break apart for a moment, Lumine is crying but she is also smiling widely as she gasps for air. He feels so relieved and happy and full of so many more emotions that his face hurts from smiling so much and he spins her around until she is laughing in his arms.
“Thoma, you’re going to make me dizzy,” she laughs, nuzzling her nose into the base of his neck, her breath warm against his skin.
He stops spinning but doesn’t let go, holding onto her tightly as he closes his eyes and relishes in the feeling of her in his arms. His heart is so full at that moment that he can’t even put it into words. Lumine raises her head from his shoulder and he presses his mouth against hers again. This time he runs his tongue against her lips until they part and suddenly her tongue is dancing with his. Thoma thinks that he’s died and gone to Celestia, for nothing has ever tasted sweeter than her.
A small cough is what breaks them apart this time, and they both look to the side of the path where Ayaka is still standing, hiding a blush behind her fan. Thoma puts Lumine down, but grabs her hand in his before turning towards their friend.
“My lady, I can only guess you had a hand in this, and for that I will forever be grateful,” he says, bowing his head. “If I wasn’t already indebted to the Kamisato family, I would forever be at your service for the gift you have granted me here.”
Ayaka laughs delicately, reaching out with her fan to tap him on the shoulder playfully, making him look up at her. “Oh Thoma my friend, I just want the two of you to be happy, and if it’s with each other, then I would be the happiest person in Inazuma as well.”
Lumine squeezes his hand and he turns his head towards her. Her golden eyes are so full of happiness and love that he chokes, his heart fluttering away in his chest at the mere sight of her.
“Then I guess you have your wish, my lady, because I have never been more happy in my life than I am right now.”
Ayaka smiles at them before making her way back up the path to the festival, leaving Thoma to press his lips against Lumine’s once more, their hearts finally beating together as one beneath the starlit sky.
***
They say that there are two types of pain in the world, one that hurts you and one that changes you. Jealousy can fall under both types, and Thoma learns that letting jealousy control your life can bring you great pain, but jealousy that brings light to your true feelings can bring forth such change in your life that you can surely find happiness and peace.