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Date: 27 September 1998
Dear Aether,
I wanna write you a letter but mama says that sending a letter will be hard because the place that you went with papa is a hard place for the letter to reach so she suggested that I write a thing called a “diary”(???) dedicated to you, she said to write it in this way instead so that whenever you come and visit, I can share with you what I feel that day, hehe. My new home here is really cozy and lovely, mama also told me I am starting school tomorrow, yup! You heard it right, I am going to school with other kids my age. Mama said that she needs to work to earn money now and does not have time like she used to do so she can’t teach me anymore. I hope I am able to make friends since it has always only been you and me since the start. This makes me think about you since I am starting school now, are you also going to a new school like me? How’re you? Where are you right now?Are you having a lot of fun with papa right now? I wanna go on a trip too, I wanna eat all the amazing sweets that the world has to offer, hehe~ so please come and visit me soon, okay? Oh no, I want to write more but mama is calling me for dinner now! I will write to you again tomorrow!
Your twin sister and best friend,
Lumine
As Lumine closes her diary, a shout can be heard from her door, "Dinner time!"
She quickly walked downstairs to see her mom preparing dinner. She walked into the kitchen so her mom could notice her presence, her mom smiled softly, "Can you prepare the table, Lumine?"
"Okay!"
"We are having hotpot today!" Lumine's mom said as she placed down a pot on the table, Lumine smiled widely, hotpot is one of her favorites. She was so excited she picked out the meat fresh from the steaming pot with chopsticks and stuffed it in her mouth right away. “H-Hot… H-Hot"Lumine yelled as the meat burned her tongue," Lumine, blow on the meat first ok? "Her mom laughed a little at her daughter's eagerness. In the midst of them eating," Mama, When will Aether come and visit? I wanna talk and play with him again! " Lumine asked excitedly, her golden eyes shone brightly and her smile wide.
" Whenever he has a break from their "trip", he will come and visit! "Lumine's mom answered while trying to smile," Mama, why can't I go on this trip with Aether and papa? "
" There is limited space so only Aether and Papa can go once you get older, We go there together okay? " Lumine's mother answered, retaining that smile. "Okay! You promised, right?" Lumine exclaimed happily, Lumine's mom just nodded.
"Are you ready for your new school tomorrow?" Lumine's mom changed the subject, "I am kinda nervous about it, mama, what if they don't like me and I won't make any friends." Lumine said, as her face fell. "Aww don't say that sweetie, you're the brightest kid I know, I am sure everyone would love you! Just be yourself!" Lumine's mom said comforting her daughter, as she pat her head. Lumine immediately lightened up, "really! You think so!?"
Lumine's mom just nodded her head, "Ok, I will go to sleep now, mama, goodnight!" Lumine announced before jumping off her chair, rushing upstairs to her room. Lumine’s mom sighed, “ I will tell her once she is old enough to understand.”
Date: 28 September 1998
Dear Aether,
Today is my first day of school, it's completely different from when mama teaches us. It was a lot of fun. I met many new people like Miss Jean, our teacher in charge of our class, she is extremely nice and kind just like mama and I have many new friends like Ganyu, Keqing, Hu tao, Chongyun, Xinqiu, Xiangling, Yanfei, Barbara, Amber, Noelle if you were here, I think you would like them very much, they show me around, play and share their toys with me during recess and also we share food with each other too during lunch. There is still one more friend I made, his name is Xiao, he is a bit weird, he doesn’t smile and talk a lot, during recess and playtime, he was quietly alone with this big brown dragon plush, I ask Ganyu about why he was alone, Ganyu told me that many people have tried to talk with Xiao but he always ignores them and just continue what he was doing. I thought he seems a bit lonely cause everyone needs a friend and so I walked over to him and sat beside him but he didn’t react as if nothing change around him so I tried talking to him first by asking what he is doing, but he still didn’t respond so I decided to just look at what he is doing, he was reading a book with a lot of words and in words I do not understand at all. My method must have worked because he turned around to face me and asked, “what do you want?” When he faced me, I had a sudden realization. He looks exactly like a cat, maybe that’s why he acts like one, he is just like the cat we used to raise together in our backyard back when we were together, same personality, maybe Xiao is kitty’s descendant! Hence they look alike, that explains everything, wow, Xiao must be a really special person! I think you would like him alot, Aether!
Anyway, I asked him what he was reading, he then replied, “none of your business.” and then I said “tell me!” over and over again and poking him until he gives in while he looks quite angry? But not angry at the same time(I forgot the word that mama taught us before, hehe~ :p)but he give in and said he was reading a book called, “yaksha” something something, but he says that legends says that they were guardians adaptti who once protect Liyue but all of them have already passed a long time ago so they were all basically superheros and Xiao says he doesn't know the details yet cause he hasn't read finished but before he can say finished, his face turned a cute shade of red and closed the book and then he told me to "go away" and turn my which makes me feel hmm, I don't know, fuzzy inside? Hmm I don't know what this feeling is but all I know is at that moment I thought, "I want to be his friend forever" so I told him, "since you talk with me, you are now my friend! I am Lumine, nice to meet you!" He turned around, shocked for some reason and then he called me "weird". I was about to fight back when he suddenly gave a smile? Can you even consider that a smile? But I still remember it, the corner of his lips did lift a little and the fuzzy and funny feeling came back but its more uhm how to describe this… more??? But in a very not bad way, I just wanna stay with Xiao all that time so I can feel it all the time but then he agreed to by my friend and said, "fine, if you insist, I will be your friend." which makes me very happy so I stayed with Xiao the rest of the day, even though he keeps saying, "can you go play with your other friends and stop bothering me." and then I replied, "but I like you the most Xiao!" and then he turned the same cute shade of red again, "D-Don't just say those words so carelessly!"
Then I replied "But it's the truth, Lumine loves Xiao the most out of all her friends, cause Xiao makes me feel warm inside, hehe!" I was only being honest cause mama says lying is bad so I am just saying what I feel but Xiao just said "you are a really weird girl" and just walked away, what a meanie! But since we are friends, I will just let it go because that's what a real friend should do! Then time passed by so fast and mama came and took me home already, and I told her about everything that happened today.
That's all for today, Aether, hope you visit soon so I can introduce you to all my new friends!
Your twin sister and best friend,
Lumine
Date: 16 October 1998
Dear Aether,
I am sorry I haven't written to you in a while, I was too busy doing homework and after homework, I got too excited to go and play, I forgot to write to you, hehe sorry Aether :p. Anyway, over these few weeks, me and Xiao have become the bestest of friends but you are still my first best friend , of course. We do everything together, everytime we need to split ourselves into two, me and Xiao will always be together, Xiao is very good at folding things! He makes pretty butterflies, birdies, animals, flowers, stars, anything! and then I would help by coloring it to make it look pretty! And then we would always get praised by Miss Jean and whenever we have to do PE, we would always get first cause Xiao is super fast like swoosh! He is like the wind! He even let me hug his big brown dragon plush called, "rex lapis." Rex lapis is really squishy and soft, hehe but today, while we were playing, I saw in the toy box, there was a ring, so I decided to do it like those cartoons I see on tv every time there is a ring and then when they put it on the person they would live happily ever after so I put the ring on Xiao's finger and ask if he wants to marry me and be my wife! But he says "no, when we get older and also I am not a wife." which makes me sad a bit, but he said when we get older so I wanna grow older now! So Xiao would say "yes!" and what does he mean by "not a wife" if you put the ring on the person's finger, they are your wife that's what the people in the tv say so he would be my wife,Xiao is so silly.
It's been a few weeks since I last talked to you Aether, when are you visiting? Hopefully, it's soon!
Your twin sister and best friend,
Lumine
Date: 19 October 1998
Dear Aether,
Today is bring your parents to school day so mama come to my school today and also this is my first time seeing Xiao's parents too and I was really shock when Xiao says he has two papa, because who I thought was Xiao's mama who is actually a papa is really pretty, he is more prettier than some aunties I saw on the street.Xiao's other papa is really really tall, he looked really scary at first but he is really nice, he even gave me a candy. Mama also seems to like Xiao's parents, they were talking a lot but I didn't understand. There must be some adult stuff until Miss Jean called for us into her office, Miss Jean says I did very well in school and is a good kid. I can see Mama was very proud of me so I was really happy after Miss Jean met all the parents. We went to our same classes everyday while our parents watched and when it was the end of school, Xiao’s parents asked me “Why do you keep sticking with Xiao?” So I honestly replied the same thing I always say whenever Xiao asks me why I always stuck with him so I said because I like Xiao the most out of all her friends cause he makes me feel nice and warm inside and also he promised me that he would marry me once we are older. The parents started laughing for some reason after I finished talking and Xiao parents after finished laughing told me to continue to be friends with Xiao, I am not sure what they meant by that but I will be Xiao’s friend forever and also I found out Xiao lives quite close by just two houses away from our house so I get to play with him even not only at school.
Your twin sister and best friend,
Lumine
Date: 24 October 1998
Dear Aether,
I went to visit Xiao’s house today, Xiao’s parents was really nice, Xiao’s pretty papa bake a very tasty apple pie and also Xiao’s parent has a beautiful garden too, they grew beautiful flowers like Glaze lilies, cecilias, silk flowers and Xiao’s favorite, Qingxin. Xiao says it's the hardest to grow because the condition needed to grow them well is hard because Qingxin grows alone on the mountain so it needs quite cold temperature and needs a lot of wind. He says it’s favorite because it has a nice scent and is also nice to eat? Xiao says he eats it, I am pretty sure he was joking to trick me but good thing I was smart and didn’t fall for it, hehe. The garden is also very glowy and shiny because of the crystalfly in the area, Xiao’s house’s garden is the best hehe~ Well the rest of the time, we were watching cartoons together and drawing and coloring picture books so that's all for today, so come visit soon so I can show you the flowers.
Your twin sister and best friend,
Lumine
Date: 18 May 1999
Dear Aether,
Today is the worst day of my life, Aether. Mama said we are moving away to somewhere really far and it's gonna be a long time before we can come back cause mama says her job requires her to do it and so we have a roof over our head, whatever that means but I don’t want to leave! I don’t want to leave my friends behind! I don’t want to leave Xiao! Mama is so selfish she doesn’t care how I feel! I hate mama! She always makes me leave everyone! First you, now Xiao and my friends! Hmph! I will never forgive mama!
So Aether please come visit within a week so you can stop mama from going away, please!
Your twin sister and best friend,
Lumine
Date: 25 May 1999
Dear Aether,
Yesterday was my last day of school, mama didn’t stop her choice of moving away even though I asked and cried again and again, she did not stop so today is my last day with my friends and Xiao. We all except Xiao cried alot and we promised that we would meet again soon and when I come back we would still be friends and I prayed that time go slower today but it didn’t happen and it was already end of school, everyone except Xiao gave me something to remember them by, Yanfei and Xingqiu gave me their favorite book, Ganyu gave me her small bell necklace, Keqing gave me one of her ribbons in her hair, Hu tao gave me a smaller size version of her ghost plush same as Xiangling but a bear plush called “guoba” instead and also Amber gave me her “baron bunny” plush. Chongyun gave me a paper with some weird writing and drawing on it, saying it’s a “good luck charm”. Barbara sang a song for me before I left and Noelle gave me a paper rose but I was still sad because I did not see Xiao at all today. Maybe he was sick.
But today, Xiao for the first time, came to my house after school, he then gave me a hair clip that look the same as the glowly crystalfly at Xiao’s parent garden. He says he was sorry he did not give sooner but he says that the hairpin is a promise between us that we would remain friends forever, “after all we are best friends, right?” Xiao says with a big bright smile for the first time and then i cried again as I hugged him, telling him that I don't want to leave him and we would be best friend forever, Xiao hugged me back and also for the first time, Xiao cried as well, but we let go after a while, he did not say much after that and just says,“ remember to write often and till we see each other again!” as he waved me goodbye and mama fetched me to go into her car, telling me we have to go now, so I waved him goodbye one last time before I was in the car, mama driving me sway and xiao becoming smaller and smaller in my view as I waved goodbye to him.
Your twin sister and best friend,
Lumine
“That was my last entry before I leave, huh?”
Lumine’s thoughts were cut short when the voice on the speaker spoke, “Thank you for using airTeyvat, please remember to grab your belongings and alight at the doors on your right.”
Lumine put her diary in the backpack and walked off the plane to see a sign saying, “Welcome to Teyvat!”
“I wonder how everyone is doing these 11 years.” She smiled to herself as she touched the crystalfly hairpin on her hair.