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The first letter was given to Lisa by Sara, with that kind and gentle smile of hers — she brought it along with tea and Lisa's favorite sweets, which she did not even order. Wolfhook muffins.
"It's on the house today!" she winked and left without allowing Lisa utter even a word to object.
She recognized the handwriting from the first crooked, but such diligent letters.
Hello master!
Razor was told today is your birthday. This mean that you need to spend this day with your loved ones. It's good. I promise I come to wish you happy birthday! Its just Razor was told a letter is good to tell you what I want to tell but not say it out loud. It still hard. You teach Razor how write and read and always check but now Benet and Fischl helping. Razor write, they show the letters!
— The wolf boy is truthfully improving, comprehending the art of writing and reading unknown to him, oh the Gatekeeper of Universal Knowledge, but the stubbornness with which one defends his message to you from our instructions is especially worth mentioning commas! Indeed, much remains for him in the shadow of obscurity to this day, but you, the Magus-custo
Crow girl wish a good birthday!
—Miss Lisa, Bennet's here too!! Happy birt—*
Bennett fell when he was write he is fine. Sorry for stain.
Thank you for patiently teaching me different things and helping me in everything now I have humanfriends and even more Lupical. It is important. And you are also Razors Lupical teacher. Maybe mom better? I like its sound.
You will have best day today, Razor knows that.
(Happy anniversary of birth, oh the Witch of Purple Roses!
Happy birthday again, Miss Lisa!!!! sorry for the smudge :^( )
Love. Razor.
...maybe crying this early in the morning in a diner in front of half the city is not the best idea.
Lisa doesn't care.
She gently pressed the letter closer to her chest, smiled kindly, and perhaps thought about inviting Fischl and Bennett to their trainings with Razor more often. They... have a very good influence on him, his lupical.
*
The second letter was kindly left among the pages of the book on her desk in the library. A book that has already been overdue for a week by this impudent Kaeya Alberich, who still has not learned what punctuality is.
And manners, too.
Lisa loves that bastard with all her heart.
You've gotten even older, dearest Lisa!
Just, please, don't fry my brains out the next time we meet. I'm right. But let me say, with age you did not lose your beauty and only became wiser, and that's worth something! Not everyone is capable of this, right now I am writing this letter in the company of one such incapable. Diluc sends his sincere regards.
Perhaps, I should wish you all the best, like money, love, happiness... but what a boredom, isn't it? Something more concrete and significant always touches the soul incomparably more, and you already have a lot of money, Miss I-Married-The-Heiress-of-an-Ancient-Clan. You'll be fine.
So, should not delay anymore, will go straight to the point. Appreciate the time, Lisa. The abyss knows how long the sky above Mondstadt will be cloudless, maybe a year or three, maybe all ten. Or maybe just a month. So appreciate every second. Don't be sorry. Don't suffocate yourself with your past, because you love doing it, I know. Don't listen to Miss Megistus, her predictions of the future are disturbing and depressing.
Cherish the moment.
Perhaps I'll end here, otherwise Rosaria will get her way and write her drunken tirades about infinite respect for you here.
Always at your service,
Kaeya Alberich.
...straightforwardness is not a trait inherent in Kaeya Alberich. But here it is, the letter terribly honest, direct and even bold.
Lisa took a deep breath, and a smile so sad touched her lips that a couple of visitors on the top floor must've even been scared.
She should visit the tavern with him soon. Just to talk to a dear friend.
*
Of course, this is in Yae's style. Brazenly, pompously, annoyingly cunning, because she knows how to get on Lisa's nerves and uses it in her own way. Lisa likes to think that some sort of love language.
Or maybe she's just a bitch.
Anyway, the letter was handed to her by a very nervous young messenger, according to Yae, who had previously read her a whole poem about how long the journey from Inazuma to Mondstadt was, and how beautiful the Witch of Purple Roses is in reality and blah blah blah according to Yae's text. Right by the Barbatos statue. In front of Sister Victoria.
Lisa swore to herself that Yae would not escape her revenge.
Oh, the Honorable Mrs. Minci,
Or should I already address you as Gunnhildr? Jean has an incredibly beautiful surname, as for me, and it's a sin not to steal such a thing, I advise you to think about it thoroughly.
Anyway, Lisa, a little birdie (not Sara) told me exactly what you are celebrating this day, and I am sincerely offended that I learn about such an important event from your wife, and not from yourself directly. Rude, Miss Minci-or-Gunnhildr, can't even compare to Ei. That's not a compliment, by the way.
But, perhaps, I will close my eyes on it just this once, because I'm kind today, and right now the best-selling books of the Yae's Publishing House are being sent to your personal library. And several exclusive gifts from my authors, including! No matter how hard you try, you can't imagine the shock on their faces when I told them who exactly they were signing their books to. You still inspire awe in people! (I was begged not to tell how their hands were shaking. Please don't pay attention to the crooked autographs).
Of course, Ei and Sara are also sending greetings and their sincere congratulations, and right now they are making sure that I don't write any nasty things about them to you. Outrageous. They say that they would be happy to meet you in person one day, so resort to all methods possible and seduce a woman, who's more married to work than to you, to finally take a vacation. Inazuma truly is beautiful at this time of year.
Try to answer as soon as possible — I would be glad to know how your birthday went. And whether Jean wrapped herself in a purple bow on her naked body or not, because, I swear, I was only joking when I suggested it.
Kindly yours,
Yae Miko.
...a trip to Inazuma doesn't sound like such a bad idea, actually. She was there, just once, before the country's closure, and she really is missing the lands of the Archon, whose... blessing, she received.
She could drag Jean to the hot springs…
And, of course, to take revenge on Yae. Personally. And, of course, introduce Jean to Sara, with whom they will surely find a common language.
*
Lisa had long ago asked Cyrus to send someone from the guild to get a certain list of herbs outside the city walls, because she sincerely and honestly does not want to climb all these hills in search of ingredients on her own.
What was her surprise when, along with bags full of ingredients, Cyrus left a small envelope on her alchemical table, smelling familiar, but certainly not with Mondshadt's medicinal herbs.
Dear Dr. Minci,
How terrible. How many years has it been since we called you like that? You couldn't stand it, and something tells me that nothing has changed now, hasn't it?
Mrs. Gunnhildr has informed me that you are celebrating your birthday today! Forgive me, a clumsy one, that I forgot myself, my memory has been failing on me lately. Are you planning on causing chaos in Mondstadt, as you once did in Sumeru? Or have you already lost your grip? Ah, clear as day I remember this angry frown on the professor of... potions, am I not mistaken? Oh, yes, it was him, you tried to turn hydro slimes into dough slimes then, and splattered the poor guy from head to toe in his own laboratory. He may remember you to this day, I think!
As you know, I got a job as a pharmacist in Liyue, and therefore I strongly advise you to come — and, alright, I will arrange a discount on ointments for your back and joints. You were already grumbling about a sore lower back every night back then, what does Mrs. Gunnhildr have to listen to now? The very thought gives me goosebumps.
And just to see you... would be nice, Lisa. I miss you, you know!
Anyway, along with the letter you should receive a small present as well. Local aromatic oils of incredible quality, I'm sure you will appreciate them like no one else.
Happy birthday, Dr. Minci!
And try not to leave before me, okay?
All the best,
Baizhu.
…oh.
Feelings, contradictory and strange, they overcome her and definitely prevent her from brewing the potion in the right proportions.
Such a warm memory of such vague years of her life.
Still, Lisa also missed her old friend. Dearly.
*
Minci.
It's been a long time since I started a letter with your name. A nice change of pattern, these reports to Pulcinella are in my throat already, he won't calm down in any way because of my spending on... research. Niggling slow-witted fool. The others are no better.
I won't lie, I don't know why I'm writing to you. You still think I'm crazy — I still think you're mindlessly wasting your limitless potential. Foolishly. But I'm not writing this to insult in vain.
It's your birthday today. Stop making that surprised face, yes, I remember. Of course I remember, such madness is not easily forgotten... that day the professors tried to expel the three of us for that incident with the chaos device, can you remember? They said we were reckless incompetents with no future. Maybe they were right. Or maybe they're even bigger idiots than we are. Abyss knows, black and white have been mixed up for a long time, and the bottom becomes the top, the right becomes false, no matter how much you try, you won't understand what is what.
Is this understanding given to you, eh, the best graduate? I doubt it.
Sometimes I miss our youth.
In the new year of your life we will meet again, Witch of Purple Roses. Save your sarcasm until then.
— Il Dottore.
Bitter.
Lisa hides the letter in her notebook, behind the very last page, because she doesn't find the strength to throw it away.
*
The first thing Jean does when she's returning home is not even allowing herself to be kissed — she blocks their lips with her palm and smiles slyly, while Lisa frowns in pure surprise.
And then she hands over the letter.
"Oh, dear Archons, you're standing right in front of me!" but saying this, Lisa unfolds the envelope with a smile, rolling her eyes quite fondly and without a hint of annoyance, "And you won't even kiss me before reading?"
Jean, smiling with this satisfied grin of hers, shrugs her shoulders, and gently leads Lisa, a firm hand on the small of her back, to the sofa opposite the empty fireplace. There is zero sense from him in the month of June, and therefore, with a snap of her fingers, Lisa lights candles on the table.
Jean's hand on her waist is unforgivably distracting.
Lisa begins to read.
Dear Lisa,
This is the last letter you will read today. You will receive it from my hands personally, in the early evening, before the sunset, and, presumably, you'll be sincerely surprised. And no, I haven't consulted Lady Megistus.
Did you like the idea with the letters? Something told me you would like this... I even began to understand the romance of such gestures better, even if it is still difficult to get the templates for business correspondence out of my head. Maybe I need more practice? Love poems sound like a silly idea, but no less tempting. Good practice for Razor and me.
Did you like the idea with letters? Something told me you would like this... I even began to understand the romance of such gestures better, even if it is still difficult to get the templates for business correspondence out of my head. Maybe I need more practice? Love poems sound like a silly idea, but no less tempting. Good practice for Razor and me.
You've become a year older today. Sometimes, it surprises me just how fast the time flies, truly like the wind, because it feels like you returned to Mondstadt just recently. Just recently, you became a librarian, no matter how persistent Varka was when he tried to make you the captain of the eighth squad. To resist Varka, the very description of stubbornness, is admirable.
Just recently, you took Razor under your wing. For the first time, you dragged me out of the office at three o'clock in the morning to escape to dance on the walls of the city, and it feels only like a month ago. Recently you almost got rid of all the pumpkins in town. You taught Klee how to brew some potions, which she still talks about with delight. You threw a scandal at my mother, no, you can't laugh here, I still don't approve of the fact that you almost fried her hair.
Quite recently, so much has happened while you were here, at home. Life in Mondstadt, the city of freedom, is impossible to imagine without such a wayward, free and freedom-loving woman like you, Lisa.
Thank you for showing this freedom to me.
You're a reliable friend. A caring mentor. A talented writer, according to Lady Yae, and an interesting person to talk to. The one whose adventures at the academy are remembered with a warm smile.
For me — the closest soul in all of Teyvat and far beyond. My freedom and the wind under my wings.
My dear wife.
I love you, Lisa. Happy Birthday.
Yours sincerely,
Jean Gunnhildr.
Lisa notices she's crying only when the tears fall on the edge of the paper.
Looking up at Jean — her loving, caring, so gentle Jean — she feels like she's losing the last drops of self-control, trying to catch them, but in vain they run through her fingers, leaving the soul at the mercy of that storm that is called feelings. Knocking down the wind, warm, warm summer rain, roar and thunder, music for her ears — it's her home.
Lisa falls into a waiting embrace, buries her nose somewhere in Jean's shoulder and cries, smiles and cries, leaving a couple of careless, quick kisses on her neck, squeezes her cloak in her fists and hears Jean gently whispering to her — loves, loves so much, she is so much loved…
“I've taken a whole week off for just the two of us, can you imagine? We'll go to the coast, collect lilies, like you've wanted for a long time now. Or climb the Starsnatch Cliff, they say cecilias are especially beautiful this year… Anything, Lisa, you just have to say your wish," Jean whispers, confident and gentle, full of boundless adoration and desire to make her happy.
Happiness.
Something she never found in Sumeru.
Something she came back to Mondstadt for.
Jean picks her up in her arms, so carefully and gently, as if she's afraid that her wife is made of glass, takes her to the bedroom and tucks her into bed.
A kiss. She kisses her for a long time, not worried about the taste of tears on Lisa's lips, kisses her to the point of trembling all over Lisa's body and to the sun in her chest — burning, kisses to the point there's no more air, and they have to pull away just for a couple of ragged breaths.
Their eyes meet. Just for a second, before both are unbearably drawn to each other again, not ready to wait a second longer.
Lisa is the wind under Jean's wings, her own freedom.
In Jean's eyes, Lisa finds a storm. A free, untamed storm.
She found her freedom. She found her happiness.
...the letter rests peacefully on the bedside table until the next morning.