Chapter Text
Losing Guizhong hurt. Waking up every morning alone hurt. Not being able to hug his beloved wife, the most beautiful woman in the world hurt.
Zhongli missed her so much. He wished he could just join his wife in the afterlife. Just so he could see her beautiful smile again.
But he refused to give up whenever he looked at their daughter. Sweet Ganyu. Not even a year old yet. The poor girl hadn't even gotten to know her own mother before she was tragically taken away by death.
Zhongli did his best to care for his daughter. He did everything he could to make her happy. He hoped that somewhere out there, Guizhong was watching over them.
Over the next few years, Zhongli slowly began to heal. The grief would never truly go away, but the emotional scars had begun to fade.
Zhongli had started making new memories. All for his child. Moments of her life when she made him smile. Moments when she made him feel lucky to be her father.
Her first word. Her first steps. Her first birthday. Zhongli would always treasure these beautiful memories.
More years passed, and soon it was Ganyu's first day of school. The girl was a very shy child. She was very nervous and didn't want to be away from her father. This was the first day she wouldn't be spending by his side.
It took 20 minutes to convince her to enter the classroom. She still didn't want her father to leave. She had never been around other children. Zhongli was about to tell her that he needed to leave when a young girl holding an orange teddy bear ran over to them.
The girl smiled brightly. " Hi! My name is Xiangling!" She grabbed Ganyu's hand. "Do you wanna be my friend?"
Ganyu flinched and looked around nervously. Xiangling held out her stuffed bear. " Do you wanna hold him? His fur is very soft! His name is Gouba! I love Gouba!"
Ganyu slowly reached out to pet the bear. She smiled. " he.. he is very soft", she said quietly.
Xiangling giggled. " Gouba likes you! That means you're my friend now! Let's go play!"
The extroverted girl pulled Ganyu over to the play area of the classroom, where all the other children were. Zhongli felt relieved that his daughter had found a friend so quickly.
The two of them were complete opposites. Ganyu was extremely shy and quiet, while Xiangling was very friendly and talkative. But Ganyu smiled because of Xiangling. And if Ganyu was happy, then Zhongli was happy.
The two girls quickly became best friends. Xiangling was able to bring Ganyu out of her shell. She was still introverted, but she wasn't afraid of strangers anymore. She wasn't afraid to be away from her father anymore.
Ganyu adored her new friend. She would always talk about the games the two of them played together. Zhongli was glad that his daughter liked going to school.
Which is why he was very surprised to see her crying when she arrived home. He immediately hugged her. He was extremely worried. Had a teacher yelled at her? Had an older child bullied her on the playground during recess?
Ganyu looked up at him with tearful eyes. " Papa… why don't I have a momma like the other kids do?"
Zhongli froze. He wasn't sure how to respond. He wasn't sure what caused Ganyu to ask this question. He had never explained anything about this to her. He didn't know how to explain death to such a young child. And even if he did know how… he had never felt emotionally ready to talk about Guizhong. But Ganyu deserved to know the truth. She wasn't a baby anymore. He took a deep breath. " Sweet child… is there a reason you are asking me this?"
The small girl looked away nervously. " Miss Ninnguang wanted us to draw pictures of families today… so I drew you and me. But Xiangling asked me why I didn't draw momma." She rubbed the tears from her eyes. " A-all the other kids drew a momma and a papa." She looked back up at him. " Did I do something bad? Is that why I don't have a momma?"
Zhongli felt his heart break. " No no, of course not!" He hugged her. " You've never done anything wrong, sweet child." He sighed. He needed to explain everything to her. He hesitated before carrying her over to the couch. He gently set her down. " I'm going to tell you all about your mother."
Ganyu wiped her tears again. " I do have a momma? But why doesn't she wanna see me? D-Does she not love me?" Her voice shook as she tried not to start crying again.
Zhongli gently patted her hair. " Your mother… She loved you so much, Ganyu. More than anything in the world! I promise you she loved you." He took a deep breath.
" But when you were a baby, your mother was very sick. And she didn't get better."
" But why? Didn't she have the yucky medicine that makes fevers go away?"
" She was a different kind of sick Ganyu… medicine couldn't help her." Zhongli could feel his own eyes start to water. " She loved you so much. And she wanted to stay here with you, but she had to go to heaven."
Ganyu was still confused. She kept asking questions and Zhongli did his best to answer her questions without having a breakdown and sobbing. He never had a chance to actually process his grief. He had never spoken to a therapist or anyone. He was a loner. He didn't have friends. He hadn't spoken to his own parents since his father had kicked him out at age fifteen.
That had been a very dark time in Zhongli's life. He had no one. No one for two whole years. He had lived on the streets, having to beg for money and get into gang fights in order to survive. He had almost died one day. He had stolen from the wrong person, and they had beaten him and left him to die in an alley.
That was when he met Guizhong. At first, Zhongli thought she was an angel. With her sweet concerned eyes, and her soft hands. The poor girl had been so frightened, finding a bloodied young man in an alleyway. Zhongli remembered asking her why an angel was here to greet him. After all, in his mind, he didn't deserve to go to heaven. But she had taken him back to her home and nursed him back to health.
Over time the two of them had gotten close and fallen in love. Guizhong changed Zhongli. He wasn't the aggressive man who always got into fights anymore. For once he was happy. He and Guizhong got married. It wasn't anything fancy. But it was special. Just the two of them. Together for what was supposed to be forever. They lived happily together for two years. When Guizhong told him that she was pregnant he was overjoyed. They had created a child together. Zhongli felt happier than he ever did before.
Unfortunately, life was cruel. Death took his beloved wife away from them a little over a year later, only a few months after their sweet daughter was born.
Zhongli did his best to explain this to Ganyu. Changing some things in the story so she wouldn't be frightened. When he was done he apologized for not telling her sooner. He felt her small hand touch his face. When she wiped away his tears, he realized he had been crying.
" Don't cry, papa! I don't want you to be sad! I… I'm sorry for asking about momma…"
" Sweet child, don't apologize. It's not your fault. I just miss your mother very much." He picked her up and hugged her.
" I miss mamma too… even though I didn't really get to meet her"
Zhongli hesitated, " Would… would you like to see a picture of her?"
The young girl's eyes lit up with curiosity " Yes! I wanna see a picture of mamma!"
Zhongli laughed softly and kissed his sweet daughter's forehead. Today had been an emotional and stressful day for both of them. But talking helped. He had avoided talking about Guizhong. He thought Ganyu was too young to understand death. But she was a smart girl. Even though she was young, she had understood him. Zhongli was so glad she was in his life. His sweet daughter. He realized that he should have told her about her mother sooner. She deserved to know, and he needed to talk to someone about his grief. Ganyu was the only person in his life now. And he would do everything he could to keep her happy and safe. He didn't want to lose her. He couldn't lose another precious person.
Zhongli spent the rest of the day showing Ganyu the old photo album he kept hidden in the closet, and telling her stories about Guizhong. And that night, Zhongli looked up at the stars and saw that one of them looked brighter than usual. As if Guizhong's soul had finally been able to move on, seeing that her beloved husband was at peace.