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Mornings in the streets of Liyue were always the same; the bustle of people in and out of stores, the grunts from unsuccessful negotiations, cries of gratitude to those otherwise. The smell of Jueyuen Chili wafts through the air, beckoning anyone who passes by to take a peak on what Wanmin Restaurant is up to this time. Anyone who lived long enough in the nation of contracts would say that this is an everyday scene in the harbor — nothing new. Xiangling whips up a new dish everyday, but even that's already something the people are used to seeing.
How easy is it for humans to gloss over the smallest detail. Zhongli can't seem to do such. For a god who has walked the land for thousands of years, one would think that he's seen it all and nothing would surprise him anymore. That is not the case, and while he's seen it all, he also notices everything — even the smallest details.
The kids who used to run around the harbor were now fine adolescences working hard to take over the family businesses. The tea Zhongli loves to drink in his favorite kiosk seems to have undergone a change in taste, and when he went to ask the owners about it, he was surprised when they told him that he was the only one to have noticed for they had changed the recipe only the slightest bit. He watched as the nation he once built from nothing advances towards a future without the need of gods and deities, simply put, a nation that doesn't need him. There isn't really a problem with that; Zhongli has already long accepted that, like the rocks, he too will wear away until there is nothing but his many stories left behind.
To Zhongli, everything seems to be changing at a rapid pace. Beyond change also lies the problem of remembering. He knows, very well, that even his skill in memorizing and recollecting will leave him. Who then will be there to preserve Liyue's traditions? Who then will be the one to recount and share the heroic deeds of his old friends?
Such direction of thoughts used to leave Zhongli breathless; panic evident in his eyes for fear of forgetting, fear of wearing away earlier than he thought. For a time, he was unable to escape from the grasp of his own thoughts and from the grip of fear and worry. That is, well, until he met you.
Just like any other person, you too change. Some days you come to him all smiles, almost free from care. Other days you visit with fresh scars on your face, your mind filled with discoveries and lessons you learned in your journey. One day you committed a mistake and cried over it, the next day it seemed like nothing happened, but Zhongli immediately noticed the difference in the way you carried yourself — you became more thoughtful and careful of how you act.
How come your smile is different than before, brighter and more beautiful each time you meet? Can smiles even change? How come he's afraid of everything else changing, but found your change to be endearing?
He's come to love the growing passion in your eyes — the fire growing more intense. He loves the fact that you come to him a different person everyday; the you now is unlike the you yesterday, but still, you are still you. For once, Zhongli cannot seem to explain such a phenomenon, only that it comes naturally.
And over time, he's come to realize his own change as well. Another change in the taste of his favorite tea no longer disturbed him. Perhaps he was worrying too much about the future, worrying too much of his fate even when he has long accepted it. But even as a god, he cannot stop time, cannot stop the waves of evolution humanity faces. He cannot keep everything, even his memories.
One of the biggest changes, that even made Zhongli himself surprised, is the change on how he views you.
And he's incredibly aware of it now more than ever, as he stands a few steps behind you. He watches you as you converse with friends, noticing that your hair is longer than last time, and that you are wearing the pair of earrings you had refused to wear last time. What changed this time? It doesn't matter — it's still you, after all.
Walking closer to you, his hand holding the glaze lily he plucked last night starts to tremble. He cannot fully get rid of his fear of forgetting, fear of your image getting lost in a mosaic of memories destined to be forgotten over time. But that doesn't matter for now, right? What matters is that you are here now, in this moment, and that you will still be there in the years to come.
You feel the coldness of something being tucked in your ear. You gasp and look behind you, only to see the golden eyes you've come to love and the warm smile that manages to invade your thoughts everyday. In the corner of your eye you see a streak of light blue, something that can only belong to your favorite flower.
"I've always thought a glaze lily would look good on you, why is it only now that I confirmed it?" Zhongli muses, eyeing you with so much fondness.
"It doesn't matter. It is, after all, wonderful to learn new things about you."