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Lumine needed a break.
She hasn’t had any sort of rest since her final battle with the Raiden Shogun. People’s lives were now undisturbed, and peace was settling in the lands. Many of her friends had offered her a place to stay to recuperate.
Ayaka offered her a room in the Kamisato estate, but she found that the air of nobility within it to be stifling. Kokomi had asked if she wanted to remain on Watatsumi island, but she wanted to avoid having to go into battle for a while. Even Ei, the Electro Archon, had offered to give her residence in Inazuma city, but even if she had found a friend in the archon, not everything could be forgiven so easily.
She refused all of them. She had grown weary of the land of lightning and eternity. She wished to sail back where her journey began. To return to the land of freedom and the winds.
***
Lumine feared so little in her endless life, yet here she found herself. Heart heavy and fear weighing in her head as she ran through the storm.
She should have gone straight to the city, she thought. But she missed the view on Starsnatch Cliff. She wanted to watch the sunset as she picked cecilias for her room. She was enjoying her time up on the cliff when the storm had come out of nowhere. Starting with small drops of rain then turning into wild winds and loud thunder. Storms are rare in Mondstadt, but not unheard of.
Lumine flinched at the sound of thunder in the sky. The scarring on her back burned with every strike of lightning on the ground. She had come back to Mondstadt with the hopes of rest and safety, even for just a little while. Just enough to wrangle her heart and thoughts. She was mistaken.
She tried to run back towards the city, but each clap of thunder rendered her frozen. The webbing of scars on her back burned as if it was new with each step she took. She couldn’t breathe. The rain on her face made her feel like she was drowning, her vision becoming blurry. Whether because it was from the storm or her struggle breathing, she did not know.
Everything around her was dark. Dusk had long passed, and the darkness of the evening made her surroundings almost look like a void. A heavy mist of gray surrounded her as the storm continued. It takes every ounce of her strength to keep herself upright. It takes even more to keep herself moving.
“It will not hit me… The lightning will not strike me down…” Lumine whispered to herself. She can almost make out the haze of lights in the distance. Mondstadt was in view. She can almost feel relief washing over her. Almost .
The crackling of lightning behind her was accompanied by the loud clap of thunder above her. She screams as her knees give out beneath her. Falling onto the ground in fear.
It was close. Too close .
Her heart was pounding in her ears. Every breath she took burned her lungs. The skin on her back stung. She couldn’t move.
Her broken sobs were drowned by the sound of the raging winds. She felt weak. She wasn’t meant to be. She was an outlander. Someone not of this world. She has faced and fought through thousands of fearsome creatures and people alike. This should not have struck her down. But it did.
This fear. The lingering fear in her body. The fear of feeling your own heart stop for a second. Lightning crawling through her bones. Body paralyzed in pain. It struck her down. It was what it took to tear the star from the skies.
But Lumine couldn’t stop there. She just couldn’t. She wouldn’t allow it. She still had so much to do. So many places to go. So many people to meet and friends to reunite with. Lumine looked up to see the hazy silhouette of Mondstadt through her blonde locks that stuck to her face.
Mondstadt. The closest place she could call home in this foreign world. Its people she had come to view as her family. Its streets are so familiar she could walk around blindfolded. Its archon… Her bard.
“Venti..” she whispered between sobs, hands gripping the ground beneath her. She was close. So very close. She cannot stop now.
She shifts her weight in an attempt to move. Another clap. Another strike. Only a few meters away. She freezes, hands covering her ears, gripping her hair. Her body betrayed her. She wished to run. She wished to get up and sprint towards the city. But she finds herself cowering on the ground. Clothes soaked and sticking to her skin. Warm tears streaking down her face, mixing with the cold rain.
“Lumine?!” She can hear muffled yelling from the distance. She ignores it, thinking it to be an illusion from the raging storm.
“Lumine!?!” There it is again. A little louder. Did it sound desperate? Lumine knew she had to get up. Had to face the person whose voice was calling her. An attempt to move was once again thwarted with another strike of lightning. It seemed closer to her. Was it closer to her?
She needed to get up off the ground. Needed to discover if the voice calling for her was a friend or a foe. She needed to get away from the lightning that seemed to strike closer and closer. However fear kept its grip on her heart. Unrelenting. Merciless.
“Lumine!” It was getting closer, but she couldn’t find it in herself to remember whose voice it was. Another strike of lightning forced a whimper from her lips, body flinching away from the direction the lightning had hit. Her mind was in frays. Her chest heaved with every breath she tried to take, chest tightening with each inhale. Dark spots danced in her hazy vision.
‘How pathetic,’ Should an enemy be the one who approaches, she was sure to find herself dead. Yet, she cannot even muster enough strength to look up. Lumine hears footsteps approach her. Slowing a few feet away.
‘This is it, ’ she thinks. ‘ If the lightning will not strike me down, an enemy who has found me at my weakest will. I am sorry, brother. I was not strong enough. ’
Lumine swallows a sob as she steels herself for her fate. If it was truly an enemy that approached, she wanted to perish with some pride. She would not allow the one who wished her dead to find fear in her eyes.
Suddenly she feels a soft cloth wrap around her. Her eyes glance as the material falls to her side, hoping to recognize it despite her hazy vision. Green. It was green with a familiar pattern. The scent of cecilias, apples and wine invade her senses, pushing away the scent of damp earth. She holds her breath and for what seems like the longest time, she hopes.
“Lumine,” the sound of the voice caused her head to snap up, eyes widening in recognition. Calm teal eyes pierce into fearful gold. It was him.
“Lumine. Hey, I’m here. It’s going to be okay.” She could feel another sob coming, she pushed it away. Her eyes stay locked into his. Her mind tried to find an anchor within his eyes. Trying to make her believe that it was truly him who was there, kneeling in front of her. Her bard.
“V-Venti..?” She chokes out. The ex-archon smiled at her gently, voice soft as he leaned closer to her.
“Hey, yeah it’s me… What do you say we get you out of here, hm?” Venti holds out his hand. As Lumine was reaching out, another clap of thunder shook her. In a moment of fear she had thrown herself onto the bard. Having thrown him back as her arms wrapped around his torso, hiding her face in his chest. Venti blinked in surprise before wrapping his arms around the trembling girl.
“It’s alright.” He hushed her as he stroked her hair, trying to calm her somewhat. He frowns slightly when his cloak slips from her shoulder, exposing the glaring webbed scar across her back. He gently pulls her up, wrapping her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.
“You’re safe. I’ll keep you safe.” He whispers into her ear, voice soft and soothing.
He shifts her slightly, looping his arm under her legs, his other hand moved to support her back. She flinches away.
“Alright, I won’t touch you there.. But don’t get mad at the way I’m holding you later on.” The slight tease in his tone calmed her enough, she nodded. He adjusts his cloak on her before he wraps his other arm around her waist.
“Don’t move too much, alright..?” He waits for her to nod again before he rises from the ground, holding her close. The rain had begun to lighten. Thunder no longer rolled and lightning was no longer present. Venti hums softly as he adjusts his hold on Lumine, allowing her to fully rest her weight on his arms.
“Venti..” her voice was barely a whisper, but he heard it nonetheless. He hums in response as he begins their trek back to the city.
“How did you know I was out here?” Venti smiled. The dark clouds above them begin to dissipate, the moonlight shining in between.
“The winds brought me your voice.” and as if on cue, a soft warm breeze flows through them. Bringing with it a sense of calm. Lumine exhaled slowly, tension leaving her body. She looks up at the man who held her so close. So protectively.
“Venti,” She speaks a little louder, leaning her head onto his chest. He felt warm, despite being caught in the rain as she was. She could feel sleep slowly taking over. She feels him reach and place a soft kiss on the crown of her head.
“What is it, Lumi?” he responds, voice low to keep from waking her.
“Are we headed home?” he blinks, a light dusting of pink settling on his cheeks. Home. She said home.
Lumine was a traveler, an adventurer. It was rare for people like her to decide on a place to call home. Venti had hoped from the day he had laid his heart bare to her that she may one day see Mondstadt as her home. He hoped from the moment that she too responded to his yearning that she may settle in the land of the winds. But he never forced it upon her. Never pressed the subject. For what kind of god of freedom would he be if he forced his wishes on his beloved?
So he always made sure that their time together would just be filled with laughter and smiles. Never voicing his pining for her to remain by his side. To find a home with him. Yet here she was, having traveled so far to return to the land of the wind.
The girl made of starlight, falling asleep in his arms on their walk back to the city. Having called his land home. A welcoming breeze greeted them as warmth blossomed in his chest. Grip tightening around her ever so slightly. A silent vow to keep her safe. To be by her side so long as she wished for it. To always have a home for her to return to.
“Yes, my love. We are going home.”