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"Tuning that bell again?" Zhongli's voice broke the silence as he rested his head on the desk across his wife, bright orange eyes studying her as she sat tweaking the bell in her hands, "Every year you challenge Gechen to that musical duel, but it's been so long since I'd seen her touch her qin. She found it too sad after the war...and what happened to you. So why bother this year?"
"I'm a free dust goddess who can do whatever she pleases," huffed Guizhong, spinning the bell that floated between her sleeved hands, "After she returned the Cleansing Bell to me, she told me I had to 'make edits' and sent me the tune she merged with her guzheng...I couldn't possibly consider performing in my state so I decided to make some changes to its structure."
Zhongli raised both brows, looking somewhat startled at this. "She sent you the tune?" he repeated, blinking rapidly as if he couldn't fathom it, "Gechen only performed it once. Afterwards, she came back with two halves of her favourite guzheng saying that there was no point in performing if nobody alive or conscious could understand what it meant. I'd thought that she'd completely given up on music, which was why I loaned her your bell as a keepsake. Maybe we shouldn't force her into doing something she doesn't want to."
Guizhong lifted the bell with her free hand, before grunting as the bell sank to the ground. Zhongli rested his cheek on the desk to face her, watching in mild amusement as she tugged at the bell with both hands to lift it off the ground to no avail. "Do you need help with that?" he'd offered after deriving some amusement watching Guizhong now rest a foot on the bell to try and yank it off the ground, only really successfully launching herself and flopping dramatically to the ground.
"Do you find this funny, you disgusting boulder of a man," Guizhong mumbled into the carpet, rolling over to shield her face from her husband, "Even my own inventions won't listen to me."
"You know you have to coax the bell. It acts just like its creator," Zhongli reached down from the side of his wheelchair, allowing the bell to jump into his hand before picking Guizhong up and gently resting her on his lap, "Don't push yourself too hard. The doctors at Yuehai said it'll take time for your adeptal energy to return to normal levels, which is likely why the bell and ballista isn't reacting to you as much as they do with me or the others."
"What if I'm mortal now? Will you still love me if I age like Gechen chose to and become a gross and senile old woman?" Guizhong cupped Zhongli's cheeks in her hands, grey eyes immediately filled with distress, "Imagine growing old! In this time and age! I don't even have a retirement pension as a Xianren! Whatever shall I live off on?"
She rested a sleeved hand over her forehead in dramatic distress, taking advantage of matters to bury her face into Zhongli's chest indulgently. "Guess I'll have to speak to the retirement home again. Maybe they'd let me be roommates with Retuo," she sighed, turning away, "It's where all Xianren who lose their power end up anyway...it's just that I can't bear the thought of losing my husband."
"One thing I didn't miss was your tendency for such theatrics," Zhongli removed Guizhong's hand from her face, "Whoever said I'd be giving up on you? I just think you shouldn't push yourself as hard as you currently are. Besides, when did I said I was kicking you out back to the retirement home? Nothing of that sort is happening."
"Aww," wafted a voice from the door, "Back to bickering like the old couple you two are once again. At least you're taking my advice to heart, Dijun, and I'm happy to see you back to your old self too, Guizhong...it just hurt too much to visit while you weren't conscious and hear me lament."
"I-- nothing of that sort," Zhongli nearly dropped Guizhong, his ears turning pink, "H-how long have you been there, A-ping? I would've gotten the door for you! What an embarrassing display..."
The old woman laughed, shaking her head. "Not very long. The door was ajar and since I lived 2 rooms down, I thought I'd drop by," she joked, placing the small box of oranges on the coffee table, "Happy Lantern Rite. Are the kids coming by for reunion dinner? You two are still snuggling and not getting prepared."
Guizhong pecked Zhongli on the cheek, releasing her grip to hop off his lap. "Ningguang-mei decided to host it at Xinyue Kiosk this time. Seems like she had other ideas," she explained, cheerfully leading Ping to a seat, "She thought us having a huge potluck might be too much effort, so she set the place up, booked it all for us before letting us know."
Ping waved a hand modestly, allowing herself to be fussed over by her old friends before her gaze fell on the bell once more. "Ah, you. Still trying to upgrade that old bell, it seems," she teased, taking the bell from Guizhong to examine it fondly, "It still rings well, years after you'd left it. Really, it's a testament to your skill more than mine just safekeeping it."
"Did you really stop playing the guzheng after my coma?" Guizhong's response was a nonsequiter, all while she set out the teaset for her guest, "I...you really didn't...I would've loved to hear you play again. I guess it's a little petty of me to make such a childish demand...it's just that...I'm sorry, Gechen-- A-ping, that's what you prefer to be called now, right? I'm sorry for making you wait."
Ping nodded towards Guizhong, still keeping her fond smile as she placed the bell back on the table. "Don't be. I'm just glad you're back," she replied, though she cupped Guizhong's cheek in her own while trying to blink her tears away, "We can do a duet together at the dinner tonight. How does that sound?"
"That's what I was trying to do this whole time with the bell but...but I can't even lift it now. I'm too weak," Guizhong sagged in her admission, crossing her legs in front of her and lowering her head, "A-li thinks I'm pushing myself too hard. Maybe I've really lost all my progress and become mortal again."
"Gui'er," Zhongli spoke the nickname he had for his wife, respectful and patient as always towards her, "You know Guili Plains wasn't built in a day either. Why are you in such a rush to do everything?"
"I've lost so much time, A-li. Too much time, like sand that trickled from between the space of my fingers," Guizhong began to tremble, staring at her own hands, "I'm broken. Defective. Like the other gods we had to put down when the war occurred. I'm glad to have come back, but the fact that so much has happened without me...it scares me so much. Like I'd never be able to catch up to Dieshan and Liuyun and Xueyue ever again in terms of their abilities."
She rested her face inside her palms, a quiet sob escaping the usually chipper woman. "I know I have to be patient - but when you showed me Dihua Marsh again, all my Glaze Lilies disappearing, I'd wished I was like Marchosius, being able to just forget himself, his status and live a carefree life...but I'm not. I'm just me, burdened with all the losses, everything I could've prevented but not being able to. Poor, pitiful and now-powerless Haagentus who has to keep going on while the world has left her behind."
Ping reached over, resting her friend's head on her shoulder. "Finally," she soothed Guizhong softly, stroking her dusty-white hair with gentle motions, "Dijun and the others were worried you were bottling it all up inside. We know you too well. It's best to have let it all out now. Let's leave these frustrations in the old year, and introduce the new one with a smile. Can you do that for me, at least?"
It took a while of Guizhong sniffling back to an awkward silence, her face streaked with dusty streaks as she nodded towards Ping once more. Zhongli remained stiff while Ping cradled Guizhong in her arms, soothing her by humming familiar folk tunes and pulling her closer even as Guizhong occasionally resisted by trying to pull away.
"Dijun, this is your spouse, yet I'm the one soothing her," sighed Ping when Guizhong had curled up in her lap with half-lidded eyes of exhaustion, "You're still as hapless in front of her tears. Some things seem to not change with time, it seems. I thought that the Tianquan would have taught you a little bit more finesse, but here we are."
Zhongli picked at his cheek awkwardly, glancing to his side with a fanged grimace. "I don't think anything I could've said would've helped. You know I would have been factual about it," he admitted sheepishly, though he reached over to Guizhong once more, "Hand her here. I think I can take over."
"No," Guizhong buried her face into Ping's lap, refusing Zhongli's reconciliation, "I'd rather be with you than Teyvat's least romantic gemstone. Maybe I should've chosen you when we went down that mountain, but his seduction tactics were just too powerful. Do you think I can get a divorce?"
Ping pulled Guizhong back up to a seated position, wiping her tears and sighing fondly. "You two. Aren't you both a little too old for such squabbles?" she chuckled, before letting Guizhong go, "I'll find my other qin. Archons...we can go together for the feast later, but you have to promise me you'd cut yourself a little bit of slack."
Guizhong tugged at Ping's hand, shaking on her promise. "I'll try," she sighed, lifting herself to stare at the bell again, "No promises."
"Ok, let's go through the list one last time," Keqing tugged at the collar of her formal shirt, flipping through the documents back and forth, "Anything new to add? We've got the guest list, vegetarian options for Ganyu and some of the other Xianren visiting, added almond tofu specifically for a certain somebody...are we missing anything?"
"Lolo, lo," Guoba shrugged, flipping through his own list as well (his mostly comprising of pictures for easy viewing) before showing Keqing one of the images, "Lo?"
Keqing leant down to view the list of hotpot ingredients, illustrated through a collage. "You think we're still missing something?" she asked, raising a brow, "It looks fine to me."
"Lo! Lo!" Guoba gestured towards the hotpot itself, indicating a clean cut in the middle.
"A partition? That's fair. Won't want to accidentally contaminate the food for the vegans," Keqing added a stroke to her own list, though a scowl indicated she was kicking herself for missing something so obvious, "It's weird talking to a semi-sentient panda who can give me tips on what to add and subtract for feasts, but if you're really God of the Stove like yeye told me...at least you're not Xiangling, I guess. This could go so much worse."
Guoba stomped his feet at Keqing, perceiving her badmouthing his friend, and before Keqing could protest, he'd strode away to busy himself, putting the list aside. "I must be crazy to think that this would work," Keqing sighed, pinching her brows before noting the first guests beginning to stream in, "Hey, make yourselves comfortable, there's enough to go around."
She felt a hand wrap around her waist, meeting face-to-face with a fondly-smiling Ganyu. "You've been busy. Thanks for stepping in," Ganyu began before Keqing could get a word in, "I'm surprised you came before I did. I tried to get everything settled before the Lantern Rite, but you know how things can get at the Jade--"
Keqing placed a gloved finger over Ganyu's mouth, shushing her. "Don't worry about it. Guoba and I figured out a way to uh, communicate so everything's been settled," she reassured, grinning smugly, "You just sit back and enjoy the party. I heard that some of the Xianren are performing for us this year, too. I'm excited to see who it'll be!"
"Are you sure?" Ganyu blinked up at Keqing, even as Xiao arrived and pulled a chair aside for Zhongli to enter, "You don't have to be so courteous."
"Trust me," Keqing led Ganyu to her seat, letting Ningguang take the central position (or as central as a circular table could give her), "It's a private gathering of just us. Don't be so stuffy about it."
As the remaining guests filed in, Ningguang gestured towards the small crowd and gave a small speech about their company. "...and I hope you all enjoy the hotpot feast Zhongli and I have picked out specially for you all," she ended, flashing a megawatt grin towards her husband, "We'd be having a small performance too by an older family friend, do enjoy because she hasn't played in a while!"
Shenhe and Ganyu shared a pot of vegetarian fare, while the others all gleefully tucked in - the exception was Xiao, who had a few bites of some cheese tofu and excused himself, walking towards the balcony to enjoy the Xiao Lanterns taking off into the sky instead.
From the next room, the melodious tune from the guzheng carried through the bustle, wordlessly singing about the beauty and wonder of Liyue along with a timeless friendship that had endured breakups and transcended even death. It seemed to lull the others into a comforting din instead, more focused on the music than anything.
Guizhong sat alone, the bell resting in her lap. At her cue, she lifted it - it now moved with her, and she rang it, letting it speak for her.
She would always grieve for her losses, time she would never get back.
Surrounded with friends and those she cared about, seeing Liyue now prosperous? That was almost enough to fill her void.