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Aether woke up very energetic after a good night’s sleep. Paimon had woken up only a few minutes before him and was already eyeing the food they had left from last night.
He almost didn’t want to get up though. The previous day had been so nice, spending so much time with Yoimiya. And that dream… the moments where he was gliding through the shooting star-filled sky with her in his arms were the best moments he had spent since coming to Teyvat. He would have surely been chastised by Amber for that stunt but he didn’t care. Her excitement was contagious and her smile was brighter than the stars.
But in a few days, he wouldn’t see her anymore. She would return to Inazuma and he would probably not even see her until the next festival in Inazuma, when she would be busy making fireworks. Aether didn’t want her trip to end. He wanted to spend more time with her.
He stuffed that idea in the back of his mind and got out of bed.
“Come on, Aether. Paimon was about to start eating breakfast without you!”
“I’m coming, Paimon, don’t worry. The food isn’t going anywhere.”
Paimon pouted. “And neither does Paimon’s hunger if you don’t come to eat!”
“Just give me a minute”, Aether replied while stretching.
After that, he sat at the table but he just played with his fork.
“Why aren’t you eating? Are you not hungry?”
“Sorry, Paimon, I got a few things on my mind.”
“Is this about… Yoimiya?”
Aether hesitated for a bit before answering. “Yes, it’s about her.”
“Paimon will miss her too when she leaves in a few days. Yesterday was so much fun! Paimon is almost tempted to ask Nahida to replay that dream.”
Aether chuckled. “It wouldn’t be the same thing, Paimon.”
“Yeah, you’re right. But we will hopefully see her soon after she leaves!”
Aether lowered his eyes. “Yeah, hopefully.”
After eating, they got out of the room Nahida reserved for them and headed for Shapur Hotel in Port Ormos to pick up Yoimiya. Today, they would probably visit Gandharva Ville and the area around it. It would definitely not be as glamourous as yesterday’s trip, but they could take a walk through the forest and then sit around the Statue of the Seven and admire the view.
They reached Port Ormos without any incidents along the road, but they didn’t talk too much. Aether was especially silent, and that’s while considering he didn’t talk too much on a regular day.
They didn’t even have to reach the hotel itself. Yoimiya was waiting for them, going from shop to shop. As soon as she saw them, she immediately came to greet them.
“Good morning, Aether and Paimon!” She was as full of joy as yesterday.
“Good morning, Yoimiya! How did you sleep?” Paimon replied first.
“Good morning, Yoimiya.”
“Slept really well. I needed the rest after all, after all the excitement and all the adventures. Even I get tired a bit after all that!”
“Paimon doesn’t believe it, Yoimiya getting tired?”
She laughed softly. “Yes, it’s possible. Well, let’s go to… Gandharva Ville, was it?”
“Exactly. We should be there in no time!” Paimon had already started floating towards the destination. Aether turned around to start walking, but he got stopped by Yoimiya’s hand on his shoulder.
“Is everything alright?”
Aether was surprised she could tell something was off about him. He was sure he was hiding it well.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be? We have a new day ahead of us!”
“You’re smiling, but your eyes betray you.”
Aether didn’t have a response to that.
“You can tell me anything. No matter what it is.”
“It’s not that important, it’s…”
But right then, Paimon realized that neither Aether nor Yoimiya was following her. “Hey, come on! Paimon said we should arrive in no time, but Paimon meant that only if we actually left Port Ormos!”
“We’ll talk later, okay?”
Yoimiya nodded and they made their way out of the port. Along the way, they saw a Shroomboar. Of course, Yoimiya couldn’t stop herself from trying to pet it. Amazingly, she actually managed to do it if only for a minute before it left.
“They usually run from us when we approach! Now Paimon wants to pet a Shroomboar too…”
“Don’t worry, Paimon, I can teach you. In Inazuma, there aren’t that many cats around, so you need to learn to approach them if you want to pet one of those cute fluff balls!”
Paimon’s expression switched from a pout to curiosity. “Paimon will hold you to that. Next time we come to Inazuma, Paimon will come straight to Naganohara Fireworks!”
Yoimiya laughed. Aether couldn’t help but smile.
Pretty soon after that, they arrived in Gandharva Ville. They were greeted by Tighnari, who was as formal as ever.
“Hi there, Aether and Paimon. And hello…”
“Yoimiya. I’m from Inazuma but I’ve come to visit Sumeru to get inspiration for my fireworks!”
“Nice to meet you, Yoimiya. My name is Tighnari, Forest Watcher of the Avidya Forest. I hope you’re enjoying your stay here in Sumeru.”
“I am enjoying it a lot, actually! Especially since Aether and Paimon are my guides! It’s nice to get out of Inazuma after the Sakoku Decree ended.”
“I’ve heard about that decree in Inazuma but you’re the first new Inazuman I’ve met after the Electro Archon ended it.”
“I might come here more often if I get the time!”
Tighnari chuckled. “And we will strive to keep Sumeru open to visitors.”
Tighnari then spent only a few minutes with them. He told them that Collei wasn’t there, as he sent her to Sumeru City to get him a few ingredients for various treatments. He had to leave to treat a few patients, but he wished them a good time and told them to be careful in the forest.
Before exploring the surroundings, Yoimiya had to take a closer look at Darina’s Sumpter Beast, the travelling merchant just outside Gandharva Ville. It wasn’t as open to petting as the Shroomboar before, but it didn’t run away either, which allowed Yoimiya to admire it.
“We don’t have any animals that are this big in Inazuma! Sumpter Beasts are great!”
“And they’re great at carrying your merchandise too! Or any luggage, actually.”
“I can only imagine how many fireworks I could carry around with me!” Yoimiya’s eyes were wide open with the excitement of the possibility of having hundreds or maybe thousands of fireworks on her. “That would make the setup for a festival so much easier!” I won’t have to make trips to the shop that often! Or I could use even more fireworks…” The gears were definitely turning in her head from all the ideas.
After that, they strolled around, looking at the pretty flowers and magnificent trees. They were just relaxing. Even Yoimiya was quiet, admiring everything. When they were done with their walk through the forest, the sun was already setting. They climbed on the tiny hill with the Statue of the Seven on it to see said sunset. Aether, of course, reached the top first, having done it so many times, and helped Yoimiya up.
They sat down with their legs crossed (except Paimon, she just floated between them), facing the sun. The waterfall behind them provided them with a very pleasant background sound.
Aether broke the relative silence first. “I know you’re a fan of night skies with fireworks, but… I wanted to show you this sunset. I thought you might still like it.”
“I love it! It’s especially nicer with you two around! When I’m at home, I can see every sunset right out my front window, but this feels very different with the forest around us, the Sumeru City right below the sun… You know, I actually like sunsets a lot too, they’re not even that different to firework-filled skies!”
“Paimon is confused… how can they be similar? Paimon can find so many differences!”
“Weeeell… if you think of the sun as a slow falling firework that’s bursting into all of these shades of yellow, orange and pink…”
“Ooh, Paimon can see what you mean. When you put it like that…”
Aether was smiling the whole time, both seeing Yoimiya explain the firework analogy and seeing Paimon actually understand a metaphor for once.
Yoimiya took out her water bottle and tried to drink from it, but nothing came out.
“Paimon, can you find Tighnari and ask him to fill my water bottle, please?”
“Sure thing, Yoimiya! Paimon will be right back!” She took the water bottle and slowly floated towards Gandharva Ville.
“I could’ve given you some water from my bottle, you just had to ask.”
Yoimiya turned herself towards him, her legs still crossed. “Thank you, Aether, but… I just wanted to talk to you.”
“Ah, I see. I’m sorry for making you worry-”
“Please, don’t say sorry for that. Just… tell me what’s wrong. I could tell the whole day that something was off with you, you know that?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Well… it is for me. So… what is it? If you want to talk about it, that is, I don’t want to force you.”
Aether took a deep breath and turned towards her, mirroring her previous movements. “I… really enjoyed this trip, I… wish I could spend more time with you.” Yoimiya tilted her head slightly to one side. “Because… I know you’ll have to go back home, and probably go back to making fireworks for the upcoming summer festivals…”. Aether took another deep breath. “I would’ve loved to show you around Mondstadt and Liyue too and just… spend time with you, like this.”
Aether looked down, thinking she probably misunderstood him somehow. But Yoimiya was not going to let him be sad. Barely a second passed since he stopped talking and she lunged towards him in a fierce hug. Aether was taken by surprise, almost losing his balance, but he hugged her back. They sat like that for a little while before Aether let her go, Yoimiya pulling back in response.
“Aether, you should’ve just told me! I thought it was something I couldn’t really help you with, but I can totally do something that will make you feel better.” She stood up. “Let’s just go right now!”
If Aether hadn’t known Yoimiya better, he would’ve thought she was joking. But she definitely wasn’t.
Aether stood up as well. “Right… now? But what about the fireworks?”
“Don’t worry about that, there’s still plenty of time until the next festival. And I can just send a letter to Mom and Pops to let them know I’ll arrive a bit later than what I’ve told them. In the meantime, Pops can handle the small orders just fine!”
“I… really don’t want to inconvenience you…”
“You’re not doing that! I want to visit the other countries you’ve been through too! I just didn’t want to make you think I was taking advantage of you. But I would love to visit Mondstadt and Liyue with you, if I don’t make you stray away from your journey too much…” Now it was Yoimiya’s turn to not look Aether in the eyes.
“You really aren’t. I was planning to wait a while before going to Fontaine anyway, I don’t really want to solve another national crisis this soon.”
Yoimiya couldn’t help but giggle. “You tend to fix a lot of problems wherever you go, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“So… where to first?”
“Hmm… I was thinking we could go to Mondstadt first, find Klee if she’s around, then go to Liyue since I think the Lantern Rite is coming soon… and then we could talk to Beidou to take you home.”
“You really thought of this before, haven’t you?”
“Well… I wasn’t going to ask you to a mini-tour of Teyvat without actually thinking of a plan beforehand, was I?”
She beamed so brightly at him that he could melt in a puddle of nothing but good feelings right there and then.
“All that we have to do now is to tell Paimon that we’re leaving… and here she comes, right on cue!”
Paimon floated up to them, water bottle in tow.
“Here you go, Yoimiya! Paimon had to wait for Tighnari for a while, but Paimon hopes you enjoyed the sunset- wait, why do you two seem ready to leave?”
“Because, Paimon, you will have to get used to having Yoimiya around for a bit longer since we’re going to Mondstadt with her!”
“Yaay, more time with Yoimiya! Paimon will be sure to treat you to some Sticky Honey Roast… oh, just thinking about it is making Paimon’s mouth water!”
Aether and Yoimiya laughed while Paimon was thinking about what food she could eat from Good Hunter.
They left the little hill, passed through Gandharva Ville to say goodbye to Tighnari (who, of course, told them to stay vigilant on the nighttime trip to Port Ormos) and headed south.
On the road, they didn’t talk about much, as their attention was pretty much focused on the sounds of the night in Sumeru. It felt like the whole forest went to sleep, except for the odd Crystalfly and all the crickets.
Arriving in the now near silent Port Ormos, Yoimiya yawned, which prompted Aether to change their plans slightly.
“Okay, maybe it’s not the best idea to leave now. Let’s go to the hotel here to get some sleep for now. You can head to your room and Paimon and I will book another room for the night!”
Yoimiya nodded in agreement, too tired to even speak. As luck would have it, the only empty room was right next door to Yoimiya’s.
“Good night, you two!”
“Good night, Yoimiya! Paimon can’t wait for tomorrow!”
“See you tomorrow!”
Aether watched Yoimiya smile softly and enter her room. Going into their own room, Paimon fell asleep instantly as soon as she touched her bed, but he was not having as much luck. He was nervous, but he calmed himself by thinking of Yoimiya and how excited she was to go Mondstadt. After a while, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.
Morning came around, and with it a knock on the door, accompanied by a very familiar voice.
“Rise and shine, sleepyheads! I’ll wait for you at a table outside.”
Aether opened his eyes to the ‘Aramiya’ carving. Yoimiya was right, it definitely brightened his day. He woke Paimon up, put the carving back into his pocket and left the room.
The three of them headed towards the lighthouse and asked the port master there when the next ship headed for Mondstadt was leaving.
“Unfortunately, there won’t be any ships leaving for Mondstadt for at least a week.”
“Oh… thank you.”
“Safe travels!”
Disappointed, they left. But while crossing the bridge, Aether abruptly stopped.
“Wait here, you two. I’ll come back as fast as I can.”
Yoimiya looked puzzled. “Where are you going?”
He was feeling very smug. “It’s a surprise.” And then he ran away.
She looked at Paimon for an answer, who shrugged in return.
“Don’t look at Paimon! Paimon has no idea where he’s going either! While we’re waiting for him, do you want to know anything in particular about Mondstadt, Yoimiya?”
“Well, to be fair, I don’t know anything about Mondstadt…”
While they were talking about general facts about the land of freedom, they didn’t even notice that a very small boat stopped right in front of them.
Aether popped out from behind the helm. “Heard you needed a boat?”
They turned their heads to the boat and Yoimiya couldn’t stop herself from vibrating with excitement. “Oh my, is that your boat? It’s so cuuute!”
“Oh yeah, Paimon forgot about it! This is our Waverider, we got it some time ago!”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Come on in!”
Yoimiya didn’t wait for another second after Aether finished his sentence. She ran and jumped straight on the bow of the ship, but she slipped on her landing. Thankfully, Aether caught one of her hands and pulled her onto the deck, which stopped her from going for an early morning swim. They both blushed for a bit, but neither of them said anything. Paimon floated towards the boat and all three of them entered the cabin.
The interior of the cabin was mostly original, with the aged but well-kept wooden walls and floor. A lamp was hung right next to the door, but it wasn’t lit right now. However, all over the place, there were what looked like mementos of Aether’s adventures: a garland, a notebook with wooden covers, a Sakura petal, an Omamori from the Grand Narukami Shrine and many others.
“Oh wow, this seemed tiny from outside, but from here it’s quite cozy! And I like the decorations!”
“Speaking of decorations, I think this deserves to be here.” Aether pulled out the ‘Aramiya’ carving and set it right next to the helm, which made Yoimiya smile again.
“May we have fair winds and following seas! He he, Paimon learned that one from Beidou!”
It was clear to Yoimiya that Aether was quite skilled in piloting a boat: he could steer the ship very easily through the waves, making sure to shake them around as little as possible. It didn’t even feel like they were on the sea most of the time!
After they left the port, Aether talked about some of his lesser-known adventures: learning Hilichurl poetry, searching for a lost sword and helping a talking cat clean its shrine. Yoimiya was listening to him very closely (especially during the cat story), just as she had during the boat trip from Inazuma. Paimon was, of course, adding details that Aether missed.
Before they even knew it, they had almost arrived in Mondstadt. “Yoimiya, if you look to the left, you can see Dragonspine not that far away.”
She peered through the window and her eyes sparkled. “That mountain is huuuge! I wish we had to time to pass through it to play in the snow…”
“I would’ve taken you right now to Dragonspine, but this side is covered by a huge blizzard, and last time we went through it, Paimon almost turned into a popsicle!”
Yoimiya laughed loudly at the thought of popsicle-Paimon, which filled Aether with joy as well. “Wait, you guys have been here too?”
“Yep, but Paimon didn’t enjoy it. It was cold no matter where you went, and the inside of the mountain was like a labyrinth!”
Aether steered the boat around Cape Oath and they soon stopped in the sands of the Falcon Coast, with the Windrise tree just in front of them. He opened the door for Yoimiya and Paimon to get out on the beach.
“This might not beat Sumeru as a first impression, but… to me, Mondstadt has always felt like…”
“Like home.” Aether turned his eyes to Yoimiya, whose light strawberry blonde hair was flowing in the gentle breeze. “What I mean is… this isn’t like my home, with the bustling streets and whatnot, but… it feels… nice? With this tree to stand underneath on a hot summer day and the windmills from the city in the background. And all these fields!” She extended her hands, as if to feel everything around her better.
“Paimon definitely understands what you mean! Mondstadt is our first country we’ve been through, after all!”
“And it’s where I fished you out of the water, Paimon!”
“Paimon prefers to say that you’ve saved Paimon from drowning, not that you’ve ‘fished’ Paimon!” She pouted, making Yoimiya giggle.
At that point, Yoimiya started walking away from them, but glanced back at them. “Come on, what are you waiting for? Last to arrive pays for dinner!”
She started running north with Aether chasing after her, Paimon not far behind. “Where are you going?”
“I dooon’t knooow!” She was laughing, but she didn’t stop running.
“That makes no sense to Paimooon!”
They ran and giggled (well, Aether and Yoimiya did) all the way up to a cliff near the Whispering Woods, overlooking Mondstadt on the left and Starfell Lake on the right.
All three were panting, but Yoimiya spoke first. “I… win, hehe!” Aether just smiled at her.
“That… was the craziest… thing… Paimon has ever… done!”
“Including… fighting a… god with me?”
“Yes!”
They laughed while catching their breath, but then turned towards the view.
“Woooaaah.” Yoimiya looked left and right, and then back at Aether. “I’m so glad I came here with you.”
“So am I.”
“And so is Paimon!”
“So… do you want to walk around the city?” Yoimiya nodded. “We could also talk to Amber, maybe you can get a gliding license.”
“Gliding license? Do you have to take an exam?” She looked down. “Because… I’m not that good with those….”
“Well… I actually don’t know. I got my license in a more… interesting way.”
Yoimiya glanced back at Aether, her eyes betraying her curiosity.
“I might have… fought Dvalin, one of the Four Winds of Mondstadt, in the skies above the city only minutes after I got my glider. I hope everyone else got it in more… normal ways.”
Yoimiya couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “I should’ve expected something like this from you, you’re as incredible as ever!”
“Thanks, but I was just in the right place at the right time.”
“Well, it doesn’t hurt having luck on your side, does it?”
“And people like you.”
She smiled at him in response.
“Let’s go to Mondstadt, Paimon is starving!”
Laughing again, they started walking down the cliff.
Aether stopped soon after taking a few steps. “Wait, something doesn’t feel right.”
“Paimon doesn’t see anything, all that sailing must have- aaa!”
The reason Paimon screamed was because an Abyss portal opened in front of them. From it, two Abyss Heralds and quite a few Abyss Mages emerged.
Out of pure instinct, Aether summoned his sword and stepped forward, putting himself between Yoimiya and Paimon and the Abyss monsters.
Before Yoimiya could aim her just summoned bow, Aether stopped her.
“Yoimiya… I think it’s better if you run to the city and don’t look back. I’ll catch up to you.”
“No way I’m leaving you here, fighting alone!”
“Yoimiya-”
“No! I am not abandoning you.”
Aether looked at the enemies and pondered the idea for a few seconds. “Fine. I’ll take the Heralds, the Pyro Abyss Mages and as many Electro ones as I can; you take the Hydro and Cryo ones. Paimon, hide.”
They prepared themselves for a messy battle. Suddenly, Aether dashed towards the monsters, using the power of Electro to boost his speed. It was safe to say that this was the hardest fight he had ever been in due to the sheer amount and diversity of enemies. He was using all four elements he was resonating with, constantly using abilities while also blocking hits from all directions. Using Anemo, he propelled himself into the air and smashed the ground with his Geo powers, which gave him an opening. He went for the Abyss Mages and managed to take out an Electro one with a Dendro slash, turned around and zapped two Pyro ones with Electro bolts, then quickly parried the Herald strikes from above him.
Not that far away, Yoimiya’s vision was shining brightly. Her Pyro infused arrows definitely scared the Abyss Mages she managed to attract, especially after seeing their effect on one of their comrades. They kept their distance, but still launched many attacks towards her. As the fight went on, she grew tired, which meant she could only focus on dodging the Cryo spikes and Hydro bubbles. Using the last bits of her strength, she focused her attention on the remaining Cryo Abyss Mage, so she wouldn’t have to worry anymore about Cryo spikes. Just as she was about to fire, a Hydro Abyss Mage teleported to her left. She swung the bow around, took it out with one arrow and dodged backwards just in time to avoid another attack.
Meanwhile, Aether had made an Abyss Herald retreat through a portal. He had the upper hand on the remaining Herald, making it retreat more and more. Unfortunately, he lost sight of the remaining Electro Abyss Mage. He had to defeat this Herald, and he had to do it fast. He was getting tired, but using every sword fighting technique he’s learned along his journey, he made the Herald retreat. Aether turned to Yoimiya and quickly assessed the situation. It looked like he strayed a fair distance from her. Her back wasn’t that far from the cliff, so she stood her ground. But the remaining Hydro and Cryo Abyss Mages were taking advantage of her tiredness. He ran towards her, but he was too slow. A Cryo spike hit her arm, knocking her bow from her hands. Just then, the Electro Abyss Mage that escaped from Aether’s grasp teleported behind Yoimiya and started charging an attack towards her exposed back.
A wave of rage and panic washed over Aether. Tired as he was, he dashed towards the Hydro and Cryo Abyss Mages, electrifying the air around. Using his momentum, he spun in the air and dropkicked the Hydro one into the ground, burying it, then turned towards the Cryo one. He punched it away with Anemo in his left hand while gathering Dendro energy on his sword in his right hand.
But he wasn’t as fast as he needed to be. As if time slowed down for Aether, he saw the bolts of Electro leaving the Abyss Mage’s staff. He couldn’t forgive himself if Yoimiya got hurt badly. Using the power of Electro once again, he put himself between her and the Abyss Mage. He tried to raise his sword to block the attack, but there simply weren’t enough milliseconds left until the Electro hit him, knocking him unconscious.
Yoimiya, dazed by the earlier hit, only saw a blur of what happened in front of her, then suddenly heard electricity crackle behind her and that someone fell on the ground. She quickly regained her senses, saw that there were no enemies left in front of her and turned around, only to see Aether on the ground, with the final Electro Abyss Mage standing a few meters away, right on the edge of the cliff.
“AETHER!”
Without even thinking about it, she picked up her bow, ignored her pain and shot so many Pyro arrows she could defeat the Abyss Mage two times over. She unsummoned her bow and crouched to look at Aether properly. He had been hit right in the middle of his chest, charring his clothes and some of his skin in a small, uneven circle. The wound was still fresh, but she barely had any medical supplies on her. Thankfully, she still had some bandages on her from back home from when she was making fireworks. She took out the small bundle she had on her. Her hands were shaking, so she couldn’t unwrap it. She didn’t even notice Paimon coming out from hiding towards them.
“Yoimiya! Yoimiya! Is he… breathing?” Paimon startled Yoimiya, almost dropping the bandages on the ground.
Yoimiya put her ear next to his chest. Thankfully, he was still breathing. If she concentrated, she could even hear his heartbeat. Weak, but still there.
“He is… Paimon, please untangle these, my hands are shaking, I can’t…”
“Leave them to Paimon.”
While Paimon was doing her thing, Yoimiya looked at herself for a second. She had some bruises; the worst one was on her right arm, but these were minor compared to Aether’s wound.
She started whispering to herself, so Paimon couldn’t hear. “It’s my fault, he took that hit for me, I should have noticed the darn Abyss Mage behind me-” A few tears rolled on her cheeks, but she had to stay focused.
“Paimon has untangled them, here you go! We need to clean his wound somehow first, though.”
“I don’t have anything else on me, I’ll just try to stop the bleeding with these.”
She quickly wrapped Aether around a few times. Of course, the bandages started to get red with blood almost instantly. Panic started to envelop Yoimiya once again, but she focused on what she could do.
“We need to get him to Mondstadt, Paimon. Can you try to lift him?”
They tried to do just that, but it was clear they couldn’t carry him all the way to the city. That’s when the wind started to pick up quite a bit. A voice could be heard in the breeze.
“I’ll guide you with the power of the thousand winds, just as I helped him not long ago.”
“That’s Tone-Deaf Bard! Yoimiya, get his glider and put it on you!”
“Who is that? And I don’t know how to glide!”
“Trust Paimon, you’ll be fine! Just stretch your hands!”
Yoimiya put on Aether’s glider and she felt it open as soon as she barely extended her hands, probably from the strong wind that was blowing… straight towards Mondstadt.
She gathered her strength and managed to pick up Aether with the help of Paimon.
“Ok, now jump off the cliff!”
Yoimiya swallowed and with a small run towards the edge, she jumped. She expected to plummet to the forest below, but the wind kept her up and she glided towards the city. Paimon floated right beside her, keeping an eye on Aether. Somehow, he felt lighter in the air.
Very soon, she was coming down straight at the gate of Mondstadt. She had a rough landing on her knees, probably scraping them on the dirt, but all that mattered right then was that they needed to get help for Aether, and fast. Thankfully, the city gate guards came to her, so she didn’t need to shout as loud, but she did anyway.
“He’s hurt, please help him! He got hit by Electro!”
“Get Jean or Barbara, whoever you find first! Or both!” Paimon chimed in with the additional instructions.
She put Aether down carefully, and both guards took off into the city. Presumably, one would go to the Knights of Favonius Headquarters and one to the Mondstadt Cathedral.
Yoimiya couldn’t hold her tears any longer. She hugged him only by lifting his head a little and barely whispered. “Please, don’t leave me, please…” The tears were now streaming down her rosy cheeks. “I don’t know what I’ll do without you… I love you, you reckless fool with a big heart!”
She then stood like that in almost silence for a few moments when she heard hurried steps towards her. She carefully put Aether’s head back on the ground and turned towards the sound. She saw a lot of people she didn’t know, but Paimon seemed to know them, which calmed her, only for a little bit.
The tall lady spoke to the guards, now carrying a stretcher. “Put him on, then gently pick him up. Take him to my office, there’s enough space there.” Yoimiya got up and backed away from Aether to let the guards handle him.
“Jean, thank goodness you were here! Where’s Barbara?”
“She’s on her way towards my office, she’s gathering all the medical supplies she needs.” She turned towards Yoimiya and looked at her bruises, her scraped knees and then somewhere at her chest. “Wait, you’re hurt too! Let me-”
Yoimiya wiped her tears away with her sleeve, looked down at her sarashi and noticed they got slightly red too. “Oh, this is… Aether’s blood… and the bruises and scrapes are nothing.”
“Ah, I see. In any case, you should come too, so Barbara can patch you up.”
The guards finally positioned Aether on the stretcher and left, with the girls following them close.
“Oh, Paimon hasn’t introduced you yet. Yoimiya, this is Jean, the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. And Jean, this is Yoimiya, owner of Naganohara Fireworks and a friend of ours.”
“I’m sorry we met in these circumstances, but I hope you enjoyed our country until now.”
“So am I, I just hope Aether is well.” But then Yoimiya was lost in her thoughts. She knew Jean asked her something, but she had no idea what she said. Specifically, right now, she was only thinking about him and nothing else. She kept her eyes on the unconscious Aether in front of her, almost stumbling on the stairs a few times on the way towards Jean’s office.
“Sorry, she does that when she’s focused on something. We came here from Sumeru to visit Mondstadt but then Abyss Heralds and Abyss Mages attacked us and…”
“Abyss Heralds? In Mondstadt? I’ll need all the details as soon as Aether gets well, that doesn’t sound good.”
Soon, they arrived at the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius. The medieval buildings gave off a mighty feeling, but Jean’s office was decorated as elegantly as possible. Well, it seemed the one called Barbara had already extended a couch to accommodate the patient and set a white cloth on it. She also laid out bandages, healing herbs and many things Yoimiya didn’t even recognize on the nearby table.
“Put him on the couch, carefully.”
The guards set Aether on the improvised hospital bed slowly, then took the stretcher and left Jean’s office. Barbara had already begun taking off the bloody bandages.
“I can see he was hit by Electro… I assume his wound hasn’t been disinfected?”
Yoimiya was ready to answer. “No, all I had on me were those bandages, I just wanted to stop his bleeding as well as I could.”
“You did great, considering this is all you had. Now, please leave me alone so I can do this quickly. He isn’t in danger of dying, but his condition is less than ideal.”
Yoimiya hesitated. She didn’t want to leave Aether’s side. “I…”
“I’ll be done quick. You can come back then.”
Reluctantly, she left the room, together with Jean and Paimon. They headed into the library, which was right opposite the office.
“Unfortunately, Lisa isn’t coming back to Mondstadt for a few days, so you probably won’t get to meet her.”
“It’s alright.”
If it was any other day, she would’ve been amazed by the hundreds of books. She would’ve looked for any books that could help her make even better fireworks, but she just sat on a chair, resting her chin on her palms, elbows digging into her thighs.
Paimon and Jean started talking about what happened on that cliff, but Yoimiya was still not paying attention. Paimon noticed that and turned towards her.
“Yoimiya.” She looked up without lifting her head from her hands. “Don’t worry about Aether-”
“But I can’t do anything but worry!”
“He has been through worse and he’s always got back up! He’s really strong. Remember what he got hit by in Inazuma when he saved Thoma’s vision?”
Yoimiya lifted her head completely. “I wasn’t there, but nobody told me he got hit by anything!”
“Oh… maybe Paimon shouldn’t have brought this up right now…”
“Now you have to tell me, Paimon! Please.”
“Okay… Paimon will tell you because it’s already been a long time since it happened… He was hit by Raiden Shogun’s Musou Isshin.”
“He was hit by WHAT?”
A loud shhh! could be heard from the ground floor.
“He never told me that… and neither did Thoma!”
“Well… Paimon thinks he didn’t want you to worry, and he told Thoma not to tell you either.”
“Still… I’ll need to talk to him when he wakes up, for sure. He has to stop putting himself at such risks for other people!”
That was when Jean intervened. “It seems the Honorary Knight has had incredible adventures throughout the other nations too. But I doubt he is the person to risk others getting hurt, even if it meant he was getting hurt instead. Paimon told me that he physically put himself between you and the Abyss Mage that attacked you.”
Yoimiya bowed her head.
“Of course, I understand your point too, but he’s… just like that. He uses his power to help people.” Yeah, Aether was just like that. And that’s why she loved him.
Just then, a knock was heard on the library door, and it was opened just enough that Barbara’s voice could be heard. “You can come back, but please be quiet.”
They went back inside Jean’s office. Yoimiya went closer to Aether and lightly caressed his arm with the back of her hand. He was now properly bandaged, his wounds treated, even the bruises all over his body were covered. His breathing was normal again, like he was sound asleep.
“I’ve completely treated his wound. All he needs now is to sleep it off.”
“I was just about to be done for today, so nobody will bother him here in my office. You can leave him and come back in the morning.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not leaving him.” Yoimiya just couldn’t leave him. Not now. Even if he was just sleeping.
“And neither will Paimon!”
Jean looked at them. “You can use the spare couch, then. And if you need another blanket or pillow, you can ask the guards outside for some. Oh, and Barbara? Please tend to Yoimiya here too.”
“Oh, I don’t need anything, I’ll be fine.”
Barbara stopped in her tracks with a few bandages in her hand. “But you’re hurt too!”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“But-”
Jean looked at Barbara and it seemed they had a whole conversation just by looking at each other. “Okay, I’ll leave some things here just in case you change your mind. All you need to do is to rub these plants on your scratches and then bandage them.”
“We’ll see you tomorrow morning. Good night!”
Jean and Barbara left the office, closing the door behind them.
Paimon yawned loudly. “Paimon will… sleep a little on the couch. You should do that too, Yoimiya!”
Yoimiya couldn’t help but smile just a very tiny bit. “I will, Paimon.”
Very soon after, Paimon started softly snoring. Meanwhile, Yoimiya just sat on a chair she pulled up from the table. She looked at Aether, sleeping. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, but it would have to wait. And she wasn’t even sure she would ever get to tell him. He probably didn’t feel the same way about her.
The moonlight coming from the window suggested that it was very late. But she thought there was no way she could fall asleep. To pass the time, she grabbed the medicinal plants from the table and followed Barbara’s instructions. Some scratches burned, but she kept completely silent. She used the bandages and left what remained on the opposite end of the table. Positioning her chair so that she could see Aether while also resting her head on the table, she closed her eyes. She only wanted to rest her eyes a little, but it seemed she instantly fell asleep, her exhaustion catching up to her.
When she woke up in the morning, her back was sore from sleeping with the head on them table. Her hair was probably a complete mess, but her body didn’t seem to hurt at all, only her right arm. She had to thank Barbara for those herbs. She slowly opened her eyes to look at Aether, only that… he wasn’t on the couch anymore. She quickly lifted her head from the table and looked around, panicked. The moment she looked to her right though, she screamed out of surprise; Aether was sitting on a chair, right next to her.
“AAAAH! Aether, you’re hurt, why aren't you lying down?” She touched his arms, almost to confirm that he actually was in front of her and that she wasn’t dreaming. But he stood there, smiling, with the morning sunlight flooding the room through the window behind him.
“Don’t worry, Yoimiya, I’m fine. I’ll be up and running before you can say ‘fireworks are for now, but friends are forever’!” She couldn’t help but giggle a bit. “Sorry for scaring you though.”
“It’s fine. I’m just… glad you’re okay.” He kept smiling at her.
She looked around again. “Where is Paimon, though?”
“Oh, I’ve told her to get us all Sticky Honey Roast. I probably shouldn’t have given her my entire bag of Mora. Knowing her, she might buy all the food in the entire Mondstadt!” They laughed, but Aether stopped soon, holding his hand over his chest. It was obvious he was still in pain.
“Looks like it will hurt to laugh for a while, which will be difficult around you. You always make people laugh. Well, you make me laugh, that’s for sure.”
“Oh, sorry…”
“Don’t say sorry for that! It’s great, actually! It’s just a shame I won’t be able to laugh with you for some time.”
They looked at each other for a few seconds, but Aether took her hand in his and broke the silence. “I have to tell you this right now while I still have the courage… I might have heard a few things you said to me when we arrived at Mondstadt’s gate.”
“Oh, I don’t even remember what I said, I was just panicked.” That was a lie, she knew exactly what she said, but she hoped he didn’t hear everything she said. She still thought Aether didn’t reciprocate her feelings.
“I couldn’t forget it no matter what happened. You said ‘I love you’.” Yoimiya’s heart skipped a beat hearing those three words spoken by Aether. “I believe you also said that I’m a ‘reckless fool with a big heart’.”
Yoimiya looked down, turning bright red from embarrassment, trying to match her kimono. “Oh, how could I forget that-”
“Yoimiya.”
She was gazing at the floor. “Yes?”
“Please, look at me.”
She lifted her head and looked him in the eyes.
“I love you too, Yoimiya.”
She practically jumped off the chair to hug him. Unfortunately, an ‘ow’ from Aether reminded her that he was still hurt.
“Maybe no tight hugs for a few days, though, okay?”
“Ah, sorry, sorry!” She released him, and sat back on her chair, but they sat very close, with their knees still touching.
“Can I… kiss you, then?”
“I was about to ask you that myself.”
The kiss was soft and short, but she still felt like thousands of fireworks were going off inside her mind. The sensation was… magical, there was no other way to put it. They pulled back a little, but they kept their hands linked and stayed in silence. They didn’t need any words. They just smiled at each other.
After a while, Aether spoke again. “Oh, and Yoimiya? Thank you so much for saving me back there, Paimon told me a few things after I woke up.”
“I did what I could. If I had lost you…”
“I know. I’m sorry for being reckless, but I couldn’t just watch you get hurt that badly, knowing I could protect you.”
She lightly tapped his shoulder with her fist. “Please try to never do that again if you can, though.”
“I’ll try my best. After all, I know you don’t like bad endings.”
Aether took Yoimiya’s face in his hands and this time they kissed for way longer. She was stroking his soft blond hair with one hand and caressing his cheek with her other hand. The world seemed to stop existing for both of them.
In that moment, the only person that mattered for them was each other. Together, they would get through everything.