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Dear Comrade ,
I visited Mondstadt briefly on some business with the Goth Grand Hotel. I was disappointed to not find you wandering around the nation of wind. I expected you to spend more time in a place where freedom abounds.
Although, I suppose that means you’re like a dandelion; you never stay in one place for too long. Speaking of dandelions, I picked up one and made a wish for you to find your brother. My own wish is to spar with you again sometime soon.
What do you say? Golden House on Friday?
Childe
Enclosed were two dried-up dandelion stems. Heat rose to Lumine’s cheeks. That bastard, wooing her with his sweet words. She was definitely going to kick his ass on Friday.
~~~~
Dear Traveler,
I was in Sumeru recently to oversee a transaction between the Northland Bank and Puspa Café. They took out a loan to fix up the building after the internal structure started falling apart. It’s a hefty sum - nothing short of 1,000,000 Mora. I wonder if they’ll generate enough revenue to even be able to pay it off in a timely matter. If not, I’m sure I’ll be the one sent by Her Majesty the Tsaritsa to collect their debt personally since it’s such a huge sum.
I found a flower growing near the café, and a local called it a “padisarah.” Supposedly it tastes good in pudding, but I think it would look better in your hair. Unfortunately, I had to press it within this letter so it would retain its shape, so you can’t wear this one. Maybe we’ll meet in Sumeru someday? I can put a real one in your hair then, and we could spar in front of the Akademiya and make a scene. Wouldn’t want to miss a prime opportunity for a crowd to witness our fighting like that.
Perhaps we’ll cross paths again soon. I look forward to it.
Childe
Lumine ran her fingers over the dried padisarah. A smile crept onto her face. “You dork, pressing a flower for me…either you know how romantic that is, or you’re completely clueless.”
~~~~
Dear Comrade,
I’m not sure when you’ll be visiting Snezhnaya, but my mother sent me a scarf she knitted for you. She absolutely insisted I give it to you early. I wasn’t sure what your favorite color was, but based on my description, she went with a pale blue. I think it’ll suit you.
Have you had any interesting spars with anyone recently? You’d better not have more fun sparring with anyone other than me. Speaking of that, I’ll be in Liyue on business next week. How about it, comrade? Shall we spar then?
Childe
Lumine turned over the scarf in her hands. It was thick, so she knew it would be warm, but it was very soft as well. She gently wrapped it around her neck and hugged herself. “You talk too much about me, don’t you…?” She mused as she sent back a quick reply of agreement to spar then.
~~~~
Dear Traveler,
I visited home recently, and my siblings were asking about you. They wonder when you’ll come visit. I told them you said yes to visiting, so now every time I see them, they ask. Teucer’s especially looking forward to it, considering you made a pinkie promise to visit. You wouldn’t want to go back on your word and get thrown on the ice, now would you?
So, how about it, comrade? When are you coming along with me to my homeland?
Childe
His heart was on the line for her, so it was only fair she put hers back out for him.
Dear Childe,
Consider it a date - six weeks from now. Meet me at Liyue Harbor, and we’ll take a ship to Snezhnaya.
Lumine
When Childe got that letter, the briefest hint of light flickered across his eyes. He was (painfully) obviously trying to play it cool in every letter, but he was smitten. Did Lumine realize just how much he was wrapped around her finger?
She wounded him with her short replies back. He memorized every word, but if she wrote more, he would memorize those words, too.
~~~~
Dear Comrade,
I was back in Liyue recently, and I trained some recruits in the mountains. They were a useless lot - apparently their training before reaching me was nonexistent. None of them had any idea how to handle their weapons. The only thing driving them was their desire to serve the Tsaritsa. That, I can understand. But it was an insult to my title as a harbinger to need to train the lowest of the low.
A lot of these leaves were falling off the trees while we were training, and they reminded me of your hair. Golden, almost. I thought maybe you’d like it.
See you in four weeks, comrade.
Childe
Lumine flipped the leaf over in her hand. It was a brilliant yellow color, and it was shaped like a fan. She vaguely recalled seeing similar leaves in another world she’d visited, but she couldn’t remember what they called them. The fact that he thought of her even amidst his disappointing recruit training was sweet.
She wondered if Childe knew how she treasured these silly little things he sent her.
~~~~
Dear Traveler,
I was sent to oversee some activities at the Goth Grand Hotel the other day. Mondstadt has this interesting flower - the calla lily - which only grows near water. I thought that was neat, so I looked for recipes that use it. I found Calla Lily Seafood Soup, but then decided to put my own spin on it using ingredients from my homeland. I call it “A Prize Catch,” since it looks like something I’d fish up. think my siblings would like it. Have you tried the original recipe before? Here’s the recipe and my changes, in case you’d like to make it for yourself.
See you in two weeks! Don’t go dying on me before then!
Childe
Enclosed in the letter was a handwritten recipe along with a Kamera picture of the dish. Lumine studied the recipe and hummed to herself. Thanks to Childe, now she knew what she was going to make for dinner.
~~~~
Most of the time, it didn’t matter if she knew where the Snezhnayan was.
On nights like these, she really wished she knew.
The paper in her hands was getting wrinkled from how tightly she was holding it. She looked back down at it, rereading it and scanning every line for some sort of clue as to Childe’s whereabouts.
Dearest Lumine,
It’s been a while since you’ve sent a letter to me. How have you been? I assume you’re keeping well since I haven’t heard any world-shattering news revolving around you lately. Tell me, comrade, do you believe in an afterlife? I wonder about that sometime. I have no intentions of dying anytime soon, but when it’s inevitably my time, where will I go? Will I be separated from you forever?
Never mind that. I’m not sure what came over me. I guess it’s just easy to write down my true thoughts as I have them when I write to you. Have you been keeping well? Ah - I guess I already asked you that. Let me try again. Learn any new combat techniques you wanna try out on me?
I’ve been counting down the days until your trip to Snezhnaya. I have so much to show you around my homeland. You better bring your best winter gear - wouldn’t want you to freeze, after all.
See you soon, at Liyue Harbor, as promised.
Childe
Childe never used her real name in his letters. It was always “traveler” or “comrade,” or something along those lines, so what did it mean now that he was using her name?
Of course he didn’t bother addressing the blood throughout the letter. Lumine felt this meant real danger; after all, every other letter from him had been perfectly clean. Was he sending a hidden message? Did she need to find him?
No, she decided, he wasn’t sending a cryptic message. He was carrying on as if nothing was wrong. There was obviously so much he left unsaid. She wanted to know what the hell kind of situation he’d gotten himself into to send her such a letter.
Lumine didn’t like the idea of waiting to see him on Sunday to go to Snezhnaya. Archons only knew where he was right now. Hell, he could be dead for all she knew! There was a lot of blood on that letter.
However, what choice did she have? How could she locate him across all of Teyvat?
That night, she went to the Grand Narukami Shrine and prayed - to the archons, to Celestia, to the heavenly principles - to anyone who had some semblance of deity within them, to ask for his safety.
~~~
“You have some fucking nerve sending me a letter like that!” Lumine had to resist the urge to take the harbinger by the collar. They had just met up at the docks of Liyue Harbor, and they were waiting for the ship to whisk them away to Snezhnaya to arrive.
He had a large cut across his forehead, and it looked pink as it was starting to heal. Lightly colored bruises littered his face, under his pretty eyes, across his beautiful cheeks.
If he wasn’t so beaten up already, she would’ve pummeled him into next week.
Childe laughed hoarsely. “Comrade-“
“N-No, don’t call me that.” Lumine’s voice quivered.
Childe chuckled, but his confusion was clear. “Why?”
“I want you to call me by my name, like you did in your last letter.” Lumine trembled. She was even surprising herself with her own words, but she couldn’t stop herself from saying them. “We both know I’m more than just your comrade by now.”
It was true - anyone could see that their relationship was special. It wasn’t just friends, or sparring buddies, or comrades; it was something deeper, but neither had a name for the depth of their relationship.
Childe took a moment to process this, evidenced by his curiosity reflected in his eyes and his lips quirking upwards. “My my, you really were worried about me!”
“So what if I was?!” Lumine’s voice raised in volume and passion, and bystanders were starting to look over at them because of the commotion. “How couldn’t I be? I didn’t know if you were dead, or if someone had captured you to kill you, or if I’d ever see you again - I knew nothing!”
Childe frowned. “You have little faith in my abilities, c- Lumine.”
“All bets are off when you send a letter covered in fucking blood!” Lumine spat, and hot tears glistened in her beautiful golden eyes.
Childe had never seen Lumine cry before; she’d always hidden it from him. He knew she cried about her brother, about being separated from him and having no idea how to bring him back from the tight hold of the Abyss. He could tell on the days that they sparred when her eyes were bloodshot and cheeks red.
But she’d never cried for him. He suddenly realized he never wanted her to cry because of him ever again. She was far too beautiful to waste tears on someone like him.
“Oh, Lumine,” he whispered, pulling the weeping traveler into his arms and planting his lips in her hair, “I’m sorry for scaring you.”
“Sorry isn’t enough! Tell me why! Why did you send me that letter?” Lumine had to take a deep breath to steady herself; it was hard to choke out words through sobs. Her grip tightened on his jacket, afraid he would disappear at any moment and leave her alone.
“Because if I did die - which, for the record, I didn’t know if I would - I wanted you to know I was thinking of you until the end.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Lumine tried to wipe away the tears that felt never-ending. “Why should I be the last person you’re in contact with? You have family back home. I’m not-“ she took a shaky breath, “I’m not anyone special.”
“That’s not true, Lumine. You know how special you are to me. Haven’t you realized it all along?” Childe tilted his head to the side.
All of his letters shouted one message, one concept that transcended all, if she’d just stopped to think about it.
I love you.
Every time her heart fluttered when he sent her those little gifts with his letters, every time she was excited to see him - he was showing her he loved her, and she’d been smitten all along, too.
“If you’ve loved me all this time,” Lumine’s voice trembled in a whisper as she looked up at Childe, “why didn’t you just say it?”
“The same reason you haven’t said it yourself,” Childe whispered back, running his hand through her hair gently.
Admitting it meant change, and why change something that was already good?
“That’s not fair,” Lumine whispered as she looked back down, banging a fist lightly against Childe’s chest, “this isn’t how this was supposed to go. You should’ve taken me on a date somewhere and told me you loved me, or at least have some class!”
There was a smile in Childe’s voice. “Good thing we’re going on an extended date to Snezhnaya. After all, you’ll be spending all of these next few weeks with me.” He planted a sweet kiss on top of Lumine’s head again, running his hand through her hair a few more times.
“I hate you,” Lumine’s voice was barely audible, but Childe heard and chuckled. “I love you, girlie. More than letters can possibly express.”
The horn sounded for the ship to Snezhnaya, and the pair gently pulled away from each other. Before Lumine could say anything or start walking towards the ship, Childe caught both of her hands and looked into her eyes.
“Say it back.”
Lumine was taken aback. “What?”
“I love you. Say it back. I just want to hear it this once. Please?”
Lumine frowned, but Childe’s pout and sincerity convinced her.
“I love you too, you dork.”
Childe’s eyes and cheeks brightened, and he let go of one of her hands. “Let’s get going, then. Wouldn’t want to miss our ship, after all!” He chirped, and he led her away.
What an annoying boy, Lumine thought. Being with him was definitely going to give her a headache…but with how he made her heart soar, she supposed she could let that slide.