Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the days that led to her 'retirement' as an Archon, Furina did not expect much of herself to do anything else.

She thought that she would stay within her home, isolating herself from the rest of Fontaine, as she did not feel that she was worth it to the nation anymore. Having done her deed for five hundred years yet being ousted as not the Archon for so long, there was that lingering guilt that clawed her entire mind after she left the Palais Mermonia.

Furina could have been better for her people.

Better in a way that she could have figured out another way to save her people rather than deceiving them for so long. Better in a way that she could have saved herself from her own loneliness and despair throughout numerous centuries.

There were so many ways that she could have tried to do so, but she did not.

Hence, she was content with being someone who should stay out of the limelight, as Fontaine finally received someone who would uphold true justice for the people to follow. Justice that will not have any form of deceit, not a wool over their eyes as Neuvillette will lead them to a brighter future.

All she could do was sit around and let her mortal time pass by with a dark cloud hovering above her, laying around her home with no such energy.

Now, she could look back on those days and see how thankful she is to have people who care about her so much.

Even though he rarely has time with her, Nuevillette made sure that she was not harassed and that she got everything that she needed. Clorinde and Navia pay her a visit from time to time, accompanying and helping her with things that she needed to do when she was not feeling it. There were still citizens around Fontaine who still had respect for her and looked forward to seeing her whenever she went out to buy groceries.

Furina was thankful for them, even though she knew that she could not do much to help them out with their own woes.

Yet, there was still that lingering feeling of guilt that was eating her up, looking around Fontaine, that could have been washed away by the Primordial Water because of her. This feeling made her feel like she wanted to step away from Fontaine for a while, as staying within her apartment with her mindset made her feel like she had always been like this.

A useless Archon that was just bidding time for the one that should have properly held it.

But there was someone who had been very persistent in telling her the latter. Visiting every day after their work was done, cooking for her, cleaning for her, and making sure that she was fine when they had to leave. He kept giving her the amount of care that she was actually waiting for each day, momentarily erasing the thoughts and feelings that smothered her mind.

No matter what happened, whether rain or shine, he came over and greeted her with a smile.

Aether knew what she felt throughout the years, even supporting her to accept the role in an opera, The Little Oceanid. Even if she had trouble accepting the spotlight once more, it felt so much easier to bear if he was with her and watching her.

For the first time in her long life, Furina truly felt what it meant to have someone by her side.

As she managed to do the play spectacularly, receiving a Vision at the end, Furina immediately threw herself into practicing what she could do with it. Brushing up her limited sword skills in fencing, gathering more knowledge of what she could do with her Vision, and festering her courage and determination to make sure that she would be ready for what she needed to do.

Furina was happy that Aether stood by her, even if he did not know why she was doing all of these things.

After weeks had passed on that routine, she was happy with how she fared in practice against Clorinde and Navia. She told them what she intended to do, which shocked her two friends at first, before they proceeded to help her.

It had been quite a long time since she had seen them, yet she was still very grateful for their support in her plan.

With her items stocked up in her magical storage, it was about time to wait for Aether to come by her apartment. She looked around the four-cornered room with a small smile on her face before she turned to close the door behind her, locking it behind her for the last time in a long time.

At that exact moment, Aether was strolling up to her. She could recall how confused he was when he managed to see her lock her door. Facing him directly, she could still remember the words that she told him:

"The strength gained through my own hard work is truly fulfilling. Hehe, thanks for your support..."

She took a deep breath before she continued her words—the very words that let her be by his side throughout this journey.

"...but let me be someone that would support you too in your journey. I want to know more about the world as you do, and I want to do it... by supporting you too!"

With that heartfelt exclamation and a sudden support from his traveling partner, Paimon, he agreed to bring her along with a smile that she could still remember to this day.

It was at this time that Furina knew that she had truly ascended from where she was.

From someone who could not stand alone to someone who can make even most fighters get a run for their money.

Because of him, she will never leave his side until the journey is over.

Not as the Hydro Archon of Fontaine, but as Furina.

Chapter Text

Throughout his journey through Teyvat, Aether was becoming tired.

It was rough going through every nation to save the people there and not get many answers in return for the questions that he needed answers for. There were countless times that he had to risk his life in combat, running back and forth to retrieve an important item and talking to different people every time to assist or defend. Even though he was fine helping those in need because he had the power to do so, there was still a small part of him that grew over time.

A part of him wishes that there was someone who could understand.

Understand that even if a person could do everything to help the people, they could feel nothing at times when they do not return the favor.

Aether knows that this was a bad mentality to have. He should not expect things such as payment or the like just to help the people who need them. But over time, ever since Inazuma, he could feel that a part of him was resenting the fact that he could not say no anymore. It was like an unsigned duty of his to be some sort of hero of all nations, where all he wanted was to find his twin sister.

All he can do is smile and do his best against the events that could not relate to the answer that his sister wants him to look for.

He could not really let out his frustrations either, as he did not want anyone to think that he wanted something out of his services that would give the impression that his kindness was fake. Even if Paimon does mean very well, he knows that his fairy companion may not get what he means and would probably get angry at him for feeling this way.

After all, they do get paid by food and, from time to time, by the people that they help. They could also get to see how a place grows due to their efforts, which makes him feel slightly better to hear good news about the nation that they assisted.

Yet, there was always a part of Aether that felt hollow and angry that he could not get what he wanted.

After everything that had happened in Sumeru, Aether did not know what to expect when both he and Paimon reached Fontaine. He already has a mental checklist of what to expect from the information he gathered from Nahida, someone for whom he was very thankful, as she deserved the moniker of being the Goddess of Knowledge for how she answered his questions as much as she could. Even though there were more questions than answers, he was very thankful to Nahida that the entire coup did not leave him empty-handed.

From what he had expected, the experience in Fontaine was different.

He was still heavily involved in saving the nation from a calamity, meeting new faces that had helped him through the events, and staking his life to make sure that the prophecy did come true. There was nothing different about that process, even if he was talking to people to get to the bottom of what was going on.

Even if he had to deal with the nation’s Archon at hand, Furina, which was more like being a lawyer than fighting them head-on, he felt rather annoyed at the behavior of the Archon, as if she were someone who held so high regard for herself that she was the one that caused everything to be quite difficult.

She was different from the other Archons as she acted like a spoiled child, being very dramatic and treating what was supposed to be a serious case as a theater that everyone could witness. It was as if everything was just an act to her, with everyone being a piece of the convoluted story that she wanted to witness herself.

He did not realize how much he was right and wrong about her.

Once he somehow managed to peer into her memories, he could see the heavy burden that she had to go through acting as an Archon. All of it was an act for her, as she needed to be the tragic main actress of the show, or Fontaine would be washed away. Half a millennia of loneliness and despair despite having all the people around her to love and support her because she felt that she was not the one that the people should look for.

It was something that he could understand very well as someone who did not choose to be a hero of the nations that he visited.

But for the first time in a while, ever since the first time he laid his feet in Monstadt, he decided to be the hero that the people needed.

After saving Fontaine to make sure that the prophecy did not come to pass, he immediately made sure to check if Furina was alright with all the events. It was during these times that he could finally see the one behind the mask, all broken and tired.

Without missing a beat, he extended a hand and made sure that she was someone to be cared for after all these times. Helping her did not make him either tired or frustrated but rather made him feel a lot more relaxed and happier.

It felt like something special.

It felt like he had finally found someone who could not just understand but also make him feel normal after talking to her more and more as time went on. Not being asked to fetch something or having to fight, but rather being asked to spend time with them to keep them company.

He missed those moments when he could be Aether, and he felt like he could do it around her.

And so, when Furina surprised him one day to travel with him...

How could he say no?

Chapter Text

"Ugh, are we not sleeping in the Teapot tonight?”

The former Hydro Archon whined, standing close to a crouching Aether, who was preparing a big blanket under a random tree. They were in the middle of their trek around the Stormterror Mountains as they finished picking up the harvests of berries around the mountain range. It was an exhaustive time for Furina as she was trying to keep up with Aether, who seemed to have seemingly infinite energy as he was sprinting and jumping around the range.

Not to mention the fact that they had to fight a lot of Hilichurls along the way, which really made Furina’s body sore in all the places from all the dodging and fighting they had to go through. Thankfully, it was so dark out that Aether finally decided to stop for the day.

All she wanted now was to lay on her comfortable bed within the Teapot realm, but...

“You could always go inside, you know?”

Aether replied as he lay down on the blanket, his arms behind his head. Furina could see that he was lying comfortably, fully intending to spend the night outdoors.

“Yeah… but…”

Furina’s eyes shifted away, her cheeks a bit red, as she kept shifting her feet on the grass shyly. She could feel Aether’s gaze boring on her, making her feel the nerves getting to her.

“…fine!”

She huffed, crossing her arms, before sitting next to Aether on the blanket. He chuckled at her attitude as she slowly laid down on the blanket at hand, nervously shifting for a bit before seemingly managing to be in a comfortable position.

“Feels nice?”

Asking in an amused tone, Aether could see Furina move around a bit more before letting out a small sigh.

“I am only doing this because y-you refuse to go inside the Teapot."

Furina mumbled under her breath in a tired tone, her eyes facing the night sky that was briefly covered by the leaves of the tree that they were under. Smiling at her for the moment, Aether decided to do the same thing as he faced up toward the sky.

A comfortable silence waved between the two as Aether’s eyes started to slowly close with each minute of staring night sky as Aether reminisced about the day he spent together with Furina. Ever since she joined up in his adventures, it has been a challenge adapting to a third constant member of the team at the start. But as they went on with more adventurers and commissions, it felt like Furina was meant to always be there for them, despite her inexperience in exploring and combat.

It felt so lively and entertaining with another person, especially when he knew that she appreciated his company a lot.

Then he felt weight on one of his shoulders, making him snap out of his thoughts. Turning his head to the side, he could see portions of Furina’s hair blocking his view. Yet he could feel Furina looking up at him with a look.

“Do not overthink this. I just need a pillow. That is all."

He let out a small chuckle as he adjusted his arm, letting the former Hydro Archon be more comfortable with the position that they were in.

“Better?”

He looked intently at the person in question.

“…yes.”

Hearing a meek reply from her, he simply shook his head amusingly before looking at the sky once more, immersing himself in the peace and quiet that the outdoors would provide.

It was the reason why he loved being out in the open anyway, as he felt so comfortable feeling the gentle air blowing by or the feel of nature around him.

Especially when looking up at the sky, the beautiful night sky...

He yawned, turning his head once more to the one that was borrowing his shoulder. Peering through the tufts of white hair, he could see Furina’s eyes closed, seemingly very comfortable with the position that she is in right now. He could hear her let out rhythmic breaths, indicating that she had fallen asleep despite her reservations about sleeping outside.

Aether smiled as he closed his eyes himself, letting slumber claim him as the two enjoyed their night outside in the great outdoors.

Chapter Text

“My, my, I did not know you had quite a collection."

Furina exclaimed, a bit awed at the fact that Aether had a huge room in his teapot that displayed different kinds of swords, with each having different shapes and sizes, that were neatly displayed on various shelves and displays. Having had little experience with swords ever since she got her vision back, she has a newfound appreciation for the weapon, as it is something that she could use to defend herself quite easily.

Compared to the first time she used her Vision; she thinks that her first time dabbling in swordplay was not that bad.

“Well, I do want something to collect while exploring through Teyvat. Swords are something that I use commonly, so I decided to collect them throughout any adventure.”

Aether replied, grasping the handle of the Skyward Blade that Venti gifted him for his birthday last year. He could feel the power of Anemo within him that resonated with the sword, making him smile a bit as he grabbed it from the display.

"Lumine was quite critical of how many swords I store up, though.”

He added that using his sister’s name choked him up a bit as he was reminded of all the times that his twin sister chastised him for having a huge sword collection every time they ventured through new worlds.

“Is she also a sword user by chance?”

Furina asked, her tone curious yet soft, knowing that anything with Aether’s twin sister was a sensitive topic. Her eyes were looking at the Flute, a sword that she was interested in as it matched her while she was using her Ousia form. Grasping the blade carefully at the handle, she did a couple of test swings with it, quite surprised at how light it was.

“Yeah, she is. She would not admit it, but she had quite a collection of swords herself that she kept. Me and her would usually have a preference for which swords we would keep for our collection.”

Aether answered as he returned the Skyward Blade back to its proper place, his eyes landing on a replica of the Mistsplitter Reforged. He let his gloved finger graze carefully on the blade, feeling the edge and sharpness that never seemed to vanish despite him using it a couple of times when he needed a bit more firepower than the usual blade he carries.

“Let me guess, you use the heavier blades while she uses the lighter blades, correct?”

Furina assumed as she placed the black flute in its proper place, her eyes darting around the room to see more blades that had different sizes and shapes. One of them caught her eye, making her walk toward the back of the room to see it closely as Aether grabbed a Favonious Sword in his hands.

“Yeah, she’d complained a lot when she would use one of my swords, yet it did not really affect her swordplay that much when she fought with them.”

He responded, gracing a small smile on the blade that Jean gave him after he was inducted into the Knights of Favonious as an Honorary Knight, remembering those times fondly within his head.

"Aether, what is this doing here?”

Aether blinked, turning his head around to see Furina holding the Splendor of Tranquil Waters. He could feel Furina’s eyes locking at him directly, as if he were under the scrutiny of trial. Rubbing the back of his head while carrying a sheepish grin, Aether placed the Favonious Sword back in its place.

“Well, Nuevillette gave it to me before we left Fontaine. He knew that it would be the sword that you would use eventually once you managed to be a lot more adept with swordplay in general.”

He explained as he started to walk close to Furina, who simply looked at him more before letting out a heavy sigh as she wrapped her hand around the handle of the blade.

“Figures that he would do something like that..."

Furina muttered softly, feeling the familiar energies coursing through her veins while holding this particular sword. While serving as the Hydro Archon, she would have this sword on her side even if she did not use it that much. It was something that she carried for the sake of having a sword in hand, but she left it at the court once her trial was over.

She did not feel like carrying the sword anymore, as she was not the Hydro Archon that Fontaine needed her to be.

"You want to take it back?”

Her eyes shifted, looking at Aether. He was giving her a gentle smile, while his eyes gave her a look of concern. Even if he did not know the story of the blade at hand, he knew that it was probably something that Furina did not want to have, as it could remind her of the dark times that she had faced while being the Hydro Archon of Fontaine.

"…as a matter of fact, yeah.”

That answer surprised Aether as Furina took a deep breath for a moment, her lips forming an upward smile as she looked directly at him, a look of determination that threw him off a bit. It took her a moment to carry the sword properly in her right hand, still looking at the blonde traveler as she did so.

“Because I know you need all the help that you can get, and this sword would help me protect you like I would with the people of Fontaine.”

Furina said, holding the sword upright with her lips forming a bigger grin.

“After all, the protector would also need protecting too, right?”

At her exclamation, Aether could not help but smile, quickly dragging her into a hug despite having a sharp, pointy blade between them.

“Aether, be careful!”

Despite the embarrassed whine that came from the former Hydro Archon, the two felt even closer than before.

Chapter Text

Furina always loved seeing the ocean.

She could not explain why, but there was always a part of her that could look at the great blue waters for hours upon hours, sitting on the sandy beaches barefoot. A strong ocean breeze passes through, generating enough movement in the water to cause small waves to appear, splashing near the shoreline as crabs walk around the landscape.

Taking a deep breath with her eyes closed and immersing herself in the salty breeze of the ocean, the former Hydro Archon felt herself at peace. She felt the water rushing between her toes, not minding that some of her clothes were damp from the splatter of water from the ocean. Taking in a couple more deep breaths in and out, she opened her eyes with a small, satisfied smile on her lips, gazing at the endless blue without much qualm.

“Enjoying the view of Falcon Coast so far?”

Snapping her gaze from the water, Furina tilted her head upwards to see Aether carrying what seemed to be two kebabs in his hands. She could already smell the aroma of grilled fish from those kebabs as he extended one of them to her, making her smile as she grabbed the offered kebab as Aether sat next to her.

“Yeah. The view here is really astounding! This would be perfect for an ocean scene with a cast of characters.

She exclaimed with gusto before taking a small bite from her kebab. Letting out a pleased noise at how tasty the food was, she started scarfing down the grilled fish kebab, making Aether chuckle as he watched her eat hers.

“Glad that you are enjoying it. It really is a wonderful sight to behold.”

He commented, taking a bite of his own skewer as Furina managed to finish up hers in record time. Letting out a breath of satisfaction as she wiped off the crumbs from her mouth, Furina turned to look at the ocean waters once more.

“I always wondered what the ocean would look like in other parts of the world. There is like... this part of me that wanted to know and stay for quite some time."

Furina said, her tone soft at the end as she placed the stick of her kebab on the sand. Tilting her head to the right, she landed it on the blonde traveler’s shoulder as he was munching on his own skewer at hand.

"Then there is the other that is afraid of this body of water, as the endless water could have been the primordial water that would have washed away all of Fontaine."

Her tone was lower than before, nuzzling on Aether’s shoulder as a form of comforting herself. He always had that effect on her, being some sort of anchor to her emotions that would make her steady, not drifting further toward the brink of her negative thoughts.

"Yet, all I can really feel right now is peace. Peace that... I never thought I would ever feel for a long time, honestly.”

Furina could feel his shoulder lifting her head for a bit before wrapping it around her other shoulder, pulling her close to his chest. Spluttering a bit at the sudden action, she did not resist the pull of the blonde traveler. Rather, she leaned her head close to his chest, mindful of the fact that she might have crumbs landing on her hair as he finished up his skewer.

“Honestly, I am kind of afraid of the ocean.”

Aether’s admission made Furina’s eyes widen in surprise as she could see him place the finished skewer beside hers.

“Why so?”

She asked, her tone filled with curiosity. Furina always knew that the blonde traveler that she joined in his adventure of finding his twin sister in Teyvat had always been quite brave and daring and never seemed to have any fears or weaknesses. He was ever-adaptive, persistent, and talented, which made him seem quite unstoppable in her eyes.

“It’s… so big and uncertain. You can get lost in it and not change anything at all."

He breathed out a breath that he did not know he was holding.

“It just feels like it could get very lonely, stranded in the middle of nowhere, you know?”

Furina’s eyes softened as her hand immediately grabbed one of his and squeezed.

She does not need to question the feeling of loneliness after all, speaking from her vast and long experience on that particular topic.

“I’ll always be there for you, Aether. You are there for me.”

Furina exclaimed, a smile tugging on her lips.

“After all, what better way to be saved than by someone who could walk on water? I bet I can just run toward you and lift you up like a princess who needs to be saved! ”

Causing the blonde Traveler to laugh made her heart soar, the two’s hands never separating as Aether squeezed his fingers between the gaps of her hand.

“I know you will, Furina. I know you will."

Chapter Text

Furina is not a fan of silence.

Ever since her tenure as the Hydro Archon, Furina has always had some form of noise in the background. Whether it would be a local opera singer doing rehearsals, the water flow of a fountain, or hearing footsteps outside her office, there would always be some sounds that would cut through the shroud that she did not want to be in.

But this time, she could not hear anything.

Tossing and turning on her bed, Furina’s eyes peered down the walls of her room. It was the room that Aether lent her ever since she decided to travel with him on his journey around Teyvat, a room where everything was like her apartment back at Fontaine. He made sure that she felt quite a bit at home even if she was far away from her homeland, and the kind gesture made her feel quite happy about it.

Yet the difference between this place and her own apartment was the unnatural quiet that the Serenitea Pot seemed to have. The absolute silence that wavered through the place when the lights went off has been something that she gets bothered by. She did not want to raise this issue with Aether, as he already did so much for accommodating her through their journey that she felt bad for him to really take a lot of his time on making sure that she was alright.

Furina did not want to be a burden after knowing how it feels to carry one for half a millennia.

Her breathing went ragged, her eyes tightly closed shut, and she tossed and turned in on her bed. She could feel the silence getting louder as she tried to not focus on it. The walls seemingly closing in on to her. The absence of noise makes her ears feel like they are deaf. trying to at least a thump or a knock would suffice her seeming noise starvation. Her brain decided to kick in overdrive, thoughts burrowing in her head that she did not want to have as she turned to face up.

Her eyes looked at the ceiling.

The ceiling seemingly gazed back.

Letting out a wordless cry, she clutched her head a bit, as if she were being attacked. Even then, she still could not hear anything, as if her sense of hearing had been warped so much that she could not even hear her rapidly beating heart or her ragged breaths. It was as if she were being dragged into the place that she had occupied all this time, a prison that had ragged her down through all the years of being an acting Archon.

'Alone...'

'Sitting by yourself...'

Furina let out a small whimper as her brain seemingly spawned more of these horrid thoughts that came by outside of her control. She thought that these thoughts would leave once she took this journey with Aether, the person who made her the happiest ever since she regained her freedom from the painful duties that she had to face all these years.

Yet, for some reason, they keep coming back, reminding her of her true fears. Pouncing on her with delusions that would make her heart wrench, her eyes watery, and her thoughts even worse as it seemed to go in drones.

Why was she the one having to suffer this?

"Aether..."

She called out weakly, even though she could not hear her own voice.

“Aether…!”

Her own thoughts flooded her sense of hearing, despite her still not hearing a single sound.

Yet, as if piercing through the fog like a light from above, she could hear the door knocking. Her thoughts immediately stopped as she quickly stood up, racing toward the door, uncaring for her current state of attire as she turned the doorknob.

"Furina -"

Aether gasped in surprise, as he could feel some of his air leaving him. Furina threw her arms around him, covering her face on his chest. Surprise turned to realization as he could hear her sniffling, wrapping his arms around her shaky body frame as he realized what was going on through her subdued cries on his chest.

"Do you want me to sleep over the night?"

He whispered softly to her, adjusting his arms around her and holding her close to him as much as he could. Her tight hold was gradually loosening as he kept rubbing her back. Furina backed her head away from his chest to look at him straight in the eye, tears glistening at the corners.

"If it does not trouble you.”

She replied, her voice hoarse and quiet, and Aether felt his chest tighten to hear that. His hands rubbed the back of her head, caressing her loose hair to comfort the former Hydro Archon.

“It never is, Furina. I will always be happy to help you.”

Giving her a small smile that seemed to brighten her up a bit, judging by how her eyes seemed to have more life within them after the gesture, Aether guided Furina back to her bed.

After just a long while of silence, Furina could finally hear something comforting in her ears. His heartbeat, the way that he breathes, the sound of his voice—she could finally feel her mind at ease as the two cuddled with each other on the bed, her head laying on top of his chest as they did so.

The silence that she loathed was no more.

Chapter Text

Furina yawned, waking up from a dreamless sleep, her eyes opening as the sunlight from the open window hit her face. Taking a moment to adjust the vision of her eyes, she turned to the side. The former Hydro Archon blinked as her brain was trying to keep up, seeing a face that she should not have seen in bed before. With her brain catching up, she immediately looked under the covers, breathing a sigh of relief as she realized that she was still clothed.

‘Yeah… I decided to have him sleep over for the night…’

She thought to herself, her sleepy brain still calibrating to her current thoughts. Yet a realization kicked in; her mind finally caught up to her as her cheeks went red from the previous embarrassing thought. Quickly shifting her gaze from his sleeping face to the ceiling, Furina closed her eyes to reboot her brain immediately, trying to stop the flood of impure thoughts.

‘Archons, I should really stop reading those Inazuman light novels before I sleep.'

Furina thought to herself, slapping her cheek lightly with her own hands to get rid of the risqué thoughts plaguing her mind. Catching a deep breath, she glanced at a sleeping Aether, who seemed to not be stirred by her sudden antics. A calm, peaceful face that Furina could not help but smile at, reaching a hand forward to slightly ruffle his hair.

‘You should definitely rest more, Aether.’

The former Hydro Archon thought, her fingers rummaging through his hair. She could feel the soft locks between her fingers, carefully ruffling his hair as if she were patting a dog. Her ears picked up a soft noise that came from Aether, making her giggle softly to herself as she retracted her hand from his hair.

But then she held down a surprised yelp from her throat as she felt the blonde Traveler’s arms dart around her waist under the covers. Taking a lot of her composure to not spontaneously combust from the position she was in, Furina managed to control her breathing despite knowing her face was probably comparable to the color of a Jeuyun chili.

“Furina….”

It did not help that Aether was apparently thinking about her, throwing more fuel into her fire as the blush that she was sporting seemed to move into a darker shade of red. Desperately trying to control her breathing while not disturbing the sleep of the blonde Traveler at hand, Furina started to count with her mind as she started to breathe in and out slowly.

‘You can do this, Furina! If you can bear five hundred years of loneliness and misery, you can handle Aether wanting to cuddle with you in your bed.

She thought to herself in a matter of positivity, yet her willpower was weakening as she could feel Aether pulling her closer to him. Try as she might to resist the pull, a sleeping Aether is still stronger than her, as he managed to pull her up close, making her let out a small squeak.

The sudden, high-pitched noise made the blonde Traveler groan before his arms retracted even more, squeezing her closer to him and nuzzling his face on the side of her body as if it were a pillow. At this exact time, Furina did not know what to do at all, seemingly stunned by the recent actions that the sleeping Traveler was somehow able to conduct. She could still see that Aether was still fast asleep, his snoring becoming a clear indicator of his current state.

Furina could not help but let out a small sigh. The warmth on her cheeks remained as she decided to be comfortable in her current position. Snuggling close to Aether, she could feel his body warmth immediately in contact with hers, making her let out a small yawn as her arms wrapped around his body as well.

She decided that they could afford to sleep today, not having any qualms about it whatsoever.

As she stirred back to slumber, little did she know that Aether’s lips curled into a small smile, softly snuggling into Furina’s side as the two continued to sleep through the calm and peaceful morning that they shared.

Chapter Text

Adventuring and exploring through the different nations of Teyvat is quite an arduous and dangerous task to do. Having to sprint and climb while navigating through different terrain, effective use of the Wing Glider in certain situations to elevate or glide to different areas, and other probable skills that a traveler must have on the spot depending on the situation at hand.

But one of the more important things that a traveler must have to be successful in venturing through the different nations of Teyvat is having the combat ability to do so.

“My dear Chevalmarin, keep shooting him! ”

And thus, training and honing one’s skills are very important to have.

Aether quickly dodged a flurry of bubbles being shot at him, running to the walls of the ruin that the two were occupying for combat training. Seeing the Hydro Seahorse still shooting at him with relentless pressure, Aether pulsed Anemo on his hands and feet, briefly blasting the bubbles with a burst of Anemo before using the same trick to jump over the wall.

Using the wall as cover from the bubbly barrage, Aether’s battle instincts flared up as he quickly leaned to the side to avoid being rammed by Clabaretta, who slammed a hole through the walls of the ruins with ease. Wincing at the probable property damage that they were doing, the blonde traveler did not have time to comprehend that as he saw Gentilhomme flying closer to him, charging up a small bubble from its hydrostatic tentacles.

“Gentilhomme, fire! Clabaretta and Chevalmarin, regroup with Gentilhomme! ”

Hearing Furina’s voice from nearby relaying orders, he quickly dodged the big bubble blast from the Hydro Squid construct, dashing into another section of the ruins. Aether took a moment to regain his breath before having to quickly duck to a corner, avoiding a barrage of bubbles from Chevalmarin. Bending his knees for a second, he did a huge leap up in the air, letting Clabaretta sail past him before getting hit by its big bubble attack.

Landing on the top of the ruin wall, he could see Furina on the open side of the ruins, looking at him while carrying a sword in hand. The Splendor of Tranquil Waters seemed to be pulsing like flowing water as the former Hydro Archon gave him a smirk, using her other hand to gesture for him to come closer.

“Is the mighty traveler going to be defeated by this fair lady and her knights? Ooooh, may all his fans and admirers have their spirits crushed once I, the majestic former Hydro Archon, finally make the Traveler yield! ”

Her flair for theatrics and drama had made him crack a smile before quickly jumping to another top section of the ruin walls as Chevalmarin tried to shoot him from his spot. Hopping wall to wall as if it were steppingstones, Aether was inching closer to Furina despite her summons doing their best to keep him at bay as Clabretta charged at him, with Gentilhomme following suit.

With an Anemo blast to push back Clabaretta and Gentilhomme’s attacks, the blonde Traveler managed to shorten the gap between him and Furina, charging straight at her with his sword in hand. Doing an overhead strike, Furina gracefully parried the blow before sidestepping one of his strikes, quickly retaliating with her own quick jab of her sword.

This caused Aether to create some distance between them to avoid getting hit before having to quickly roll to the side as Chevalmarin fired bubbles at him. Pressing more pressure on his feet and knees, he rapidly sprinted toward Furina with his other hand, charging Anemo with energy. Furina saw this, twirling her sword as if it were a conductor’s baton, causing Clabarreta immediately in his way as it charged straight at the blonde traveler.

With a battle yell, Aether extended his palm of Anemo energy, causing a windblade to knock Clabarreta out of the way and causing Furina to steer clear to the side. Chevalmarin and Gentilhomme fired their respective attacks at the blonde Traveler as he was inching closer once more to Furina, making him further from the former Hydro Archon as the bubbles occupied his time.

But then, all three of the summons disappeared in a splash of hydro. His eyes immediately turned to Furina, who was panting heavily from having to supply and maintain the energy of her Salon Solitaire, standing her ground while still retaining a tight grip on the handle of her sword. With himself getting tuckered out from all the movement that he has been doing, he walked closer to her with a thumbs up.

“Good job. You definitely improved on managing your Salon Solitaire longer and with more coordination than last time.”

Aether exclaimed as he stood beside Furina, who decided that the grass felt a lot more comfortable to sit on as she did so.

"Yeah, I definitely feel myself getting stronger."

Furina replied through her pants, wiping some of the sweat off her face. Aether sat beside her, taking a breather as well. As if it were going through the motions, Furina just leaned her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes as she could feel herself being very drained from the training session. Leaning his head against hers, the two simply let themselves rest while nearing each other, not minding the sweat and grime that they were currently in.

After all, they were together. And that’s enough for the two of them, no matter what.

Chapter Text

"I-I honestly think I could take a pass on this, Aether."

Furina said with a tinge of nervousness in her voice as the two were at the peak of Mt. Tianheng, hanging around the edge of said mountain. She could barely see the bottom of the mountain at hand, which fueled her paranoia about anything going wrong with this activity.

During her tenure as the Hydro Archon of Fontaine, she never really used a wing glider. It was during this time that she was very occupied with handling the necessary things around Fontaine, like the trials that she loved to hold and witness, talking with important people outside of the trials, and making sure to keep the façade throughout the years. Only having time for small luxuries like eating dessert or watching operas, Furina did not have time to really practice wing gliding.

In fact, she does not know why she would even do so. Being on the ground is a lot safer, and she can transverse water even faster than Aether could anyway!

But then again, she did not really want to be left behind when Aether needed to use his glider to pass through the air with ease.

“It is not that scary, I promise. After all, we had been practicing a lot, so it should be easy!”

Aether said with an enthusiastic tone, finishing his statement by giving her a comforting smile as he stood behind her. He was making sure that the glider that she was using would not malfunction. Thankfully, the pair of wing gliders she was using has been serving her very well throughout the practice that they have done, even using them personally at high altitudes to make sure that they would not fail.

"But we have only been doing it on small ledges and such! Do you think that this far-reaching step is quite extreme?!”

Furina whined, avoiding looking at the bottom of the mountain as she could feel her knees already weak. She could feel her feet slowly moving back, trying to garner some space away from the edge. As she tried to take a couple more steps back, she could feel Aether’s hands on her shoulders.

“Well, as my great friend Amber once said… leap before you look!”

Before she could even comprehend it, Furina let out a scream as she was shoved off the cliff, feeling a pulse of Anemo energy pushing her even more than it should have. Her eyes could see the bottom approaching very quickly, making her quickly look up at her wing glider. With survival instincts coming into play, she managed to unfold her pair of wings at the halfway point of the mountain, her fast descent starting to slow down like a feather falling from the sky.

Trying to control her breath from the experience that Aether shoved her into, Furina started to maneuver her wings a bit through the air, recalling some of the teachings that he taught her. Slightly moving forward away from the mountain, she could start to glide and weave in the air, feeling herself a lot more comfortable despite her initial nervousness.

“See? It was neither too hard nor scary, right? ”

Furina blinked, looking to her side to see Aether gliding with her, following her descent with his own pair of wing gliders. Her eyes narrowed as she flew a bit closer to Aether, her right arm extending.

“Ow!”

“You deserve that, Abruti!”

Furina let out a small huff after delivering a small punch to his shoulder while gliding down to the bottom of Mt. Tiangheng. Rubbing his shoulder from the abrupt punch, Aether let out a small chuckle as he followed Furina to the bottom.

Immediately as they landed, the former Hydro Archon already let out a huge sigh of relief, crouching to the ground as if it were her only anchor against Aether’s misdeeds. Aether could only pat her shoulder in an attempt at comfort as she kept her head down, not feeling sorry at all as he knew that she was ready for it.

Besides, he already asked a favor of a very special friend of his to make sure that she would be kept safe.

"Seriously, Aether, I will personally drown you once we are near water if you do that again."

Furina exclaimed in a form of threat, slightly muffled due to the position of her head, which made her threat feel not that threatening at all.

"I can cook you a dessert as a form of apology. ”

Aether replied, scratching his cheek, knowing that this would get the former Hydro Archon back on her feet.

"Two cakes, no more, no less.”

Furina replied, looking up and staring Aether directly in the eye as if he would dare to even try to compromise.

"Alright, two cakes.”

Aether relented, letting out a small sigh as he kept looking at her, seeing Furina starting to let off a rather Furina-esque laughter as she stood up on her feet.

“As per usual, I get justice for the mistreatment that has befallen me! I, Furina, always get my justice!”

She exclaimed in a dramatic fashion as she held out her hand forward, making Aether shake his head at her antics as he grabbed it with his.

“Onward to making me those cakes, Aether! ”

“Alright, alright, but you are definitely helping.”

“What?! Hmph… fine. I know that you would mess up without my expertise!”

The two exchanged banter for a while as they walked back to Liyue, hand in hand, with Furina having her brief experience of airtime with her wing glider.

Chapter Text

“Come on, come all! It is I, Lady Furina, here to grace our presence among you all!”

Furina exclaimed as she stood on a stack of boxes in the Zubayr Theater with the audience looking at her. Instead of her usual hat that she wore on top of her head, it was replaced with a red apple as she was walking around the stage. Being no stranger to being on stage, the former Hydro Archon gazed through the crowd before giving them a smug grin.

“Who knows about the Legendary Traveler, the one who has saved many nations with the use of myriad elements and his prowess with the sword? ”

Furina asked loudly at the crowd, to which she responded with an uproar of agreement and excitement. Furina’s eyes twinkled as she did a small twirl; a splash of Hydro manifested within the air. The Hydro energy swirled around in a spiral on top of Furina, manifesting the shape of the Traveler fighting the Stormterror at hand.

It was a rough-looking model of the Stormterror based on what Aether told her about it, and she managed to at least wow the crowd as she could hear them let out their noise of amazement at the mastery of her Hydro.

She knew that they had a talented Hydro performer that Aether knew around here by the name of Nilou, whom she could see watching her from the front row, seemingly looking at her performance with a bit of awe with her hands clasped together. Furina smiled at this, knowing that she managed to even dazzle the talent that they have as she cleared her throat.

“With all the achievements that the Traveler has, did you all know that he could also shoot with a bow and arrow? ”

With her showmanship on full display and the rather exaggerated tones of her voice, Furina could hear some of the crowd gasp in surprise at the revelation. She let out a small giggle at their reaction, hearing the people murmuring around the audience area.

“Of course he can! He is the mighty Traveler, after all! In fact, he will show you by shooting this apple off my head from there! ”

Furina pointed at the top left from where she was standing, where the crowd could see Aether hanging from one of the branches of the theater with said bow and arrow in hand. The crowd yelled in excitement at the reveal of the traveler, which made him give a nervous wave toward the audience area.

“So now, have we piqued your interest? If so, I want you all to be quiet as you watch this spectacle unfold! ”

Furina exclaimed, raising her arms in a showboating manner as the crowd gradually quieted down.

This was it.

Aether took a deep breath, inhaling the air around him and trying to concentrate. Holding a bow within his hands, the blonde Traveler draws the bowstring back, manifesting an arrow from his magical storage in preparation for a shot.

He did not know why he even agreed to make this a public spectacle in the first place. In his mind, this was nothing special as he just preferred using a sword in all his journeys through different worlds. Sure, it had been quite a long time since he used a traditional bow and arrow in his hands that he had to practice quite a bit to get the muscle memory down again, but he did not think that it was that big of a deal.

But then again, Furina had a knack for making things seem small go big with her mind for theatrics, and Nilou pitched the idea of making it into a small performance. Like throwing a Pyro Slime into a wooden house, this made Furina’s motivation of drawing up a crowd for him to just shoot an apple off on top of her head.

It was amazing to see how much she could accomplish if she put her mind to it.

Keeping his sight narrowed at the target at hand, which was an apple on top of his willing participant, who was the former Hydro Archon, standing in front of the crowd with her arms raised in bravado, He could see that she had full faith in him in making the shot, and it was evident that he could see her standing in relaxation.

Taking one last breath, he launched out the arrow.

hitting the floor next to Furina, which made the crowd gasp at the miss. The crowd immediately started to murmur among themselves as Furina still kept her arms up, grinning at the crowd as if she expected it to happen.

But then, the apple split in half, causing yet another gasp of surprise from the crowd as Furina caught the apple slices on her hands.

“Never doubt the mighty Traveler, everyone! Even if you think that he missed the shot, he may have actually hit his mark!”

The former Hydro Archon exclaimed as she raised the slices of apple above her head. The crowd immediately cheered from the short performance, clapping and delivering praises toward Furina, who bowed at the audience before waving at the people.

“Remember it, once again! Lady Furina and the Legendary Traveler!”

She exclaimed, hearing the crowd echo her words as she started to walk backstage.

As she managed to be on the back, she let out a small sigh of relief as Aether jumped down from the branch.

“Guess they really liked it, hm?”

Aether exclaimed in amusement before he could see Furina throwing a small glare at him. This caused him to blink before he saw her gesturing on top of her hair. It took him a moment to realize what he had done.

The small Wind Blade that he set to cut the apple had also cut the strand of hair that was seemingly standing up on Furina’s head.

Furina loved that small strand of hair, she thought it was cute.

“…sorry?”

Chapter Text

It was not a surprise to hear that the recently retired Hydro Archon loved desserts.

In fact, it was the main reason why there are a lot of restaurants in Fontaine serving desserts or dishes that are sweet in nature. Many of the Fontainians knew about their Archon having a massive sweet tooth, so much so that there was a cake dedicated to the Hydro Archon herself, La Lettre a Focalors.

Catering to someone with that massive of a sweet tooth is quite a rarity for Aether, who usually cooks food that does not involve baking desserts at all. So, when Furina came as his adventuring partner, his skills in creating food were put to the test by learning how to bake desserts to satisfy his traveling partner while garnering more knowledge on how to make that stuff in general.

After all, he was not afraid to learn something new about how he managed to be a bartender, a detective, a fisherman, somewhat of a lawyer, and more just from his adventures in Teyvat alone. Picking up the skills to be a baker himself would extend the potential jobs that he could do once he finishes his Teyvat journey.

Aether thought to himself in amusement as he was mixing the batter with some of the cake that he was making with a whisk, shifting his gaze for a moment to see the recipe that he was following from Arouet, the one that runs Café Lutece. It was a cake that had coffee and almond nuts on it, making it not too sweet of a dessert, which he thought 'would make the cake very sweet'.

‘Maybe it was actually for Focalors?’

That was his last thought on the matter, shaking his head as he resumed mixing the batter, making sure that he was following the recipe to a T. Every step must be followed in baking so that one misstep could have drastic changes in making said cake; thus, he can’t afford to be too distracted now by his thoughts.

“Aether, I am back from doing the commissions!”

Speaking of being a literal embodiment of distraction,

Furina entered the room with a smile, carrying a payment letter that they received from Katheryne after finishing the batch of commissions at hand. He could literally see her eyes twinkle as she saw him mixing the batter, seemingly teleporting to his side, which made him shake his head in amusement.

“Is this what I think this is?”

Furina gasped as she reached out toward a bag of almond nuts, doing a squeal that he did not think he would hear from the former Hydro Archon.

“You are making La Lettre a Focalors! That is a splendid cake that you are baking, Aether!”

She could not help but let out a small chuckle from her apparent excitement. Aether finished mixing the batter and placed it down on the countertop. Turning his gaze toward Furina, who was looking at the other ingredients at hand, he could see her brimming with apparent excitement and joy that he rarely gets to see.

Most importantly, it felt genuine.

Aether knew the act that she had to go under as being the Hydro Archon of Fontaine. All that pressure of having to face the crowd under that ‘persona’ for half a millennium had made Aether feel for her immensely. He may never know the full extent of her pain under those smiles of hers, but he was happy that he could at least give that to her in a way that she would not expect to do anything in return.

“Oooooh! Can I help with the decoration of the cake, Aether? I have a very good hand when making desserts myself!”

She exclaimed in an excited tone so infectious that he could not help but smile. He did not know much it meant for Furina in relation to desserts in general, but he would not mind having an extra hand on the cake as she has apparent experience making them.

“Sure. Have you baked before?”

Asking anyway, as he was curious, he grabbed a big cake pan on the side of the counter, pouring the batter in carefully. Aether could feel Furina’s faze toward him pouring the batter, as if she were there to make sure nothing went wrong.

“Yeah. I do love eating desserts, so throughout the years when I had free time, I had my hand in learning to bake them myself when I had the energy to do so.

Furina replied with a tone that was a lot softer than he expected as he scraped the bowl off all the batter, making sure that it was on the cake pan. Giving her a small glance as he picked up the cake, Furina knew what he meant as she grabbed some oven mitts, opening the pre-heated oven as Aether slid in the cake pan inside to start baking.

“Well, do you want to help me bake more in the future? I would love to learn from you and the art of baking.”

This made Furina’s lips curve upward, brushing up her bangs a bit in the form of dramatic flair, her blue eyes staring at him in judgment.

“Are you sure you want to be taught under my tutelage? You must be warned that I am quite a harsh mistress and a magister of baking, and I will only ask for perfection from you! ”

She offered proudly, making the blonde traveler roll his eyes as he made sure that the settings of the oven were correct as it started to bake the cake.

“Surely the end product of those sessions would be consumed by you then? ”

“Why, of course! ”

With that short mutual agreement, Aether learned the apparent art of baking from a very satisfied Furina as the two shared his successful creation of La Lettre a Focalors.

He made sure to make more, as a smiling Furina would not hurt.

Chapter Text

Getting the elements back into his repertoire that he once lost always takes time to relearn them once more.

It was like trying to regain his muscle memory with the element, trying to flex an old muscle. In his case, ever since he obtained Hydro, he was still trying to learn more things about the element rather than being a glorified water gun that shoots bubbles occasionally from his hands.

It was a major roadblock for him anyway, as he was always bad at controlling the water element, even before it got sealed. He could not morph the water into floating swords or imbue his word with it, only being able to cast small bursts of Hydro that made him feel like he only scratched the surface on what he could do with the element besides accessing the Arkhe System of Fontaine.

Speaking of Fontaine, he does know someone who should know a lot about the element, as she was the former Hydro Archon.

“Eh? I do not really have that much knowledge, nor am I qualified to help you train your mastery over hydro and ether.”

...but it seemed like he hit a dead end regarding that, as he was reminded that Furina never used much of her powers during her tenure as an archon and only got her Vision recently.

“Anything at all? Like some sort of training method that you used when you managed to make your Salon Solitaire?”

Aether asked, his head lying on the picnic table, pondering with Furina as she ate a slice of strawberry shortcake that she had made this morning. Not going to lie, he would have one slice now if it were not for the fact that he was too bummed at not getting too much done on training. He could hear a hum in thought as she sliced off a small section of her cake with a fork, extending it toward Aether.

He leaned forward from his position and ate the piece offered by Furina, letting out a satisfied hum at the taste of the cake.

“When I made the Salon Solitaire, it came quite naturally, as I wanted a way to not really fight, you know? I thought about it and how I wanted it to look like sea creatures at the time, then it stuck once I managed to properly control my Vision.”

Furina explained as she bit off another small piece of her cake as Aether hummed in thought.

“How does one properly control a Vision? I did recall that one time where you almost flooded your - "

“That did not happen!”

Somehow, she managed to exclaim even with a piece of cake in her mouth. Furina swallowed the cake in her mouth as her eyes narrowed toward him and her cheeks reddened from the reminder. Aether let out a small chuckle, which ended up him letting out a painful yelp, his forehead red from the smack with a fork from Furina.

"Ow… how did you manage to control your Vision anyway?”

Furina looked at him for a couple moments, debating not to answer his question because of what he had reminded her, before letting out a small sigh.

“Well, controlling the power that comes from a Vision is based on how the user interacts with it. From your journey around Teyvat, you do see people use Visions differently even though they are the same element, right?”

Aether nodded as Furina cleared her throat as she raised three fingers upward in her free hand.

“From what I could remember... Gosh, it has been so long... that a Vision needs your mind, body, and heart to really work out the way that it is. In my experience, I was lacking on the ‘body’ aspect of the Vision, as I had not learned how to properly use it since I never had before.”

Furina explained, reminding Aether that she was an archon at one point in time, even if she barely had the powers to do so.

“Mind is how you know what you can do with the Vision; the body is how much you can control with the Vision; and the heart is how much you believe in your cause...”

“In your cause?”

Aether asked, blinking at the last part. Furina nodded as she twirled her fork, taking another bite of her cake with it. It took a bit before the former Hydro Archon continued, swallowing her cake as she looked at the blonde Traveler straight in the eye.

“What do you want most in the world, Aether?”

“To find Lumine and figure out the answer to this world.”

Aether did not even hesitate to answer her sudden question, making Furina give him a genuine smile.

“That is your cause. The more intensely you believe in your cause, the more powerful of a Vision wielder you can be. Anyways, I do not think that you lack the ‘heart’ nor the ‘body’ aspect..."

Aether yelped as he got smacked on the forehead again with her fork, rubbing his forehead to ease the pain.

“It’s how you ‘think’ about the element.”

She said, finishing up her plate, standing up from the picnic table with her plate in hand.

“Do try to think outside the box when it comes to hydrogen and ether. It is not just merely blowing things away or creating rocks in place; hydro is more flexible than that. I believe in you.”

Furina finished her sudden words of wisdom, giving an encouraging smile as she walked away, leaving Aether to ponder her words.

“To ‘think’ about the element, huh? So, do I need to?”

He sat up, extending a palm in front of him. Channeling a small bubble into his hands, he gritted his teeth, trying to mold the bubble into a different shape -

It exploded, letting out a small, surprised cry from his lips as the water splashed on top of the table.

"This might be harder than I thought…"

Chapter Text

Paimon was very confused by what the two were doing.

Ever since Paimon had woken up from her nap, grabbed some snacks that Aether had prepared for her on the countertop, and looked for him around the Serenitea Pot, she could notice how quiet the area seemed to be.

It would be too quiet if anyone would ask Paimon about it.

Especially since Furina, the former Hydro Archon of Fontaine that Aether decided to let her join in their journey through Teyvat, did not like things to be too quiet around. Paimon does not know why it is, but she knew that Aether had an idea why that would be the case.

Personally, Paimon would be very afraid when things got very quiet as well! Paimon does not want to get jumped from behind when things are just quiet after all!

But as she managed to locate the two by flying around the area, which seemed to be a lot more decorated and organized now with Furina around, she saw them both sitting at the picnic table outside. They were just staring at each other without saying another word.

Paimon knows that Furina was kind of crazy, but in a Fischl-kind of way. But even she knows that Furina would not sit still straight like what she was doing, especially since Aether was doing it too! It was like they were an audience of the opera that they used to watch back in Fontaine, but this time, it was a lot more boring as they were just looking at each other!

Paimon smells something fishy—not the food that she ate, as she just ate a sticky honey roast!

But as she went closer to them, both were still not responding to Paimon. Scratching her head, she tried flying in between them, but there was still no response! They were still looking at each other, seemingly directly at their eyes, as if they were part of some light novel characters that Yae Miko would write in a book!

“What is happening to the two of you?!”

Paimon exclaimed, constantly flying in between their faces to try and enact a response. She could see them still looking at each other, not moving an inch at all. Has Paimon gone into a food coma from the delicious roast that what she is seeing right now is a nightmare of her two close companions not noticing her?

“This is crazy! Paimon is feeling so weird out of this!”

She exclaimed in frustration as she tried to pat Aether’s head, only to not get any sort of response at all. Flying to Furina, she managed to poke the cheek of the former Hydro Archon, but there was still no response!

Paimon let out a huge exhale of frustration at what was happening; the lack of communication from both was staggering her quite a lot. What was it that made the two looking into each other’s eyes into statues?

What kind of sorcery has happened to the two of them?

Eventually, Paimon had enough, letting out a defeated whine as she decided to leave the place to the two of them and get more food in her stomach. All the flying she did made her quite famished after all.

As Paimon exited the scene, the two still did not move an inch, not stopping their current activity at all. Yet after a couple more moments, Furina’s right eye twitched, her body moving a bit from her sitting position.

From that movement alone, Aether suddenly leaned forward, looking at Furina in such close proximity that he could feel her breathing on his face. He could see her eyes twitch even more before both closing at the same time as she let out a small, frustrated groan.

“Aether, stop doing that! You are too close!”

Furina exclaimed in an angry tone, yet her cheeks flushed red. She could see Aether reeling back, letting out a hearty chuckle at what had just happened.

“The former Hydro Archon... can't beat me in a staring contest!”

Aether managed to hackle out, which made Furina slam both her hands on the picnic table at hand.

“I-I can! You are using devious tactics that end up making me lose!”

Furina replied in defiance, yet it did not seem to peter out the blonde traveler’s chuckles. In fact, it seemed to extend even more from her outburst, making her roll her eyes as she crossed her arms.

“Hmph! I will beat you the next time we do so!”

At that exclamation, Aether’s chuckle started to tone down, with him giving her an incredulous look.

“Are you sure about that? Even with Paimon interfering, I still held my gaze without much problem!”

He exclaimed as he set his hands calmly on the picnic table.

“I did too, you know! You are using so many underhanded tactics that justice will eventually be on my side!”

Furina replied, letting out a small ‘hmph’ as she finished her sentence.

The two bantered back and forth before settling into another staring contest.

Aether managed to win again by leaning even closer to her, much to her chagrin.

Chapter Text

“I’d say... you are getting better at controlling Anemo!”

Venti exclaimed with his hands on his wooden lyre, stroking the strings lightly to play a small lightboat tune while carrying a proud smile on his face. In front of him was Aether, panting heavily, his body covered to the brim with sweat as he stood in the middle of shredded grass and Cecillias.

"Gosh, I’ll have to repair this area with Dendro in a minute, but thanks, Venti.”

Aether replied as he took a deep breath, quickly swapping to the Dendro Element. With a quick swipe of his sword, all the damage that he had done during his practice with Venti turned non-visible as his Dendro energy surged through the field, enveloping the area with the energy that regrown all the damaged plants in quick succession.

“My, my, the wielder of many elements has shown quite promise and skill! You caused quite a thrill!”

Beaming at the blonde Traveler as he played a couple more tunes on his lyre, he let the melodious tune play out as Aether finished fixing the area at hand. Having a small, satisfied smile on his lips as he finished damage control, Aether let his sword vanish back to his magical storage, stretching his arms upwards.

“Well, I had a lot of practice with Anemo with how much I had to use it lately during dodge training with Furina.”

Venti blinked at Aether, as if trying to remember who Furina was now, before letting out a small chuckle as he stopped playing his lyre.

"Ah, I see! The former Hydro Archon that exchanged heated words at me after I broke into her room to use her window to fly away from Raiden Ei!”

"…did you insult Ei again?”

Venti waved his hand dismissively at a deadpan Aether, now knowing why Furina did not join him today in meeting the bard at hand.

“Anyhow, I can see why you have grown tremendously with the element. I could see how free you are now compared to before.”

Aether blinked at Venti’s exclamation, tilting his head slightly.

“Pray tell?”

Venti hummed in thought, his fingers plucking the string of his instrument absentmindedly. The winds around the area passed through, creating a gentle breeze that Aether approved of as he was trying to cool down from his training.

“If one opens their heart, one shall achieve opportunities in a different part.”

“What…?”

Now more confused by Venti’s poetic nature, the former Anemo Archon chuckled at his apparent confusion, his lyre playing a short melodious tune that picked up more winds around the area.

“Aether, you do know what Anemo represents, right?”

Being asked a sudden question at hand, Aether rubbed his chin in thought. He knew that Anemo was meant to represent freedom in many ways, emphasized in one’s choice in life. Knowing that the element is freestyle in nature, he could move freely on both ground and air, giving him a sense of looseness and adaptability that he would rely on whenever he needed to maneuver terrain.

Without any doubt, Anemo could say that he will always represent one’s personification of freedom.

“Well done! Being free is something that Anemo represents!”

Blinking at this, his cheeks flushed a bit as Aether realized that he was thinking out loud, scratching his cheek as Venti cleared his throat.

"Now, being free does not always mean choices, goals, or willpower; it’s always being free from oneself!”

“Free from oneself..."

Venti smiled at Aether as his fingers brushed through the strings of his lyre. The former Anemo Archon turned around, facing the sky from his spot near the cliffside, as he continued playing a soft yet lighthearted tune from his instrument.

“Being free from all the problems, worries, burdens, and the like, even if just for a moment in time, Anemo represents one’s freedom from every inhibition to let yourself go and be who you are."

Venti let his words sink in as he continued playing the lyre, the gentle breezes passing through even more as Aether thought about his words.

“Aether, have you ever felt that you have been yourself this entire time?”

That question made Aether freeze for a moment, looking to see Venti giving him a comforting smile. It eased him quite a bit, knowing that the person in front of him would not judge, making him digest the question even further.

Ever since all the quests that he had to undertake; he felt a lot more guarded. A lot was at stake; many sacrifices had to be made, and those were times that he could not afford to let any ounce of his frustrations and emotions go.

He needed to be the hero, after all.

But then, ever since Furina came on his journey through Teyvat, Aether could feel himself feeling lighter and less guarded. He did not have to feel that he needed to do everything; he had someone to rely on. He had someone that he could talk to about his feelings and emotions through his adventures, knowing that she would understand them.

Aether felt... freer with her.

"I guess you know the answer now, hmmm?”

He snapped from his thoughts as he heard Venti’s teasing voice, making his cheeks reddened and rolling his eyes, which made the bard laugh out loud. The breeze of the cliffside blew even more gentle winds from his laughter, as if the world resonated with Venti’s cheer.

“I’ll always be open to being your wingman when you need to ask her for a date, Aether!”

“…I’ll pass.”

Venti shook his head amusingly at his embarrassed blonde friend's mumblings, a smile never leaving his lips.

He knew that his friend felt a lot happier all this time with his recent permanent traveling companion, wishing well for the two.

Although Venti would wish that Aether would shield him the next time, he meets his fiery white haired companion.

Chapter Text

“Comfy?”

Furina nodded, her eyes half-idled as she kept her head on his chest. A comfy spot that she would want to have every night if she ever could, hearing the beat of his heart calmed down any stray thoughts that she would have.

Leaning his back on the tree that they were under near the ruins of Araumi, Aether chuckled softly as he rummaged a hand through her white hair, her hat lying down on the grass next to him. Within his sights, he could see a tired Furina, using up her energy stores from all the activities that they had done thus far.

Another busy day has passed between the two of them as they managed to finish the weekly commissions around Inazuma. It was a dangerous place for the former Hydro Archon, as facing bandits and vagrants was no joke, and catching close calls with swinging blades and bullets fired at her made her dodge around a lot more than usual while she was conducting her Salon Solitare and coordinating with Aether.

Needless to say, Furina gained so much experience adapting to mortal opponents that she immediately collapsed on the grass, whining at Aether at how much running she had to do. The blonde traveler simply laughed at her condition, much to her dismay.

Thus, with everything done, an impromptu nap was issued by the former Hydro Archon that Aether did not want to contradict. Otherwise, she might sic Crabaletta at him, and he did not want to face the wrath of her summons while she was being tired and grumpy.

Seeing her eyes fully closed, Aether’s lips curled into a smile, his hand still brushing her hair fondly. It was always nice seeing Furina be comfy and at peace with him, especially when they are in close contact like this. He was never the one to be quite ‘touchy-feely’, yet he did not mind it if it was with Furina.

Hands lowering down to her cheek, his thumb brushing against the fair skin of her cheeks, he could see her head moving a bit toward his hand, like how some metals would be attracted to an electro pulse. He did this a couple of times before a soft breath left Furina’s lips. As she adjusted to Aether’s hold, her eyes opened halfway to stare at the blonde traveler.

"Aether, your hand, please. It's... kind of bothering me a bit."

A sleepy comment was made by the former Hydro Archon, followed by a yawn as she closed her eyes again, nuzzling a bit more on to his chest as she did so.

“Oh, sorry.”

He let out a small apology as he removed his hand from her cheek to return to her hair, her head moving back on top of his chest. Like removing a fire from the top of a candlewick, she seemed to return to slumber as Aether resumed brushing her hair with his hand.

A couple of moments passed as Aether simply watched his partner fall peacefully asleep on his chest, making him feel quite content with how things were going. Scanning the area to see if everything was clear, he made sure to lean his back properly against the tree, trying to be comfortable himself for his own nap time.

"Aether, thank you... for being here..."

Snapping his sight at Furina as he heard her mumbling fast asleep, the blonde traveler simply smiled at this, brushing her hair softly around her bangs. He looked up at the cloudy sky, feeling the cool breeze passing by them and hearing the soft breathing of Furina in his ears.

“Thank you too, Furina...."

Letting out a hushed whisper as his eyes slowly closed, Aether felt quite cozy in the position that he was in right now, his hand never leaving the top of Furina’s head.

“You are doing very well. I am so proud of you."

He muttered softly; his smile never left as he drifted into slumber as well, embracing the closeness of him and Furina underneath the tree, getting into another close contact of intimacy with the former Hydro Archon.

If he could open his eyes now, he would have seen Furina having a smile of her own as the two went forward with their nap.

Chapter Text

“Aether…”

Furina whispered as they were walking around the pavement of Inazuma City, exploring as they finished the commissions that they needed to do for the nation at hand. Hearing his name from his traveling partner, Aether glanced at her, seeing her extend her hand closer to his.

Knowing what she was asking for, Aether immediately grabbed her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. He could see her give him a small smile from the corner of his eye, replying to him by squeezing his hand back in the same manner.

It was their means of comfort throughout any point in time.

For Furina, it was her means of wanting a form of reassurance. Ever since they were traveling around the world of Teyvat, there were a lot of uncertainties that she was not confident taking head on because she was restricted to her own nation for so long. She did not know how things worked outside of Fontaine that well, only knowing some through the books she read before embarking to join Aether on his travels.

Even if she has mastered the art of being a fabulous actress, there are always these insecurities that plague her mind. Especially being in a foreign land that felt quite intimidating for the former Hydro Archon, there were thoughts that people would ridicule or laugh at her because she knows that the people of Inazuma value respect and power—two things she lacks overall in her mind.

But as she held Aether’s hand, she could feel those worries slip away.

It was like a safety blanket for her, an immediate comfort that she could rely on. His presence alone made her feel at ease, fully knowing that he would protect her no matter what. She is like a princess in one of the operas that she used to watch, always guarded by a knight in flashing armor that would swoop in and save her from the evil clutches of an evil prince.

She craves that feeling after being alone for so long, yet she does not want to look needy about it. After all, Aether has been so kind and considerate of her that she did not want to make it seem that she relies on him too much.

Furina knows that a lot of people do; she does not want to be part of that, even though she does rely on him quite a lot.

“1…2…3…!”

Hearing a loud commanding voice accompanied by other voices following up, Furina glanced at Aether as they were walking across the front of the Tenryou Commission. She could see him looking in the direction at hand. Following his line of sight, he could see Kujou Sara training with other members of the commission, doing basic training drills that involved swinging their respective weapons at her count.

Passing by the commission, hearing the noise of the soldiers training diminished as they kept walking around, retaining their hold of each other’s hands. As she could see people looking at them as they passed them by, she could feel the blood rushing up to her cheeks as she tried to imagine what they were talking about in relation to them holding hands.

Have they considered them as a -

Forcefully snapping herself out of that thought process, as it was something too much for her right now, Furina focused on the feeling of his gloved hand on hers. There are times that she wishes that Aether would not wear gloves more often; the feeling of his actual palm on her hand feels very different.

Letting out a small sigh as they managed to go through the crowd of potential onlookers, Furina kept her hand tightly on his as they kept walking through, merely enjoying his company with a small smile on her lips.

Yet she did not realize what Aether was thinking a few moments ago.

In Aether’s mind, he did not mind that Furina wanted to hold hands in public like this, happy with how she seemed comfortable asking for what she needed. Besides, he is not bothered anytime Furina asks for his hand to be held.

There was a part of him that wanted to hold it whenever he wanted.

Furina made him feel comfortable and wanted in a different way than other people would have. It was a sort of comfort feeling that he would get when eating a sticky honey roast or looking up at the night sky. No matter what time of day it was, he was fine holding her hand, as she makes him feel a lot better too.

Rather than being someone hollow or always on guard for something or someone to happen, he could feel that everything would be fine if he could hold her hand.

Does it always feel like that with anyone else, or does he really-

He paused his thought process; a red tint covered his cheeks as he turned his head around to see Kujou Sara training all the soldiers within. Seeing them hard at work made him distracted enough to not think of the probable implications of his troubled feelings.

He still needs to look for his sister, after all.

Yet, every time he grips Furina’s hand around his, Aether wishes that this would be something that could last even longer, even if his journey in Teyvat is done.

After passing by some people around the street, the two continued their walk around the city, not knowing what each other was thinking at the time.

Chapter Text

“I never expected for you to be friends with a sailing crew in Liyue.”

Aether gave her a small shrug and a small smile on his face as his hands were on the railings of the starboard side of the ship. He could hear the crew going to work and the abundance of footsteps going through the ship in a busy manner.

“I helped this crew once with managing the scraps that were leftover from the destruction of a previous Jade Chamber, helping them clean it up with the use of my own Waverider.”

He could see Furina perk up a right eyebrow as he could hear Beidou yelling at some of her crew, which was followed by a bunch of hurried footsteps with the anchors of the ship rising from the water.

“What is a Waverider?" ”

Aether tapped on the railings a bit, thinking if he should reveal what a Waverider is while hearing the ship’s sails unfurled, indicating that the ship was prepared to begin its trip.

“It is a kind of transportation that I use within the water; you will see it for yourself once we hit Inazuma.”

Furina hummed at his answer before giving a small nod, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

“Sorry for the chaos that is happening, you two.”

Both turned around to see Beidou standing in front of them with a smile on their faces. Aether returned the smile with his own, rubbing the back of his head.

“You do not need to apologize for it. Me and Furina are just hitching a ride with you guys anyway.”

His reply got the Captain of the Crux to nod at him before facing Furina, who seemed a bit nervous being around Beidou. He could not blame her either, as Beidou is very intimidating to those who are not familiar with her.

“You are the former Hydro Archon of Fontaine, right? It's kind of nice to have someone like you on board; it feels like a blessing to have you.”

Aether could see Furina visibly flush at the compliment at the end before clearing her throat.

“I am the f-former Hydro Archon, yes. But right now, I am merely a mortal with a hydrovision with some capabilities of controlling the water.”

He was visibly smirking at the fact that the former Hydro Archon was trying to deliver her usual flair for speaking, yet her nervousness around Beidou made it more endearing than usual.

Beidou seemed to share his sentiments as she chuckled, making Furina’s eyes twitch a bit.

“Hahaha, sorry about that! It is quite adorable that someone is walking eggshells around me; it has been a while since that happened! ”

Furina pouted, her cheeks seemingly getting redder as she crossed her arms.

“I am merely trying to show respect, as you are the one that would deliver me and Aether to Inazuma after all! "

She managed to squeak out something that finally managed to unleash some chuckles out of him. It was short-lived, however, as he felt an elbow jab at his side, courtesy of Furina. This seemed to cause Beidou to chuckle even more, clearly enjoying their antics with one another.

"You two are very adorable with each other." 

The comment from Beidou managed to make Aether’s cheeks redden, and he rubbed the back of his head in an embarrassed manner. He could see Furina’s face go a full shade of red, looking away from the two of them with her arms still crossed.

“Thank you, I guess.”

Beidou continued her series of chuckles, shaking her head in amusement as she placed a hand on the blonde Traveler’s right shoulder.

“I knew that you would have someone with you eventually. Someone must keep an eye on ya’ on the probable reckless stuff that you've been doing!”

Aether rolled his eyes, seeing Furina return her gaze back in his direction.

“Honestly, I am quite shocked myself that you have lived for so long with how much trouble you got yourself into.”

Furina’s point made his eyebrow twitch, with Beidou resuming her chuckles.

“Lady has a point, Aether. That’s why I am so glad that you have another person around to make sure your head is out of trouble.”

He could see Furina’s lips curving into a smile, clearly enjoying the fact that they were dogpiling on him now.

“Alright, alright, don’t you have a ship to run, Captain?”

Beidou shook her head in amusement as she continued to pat her shoulder.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind your assistance with that part. Kazuha ain’t here to give us a good head start if you know what I mean.”

Aether blinked, looking around to not see the aforementioned wandering swordsman around the ship.

“Alright then, the least I can do to avoid you two teasing me relentlessly.”

His grumbling made Furina join in the chuckling as he walked away from the two, switching to the Anemo element to help the crew get a good leg on their journey.

As Aether walked away, Beidou turned to Furina with one hand on her hip, making Furina focus back on her.

“For what it is worth, don’t be afraid to speak out here! You are one of us now, for the time being!”

Beidou’s exclamation made Furina let out a small smile, giving her a small nod.

“I will keep it in mind then. Let me know if you need any assistance from me.”

The former Hydro Archon yelped, almost stumbling, as the Captain patted her shoulder, not expecting how much force she placed on her shoulder.

“She is very strong…!”

Furina thought to herself as the captain helped her not stumble to the deck with an apologetic look.

“Sorry about that; I don’t know how to hold my own strength sometimes!”

“I-It’s okay…”

Furina uttered, hearing her let out a series of chuckles once more.

She could tell that this would be an eventful time on the ship.

Chapter Text

"And the winner and still champion... Aether!"

Aether grinned at Paimon's announcement, gently picking up his Onikabuto and placing it gently on his palms. It started crawling around his palms a bit before raising its horns in victory, showing its dominance over its previous opponent, which was Itto's Onikabuto.

"Aw man! I thought I raised my guy to finally wreck yours to dust!"

Itto whined, grabbing his own Onikabuto that was flipped upside down. Inspecting to see that it was doing fine, Itto took a deep breath, letting out a loud exhale from his nose before his lips curled into a huge smile, extending his other fist toward Aether.

"You truly are the Onikabuto King, Aether! But mark my words that I'll pummel you to dust, or my name is not Arataki Itto!"

Aether shook his head in amusement as he bumped his unattended fist with Itto's as Paimon flew next to him with a satisfied smile.

"It seems like we defended our title once again from the challengers, Aether!"

"Not so fast!"

Everyone within the area blinked, turning to the side to see Furina rushing toward them, carrying what seemed to be an Onikabuto on her palms. Panting slightly from the excursion, it took her a moment to stand up with a smug smile on her lips.

“Oh, you may have beaten everyone else, Aether. But it is, the former Hydro Archon of Fontaine, who will be the one who ends your reign with my best soldier at hand!”

She exclaimed, making Aether look at the Onikabuto that she was holding. It was colored cyan and seemed to be strangely drenched in water.

Aether presumes that it was Furina’s attempt to make an Onikabuto attuned to Hydro, or that she managed to make one using her Vision. On second thought, Aether would presume the latter more than the former knowing her.

"Ohohoho, it looks like Aether’s someone special decided to step up the plate, aye Paimon?”

Aether could hear Furina splutter in surprise at Itto’s remark, seeing her glare at the tall Oni’s direction that made him take a step back with his hands raised defensively, hearing Paimon snickering beside Aether.

“Alright, alright! N-n need to be violent! I was merely commenting, that’s all!”

The blonde traveler let out a small sigh at Itto’s antics before clearing his throat, catching Furina’s attention back to him.

“I accept your challenge, Furina.”

He could see Furina’s lips curving back to her smile, retaining her composure as she placed her Onikabuto on the opposite side of the log that they were using for the Onikabuto fights.

Inspecting his own Onikabuto a bit, he patted its head with a gentle tap of his finger. Aether’s Onikabuto seemed to be rearing to go with it, bumping its horns back on his finger, giving him a clear sign that it was still ready to fight despite already fighting Itto’s Onikabuto.

With that, he placed his down on the opposing side of Furina’s Onikabuto, seeing hers rear its head upwards, which he presumes to intimidate his Onikabuto.

“Alright… ahem! Paimon wants a clean fight!”

Returning her role as an impromptu referee of the Onikabuto brawl, he could see Paimon look at Onikabuto at hand, seemingly inspecting each one. Finishing her inspection after a couple moments, she raised her arms upward.

“May the fight begin!”

At Paimon’s cue, Furina’s Onikabuto charged towards his, bounding towards him in a leap that he had not seen within an Onikabuto before. Letting out a fast-whistling sound from his lips, his Onikabuto managed to dodge the charge by jumping forward, both Onikabutos switching sides from their initial positions.

“My, my, always ready for surprises, Aether?”

Aether returned her comment with a small smirk as he let out a whistle that was longer than the previous one, signaling his Onikabuto to charge at Furina’s, leaping towards hers by doing a couple small hops. Furina’s Onikabuto reared its head back, receiving the blow that Aether’s did with its horns, before swinging its head to launch Aether’s backwards.

Shaking off his surprise with a quick whistle left his lips, Aether’s Onikabuto landed safely on the opposite side of the log, looking warily at Furina’s Onikabuto at hand. He could hear the former Hydro Archon chuckle at the display, rubbing her chin in a devious manner.

“Seems like mine is far superior to yours... truly blessed by my amazing talent and wit!”

Aether rolled his eyes as Furina cackled, knowing that there was far more than meets the eye with Furina’s Onikabuto. Letting out a small slew of whistles and doing a bit of pause on each one, his Onikabuto reared its horn up, charging up a ball of Electro from its maw.

"Haha, wait, they can do that?!”

Hearing Furina let out a surprised exclamation as Aether’s Onikabuto fired the ball of Electro toward her Onikabuto. Her Onikabuto managed to hit the Electro Ball with its horn.

before it suddenly exploded in a puddle of water, getting everyone around the log to get a splash of water on their clothes. With an eyebrow simply raised toward Furina, Aether crossed his arms as if he were expecting some sort of explanation toward a sheepish-looking Furina.

"…I plead the fifth?”

He could see both Itto and Paimon facepalm as his Onikabuto was seemingly confused at the lack of an opponent, walking toward the spot where the Onikabuto was, poking its horn at the residual puddle.

"With that, Aether is still champion, and Furina is temporarily barred from all future challenges!”

“W-what… hey!”

Aether shook his head in amusement as he picked up his own Onikabuto, removing the douse of Hydro from its body with a small burst of Anemo, patting its head as both Paimon and Furina started to argue about the apparent tournament rules, with Itto cackling in the background.

Chapter Text

Another day has passed throughout this wonderful journey around Teyvat!

Time really does fly whenever one travels from one place to another, especially when one enjoys the scenery quite a lot. I never expected to encounter such beautiful landscapes that books or pictures would not be able to describe their beauty. I am very glad that I managed to step afoot in these places, gracing the ambience of the place with my own fantastic presence!

In short, I got a lot of Kamera shots that I honestly want to go back to Fontaine and get processed! Aether is so good at handling the camera that he always gets my good side, in all honesty. It's so much better that he is taking all the shots too, as he would have to stare and bask in my presence to get all the shots in a pristine way!

In all honesty, I am just happy that he looked happy when taking all those photos with me. Probably why I want to get those photos processed ASAP; it would make him smile more to remember those moments, yeah?

Besides the fabulous scenery that Aether took me around Inazuma, I am starting to get more of a handle on swordplay than I originally thought! Aether said that I could fend off those well-trained samurais back at the Tenryou Commission, even though I think he is merely telling me that to boost my confidence. I’d still rather have Mademoiselle Crabaletta do all the heavy lifting when it comes to facing enemies head-on.

It is still scary when I get near enemies. I feel like my knees would buckle if an enemy charged toward me like that one time before.

But... I can confidently say that I am getting better at making sure the enemy does not invade my personal space like that! Even though I could feel my legs falling off with how cruel Aether is at training me on how to dodge, I’ll have nightmares about pebbles and rocks being thrown at me for sure.

At least he made sure not to hit my face too much. Maybe he likes seeing my face as proper and beautiful as ever! Yeah, I do think that he would not scar my face due to that reason entirely, at the expense of hitting all the other spots of my body harder instead!

Ugh, at least I am getting better at not getting hit. I am also helping him quite a lot at not getting hit too, even though I know for myself that he is already very good at doing so as he is now augmenting both Anemo and Electro to his movement. Hence, the reason for being around Inazuma is to meet up with the Raiden Shogun, as he needs to learn more about harnessing and controlling the element further.

I do hope that the Raiden Shogun is a better archon than the apparent bard that I have encountered, breaking through my room to apparently run away from someone else!

Ooooh, the nerve of that guy! I would wish to promptly deliver swift justice whenever I see his face ever again! Probably have Chevalmarin spray him some bubbles while he is drinking some wine. That would teach him not to trespass my room and open my windows!

But yeah, speaking of Elemental Training, I could confidently see that my advice came in spades when regarding Aether’s training toward the hydro element. In fact, he is managing very well by trying to mold more shapes and bring in more life than just floating bubbles. I could see him create small daggers that he could throw at enemies, small water platforms that he could use to step on for a moment to elevate himself over the water, and many more simple tricks that he had unlocked through his sheer ingenuity.

I take all the credit for helping him hone that craft, as I am the former Hydro Archon of Fontaine!

Honestly, I did not know what I was talking about, as I just simply followed the words that seemed to pop up in my head during that time. It was, as if, a voice that was instructing me what to tell him at the time, and I just followed it, not knowing much else about teaching someone when I am still fully exploring my own capabilities with the element.

But hey, at least I can say that there will always be a part of me that is very useful in helping him in a pinch!

I am happy that I am managing to be someone who does not drag him down during his travels. I honestly expected him to be annoyed with me at times during my bouts of getting used to being just a mortal and not acting as an archon. I did not expect that my mortal life would be so enjoyable and eventful like this, nor would I expect myself to put in the effort to better myself this far on something I never even planned to do.

It's all thanks to him. To Aether.

Heh, thinking about him now just makes me so happy. I never felt this intense of an emotion toward someone so intensely, as if I could hear my heartbeat through my own ears. Is this what all those operas allude to—the feeling whenever a princess looks at someone that they clearly admire and cherish?

Emotions have always been this complex, and I do not know what to feel.

Well, anyway, I must head off to bed right now. There will still be a lot of things to do tomorrow, and I do not want to oversleep and get woken up.

...haha, I really did change, haven’t I?

Onwards to another fantastic day!

-Furina

Chapter Text

“So, you were the former Archon of your nation."

Furina managed to let out a small nod, carrying a nervous smile on her face as she was holding a cup of tea in her hand. In front of her was the Electro Archon of Inazuma, Raiden Ei, who was giving her a blank stare as she drank her tea.

Or what she could assume is a blank stare? It was kind of tough to get a gauge on the Raiden Shogun’s character in her mind, as she could only feel very intimidated in the Archon’s presence.

Is this how mortal people feel when being under the eyes of an archon?

“Y-yes, I am. For five hundred years at least.”

Tugging the collar of her suit nervously before taking a sip of the tea at hand, the pleasant taste of chamomile tea touched her taste buds. Letting out a small exhale after the sip, she could see Ei looking at her with a calculating gaze, as if trying to judge her character on the spot.

“I see. Did you join Aether’s journey to find his sister after you stepped down? ”

Internally raising an eyebrow at that question as Furina placed her cup down on the table at hand, she wondered how close Aether was to Ei with her warranting a question like that.

“Not exactly. I joined him on his journey to see the world with my own eyes, for the most part.

She took a deep breath before letting a small smile grace her features, feeling the soothing effects of the tea kick in. There was also a surge of confidence every time she talked about Aether, something that she manifested in full force despite the uneasiness that she was feeling.

"But I will help him as much as I can in finding his twin sister. He deserves it that much.”

After finishing her answer, she could see the Electro Archon look at her for an extended period of time. It felt like she was being part of an interrogation of some kind that she could not put an exact finger on.

It was her first time personally interacting with another Archon at hand, not counting that one time when the former Anemo Archon barged into her room.

“I see.”

Taking another sip of her tea, Ei closed her eyes. The atmosphere felt awkward and tense, two things that Furina did not want to have in a meeting with someone. Especially if it is someone who can clearly knock her head off if she ever chooses to do so.

In the background, she could hear Aether’s voice around with an accompanying sound of steel clashing with one another. Furina could hear faint cackles of Electro accompanying the dance of blades, letting her know that his training with Electro was still going on with the Electro Archon’s puppet.

“You are someone who is very strong.”

As if she used her famed blade to cut through the tense atmosphere, the Electro Archon’s comment shook Furina to the core, her eyes darting to see Ei smiling at her.

“I can see it in your eyes—a kind and compassionate soul. I could see why Aether did not mind taking you with him.”

These surprises at hand made Furina feel like she was shocked by Ei’s Electro at hand, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks as she tried to retain her composure.

"I... thank you for the compliments, almighty Shogun.”

Furina could see the Electro Archon let out a small sigh, making her tense up a bit, thinking that she said the wrong thing.

“You may call me Ei. You are a former archon and a traveling companion of Aether; you do not need to address me in a formal manner.”

A friendly response madena feel feelafeelsighing internally in relief as she took another sip of her tea.

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

It felt foreign to say an Archon’s name quite informally, knowing how she is a mortal herself. She would always remember the times that there were selected people who were afraid to slip out formally, which was amusing at the time.

Now, Furina could feel what the mortals felt in that regard.

“As you should. After all, Aether needs more friends that should be traveling with him.”

Ei’s reply made Furina raise a curious eyebrow as she placed her tea properly on the table, seeing the Electro Archon looking down at the teacup at hand, as if she were thinking about the things she just said.

Was the Electro Archon… that fond of him?

"Did you want to join Aether in traveling around Teyvat yourself?”

Furina’s sudden question made the Electro Archon snap her eyes back at her, which made her hold her breath from the quick motion of her eyes. Then she saw Ei shake her head.

"No, even if I would, I know that I am not able to help him with the burdens that he carries.”

Furina blinked in her own surprise at the unexpected answer. She knows that Aether was carrying something within his shoulders; after all, it takes one to know one. Yet throughout their shared conversations between them, she does not have the whole story of what he was holding inside.

At that moment of realization, she felt a pang of guilt manifesting within her chest that she ignored for now to ask the question at hand.

“…burdens?”

Ei looked at her with a look that she could not fully comprehend.

Was it a look of disappointment toward her or sadness toward him?

"…carrying the will of the people, even if he was forced into it.”

Ei answered softly, standing up from her seat and walking away from the table at hand to check on the blonde Traveler’s training with her puppet.

Furina could only sit there and think about what she had been told, looking at the small puddle of reflection within the teacup.

She could see herself once more.

Chapter Text

Aether gritted his teeth as he managed to parry one of the Raiden Shogun’s strikes with his blade, his sword imbued with Electro as the two kept exchanging strikes around the vacant training ground of the Tenryou Commission. He could feel the gazes of the soldiers standing around the perimeter, not knowing for himself if they were giving looks of awe or pity.

Not that he had time to know about it, as he quickly brought his sword upward in a defensive stance, blocking a fierce overhead strike that made him buckle a bit. He could feel his Electro-imbued blade wavered slightly from the blow.

“Maintaining proper input and output is always important when handling a very dangerous and volatile element, such as Electro.”

Despite them having a fierce battle dance, the Raiden Shogun still had time to lecture him about the element that she has the prowess of, forcing him to listen as he parried some of her strikes.

“To be fast and furious... unexpected... like a clap of thunder..."

Aether’s eyes widened in surprise, and his honed battle instincts flared up as he quickly turned around, barely blocking Musou no Hitachi from cutting his blonde hair. He could breathe in the ozone emanating from the blade, no matter how close it was to him, making a defiant effort to push back the Shogun with his innate strength.

“To uphold the energy and strength… quick… like lightning…”

Pushing back the Shogun with a cry, Aether managed to swing his blade at the puppet’s face, only to have it parried immediately. Gritting his teeth and maintaining the Electro within his body and his blade, the blonde Traveler retracted back as the Shogun stared directly at him with her blade in hand.

“You may have superior control of the element compared to before, but it is not enough that I would consider satisfactory.”

After that exclamation, Aether was forced back into the defensive, his Electro-imbued blade blocking her strikes. Each strike from the puppet made his arms start to feel like jelly, but he persevered, managing to block every hit.

Panting from the rapid excursion that he was being under, Aether kept his guard up, his eyes never leaving his opponent, who was circling around him.

“Your conviction is lacking.”

His eyes widened at the puppet’s exclamation before jumping to the side to avoid a sword aimed at his waist. With another flurry of attacks that he had no choice but to block, sparks of Electro flying in between exchanges with him, and the ridiculous strength of Electro Archon’s puppet, his stamina was waning fast with how he was still maintaining the Electro-infusion on his blade.

“Who are you, Traveler? You may feel ‘free’ to do whatever you want, but who are you really?”

Those words rummaged through his thoughts as Aether parried a jab aimed at his chest, jumping back to create some space. Sensing an attack coming in, he quickly rolled out of the way, trusting his honed battle instincts to avoid a plunge attack by the puppet in his last position.

A huge thunderclap followed that strike from the puppet, making Aether wince from the sound, the smell of ozone in an all-time high.

The earth shook a bit from the impact as a cloud of debris burst from the ground, covering the training field and limiting the blonde traveler’s vision. Taking a deep breath while steadying his foothold, his emotions were in disarray as he kept glancing around the field, keeping track of the puppet with the use of his elemental sight.

Who was he?

Ever since he had been separated from his twin, Aether did not know what he could have done without her. All that he wanted within this world was to find his twin sister and go back home.

But in doing that process, he had to step in and help Monstadt with their problems with Stormterror and the Fatui. Contributed to saving Liyue against Osial. Be part of the rebellion that saved vision holders and opened Inazuma once more to the world.

He saw the Shogun resume her offense, her blade raising up high in an overhead strike.

Saved Sumeru from their evil governance while holding the forbidden knowledge of the world, further continuing to help Liyue and Monstadt in their development…

Aether raised his blade, and the electro-infusion of his blade started to cackle even louder.

Helped Fontaine from the nation’s prophecy and…

before it fizzled out as it met the blade of the puppet at hand.

He still has no clue where his sister is or what she wants him to know.

Despite the blade being capable of splitting mountains in one slice, Musou no Hitachi did not slice through his blade at all in the Shogun’s hands.

"Find who you want to be. You have improved, but you must be resolute to be able to harness more of Electro.”

Raiden Shogun exclaimed coldly, her blade disappearing in a quick motion as she walked away, leaving the still-blonde Traveler in his spot. He heard the puppet’s footsteps leaving as he still retained his defensive form, as if waiting for the strike to ever happen.

It never came.

Arms slacking, his blade clattering to the ground from his loose grip, Aether could only look up to the sky. A sea of dark gray clouds covered the sun, and his thoughts seemed to be reflective of what the weather was like because of the training session.

"…to be a hero was never something I wanted to do."

His soft murmurs were never heard throughout, as the clouds began to pour.

Chapter Text

Furina stared at the tall mirror in her room.

Her hair was still slightly damp from the hot bath that she took after being caught in the downpour earlier. She was donning a simple navy-blue shirt and matching shorts as she sat on her bed, looking at the tall mirror at hand.

‘…carrying the will of the people, even if he was forced into it.’

The words of the Electro Archon echoed within her mind toward the burdens that Aether was carrying. She could see why that was a particular observation, as Aether had already played a major role in saving four nations.

But to be forced to do so? It was something that she was trying to wrap her mind around.

From what she knew, the blonde traveler helped the nations find their lost sister while finding answers about the world of Teyvat, carrying a gentle smile on his face as he helped others. He never complained about doing such tasks, always ready to spring into action whenever someone needed help, no matter what.

Yet she was looking into her reflection.

Even though Aether was open to sharing information about anything, Furina did not know how much he was really feeling. Even though she could have a good read on him at times, she did not really know if what he was displaying was what he truly felt.

It was like looking at herself during her time as the Hydro Archon of Fontaine, an act of which she had to carry for so long to fulfill her role.

Looking at herself once more, Furina could say that she did not expect to change so much with him. Reminiscing about the entries that she wrote in her journal about the changes that she experienced with him, those changes made her feel so different from how she was as an archon.

It made her smile just thinking about it; her reflection followed suit, giving her a clear picture of who she is.

Someone who has gotten better, someone who knows that she has more worth in this world than she ever thought.

"…it’s all thanks to him.”

A soft mutter to herself before looking in the mirror with a look of determination.

“I will get to the bottom of this. You have done so much for me, so I need to do the same for you, Aether.”

Furina exclaimed in a resolute fashion, knowing that she needed to do more for her traveling partner at hand.

With a renewed vigor, she stood up from her bed and went to her desk, going to write about her thoughts for the day and her potential plans to try to confront the blonde traveler.

In the room besides Furina’s, Aether looked at his own reflection with a frown.

Wearing a simple white shirt and black shorts and letting his braided hair loose after a hot bath, he was not feeling himself after the training session that he had with the Raiden Shogun.

"It's always had to be in Inazuma, huh?”

He whispered to himself as he sat on the bed after checking himself in front of the mirror, looking at his reflection while sitting in thought.

Ever since he stepped foot in this place at the time that the Vision Hunt Decree was still in action, he was tired of having to play the hero all the time for bits and pieces of information that did not paint the entire picture for him. It was the point at which he just wanted to get things over with.

But he could not ignore all the things that were happening around the area.

Try as he might, Aether knew that even if he was not mentally there, he had to step in and do something. Being the core part of the rebellion, having to fight off the Electro Archon and a Fatui Harbinger, and managing to survive and carry the will of the people of Inazuma to free them from the tyranny of the Shogun.

It all keeps playing back in his head, wondering whether it was forced upon him or whether he truly wanted to save those people.

Was he always a hero, even if he did not wish to be?

He let out a small sigh, the moral dilemma of those thoughts barking at the back of his mind, letting his back flop onto the comforts of his bed. Aether knew that there was a part of him that hated being the hero, as it was time that he could have used to find more information about his sister.

He did not like that he had to go through all the hoops, experiencing what seemed to always be a tedious task over and over, getting more crumbs that would not mean anything to him on the large scale of things.

He is just… tired.

Shifting his body to the side to look at the mirror at hand, he knew that he looked pathetic. Someone who should never have been uncertain of himself, as he had been very good in everyone’s grace and praise.

There was no way that he could show himself to be like this to anyone at all.

But he knew that someone would peer more into it anyway, as he was reminded of how Furina had looked at him ever since their meeting with Ei and her puppet.

"…she can understand. I'll try to talk to her about it soon.

Aether muttered to himself, closing his eyes and ridding himself of the vision of his reflection back at him.

Even with that small impromptu promise to himself within this moment, he never made any attempt or mention of it toward Furina as they continued with their adventures in Inazuma the next day as if nothing happened.

The rain continued to pour.

Chapter Text

One of the best things about traveling all around the world is the different food that Furina has not tasted yet.

It was another kind of exploration that the former Hydroarchon wanted to embark on ever since she joined up with Aether. Finding more tasty delicacies around the world that she could stuff her mouth on, whether it would be sweet desserts or majestic food at their disposal. Especially since she already has a reliable source of delicious food in the form of their flying companion, Paimon.

Through Paimon’s recommendations, she had managed to taste the sweet taste of mochi, the lovable drink of boba tea that a tall blue-haired man with fancy clothes advocated heartily, and all other delicacies that they managed to snack on all over Inazuma City.

Yet, there was one food within the nation that she did not expect to like so much. It was not even a kind of dessert like the mochi that she recently munched on or a drink that she would like to spread around in Fontaine like the boba tea.

It was the heavenly taste of ramen.

“Mhm, we should have been here much earlier, Aether.”

Furina exclaimed after slurping some of the delicious noodles from her bowl, a delighted expression on her face as she felt her taste buds absorb the various flavors of the noodles that were soaked in the broth.

They were in a ramen joint that recently opened after the economy in Inazuma had stabilized after establishing trade routes with the other nations in Teyvat. The owners, a middle-aged couple, recognized Aether as they were walking around Inazuma City on their apparent food binge, managing to goad all three of them to enter their ramen shop at a discounted price, with the blonde traveler being a key reason why Inazuma had become a better place.

It was funny to see Aether look so flustered and embarrassed upon accepting the praise given by the owners. It was to the point that Paimon had to step in with her exclamation of being still hungry after eating a box of mochi and drinking a large cup of boba tea, making the trio accept the offer of the owners.

Yet she swore that she could see his hands clenching tightly the entire time the owners were giving him praise.

“Paimon agrees... mmmhm... I want more of this delicious broth.”

She heard Paimon exclaim as she was engorging her entire bowl, drinking all the broth as if it were mere water. The owners were chuckling at her display, not minding the fact that she was literally consuming her bowl without any proper manners or conduct.

Even if Furina had already taught the small fairy companion proper dining manners and etiquette from her experience of being in a seat of power, it always got thrown out of the window whenever there was delicious food on the table, which made her just give up on teaching their small flying companion about it.

Glancing at the corner of her eye, she could see Aether simply fiddling with the noodles in between his chopsticks at hand, seemingly not interested in the food. Even though he had taught her how to use chopsticks, something that took her a bit to get used to eating with, he seemed to be mentally not there.

He hasn’t even been eating much of the mochi or the boba tea that they went through a while ago, either.

A frown rested upon her lips, a bit of frustration boiling within her about what was happening to her friend.

Was there something more that had happened during training that Aether did not want to talk about with her?

Then, an idea came into her mind as her hand went to slurp more of the delicious noodles as she was trying to brainstorm the reasons why he was feeling this way. Furina knows that she probably won’t get an answer from him on his current state, but she would at least make him eat this delicacy at hand.

“Aether, here.”

Aether blinked, snapping out of his thoughts as he looked toward Furina’s direction, seeing her extend her pair of chopsticks with bits of noodle between.

“Furina, what are you doing?”

Furina rolled her eyes, moving her hand more forward against his mouth in an insistent manner.

“Say ahh…”

Aether could see in her eyes that she was not taking no for an answer, making him let out a sigh as he leaned his face forward, accepting the offer of the former Hydro Archon. He could feel the different flavors, with the predominant saltiness of the noodles flooding his taste buds, yet he could not feel anything much about them.

He wasn’t feeling much of it at all lately.

“Mhmm, did you get a different flavor from mine? That one is very tasty.”

Forcing a smile upon his lips to appease Furina, he could see her stare at him for a moment, as if there was something on his face.

“It’s seafood. Can I have a taste of yours, then?”

Giving her a nod to do so, he pushed his bowl closer to hers so that she could have a taste. Yet all he could see was her looking at him pointedly, as if what he was doing was wrong.

“Aether, can you do the same for me?”

This made him pause for a moment, looking at Furina to see her staring at him, waiting for him to do the same. Deciding to relent against the former Hydro Archon’s whims, he grabbed his pair of chopsticks and nabbed some noodles from his bowl, extending them toward the awaiting Furina’s mouth.

“Ahm…! I should order that next time; it is quite tasty!”

A small, genuine smile slid on his lips as he could hear the appreciative sounds from his taller, white-haired companion, making him look back at his bowl.

He would not need them to worry after all.

Chapter Text

Raindrops fell from the clouds of Inazuma, creating a calm and soothing atmosphere that the people of Inazuma were used to. With an archon that could control the element Electro, the rainy weather would be a common occurrence for the people, a calm and pleasant condition that anyone could relax in.

But for the former Hydro Archon, it was no means of calm weather to be in.

Ever since being in the seat of power in Fontaine, Furina has been wary every time it rained. She was wary that the water from the clouds would suddenly increase the water levels in Teyvat; likewise, her level of paranoia increased throughout the years of trying to help the people of Fontaine against the prophecy.

Hearing the raindrops was akin to hearing the wrong pitch of a singer within an opera—something that she could not bear to hear for long.

“A-Aether, I’ll go back inside the Teapot for now…”

Speaking softly as she and Aether were staying underneath the covering of a cliff, protecting themselves against the sudden change of weather as much as they could. She could feel her body shivering, unsure if it was from the cool breeze that was blowing against her slightly damp clothes or hearing the raindrops fall to the ground.

Aether looked at her as he was looking at the surrounding area, immediately nodding as she saw him shivering in her place.

“Sure, the Teapot is always open. I’ll just... stay here for now.”

Despite her emotions being in a bit of disarray, she raised an eyebrow at the blonde traveler, seeing that his clothes were also a victim of the weather at hand, with his clothes sticking against his skin.

“You sure? You are soaking wet too, you know.

Aether sighed, his hand rummaging through his damp hair a bit. She could see the water droplets fall from his hair as she kept staring at him, feeling her body cold with her ears still hearing the rain drops pouring in.

“I just need some time to think… the rain helps with that.”

His rather unsure response made her gaze soften at him before letting out her own sigh, closing her eyes in an attempt to calm herself from the environment at hand. She could already feel her body being repulsive against the sound of the rain, constantly shivering as if she were still sitting on her throne alone.

Yet, Furina knows that she cannot leave Aether alone—not when he is the most vulnerable—for so long after that training session.

“Okay… but I’ll stay here.”

Her sudden reply made Aether’s eyes widen, especially when she sat next to him when he was sitting near the edge of their covering. She could feel the rain touching her damp skin, somehow not minding it all as she laid her head on his shoulder.

“Furina…”

“I am not staying inside the Teapot, thinking that you would get sick from this weather and being so stubborn.”

Her exclamation promptly cut him off, his eyes gazing away from hers as she nuzzled his shoulder.

“Therefore, I do think that I should stay here… with you. After all, it is only fair that I would not leave you alone since you would do the same thing for me, right?”

Her tone of reasoning made her feel that she was delivering judgment in the courtroom, swiftly ending any further replies from the blonde traveler as she made herself comfortable. A sense of calm pulsed through her body, even though the rain started to pour even stronger.

Her body wants her out of this situation at hand; the feeling of a potential flood that could happen surged through her body, even if she is not in her homeland right now. Yet, even if she wanted to go inside the teapot, she wanted the comforts of a hot bath and a fresh batch of clothes.

She would rather stay with him in the pouring rain.

“…Furina, please.”

Furina could hear the small yet persistent voice from the blonde traveler, trying to plead and resonate with her to leave him alone. Yet she knows that it was him trying to give her a way out and not have to settle with the current situation at hand.

Unfortunately for him, she had years of experience enduring unfavorable conditions, even if there was an easy way out.

“Nothing can be done, Aether. You know how persistent I am if I put my mind to it."

The former Hydro Archon managed to utter with a shaky smug tone as her body shivered more from the conditions, her lips curving a small smile as she kept her head on his shoulder. Even if it was easy for him to just slide her head off, he never made any attempts to do so.

She could hear him let out a defeated sigh before feeling an arm wrap around her, pulling her closer to him.

“I am not sure what to think about, Furina. Everything feels so…”

The rain continued to pour harder, as if resonating with the feelings of the blonde traveler.

“…feels so tiring.”

The howls of the winds from the apparent brewing storm started to echo through the area, blowing through their already soaked bodies. Yet even so, neither did they move an inch as they simply sat there together through the harsh, wet conditions at hand.

Furina did not know how to respond or react to what Aether had said, as the statement made her think that there was more to that. She did not press on with the matter, simply letting herself be a form of comfort that Aether needed.

Even if the Inazuma rain kept pouring down harder and harder, with winds that would probably cause her entire body to suffer from hypothermia, she would not leave.

After all, it wasn’t only the rain that poured down at that time.

Chapter Text

Paimon did not know what to think of everything that had happened so far.

Ever since Aether and Furina came back into the Teapot when the storm was too strong for them to apparently sit there and endure the rainfall, which Paimon thinks was completely stupid of them to do, Aether was completely silent as he immediately went to his room while Furina kept giving him concerned looks.

She was out of the loop the entire time as she did not want to get wet once the rain started, retreating to the Teapot for the time being as the two kept exploring around Byakko Plain for more sights that Furina could take with her Kamera.

“Is he alright?”

Her question was met with a shake of her head from the former Hydroarchon as she closed her eyes.

“No. He said that he was tired, and I did not get much after that.”

Paimon hummed worriedly, not sure what to think about the news at hand.

“Paimon, you have been through him a lot, right? Have you ever noticed that he has been… very tired… or dazed throughout your journey?”

That immediate question caught Paimon a bit off guard, scratching the top of her head to ponder about the question sent her way. Especially with the how Furina opened her eyes to look at her—the same concerned look that she sent Aether when he was going up to his room.

“Uhhh…”

Everything felt like a typhoon, with things spiraling out of control ever since Aether wanted to go back to Inazuma for training on the Electro element. Paimon knew that he always felt something odd whenever he came back to the nation of the Electro Archon, as it was the first time that Paimon heard him refusing to help the people initially.

Ever since then, Paimon has not heard any sort of complaint from him.

Paimon never thought about the repercussions or the effect that it had on the blonde Traveler, as she simply thought that Aether was fine the entire time throughout Sumeru and even in Fontaine. But as she thought about it, Paimon started to realize that there were changes in how the Traveler had interacted with everyone throughout the last three nations mentioned.

Recalling the moments where Aether was seemingly reluctant to help people, times that he spoke out more about having people help themselves, and being a bit more passively aggressive are the changes that Paimon thought were indicators that Aether was getting tired of doing things.

Yet she did not really hear him say anything about that at all, seemingly going about his day-to-day without much hassle or complaint at all.

“Yeah, there were quite a lot, as Paimon thought about it. Ever since the first time me and him traveled through Inazuma, there have been times that he was quite vocal about not doing some tasks before having to reluctantly do them.”

Paimon answered, still scratching her head. She could see Furina let out an audible sigh from her answer, as if there was a part of her answer that she did not like to hear.

“And when was the last time that Aether never did anything for the day?”

This made Paimon think for a bit, recalling their traveling moments within the past few years. There really has not been a time when Aether did not stop to rest for a long time unless he needed to recover from his injuries or sickness. Even when there were occasions that he was supposed to rest or for fun, he had to help the people around him manage a stall, test out a game, or just in general help people.

It was a routine that Aether did every single day for the past few years, and Paimon never thought that there was something wrong with it.

Until it dawned on her now.

“Figures… he was always a stubborn and hardworking person, huh?”

Paimon could hear Furina manage to parse her thoughts exactly, probably from the look of shock that she expressed on realizing that Aether did not really stop much, or if at all, no matter what had happened unless he physically could do so.

At that moment of realization, Paimon felt very bad about how she was with the blonde Traveler. Even though there were times that she could identify that he was not having it with people constantly asking for help or having to jump in, she did not stop him from doing so as the rewards that the people offer had blinded her from having anymore thoughts.

Especially when Paimon never considered how much of a high maintenance she was regarding food, combat, traveling, and more with how little contribution she was making. Especially when there would be times that she made it difficult for Aether to do specific things because of her own stubbornness and the like.

“Paimon… is sorry.”

She managed to utter it weakly, not realizing that she was already tearing up from the weight of her own realizations.

“You should not say sorry to me, you know?”

Furina replied softly before letting out a small sigh and giving Paimon a small comforting pat on the back with her fingers.

“Aether has been bottling a lot of his feelings that just ended up backfiring on him ever since training his Electro. This is merely the consequence of him holding it out for so long…”

Paimon sniffed, not feeling any better hearing that news of his probable cause of what he was feeling right now.

“What can we do then, Furina?”

She could see Furina pause for a moment, before letting out a small sigh.

“All we can do at this point is be there for him till he opens up fully... This is more than him just being tired.”

Furina replied, giving Paimon a small smile.

“Let us do that then, okay?”

Paimon returned the smile weakly.

She will return the favor.

Chapter Text

Well, the Inazuma trip lately has been quite eventful, to say the least.

I would do it without the rain next time. I am honestly surprised that I am not feeling sick after being drenched for so long while writing this entry.

I really do not know what to say about what has been happening with Aether. Ever since meeting with the Electro Archon and the training conducted at hand, I was starting to think of the burden that he had been dealing with all this time. It had pretty much pointed me in the direction of where to look—that he had been masking and bottling up everything that he had been feeling all throughout the years of adventuring through the world.

At least, that’s what I think about it. Especially when he has been rather dazed day in and day out, usually I just see him stuck in thought. What was it that the Raiden Shogun told him? I really wanted to know why so I could give them a piece of my mind!

Even if they could divide me into two for standing proud against them, at least I could defend Aether’s honor for whatever they had told him!

Maybe not, actually. I do not want Nuevillette to suddenly wage war against Inazuma just because of my stupidity.

Sigh. It’s just frustrating to see him like this after all the things that he has done for me. He was happy and carefree all the time when we were in Monstadt or Liyue, and I just want to see that Aether all the time!

Especially now that I knew that he had been working so hard... probably to find his sister all this time... with no direction, even through the hard work that he had done...

Yet, that’s how it really is sometimes...

Haha, I could actually see myself in his shoes in a way. Finding answers through immense amounts of effort while dealing with your day-to-day duties as someone that you should not

Is it something that he was feeling all along too?

Is that why he took me along, so that he could help me with what I was feeling? To help me even though he was suffering from being tired from doing this sort of routine over and over again?

I feel bad, even if it's not what he's feeling. It had been quite a drag and difficult through the first few weeks that I traveled with them.

Did he ever think of me as someone who was just wasting their time? Someone who never truly met his expectations?

Haha, I was probably lucky that he never once gave up on me, even if I was a huge pile of weights for them.

...silly me, berating myself when I could do better stuff than this. It is better than serving a self-pity party that I know he would not want to hear about. And I know that he did not want to see me like this.

Sigh. I can clearly see it now if he is feeling the same way as me right now.

It is kind of frustrating that I do not know what his exact thoughts are. I kind of wish that I could peer through his thoughts like what he had done with mine, even if it was merely a coincidence of that happening.

I just want to help him more, and I know how to do so, at least for now.

I could help him more to ease his burden by helping him do commissions or cook meals that he taught me a while ago in exchange for helping him with baking. Even then, I can do so much more; I just need to put my mind into it!

After all, even if I am merely a supporting role for him during adventures and explorations, I will do my part even further to aid him more! In fact, it will start with the idea that Ei... gosh, it's still kind of weird that me and the Electro Archon are now on a first-name basis... brought up.

I do not know why he has not been doing this, and I feel like I should have the need to drill it into him that he has been stubborn about doing everything himself.

I will have to persuade him to allow it to happen. He needs more people helping him out than just me and Paimon daily, and with more people that could help around, he could rest easy on some of the things that he does daily.

Now, I just need to draft the appropriate proposal, and for that to happen, I will need Paimon’s help…

Just you wait, Aether… just you wait…

Chapter Text

Aether coughed, struggling to sit up, managing to do so by supporting his back with the bedrest.

He could barely breathe because his nose was clogged; he could barely move because his muscles felt very heavy; and he could feel that his temperature was hotter than normal. With a bit of a struggle, he managed to see the time that was on a small mechanical clock on top of the dresser that he had, inwardly cursing that he had overslept.

At this point in time, he would expect Furina to knock on his door, wondering why he was still sleeping during his time. He grimaced at the thought, as he did not want to receive an earful from the former Hydro Archon, especially when he commented about her own late-rising moments. He could remember the time that he had to knock fifteen minutes straight on her door for her to finally get out of bed with a grumpy expression on her face.

This made the blonde traveler crack a small smile at the thought.

With every movement of his body feeling like a huge struggle, as if climbing up the mountains of Liyue, he managed to wiggle out of the bedsheets that he had. He could see his white shirt drenched in sweat from his fever, the sticky feeling becoming more unbearable when he was aware of it. To combat this feeling in him as he kept wiggling out of the covers, he tried to tap into the Anemo element to cool himself down.

Yet, waves of pain slammed his head that made him wince as he tried to swap elements, briefly stopping his movement on the bed.

“Really, am I really that weak?”

He muttered to himself as the head pains died down. He could not believe that his sickness was keeping him down. He looked up at the ceiling, panting from the condition that his body was in, before resuming his attempts to get out of bed to start his day.

Though his door opened without warning,

“Aether, you do not get out of this bed this instant!”

A commanding voice from Furina made Aether almost jump from his spot if he could have. He could see Furina in her usual blue suit, looking at him with an angry look on her face. He had the capacity to look a bit sheepish as he wiggled back to the covers of his bed, knowing that he could not leave once he was caught by the former Hydro Archon.

“How did you know…?”

Aether managed to ask as he was shocked Furina knew about his current condition at hand, which Furina let out a small sigh as she went closer to him, promptly arranging his blanket to properly cover him.

“Tubby informed me about your abnormal condition, which...”

He felt a small sense of relief as her cool palm touched his forehead.

“You are having a high fever because of us staying in the storm last night.”

Guilt filled his veins as he looked away from her face, knowing that it was all his fault that they stayed too long in the rain. He was thankful that she did not get sick on his behalf; otherwise, he would have felt a lot worse than he should have.

“I’m sorry…”

He could hear another small sigh from the former Hydro Archon.

“It’s... okay, alright? You will have to tell me and Paimon what has been on your mind lately. I think that is the best way for us to be on the same page again.”

Her answer made him pause for a moment before giving a small nod, still not facing her directly.

“Aether, look at me.”

Hesitation filled his veins as Aether heard her calling him out softly to face her, fearing a look of disappointment that he would receive from Furina. He knew that he had been subpar with how he had been ever since his training session with the Raiden Shogun.

“Who are you, Traveler? You may feel ‘free’ to do whatever you want, but who are you really?”

Those words still echoed within his mind; a mixed feeling of guilt, doubt, anger, and weakness simmered within him that he could not comprehend. Aether still wasn’t sure, now even more so. He did not want to face the traveling companion that he knew would expect great things from him.

“I can’t. I am just...”

His thought process stopped as he could feel the same cool sensation of Furina’s hand on his cheek.

“Look at me…”

He hesitated for a moment before acquiescing, turning his head around to see Furina looking at him with a small smile.

“Focus on getting better for now. I know that you may be thinking that you are useless or weak for not being able to do what you should be doing.”

He could feel his heartbeat rapidly as Furina continued her words, trying to believe the words that the former Hydro Archon was saying.

“Please, take a break. Even the best heroes must take a break from saving the day.”

Her smile did manage to make him feel a bit better through the pooling of guilt within him.

He is not a hero.

“I will…”

Furina nodded at his answer, removing her hand from his cheek. The feeling of relief gone ripped away the instant that the contact was gone.

“I will cook you some tomato soup; you should try and rest up more. I’ll handle the commissions today!”

Aether blinked at her, seemingly having an inkling that she was doing something in the background that he had to know.

“By yourself?”

Furina shook her head as she opened the door to his room.

“Not really, but that is for me to know and for you to figure out later!” 

Aether sighed as she left the room, presumably going to cook at the beginning of the day.

He looked up at the ceiling, wondering what she had planned about the commissions.

Chapter Text

Doing daily commissions within Inazuma without Aether has been a weird experience.

Without the guidance of the blonde Traveler, Furina and Paimon took quite a while to locate the area around the Narukami Island where the Treasure Hoarders were supposed to be hanging out. It always questioned Furina on why the Adventurer’s Guild has these kinds of jobs to give to adventurers alike before getting fed information from Katheryne that these selections of commissions are only for Aether because of his superior combat capabilities on the field compared to other adventurers.

It left a bit of a sour taste in her mouth that Aether was the one getting riskier jobs, but she refused to say anything back within the moment as she and Aether did not have that talk yet about his daily routine.

After managing to see where the Treasure Hoarders were, the band of ruffians were simply around their makeshift campsite, sitting around the campfire or arranging what Furina assumes to be contrabanded goods. It was near the shoreline where the camp was, some faunas and trees around them that would be the advantage for the both of them. Paimon flew back toward Furina, raising a thumbs up toward the former Hydro Archon, giving her the signal that there were no more treasure hoarders around the area.

She took a deep breath, focusing within herself as she would be the one to start the initial strike, running toward the campsite without alerting any of the Treasure Hoarders nearby.

“Strike a pose!”

With Furina’s exclamation came the Salon Solitaire on her side, and Mademoiselle Craballeta immediately charged at one of the treasure hoarders, managing to ram one of them toward a bundle of crates. Gentilhomme and Chevalmarin started firing at the other Treasure Hoarders, pelting them with high-pressure bubbles that knocked them off their feet.

“What are these creatures doing here…?!”

“Aren’t these supposed to be around in Liyue?!”

Mass chaos ensued as the Salon Solitaire started to take down the Treasure Hoarders with ease as Furina commanded them from the side, being careful not to let her guard down while barking orders while walking around the area at hand.

“Mademoiselle, try to pin that running Treasure Hoarder! Chevalmarin, Gentilhomme, do not let up with the bubbles!”

With her sword acting as a form of baton and the Splendor of Tranquil Waters’ blade glowing blue as it resonated with Furina’s Hydro Vision, the former Hydro Archon was managing her ground very well against the disordered Treasure Hoarders. Her summons were swarming them a lot easier than when they tried to fight against Aether in training.

“It speaks a lot about how strong Aether is.”

Furina thought to herself, keeping her eyes peeled around the Treasure Hoarder camp and swinging her sword to command her troupe as much as she could.

“Furina! Someone is going to shoot you!”

Snapping out of her concentration from Paimon’s panicked shrill voice, she quickly moved her body to the side, narrowly avoiding a Pyro Bullet that would have hit her in the back.

Furina turned toward her attacker to see a trio of Fatui members carrying different weapons; the one that tried to shoot her was the one in the front with the gun pointed at her. She was cursing internally at how the tides suddenly turned with some unexpected visitors.

“Well, boss, it seems like this is the one that has ruined our collection day from those Treasure Hoarders.”

The Fatui member with the big gauntlets exclaimed in a rather deep voice as she could see him pushing both of his knuckles together while the one carrying the big hammer simply grunted, lifting the big hammer off his shoulders. She could see the one carrying the gun smile at her.

“It is no mere normal target either; it is in fact the former Hydro Archon of Fontaine that we have right here, boys!”

Hearing her title get told out loud by the Pyro Gunner already sparked waves of desperation within Furina, who pointed her sword toward the trio of Fatui members.

“S-Salon Solitaire, regroup and fight against them!”

Manifesting away from trashing the Treasure Hoarders, her trio of Hydro Summons appeared by her side, with Craballeta already charging at the trio at hand. The one carrying the big gauntlets appeared in front of his fellow members, manifesting an Anemo shield that blocked Crabaletta from colliding with his fellow members.

“I do want some seafood later; can we get some boss?”

Seeing how effortlessly the Fatui managed to block Crabaletta with ease gave her a sinking feeling as Furina commanded both Gentilhomme and Chevmalrin to fire a rapid array of bubbles against the trio of Fatui members to try and overwhelm them.

Yet, the one carrying the big hammer grunted as he slammed his weapon on the ground in front of his gauntlet-wielding comrade, the impact creating a huge electro discharge that popped all the bubbles that were aimed toward them while blinding Furina from the trio’s actions.

Furina yelped as she felt a huge impact colliding with her ribs, her vision clearing to see that it was Craballeta that had crashed into her midsection. Managing to stay up on her feet, she gritted her teeth as she could see her summons not doing well against her current adversaries.

It did not help as she could hear the Pyro Gunner laughing, aiming his gun towards her.

“So long, your Highness. You should have stayed home.”

But before he could fire the bullet, someone slipped in between them from the sidebushes. Furina could get a glimpse of the person and see them carrying what seemed to be a sword imbued with Anemo.

“Fallen leaves... adorn my night!”

A huge burst of Anemo blew back the trio of Fatui members, causing them to get staggered from the burst as they were surrounded within a spherical wind sphere, constantly blowing against them. She could see the person in between them clearly, a white-haired person with red and black clothing, as he suddenly propelled upwards, creating a wind vortex underneath his feet that caused the trio of Fatui members to collide with one another.

"Boss... what is happening....?!" 

The gauntlet-wielding Fatui member exclaimed in pain, trying to resist the winds generated from their sudden attack, trying to raise his gauntlet to shoot an Anemo blast upward - 

“Kamisato Art: Soumetsu!”

Furina could hear another voice shout nearby, seeing a very familiar feminine figure sending a swirl of Cryo toward the Fatui members as they were incased within the vortex of Anemo. Even without commanding them to do so, Chevalmarin and Gentilhomme sent a flurry of bubbles within the mix, causing the Fatui members to turn frozen solid from the elemental reaction at hand.

“Phew, all part of the plan, Furina!”

Furina heard Paimon exclaim in a happy tone,  making her lips curled upward as she managed to stand up straight while holding Crabaletta fondly. She witnessed at how the two sudden people walked in front of her, both wielding their respective swords with their own smile on their face as their attacks petered out, leaving the Fatui in their frozen prison for the time being.

She knows that she cannot do this alone; she still is not that strong yet to handle all the responsibilities that Aether could handle on a day-to-day basis.

But what she can do is rally the people that Aether has helped throughout his journey to pitch in and help.

She hopes that this would translate for Aether to accept that help as well, considering that he seemed to take in all the tasks by himself as much as possible.

That will have to change, Furina will make sure of it.

Chapter Text

Furina could not help but feel a sense of déjà vu as she was sitting on a cushion on top of a tatami mat with a cup of tea in front of her.

After that specific commission with the Treasure Hoarders was done, the feminine figure that had a Cryo Vision—remembering her name as Kamisato Ayaka even though she remembered her wearing a different set of clothing—invited them to the Komore Tea House to rest and relax. The white-haired swordsman named Kazuha told them to go ahead, as he had to wait for the Tenryou Commission to grab hold and arrest the Fatui members.

Paimon had to go back and check on Aether, who should be out cold and sleeping after eating her tomato soup and drinking the medicines that they got from a pharmacy in Inazuma.

It was also convenient that the people Paimon had asked for help with the daily commissions today, apparently known as the Arataki Gang, have managed to do the other two commissions.

Even though she had a reserved judgment about how their leader, Arataki Itto, was managing his group based on how she met him during the time they played around with Onikabutos, their apparent green-haired secretary gave her the two scrolls as they were passing by the Adventurer’s Guild.

With that, it was a successful day for the former Hydro Archon with how the self-named plan Amitié was managed to be executed flawlessly.

It was only a matter of continuing this plan as time went on.

‘I never expected to micromanage a lot of things when I stepped down from being an archon.’

She mused to herself, stretching her back a bit as she waited for Ayaka, who excused herself to manage some of her commission’s stuff. Furina did not mind waiting, as it let her midsection heal up even better after a quick recovery job by her Singers of the Streams.

Her eyes scanned the room, seeing a simple tea house setup that kind of surprised her when she initially entered. She expected the whole place to be grand and regal, given how Ayaka was seemingly managing the entire place.

Then again, with how the female Kamisato sibling seemed to have to change clothes to visit other nations, it might be that she went for a simpler design to mask the fact that someone from the Commission is handling the tea house.

Then, Furina could see the door sliding open, showing Ayaka with a polite smile on her face.

“Apologies for that, Lady Furina. Just some things that I had to handle at the Commission.”

Ayaka did a small bow toward the former Hydro Archon, who returned the gesture with her own smile while she sat on the cushion.

“No need to apologize; I know how it is with administration matters at times. Also, Furina is just fine.”

Furina replied as the door opened once more, revealing a tall, blonde-haired man donning red clothing with brown armor pieces. He was carrying an assortment of food items on a tray, which included the mochi that she liked so much.

“For our wonderful ladies over here, fresh mochi and other sweet goodies served by our own tea shop!”

His exclamation made Furina’s curved up a bit, seeing the platter of sweet goodness placed on the table.

“Thank you… uh…”

She paused, trying to remember his name from what she recalled from Traveler’s stories about Inazuma, as this blonde person in front of her played a big role.

“Thoma, Lady Furina.”

Supplying his name with a small respectful bow, Thoma stood behind Ayaka as the two exchanged smiles with one another.

“Ah, right, thank you for delivering these sweet goods, Thoma. No need to call me a ‘Lady’ though; I am simply the same as you two are.”

Her reply made Thoma nod in affirmation before Ayaka clasped her hands together.

“In any case, I am thankful that you accepted my invitation over for some tea.”

Ayaka exclaimed, grabbing her own cup of tea and taking a small sip of it.

“Well, it is my pleasure to do so after you helped me with the commission earlier. I do believe that Paimon gave you the gist of the entire thing. ”

Asking that question while grabbing her own cup, she took a sip of it to reveal that it tasted like jasmine, making her hum in enjoyment as she saw the Kamisato sibling's lips curving downward.

“Yeah, it is kind of unfortunate that Aether is not willing to ask for help. I heard that a lawyer from Liyue did get frustrated that he did not call her over during his initial trip to Fontaine.”

Furina raised an eyebrow at that. Aether had lawyer connections and did not use them. Even though he managed to handle the entire trial on his own against her, it was still kind of foolish to not cash in on those connections when he could have.

“Well, that is Aether. Someone who is stubborn about doing things on his own...

The former Hydro Archon let out a small sigh of annoyance as she reached out to get a mochi on her hand, taking a small bite of it. The cream filling from the mochi filled her mouth, drawing a small shiver of enjoyment down her spine.

“Seems like you really like the mochi, eh, Furina?”

Her cheeks reddened slightly as Thoma’s teasing voice was aimed at her, making her eat the mochi in her hands properly before clearing her throat.

“Apologies for my manners. The mochi tasted delicious!”

Both Thoma and Ayaka chuckled at her bashful response, as she saw the former Hydro Archon continued to munch more on the mochi on hand before she finished it all.

“It is okay, Furina! I am happy that the Tea House’s mochi is serving you your likeness!”

Exclaiming happily as she reached one for her own taste, Ayaka gestured for Thoma to get one himself, which he obliged.

“I will make sure that my friend Navia gets to have a taste of these whenever I come home to Fontaine.”

Furina blinked, realizing how long it had been since she was away from home, forgetting that she had not sent a letter back to her, Clorinde, and Neuvillette in a while.

“I am going to make sure that I will write those letters one of these days.”

Making a mental note in her mind as she took a sip of her tea, Furina looked to see Ayaka merely looking back at her as she was eating her own mochi. She could see Thoma merely looking at the side, eyes on the door, as he ate the mochi in his hands.

“Anyways, I do think that you agree to the Amitié plan that I have mentioned, correct?”

She could see Ayaka swallowing the mochi that she had in her mouth before nodding with a smile.

“I do think that it is necessary to have that plan in place. Making Aether realize that he has a lot more people on his side that he could rely on to delegate some of his daily duties would be very good.”

Ayaka replied, drawing a hum of agreement from the former Hydro Archon.

“Yeah, it is. That dummy would probably rather burn himself out even more than ask for help, so I will have a chat with him soon when he feels better from his sickness.”

Not mincing any words as she reached out for another mochi in her hands, Furina could see Ayaka stare at her for a bit with a cup in her hands, seemingly at thought.

“Are you... close with Aether?”

The way that Ayaka voiced that made Furina pause for a moment as she took a bite of her mochi.

Furina always thought that she was close with the blonde traveler, as they had already traveled with each other for months now. Yet, the fact that she could not identify the fact that he was bottling up his feelings made her reconsider quite a lot of things.

Did he trust her like she trusts him?

It was a negative thought that the former Hydro Archon did not want to really think about, already knowing that Aether would do anything to keep her safe. Yet whether it would be opening his own feelings and emotions toward her was a different topic at hand, as he was usually someone that she thought was always smiling and carefree.

She still wants to see those smiles after all of this is over.

Chewing through the vanilla-flavored mochi as she further thought about the question at hand, Furina swallowed the mochi as she was prepared to give her answer.

“I would say that I am closer than most of the companions that Aether met along the way, but I would not say that I and him are that close yet.”

She responded, taking a moment to brush the loose bang of her hair that was covering her other eye as she continued.

“I say that because I always took what he was feeling on the surface for granted, thinking that the person who had saved me from my own personal demons would never feel the same way. In a way, I did become close to what I think is the idea of him that he upholds to the people.”

Her voice went softer as she went along, looking down to see her own reflection within the cup of tea.

“I never thought he was that hurting or tired all throughout, and that is my fault.”

The former Hydro Archon took a deep breath, her lips curving a bit of a smile as she returned her gaze back at the Kamisato sibling, seeing her give a concerned gaze toward her.

“All I can really do now is amend for my own mistakes and do even better. That’s what he always told me before, when I started adventuring with him.

She started to chuckle, her hands grabbing her teacup.

“Oh, the irony sometimes... I can say that I am someone who is closer than most, but that does not mean that I would not know what he really feels most of the time. Does that answer your question? ”

Silence greeted the Archon’s closing thoughts as Furina took a sip of her tea; her sights were still on the white-haired heiress. She could see a look of understanding, yet there was something that she could not catch.

Was it sadness?

It disappeared from her eyes when Ayaka seemingly swapped her expression with a smile.

“It did; thank you, Furina. I do understand what you mean.”

She could tell that she was off from the way she spoke, coupled with the fact that Thoma glanced at her as she said that. Ayaka took a sip of her cup before placing it on the table.

“Regardless, we shall do our best to not have Aether have to carry a lot by himself, no?”

Furina could tell that something was affecting the heiress, yet she was not sure what it exactly was. Frowning internally while giving Ayaka a small smile, she never knew the scope of how many people were affected by Aether.

She has to make sure that everything will be okay then, in her honor as a former Hydro Archon and a friend.

Chapter Text

As mentioned in the summary, here is the new story that is basically a revamped version of this: 

The Traveling Experience

I can't wait for you guys to read it! :D