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21 years, she had lived her life as a man. Raised relentlessly to be a hard worker, and to be a provider for a family. She’d always had feelings that who she was wasn’t right. She was tough and strong, assertive and headstrong, but she despised anyone who called those traits “manly”. Even down to her naturally purple hair and the catlike style she wore it in, when she was younger the other boys always called her a girl to make fun of her, but despite her show of denial, her heart fluttered every time. Over the years, she started to hate her own form, and six months ago she had reached her breaking point. She needed to escape this prison.
Late at night, around when she and her fiancée Ganyu would usually be the only ones still at Yuehai Pavilion working overtime, she started sneaking out of her office to the Qixing archives. She knew what she was looking for, she had heard rumors and stories before - people who lived as a different gender than they were born. She flipped through many stories of shapeshifting adepti and crossdressing performers before she came across what she was looking for - documentation of “transgender” people and records of social and medical transition to another gender. It was rare, and often met with resistance, typically from parents. But it was possible, and the documentation outlined legislation - that was passed in her own lifetime - that would allow any person to legally change their own name and gender assignment.
She returned the records, but not before she had noted the legal processes she would need to look into. She returned to her office to complete the work she needed to do before her meeting in the morning, as her research slipped to the back of her mind.
For six months, she had been trying to work up the courage to tell her fiancée what has been on her mind. Multiple times she’s approached Ganyu to try, but choked on her words before she got the chance. This time, she wasn’t going to back down. The qilin girl was sitting in her favorite seat - the left side of the couch, leaned over the armrest reading over some paperwork she had brought home. Even in the house they shared, neither of them could escape their jobs. She stood a few feet in front of the couch, hyping herself up to finally do it. “G-Ganyu? Can we talk about something?” Her heart rate spiked immediately, and she could feel her hands getting clammy, as much as she was trying to stay calm.
Ganyu looked up from her paperwork, only just noticing that her fiancé was standing in front of her. “Of course hun, what’s up?” She beckoned, gesturing with her hands that she sit next to her. “I’m always here for you no matter what.” Ganyu tried to hide her concerned look, as she could understand this was important.
She moved over to take a seat next to her, not as close as she typically would, intentionally leaving a gap between them to feel safer. “Well, I’ve been thinking a lot, and reflecting a lot on my life, and... I feel disconnected from the person who I was raised to be.” She took a deep breath, preparing herself to do the most difficult thing she had in her entire life, but the longer she waited the more scared she would be. “I’m a woman. I’m transgender. I understand if you feel like I’ve lied or if you want to lea-”
She couldn’t even finish her anxiety-fueled rant before Ganyu let out a relieved sigh, which left her frozen and confused. “Is that all, flower? Come here, let me tell you something,” Ganyu said as she scooted across the couch to cup her partner’s face and look her deep in the eyes. “You know that I love you right? I love you , in any form, unconditionally. I would never leave you because you wanted to live as your own self.”
At that statement, her eyes began to tear up. Did Ganyu really not care? Was she really going to stay? She tried to croak out “B-but- But I-” before Ganyu put her finger to her lover’s lips to silence her.
“I love you. And that means I will be here with you through your whole journey, no matter what. Have you chosen a name yet?”
She was stunned, still unable to believe that this was going so well. She had picked a name, one that she had grown rather fond of as she thought about it. She wanted a name that represented her, and she found it - a name that represented her desire to bring peace to those around her. “Keqing. I would like to be called Keqing from now on.” Her heart was still racing, but she felt a catharsis like she never had before.
“Keqing.... that’s a beautiful name! It suits you, I think you made an excellent choice!” Ganyu is smiling, now with her own tears welling up behind her smile. Tears of joy, of pride for her now fiancée taking steps to be happier for herself. “It will still be an honor to be your wife, and now a joy for you to be mine.” Ganyu pulled Keqing in for a tight embrace, squeezing any last fear Keqing had of not being wholeheartedly accepted.
“Tha-nk you,” Keqing sputtered, struggling to keep her emotions under control, as she wrapped her arms around Ganyu’s midsection, holding her tight as she had many times before.
“Of course, my love, I will help you through every step of this process. Would you like to go see Dr. Baizhu about hormone therapy, if you’re interested?”
She had dreamed of this day for years. Finally getting the chance to become who she wanted to be on the outside, finally getting to work towards having a body that matched who she was. “I would love to. And, I have another question.” Ganyu nodded, urging her to continue, and she nervously asked “Would you- would you be okay with postponing our wedding until I feel more... like me?”
Without a second thought, Ganyu squeezed her tighter, and responded “Of course, anything for you darling. I want that day to be as special and happy and comfortable for both of us as it can be. I’ll wait as long as it takes.”
Keqing couldn’t contain herself anymore, and leaned down on Ganyu, laying on top of her on the couch, head buried in the crook of her neck. She loved this woman so much, and she was so grateful to be hers.
Ganyu was two steps ahead of her, practically pulling Keqing up the steps to Bubu Pharmacy. Her consultation with Baizhu had gone well, and he agreed to give her a prescription for the feminizing hormone therapy that she needed. She was beyond excited, but also beyond nervous. She was taking a leap of faith into unknown territory, working towards living her new life. Ganyu had already helped her with the paperwork necessary to start her name change process and submitted it to the Qixing for approval. Ganyu was struggling with remembering to use her new name, but she was getting better by the day, to Keqing’s immense pleasure.
As Ganyu rushed them through the entrance to the pharmacy, she stopped at the counter, tightly gripping her lover’s hand. “We’re here to pick up a prescription for Z- Keqing. Prescription for Keqing.” Keqing winced as Ganyu almost said her deadname but caught herself. From the new slight shaking in Ganyu’s arm, she could tell it was an accident and that she was trying her best. Thankfully Baizhu had allowed them to put her chosen name on the description despite it not yet being legally recognized.
Baizhu grinned “Yes! I have it right here for you,” he said as he pulled a white paper bag from under the counter. “Administer these intramuscularly once every two weeks, there are instructions and sterile wipes in the bag. If you have any questions please come ask, and I’ll see you again at your appointment in a few months!”
Ganyu could feel that Keqing had frozen behind her, and so she grabbed the bag with her free hand. “Thank you Dr. Baizhu! Have a wonderful day!” she shouted as she began her goatlike leaps down the stairs that Keqing always struggled to keep up with.
“Can you... help me do my injection?” Keqing asked Ganyu as they were sitting on the couch. She had spent the rest of the afternoon just staring at one of the small boxes that came with a dose of her estrogen. “I... don’t like needles. At least, I can’t give myself a shot.”
Ganyu giggled, quick to assure “Of course Keqing, I would love to. I’ve done all kinds of injections for people, this should be a breeze.” Ganyu proceeded to pull open the box, pulling the folded piece of paper out, scanning it to familiarize herself with the recommended technique. “Wait here just a second, I’ll be right back.”
Ganyu skipped over to their bathroom, reached into the cabinet to pull out two small boxes, and thoroughly washed her hands. She walked back out, setting the two boxes down on the table next to them. It was clear now what they were - a box of bandages and a sharps container. “Okay! We’re ready. First, I’m going to need you to stand up and pull your pants down.”
“Pull- what?” Keqing blushed at the statement before realizing the recommended injection site was on her backside just below her hip. She complied, still embarrassed despite how many times Ganyu had seen much more of her body.
Ganyu giggled, then continued with the process. “I’m going to numb the area a little, to make it a little more comfortable. Is that okay?” When Keqing nodded in response, she pressed her hand against her skin, carefully releasing a small amount of her ice powers for 30 seconds to cool the skin down but not hurt her. “There we go, that’s great. Now I’m going to use this wipe to clean the site.”
Keqing could barely feel the swab - clearly the numbing had worked. Her face was still flushed, embarrassed that her fiancée was so casually doing all of this, even after reminding herself that Ganyu had field medical experience from the Archon War.
“While I let that dry, I’ll prep the needle. Don’t look back if you don’t want to see it.” Keqing obliged, keeping her gaze forward, as Ganyu continued to clean the rubber top of the vial and attached the drawing needle to the syringe. She pulled back the stopper, and then continued commentating what she was doing. “Now I’m going to poke this into the vial, push the air out, then flip this upside down and pull a little bit out. I’m going to flick it to make sure there’s no air bubbles, then twist this needle off.” She grabbed the other needle, the one meant for the injection, and attached it to the syringe.
She then moved back over to Keqing, and asked, “Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Okay, you’re going to feel a quick poke,” Ganyu said, then after a short moment she inserted the needle, to which Keqing slightly flinched, but thanks to the numbed skin it didn’t hurt that bad. After she was satisfied that the needle was properly in, she began slowly pushing the plunger to inject the drug. “Aaand... 10. Now just a couple more seconds,” Ganyu said, pausing briefly before pulling the needle out. She quickly pressed a gauze pad where the needle had been, and asked “Darling, can you hold this here for me?”
Keqing reached her arm back to hold it in place, allowing Ganyu to safely dispose of the needle in the sharps container. She brought the box of bandages forward, prompting Keqing to pull one from the box. She knew that she loved her box of random cute bandages, and went along with it because she loved seeing her happy. She pulled one out - it was purple, matching her hair, with a sleeping black cat laying across it.
“Perfect! Now I can come back and-” she said as she pulled Keqing’s hand and the gauze pad aside, placing the bandage in its place. “Perfect! All done! You can put your pants back on now.”
Her face turning red again, Keqing did as she was told, pulling her pants up to finally cover her backside again. She turned around and practically dove into Ganyu’s arms, almost knocking her over. Had Ganyu not been deceptively strong, she probably would have. “Thank you, thank you so much. I love you so much dewdrop.”
Ganyu accepted her embrace, holding her tighter. “I would do this for you every day for the rest of our lives if it means making you happy. I love you, in any form.”