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It was Father’s Day in the world of Teyvat, and Lyney, Lynette, and Freminet were once again faced with a problem.
“How did this happen again? We’re smarter than this!” Lyney said, distressed.
“Father’s Day is tomorrow, and we still have nothing…” Freminet trailed off sadly.
“I mean, we’ve been really busy with missions lately so…It’s not completely our fault right?” Lynette tried to reason.
“That shouldn’t matter! We already told Father we’d get her something better for Father’s Day, we can’t disappoint her.” Lyney said.
But what can one give to Arlecchino, the fourth Fatui Harbinger, whose power knows no limits and could acquire anything she desired with ease?
They couldn’t get her a new weapon, her polearm was ancient but inside it held immense power beyond anything the siblings could possibly comprehend, they understood that much.
A dagger perhaps? Something small to keep on hand for tight spaces should she need it? It was certainly a good idea, up until Lynette had divulged she had witnessed Father kill a treasure hoarder with nothing more than an umbrella, so clearly she was capable of fighting with anything. Still, it was an idea to come back to later.
Jewelry was an idea briefly, but the siblings agreed that Father was not overly obsessed with her beauty, nor was it practical like they had promised.
Ultimately, the siblings decided that because they’d need to get their own gift anyway for Father, it would be best if they split up and searched for their own inspiration.
“Father, are you growing your hair out?”
It was shortly after lunch when Lynette entered Arlecchino’s office. It had become something of a routine for the both of them. Seeking solace from the loud noises of the mess hall, classrooms, or training hall, Lynette would find shelter in Arlecchino’s quiet office, where she would pour a cup of tea for the both of them. Arlecchino did not mind the company, so long as she wasn’t in the middle of something particularly important and Lynette did not distract her too much from her work, Arlecchino would always welcome Lynette’s presence. Sometimes the two sat in comfortable silence the entire time, other times there would be light conversation, a question here and there, and other simple things that weren’t necessarily small talk, but rather just short conversations.
Arlecchino stilled her pen and absentmindedly brushed her hair back, “I suppose it is growing rather long, isn’t it? In truth, it’s merely because I’ve been too busy to properly cut it.”
“Oh…” Lynette said, slight disappointment coloring her tone, “I think you look really pretty with long hair though.”
Arlecchino looked up to meet Lynette’s eyes and smiled, “Thank you, Lynette dear. It is different, isn’t it? But long hair is hardly efficient for combat, and life or death takes priority over all else.”
Lynette thought over Arlecchino’s words, noticing a distinct lack of actual opinion over her own hair, “but do you like your hair long? Efficiency aside, that is.”
Arlecchino hummed in thought, did she? All her life, Arlecchino had always kept her hair on the shorter side, never considering its looks and only ever thinking about keeping it out of the way. Arlecchino disliked long hair for the same reason she disliked dresses; She didn’t have anything against how it looked visually, it was just extremely impractical.
In the end, Arlecchino decided to be honest with Lynette.
“I’ve never thought about it long enough to have an opinion I suppose, perhaps it would be nice, but how I feel about how it looks matters little.”
“Hm. I see…” Lynette felt an idea forming in her head. It would be a gamble, but one she was willing to make.
Father was pretty, and although she understood, it would be a shame to see her cut her hair short again.
“No.”
“Come on, Chiori! Pleeeassssseeee,” Lyney begged.
“Lyney dear, I’m going to be honest with you. Your idea is stupid, and I don’t do stupid. Retractable blades from your shoes are something that you only see in books and films. It’s stupid, impractical, and you would never have any real need to use it in the first place.” Chiori listed off, damaging Lyney’s ego with each insult that came his way.
Chiori thought about Lyney’s request for a moment before giving him a confused look, “Besides, I thought you were bad at close-range combat. Wouldn’t this weird request be more suited for Lynette?”
Lyney shook his head, “It’s not for either of us. It’s for Father, for Father’s Day.”
Chiori processed his words and then repeated them back to him, “Your Father, Arlecchino, the 4th Fatui Harbinger?”
Lyney nodded.
She didn’t have any orders to tend to at this moment and designing the Harbinger’s shoes was quite the bragging rights…
“I’ll make your shoes.” Before Lyney could thank her excitedly, she raised a finger, “but, I’m making them my way.”
Not quite understanding what she meant by that, Lyney could only nod, say thanks, and leave her to her work.
It was noon when Arlecchino returned home to the House of the Hearth, her business having finished far sooner than expected. It was quite easy after all to throw Neuvillette off her trail for the most recent murder and exposing of an aristocrat. She never left any evidence behind, and even if Neuvillette had the instinct to know it was her, that did not mean he could do anything about it without proper reasoning or evidence.
Her schedule was cleared now for a few hours or so, perhaps she should visit the children, maybe even have lunch with them?
Having arrived home, Arlecchino went over to the mess hall to find whoever may currently be eating, spotting Freminet once again sitting in the corner by his lonesome.
That won’t do.
Gathering her tray of food, Arlecchino walked across the room and sat across from Freminet, greeting the boy.
“Good day, Freminet, would it be alright if I sat with you?”
Freminet startled, having been too deep in his thoughts to notice her, “O-oh! Father. You’re home early? And of course…” he said quietly.
Arlecchino took a sip of her tea, “I finished my business sooner than expected, so I decided to stop by the House for lunch. Is there a problem?”
Freminet quickly shook his head, “N-no. I don’t think Lyney will be able to wrap his gift though without you seeing it…”
Gift? Ah.
“That’s right. You children were planning on giving me a gift for Father’s Day too, weren’t you? There is no need to wrap the gift, I will appreciate the gesture regardless. Still, if that is what Lyney desires, who am I to foil his plans?” She took a bite from her food and swallowed, “Once I finish eating, I will take my leave then.”
Freminet’s face paled, suddenly guilt-stricken, “Wait! um…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like we didn’t want you here. Lyney just wants to surprise you, that’s all.”
Arlecchino chuckled, “I know, child. I take no offense from it. In fact…” She thought for a moment, “How would you like to come to the beach with me then? We can go fishing, just the two of us? Assuming, of course, you aren’t needed to help Lyney with something as simple as wrapping a gift.” She smiled.
Freminet’s face glowed as if it was him who was the one receiving a gift today, “I’d love to!” a rare, excited smile showed on his face.
“Excellent. Go get your fishing rod after we’re done eating then, child.”
Freminet replied with a “Yes Father” before his eyes widened, remembering something. He reached into his bag on the seat next to him and pulled out a book before handing it to Arlecchino.
“Um…Happy Father’s Day, Father.”
Arlecchino took the book from Freminet and analyzed the cover, “The Intellectual Devotional?”
“Mm. I wasn’t sure what to get you for Father’s Day, but then I remembered you like to learn about a bunch of different things. This book is meant for you to read one page a day for a year, each page, or day rather, teaches you something about history, literature, visual arts, science, music, philosophy, and religion respectively. I thought it would be a good way to dip your toes in a bunch of different topics, and if anything stands out to you, you can research more into it.”
Arlecchino hummed in interest, “What a considerate gift Freminet. Thank you very much.”
Arlecchino reached over and rubbed Freminet’s head, “I look forward to reading it.” A gentle smile made its way onto her face.
The sudden and rare gesture of affection caught Freminet off guard, first causing him to flinch but quickly settling into it, his lips moving upwards. For just a moment, Freminet felt unburdened by the loss of his biological mother and the cruelty of the previous knave.
He had Father now after all, and she wouldn’t let anything happen to either of them.
Having returned from the impromptu fishing trip, Arlecchino found Lynette, sitting quietly in her office in her usual chair, reading one of the books Arlecchino had lent her.
Lynette’s ears fluttered at hearing Arlecchino enter the room, “welcome home, Father,” a small smile graced her lips.
“Thank you, dear. Did you have business with me, or were you simply taking time for yourself?”
Lynette shrugged, “A little bit of both. Here.”
Reaching down to the ground next to her chair, Lynette grabbed a small, neatly wrapped box from the floor and sat it on the desk.
Taking a seat in her office chair, Arlecchino grabbed the box, unwrapped it, and lifted the lid, revealing a large claw clip in the shape of wings, one wing being pure white, with the other one being dark black.
“I know you said you don’t like having long hair because it gets in the way, and I understand that but…would keeping your hair in a ponytail be alright?” Lynette asked, nervousness coloring her voice.
Arlecchino raised an eyebrow, casting an inquisitive gaze at Lynette, “It is a very nice claw clip. May I ask what made you decide to give me this though?”
Lynette looked down, unable to maintain eye contact, whether nervousness or embarrassment was uncertain, “I just thought that you had really nice hair and I thought it would be nice if you let it stay long, even if you only kept it in a ponytail. I thought you would look very pretty with long hair. O-of course, if you don’t like it, I’ll take it back and get you something else.”
Sure Lynette may have said that, but it was clear to Arlecchino that rejection would break the girl’s heart.
Truthfully, Arlecchino’s instinct was to politely refuse the gift, or accept it but use it only once or twice to appease the girl, but then she thought more of it. If she kept her hair in a ponytail, it shouldn’t prove to be too much of a burden, and if it did, well, she always kept a dagger on hand anyway if she needed to cut her hair at a moment’s notice.
Time changes all, most of all people, if growing her hair out was to be another change to Arlecchino’s life at the request of her daughter to make her happy, Arlecchino hardly saw that as a negative change. And who knows? Maybe Arlecchino would grow to like it as well?
“Thank you, Lynette, I appreciate the gift.” Gathering her hair behind her head, Arlecchino took the claw clip and tied her hair together before moving her head, showing her side profile to Lynette.
“How do I look?”
The smile on Lynette’s face was ear to ear, her eyes sparkling with delight, “You look beautiful mo-Father. Happy Father’s Day.”
From that day on, Arlecchino never again cut her hair short.
It was evening when Lyney arrived home, just before dinner was to be served.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect.
Knocking on Arlecchino’s office door, Lyney waited with a bated breath until he heard Father’s voice call out “You may enter”.
Stepping inside, Lyney spotted Arlecchino at her desk, not doing any paperwork but was in fact reading a book.
“Father? What’re you reading?”
Arlecchino hummed to herself before finishing her page and setting the book down to the side and giving her attention to Lyney, “A gift from Freminet, I’m rather enjoying it so far. Now then, what can I do for you, my child?”
Lyney swallowed thickly and hesitantly placed the box on the desk across from her, the confidence he had in his gift suddenly knocked out of him.
“I got you a present for Father’s Day…Though suddenly I’m not so sure you would like it.”
Regardless of Lyney’s sudden nerves, Arlecchino took the box but before she unwrapped it, she cast a look at Lyney to confirm if he was alright with her proceeding further. Slowly, Lyney nodded.
It was too late to back out now anyway.
Taking his go-ahead, Arlecchino unwrapped the box and removed the top cover, revealing a pair of black high heels with red bottoms and the heel part being golden with a particularly sharp tip.
Lyney took Arlecchino’s examining them and silence as disapproval of the gift, and she was just figuring out how to politely let him down.
“I-it’s no problem at all Father if you don’t like it, I really took a gamble with this gift I know,” Lyney smiled nervously.
Arlecchino looked up at Lyney with her brow furrowed, her face laced with confusion, “whatever gave that impression? These heels are expertly made, and the craftsmanship is truly something to behold. They look nice and the tips of the heels are far sharper than most shoes, clearly intended to be used as a weapon should the occasion ever arise. Was this custom-made? I don’t imagine you could just acquire shoes like these anywhere.”
Caught off guard by Arlecchino’s unexpected appreciation for the shoes, Lyney straightened his posture more but leaned forward, all nervousness quickly expelled from his body and instead replaced by excitement.
“Yes! It was custom-made and a bit of a last-minute request so it cost a pretty mora, but my friend Chiori really came through! I thought about how cool it would be if you had some article of clothing that could also be a weapon, so I initially thought of a pair of boots with retractable blades, but Chiori vetoed that idea which…probably was for the best.”
Arlecchino let out a soft chuckle, “Your friend was right to do so, your idea is nice Lyney, but unfortunately unreasonable.”
“So…you like it? It didn’t cross my mind until now that you probably wouldn’t like heels since they can be difficult and uncomfortable to walk in and all.”
She simply gave a small shrug, “I have an impeccable sense of balance, so how well I can walk in heels has never been an issue for me. As for comfortability, well, formal dress shoes are never quite comfortable anyway isn’t that right?”
Lyney smiled brightly, “I suppose so, I never really thought of it like that but I guess that’s true huh? I’m really gladyou like the gift. Happy Father’s Day, Father.”
“Thank you, child, perhaps you can introduce me to this tailor of yours sometime too? I would like to see what else this Chiori has.”
He could only laugh, “I can arrange that.”
Night had fallen and the Hearth was in a deep slumber when Arlecchino finished her work for the day.
Sighing, Arlecchino rearranged all her documents and office supplies neatly before taking the candle from her desk to retire to her own room for the night.
Walking to the end of the room, Arlecchino turned the knob and opened the door but her movements were stopped quickly after, seeing Freminet standing silently still right outside her door, his expression horrified as he held something in his hands tightly.
Arlecchino frowned, “Office hours are over, Freminet, and it’s past curfew as well, what are you doing up at this hour, child?”
Freminet tried to speak but words failed him, as he repeatedly opened and closed his mouth.
She sighed, “Come inside, child, and take a seat.”
Freminetly nodded very slightly, barely noticeable, before walking over to the chair opposite from her own and taking a seat, his hands never once revealing whatever it was that he was holding.
Arlecchino sat back down in her own chair, “I understand that you are not normally one to break rules, Freminet, so I can only assume this matter is of importance?”
Freminet was unsure if this qualified as important or not to her, so he did not know whether to confirm or deny that assessment, all he could do was elaborate, “I…wanted to give something to you.”
Arlecchino looked at Freminet quizzically, “You already gave me your gift did you not? That was already more than enough, dear, I don’t need a second gift.”
“Freminet shook his head, “this is…mostly unrelated.”
“Go on.”
“My mother…I lost her a long time ago now. I still want to find her but the realistic part of me knows deep down that she probably…isn’t alive anymore. Ever since you took over the Hearth, my life has become so much better. Between you, Lyney, and Lynette, I feel like it’s okay for me to live and be myself. For the first time since I lost mother…I’ve felt truly loved. But…sometimes I find myself thinking of her, and how much I miss her and how much I wish I could go back to those days, and I wonder how fair that is to all of you. Here you all are, caring for me, taking me as your own, and I’m stuck in the past.”
Arlecchino kept silent, waiting for him to continue.
“Then one day…I realized I couldn’t remember my mother’s face anymore. That realization hurt so much I wanted to cry.”
He did cry, but good children don’t cry, he couldn’t tell the truth about that.
“But eventually…every time I try to picture my mother’s face in my mind…your face is the only thing that pops up. I don’t know how to feel about that. Is it alright for me to forget what my own mother looks like? Does that mean I don’t love her?”
Arlecchino examined Freminet’s face, his expression troubled, and try as he might to prevent it, simply talking about this subject made his eyes water.
She chose her words carefully.
“I can never and will never replace your mother. I want you to understand that, Freminet. You may forget her face but you will never truly forget her. When we lose someone we love, we think about them every single day, their absence creating a large hole in our very being. However, day by day, that hole gets filled back up by the support of other loved ones, friends, and family. You will live, day after day, slowly thinking of your mother less and less, and one day, you will realize you had not thought of her at all for the entire day, but you will never forget her. That hole inside you will become tiny in size, but it will never leave. There will be days you do and don’t think about her and that is alright, how much you think of someone does not determine how much you love them. It is okay to cry, child.”
The dam broke.
Tears flowed down Freminet’s cheeks and a quiet sob escaped him despite his best efforts, “I miss my mom…so much. But she’s gone, isn’t she?”
Arlecchino nodded solemnly, “Most likely.”
Arlecchino stood up from her chair and walked around the desk and squatted down next to Freminet, putting a single hand on his back, “Cry tonight, child, but to live in the present, unchained by the past, that is the greatest honor you can do for your mother.”
Slowly, Freminet opened his hands to reveal what he had been holding this whole time.
A music box pendant.
“This was my mother’s, with my own matching necklace, this is all I have left of her. Like you said…She can’t ever be truly replaced but…it would mean a lot to me I think if you accepted her pendant.”
She eyed the pendant, unsure, “are you certain?”
Freminet nodded, “yeah…like I said, your face is all I see when I try to think of mother anymore, and what you said about loved ones filling in that hole left behind? I think you patched up a large part of it, and I am forever grateful for that. I do miss my mother and sometimes I do wish I could go back, but I love my family today too, and I love you, my Father.”
Freminet gently passed the Pendant into Arlecchino’s hands, and she slowly took the rope holding the music box and tied it around her neck.
“Thank you for your words, Freminet, I am glad to have made such an impact in your life. Thank you for your trust, I will never let anything happen to this pendant.”
Freminet wiped his eyes and smiled at his mother Father.
“Happy Father’s Day, Father.”
No one but Freminet knew that Arlecchino always wore a necklace with a music box pendant, concealed underneath her jacket for protection. A treasure she never revealed, but never removed.
Arlecchino really did love her children.