Chapter Text
As a child, the stars were the most beautiful thing in your world.
They glowed bright, a display of soundless fireworks you'd see glowing whenever you went outside in the darkness. Time after time, you'd sneak out at night, climbing the mountains just to gaze at them. Alone, with blankets pulled over your legs, the lights were so much more special to you. Shuddering with cold, you'd forget about everything but the sea of gold, extending far over Liyue into lands you'd never seen before. They would make you smile, hear every word you whispered to yourself as you fought off sleep and lost. When you'd wake up, sunrise would take your treasures from you, obscuring their beauty with an ocean of its' own; filling the horizon with hues of pink and orange that faded to blue skies and white clouds.
But time passed, and childish wonder caved to adulthood and the seemingly endless list of responsibilities; when the days of the week flew by and you couldn't tell what had already been done, you lost that time. You lost the freedom to move as you wished, to stay up late and watch the colours of the heavens change - their routine mechanical, blue to purple to black night after night - as if driven by a machine kept in Celestia, away from the eyes of mortals.
Even then, the brief glimpses of the sky you'd catch as you ran around, delivering food and running errands were still gorgeous. And that guilty twinge in your heart that told you there was no time to revere them didn't stop you from smiling as you pulled open your curtains every morning.
A chance encounter granted you a star of your own; a man who held beauty that you thought was impossible to possess. That childish wonder you felt underneath the ancient canopy of lights reignited in his presence, revelled in his touch and delighted in his wisdom. It brought you close to him in ways you didn't think possible for yourself, leading you to telling stupid jokes again; to dinners at the Liuli Pavilion and days ending with warmth in your soul.
It brought you close to him, to the slow, gentle beat of his heart that you cherish when you aren't together. To soft kisses, foreheads pressed together as you look into his golden eyes as you try so hard not to cry away all the gratitude you felt towards him. To nights together in the dark, your head tucked gently into the crook of his neck as he took your trembling hand in his, tracing the shapes of constellations with your index finger and telling you everything he knew about the stars.
If you looked hard enough, you'd find a space missing, one that faded out over the time you were oblivious to the beauty held above you. But you'd turn, look at your lover's features; trace the shape of his jaw with your free hand; mumble a sleepy "I love you", and realise the missing star fell to earth to hold you by their side.