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She was a princess of a small nation.
He was a prince of a huge empire.
They met by chance—both having slipped away from the confines of their royal lives. Ran into the night disguised as ordinary people and danced together beneath the glow of fireworks. Twirled around the fountain in a small city square sharing carefree laughter.
It was an insignificant festival. A whimsical encounter.
It was the beginning of a story spanning millennia.
Their hearts skipped that night. They instantly recognized a kindred spirit and, just as quickly, understood they would never see each other again.
Fate had different plans. Made their paths cross on and on and on again.
Unaware of each other’s real identities they fell in love.
And they learnt the truth on a bloodstained battlefield when he led his soldiers to destroy her home.
That's how she died for the first time: betrayed, yet unable to bring herself to hate the boy who stood there stunned and torn, tears streaming down his face as he watched her getting ran through with a sword.
That day the light disappeared from his eyes for good.
He wasn’t allowed to mourn her loss; they had been enemies before they were lovers. Yet, he grieved her all the same.
Some time later, he returned to that small town she had loved so much, the place where they first met. Standing by the fountain in the square, the man tossed a single copper coin into the water.
How cheap my love is, thought to himself mockingly afterwards.
But a local tale spoke of a fairy living in its water who adored the sheen of orange—it was supposed to remind them of the sweet taste of sunsettias. A spirit said to grant any wish.
"I want to see her again," he muttered, watching the ripples caused by the sinking coin.
He didn’t truly believe in such things; after all, he longed for the impossible. She was gone forever. Yet, sometimes, even disbelief can be overwritten by the faint glimmer of desperate hope.
What’s more: not all legends were fake. Someone observed him that night with a curious interest, her white hair fluttering in the wind.
Someone had listened.
*~*~*
He grew up and then grew old.
He was a crown prince, yet never married.
He became king, yet left no heir.
It just wasn’t important, not anymore. He could never forget the princess from his youth—the girl whose strength, wit, and laugh, like the tinkling of tiny bells, had stolen his heart and kept it, even after death.
He never stopped loving her.
He never stopped missing her.
And when he finally drew his last breath, it was her name that was his last lingering thought.
*~*~*
Once upon a time, there was a pirate captain saved by a shy siren. He fell off the ship, yet she pulled him out of the raging waves. The feelings between them surged, but people only saw her as a monster. They captured her. They killed her. And all he could do was watch her die.
Once upon a time, there was a witch living deep within the forest. One day, a sick traveller came knocking at her door. She cured him, let him stay, and they fell in love. But witches were never meant for happy endings. One night, the townsfolk came with torches, set her home ablaze. She perished in the flames. And all he could do was watch her die thinking he should have died with her.
Once upon a time, there was a girl who grew up alongside a boy. They had been friends for as long as they could remember, thought they had all the time in the world. But then a deadly illness struck, ravaging the population. It took her too, yet it let him be—immune to the disease, but not to the heartbreak that followed.
For every happy memory they shared, there was a tragedy waiting to balance the scales.
Morning meals filled with laughter, comforting touches when sadness crept in, tender kisses by the flickering fire, and passionate embraces under the cover of night.
A violent and unfair death coming for her over and over again.
Once upon a time...
*~*~*
The end never came for Ajax. Instead, a circle began. Of life, love, death, all tangled together, forcing him into a loop both wondrous and harsh.
Each time they’ve met he fell in love. Was captivated by every version of Lumine. Strong, smart, shy yet bold, righteous and beautiful.
But just as happiness was at his fingertips, it would all come flooding back. Memories of another time, another life, another heartbreak would return to haunt him, condemning to relive the same tragic story.
See her suffer and die and be plunged into misery. Drown in sorrow. Choke with anguish.
It felt like a curse, a twisted trick of fate punishing him on repeat. Dangling his biggest desire almost within reach just to snatch it away at the last possible moment.
Yes, it was a curse, it had to be.
Yet, in the moments before the memories resurfaced, he couldn’t help but think of himself as blessed.
To meet someone like her, to love someone like her—Ajax was living the dream, blissfully ignorant and stupidly unaware of the incoming storm.
But after Lumine was gone, the self-loathing would always set in. He couldn’t stand the carefree fool he had been, the one who couldn’t save the girl he treasured more than anything in the world.
"I lost her again," Ajax would often whisper, gazing at the sun slowly rising above the horizon, cradling a lifeless body with bloodstained hands. He would caress her cold cheeks leaving crimson smudges on her pristine skin.
How many times did he watch her die?
How many more times would he be forced to endure it?
Where’s the limit before he shatters completely, his spirit broken almost as badly as his heart?
Sometimes he wished for it all to end. He just wanted to rest.
Other times he begged for one more chance.
To hold her hand, feel her warmth, taste her lips. To possess all of her, and let her own all of him. To dream of a future together, not knowing they didn't have one.
It was bliss worth any pain.
Watching her unmoving body collapse to the ground, seeing her bleed out, witnessing her breathing stop and her heartbeat cease to be—what were these moments in comparison to the adventures they shared, the smiles, the jokes, the banters and the affection?
It was torture. But it was the sweetest torture in the world.
He leaned down, gently resting his forehead against her cold one.
"Next time, I will save you," Ajax vowed, unaware his wish was finally about to come true... And that there will be a price to pay.
*~*~*
The early morning sunlight was softly seeping through the shutters in the Northland Bank office. Summers in Liyue were beautiful. Dawns even prettier. But the man lying on the couch, just stirring from sleep, was too shaken to care.
"How is this possible?" Ajax murmured, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, unwilling to fully open them, not yet.
He was Tartaglia, the Eleventh of the Fatui Harbingers, codename Childe.
Once a simple boy from Snezhnaya, until he fell into the Abyss at the age of fourteen—a moment that changed his life forever.
But he was also far more than just that—countless lives and identities flashed before his eyes. Stories of adventures, all winding toward an inevitable encounter, unavoidable emotions, and... imminent tragedy.
"Lumine..." The name escaped his cracked lips, filled with awe, longing, and sorrow.
His Lumine. The girl who stormed into his life and turned everything upside down. Offered him acceptance, shown camaraderie, and made his heart race—whether through her radiant smile or the thrilling clash of their swords.
A sudden, loud knock on the door jolted him from his thoughts.
"Sir!" came a firm voice from the other side. "The ship bound for Fontaine is set to depart in two hours."
Two hours...
“Understood,” Ajax called back. Soon after, the fading sound of footsteps echoed down the empty corridor.
Lumine had mentioned Fontaine as her next destination. Perhaps, with a bit of luck, he could run into her there. But... would he be able to keep a poker face? Resist the urge to embrace her, to kiss her breathless the moment their paths cross? If his feelings for her once felt like a glass two-thirds full, now they were overflowing, spilling onto the floor.
How did he act before he learnt she was the light of his life? Aiming for casual normalcy suddenly felt like an insurmountable obstacle.
A pained groan escaped his throat, as the man reluctantly sat up.
"Bet I'll make a fool of myself," Childe muttered, his words hanging in the empty room.
Yet deep down, he knew it didn’t matter. The need to see her overwrote everything else.
And... this time he was strong enough to defy fate.
At least, he believed he was. He had to be.
*~*~*
Fate had granted Ajax two more thrilling and joyful years with Lumine, but deep down, he always knew it would come to this. It always did.
It all unfolded in the blink of an eye.
The fury exploded. Water, ice, snow, fire, steam. Hydro and cryo collided, determined to turn summer into winter, while fire fought back against the cold.
He stood off to the side, watching the clash between the two women, his fingers twitching nervously, gripping the sharp-edged Vision.
One commanded his deepest respect, the other held his undying love.
Childe thought picking a side would be easier.
His memories might have awakened, and he reclaimed all his previous incarnations, but he still felt very strongly about his current identity. Being Tartaglia was equally precious. Equally exhilarating.
Discovering his past didn't erase who he was today.
But the showdown was coming. The moment of truth. In a split second before he leaped into the ballroom-turned-battlefield of the Zapolyarny Palace, he briefly wondered if saving Lumine was truly the right path in this journey of reincarnation. Perhaps the lesson he was meant to learn was how to let go.
Maybe he should just let her die, accept it, and walk away without guilt?
...yeah, as if.
Those were pointless thoughts, especially now that he was already standing between the two women, his back to Lumine, shielding her from the formidable foe.
"Hey, comrade, mind letting me join the fun?"
His eyes were devoid of regrets. The Tsaritsa, the Archon he swore his loyalty to, watched him intently. Measured his resolve.
"So that's your answer," rang her slow cold voice.
"It was never going to be any different, Your Majesty," he replied calmly, casting a glance over his shoulder at the stunned blonde. Lumine looked as if she saw a ghost. She never imagined I would choose her over my duty as a Harbinger. The realization was obvious—and it unexpectedly stung.
Ajax simply reached his limit.
He could watch her die no more.
And now, there was an icicle piercing him through.
A tiny trickle of blood slipped from his mouth, dripping onto the crystal floor.
In the last act of mercy, the Tsaritsa waved her hand, and the ice vanished. The man crumpled to the ground.
"Childe!"
His mind was already clouding, his head growing heavy; the gaping hole in his chest was unrelentingly sucking his life away. But Lumine’s scream cut through the haze. Before he hit the floor, familiar arms caught him, cradled with the fierce protectiveness of a cornered beast.
Lumi sobbed, her hands frantically trying to stop the bleeding, but to no avail. There was no coming back from this type of wound, he knew.
"Hey... it’s okay..." His voice was barely audible. And his words of comfort fell on deaf ears.
"No! Nothing is! Just hold on, okay? I can heal you; I know I can!” Ajax’s only regret was making her cry. But dying for her? After centuries of missed chances? No, this was the best possible outcome, even if Lumine couldn’t see it yet.
"Why do I have all this power if I can’t save you?!"
"To save... yourself," he rasped coughing out blood. “Promise me... you’ll survive... no matter what Teyvat throws at you. Comrade... no, Lumine."
Ajax took a shallow breath. His last one. "Live on... and be happy."
He should have said 'I love you,' promised to always remember the girl who changed his life forever, but that was a given. Lumine knew anyway, watching the last flicker of light fade from his eyes.
"We’ll meet again," she whispered, full of determination. “And next time, we will both be happy."
It was a new vow. A new wish. Sealed with a cold kiss that tasted of iron.
*~*~*
*gasp*
Ajax jolted forward, panting heavily. Sitting up in bed frantically patted his chest, half-expecting to find a gaping hole where his heart should be but no. Everything was fine, aside from his racing pulse.
"Wha..."
He tried to calm down, slowly inhaled and exhaled—a technique he often used before his basketball games.
It was a lot to take in.
He went to sleep as usual, only to experience the longest, most surreal dream imaginable. Witnessed countless lives and scenarios. A recurring tragedy.
"Mhmmm..." a quiet groan came from the side.
Ajax gazed at the girl peacefully sleeping next to him, her blonde hair spread across the pillows and her fingers gripping his t-shirt. His sudden movement must have startled her but wasn’t enough to wake her up.
The man smiled and bent down, placing an affectionate kiss on her temple.
"It’s still early, don’t worry and sleep," whispered soothingly patting her hair.
I just watched you die...
Again and again. It seemed absurd, but he knew it wasn’t just a product of his imagination, it really happened.
So much pain and despair, an amount that should have broken him ages ago.
To say it was 'worth it' would be insane; no one should have to bear such a heavy burden and feel grateful for it.
"But I’m not losing you again."
This time they got reborn in a peaceful world. They were just two ordinary university students. His goal was to be a PE teacher, she majored in journalism. He played basketball for his uni team, she caught a ball that accidentally flew into the stands on one of his games—their eyes locked, and the rest was history.
At 21, they were just at the start of their life journey, but it wouldn’t be farfetched to also call it a "happy end."
He instinctively sensed the circle of despair got broken; the tragedy would no longer haunt them.
The wish made with a simple copper coin by a heartbroken prince finally came true. The white haired fairy from long ago collected the real payment: one genuine, selfless sacrifice. A life for a life. Proof that humans make grave mistakes, but maybe love indeed conquers all.
And after millennia of darkness, they earned the right to bask in the sunlight for just as long.