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Xiao died.
Aether didn't cry or make a fuss, but that was the most worrisome reaction Zongli and the others anticipated. They always tried to be there with him, which was so suffocating that Aether fled just after two days.
They certainly didn't understand his reaction. Even he himself didn’t yet know what he should be feeling or what reaction he should show.
He realized after another 2 days.
It hadn’t sank in yet.
So when reality hit him, he broke down. First, he denied it. It wasn’t possible. They took every precaution, Xiao should have passed the dangerous period safely. How could it be possible? Denial period took years.
Then he started to wander.
He visited all of the places he went with Xiao. Hoping to find some traces of them together. It was impossible. Time passed too quickly, with era’s changing. All of the places they went together were destroyed already.
After years of wandering, he came to the place where they first met.
A mistake.
This was the place where it all began, and where many firsts were lived. He realized he wasn’t ready to confront these things yet, so he left again. The next few years went by like that. Every day, he would stand in front of the inn, looking up but not daring to go in, then turn back and leave. He wasn’t ready yet, he didn’t dare.
Then came the bargaining.
He went through every book possible, even going to see Zhongli, trying to make a contract, even if he had to offer his own life, to see Xiao again, even for one last time.
It didn’t work.
It was impossible.
Aether, for the first time after Xiao’s death, broke down.
The reality completely sunk in.
There was no escape anymore.
Xiao was dead. Eternally, completely dead.
Then, was the meaning in his life? What did it matter if he continued to live? If he continued to live, would Xiao be lonely wherever he was, like he was?
What was the meaning of a Sun, if it’s counterpart , the moon, disappeared?
Would Xiao be sad, if they could meet again, that with his disappearance, his Sun also disappeared?
He thought and thought.
There was no conclusion, so he continued to wander.
He hadn’t visited the inn for a long time. But today, he suddenly wanted to visit it.
No. He had to visit it.
This emotion came so suddenly that he was a bit disoriented.
When he came to, he was already in front of the inn. He slowly looked up, and his breathing halted.
He saw it. He saw Xiao.
Was he starting to see things now?
He took two steps back, trying to regulate his breathing and determine if what he was seeing is real.
Then came a voice.
“Aether.”
Then it all came crashing down. He ran up the stairs and threw himself onto the man.
“Are you real? How… How is this possible? They said it was not possible…”
The hand on his back patted him, trying to calm him.
“Shh, take it easy. It’s okay, I am here now. Everything is alright. You, and me too, we are alright. I will explain everything later.”
Aether felt Xiao’s lips against his eyelids.
“Just know that if there is no meaning of the Sun without the Moon, there is also no meaning of the Moon without the Sun. And whatever happens, I will always come back to you”