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"No, you've got to keep your posture like this," Amber explained. "When you slouch, all that muscle is wasted. Even if your arrow hits something it won't do anything."
Collei had already heard this lecture many times, but she still allowed Amber to correct her posture—straighten her shoulders, turn her wrists slightly so that the arrow would line up the right way.
She already knew what needed to be changed. Practiced the proper form every night when everyone in Mondstadt was asleep. But she couldn't stop herself from feigning incompetence in front of the woman who'd given her a reason to live.
Was it so wrong that she wanted to be touched by hands that weren't probing for any spread of contamination? That she wanted to be held by someone who wasn't injecting her with the remains of gods? Who didn't scribble notes with clinical detachment when she was seizing on the floor?
"…it's really important! Collei?"
She startled. "What?"
"Are you alright?"
"Oh… yeah…"
It was so nice to have someone that cared. Even if she wouldn't love her back in the way that Collei already knew she did.
Amber's eyes probed her anxiously. "Come on, let's have one more round. We can go get dinner. My treat!"
"Alright…"
She took a deep breath. Only a little longer before she would be alone again. Maybe she could convince Amber to have a picnic night. Or a sleepover.
She didn't even notice that she had shot all her arrows perfectly, without a single quaver. But Amber did.
"Huh…? Collei, look, you're getting it! You got all of them!"
"Oh… I guess I did, didn't I?"
Amber paused. Looked her in the eyes. "Did you already know you could hit the target?"
Collei looked down, shame threatening to leak tears. "I'm sorry…"
She could see the hurt in Amber's eyes. "Why didn't you tell me? Now I feel like I've been holding you back."
"I just… didn't want you to go. I was scared you'd leave me behind." She turned around as Amber hugged her from behind. "Just like everyone else," she whispered.
"I wouldn't leave! I… I'm sorry if it felt that way. I'm not going to let go if you don't want me to. I… I don't want to let go."
"I think I like you… really like you," Collei mumbled, glad Amber couldn't see her blushing.
She felt Amber pause for a moment, before her arms were wrapped even tighter. "I'm glad you felt the same," she murmured, head in Collei's shoulder. "And I'm not going to leave you. Never."