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"Come with me."
Zhongli steps back, surprised. She opens her mouth then closes it again, her fingers tighten ever so slightly on the folder she held and her gaze is a combination of emotions barely undecipherable with how quick it shifts from one to the next. "Mister Tartaglia," she says, soft and confused. "You... you are here?"
Childe looks around the office he's come to familiarize with in his one year stay here. It had been months since they've spoken, since that Osial incident. He had to return to Snezhnaya for a proper report and recieve a new delegated task only to be ordered to lay low and rest however pointless it was when he went to Inazuma. It had taken long. Too long he only came back to Liyue another year later.
In those weeks, he had suffered. Not due to the humiliation of a gnosis mission he had experienced, but of the fact his performance as a Harbinger had been lackluster for his mind often strayed to the beauty he met and dined in a nation far away from where he was. Even now, he is distracted. Even now, he fails to focus on the fact he's seeing the aforementioned beauty again when he wants so badly to crush her in an embrace.
He moves his weight to one leg before straightening, the nation of gold is loud and bright at this time of the year even with it being almost midnight. The people prepares for the lanterns to float up in the sky, the most awaited scenery right after the dance earlier that he had missed but did not care much of.
"Come with me," he repeats, swiveling on his heel before he receives any response and relaxes a little the second he heard the the footsteps behind him.
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Zhongli rubs her gloved hands together, hackles raised in spite of no danger near her. If she cannot trust her own senses, she trusts the adepti spread before the Harbor to act quickly. She smiles and waves toward the people calling for her attention, pausing momentarily to guide the tourists to the destinations they seek.
The first time it happens, her heart beat quickens thinking Ajax will disappear from her sight but as she returns her gaze, she sees the man patiently waiting in front by a few steps ahead.
Even then, she does not take her time as she usually does. Bidding the guests farewell once they no longer have questions that may need her expertise. Some people flashes the Harbinger a look, giving them a wide berth even as they offer her a smile of their own. When she looks, Ajax does not seem bothered — but she's long since learned she apparently cannot read the man as best as she had thought.
She felt the vibrations from beneath the ground the second Ajax had stepped into Liyue. Something she didn't realize would send her relief so strong she still reacted too shocked upon actually seeing the man in the flesh. To know Ajax is in Liyue is one thing, to be approached by the same man she had betrayed was another. She spent many days creating futile apologies in her head, countless speeches to explain her actions and the contract involved and was deeply dismayed upon learning Ajax was no longer in her country.
The creation of potential scripts in her head does not stop even then, she thinks and thinks and tries to study people's own repentance to see what could possibly work on the Harbinger aside from the all obvious request for a fight. Now that he is here, she does not know how and where to begin.
They reach the docks, quieter and less crowded with most being up in the main square or higher in the mountains. There's a few here and then, but when she looks closely, most of them were of the Fatui with the insignia on their chests or backs. Zhongli begins to feel even more perplexed when another agent pulls down a slab of wood to act as a bridge between the docks and the Fatui ship.
Ajax stops there, turning around ever so slightly and offers a hand, "Come," he orders and Zhongli almost blindly follows it so.
Instead, she hesitates. "Mister Tartaglia..." She trails off quietly, looking back at the brighter part of the Harbor before back toward him. "I don't understand."
"I'm not going to whisk you away at the height of the Lantern Rite," Ajax replies impassively. "If that's what you're worried about."
The implication that she would have been whisked away had it not been the night of the Rite did not go unnoticed. She narrows her eyes a little at this but dismisses it. "Then...?"
"Come with me," Ajax says again, nudging his head toward the ship. "I will return you back to your people before dawn, I promise this."
Zhongli does not feel easier with this, she looks down at the awaiting hand then attempts to know what Ajax may be thinking by staring at that deep blue gaze and is unsurprised when she finds nothing. Internally, she sighs. Externally, she places her own hand against that palm and feels her heart squeeze once Ajax engulfs it with a gentle grip and leads her toward the wooden board.
Ajax allows her to be in front, tensing for a moment when she feels another hand rest against her waist as she's lead to step carefully on the mini bridge, the dress she's adorned a little fluffy and wide for her to properly see where she's stepping on that she tightens her grip on Ajax's hand.
"I hope you don't get sea sick," Ajax says, letting go and stepping back to remove all his warmth Zhongli was slowly leaning into the moment they're boarded. He motions something in the air toward the man holding the steering wheel just as the wooden board was removed. "Sensei?"
Zhongli clears her throat, "No," she says even as she's already longing for the stable ground of Liyue beneath her feet. "Ah, may I know where we are going?"
Ajax places a hand on the small of her back, pushing her gingerly toward the open deck. "Not far," he replies. "How have you been?"
"Well." She puts her hands on the taffrail as the ship began to set sail. "I hope you are the same?"
"Mn." Ajax releases a breath, elbows leaning against the railings and gaze steady out toward the dark sea. Zhongli hums, relieved to hear such information.
...
The sound of wood creaking and rope snapping remains to be the only noise in the ship for the entire duration of the journey. Zhongli is unable to help her eyes constantly straying toward the Harbor. People's laughter echoes far to where they are and as happy as she is to be with her most beloved even though said beloved does not seem to be in the mood of conversation, she cannot help but be at a discomfort being this far when the Lantern Rite is about to reach its second peak.
Sighing quietly, she gazes down at the ripples on the disturbed surface of the water. Following the lines, the small waves and even sees a few marine animals close to this magnificent vessel of transportation.
She yearns to know what is in Ajax's thoughts. What goes through the mind of the Harbinger that made him as solemn and as silent now, a complete contradiction of his child-like, loud personality before. Or was this really how he is? And the one before was a simple facade? Her heart aches at the thought, to learn that somehow she's fallen in love with a falsified person and still manage to love the real one beneath. Would she be considered a fool then?
What is his intention now? Would this be the conversation to end all conversation? Closure? Zhongli's chest squeezes, oh she cannot take that at all. She had thought that with ample time and space, a proper communication, and understanding that they would at least be able to mend what was torn. But it was never going to go her way now, was it? She had thought far ahead that she didn't realize she crossed the boundary of what Ajax may want in their relationship now.
There's a whistle, a commanding whistle that makes the hair on Zhongli's skin stand up. She lifts her gaze just as Ajax whistles again, the ship stops as he moves and cages her between his body and the railings and he signals something in the air toward the man handling the wheel. There's a shiver that runs down her spine upon realizing he was close enough she was able to feel his breath against her ear. "Hold tight, this wouldn't be a smooth turn."
Half of her mind wants to turn around and grip Ajax instead, but the rational part managed to overcome such urge and she tightens her grips on the handles in front of her. Both of Ajax's hands grasp the ones on her either side, effectively using himself as some sort of anchor for her balance. There's a softer whistle this time, mindful of her ears, before Zhongli yelps in surprise at the abrupt swivel of the ship despite the relatively slow acceleration earlier.
Her back hits Ajax's chest because of this, and she uses more of her strength to pull herself up front not to burden Ajax and potentially make both of them fall. Once the part of the ship they're standing on is directly facing Liyue, it slows down to a full stop. Zhongli inhales sharply as she watches the Fatui agent behind the wheel drop down a small boat from the other side, watching him disappear as he drops down along with it and hears the washing of water before it gradually disappears.
They're... alone?
The warmth behind her has yet to step back and truthfully, she hopes it never does. Zhongli tilts her head ever so slightly to the side, curious and hesitant but nonetheless giddy at the hand so close to her own.
"Have you had others?"
She blinks, surprised. "Pardon me?"
"Others." Ajax steps back, standing once again beside her. So close and yet so far. "Have you had others after me?"
"That implies I've had you." Zhongli smiles bitterly. "When I have not."
Ajax doesn't make any notion he's affected by it. His face remains a blank sleet. "Ah, details." He waves a hand. "Have you or have you not?"
"No," Zhongli replies honestly, "I haven't. There had been suitors left ignored. There is already one in my heart, after all." Her smile turns faint, longing and accepting. Whatever it was that Ajax meant by bringing her here, to apologize is to be frank. To be frank is to confess what she has been feeling for a while.
Ajax does not respond quickly. There's a time pause where they simply watch the fireworks begin to explode amidst the darkness of the sky. What a sight to see, this is definitely a new angle for even a creature that existed for eons like Zhongli that does not dwell herself with the sea as much as possible.
Here, the view is open. Magnificent in its hue and saturation and she sighs blissfully, leaning her elbows against the top of the railings, her chin on both her hands. "I heard some of the fireworks here were commissioned especially from Inazuma," she comments idly, smiling at the new shapes of dragons and adepti forms alike.
And still, she receives no response. It does not deter her, hardly anything does when she attempts to make conversation with Ajax for he made it easy always. "I've been told by Director Hu there's a special firework-"
She pauses, stunned, as she sees the special firework shoot up toward the sky. Golden within its core, sparkles of orange and a trail of blue.
Zhongli sees her own face once it spreads. She watches, mesmerized as another follows suit with another angle though this time it seems as though there was another person. Further perplexed when she sees it was a merchant, she concludes this must be a story of some sort. A past, replayed by memory with the use of fireworks and its explosion. Another one appears to be her smiling sheepishly as she pats her pockets. Another of the merchant getting angry, then another of her attempting to leave peacefully before another comes next and though there was no face, Zhongli knows that arm and gloved hand holding a bag of mora by hand.
The seventh one is her using the mora to pay for the item, then another of her turning toward what she knows is Ajax and then finally, finally it shows her front view grinning happily at the gentleman that swooped in to save her just in time.
... She releases a breath, amazed by the astounding performance in a way she hadn't thought of could be possible.
"That's our first meeting, wasn't it?" Ajax questions, gaze turned toward the Harbor. "Before the official one in your office in the Parlor."
"Yes." Zhongli hopes and hopes. "Ajax-"
"I was part of the making process of the last one," Ajax interjects, not unkindly. "Had to make sure she gets it right."
Zhongli steps closer. "Get right?"
"Your smile." Ajax turns to her, face complicated as though he's not sure what he was supposed to say that his blue eyes harden to a glare. "Your eyes. The way you looked when you thanked me. I had to make sure it's as I remembered."
It warms her. For even she was uncertain how she looked that time, two years ago, but it warmed her immensely Ajax participated in the firework's creation for it to be as detailed as how it appeared for fifteen seconds in the air. It warms her, just as it worries her for she still does not know what this means.
Did this mean the end? To remember the past is to end it? End what once was? Or was this Ajax trying to say something? If so, wouldn't he have been straightforward about it?
When she reaches out, Ajax meets her half way. Taking her hand, holding it gently and carefully and so lovingly Zhongli's heart flutters. "What... does this mean?"
And Ajax must have grown, somewhere in the year they have not seen each other. For he does not say what the answer immediately. "What do you want it to mean?" He asks, leisure as though he asks about the weather in Liyue during the day rather than a potential romantic affiliation. "Hm?"
"I don't..." Zhongli bites her lip, furrowing her brows. "I ask of your statement."
"Well, I am asking yours."
Zhongli wishes so he would speak his own thoughts instead. She wishes to say that this meant Ajax would be staying with her, in Liyue even if he was not meant for the heat. He was meant for the cold, the snow the south could never imagine to offer. He was meant for the Tsarita far in the north, in Snezhnaya where Zhongli could not reach her. She wishes this, but cannot be selfish enough for it.
She looks down at their intertwined hand, how hers simply lays on top of Ajax's and she curls her fingers to squeeze the other's a little. She doesn't speak, finding herself too much of a coward for it.
Ajax releases a breath, a small laugh leaving those lips. "You already said there is only one in your heart and now you hesitate. Does that mean it is not me?"
"It is," Zhongli insists before her mouth and mind connects, she grounds herself for a moment and looks away with a sigh. "But I do not know who is in yours. It would be unfair if I... if I assume." She clears her throat, attempting to remove her hand from Ajax's grasp and only stops upon realizing how tight the hold has become.
"Zhongli." Ajax looks up at the sky with defeated eyes and Zhongli panics. "What did the fireworks look like to you?"
"Beautiful -"
"No, what did you think it implied?"
Zhongli blinks, confused. "It... its implications were of the same reason of the last contract of Rex Lapis?"
Ajax does not look down from the stars he stares at. "And what does the last contract mean?"
"The means to an end?"
The silence that follows is awkward. The tension is not thick, albeit it is uncomfortable. Zhongli feels as though she said something wrong.
"Lili." Ajax smiles at her lazily once he looks back down. Zhongli was about to comment on the tone he used, it made her feel even more unsure of everything. But quickly, the sight of one lantern released from the Harbor behind him takes her attention.
Ajax must have noticed it as well, as he lets her hand go and allows her to move closer toward the edge, closer toward the Harbor and the lone lantern. It comes from the Jade Palace no doubt, higher already than it is for most and she sees immediately it is followed by more. More and more until the Harbor is flooded by hundreds and hundreds of lanterns floating up to the dark sky. It brightens them, and the hazy glow of gold makes Zhongli's face brighten not only with its light.
It eases her, everytime, no matter how long. No matter how many times she witnesses it, no matter how many times she is bathed in its glory. The lanterns in the Rite has always been one of the most beautiful parts where Zhongli enjoys the most. Long has it since lost the main reason for this part; to be the torch for lost soldiers to return home from where they are in the corners of the world. But to her, Zhongli thinks it is still conveyed to lost souls.
She follows every single one, quickly reaching for one that slowly falls near the ship and lifts it back up with a gentle push.
Zhongli looks around herself and once she realizes there's more light coming from behind, she turns around quickly.
"I was going to save these for later." Ajax shrugs, holding two lit lanterns. "But I suppose, that wasn't a good foresight knowing who you are."
"Ajax..." She approaches, slow and curious. "Ajax?"
Offering one of the two, Zhongli holds her own lantern in both hands. Careful and hopeful, she turns it around here and then simply to have something to fiddle with. She looks at it in scrunity, confused.
"You once said that before you let your lanterns go, you must make a wish," Ajax says, pulling out a pen from his pocket. "Whether it be in your head, orally, or you write it on the side of the paper itself."
"... Yes."
Ajax smiles. "Then, make a wish."
Zhongli knows it's a little futile on her end, but she does anyway. She makes one in her head, and then another. Two wishes before she lets her lantern go and Ajax's follows soon after. For the safety and prosperity to continue in Liyue, and a bit more personal that involves the man in front of her.
"Do Gods hear them?"
She hums. "Not quite," she says. "But they certainly try." The two lanterns float up slowly, circling around each other and with sharp eyes, she notices a writing on one. A familiar handwriting, used to write something foreign. Snezhnayan? She knows the modern version, fluent in it, in fact - so this one must be a different one. Unless it was a dialect? Zhongli narrows her eyes, intrigued.
There's a chuckle beside her. "Does trying to hear a wish include trying to read them as well?"
Zhongli looks down quickly, embarrassed. "Pardon me." She straightens non-existing wrinkles in the flurries of her dress. "I did not mean to be... ah, my apologies."
Ajax hums. "Nothing to forgive." There's a teasing lilt in his tone, further making Zhongli feel silly for her earlier actions. "I'll tell you what I wished for if you tell me yours?"
"There might be a chance it won't take effect."
"Hm? I've heard wishes have a higher chance to come true if they were known by others that can make it so."
Zhongli clasps her hands. "Many in Liyue believe the listener might afflict it with bad luck, hence they do not typically speak their desires out loud."
"You think I'd jinx it?" Ajax asks, smile never faltering though the edges sharpened.
"I did not say I believe in such phrase." Zhongli shakes her head. "I merely think that I would allow for fate to decide which trajectory in life the wishes may go. But if you promise, then I will tell."
Ajax raises a brow. "Promise what?"
"That you would tell me yours after I say mine."
His smile widens, then he nods.
Zhongli looks up at their lanterns again, seeing it remain on the same path it had taken above them earlier. "I wished for Liyue's success, as I always do," she says. "For them to continue forth without fear." There's apprehension in her tone this time as she slowly looks back down, yet she does not meet that piercing blue.
"That was my first wish. My second... I wished that you would stay for the entire Lantern Rite and then some days after it." Her voice quietens by the end to a mumble almost inaudible that she both hopes it was heard and unheard all the same. She inhales and exhales slowly, fingers constantly running through the stitched ends of her gloves. "So, we can enjoy them together."
Ajax does not say anything immediately and Zhongli refuses to look anywhere near his face. She waits, as patiently as she could, for a response even if the thought of a rejection upsets her the more time she does not hear any denial nor confirmation of it.
There's the noise of small chains rattling and wood creaking as one step is made near her, a hand reaches for both her own and Zhongli gazes at this, surprised. "That's it?" Ajax asks, mirthful. "And here I thought the great Consultant would want a little more."
Though perplexed, Zhongli simply hums. "Tell me yours," she requests.
"I will, but look at me first."
Chewing on the bottom of her lip, Zhongli does. Ajax's eyes are soft no matter how lifeless they may be as he stares back, it's crinkled with the grin adorning that handsome face and Zhongli relaxes at the sight. It gives her a sense of safety of some sort, a familiar expression. "I wished for my family to live long and good this year," he says first, and Zhongli inclines her head. "Then for the Tsarita's will to remain steadfast and successful."
Zhongli nods again.
"Those were my second and third wish."
When she was about to nod for the third time, she pauses. "Second and third?"
Ajax rummages through his pockets, and Zhongli sees the small jewelery box for only a second before her eyes widen as Ajax kneels on one knee in front of her.
"Ajax?"
"This is not how Liyue does it, but I've learned that we basically did it in your nation's tradition." Ajax looks up and for once this night, hesitance is laced in his tone. "The box of chopsticks."
Zhongli flushes almost immediately at the reminder of her shameless action, despite this, she nods slowly. "They were... they were mainly meant for a gift as business partners..."
"But?"
"But I have -" She clears her throat. "I admit, there were a few personal interests that came along with it."
Ajax does not seem deterred, if anything, he looks even more confident in what he is to do. "May I be so bold as to assume this personal interest involves feelings a former Archon should not have toward another Archon's Vanguard?"
Zhongli does not respond, and in itself is a response of its own. Ajax's smile widens impossibly so as those gloved fingers open the box. Inside reveals a ring: a simple golden band with three stones, the centre a blue gem Zhongli has never seen in her life with two of the finest cor lapis pieces on each side of it. It glistens and glows with the lanterns' light surrounding them and it takes a moment for her to realize she'd been staring at the ring for quite a while.
She puts a hand on her chest, breathing in slowly and quietly. She steps back, brows furrowed and surprised before she steps forward again. Zhongli may not be knowledgeable with every culture from each nation, but she's aware enough to know what this meant. What this implies - what the intention was and what would happen if she accepts.
And yet Ajax remains in his position. No bout of doubt and hesitance in his features even with Zhongli's reaction. "Ajax." There's something tightening inside her. "How could I... How - Why-"
"How what?" Ajax insists. "How could you what?"
"You are serious?" Zhongli waves a hand. "About this?"
"You know." Ajax releases a small laugh. "It's going to be easier for the both of us if you just straight out say no."
Zhongli doesn't say anything to that. She wants to accept, she just doesn't think she should considering the circumstances.
"The Tsarita..." She begins after a while, her hands curling around her dress as she stares at the ring helplessly. "The Tsarita... your family - what of them then? We haven't discussed this. We haven't... I wouldn't want to be another burden at the back of your mind, Ajax."
There's a sigh, and then Ajax is reaching out toward her with an outstretched arm. "Give me your hand."
She frowns. "Ajax-"
"Give me your hand if you want this," Ajax interjects, tone firm. "Without thinking of anyone else, reject me now if you do not, give me your hand if you do."
Zhongli bites the inside of her cheek, grasp tightening against her dress as her gaze flickers between the ring and the awaiting hand. Though uncertainty still lingers inside her gut, she lays her palm on Ajax's. He said to not think about anyone else, and why wouldn't Zhongli want this? Why would she not accept if she thinks of nothing aside from them?
She only hopes, as she sees Ajax hold her hand oh so gently, that she did not unknowingly pull Ajax back away from where he was supposed to be. That she did not keep him away from what he was supposed to achieve. For them to be tied meant responsibility and duty to each other, and Ajax was meant for more - to be out there, to be away and -
And Zhongli thinks she cannot live constantly in worry and fear awaiting for him to come back, or if he ever does at all.
"This is a promise." Ajax gingerly removes Zhongli's glove. "A promise that no matter what happens and no matter how far apart I am to you and you to me, we are to return to each other by the end of the day." When the ring is snuggly around Zhongli's finger, there's a cooling sensation that distracts her immediately. The blue gem pulses, brightening in its glow as she watches in rapt attention a skin like feel spread from the ring and wraps around her wrist down to her arm. It's akin to the black marks she has on her arms and hands that she hides beneath a much more mortal disguise.
It glows faintly, then darkens, then glows again. Zhongli realizes slowly that it mimics a heartbeat.
Senses sharpening, she realizes just who's heartbeat it mimics.
"A promise," she echoes softly.
Ajax puts the box down on the wooden floor of the ship, gaze steady once she meets it. "That you are mine as I am yours." Ajax's voice is calm, steadfast and sure. As though declaring this means it is absolute. "My soul will be bound to yours. It will search for you in every lifetime, in every universe. Our fate will be intertwined and the stars will align for us to meet again even with difficult circumstances." The smile slowly drops, and as Zhongli sees, Ajax earnestly returns her stare.
"My Lili, do you accept this?"
"I do." And it was the easiest thing in the world to accept. The easiest thing to say and Zhongli realizes this far too soon it knocks the air out of her chest. She breathes in and out slowly, calmly, "I do," she repeats as though Ajax needed to hear it another time.
Ajax smiles, so wide and bright and Zhongli melts. He looks at her hand, the ring and then looks back up at her eyes. "You accept me?"
Zhongli leans closer, closer. "I do."
"Again."
"I do." They're so close. A hair's width away. "I accept you. Everything you will give me, and everything you are not ready to." They have many to speak of. What of Ajax's future? His duties? Zhongli may have retired, but it does not mean the same for a young man like her beloved.
But, she allows herself this. For once, she cares not for what is outside their bubble.
When they kiss, Zhongli thinks this might be one of the greatest Lantern Rite she's ever experienced.