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The apartment was warm with the glow from the fireplace and easy conversations. Mei looked around the living room, her gentle smile partially hidden by the wine glass she was holding as she observed the people surrounding her.
Across from her, occupying the loveseat was Bianka, who despite the occasion, still chose orange juice as her beverage of choice. The Bianka Ataegina, ever strict with her fitness regimen. Or maybe not so strict, because beside her was Rita, feeding her from time to time with the chocolate lava cake she brought for the gathering. Mei tilted her head, amusedly noting how pleased Rita looked whenever she took a bite of the cake she offered.
On the other couch was Theresa and Fu Hua, immersed in an animated conversation. It was an uncharacteristic sight for Fu Hua being so spirited in a conversation. But then again, with the amount of liquid she bravely consumed from the bottle Theresa proudly presented as her most vintage bitter melon wine, it was no wonder her usual calmness was not present at the moment. Mei wondered if that bitter melon wine Theresa was as good as she proclaimed but decided against trying for good measure.
Mei turned her attention to the sound of a giggle coming from the petite woman beside her. Seele leaned her head on the shoulder of the grey-haired woman sitting on the other side of the couch. Bronya lightly poked Seele’s flushed cheek, earning another giggle from the clearly inebriated woman. It reminded her of someone who got drunk too quickly after she decided to take a sip of Himeko’s hidden alcohol stash after being dared by Bronya. How she giggled, while she peppered Mei’s face with kisses while proudly announcing her successful completion of the dare.
As if Bronya knew what she was thinking about, the other woman gave her a gentle smile before raising her hand holding a glass of red wine.
"To the idiot who saved the world!" Bronya proclaimed, getting the attention of all the women in Mei’s modest living room.
"To Kiana!" they chorused, drinking deep.
Seeing these brave, beautiful women carved time from their lives to celebrate Kiana meant everything to Mei. Over a year had passed since Kiana lost her ability to connect with others through dreams. Mei was the only one left that Kiana could reach out to. And every passage of time Kiana remained on the moon, it became harder to predict what would happen next. Mei refused to let her mind wander to the worst case scenario. She took a deep breath to clear her mind of these worrying thoughts. She had a party to attend and friends to catch up with.
Mei refilled everyone's glasses, her movements careful despite the pleasant buzz. Around her, the others had shed their usual composure; Bianka’s perfect posture slouched comfortably, Rita's elegant demeanor softened, Fu Hua actually smiling widely. They hadn’t seen much of each other in the past few years, each woman leading different lives, so seeing them all gathered together in Mei’s living room made her feel very nostalgic.
"Remember," Bianka began, surprising everyone by going first, "when Kiana challenged me to an eating contest?"
Rita nearly choked on her wine. "Oh no, not that story."
"She thought it would be a great sisterly bonding experience. Of course I didn’t back down. I may follow a strict diet regiment, but it is my honor on the line," Bianka continued, a rare grin spreading. "She then proceeded to demolish ten bowls of ramen easily, while I was stuck at four and dying already."
"What was her prize?" Seele asked, eyes wide.
“She got head pat privilege for a week,” Bianka chuckled. "She was like a little puppy back then."
Mei laughed, imagining Kiana with dog ears, following Bianka around with her tail wagging excitedly expecting head pats.
"The Kaslana metabolism is truly terrifying," Fu Hua observed dryly, sipping her bittermelon wine without a hint of reaction on her face.
Bronya leaned forward conspiratorially. "I have a worse story. Remember Kiana's detective phase'?"
Collective groans filled the room.
"She bought a ridiculous hat," Bronya continued, giggling. "Called herself 'Detective Tuna.' Spent two weeks trying to solve the 'mystery' of who ate the last cookie Mei baked."
"It was her!" Mei and Fu Hua said simultaneously, then burst into laughter.
"She interrogated everyone with a magnifying glass," Fu Hua added, eyes twinkling. "Asked me about my whereabouts at 3pm on Tuesday. I told her I was meditating. She wrote in her little notebook: 'Suspect Fu Hua is too calm. Definitely guilty.'"
"She blocked my way out of my office, shined a flashlight on my face, and demanded I confess. I was so startled I almost hit her with the Oath of Judah.” Theresa giggled.
"What ended the investigation?" Seele asked.
"I showed her security footage of her sleepwalking at 2 AM, eating the cookie, then going back to bed." Mei chuckled as she recalled the memory.
"Her face!" Bronya’s cheeks were pink either because of alcohol or from wheezing, Mei couldn’t tell. "She just stood there, mouth open, then said, 'The culprit was... future me? This changes everything!' and started a new investigation into time travel."
The room erupted in laughter.
"Do you remember that one time Kiana fed you the dumplings she made and you had to skip Valkyrie training the next day?” Fu Hua asked, looking at Mei.
How could Mei forget? She could still remember how she thought it was so sweet of Kiana to learn how to make dumplings just to surprise her. And surprise her, she did.
“Wait a minute, did she learn that from you?” Mei asked Fu Hua, unable to hide the accusatory tone from her voice.
“I had no choice but to teach her!” Fu Hua exclaimed, raising her hands in defense. “She wouldn’t stop following me around, until I taught her my dumpling recipe. I didn’t know she would dump a boatload of sugar in it behind my back just because you had a bit of a sweet tooth.”
Mei could almost hear the proud way Kiana explained how she made adjustments to the recipe to give it sweetness because she thought Mei would like it. Mei didn’t have the heart to tell Kiana that her dumplings were too sweet that her tooth ached just chewing them.
"She was so happy back then," Mei said softly, and the mood shifted—still warm, but tender. "I miss her laugh, and how she made us laugh."
Silence fell, comfortable and bittersweet.
"She'll wake up and she’s coming back," Mei said suddenly, her voice resolute.
"Of course she is," Theresa agreed, words slurring slightly. "She’s too stubborn to be stuck in the moon forever.”
"I bet her appetite for your cooking will be astronomical when she comes back. If you need a hand, let me know.” Rita said, winking at Mei.
"To Kiana," Bronya raised her glass again, the other women following suit. "Happy birthday, you idiot.”
“Happy birthday, my heart.” Mei whispered. “Wake up soon.”
And somewhere, so far and yet so close, maybe Kiana heard them.
----------------------------------
“You’re so cute when you’re drunk.”
Mei gasped, almost tripping on her own feet with how fast she spun around after hearing that voice.
She was right there, close enough to touch, her big blue eyes reflecting the moonlight.
Mei moved without thinking, quickly closing the distance and pulled Kiana into her arms, burying her face in white hair that smelled impossibly like summer and home.
"Happy birthday Kiana. I miss you," Mei whispered.
Mei felt Kiana's chest rumbling as she laughed. "Aww thank you baby. And you just dreamed about me a few days ago, you miss me already?” Kiana teased.
“I miss you every day that you are not with me.” Mei burrowed her head further into Kiana’s silky hair.
“Is that why you are talking about my incredible adventures with our friends?”
“You mean your silly adventures,” Mei chuckled.
“Hey, that’s what you love about me right?”
Instead of answering, Mei placed her lips on Kiana’s jaw, leaving featherlight kisses on her skin until their lips finally met in a kiss that reminded Mei of the time they reunited after she came back from the World Serpent. It felt like coming home.
Time seemed to stand still as they lost themselves in each other, the kiss growing more fervent with every caress, with every exchange of breath. Mei’s hands found their way to Kiana’s waist, pulling her closer, impossibly closer. Wondering if she could hold on tightly enough, could she pull Kiana away from the dream and into reality where she was needed? Where Mei desperately needed her.
Just as Mei was about to deepen the kiss, Kiana pulled back slightly, her gaze flickering with a mix of emotions. “Mei,” Kiana began, breathless yet playful, “before we get too distracted, I want to talk about what happened at the party.”
Mei took a deep breath, willing her racing heart to settle down before responding. “Right… our friends.”
With a soft chuckle, Kiana tucked stray hair behind Mei’s ear and kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t worry, we’ll continue the more fun activities later.”
“I remember when you used to be so impatient.” Mei couldn’t help but laugh with the reversal of their roles.
“I guess being asleep for a long time taught me some patience.”
Mei tried not to show on her face how that comment just added into the growing pit in her stomach ever since Kiana stayed in the moon.
They sank down together onto the luminescent surface of not quite ground, not quite cloud. Mei kept one hand intertwined with Kiana's, afraid that letting go might wake her up.
"Bianka admitted you beat her in an eating contest," Mei began, and felt Kiana's delighted laugh vibrate through her.
"I KNEW she remembered! She always pretended it didn't count!"
"And Bronya told everyone about Detective Tuna."
Kiana groaned dramatically. "That was my finest investigative work and I will not hear otherwise. The cookie case remains my greatest achievement."
"Baby, you ate the cookie yourself. While sleepwalking."
"A technicality!" Kiana protested, but she was grinning that ridiculous grin Mei loved so much. "What else? Don't leave anything out."
Mei recounted the rest of the evening—Fu Hua's defensiveness about the toxic dumplings, Theresa boasting about her handcrafted bittermelon wine, how Rita was easily able to convince Bianka to try foods she normally wouldn’t because of her rigid fitness regiment, Seele still retaining her sweet sincerity despite the years that passed. Kiana listened raptly, her expressions openly showing on her face, shifting between laughter and longing.
"I miss them," Kiana said quietly when Mei finished. "I miss movie nights with our friends and training sessions and long conversations with my sister, Bronya’s terrible jokes and Fu Hua pretending she doesn't find me annoying—"
"She doesn't find you annoying."
"Well yeah no one can resist the Kaslana charm for too long.” Kiana's smile turned bittersweet. "I miss... I miss everything. But mostly..." Her fingers traced Mei's cheek with infinite gentleness. "I miss you, really touching you, every second of every day."
Mei's breath caught. "Then come back. There must be a way."
"Not yet," Kiana interrupted softly. "The Honkai energy, the seal... if I return too soon, everything we fought for collapses. You know that."
"I know," Mei whispered. "But knowing doesn't make it hurt less."
They sat in silence, foreheads pressed together, breathing in sync.
"Dance with me?" Kiana asked suddenly.
"There's no music."
"Since when has that stopped us?"
Kiana stood, pulling Mei up with her. They moved together in the timeless space, no rhythm but their own, no audience but the stars. Kiana hummed something off-key and familiar, and Mei recognized it as the song she'd butchered at karaoke in one of their dates.
"You're still terrible at singing," Mei said, but she was smiling.
"And you still love me anyway."
"Always."
They swayed together, and Mei did her best to memorize everything; the warmth of Kiana's body against hers, the way the moonlight reflected on her hair giving Kiana an ethereal look, the way Kiana looked at her like she was etching Mei’s features on her heart, just as Mei was doing at that moment.
"Mei," Kiana said seriously, stopping their movement. "I need you to promise me something."
Mei's heart clenched. "What?"
"Don't wait for me. Not like this." Kiana's voice was firm despite the tears gathering in her eyes. "Live. Meet new people. Laugh with others. Travel around the world. Be happy. I'm not gone, I'm just... delayed."
"I’m already doing that.”
"Do you really? Or are you just doing it to make the time go faster until I return.” Moments like these when Kiana seemed to read her mind, made Mei miss her presence even more. “Promise me," Kiana insisted. "Because if I'm up here knowing you're down there just... existing, just waiting, it'll hurt worse than any seal or separation. I need to know you're living. Really living."
Mei wanted to argue, to refuse, but she saw the desperate hope in Kiana's eyes.
"Only if you promise something too," Mei countered.
"Anything."
"Promise you'll come back. No matter how long it takes. Promise you won't give up on returning to us. To me."
Kiana pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead, then her cheeks, then finally, achingly gentle, her lips.
"I promise," Kiana whispered against her mouth. "Any apocalypse won’t keep me from coming home to you."
They kissed again, deeper this time, pouring years of longing and love and unspoken words into the connection. Mei felt wetness on her cheeks, whether it came from hers or Kiana's, she couldn't tell.
"Mei, you're waking up," Kiana gasped, the spell broken.
"No, not yet!"
"It's okay. We didn’t get to do the fun part yet, so you have something to look forward to the next time you dream about me,” Kiana winked at Mei as she slowly faded.
"Kiana, wait—"
"Tell everyone I miss them terribly. Tell Bronya her jokes are still terrible. Tell Fu Hua I'm definitely haunting her meditation sessions. Tell my sister we need to do another bonding session. Tell Aunt Teri —"
"Tell them yourself when you come home," Mei said fiercely.
"It's a promise! And I never break my promise,” Kiana said confidently, even as she disappeared like morning mist.
Mei whispered to the fading light. "I'll always wait for you Kiana."