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Take the Children and Run
“Can I have a sword too?” Kaeya asked, clasping his hands under his chin.
He’d had a real sword before he came to live here. One that he couldn’t pick up, but never one to play with.
Crepus shook his head, “Not just yet, but soon. You’re still recovering, and while fresh air is good for you, it’d be best if you tried to play calmly. Mister Seamus said you still need to eat more, and let your lungs recover too, right?”
Kaeya’s shoulders drooped, but he nodded in agreement. “Yes, sir.”
He had been cooped up in the winery all winter, after his new family found him. The grown-ups said he had something called pneumonia, a really bad sickness that hurts your lungs, and that his body was too weak to fight it very well.
Crepus had even moved himself and Diluc from their city home out to the winery, just so he could stay close to Kaeya without having to move him around in the winter months too much.
He was getting better now, though, more energetic than he’d ever felt. Under the Ragnvindr’s care, he’d gained weight, been less ill, started learning to communicate, and read. He’d also learned that not everyone wanted to hurt him.
There were no cuts for asking questions, he had three meals a day, even if he couldn’t eat it all, and not once had he been forced to sit in a dark closet. Part of him felt like he was betraying his family. They had “trained” him. He was supposed to be hurting the evil people of Mondstadt, a place he hadn’t even seen yet.
Except that it was here he found a life. Not simply an existence, but a real family. No one had hurt him, and no one was going to. He was still learning that sometimes. There were times that he was overwhelmed with feelings and memories of only months prior, the pain he’d gone through. Crepus and Diluc were patient, though. They would help him through his harder times, and he was learning.
“Kaeya! Look what I found!”
Diluc came running up to him, hand full of dirt. As he got near, he opened his hand for Kaeya to see, and nearly stopped the wriggling worm he’d found. He looked at it closely, and gently poked it.
“I’m gonna give it to Miko,” Diluc said proudly. “She can feed her chicks with it! Gem can’t have it… worms could make him sick because he’s not a… a ommelvore.”
Crepus laughed, and rustled Kaeya and Diluc’s hair. “I’m sure she’d love that. You two go play, now. Nothing too wild.”
As they turned around, a little blonde girl with bouncing curls was marching down the road next to a tall blonde man who looked just like her. Kaeya had met Jean a few times when she had come with her father, Mister Seamus. He knew that even though she was a little bossy, she only meant well. She was always happy to have helped in some way, but she always followed the rules perfectly.
Admittedly, even though he had become used to these people, he still hid behind Crepus. Being around more people still made him nervous.
Crepus crouched down to face him. “It’s alright, he’s just here to talk to me about some things and the thought you two might enjoy playing with Jean. Okay?”
“I brought Elainora. Let’s go play turtle family!”
Diluc nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll go get Gem. Be right back!”
Kaeya stared at Jean’s tortoise, and it stared back. He was a little afraid of them, but he also found them interesting. Diluc had asked a few times if he wanted to feed Gem, but he was afraid it would bite.
He was afraid of Crepus’ falcon, Miko, too. It never nipped at him, but that beak looked very sharp. He had heard of birds, and even seen a few small types, but never realized that some were so big. When he asked about it, Diluc showed him a whole book with pictures, all about animals, and it turned out there were birds even bigger than Miko.
Crepus gave the children a warm smile, and gestured for Jean’s father to follow him into the house. “Seamus, come inside.”
Seamus nodded, giving Jean a small pat on the head, and followed Crepus inside. Jean watched him go, then turned back to Kaeya and Diluc, one hand on a hip, the other holding her tortoise.
Diluc led them to a quiet place, still within the little valley the winery sat in. He and Diluc had been to this little clearing a few times together to play. There was space to run around, or just sit under a tree.
Okay,” Jean announced as they came to their spot. “Turtle family! You,” she turned toward Diluc. “Are the turtle daddy, and I am the turtle mommy, who is also a Knight of Favonius! That means that you can be a stay-at-home turtle daddy.”
Jean tried to hand Elainora to Diluc, who was pouting.
“I don’t want to be a stay-at-home turtle daddy! I’m gonna be a Knight, too. We… We need a turtle baby nanny!”
Kaeya sat on a stump and looked between the two, neither one of them backing down. Then, very slowly, both of them turned to look at him. Jean approached him carefully, and held the little turtle out to him, staying far enough not to scare him.
“She doesn’t bite,” Jean said matter-of-factly. “She mostly just walks around and eats grass. She’s very calm.”
Kaeya looked at the tortoise, and the tortoise looked back with completely unbothered eyes. Slowly, he reached out and touched her shell. It was smooth, and warm from the sun. Elainora did not bite him. She didn’t move much at all, actually, simply closing her eyes, and turning her head slightly to the side as he rubbed her shell.
The tension in his shoulders faded as he took the tortoise in-hand. She was heavier than he expected, and she stayed very calm. He took Gem from Diluc, and set them in a nearby clover patch. Then he found some sticks, and started to build them up around them.
“What are you doing?” Diluc asked, sitting on his knees next to him.
“Making them a house.”
He laid the sticks out carefully, end to end, forming a rectangle in the clover, managing a couple of layers before he ran out of sticks. If the turtles really wanted, they could probably walk right over them, but they didn’t. Gem found a nice, thick patch of clover and stayed there, while Elainora walked the perimeter of the stick fence, almost as if she were inspecting it, then settled in the sun.
“She likes it,” Jean said approvingly. “Now it’s Knight practice time!”
Jean and Diluc took off to the center of the clearing, wooden swords at the ready. Kaeya looked down at the turtles, watching them live their lives. He wondered what they were thinking. Were they unhappy in their little pen? They didn’t look it. In fact, it didn’t look like they cared at all.
Maybe if he’d been born as a turtle he wouldn’t have to be a spy and try to hurt people. It had been months since he was left in the wild, and he was getting better, but… he never wanted to hurt anyone at all.
There were more problems, though. He hadn’t met many people yet, but everyone he did meet were so kind to him. Kaeya kept waiting for the catch, what they would want in return, the high expectations that he couldn’t mentally, or physically handle. None of it ever came. They just let him be a kid, learning and doing kid things.
“Hey Ky, are you okay?”
Kaeya looked up. It was the eyes, he was still getting used to what that look meant. Worry, concern, care. He didn’t understand what to do with it, and he didn’t like seeing it on Diluc or Jean, but it felt so much nicer than anger and hate.
He bit his lip and nodded. “I-I am…”
“You don’t look okay,” Jean shook her head.
“He’s okay!” Diluc said. “He… just needs a place that’s even happier than this! Dad took me to this really neat place, and it wasn’t too far.” Diluc pulled Kaeya to his feet, and picked up the tortoises. “Come on, I’ll take you guys.
The redhead didn’t wait for an answer before he marched ahead. Kaeya and Jean hesitated for a moment, but with a quick glance at each other, they followed.
After a while, Kaeya began to get nervous. They were still walking, and it was taking longer than he would have expected for something nearby.
“Luc… do you really know where it is?” he finally asked.
Diluc stopped, and looked around. “It’s just… there’s a lot more leaves than there was before. Everything looks different…” He turned to his left just a little, and started walking again. “It’s this way, I’m sure of it!”
As it turned out, Diluc was right. Just a little ways past the dense brush was a clearing. Unfortunately, just as he moved to step into the clearing, he tripped, and landed face-first onto a sleeping… something.
The creature gave a shriek as it woke, then made a bunch of noises at him while waving its arms around. Kaeya had backed up, but it wasn’t far enough. The creature came running after him.
“Kaeya!”
Kaeya ran as fast as he could, circling the edge of the clearing.
The creature followed.
~ Chapter Two ~
Just as Kaeya had tipped forward, Diluc made a grab for the back of his shirt, but missed. Just tripping would have been bad enough, but straight into a sleeping hilichurl? Scary. He stood frozen in place for a moment as he watched Kaeya run in circles, followed closely by the hilichurl.
Kaeya was still healing, and so small… what if he got hurt, or worse? There was no time to go find someone.
He spun and handed Gem to Jean. “Take the children and go get help!”
Before she could answer, he ran after Kaeya, sword drawn. He could already hear Kaeya wheezing, he was fast, but slowing down quickly.
Diluc could hear it, the way his breathing had changed from quick and frightened to something far more labored. His legs were still moving, but the gap between him and the hilichurl was shrinking, and Diluc’s chest tightened.
He brought them here. He got them lost. He did this.
He stopped trying to think, and ran harder.
“Hey!” he shouted, waving his sword. “Hey, over here ya big dumb hilichurl!”
It completely ignored him, too fixed on Kaeya to care about a new target. Diluc needed to change his approach. He cut across the clearing at an angle, trying to get ahead of them, and put himself in the hilichurl’s path, jumping between it and Kaeya. Planting his feet in the dirt, he leaned forward to catch the hilichurl with his shoulder.
It hurt, but it also worked. He and the hilichurl were both on the ground. It made an even angrier sound as it scrambled to get up, Diluc sat up, raised his practice sword above his head, and brought it down. It didn’t do much, but the hilichurl stopped moving for a moment, seemingly shocked.
Then, a large shadow fell over them. A very large shadow.
“Well,” a deep voice said, calm and almost amused. “What do we have here?”
Diluc looked up at the man, who assessed the situation in about one second, stepped forward, and handled the hilichurl. In one swift, efficient swing, the problem was solved. It was over just like that.
Varka dropped to one knee between Diluc and Kaeya. “Your father isn’t going to be happy about that,” he said, pointing to Diluc’s torn, slightly bloodied arm. And you,” he turned to Kaeya, “Well, you don’t look too good.”
Kaeya was on his knees, but braced on one hand, the other hand on his chest. He was too pale, and his eyes shone with tears. Diluc scooted closer, shoulder throbbing, palms scraped and stinging.
“Hey, Kaeya…”
His brother looked up at him, and broke.
“I-I… I’m so sorry!” Kaeya cried between broken breaths.
“Huh? Why?”
“You took me here because I was sad and… y-you got hurt!”
Diluc shook his head. “I’m fine! I’ve had way worse before. Besides, as a Knight, and a big brother it’s my duty to help you. I’m glad you’re okay… and I’m sorry you’re hurt.”
Diluc’s chest tightened again as he looked at how pale Kaeya still was, and how much trouble he was having catching his breath.
“We better get you back to the winery,” Varka said, carefully scooping Kaeya into his arms. He paused, and looked down at Jean before he began to walk. “Nice turtles. Do they have names?”
“They’re tortoises,” Jean corrected. “This one is Gem, he’s Diluc’s, and this one is Elainora. She’s mine.”
“I see. Those are some very fine names!”
Varka kept the conversation going during the short walk back to the winery. As they got closer, Diluc could hear their names being called. Kaeya had become quiet, and his breathing was far more even, but a little too shallow. Diluc looked up at him, reaching for his gangling foot.
“He’s okay,” Varka said, adjusting slightly so they could see Kaeya’s face. “He’s just asleep, but Seamus will look him over, just to be safe.”
“... You’re going to tell dad everything… aren’t you,” Diluc mumbled, head down and feet shuffling.
“Every detail, kiddo. I already hear that you lot have given your parents quite the scare.”
The moment they were in view Diluc was engulfed by his dad’s arms. He didn’t make a noise as his shoulder was jostled, but his father still quickly pulled back and looked at him.
“Where are you hurt?”
That was when Diluc’s guilt finally caught up. Tears started streaming down his cheeks as he told him everything, how bad he felt, and that it was all his fault. His dad kissed him on the forehead, and picked him up.
Even though he was a big boy now, he let his dad carry him as exhaustion took over. He let his head rest on his father’s shoulder and closed his eyes.
It took quite a bit of time to get them all cleaned up and checked for injuries. Diluc would have to wear a sling for a while, and his hands were wrapped up. Jean was completely unharmed, which he was thankful for, but Seamus spent quite a while with Kaeya.
Diluc sat in the chair close to Kaeya’s room, and waited, no matter how much his eyes wanted to close. Finally, Seamus and his dad came out, Diluc jumped up and tried to peek in the room.
“ – Diluc, wait,” his father said. “Thank you, Seamus. I’m sorry about everything. Diluc, do you have something to say?”
Diluc looked down at his feet. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to put Jean and Kaeya in danger…”
“I wanted to see it,” Jean spoke up. “It looked pretty. Maybe we could go another time, but with grown-ups?”
“It’s alright, Diluc. Just promise us you won’t go wandering off again, okay?”
“Y-yes sir! I won’t!”
They bid Seamus, Jean and Varka goodbye, and Diluc was allowed in to see Kaeya. Diluc edged closer to the bed. Kaeya looked much better. He thought his brother was sleeping, until Kaeya opened his eyes a little, and looked their way.
“Luc? You okay?”
“I’m fine…”
“But your shoulder–”
“I’m sorry, Kaeya! I shouldn’t have tried to take us there,” Diluc said, fresh tears falling. “I’m so sorry…”
“Don’t worry about the past, Diluc. You are both home and safe, and you learned a lesson,” their father said, cupping his cheek lightly. “Alright, you are both going to bed a bit early. Come on–”
“Um…” Kaeya interrupted quietly. “Can Diluc stay with me? That was a really scary monster.”
Their dad nodded. “Of course. Sleep well, kids.”
Diluc climbed into the other side of the bed, and they both got tucked in. He knew there would probably be nightmares for Kaeya. There often were, even without hilichurl attacks haunting his dreams.
He listened carefully to Kaeya’s breathing, fully intending to stay awake and make sure it didn’t stop in the night.
“Luc?” Kaeya said in a tired voice.
“Yeah, Ky?”
“Thank you for saving me.”
There were many things he wanted to say. That Kaeya never needed to thank him. That he was glad he was okay. That he shouldn’t be thanking him for something that was his fault to begin with, but Kaeya’s breathing had evened out again.
Diluc watched him for a moment.
A little brother had finally been brought into his life, something he never thought he’d have, and today, he came to realize just how easily he could lose that.
“I won’t let anything hurt you, Kaeya,” Diluc whispered. “I’ll be the best big brother ever.”
~ Epilogue ~
Diluc set their bags down as Kaeya and Durin spread the blanket across the ground in the clearing. Kyra squealed, a battle cry, Diluc had learned, meaning either his hair was about to be attacked again, or he was about to be left with a large, open-mouthed, slobbery kiss on his cheek.
He was fine with the latter, and thank the Archon that was what she chose, but the hair pulling wasn’t so nice.
When the blanket was all set, he lowered himself to the ground, right on the edge of the blanket, and set the vicious little redhead in the grass. For a moment, all movement stopped. Then, slowly, she touched a single blade of grass. When it bounced away from her, only to come back again, she laughed.
Jean handed him Elaris next. He tried to set her on her stomach, but she pulled her arms and feet back, making a very displeased noise. Kyra, who had been watching as if she was expecting this, grabbed a fist full of grass, and held it up for her sister. Elaris tried to move away from it.
“It’s just grass,” Diluc tried to show her by running a hand over it. “It’s soft.”
She made a small noise, her version of a growl.
“Okay, okay.”
When he set her on the blanket, she looked up at him, and giggled.
“She’s as contrary as her father,” Jean said, sitting on Elaris’ other side. She looked around the clearing. “It’s been so long since I’ve been here… but I certainly remember the first time.”
Kaeya laughed, sitting in the grass next to Kyra, his fiery little best friend.
“Me too. The trees may be a little older and a little taller, but it looks the same as always. Minus the guest, of course.”
“Guest?” Albedo asked, looking up from his sketch pad.
“Oh, yes–”
“Kaeya, don’t…”
“You see, Diluc brought Jean and me here once, just after I joined the family, and right over there,” he pointed to where they had just entered from, “Was a sleeping hilichurl.”
“There was a hilichurl just sleeping there? What happened next?!” Klee asked, coming to a halt in front of the babies.
“Oh, well… he didn’t take kindly to being woken by a child falling on him, it seemed. He chased me all around the clearing. I might still be running to this day, had Diluc not been so brave, and saved me!”
Klee gasped, “You saved him forty years ago?! Wow, you must have been a really good Knight!”
“... How old do you think I am?–”
“He was a very good Knight. That’s why he’s so big and strong today,” Jean said. “He also saved me, and our turtle babies.”
“They were tortoises,” Diluc corrected, mirroring what Jean had told Varka so long ago. “And I think this story is getting a bit out of hand. I didn’t–”
“He dove right at that hilichurl!” Kaeya interrupted. “He even got injured, but he saved us all.”
Diluc rolled his eyes. He already knew he was never going to win this. Kaeya telling tall-tales was bad enough, but when Jean got involved, helping to exaggerate whatever his brother said, Diluc had no good ways to fight back.
Durin sat on his knees in front of Kyra, and tilted his head to one side before he plucked a single clover from the ground, and ate it. After a moment, he made a face, muttered something about it being bitter, and pulled the entire bunch of them from her. It was a bit of a fight, but he replaced them with one of her toys, and she settled.
The underbrush rustled, and Dandy casually strode from the small bushes just as Dawn landed in a tree branch that gave her a full view of the area. She chirped down at Dandy in the distinct way she used just for him. The fluffy beast paused, and turned his head to chirp back.
Diluc wished he knew what they were saying, but one would think they had been communicating for years. To his knowledge, they never met until later last year. Ultimately, he was just glad that they got along.
“Kyra, Kyra, look! Look what I can do!” Klee exclaimed dropping to her knees in front of the tiny redhead.
She proceeded to see how many different faces she could make before Kyra lost interest.
“I’m glad she didn’t bring the bombs,” Jean said, complete relief evident in her voice.
“She asked three times,” Kaeya confirmed.
Diluc picked up Elaris again, hoping she’d changed her mind, and tried to set her down in the grass on her bottom this time, but as he got closer, she lifted her feet higher, and higher, and started wiggling. He tried one more time before Kaeya reached out for her.
“She’s not going to touch it,” Diluc said, handing the baby over.
Kaeya nodded in agreement, setting her on his lap in a way that gave her distance from the grass, but she could see Kyra playing in it. “Princesses don’t need grass, anyway.”
Diluc looked at the people around him.
Albedo was looking at the twins, sketching. Durin was copying every move Dandy did as Dawn looked down on them with judgement, and Klee was bouncing around the clearing, singing a song about a duck, lemonade, and grapes that only Lumine could have taught her. Kaeya was entertaining the babies, slowly bringing Elaris down close to Kyra, who was now on her back. They would reach for each other, and Kaeya would quickly pull her back up again, eliciting deep, belly laughs from each girl.
“You know,” Jean said handing a cup of juice over to Diluc. “That first time I was in this clearing I was holding our tortoise babies, watching you charge a hilichurl with a wooden sword.”
Diluc’s hand stilled, midair.
“Elainora was very calm about the whole thing,” Kaeya said, setting Elaris back on his lap. “I remember every time I ran by, I could see her just casually watching me go.”
“She was always calm,” Jean agreed. “Do you remember what you said to me before you ran at the hilichurl, Diluc?”
“No,” Diluc denied, knowing it was going to come up anyway.
“Do too!” Kaeya said unhelpfully.
“Take the children and run,” Jean said, grinning as if she’d been saving this for such a very long time. “Take the children and run, and then you just… ran into danger.”
“I was nine…”
“Almost nine,” Kaeya corrected with a wide grin.
“That distinction is unimportant. What’s important is that now, I–”
“–Still run in like that? Why, you’re absolutely right, Diluc.”
He and Kaeya bickered back and forth as the kids all continued to play.
Diluc felt so content, happy. He was glad he’d shown them the spot, and all the times after that they’d come with his father. It would always be so special to him, and now he could pass on that special feeling.
“Luc,” Kaeya said.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t even say anything yet!”
“You were going to say something insufferable,” Diluc responded, glancing sideways at his brother.
Kaeya smiled. “I was only going to say that it’s a nice spot.”
Diluc looked at him for a moment.
“Yeah,” he said finally. “It is.”
Children playing, laughter in the air. No hilichurls.
Diluc picked up a sandwich.
It was a very nice spot.