Chapter Text
Furina hummed a lively tune as she arranged the vase of Lumidouce Bells she kept on the windowsill. Taking a step back, she admired it with a wide smile on her face. She didn’t know the language of flowers (although thinking about it, she probably could have come up with her own meaning as archon and people would have believed her) but they brightened the room and, small as it was, gave her a feeling of accomplishment. She was doing so well these days that she could also take care of flowers as well as herself.
She looked around, checking the floor for the umpteenth time. No scripts or notes left anywhere they shouldn’t have been. Everything was spotless as it should be. The only thing left to put away was the letter open on her desk.
Aether’s letter to her from last week.
It had felt like an eternity and a blink of an eye since he had headed off. Visiting his friends in Mondstadt for an alchemy showcase, a music festival in Inazuma and an unexpected commission in Sumeru was an awful lot, but she could hardly stop him from adventuring or catching up with old friends.
Never mind that the letters had been coming slightly less frequently recently and this last one was a little more direct and to the point than many of the previous. He was probably busy with things that he couldn’t put into writing.
Either way, the contents of the letter were what had her excited all week.
Aether was coming back home.
…well, not home, she corrected herself. He didn’t live in Fontaine. Or with her for that matter.
That could easily change, she thought. She had to simply extend the invitation, rearrange a few things to accommodate two people living in her apartment and get a spare key made. There was nothing wrong with the accommodation Navia had provided for him and Paimon, but it would make things much easier for her if she had him move in with her whenever he came back to Fontaine. From a convenience point of view, her apartment was also close to the Adventurer's Guild. Paimon, she imagined, would be happier with having more space in Fleuve Cendre. Not to mention how Furina didn’t have the storage space for the food Paimon would get through.
But then there was the reality of him travelling. He’d never be in one place for too long, at least until his journey was over.
Ah, but wouldn’t it be nice, she sighed wistfully.
Nonetheless, he was coming back to Fontaine and everyone would be better off for it.
Knock knock
Furina jumped and spun to check the clock. Much earlier than she thought.
Well, she certainly wasn’t complaining and never would. Now, how to greet him?
A hug was appropriate for such an agonisingly long time spent apart. Launching herself seemed appealing, if somewhat uncouth, but it did get across the depths of her affection and it would be right by her door so who was there to judge her? Then again, if he was holding anything, it could cause issues and if she stopped to verify it, the moment would be long gone.
There was also the matter of if this wasn’t Aether. Based on who often visited her, she could at least play it off as something between friends. Navia would be exuberant, Clorinde might be slightly surprised at first and Neuvillette… she wasn’t sure exactly how he’d react, somewhat perplexed perhaps, but either way he deserved a hug from her.
And if it was anyone else not in her immediate circle of friends…
…
Maybe cancel the launch plans and go with a regular hug.
Furina smoothed down her clothes and made her way over to the door.
Pulling the door open, Furina didn’t consider any other possibility and threw her arms around whoever was there, causing them to stagger back a step with a sharp “Oof!”, which was all she needed to confirm their identity.
“Aether! You’re back! You’re finally back!”
She buried her head in his shoulder, giggling softly.
“You’ve… been planning this, haven’t you?” Aether eventually said, not having much use of his arms with Furina hugging him. “I could have been delivering the post.”
“Of course not, I have a sense for these things!” she declared, though muffled. “Did you have fun? Were there any interesting potions I should look into? Am I invited to the next music festival?”
When she finally realised he wasn’t hugging back and thinking the likely cause was that her arms were keeping his own still, Furina loosened her hold somewhat. Sure enough, Aether’s arms were around her. She let herself relax into his hold only…
His arms were tighter around her than she remembered. Not enough to be uncomfortable but noticeable nonetheless. “Aether?” Furina pulled back, her joy all but forgotten in an instant.
Taken aback yet still holding her, Aether gave a self deprecating chuckle. “Nothing gets past you, huh.”
Stepping out of the hug, Furina reached to take his hand and lead him inside. “D-don’t worry about me. Come inside. I can-” She stopped, seeing him rummage in his pocket and take out a photo.
Furina took it, her brow furrowed. The image was clear. It was Aether, looking just as he did now, a blonde girl and finally a man who looked to be fading from reality itself in between them, a hand on the shoulder of Aether and the girl.
Somehow putting aside her fear of an apparent ghost being caught in a picture, Furina’s breath hitched as she recognised the familiar blonde and golden eyes of the girl. Even if she had never seen her before, there was only one person it could be.
“This… this is her, isn’t it?” she whispered, her thumb tracing the image of the girl. “Your sister.”
Aether nodded, his jaw tight. “Yeah, Lumine.”
“You met her?” Furina looked from the photo to his tormented face. He should be happy, shouldn’t he? The very reason he was in Teyvat in the first place and he looked conflicted about it. “That’s… good, right? You found her.”
Aether hadn’t spoken much of his sister in the time that she had known him. She understood that something had happened between them but it was never something Furina felt comfortable asking about. Had something else happened this time to further complicate their bond?
“No, I…” he began. He looked like he didn’t know how to continue, confusing Furina further. “I didn’t see her. Didn’t speak to her and I have no memory of this moment.” He ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. “But this. It was just in my pocket after the fact. Paimon didn’t know anything about it either.”
“Aether.” She took his hands in hers, not sure of which of the barrage of questions in her mind to ask first.
What could she even say?
How could he have somehow met his sister but not remembered it? He would remember it especially if there was photographic evidence of it. Was it the other man’s doing? But then why did he have such a warm expression? Whoever he was, he wasn’t revelling in their separation. And the message presumably from the man: ‘You must get along with each other, the two of you’. It wasn’t a taunt or a challenge from the Abyss Order. It felt sad, genuine.
She gave his hands a gentle squeeze. Even if she didn’t understand, she could share in his burden.
“Will you share it with me? I’ll listen.”
Sitting down on the plush sofa, Furina listened to Aether go through what he did remember of what happened. The initial commission, Caribert’s life and meeting with Dainsleif, but no Lumine. He recalled speaking to Caribert but everything after was a blur. There was just a blank space of time with parts of conversation floating about in his mind, spoken by unidentifiable voices.
Given his presence in the photo, Caribert had evidently had some hand in the event and apparent meeting of siblings without malicious intent, but then, why couldn’t Aether remember it?
How frustrating. To meet his sister again and not even remember it afterwards. Though she had no biological family, she couldn’t imagine the pain it was causing him.
“It got me thinking,” Aether began again after a period of silence. He paused again and met her eyes. Even then, he looked to be considering his words carefully. “A while back, Neuvillette told me he hadn’t seen Lumine in Fontaine and even if I don’t remember meeting her, she’ll be on the move.”
Furina already knew where it was going. The day she knew was coming but refused to acknowledge.
“I wanted you to be the first to know. I’ll be making my way to Natlan soon.”
Furina swallowed and slowly brought her hands together. She couldn’t do anything but nod. It was only fair. He was on a journey. There was nothing she could say to change his mind. He could have left the moment he found that his sister hadn’t been here. She should just consider herself lucky that he decided to stay in Fontaine for as long as he did.
What she would give to be able to go with him. To be strong enough to stand by his side to be able to protect him the way he had done for her.
Instead, she would just have to wait and hope that he emerged from the nation of war unscathed.
It would no doubt be worth any trials or pain for him if he found Lumine again there.
“Hey,” Aether placed his hand on top of hers. “You’re not blaming yourself are you?”
She was. Would he have caught up with Lumine already if not for her? She had already asked after their encounter with the Knave and she wasn’t convinced by the answer. For all he had found about his sister in Fontaine, he could have left immediately after the prophecy.
She would just be being selfish if she asked him to stay with her. He’d done enough for Fontaine and for so little in return on his part.
“Furina, none of this was a waste of time,” he continued. “I chose to be here until we could get to the bottom of the prophecy, Childe’s trial, all of it. Back in Inazuma, after I saw what was happening and what would continue if I did nothing, I knew I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I left nations to suffer just to see Lumine again.”
He cupped her cheek. “Besides, there’s something else that happened here that I need to find answers to: The Hydro Archon’s throne was destroyed but there’s been no reaction to it.” Furina looked up once more. “I’m not sure what it means just yet, but it’s something that only could have happened because of you and all that you did.”
A heavy silence settled. Furina’s gaze stayed locked with his as she tried to figure out what to say before falling to her hands neatly folded in her lap.
It wasn’t something she had dwelled upon after everything. The reason for her suffering beyond saving Fontaine from the prophecy. The five hundred year plan put in place by her divinity, Mirror-Me, as she had known her for so long. She had no idea all along and yet, that was one of the reasons it was successful.
“You know,” she began tentatively. “The divine plan, everything else… It was all Focalors.”
It was the first time he had heard Furina refer to her divinity by name. Even he had only briefly seen her in Furina’s memory of their single meeting and heard from Neuvillette about his own encounter with her. What Focalors did should have warranted some kind of reaction though even Zhongli had no idea it had happened until he told him.
What he did feel confident of, at least from what Neuvillette said, was that Furina would be safe and free to live life as a human as Focalors wished.
“Furina-”
“Aether, can I talk about her a little?”
His heart ached at the fact that she felt she had to ask. He nodded.
When she was ready, Furina began, her voice small and fragile. “I only met her once and I didn’t even know her name. We’re one and the same and yet, what she was able to plan… It was something that I couldn’t even begin to imagine.”
She cast her eyes down, watching her fidgeting hands.
“It was genius. To keep everything hidden from her human half to the gods themselves. Everyone was fooled and she was able to defy the prophecy so everyone could be saved.”
“Relying on her humanity to endure until the time was right and being confident that she had made the right choice… ” Furina finally let out a weary sigh. “I would have liked to see her again before the end. She paid the ultimate price to save Fontaine. I was just… the human component given a task, and I even got to have my own life afterward.”
“And you did it,” Aether cut in. “In something that few would have the willpower to endure. Every day.” He placed a hand on hers, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. “Focalors’ plan wouldn’t have succeeded without you. Fontaine wouldn’t be here if not for you. Not because you’re a god, because you’re you, Furina.”
Furina smiled faintly, then surged forward and wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face against his shoulder and made a small, frustrated sound.
“You’re really not fair, you know that?” Furina let out a muffled and shaky laugh, weakly swatting at his chest. “Here I was, trying to comfort you, being the supportive partner. And you- you compassionate… nice person! You made me make it all about me.”
She pulled back enough to hide her face with her hands. “I’m sorry. It’s still… and I’m not-”
He gently pulled her hands away from her face, seeing the self induced shame colouring her cheeks . “And I don’t want you to apologise for it. You’ve only been able to share your pain recently. Please don’t think that sharing your burdens means you think less of mine.”
He was right. She knew he was.
With the shame beginning to recede, she tried to turn her expression to a pout. “I was trying to be mature about this. To be the rock for you.”
“You were and you are,” he said, his smile fond.
“I’m still learning. To be my own person, having someone to confide in.” A small genuine smile broke through and Furina leaned forwards to kiss him, pouring all her love and gratitude into the gesture. “As long as you’re happy to be with someone like that.”
“I am,” he replied, pulling her into his embrace. “You’ve been doing so well. I think I just… defaulted to what I knew and wanted to fix things for you. I’m sorry.”
In an instant, her eyes darted back and she willed herself to look indignant. “D-don’t you start playing the ‘I’m sorry’ game! I was apologising!” Aether couldn’t help the corners of his mouth beginning to turn up. Her face turning red again, she grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “Aether! This isn’t funny!”
“Furina, can you- Alright! I’m sorr-”
“No, you’re not! I am!”
Determined to get her way and feeling she was in position to do so, Furing pushed him back into the sofa and attempted to pin him there.
Success. It wasn’t that he was putting up zero resistance, he knew that she was in the right and was following the rules she had just made up.
Wait, no. He was laughing. He was meant to lie there and let her apologise. In redoubling her efforts, what she didn’t expect was the playful wrestling match that followed and left her trying to squirm out of his grip instead.
Finally conceding, Furina looked up shyly.
“You’ll take lots of pictures in Natlan, won’t you? And write?”
Aether let go of her and let her sit up.
“Of course, that is if I don’t get arrested the moment I set foot there.”
She huffed. “Right, you always run afoul of the law in some way or another. Trouble just follows you around, doesn’t it? Suspicion of deicide, participation in a rebellion against an archon, conspiracy against the Akademiya-”
“And the cake.”
“That too, among countless other infractions, I would assume.” Furina threw her hands up in mock exasperation. “Fontaine’s brightest star, embodiment of the law and all that is just in a relationship with someone with that kind of record. One could stage an epic with the premise alone or at least one of those Inazuman light novels.”
“Hey, I was either innocent or it was part of a greater cause. I can get archons to vouch for me.”
“Well, regardless of how it may happen, you’ll come to us for representation, right? I’ll take to the bench and I’ll tell Neuvillette. You’ll have all of Fontaine’s legal system working around the clock to exonerate you.” Her eyes brightened as she came up with an idea. “We can get Fontanian citizenship status for you. A special one! To indict the traveler is to call into question the judgment of the nation of justice itself!”
“Not open to being abused in any way, I’m sure,” Aether laughed. “Maybe get Neuvillette to look into the wording. Although…”
“Hmm?” Furina titled her head.
“I mean, it’s a pretty roundabout way of going about it,” he began. “But for someone like me to suddenly become a citizen of Fontaine would probably need a relationship with a Fontanian. Are you sure this isn’t you trying to live out some sort of dream wed-?”
“Ahh!” Covering her eyes and immediately turning red, Furina frantically shook her head. “To make light of my benevolence and magnanimity and… insinuate things about me and my dreams! That’s it, back to the Fortress of Meropide with you!”
“I’m starting to think you like the idea of me being a criminal with how much you bring it up.”
Already reduced to a blushing mess and muttering about his sentence being forever, Furina let him pull her back in and hug her tightly, the last of the tension from Sumeru finally dissolving.
Though she was pouting, she savoured every moment.
He’d be going to Natlan soon. When the day came, she wouldn’t beg him to stay with her, she wouldn’t cry. The last thing she wanted to do would be to send him off with him doubting she’d manage on her own.
Until then, she was going to double her sword training, double her cooking attempts, double everything.
She was going to make the most of every day with Aether.