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It is another sunny afternoon in Mondstadt. The heat bears down on anyone brave enough to venture into the wilds at this hour. But the breeze steals away her sweat before it could drip down Lumine's brow.
Her lips widen into a smile as she walks through the wind's lands. It is impish and fickle yet ever by her side. It tousles through her frame, bringing cool relief from her usual sweat-soaked hair. It brushes against her scarves and skirts, sending them fluttering behind her.
Even as the winds dance around her, how does this gentle embrace leave her breathless when he's so far away? The wind rustles in the lock of hair under her ear, coiling it like he might around his finger.
Windrise is as quiet and undisturbed as she had left it. The teal crystalflies are flitting lazily around the tree, the protective oak shading all those who would rest under her.
The wind tugs her gently towards him but she must do one last thing before she follows its pull.
A fleeting touch of her fingertips on the Statue of the Seven pushes back the other elements into dormancy, his taking their place. Anemo snaps back into her dress like it had never left.
Lumine caresses the stone with a shaky sigh, feeling lighter with the presence of her first element.
And behind the pillar, nestled between the roots lies her first archon. Her first god.
Something pulses fiercely in her heart as she strides towards him. There is no secrecy in her footsteps here, she has always been free to walk on Mondstadt's soil.
Mondstadt's archon opens his eyes to gaze at her, her smile mirrored on his lips. His cape, usually so buoyant, is spread out under him like wings. He does not squirm under her scrutiny of his bare legs, shoes abandoned next to his arm. His sleepy smile widens as she kneels down next to him and rests her weary spine against the root.
Her hands itch to stroke the dried cecilia next to his ear, beret under his head haloing him, to stroke his cheeks. She satisfies herself with reaching out for his hand. Fingers intertwine and palms settle against each other.
They lie in silence for a while.
Venti watches the clouds in the sky, the branches and leaves rustling above him and Lumine watches Venti.
"You returned."
She gathers all her desires, now dry and dusty in her parched throat.
"So I did."
He rises, beret failing to cling to his head and falling into the grass behind him and gives her a tired, gratified smile.
"Welcome back, my warrior."
Lumine swallows past the knot in her throat, in her chest. It has been so long since she has had someone to say that to her.
"I am back, Venti."
He examines her casually with his emerald gaze. It is easy to forget that behind Venti's easygoing smile and warm disposition lies a sharp and discerning mind. Her wind is everrushing and everaffable.
"You have many stories for me yet again. Would you rest your head on my lap once again and speak of your exploits? Or do you wish to tell me what weighs upon you?"
Lumine only raises an eyebrow at him.
"Your steps aren't as light as they could be. I felt them the moment you crossed over Stone Gate."
She shifts forward, leaning into him finally. He rests his head onto hers gingerly, a stark contrast to Lumine's arm snaking around his waist, no less insistent for its tenderness, pulling him closer. A deep sigh escapes her.
"Your perception knows no bounds, Bato."
He folds his arm around her and waits.
"I have told you that I love freedom and I love your city."
"It is yours too now." He corrects absentmindedly.
"What I have not told you is that the day you guided me with your winds in the city and then when we healed Dvalin was both joy and anguish for me."
Lumine shifts and leans forward.
"I had wings of my own once. I could soar through every sky, all the skies that I would travel to. I am not a creature of the earth, much less of a single world. And still-"
She gathers her scarves over her shoulder, steeling herself.
"She took my brother and my wings. I have been grounded…Bato. The S-"
"Hush, that's all you needed to say. I understand. Let's not invoke any unneeded presences."
She knows what he means too.
There is no need to speak because a sight of her back finishes her tale. Caught under the right shine of the sunlight, they speak for her. Under her shoulder blades and then lower once and twice, peeking out of her corset are little divots of silver. Scars.
"Is this okay?" He murmurs as he embraces her from behind. His hands wrap around her waist when she nods.
They make sense now, the long scarves. Fluttering and wide enough to distract from any real opportunity to look at her back and notice them. His heart squeezes, choking on its own hurt.
"I don't know what to do." Her voice wavers, as brittle as her frame seems within his arms now. Her neck bends, hair curtaining her face.
"I thought you might. You have wings, though not like my own."
And Venti does. He has spent eons caring for his own and lack thereof. It still takes courage he can't find within himself to speak.
"I do. Rather, I did. My power isn't as streamlined as it would have been with the gnosis. It is harder to give them a physical form nowadays."
He drops a kiss onto her head.
"I could if it would be necessary,” he muses, “but permanent sustainment is much more difficult."
She returns a kiss on his jaw and turns fully, nose to his collarbone and only the wind carries her voice to his ears. Her fist bunches up in his shirt, fabric only scrunching up in her loose hold.
"Do you miss them?"
His own voice dies down to her level.
"Only every day."
"I miss flying. I miss the skies. I want it all back."
He does not assume that Lumine is trembling in misery. It is quiet rage that burns through her, right beside the pain and helplessness.
The beings gazing down on Teyvat will rue the day their circle of seats falls to her blade and Time be willing, he will be fortunate to witness it.
But for now, what he can do, what they can do, is the simplest of comforts and the subtlest of consolations.
She hears her name mouthed in her hair and hums back in response.
"Even if starlight belongs in the night sky," He tucks her longer strands behind her ear, his hand brushing her cheek more than holding it. "If the sky itself lets you plummet to the earth, then let me be the force behind you as you become a shooting star."
"Would you take to the skies with me for a while?"
Her silence lasts a moment before she clasps his hand in her own and dusts kisses over his knuckles. He feels himself flush.
The dull teal of his braids brightens to turquoise when she picks up his other hand. Her kisses become slower, more insistent making him squeak.
He takes her tempting hands in his trembling ones so their talk doesn't derail further than it already has.
"How would that work?" Curiosity glimmers in her eyes.
"Did you know? All the windgliders in Mondstadt are blessed by the wind. As long as there is a breeze at your back, you will never plummet. A pale imitation to true flight but uplifting nonetheless."
He drags his cape off the grass and swings it around his shoulders. Dusts off his beret and stands up. Extends a hand to her in open invitation as he always has.
"Would you care to fly with me?"
Lumine beams, eyes crinkling with the width of her smile. Takes his hand firmly and pulls herself to her feet.
"It would be my pleasure, little dove."
__________
They walk up the steep incline to Stormbearer Point, hands swinging together.
At the edge, Venti summons his wind domain around them. Anemo seals unfurl and spin, encompassing the entire cliff face. The current that rises around them is not the usual uplifting draft he summons for her. It is a gale that pulls on her scarves, sending her skirt flowing behind her. Any creature of the ground would have trembled at the force of its might.
But Lumine breathes it in, exhilarated.
All wind is only harmful if you cannot harness it in flight. And all skies have been hers to soar through.
Venti turns to face her and she stares, once again enchanted. His eyes are the purest of emeralds. It takes her back through time itself, before her journey through worlds, before her world was ever destroyed. The turquoise of a secret pond deep inside a forest, sparkling of sunlight which drizzled down past the overhanging branches. Aether at the edge, feet submerged under the cold water as she braided his long locks for him.
Things were so much simpler back then. They were so young. Why must her memories come to haunt her at such times? Why does she always seem to be walking across shaky ground?
A hand slides into hers and squeezes gently, thrice. And Lumine returns it, far stronger. He responds in kind, matching the strength of her hold.
"Would you rather hold off our adventure for now?"
Lumine exhales hard. "No. Now is good. I just remembered something. About my brother."
"I see. I hope it was pleasant."
The chill inside her dulls and her heart swells at his words. Venti spares her any meaningless platitudes. Any comfort he shares with her, he means completely. Lumine tries to keep such moments close to her.
"It was, indeed. Thank you."
His smile is knowing but he merely turns her chin to the side to kiss her cheekbone.
"Shall we unfold our gliders then?"
Her wings open up, shimmering gold, a precious gift from the bard who stands beside her. His azure wings are borrowed from her and, as loathe as she is to admit it, "Pfffffft, the turquoise clashes with your cape horribly."
The wind carries the tinkling sound of his giggles right to her ears.
"The color is taken from the Anemo element after all!!"
They rise quickly with the gale blasting under their wings.
All of Mondstadt lies spread out under them, gorgeous and green. In the distance, Dragonspine stands proud and tall, strikingly white. The sheer height at which they fly renders everything beneath them so small and insignificant.
He takes a sharp right and Lumine tails him, her breath caught in her throat.
She inhales and elation rushes in alongside the air. Something long neglected inside her begins to bloom again. The absolute freedom of soaring through the skies, not a single obstacle between her and her goals other than distance itself. She smiles so wide her cheeks begin to hurt and the wind brushes against her face fondly.
Past the descending slopes, lies the first Statue of the Seven she found in her journey.
"Starfell lake really does look like a star fell into it."
Venti flies closer to her, his wing under hers so they don't bump into each other.
"It does, doesn't it? We're losing height, shall we ascend again?"
"All the way to Starsnatch Cliff's edge then!!!"
"Your turn to create a current this time, Lumi." He shouts cheekily.
She chuckles and reaches into her inventory to pull out the Wind Catcher and releases two of the anemograna inside. The ascent is slower this time and Venti blows on a fistful of dandelion seeds, whispering to the wind.
Wind tunnels form above them and they shoot up through the rings, air roaring through his ears muffling Lumine's shouts of delight.
His own cheeks hurt from smiling so wide. He can't help the satisfaction welling up inside him whenever Lumine is happy. Whenever he makes Lumine happy.
He is a creature of the sky too. He feels most at home with the wind's weightless embrace that comes with flight. To share the same joy with his beloved sets something fluttering fiercely in his heart.
And still they rise. Up and past the edge of Starsnatch cliff, until they see the cliff spread out entirely underneath them. The cecilia petals flutter under the gusts behind their wings but they don't land. Venti tilts forward to fly across the length of the cliff, Lumine right behind him.
Lumine overtakes him and swerves right to avoid the pesky ruin guard patrolling the arena of the Thousand Winds Temple. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the sunlit ruins of the ancient amphitheater before Venti's azure wings block out her line of sight.
Her arms shake involuntarily and she sighs as they fly past Windrise. Still she takes this rare chance to enjoy the view of the majestic oak tree in its entirety. From this height, the usual blue glow of his statue remained hidden under its thick canopy.
As they reach Falcon Coast, the endless blue ocean stretches all the way to the horizon on her left. If she squints, she can see the faintest hint of Mount Yougou in the distance.This high, there is no sweat to wipe away, the air is cool and the sky blushes peach and gold as the sun sets.
She hears her name being called in the sweetest voice she's ever heard and she tilts her head towards her beloved bard. Far below them past their feet, the water glitters amongst the shoals.
"Up for one last stretch? Think we can make it all the way to Cape Oath?"
Lumine pulls out her trusty Windcatcher again and braces herself. The moment she releases all three remaining anemograna, air whooshes and she ascends so rapidly, only her squeals of delight remain by Venti's side.
"Race you!!!"
So she'd said but they were trying to match each other. Venti would rise on Lumine's current and gather the same anemograna to create five wind tunnels for them to speed across the sky. Lumine would rush ahead through them, getting her hair tousled every which way. She released her own anemo, feeling for the winds and brushing against them in a silent request. In a burst of feathers, a new gale rose to answer her.
The cliffs of Cape Oath came into view just as the sun floated on the distant sea, half dipped into the horizon.
The urge to clasp Venti's hand suddenly seized her so strongly, she couldn't bear to not do it. Lumine bent forwards, tucking her wing under his gently and extending her hand all the way to reach him. Their fingers flicked against each other and his giggle rewarded her efforts when he intertwined their hands squeezing firmly.
They glided softly onto the cliff face and collapsed onto the grass. She felt Venti's chest heave against her own and threw her arm around him. He curled to face her and nestled his head into her shoulder, burying kisses into her collarbones. She wrapped her leg over his thigh, bringing him even closer. Her glove caught on the strands of his hair when she stroked his head and exhaled softly.
The only promises Venti could make her were ones he'd never voice into the air. And Lumine was quite satisfied with that.
She tapped a finger under his chin and brushed two quick kisses under his eyes when he looked up.
"Starshine, I…"
"Darling Bato, thank you."
The words whispered into his chest seemed to penetrate straight into his heart. Unwillingly his braids began to glow as they laid there and Lumine showered him with more and more tiny kisses.
This tiny fragment of bliss at least, nothing in this world could steal from them.