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Ⅰ - a proposal
“I’m leaving for Sumeru tomorrow.”
Lumine blurts out the words without quite meaning to. They hang in the air, cold, above them, disturbing the tranquility and warmth of their little haven in the forest.
But then Ayaka squeezes Lumine’s hand, rolling onto her side and giving her a reassuring smile. “I thought as much.” Her other hand comes up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Lumine’s ear. “Don’t look so worried, sweetheart. I know full well that you cannot stay here forever.”
“I wish I could,” Lumine whispers, unbidden tears welling in her eyes. “I wish I could stay right in this moment and never have to leave.”
“I know.” Ayaka is still smiling and Lumine doesn’t understand how she can remain so composed. She rubs her thumb across Lumine’s cheek, catching a stray tear as it falls. “I know. But your brother awaits the end of your journey and I understand how important it is for you to find him. I wish you the best of luck in your travels.”
Lumine sniffles, shifting forwards so she can bring their lips together. They kiss, deep and slow and passionate, like their time isn’t limited. Like Lumine isn’t about to leave without guarantee that she’ll make it back alive. It’s wishful thinking, but... “I’ll come back,” she murmurs against Ayaka’s lips. “It would be selfish to expect you to wait for me, but I’ll visit when I can if you want to see me, and when everything is over--“
“I’ll wait for you.”
The words are so startling that Lumine draws back so she can see Ayaka’s face properly, eyes wide. Ayaka giggles.
“Why do you look so surprised? I would wait an eternity for you, my darling, if that’s what it would take.”
It’s exactly what Lumine wants to hear, all that she’d hoped for when she slipped the tiny box into her pocket earlier that evening. She’s suddenly a lot more aware of its weight against her hip, a promise waiting to be made. Even though she had prepared everything -- their date, her speech, the ring -- she’s hardly let herself dare to hope.
Maybe it’s selfish, but she’ll allow herself to be selfish just this once.
“You would really be prepared to wait for me? I’ve still got four nations left to cover, it’s going to take a while.”
“If by the end of your journey, I can spend the rest of my days by your side, the wait will have been worth it.”
Lumine gapes at Ayaka, speechless. “Since... since when did you become such a flirt?”
Ayaka blushes, averting her eyes. “I’m just speaking the truth. Perhaps it’s a bit forward for me to say such things when we have only been together for a comparatively short time and the future is so uncertain, what with my position and your travels. But I have never been more certain of anything than my love for you. I would like to find a way to make us work, because I could not imagine my future without you in it and--”
“Marry me.”
Ayaka’s nervous rambling abruptly cuts off. They stare at each other in shock for a long moment-- Lumine equally surprised at the words escaping her mouth. So much for her planned speech, she supposes.
Lumine sits up, reaching in her pocket to draw out a sleek, dark blue box. Ayaka’s breath hitches, hands covering her mouth as she sits up too.
“I wanted to give you something more tangible to represent my commitment, my promise to you,” Lumine says, her fingers running back and forth across the smooth surface of the box anxiously. “My brother and I have travelled for a long time, nowhere to call home except each other. But.” She looks up at Ayaka, a small, shy smile on her lips. “I think I’ve found another home, with you. And once everything is over, I’d like to be with you, if you still want me.”
Ayaka’s eyes are glossy as she nods furiously. “Yes, yes, yes! There’s nothing I would love more.”
Lumine opens the box to reveal the ring. It took her a long while to get it made; she went back to Liyue just to drag Zhongli into various caves with her until she found some cor lapis and noctilucous jade that his immaculate tastes deemed good enough. After that came the process of getting the ring forged from scratch in the purest of silver and the jewels cut and set in it. But the process was all worth it for the way that Ayaka gasps when she lays eyes upon the ring.
“Oh Lumine, it’s beautiful,” she breathes. “Please can you put it on for me?”
“I would be honoured.” Hands trembling, Lumine takes the ring and slides it onto Ayaka’s outstretched finger. Then, she leans down and presses a kiss to it, a promise sealed.
“The purple and the gold.” Ayaka touches the shimmering jade in the centre, framed by cor lapis, before beaming up at Lumine, tears clinging to her eyelashes. “It’s like you and I, don’t you think? We compliment each other perfectly.”
Lumine barely fights back a sob as she flings her arms around Ayaka and kisses her hard. They fall back into the grass, laughing breathlessly, and for once Lumine looks forward to a future that doesn’t just have her and her brother in it.
Ⅱ - a reunion
In the aftermath, Lumine returns to her second home.
Sneaking past the guard patrols around the estate leaves her strangely nostalgic. The path is muscle memory by now, one that she could walk with her eyes closed and still remain hidden in the shadows without detection. It’s only when she reaches the window that she hesitates. Would Ayaka be asleep yet? She can only guess how late it is, the thick clouds obscuring the moon from view. What if Ayaka has duties early in the morning? Lumine doesn’t want to disturb her rest.
What if Ayaka doesn’t want to see her?
As Lumine’s journey progressed past Inazuma, she promised to visit Ayaka whenever she could. And she did, occasionally. But the visits became shorter and more sparse, Lumine pushing herself longer, harder, between each one, her frustration growing with every passing day because she couldn’t afford so many breaks when her brother was so far from reach.
It’s been six months since she last saw Ayaka. Is she worried? Does she fear for what might have happened to Lumine due to her lack of contact? Or is she confused, angry maybe? Has she lost hope that anything would become of their relationship? Does she still believe in the promise that they made, or has she long removed the ring, it merely being a reminder of Lumine’s shortcomings and neglect?
Lumine takes a deep breath and taps on the window.
There’s shuffling inside the room, footsteps coming towards her, and then they stop. Lumine tenses, anticipation building the longer that the screen in front of the window remains closed. She contemplates tapping again-- perhaps Ayaka thinks she’s hearing things? Or has she figured out that it’s Lumine outside, and is deciding whether she’s worth her time anymore?
Lumine’s spiralling thoughts are interrupted by the screen being slid open and she’s abruptly met with Ayaka’s wide eyes on the other side of the window.
“Lumine,” Ayaka’s disbelieving lips form the shape of her name.
Ayaka looks almost exactly as Lumine remembers on those peaceful nights where they cuddled on Ayaka’s bed in a moment that belonged just to them. Her hair cascades over her shoulders in gentle waves, only a little ruffled from lying down, and there’s a pink flush across her skin like she’s recently gotten out of the bath. There’s differences that Lumine can pick out, however, like the dark circles beneath her eyes that lack their usual gleam, and, when she follows the motion of Ayaka opening the window, the unevenness of her nails, red and bitten down.
(And yet, the golden sparkle on her left hand is unmistakable. Lumine wonders why she ever doubted.)
Before Lumine’s exhausted mind can fully comprehend what’s happening, Ayaka is climbing out of the window and throwing her arms around her. Lumine melts into the embrace numbly, shaking hands clutching the back of Ayaka’s yukata.
“You’re back,” Ayaka sniffles. “Oh, thank the Archons, you’re safe.” Lumine can feel a growing wet patch on her shoulder where Ayaka has buried her face and lets out a shuddering breath she didn’t realise she was holding.
An eternity passes whilst they stand like that, wrapped in each other’s warmth, until Lumine finally whispers, “I’m so sorry.”
Ayaka draws back slightly so she can look up at Lumine. Her cheeks are stained with tears, but her gaze is impossibly fond. “Whatever for, my darling?”
Lumine doesn’t know where to start, so she settles on, “Everything.”
“Lumine.” A soft hand comes up to caress her cheek. “You’re here and you’re safe. That’s all that matters to me now.” Lumine leans into her familiar touch and swallows thickly.
“I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too,” Ayaka murmurs. Her eyes sweep across Lumine’s face, drinking in every inch of her appearance. Lumine resists the urge to shrink back under her scrutiny. She looks like shit, she knows that, hair tangled and a large bruise blooming on the side of her head. Yet she might as well be the most wonderful thing in the world with the way that Ayaka is looking at her in such awe.
“Your brother, were you able to reunite with him?” Ayaka asks earnestly. Lumine nods, giving her a weak smile and she bursts into a grin. “That’s wonderful! You will have to fill me in but--” A chilled breeze washes over them and Lumine shivers. “Ah! I apologise, I do not want to keep you out in the cold. Let’s get you inside and warm so you can rest. Stories can wait.”
In Ayaka’s room, Lumine is soon cocooned in blankets with a steaming cup of tea clasped in her hands. Ayaka is snuggled against her side, eyelids drooping as she fights to stay awake. They have a lot to discuss, eventually, but for now Lumine allows herself to bask in Ayaka’s comforting presence. For now, Lumine pretends that she’s not hanging on by a mere thread, and she and Ayaka are the only ones who exist in their corner of the universe.
Ⅲ - a promise kept
A white heron is poised, ready to take flight, in Lumine’s hair. She touches the hairpin unconsciously, tracing the design of the heron without needing to see it, months upon months of taking it out of its box to run her fingers across the one piece of Ayaka she carried ingraining its every detail into her mind.
Never has she worn it, until this day where she stands beside her brother and Paimon at the end of the aisle in Mondstadt cathedral, clad in a beautiful white dress that Amber had enthusiastically helped her pick out. During her journey, she never quite thought she’d make it this far. There were times- when she was shivering in a cave in the middle of a snowstorm in Snezhnaya, or lying bloodied in the Sumeru desert after an ambush she was too slow to react to- where she contemplated giving up. It would’ve been easier to let the world burn, to abandon her brother to the corruption of the abyss. But Lumine has always been a stubborn fighter. Her entire life has led up to this moment, and she would drag herself across Teyvat one hundred times more if that’s what it took to stand here today.
When Ayaka steps through the doors, Lumine forgets how to breathe.
She’s an angel in a pure white kimono, her hair styled into an elegant updo and decorated with white flowers that Lumine identifies as the same ones she likes to wear in her own hair. Their eyes meet as Ayaka walks down the aisle, an arm linked with her brother’s and the other holding an extravagant bouquet of pinks and purples and blues, and she smiles.
Lumine has to focus very hard not to burst into tears on the spot. She’s perfect.
The ceremony is based mostly around Mondstadtian wedding traditions, though Ayaka still wears Inazuman wedding attire. After much discussion over the location of the wedding, they had settled on Mondstadt because after all the years that Lumine had spent travelling, it has always been the place that feels most like home. Returning to where her journey began has a satisfying fulfilment of coming full circle and Ayaka, eager to explore the world, was only too happy to agree to a wedding abroad.
At the end of the day, the wedding is a celebration of their commitment and love for each other that has endured every obstacle thrown their way, allowing them to eventually return to each other’s arms. As her gaze sweeps across the small congregation filled with her’s and Ayaka’s closest friends, Lumine's heart swells with joy. For her entire life, Aether had been her sole family and that was more than enough. But here in Teyvat, her family has grown. She wouldn’t trade any of them for the universe.
“Don’t cry, the wedding hasn’t even started yet,” Aether mutters in Lumine’s ear, and she can practically hear the shit-eating grin in his tone. Without turning around, she lightly slaps his arm in response.
(She’s so glad he’s here.)
As Ayaka approaches the altar, Lumine steps forwards to meet her and takes one of her hands gently, kissing the back of it.
“Hi, princess,” Lumine whispers.
“Hello,” Ayaka whispers back, cheeks flushed.
The ceremony passes in a blur. Lumine can’t take her eyes off Ayaka, only half-listening to the words that Barbara reels off enthusiastically (Venti had tried to convince Lumine to let him officiate the ceremony, but no amount of him insisting that as Archon of Mondstadt, he has far more credentials than the deaconess would sway her. He was assigned to music only). It feels like a dream, like she might float away at any moment, the only thing keeping her grounded being the warmth of Ayaka’s hand in her own and the brightness of Ayaka’s smile.
Lumine blinks back into reality when they reach the vows. They’d decided to write them themselves, the traditional words not enough to encapsulate what they wanted to convey to each other. Even then, Lumine thinks there’s still much that can’t be put into words, but she trusts that Ayaka will understand her. She always does.
“Lumine,” Ayaka squeezes her hand. “My darling, Lumine. Falling in love with you is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Perhaps saying it was love at first sight seems a little cliche, but from the moment we met, I thought you were the most beautiful person I had ever seen. And by the time that we visited the festival together and I danced for you in the forest, I knew I was head over heels,” she giggles. “You have taught me so much about love, freedom and courage. You gave me a space to unapologetically be myself, despite not being able to pinpoint who that was at first, and explore the things that I wanted as Ayaka, not the Shirasagi Himegimi. For all that you’ve done for me, I am endlessly grateful. And every moment I spent waiting for you was more than worth it for you to be here with me now, for the rest of my life.”
Lumine scrubs at the tears building in her eyes. She’s travelled to a hundred different worlds, and will likely travel to a hundred more, and yet she can’t believe how she ever got so lucky. “I love you. I love you so, so much.”
“I love you too,” Ayaka replies easily. Lumine wants to wake up to those words every morning, she wants them to be the last thing she hears before she goes to sleep. And she almost starts sobbing there and then when she realises that now she can.
Lumine kind of wants to just kiss Ayaka, maybe cry into her arms for a bit, but she manages to fumble through her own speech. “When I first started my journey in Teyvat, my only purpose was to find my brother. We’d be reunited and afterwards we’d move onto the next world like we’ve always done. But then I met you, and oh.” Lumine cups Ayaka’s cheek, rubbing a thumb across the skin where a tear has escaped. She smiles. “Suddenly my journey had a second purpose. Suddenly, I wanted to find my brother and then I wanted to come home to you. Staying in one place has never been my thing, and maybe it never will be, but as long as you’ll allow me, I promise I’ll stay by your side.” It was short and sweet, but eloquent words have always been Ayaka’s thing. Either way, Ayaka beams up at her, her expression brimming with understanding and adoration.
Barbara can’t say the words “you may kiss the bride” fast enough. Lumine surges forwards, both her’s and Ayaka’s tears falling freely now as their lips meet and she finally kisses her wife. It’s soft and warm and overflowing with affection that leaves them breathless. It holds a promise of the future, a promise of love and family for years to come.
Lumine decides this is what happiness feels like.