Ifa:

You’re kicking around a ball with some of the kids from the tribe to enjoy the nice weather. It’s been storming the past few days so they were in their houses all day losing their minds. You told their parents you’d go play with them for a bit to get all the pent up energy out.

They mostly don’t pass you the ball which you’re completely fine with. Instead you just get to watch happily as they debate on what kind of game they want to play. It switches between kicking the ball, catch, or how long they can keep the ball in the air for.

You hear a noise from above you and you see the qucusaurus and riders flying above you. Shielding your eyes from the sun, you watch the pairs do tricks or race against another duo. It makes you think about how it’s been a while since you have ridden a qucusaurus.

“Mind if I steal you for something?” A deep voice whispers into your ear as a strong gloved arm wraps around you.

You lean into the hold, placing your hands on top of his arm, “Oh and what does my sweet boyfriend need help with?”

He squeezes you before letting go to stand beside you, “That qucusaurus I’ve been taking care of for the past few weeks is finally able to try flying again. As you know Cacucu won’t let me fly on any other qucusaurus so I was wondering if you’d do it? I will be right beside you the entire time,” he reassures you.

“I can do it!” You’ve done this for him a bunch of times before so you’re not really phased by it. You actually love doing it because you get to see first hand at all the work he has done to help saurians.

“Knew I could count on you.” He place a kiss on your cheek.

“Ifa!” The kids run up to the two of you.

“Hey partners,” he kneels down to be at their level, “I’m going to be taking her for a bit but we both will come back to play one we are done.”

“Promise!” A young girl holds out her pinky.

Ifa locks his pinky with hers, “Promise.”

You and Ifa then make your way up to the flying platform. You see Cacucu flying around the bigger qucusaurus saying, “What’s up bro?”

You shake your head and laugh at the whole situation as Ifa pushing Cacucu away. “Leave him alone bro.”

“Okay bro!”

You guide the healed qucusaurus to the edge before hoping on. You pat its side, “We will go at your speed. Take your time.”

It caws before flapping its wings to get ready. Once it feels comfortable it takes off into the air, they decide to fly straight up first before leveling out. As it keeps trying to get higher and higher you see their wings start to falter.

“You can level out now,” you rub its side.

They don’t listen to you which makes you start to panic, looking over at Ifa. As Ifa gets closer they panic and start to shake you off. You hold on the best you can but end off slipping off.

You feel the fast breeze at your neck and back as you plummet down towards the ground. You immediately close your eyes as you see everything past by in a blur. Panic raises inside of you.

Falling from your height will kill you. You don’t want to die. You still have so much you wanted to do and experience since the war has ended. Sadness washes over you as you realize you won’t be able to do all that you wanted.

While you were falling, Ifa did not hesitate for a second before flying after you. He already uses his vision to help Cacucu but right now he’s using it fully to guide his companion. He doesn’t care because all he is focused on is catching you.

As he gets closer to you he tries to reach out his arm to catch you but he’s always just a bit too far.

“Faster buddy!” Cacucu locks in and uses the power of anemo to go faster to finally catch you.

A strong arm wraps around your waist once again, “Hold onto me!”

Ifa.

You wrap your arms around his neck, burying your face into it as well. He holds you tightly as you two slowly float down onto the platform that you started on.

The entire time down he was whispering to comfort you, “I’m right here. I got you. You’re not falling anymore.”

His words helped but you were relieved once you were on solid ground. But your knees were shaking so much that you couldn’t stand when tour feet hit solid ground.

Ifa easily kneels down with you as others crowd you two. “She’s alright but can you all please give her space?”

You finally pull back from his neck and open your eyes. You see Ifa smiling at you, “There you are. You okay?”

“Yeah… how did you even catch me?”

Ifa flashes his vision, “Used this old thing to make Cacucu and I faster. Don’t tell him though, he thinks that was him.”

Looking around you don’t see Cacucu, “He went off to catch that qucusaurus with some others.” Ifa answers your unspoken question.

“Thank you Ifa. I- I was so scared.”

“I’ll always be there to catch you,” he brushes some hair behind your ear. “I’m sorry that this happened. They have never been that scared before so I don’t know what happened.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Ifa pushes back his hat so it lays against his back, “I feel like it is. I’m the one that put you up to this.”

“Yeah but I chose to do it. Plus you saved me so I think that’s a win.”

“You’re too good to me,” he leans in placing a kiss to your forehead. “Let’s go take a break back at my place.”

Now any time you go flying Ifa is always right by your side just in case to catch you.

Kazuha:

Kazuha stands behind you with him arms wrapped around your waist and his chin resting on your shoulder. “Looks like it will be quite the storm.”

“It doesn’t look nice.” The clouds are so dark that it makes it feel so ominous. You’ve been on the Crux just a little bit longer than Kazuha has been, yet neither of you have seen a storm this bad.

He closes his eyes to sense everything around him. Whenever he does this you know he’s trying to get an answer himself. You stay quietly still so you don’t mess with his concentration.

He opens his eyes slowly, “I feel like it will be an aggressive one.”

“I don’t doubt that. Why don’t you go talk with Beidou about it?”

“Good idea.” He kisses your cheek, “I’ll be back.”

Kazuha went to go discuss the storm on the horizon with Beidou leaving you to stand up at the viewpoint alone. Leaving you to look at the dark cloud along with the lightning in the distance. It looks like it’s going to be a bad one.

You look down at the crew that is running around the deck trying to move things from the deck to under the deck so materials don’t get wet, ruined, or blown away. Just as you’re about to head down you hear your name called out to you.

Looking down you see Kazuha, “I’ll be up in a few minutes to help with the sails. Captain Beidou wanted me to give a report first.”

You give him a thumbs up because the wind picked up which made the sails and the wood up here super loud making it close to impossible to hear you respond. He nods at your confirmation and goes around the deck talking to the others. Once he got the answers he needed he walks up to where Beidou now stands looking off to the right of the ship to see uneasy waves.

The wind hits you harder making you think you should just adjust the sails yourself so Kazuha wouldn’t have to fight the wind to get back up here. Your thought is confirmed once a crew mate yells up to you to hurry with the sails because the storm should hit any second now.

You start with the right side first and adjust the sail so it wouldn’t be easily pushed around once the storm hits. Pulling tightly on the strings, you adjust the sail just how Beidou taught you the first time there was a storm. It’s easier when there is two people but luckily she taught you how to do it if you are by yourself.

Once the sail is positioned correctly you roll your shoulders before doing the left side. You saved this once for last just because this side is a bit more stiff than the right side. Maybe you should have done this side first so you could have more time but no point in dwelling on it now.

You pull the string as tightly as you can but it doesn’t budge at all. Groaning and trying to pull it again with even more strength, it doesn’t work at all.

“Darn it.”

As you go to pull it again a massive wave hits the right side of the boat making it lean to the left. Which makes you fall out of the viewpoint, holding tightly onto the rope still. But apparently that seems to be the full weight the old sail needed because now you crash into the viewpoint.

The crew mate that told you to do the sails yelled your name even louder this time making Beidou and Kazuha turn their heads to see you dangling.

You rub your head after that brutal run in with the viewpoint. You don’t realize now you have a loose grip on the rope and can barely hold on with the weather conditions. As another wave crashes into the boat, your grip falters having you start to fall down.

Kazuha was already on the move once he realized you were barely hanging on. He jumps up super high so as you started to fall he catches you easily before using his anemo powers to land you two safely.

It all happened so fast that you barely even really know what happened. All you really know is that you’re in Kazuha’s arms and he blocks out the now pouring rain with his back to prevent it from hitting your face.

Clutching his haori tightly you breathe heavily before uttering, “Thank you.”

“I should have helped you earlier. I’m sorry.”

You ignore his words and pull him into an embrace. He stiffens for a few moments before adjusting his hold on you to return your embrace.

“You helped me when it was necessary. I’d rather you save me than help me with a random task.”

“Are you two alright?” Beidou comes running over.

Kazuha looks over your shoulder, resting his chin on it, “Yeah. We are alright.”

“That’s sweet. But let’s get inside so you two aren’t drenched anymore.”

Kazuha pulls back first, standing up holding a hand out to you, “After you, my lady.”

He guides you to your shared room to change before meeting the rest of the crew to ride out the storm. The crew frantically asks if you’re okay and apologizing for not sending anyone up to help you. You wave them off and tell them at you’re okay and glad no one had gotten hurt from the storm.

Drinks and food are passed around to try and have everyone not worry about the raging storm. You lean against Kazuha, struggling to keep your eyes open. He smiles lightly before draping his haori over you to keep you warm.

The rest of the night Kazuha holds onto you tightly because he doesn’t want to ever see you fall again. He is not losing someone who he cares for deeply again.

Varka:

Hiking the mountains of Nod Krai are no joke. A lot of them are very high along with being very uneven and jagged. Sadly the small team Varka took out has to hike this mountain to get back to camp.

The group has to travel in a single line to get through this part of the mountain. Varka leads with two people between him and you then three people behind you. This team went out to go check some threats that came up. It ended up just being treasure hoarders which was an easy fight but that doesn’t mean you all aren’t very tired now.

“Grandmaster, how much longer?” One of the newer knights in front of you ask.

“Come on show some spirit, you are a knight after all!”

“Yes but we’ve been hiking through this mountain for most of the day.”

He pulls out a map, looking over it carefully. “Based on this map Mika gave me, we should be finished before sundown.”

The knights’ shoulders sag. Making you giggle a bit. Varka knew taking many new knights on this mini journey would bring up a lot of complaining.

Varka looks over his shoulder smirking, “What’s so funny?”

You hold your hand over your chest, “Oh Grandmaster I’m surprised you’re able to still function since you haven’t had alcohol in a few days. Are you doing okay?”

He lightly glares, “I can function- whoa…” looking down at his feet he see part of the thin path crumble. Instantly becoming focused, “Step over the area lightly. Don’t put any extra pressure.”

The group nods as each Varka starts. Stepping over lightly, taking a couple step forwards so the next one can do the same. She’s a bit wobbly but ends up crossing over without messing up the path.

The knight that was complaining is now going. He’s shaking quite aggressively and is super hesitant with stepping. Putting his foot out, he tries to take a step before pulling it back and taking a few breaths. He does that a couple more times before ending up jumping across instead of taking a step.

He starts to stumble because the path is breaking again, without thinking you dash forward pushing him so he’s at solid ground. But that leaves you to take the fall instead of him.

“Shoot-“ you try and grab the edge but are too far. Making you continue to fall down the mountain.

“Stay straight ahead on this path, it will lead you to the camp!” Varka then jumps down using anemo to quicken his speed.

Trying to stop yourself the best you can doesn’t work because you end up cutting open both of your hand with the rocks and gravel. It stings so you try to slow yourself with your legs. Placing your feet flat on the mountain doesn’t slow your speed, instead you end up pushing yourself off the mountain so you’re align with it. Now you’re truly free falling.

That doesn’t last long because two strong arms wrap around you, pulling you into a warm chest. Varka plants his feet on the mountain and takes another giant leap to be able to land on the ground that is now visible.

“Oh my archons-“ you wrap yourself around your strong but crazy boyfriend.

He holds you tightly as he braces himself to land. Varka’s armor clanks as he hits the ground with a loud thud.

“I think that was an A+ landing if I do say so myself.”

“Never did I think when I saw you jump around with your anemo vision, I would be flying down a mountain with you.” Leaning your forehead on his chest, “Thank you…”

Varka plops onto the ground, adjusting your position so you face him. He looks you over to see no injuries until he looks down at his clothes to see red. He knows that’s not his so he grabs your hands to see them ripped up.

He hangs his head, “I was too late to stop you from getting hurt.”

Removing one of your hands from his you tilt up his chin and kiss softly. He immediately returns the kiss, putting his hands on your waist to pull you closer.

You break the kiss only for him to chase your lips. You push his chin back lightly with a laugh, “I wouldn’t have lived if it wasn’t for you. Thank you Varka.”

He hugs you tightly, “Guess I gotta thank Barbatos next time I see him.”

You twirl around in your new summer dress in front of your closet mirror. It’s a flowy light blue dress that matches your boyfriend’s eyes perfectly. That’s the reason you got it but you say it’s because of the little dandelion flowers sewn into it.

Walking out of your closet you walk to the bathroom to see Varka brushing his teeth. He’s not in his normal outfit and armor which really makes it feel like festival season. He normally only really gets one evening to enjoy the festival so he always makes sure it’s devoted to spending time with you as himself and not as the Grandmaster.

“How does it look?” You give him the same exact twirl you were doing in front of your mirror.

Facing him again makes you a little nervous because he stops brushing his teeth and just stares at you. Shifting back and forth of your feet, “Does it look bad?” You nervously ask.

He spits out his toothpaste, “Sweetheart, I’m really happy I’m good at fighting because I’d fight everyone for you. Especially when you look this beautiful.”

Varka places his toothbrush down on the counter, wipes his mouth on a towel before closing the distance between you two. He puts his two massive warm and calloused hands on your cheeks before pulling you into a deep kiss.

Clutching his shirt tightly, you let him guide the kiss to become a bit more messy. You taste his minty toothpaste as his tongue dances along with yours. As the kiss goes on it becomes more uncoordinated leading you and him to need air.

He pulls back, giving you a boyish smile, “You’re absolutely breathtaking.”

He sighs deeply, while looking down at you some of his hair falls into his face. You brush his hair out of his eyes so you can fully see him. “Thank you.”

“You keep making me fall in love with you every time I see you.”

You feel your face redden with it even reaching your ears. To embarrassed to keep looking him in the eyes, you bury yourself into his chest.

He lets out a deep laugh that you can feel as you lean into him. Varka hugs you tightly, swaying you from side to side.

“I love you Varka.”

You feel him smile against your forehead before he leans down and kisses your temple. “I’m so lucky that I get to hear those words from you.”

He pulls out of the embrace but doesn’t let you get far because he slips his hand into yours, “Ready to go?”

“I’ll follow you anywhere,” you tell him. You see he picks up on the deeper meaning because he tightens his grip before raising your hand to his lips to gently kiss your knuckle.

You walk into your apartment after getting some takeout for dinner for you, Ashveil and Mr N.

“I’m back,” you announce as you slip your shoes off, walking into the kitchen to place the food on the counter.

You pull the containers out of the bag and still hear no response from the two of them. Luckily you can see the living room from your kitchen where you see Ashveil passed out on the couch and Mr N sleeping in the recliner you have in the corner.

They have been working a lot more recently so you’re just happy they are getting some sleep. Slipping the containers into the fridge so you can reheat them once they wake up. Heading over to your hallway closet, you pull out two blankets. You grab a smaller one and lay it over Mr N then walk over to place the bigger one on your boyfriend.

You gently adjust the blanket so he is fully under it. You slip of his hat that is covering his beautiful face. Gently pushing his hair behind his ear you then place a soft kiss onto his forehead. As you pull away, his hand finds the back of your head and guides you towards his lips. It’s a slow yet passionate kiss.

You break the kiss after a couple of seconds and push at his chest, “Baby, go back to sleep.”

He then pulls you down so you lay right on top of him. He adjusts you so you’re under the blanket and on his right side that is facing the backside of the couch, just so you don’t accidentally fall off while you two take your now shared nap.

“Knew I was missing something.” He squeezes his hip.

You cuddle into him with a gentle smile. He watches you through sleepy eyes and thanking everything he can have this moment with you. His life has been nothing but crazy, but when he’s with you, he is at peace.

“I love you,” you whisper.

Ashveil:

As he walks back Purito Station to regroup with Sunday back at the Astral Express, Ashveil can only think about you and Mr N. He keeps replaying the conversation he had with you before left with Dan Heng, Welt, and Yao Guang.

“I need you two to stay here.” Ashveil rubs his thumb back and forth on your cheek.

Gently holding his forearm you smile sadly at him, “We will stay here.”

He smiles lightly before gently kissing your forehead. His lips linger for a brief second before he pulls back, turning to leave his little rented room.

Before he shuts the door you call out to him, “Please come back to us.”

“I’ll always come back.”

“Be safe.”

“For you? I promise.”

Now since the world has changed due to Asat Pramad, he can’t help but worry. He can’t reach you at all and hasn’t heard anything from anyone about you seeing you and Mr N. It takes a lot to truly make him unsettled but this has his stomach tying in tight knots.

He zones out most of the conversation back at the station until Sunday says his name.

“Mr Ashveil? There’s a monkey gentlemen and lady asking about you.”

“They are here!?”

“Yes. They led a group of civilians here.”

“Where are they now?”

“By the massive sign, a bit to the left.”

Ashveil walks by, nodding at Sunday, “Thank you.”

He walks into the main area and looks towards the left and sees you handing some bananas to Mr N. How you got those shock him but he’s just eternally grateful to see you two safe.

Closing the distance quickly he calls out your name, you barely face him before he’s wrapping you in a tight embrace. One hand on the back of your head and his other arm wrapped strongly around your waist, anchoring you to him.

You return the embrace by wrapping your arms around his chest and resting your head on his chest.

“You’re back.”

“I told you I’d come back.”

“She wouldn’t stop pacing Mr Ashveil!” Mr N pitches.

“Mr N! You weren’t supposed to tell him!” Your face flushes with embarrassment so you bury yourself more into Ashveil’s chest to hide your reddened face.

His arm around your waist loosens so he can run it up and down your back. “I’m not letting anything take you from me. I will always come back to you,” he whispers.

“You’re not hurt right?”

“Not a scratch.”

“That makes me happy.”

“So that means your face isn’t bright red anymore?” He smirks after teasing you.

You try to push him away out of fake annoyance but he grabs your forearms and pulls you back into the hug.

“I’m so relieved you two are okay.”

“It’s because of my heroics that she is safe Mr Ashveil!”

He looks over his shoulder to his partner in crime and mouths, “Thank you.”

The knots in his stomach have disappeared. He can’t help but feel calm and collected in this moment. It’s as if there isn’t a lord ravager trying to wipe out this entire planet. The feeling of you in his arms makes everything bad go away and he can’t help but selfishly want to stay in it forever.

Blade:

“I will go find Dan Heng and the others.”

Your jaw nearly drops to the floor. How can he just leave after you just got him back? You get they have to be found but does he really have to go alone.

He turns to you as if he senses your inner turmoil, “I’ll be fine. You do not need to worry.”

“But Blade… we- I just got you back.” You try to reach out for him but end up deciding to drop your hand and look away. You already saw his face after he almost permanently left but now the thought of seeing it leave again, pains you like nothing before.

“We should get going,” Caleus tells the group.

You knew you were going back with him towards the express because civilians could use your healing abilities. Yet your heart yearns to go with Blade.

You start to walk by Blade but he puts his arm up, stopping you from walking by. He doesn’t look at you but instead looks off in the distance, “I’m not leaving.”

“I know,” you murmur.

“I will see you soon.”

“Please don’t get hurt.” You know it’s a pointless thing to tell him but it eases your mind.

He doesn’t say anything, he just drops his hand and heads off in the opposite direction of you. You watch as he slowly gets further and further from you until you can’t seem him anymore.

Once you get to the station, you jump right into helping anyone and everyone. Some people suffer smaller injuries like small cuts or little pains here or there. Then there are others that have broken bones and deeper cuts.

You focus on the bad ones first because you made a vow that you would never lose a patient so today it’s not going to be the day you break your vow. Starting with the deep cuts you clean the wounds before using your abilities to close the wounds. You then go to the ones with broken bones and position them the best you can before using your abilities to fix the bones.

You repeat this over and over again until all the major injuries are over. You then go to the area where the injuries are less severe. You repeat the same actions as you did earlier. After you finish you go and check with everyone you helped to make sure they are doing okay.

When you finish talking with the last kid you helped you push yourself off your knees. As you stand up, you can feel how exhausted you are. Your body aches, your eyes are heavy, and your mind is so empty.

You take a couple steps before tripping over your feet. Great you’re going to face plant in front of everyone.

Instead of hitting the ground you fall into someone. It’s a familiar embrace. It’s warm and comforting, it makes you lean into it more.

Then you realize what you’re doing. You pull back and apologize, “I am so sorry, I tripped and didn’t-“

“You overworked yourself again.”

That voice. You snap your head up to see Blade looking you over. You can tell he’s upset, or what he considers upset, that you pushed yourself this far. You don’t care because all you’re doing is wrapping your arms around his neck and holding him tightly.

“You’re back!”

Blade slowly wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you close again. “I told you I would.”

“I know but… I thought I wasn’t going to see you for a while.”

“I’m here now.”

You smile into his neck, “Thank you.”

“Did you doubt me?”

“No.”

“Then I don’t see the need to thank me.” He unwraps one arm around your waist before guiding you to an area with chairs, “But you need to rest.”

“But we should meet up with the others-“

“I talked to them already, they aren’t making any moves soon. So we will sit down so you can rest.”

He leads you two to open seats then pulls you down beside him. He wraps an arm around your shoulder, letting you to rest your head on his shoulder.

He looks down at you with soft eyes before whispering, “Rest.” Melting into his hold you find your eyes closing without hesitation.

Sunday:

When Sunday was resting on the express after the fight with Fulwish, you told him that you’d go get him some Planarcadia snacks and drinks so he could enjoy his trailblazing as much as he can. Looking back on it, you wish you had stayed on the express with him because what the heck happened to the planet? It’s all dark and ominous looking.

You can’t get in contact with anyone from the express so you decide just to run around and fight anything that tries to attack you as you make your way back to the express. You luckily run into Caleus, March, Ashveil, Sparxie, and Magnus.

“March!” You wave in the distance before running up to the group.

“You’re safe!” She hugs you tightly, “Am I so happy to see you.”

“Me too. I thought I would have to try and get back to express myself.”

“Look, it’s Sunday’s bird!” She points out. “Sunday! Can you hear me?”

“Hello?”

“Sunny!” Caleus excitedly calls his nickname.

“I finally was able to make a connection with you. There was something interfering with my ravens.”

“It’s probably the big smiley face we had just fought.”

“Are you all alright?”

“Yes. Took them down easily,” Caleus puffs his chest out.

“That’s good.” Sunday responds. He then utters your name, “Have any of you seen her?”

“Yeah! She’s right here!” March answers.

“I’m okay Sunday.”

He sighs heavily, “Thank the Aeon’s.” He clears his throat, “You all need to get back here.”

“We are on our way!”

You barely walk into the tunnel when you see Sunday running towards the group, “You all are still safe!”

He catches you all up on the situation before ridiculing himself. “I seem to be making my past mistakes all over again.”

Before you can tell him he isn’t, Caleus beats you to it. “It’s not the same as it was before Sunny. You helped them a lot.”

“You did all that you could Sunday and that’s all we can ask of you. Thank you for helping them all.” You add on, giving him a proud smile at your boyfriend gently.

He mirrors your expression. Before turning back to the conversation. You all make your plan on Sunday trying to keep using his tuning to connect with the conductor. While he does that you all will wait to make the next steps of the plan.

The group separates as you and Sunday stay in the tunnel. He tells you again, “I am happy to see that you are safe. I was worried once everything happened that something would happen to you.”

“I’m really happy to see you’re safe too. I didn’t know what to think of the whole situation.”

“Neither did I.” He sighs, “I should go and try to reach the conductor.”

He turns on his heel but you quickly grab his hand, stopping him in his tracks. He furrows his brows, “Is something the matter?”

Instead of telling him, you gently wrap your arms around his chest while leaning your head on his shoulder.

“I was scared,” you admit.

He doesn’t hesitate to hold you as tightly as he can, “I understand because I felt the same way.”

Resting his chin on your head as he sways you two from side to side, “But we are here now and are going to fix everything. After all we are part of the trailblaze, that is what we do.”

He’s grown so much since joining the express and you couldn’t be more proud of him. “I am so proud of you Sunday.”

He tighten his hold on you and swallows thickly, “Thank you.”

You two hold each other for a couple more minutes before you gently pull back but not far enough to break the embrace.

“You should go now.”

His expression falters for a second, “I don’t want to let go.”

You raise yourself on your toes placing a gentle kiss his lips, “I believe in you.” Placing your feet fully on the ground again, you watch him blush.

“I will do my best.” He pecks your lips quickly before walking out of the tunnel.