windrise had such lovely breezes, and soon you found that your anger had seemingly fluttered away with the calming winds. your walk had allowed you time to think, of both the words diluc spoke and your own behavior. neither of you were very polite or mature about your handling of the matter, much to your chagrin.

after some thought collecting at the large tree near windrise, you legs found themselves dragging towards dawn winery where you had only been hours earlier engaged in the fight of your life, with the love of your life. what was it about? you hardly remembered anymore, but what you craved most was not vengeance or the ability to be right, but diluc's arms wrapped firm around your waist and his intoxicating scent of fresh grapes and aged wine. you longed to run your hands through his thick locks instead of pulling out your own, or feel his palm, gloved or bare, in your own instead of anxiously digging crescent shaped holes into the flesh of your palms.

the doors to the winery felt as heavy as led when you placed your hands and pushed with all your might.

the usual dim candles that illuminated the winery were nowhere to be seen; the entirety of the property seemed void of light and deprived of the usual staff scurrying about. the pit in your throat began to jostle your insides but you swallowed it down with firm resolution and set off in search of diluc.

his usual spot, tableside by the fireplace, was devoid of warmth or any semblance of his being save for the reading glasses he often wore while tending to the winery's paperwork. you clutched the pair of spectacles in your hand and prodded around each room with bated breath, hoping to see the familiar mop of red hair.

just as you ascended the stairs and began to approach his office, your heart stilled as did your breath: the faintest of whimpers met your ears in a sorrowful kiss and the creeping hesitance that had been brewing in the deepest confines of your stomach had begun to resurface.

as gently as you could, you approached his office and peered inside.

the mighty diluc, so strong and so brave, looked much more akin to a lost child as he sat slumped in his chair, elbows placed limply on his desk while his hands took it upon themselves to hold his head over countless stray pieces of paperwork. his red locks had fallen out of its usual composed ponytail and poured out in waterfalls over his skin and desk. even from this strained angle, you could see the small splatters of teardrops that fell onto the documents below his face. and sweet barbatos, with every one of his muffled cries and sobs, you felt your heart break and scatter into pieces, a sharp bite coming to tingle at the ends of your eyes when your name passed his lips in a hoarse and whispered voice.

diluc seemed not to notice you as you approached with cautious steps and gently set his reading glasses down in front of him on his lacquered, wooden desk. the gentle stroke of your hand on his head was what tore him from the wallowing fields of his hands.

his eyes scanned over your body, his own hand hesitantly reaching up to overlap the hand you placed on his head. upon feeling the smoothness of your skin and the bumps of your knuckles, diluc bolted from his chair and wrapped his arms so, so tight around your body. the usual solid cadence of his voice felt wobbly and unstable as he pressed his face into the crook of your neck and shook with sobs. you squeezed back with equal force and ran a soothing hand through his mangled locks.

"i thought...i thought you left me," he managed to sputter out in between lulls of choked cries and sharp inhales.

a single tear slipped down your cheek, "shh i'm here now, i wouldn't leave you just like that." and how true it was that you never would.

you pulled his face from your neck and swiped away at the moisture that coated his face. the rims of his scarlet eyes pooled with a never-ending stream of tears. his skin felt hot to the touch as your nimble fingers worked to rub away his sorrow. diluc's hand found its way up to cup your cheek and brushed away at the stray tears that trickled down from the reservoir hidden behind your eyes.

"i'm so sorry, my love. i meant none of what i said, i truly do love you with all my heart. if i had been more mature about it-"

"no, diluc," you gently placed the soft of your palm against his lips to silence him, "don't blame yourself like that. i'm at fault as well, and i'm sorry." the tip of your nose brushed against his before aiming to slot your lips against his for a tender, chaste kiss.

"we can talk about it after you've calmed down, okay?" you asked once pulling away. he nodded in reply and returned his face to your shoulder, allowing his tears to be absorbed by the heat of your skin all while you cradled him in your arms and whispered words of love and reassurance into his hair.

the muffled "i love you" from your shoulder had you weak in the knees, and it was then that you knew that the both of you would be okay, especially when you replied with an "i love you too" in return.

cider lake was breathtaking at night: from the dancing glimmers of moonlight atop its rippling surface, to the gentle, cooling breeze that came in from the lake water. shoes clutched in one hand, your bare feet made soft footfalls and left behind imprints of your existence in the grainy, mushy sand.

surrounded by tranquility, you finally had a moment to breath and think back to your argument with kaeya. you no doubt felt terrible, both for losing your cool and the sharp imprints of his words that still left impact wounds on your heart. it was almost as though kaeya could target your worst insecurities and zero in on them like heat seeking missiles, and he never failed to miss.

but you knew deep within that it was both of your yelling, both of your disagreements that led to where you are now. and with the calming brush of cider lake's waters against your ankles, you knew you were calm enough to talk things out with kaeya. after all, you loved him, flaws and all.

the favonius headquarters were ominous to some at night, but you glided through the lacquered halls with ease, taking great care to empty your shoes of sand and water first. it wasn't the menacing darkness of the halls that worried you, rather the gentle trickle of candlelight from kaeya's office that urged you to turn around and discuss things in the morning. but you knew that you wanted to fix this, that you'd rather fall asleep tonight knowing you could wake up to his charming smile rather than cold sheets.

despite the glow that poured in from his office into the dark halls, only a single candle had been lit by his deskside instead of the usual four or five that he'd placed around the office. instead of facing his desk, kaeya's chair had been turned to gaze outside the large, paneled window that sat behind his desk. from his office, cider lake stretched on and glimmered under the moonlight for as far as the eye could see. with his cheek propped up by his elbow that rested on the arm of the chair, you almost thought he had been sleeping if not for the slightly ragged breaths emitted from his lips.

you cautiously knocked on the wood of his door, "kaeya? it's me."

the man in front of you hardly moved, transfixed on the gentle sloshes of crystal clear water in front of him.

"kaeya, please don't ignore me," your feet felt like on his wooden floors as you approached his chair, "i came here to tell you how sorry i am, not to fight anymore-"

the rest of your sentence fell flat in your throat as you finally came face to face with kaeya.

kaeya whose eyepatch had long since fallen to the floor and laid by his boots. whose hidden, milky eye seemed lost and confused. kaeya whose eyes gently trickled with silent tears. he hadn't noticed your presence until your thumb came to gently swipe away a tear from under his normally hidden eye. he seemed to flip a switch on as his usual seductive (though strained) grin formed on his face.

"finally come crawling back, sweetheart?" and if not for the warble of his voice or the tears cascading down this face, you'd think he was alright.

"oh kaeya," your hand gently pushed kaeya's head into the soft expanse of your body and wrapped around his broad shoulders, "i'm so sorry."

he sat motionless for a while before his arms pulled your body closer to his, and you felt the small vibrations of his hiccups through the cloth of your attire.

"m' so sorry, dove. i didn't mean what i said to you, i promise."

you gently shushed him and stroked the top of his head, "i know, i know, kaeya. i'm sorry too, we both handled it wrong."

your lips pressed themselves against his soft locks, then moved downwards to his forehead, then nose, and finally his quivering lips, sucking away the last of his breaths from deep within his lungs.

"i thought you left me, for good this time." his voice dripped with hesitance as he raised the heel of his palm to his forehead and humorlessly laughed, a strained smile on his face.

"somehow it's always the people i love the most that i hurt, it really is quite funny." despite his words, kaeya sounded so, so sad, as if he'd break under your fingertips.

the words you wanted to speak didn't seem to fit quite right, so instead you opted to squeeze tighter around his body to let him know how real you were, and let him know that you haven't left him.

"i hurt you too, kaeya. and i'm sorry, very sorry. but we can talk about it later, okay?" he didn't respond, but from the gentle, forwards tug of your arm that had you sitting with your legs slung over his lap and the tight grip of his arms around your torso, you had all the answers you needed.

"i love you, i'll always be here for you." you murmured just under a breath as your lips found solace pressing against the eyelid that held his hidden eye.

the gnawing pain in his heart began to slowly ease with every lingering touch you left upon his skin.

zhongli had once told you that the best way to relax in the famed port of liyue was to sit by the docks and count the ships as they entered in and out of the city.

you hadn't expected a use for this fact, nor for him to be right.

your legs dangled over one of the wooden piers, eyes trained on the elegant and grandiose ship that seemed to sparkle with gold in the setting rays of the sun. counting the ships and pointing our their details in accompaniment of a lovely, gentle sea breeze and the smell of salt in the air had given you time to reflect on your fight with childe.

his hair trigger temper and impulsiveness were things you never usually found yourself the victim of, not until today at least. you'd felt fear but never like this, not fear where the man you loved was at the center of it all. fear that he'd leave you, fear that he'd hate you, fear that you were the main source of his anger at that moment.

the momentum of your feet stilled as you recalled the way in which his voice would take on a tender tone in the early hours of the morning, or when his arms would sneak around your sides to startle you out of whatever task you were preoccupied with. you could never lie to yourself: you missed him dearly despite your argument.

which is how you found yourself alone in northland bank, shoes making gentle clicking sounds on the marble floors in search of childe's office. the fear that had been building up in you had manifested into sweat that trickled down your forehead and the nervous clench of your palms. his office was barren of his presence save for the closet door that looked like it had been flung wide open and the scattered mess of papers on his desk that you had helped him organized.

"are you looking for lord tartaglia?"

you turned your head around to face ekaterina, who send you a polite smile hidden beneath the fabric of her mask. you nod in response, unsure of what was to come.

"i'm afraid he just set out, his location was undisclosed." you frowned in response but thanked her nonetheless from preventing your fruitless search.

night had fallen when you emerged from the bank, eyes wide and wandering in search of the familiar head of ginger that you loved so much. your lead-heavy legs dragged you to the outskirts of the city where the hills began to climb and grass rolled heavy at your feet and tickled your ankles. you almost hadn't registered the slight thump of the footsteps behind you.

"(y/n)?"

you turned around at the sound of your name only to be met in a crushing hug by none other than childe himself. "childe?!" startled, your mind instinctively moved to wrap your arms around his waist and run up and down his back. it was only under your touch that you noticed the heave of his shoulder and the slight rasp of his voice.

his shaking hands gently pulled your body away from his to peer into the galaxies contained within your irises and it was then that you noticed the slight reddening of his eyes, the flush of his face, and the tears that cascaded down his cheeks in silent waterfalls. "i-i've been looking all over for you, angel, i-" he tried to speak but it was as if you could see the words getting caught in between coughed sobs and whimpers that pierced your heart and had you beckoning him back into your arms.

your own eyes began to water and soon slipped into a silent river of tears when his arms clutched your body with his life and his sobs heaved themselves into you.

"i'm so sorry, for losing my temper with you. i-i didn't mean it i swear! i just- i'm-"

"hey, hey, childe it's okay," like a lullaby, your soothing voice brought him back from the deep wrangling tentacles of his mind and cradled him in your warmth, "i'm sorry too, i wasn't very nice to you either. but let's talk about it when we're both not a mess, sound good?" the little laugh to the tail end of your sentence still somehow managed to send butterflies through his stomach. even with tears streaming down your face, he still found you so beautiful.

he nodded and kissed your wet lips with all that he was in a silent promise to both himself, and you.

scaramouche's sharp tongue never hurt, never pierced past the protective layer you donned when you took on the title of the balladeer's lover. but it seemed your shield had worn thin, and his venomous tongue had managed to stab holes through your heart and lathered your soul in poison.

you were thankful just this once for the shogun's principle of eternity. in the land that never changed, you found solace in letting the sea breezes of narukami's beaches lull you into a dream where scaramouche's words didn't sink their fangs into your soul, and where you didn't retaliate with arguments that made no sense and were fueled by anger.

but dreams were dreams, and you opened your eyes to the stinging reality that laid before you. bare feet clinging to remnants of sand, your shoes had been discarded on a rock in favor of strolling through the waves at ankle length, letting the water cleanse you of your anger and the breeze to soothe your battered heart.

it wasn't like scaramouche at all to lash out at you, sure his tongue was sharper than any knife he wielded, but you knew just how much he treasured you even if his words betrayed his heart. and it was that single thought that had you picking up your shoes and hurrying back to the little cottage scaramouche had managed to haggle into his hands.

your feet ached and burned from scratching against the dirt path, but you wanted nothing more than to hold him in your arms and tell him just how sorry you were, and hoped that he'd hear the prayers deep within your heart.

the doorknob felt all too heavy in your sweaty palm as you struggled to turn it. perhaps this was fate screaming at you to run far, far away, but fate has never enticed you into its grips, so you turned the doorknob.

the house hummed with silence and basked itself in the glow of the moonlight, devoid of any candles or electro spheres that scaramouche often used to illuminate the home.

"scara?" you called out tentatively in a small voice. with no reply, you heaved a sigh and set your sights on finding whichever corner of the house he'd gone off to.

you didn't need to look far, as a single glance into his home office revealed to you that he hadn't moved an inch since you left the house in a flurry of emotions earlier that day. hunched over his desk, elbows on the wood and head resting on his folded knuckles white from gripping onto thin air.

"scara?" at the gentle call of his name and upon seeing your worried look, he flinched.

"what do you want?" sharp as ever, he refused to look you in the eye and settled for huffing away and favoring a corner of the room. his sleeve came to brush across his eyes and you thought nothing of it.

"i want to talk, if you're willing." as if to test the waters, you took a cautious step forward. with the click of your shoe on the hardwood, scaramouche rose from his desk and slammed his palms face down onto the lacquered wood.

"i don't. leave." you would have respected his wishes, if not for the single glimmer of a tear that streaked down his flushed face illuminated by the moonlight.

"are you sure-"

"LEAVE! I SAID LEAVE! GO AWAY!" the sudden outburst hadn't phased you the way his rolling tears and choked sobs did. he tried to scream more profanities and "go away!"s at you, but his words were nestled between the crook of muffled cries and whimpers. instead of leaving, you found yourself coming closer and closer until your arms had found their way around his shoulders and your hand began to stroke his soft locks.

scaramouche thrashed and screamed threats and murderous words that would've had anyone else's blood boiling, but you knew from the salty tears that cascaded down his cheeks that he was just as hurt as you were.

"i'm not leaving you like this, scara." you cooed as the hand that had been stroking his hair moved to wipe away the tears from his eyes.

those words alone seemed to break the dam that had been holding back all of his tears, even if they came out in angry glares and single drops of tears rather than sobs. his hesitant arms found their way around your waist and squeezed tightly.

"why...why do you stay with me?" he asked in an out of character, soft, tentative voice that strained with emotion. "i can't watch my mouth...and you put up with all my bullshit. i don't get it."

"that's an easy question, it's because i love you, dummy." with a watery laugh and tears of your own in your eyes, you pressed a chaste kiss first to his cheek, then to his parted lips which tasted of salty tears and indulgence.

"and, i'm sorry for our fight earlier. we can talk things out later though, for now i wanna give you some cuddles." cheekily, you made grabby motions with your hands and smiled despite the evident tears on your face.

his pride would never allow him to mumble those sugary apologies you yearned to hear, but scaramouche had a way of speaking to you in which no words were needed. the slight tug of his arms around your waist and his muffed breaths accompanied by the burning touch of his skin and tears in his eyes were all you needed to know how sorry he was.

all your worries washed away as did the tears on his face fade when you reciprocated his love as best you could despite his flaws.

but without the company of diluc, you were often left to explore the palace walls of mondstadt by yourself, provided you could shake your incessant entourage. it proved to be easy, especially since the stern-eyed librarian, lisa, provided you an alibi nearly every time, allowing you squirrel yourself away in the library's backrooms. you would sit in the cushioned windowsill for hours at a time, a book between your fingertips, reading silently to yourself.

on such days, the only face you would encounter would be lisa and, on scarce occasions, her lover, jean. you envied the two of them and the connection they seemed to have -- the connection that they were able to choose to keep. instead, you were off limits to all and wanted by none who had access, forced to live vicariously through the romance novels that you plucked off the library's shelves. in the warm sunlight that filtered through the library windows, enveloping your body in warmth akin to the most genuine of hugs, you could almost pretend that you were somewhere else and that you were someone else.

yet, duty calls your name and every afternoon, you would slink out of the library, not wanting to cause too much of a disturbance with your impromptu absences. you would return to your ladies- and gentlemen-in-waiting, only to have them collectively ignore how you managed to sneak away from them for the umpteenth time. such moments within the library were the only time you truly felt at home in barbatos' domain, freer than the winds on which the leaves ride on.

the visits became routine. approach lisa at the desk, have her escort you to the back, and burn through the pages of whatever unfortunate book you had chosen to be your victim for the day, then slip away and return to your royal duties. and yet, even the most simple of routines can find themselves flipped upon their heads. it happens in the most innocuous of ways. as you sit in the room full of banned books, a face that is neither lisa nor jean enters.

his blonde hair almost glows in the warm rays of sun that filter past you and cast themselves upon the doorway. however, you are drawn to his soft turquoise eyes that widen upon seeing you within the room of illicit materials. you raise your eyebrows inquisitively at him, drawing your book closer into yourself as you nestle further into the security that the window seat provides you. the silence between the two of you lasts only a few moments, yet it feels like an eternity.

"pardon my interruption," he says. his voice is smoother than the silks you adorn yourself in. "i was not informed that anyone else would be within this section of the library."

he speaks cautiously, as if confused as to who you are entirely. you have no idea who he is, yet it would take someone truly disinterested in politics to not recognize your royal garments nor your face from mondstadt's royal wedding. he treats you as if you are not the spouse of the crown prince, but rather a complete stranger. after years of being touted around as no more than a plaything for any royal who ranked above you, the crystalline innocence of his wide eyes is refreshing.

"likewise," you say, slowly. "what is your name, if you feel inclined as to answer?"

he blinks at you. "i am albedo, mondstadt's chief alchemist. and you are?"

albedo. the name rolls of his tongue in the nicest of ways. you wonder how it would sound rolling off yours, yet you know you should not indulge in such selfish forms of intimacy with those of a lower rank than you. albedo either has no idea of the rank you hold above him or does not care. you feel inclined to believe the former, due to the way the edges of his suit are clean and neatly pressed, fitting snugly to his figure. such precision with his appearance leads you to believe that albedo is a man of formalities, even if he does seem a bit clueless as to your actual identity.

albedo's question bursts your illusory bubble of freedom, grounding you to the palace halls that have determined your life's future. you let out a soft sigh and elect to drop any titles from your name, in hopes to hear the word that makes you different from all other royals and nobles fall from his lips, as you desperately wish to be more than your title. your name feels foreign without an honorific in front of it, yet you manage to spit it out.

albedo echoes it back to you and you feel butterflies in your stomach. a faint glimmer of recognition appears in his eyes, yet his body language does not alter itself based upon such a revelation.

"it is an honor to meet you, your majesty," albedo says and you cringe internally at such formal words being used in your direction once away.

"i am nothing special, there is no need to be so formal with me. please, treat me as you would a colleague," you instruct and albedo nods, a bit startled by your request, yet understanding nonetheless.

"very well then, (y/n)," albedo responds and you feel your heart skip a beat as his name falls from your lips. "if you wish to be treated as a colleague, then do you wish to accompany in my alchemic experiments for the day?"

albedo had only invited you out of selfish reasons, even if he wouldn't admit it. sure, you had seemed bored, but with sucrose having taken the day off due to falling ill and timaeus currently in dragonspine, albedo required an assistant to aid him that he did not have. he did not wish to bother some inexperienced knight who could get called away at any moment, but you were different, for you would be able to wave anyone off with a single hand and stay by albedo's side.

what he hadn't expected, however, was the chemistry between the two of you. you spoke in soft words, constantly asking him inquisitive questions and being a willing test subject to potions and concoctions that he had been brewing. there was a friendliness in your tone that had surely been crafted by the same loneliness that threatened to swallow albedo whole on the daily.

as you depart his laboratory, albedo feels a tug in his heart as it begs him to call you back to stay. despite knowing you for such a short time, albedo feels as if he has known you for years. after all, the two of you are kindred spirits -- foreigners to mondstadt who had the ability to destroy its reputation lying within their hands.

on his fourth visit to your little alcove within the library, albedo invites you not to his laboratory, but instead invites you to spend time with him. the alchemist sits next to you, perched so he can view the outside scenery. in the small conversation that exists between the two of you, albedo manages to sketch a beautiful image of the scenery that lies just outside the palace walls. while you cannot experience their lush green grasses for yourself, nor gather whatever mondstadtian rarities lie within the forests, albedo gifts you his drawing and you experience the taste of freedom once more, even if it is only found within the graphite smeared across the page.

in the soft summer sunlight that encases you both, you place a cautious hand upon albedo's cheek. with only the clouds above and barbatos as your witness, you share your first kiss with the alchemist. it is chaste as it is sweet, yet his composed nature falters as you pull away, leaving albedo behind with flushed cheeks and slightly parted lips. the pink hues that swirl across his skin are something he lets you admire only for a brief moment before he pulls you close to him once more.

in the hasty, inexperienced fingers that wrap themselves around the back of your head and around your waist, you feel a warmth softer than the sun's own rays as albedo's lips smash against your own. the kiss lacks all of the reservations that the previous one did. your own inexperienced lips meet his naïve ones in a rush, teeth knocking into each other, yet the alchemist holds you as if you are the finest of lab samples on the verge of breaking.

in a perfect world, the two of you would be able to profess your love from the rooftops for all to hear, yet you can only reveal your affections within the solemn walls of the secret book portion of the library. like the pages on the shelves, you and albedo together contain secrets that the general public would be unable to comprehend, so the two of you settle for finding company in the clouds that float above the window seat that you two share.

you lose track of how many times the alchemist visits. he begins to bring small offerings, as if you are an altar who needs worship. despite your soft chastising, he brings them along anyways. albedo's gifts consist a windblume made of geo during the yearly festival, a warm scarf the color of the golden amber that forms his vision, and small creations from his laboratory that even you have managed to visit on rare occasions.

one day, he brings you a bouquet of cecilias and you pull him to sit in front of you. you begin to thread their delicate stalks through his hair and he waits patiently, relishing in the way your fingertips brush against his scalp and the way your body hovers close to his. silence falls between the two of you, yet the two of you have never understood each other better. as you finish your task and sit back to enjoy your handiwork, albedo turns to look at you. you're about to scold him for his impatience, but three words exit his lips that stop you in his tracks.

"i love you," albedo professes. silence fills the space between the two of you as a soft grin appears on your face, interrupted only by the warbles of the birds who are blissfully unaware to the way the two of you are trapped within your lies inside the palace walls. in this little refuge from the duties that beckon you both, the two of you can finally experience the liberating freedom of the truth.

"can i tell you a secret?" you ask, scooting closer to him. albedo looks at you for a moment before nodding slowly. you smile at him, the alchemist who freed your heart and now wears a crown of the freedom archon's favorite flowers.

"i love you, too," you murmur while brushing a stray lock of hair out of his face. as his lips split into a wide grin, you feel a gentle breeze brush past the both of you, despite the window being closed.

He sighed, and slowly walked behind you. He massaged your shoulders and it startled you a bit. You rubbed your eyes then went back to working on your paperwork. “Hey..you’ve been in here for like..hours..” he rests his chin on the crown of your head, “sorry gumi.. I’m almost done I promise..” you yawned. “Alright..I’ll be waiting..” he sighed and went on the bed, he laid down, facing you. You sense him looking at you so you looked at him with confusion, you couldn’t help but laugh. “What?..” he said, “stop looking at me..” you covered your mouth— trying hard to stop laughing. He smiled in response, he badly wants to hug you and cuddle you already; though he’s patient.

After you’re done with your paperwork, you noticed that he was sleepy. He looked like he was trying to keep his eyes open; just waiting for you to finish your work. You stood up from your chair and stretched your arms, then walking towards the bed. You laid down beside him, then he moved in to face you, so you did too. He looked at you with his sleepy eyes, then his hands going to your back, sliding up to the back of your head. He pushed your head in closer for him to kiss it, he rubs your head while you wrap your arm around his waist. Your face nuzzling on his neck, “you’ve worked so hard baby...I’m proud..” he said in a tired tone “but..still.. don’t work and work until you’ve stressed yourself out.. you need to take breaks from time to time...” he kissed the top of your head again, “I love you so much..” you muttered on his neck, “I love you much more..now sleep baby..”