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The first time they met, it was raining.
Ganyu stood in front of the Yuehai Pavilion, listening to the pitter-patter of rain on the stone surface and the occasional thunderous roar in the skies.
It was already late, and Ganyu was the only one still at the Pavilion.
At least, that’s what she thought.
“Did you not bring an umbrella?” A voice said from behind her.
Turning around, she was faced with a purple-haired woman who bore striking amethyst eyes.
Ganyu recognized her as a recently hired employee.
Keqing, her mind supplied helpfully, her name is Keqing.
A noblewoman from one of the most prominent families in Liyue, and it was evident even in the dress she wore. Though she did not know much about clothing, it was easy to discern that the woman’s dress was made of high-quality materials, adorned with luxurious accessories that must have costed thousands upon thousands of mora.
She could have easily secured a higher position in the hierarchy through means of connections. But she refused. It had caused quite the commotion, Ganyu remembered. A noblewoman, rejecting a coveted position, insisting to start from the bottom of the ladder instead. Even before her career had started, she had taken up the world by storm.
And even before they met, Ganyu had already admired her drive.
“Well?”
The voice broke Ganyu out of her stupor. Keqing’s face was neutral, but Ganyu could feel the impatience radiating off of her.
“I’m sorry, I was lost in thought,” Ganyu apologized, “to answer your question, no, unfortunately, I forgot to bring one.”
Keqing wasted no time, opening up her umbrella. “Then let me walk you home.”
Ganyu startled. “You don’t have to,” she said, “I can wait for a while longer. Or I can just brave the rain. Either way, it’s fine.”
Keqing looked at the skies. “This rain doesn’t look like it will let up anytime soon. And it will be my fault if you end up becoming sick from walking home in the rain.”
She wouldn’t, she knew it. With the divine blood running within her veins, Ganyu wouldn’t get sick from a little rain. But Keqing hadn’t known that she was a half-adeptus yet, had she?
Besides, how could Ganyu deny such a kind gesture?
“What seems to be the problem? This umbrella is big enough for two people,” Keqing remarked.
“Okay,” Ganyu finally relented, “okay, you can walk me home.”
They walked to Ganyu’s house in silence, save for the occasional directions that Ganyu gave out. She had always been a reserved person, and though the other woman seemed outspoken, she had heard rumors of her dislike of small talks.
But somehow, the silence was not uncomfortable, nor was it stifling. Before Ganyu realized it, they were already in front of her house.
“Thank you for walking me home, Miss Keqing. You really didn’t have to do this.”
Keqing waved a hand in dismissal. “It’s fine. I was the one who insisted,” she paused, “you know my name, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at the Pavilion.”
“Oh!” Ganyu exclaimed, “I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Ganyu. I am the general secretary for the Liyue Qixing. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
“Ganyu…” Keqing murmured, as if testing the name on her tongue, “it means sweet rain, does it not?”
Ganyu blinked, wondering where this conversation was heading. “Yes, it does.”
“It’s fitting,” Keqing said decidedly.
A beat of silence. The half-qilin didn’t know how to respond.
“Thank you?” she finally uttered. Ganyu didn’t quite understand. Supposedly, Keqing hated small talks. Yet here she was, initiating one herself.
“Then, I’ll take my leave now,” Keqing said, and before Ganyu could reply, she had already walked away, the sharp click-clack of her heels drowned out by the rain.
“What a peculiar woman,” Ganyu muttered to no one, once she was inside the safety of her own house, “but it was really kind of her to walk somebody whose name she didn’t even know home.”
Ganyu saw glimpses of Keqing here and there, but the next time they really met, Keqing had already risen to the position of Yuheng.
She had heard rumors of the purple-haired woman’s skepticism. Never witnessing it herself, she thought it was just that, a baseless rumor.
After all, Liyue was a nation that was still closely tied with its Archon. How could one of its citizens not believe in the god that had helped guide them for millennia?
At least, that was what she believed, until she saw it with her own two eyes, and heard it from her own two ears.
It had been the talk of Yuehai Pavilion for days. The Yuheng had been granted a Vision. They said that she had been approved by Rex Lapis to lead them to prosperity. Ganyu thought so, too. She took her own Vision as a sign of blessing from Rex Lapis, and she treasured it the most.
Night had fallen, but Ganyu had yet to finish her work. Deciding to take a little break, she headed to the courtyard.
It was raining. During her rare moments of leisure, she liked to listen to the rain. But right now, the sounds she heard were not only of water drops falling to the ground.
No, it sounded like something hitting a hard object. Alerted, Ganyu decided to find the source of the noise.
Imagine her surprise when she found Keqing, standing in the rain, hurling something at a rock in the gardens. Hard. The object bounced off the rock and landed back on the Yuheng’s feet.
Said woman was silent as she stared at the object with disgust, like its mere presence offended her, before picking it back up and preparing to throw it again.
“Lady Keqing!” She shouted out before she could stop herself.
Her contract with Rex Lapis required her to look out for the well-being of the people of Liyue. Of course, this includes the Liyue Qixing.
With that in mind, she hurried over to Keqing and pulled her inside the building. She grabbed some spare towels from the restroom and went back to the Yuheng.
Ganyu studied the other woman’s appearance.
Whenever Ganyu saw Keqing, she never looked any less than perfect. But at this moment, with her matted hair loose and out of its usual buns and her form drenched from head to toe, she looked… normal. Average. Just your typical human.
But Ganyu would never think any less of her because of it.
“What were you doing?” Ganyu asked softly. Her hands were busy drying Keqing’s clothes with a towel.
Wordlessly, Keqing lifted her own hand. Dread filled Ganyu’s entire body when she recognized the object in her palm.
“You were trying to destroy your Vision?” She croaked out. “Why?”
Keqing looked away. “Why shouldn’t I? Everything that I’ve done is the result of my hard work. I didn’t get to this point because some god looked out for me. Yet, the moment this… thing appears, it's all that people contribute my achievements to. Frankly speaking, I find it to be an insult.”
“But to be given a Vision does mean that you were blessed by Rex Lapis,” Ganyu said quietly.
The Yuheng scoffed. “If a Vision means the approval of the gods, then I don’t see why I should want one.”
Ganyu didn’t agree with Keqing’s opinions, but she nodded anyway, if only to avoid an argument. She was never one for conflicts.
The rest of her time was spent drying Keqing off in silence, and then they parted ways just as quietly. She didn’t miss Keqing’s small thank you, but she didn’t reply and walked away with hurried steps.
Her head was spinning. The rumors were true, and the Yuheng really was a skeptic.
A heretic, even, Ganyu thought despondently, how could Rex Lapis let someone so deviant lead his country?
To her bewilderment, Rex Lapis just laughed when she brought it up to him.
“Ganyu,” he said, his eyes full of mirth, “in this day and age, she is just the kind of person Liyue needs.”
She couldn’t understand what he meant by that. Maybe I need more life experience, she thought. But what good would more life experience do when she already had three thousand years of it?
The half-qilin chose to just avoid Keqing from that day. It seemed like fate was not on her side, though. If anything, with Keqing now being one of the Liyue Qixing, she worked with her more closely than ever before. But she still carried out each of Keqing's instructions to the letter, even though she had her reservations.
After all, it's what her contract required of her, and if not that, then what did she have?
Ganyu sat on the peak of Mt. Tianheng, looking over the expanse of Liyue Harbor, hugging her legs.
The rain was pouring down hard, as if like her, the skies were also mourning the loss of their Archon. Her whole body was drenched, but she didn’t care.
Were the water droplets on her cheeks from the rain, or was it her tears? Ganyu didn’t know, but she supposed it didn’t matter.
All of a sudden, the rain stopped dripping over her.
Ganyu didn't need to look up to see who it was.
“Why is it that every time we see each other, it’s always raining?” She remarked humorlessly.
“Nothing more than a mere coincidence, I would say,” Keqing replied, sitting down beside her. Her hand was still holding an umbrella above their heads, shielding them from the rain.
There were a few moments of silence before Keqing broke it.
“Why are you here, and not at the Harbor?”
Ganyu hugged her legs closer to her chest. “It’s too painful to be there right now. Rex Lapis had just… and I can’t-” she choked out a sob, “I can’t bear to be at the place where he parted, at least not at this moment.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Keqing whispered, “I don’t know him all that well - of course I don't - but I know he meant a lot to you.”
Ganyu searched her face for any form of mockery, but she found nothing besides genuineness.
“Thank you,” she finally replied.
“That’s not all I’m sorry for.”
The half-qilin looked at her. “What are you sorry for, then, this time?”
“I know I can have strong opinions. Especially regarding Rex Lapis. I used to openly disparage him in front of you. It hurts you every time, doesn't it? I can be tactless, sometimes. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize for that,” Ganyu murmured quietly, “everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Yours are just different from everyone else's. It’s true that I don’t like hearing it, but I never harbored any actual ill feelings towards you.”
“I know, but I’m still sorry,” Keqing said, “We might not always see eye to eye, but if you ever need me, I'm here for you.”
Despite herself, she let out a soft smile. “Thank you, Lady Keqing. I appreciate it.”
The two of them sat together in the rain for quite some time, until it became apparent that Ganyu was not going to go anywhere anytime soon.
“It’s not good to stay out in the rain for too long. Let’s go back,” Keqing prompted.
“I’m a half-adeptus. I won’t get sick,” Ganyu said stubbornly.
“We don’t know that for sure. Come, I’ll walk you back.”
Ganyu frowned. “I told you that I don’t want to be near where Rex Lapis passed right now."
“We don’t have to go back to the Yuehai Pavilion. We don’t even need to go anywhere near the Yujing Terrace. Come," Keqing repeated, "I’ll walk you home.”
Ganyu stared at her outstretched hand. “Why are you so persistent?”
But she took it, nonetheless.
The air around them was frigid. The soaking rain and howling wind certainly did nothing to help, but even through the gloves, the hand holding her own was warm.
“What do you think Rex Lapis would do?”
When Keqing came to her, asking if she could ask for her opinion regarding the reopening of the Bishui Trade Route, she didn’t know what to expect. But it certainly wasn’t this.
Those words were ones that Ganyu never imagined would have come out of the Yuheng’s mouth, but she’s not one to judge.
“Well,” Ganyu started, “I think…”
In the end, what they came up with was not on par with what Rex Lapis would have chosen.
"I feel like Rex Lapis would have done better than this," Keqing herself admitted, "but that's fine. It just means that I have a lot of catching up to do, and I won't stop until then. Even if I have to try tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times, then so be it."
Ah, Ganyu thought, I think I'm starting to understand her a little better.
Ever since then, Keqing would ask for her opinion a lot.
"Out of all the people in Liyue, you're the one most familiar with him," she would say.
One night, after discussing such matters for long enough that they were the only ones still at the Pavilion, Keqing said. "Let me walk you home."
Ganyu stared at her. "But it's not raining."
"Does it need to be raining for me to walk you home?"
"I guess not," Ganyu relented, "but why do you keep insisting on walking me home?"
"Do I need a reason to?"
"Why do you keep answering a question with another question?" she huffed, "It's just that my house is in opposite direction from yours. I feel like it would be terribly inefficient for someone like you."
"It is," Keqing agreed, "but I just want to. Can't I?"
There it was again. Ganyu wouldn't be able to refuse such kindness even if she tried. But why would she refuse?
"Well," Ganyu started, "if you want to, of course you can."
She didn't know when it began, but it became a daily occurrence. Each night, without fail, Keqing waited for her, and they would walk to Ganyu's house together. Then, they would bid each other goodbye before Keqing turned away.
The half-qilin appreciated the company, and over time, came to appreciate Keqing herself, too.
There were faint sounds of birds chirping outside, and Ganyu dimly registered the sensation of someone gently brushing her hair.
"Keqing?" she whispered, blinking her eyes open. It was dark.
The hand combing through her light blue locks paused. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Keqing murmured, kissing her forehead. "You can go back to sleep, it's still early."
Instead of doing what Keqing suggested, Ganyu fully opened her eyes and snuggled closer, breathing in the calming scent of lilac that had become so familiar to her. Keqing resumed brushing her hair.
Even through the purple-haired woman's heartbeat, Ganyu could vaguely hear the drip, drop of rain as it trickled down their bedroom window.
"It's raining," Ganyu noted.
Keqing hummed. "You know, I used to hate the rain."
"Really?" Ganyu said, turning up to look at her, "I like rain. Listening to it is relaxing."
"Rain is inefficient, always putting a halt to my plans. Nothing could be done until it clears out."
Ganyu laughed. "I should've known that you would think of it like that. But you said you used to hate it. Does it mean you like it now?"
"Do you remember when we first met? It was raining," Keqing said, "and then I found out the meaning of your name. Sweet rain. Such a beautiful name. It fits you so well."
Ganyu smiled softly. "Yes, I remember you saying that."
"Then, the next few times we meet, it was always raining. You asked me why that was. Back then, I thought of it as nothing more than a mere coincidence. But if you ask me now, even though I don't believe in a higher power, I like to think that the rain brought you to me."
Keqing traced her fingers over Ganyu's knuckles. "Before, to me, rain is a sign of unseized moments. It keeps me from doing things that I could have done but ended up not being able to do."
"But now, every time I think of the rain, I am reminded of you," Keqing finished, squeezing her hand and looking at her so fondly that Ganyu could feel her face start to burn from the sheer intensity of it.
"When did you get so cheesy?" she breathed out, burying her face in the other woman's neck in embarrassment.
Keqing chuckled. "Is there something wrong with it?"
"Well, now, when did I say that?" Ganyu replied, reaching up to plant a kiss on Keqing's lips.
They spent the rest of their quiet morning in each other's arms, listening to the sounds of the rain that may or may not have brought the two of them together.