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‘Still no reply,’ Kazuha sighs as he walked away from the Adventurer’s Guild Station in Sumeru. Since he left Inazuma after his short visit a few months ago, he has been writing letters to his girlfriend, Kamisato Ayaka. The Shirasagi Himegimi had always expressed to him how much she would love to travel the world, try each region’s delicacies, and just see and experience their culture in general. But, alas, she has not been granted the opportunity to leave the land of her home. Although the Sakoku has been abolished for quite some time, her duties as one of the primary members of the Kamisato clan take up most of her time, thus hindering her availability from leaving Inazuma and taking a well-deserved vacation.
Hence the reason why Kazuha, her wandering boyfriend, has opted to write letters and sent her little souvenirs from every place he visits in order to help somewhat fulfill her yearning for adventure. This time is not different either. A week ago he had sent Ayaka a letter telling her of his travels in Sumeru, more specifically, of his time in Port Ormos and his peculiar encounter with the cute little Aranaras. He even took and pressed a viparyas flower and sent it to her as a gift. Although Kazuha does understand that letters hailing from Inazuma do take some time to reach their receiver, it usually doesn’t take this long.
‘She must be busy with work at the Yashiro Commission,’ Kazuha inwardly states. Though he is quite downcast since he misses Ayaka so, he reminds himself that he would be seeing her soon. Because as Kazuha prepares for his return to the land of Geo to celebrate the Lantern Rite Festival with his friends in Liyue, he is also planning his trip to Inazuma. As soon as the Lantern Rite is concluded, he will then make his trip back to his girlfriend to perhaps celebrate their own little version of the Lantern Rite Festival.
‘I would need extra lanterns for that,’ Kazuha thinks to himself as he continues to list down possible gifts he would bring to Ayaka upon his return to Inazuma. Though his life as a wanderer provides just enough to fund his travels, he doesn’t quite mind spending a little over his budget to make his lover happy.
–
Days pass and Kazuha finally makes it back to Liyue. Before his departure from Sumeru, he had kindly asked the Adventurers Guild to have any letters sent to him to Liyue instead. Thus the first thing he does upon his return is to check the Adventurers Guild for any letters, particularly one’s from Inazuma, of course. And to his delight, there was a letter from his homeland. However, his giddiness was trampled upon learning that it was not from the person he was longing for.
“To Kazuha
From: Gorou”
Kazuha sighs as he reads the envelope. “Is something wrong Mr. Kaedehara?” Katheryne asks as she sees his sad expression.
“Are you sure this is all? Are there none from Kamisato Ayaka?” he inquires.
“I’m afraid that is all we received,” Katheryne replies as she looks through the pile of letters in an effort to double-check. “But if a letter from Ms. Kamisato does arrive, we’ll be sure to notify you immediately” Katheryne states, trying her best to cheer up the somber male.
Kazuha smiles politely and thanks the receptionist as makes his way back to the Alcor. However, before his begrudging steps can even make it outside of Liyue Harbor, Kazuha is stopped by a familiar voice, “What’s got you down?”
“Captain Beidou, I’m surprised to see you here in Liyue Harbor.” Kazuha playfully replies
The ship captain feigns confusion at Kazuha’s statement, “Is it now? If I’m not at the ship I’m always here though.”
“Well that’s true, but you’re usually up there and not here on the ground,” Kazuha says as he bobs his head toward the direction of the Jade Chamber, “Am I wrong? Is that not where you came from, Captain?”
Beidou laughs, “You’re right, but I’m not here just to see Ningguang. I brought back an official guest from another country and assisted them to the Jade Chamber for a short meeting. Ningguang should be showing them around the harbor by now.” She says as she looks around her trying to spot her wife and their foreign guest.
“Anyway, you didn’t answer my question. What’s got you down? You just got back from your trip to Sumeru and the Lantern Rites are about to start, you should be happy!”
Although Kazuha makes sure to never appear as an aloof lover towards Ayaka and other people, he doesn’t like to seem overbearing either. He wants his girlfriend and others to know that they respect each other’s personal space, but he can’t help but seem to miss her, especially when he’s not in her arms.
Kazuha sighs, “Ayaka hasn’t written to me in a while and I just miss her, that’s all.”
“I see, the woes of a long-distance relationship, it never gets any easier,” Beidou replies as she tries to comfort her crewmate and friend, “How about this, why don’t you join Ningguang and I in showing our guest around?”
Though Kazuha would have preferred to take this time to rest before the start of the festival in the evening, against his better judgment–he agrees. He’s not quite sure what compelled him to accept Beidou’s request, but there was a feeling at the back of his head persuading him to go, insisting that it would be worth his while.
The two walked around the harbor for a few minutes in search of Ningguang and her guest. Out of curiosity, Kazuha had asked his companion some questions about the mysterious foreign guest such as “Where are they from?”, “What’s their name?”, “What official business are they on?”, and the like. However, to his dismay, Beidou was skillfully able to avoid answering all his questions.
It didn’t take long for the two sea-bound travelers to find the people they were searching for. In fact, Beidou was the first to spot them coming down from the seemingly infinite stairs of the Bubu Pharmacy, and waves to them. Kazuha follows suit and politely waves to the Tianquan once he is able to conclude that she had seen them as well. However, his gesture slowly died when he saw the person beside Ningguang waving right back at him. It was Ayaka, his Ayaka. His eyes widened in great surprise. How could his girlfriend be all the way over here? He quickly turned to Captain Beidou and looked at her with bewilderment, as if asking her to confirm that the person coming down the stairs was indeed his beloved, and not a figment of his imagination–cruelly formed due to his extreme pining and longing for her.
Beidou grinned at him and gave him a heavy pat on the back, “Surprise, kid!”.
Though, that answers his question “is that really Ayaka?”, it still hasn’t lessened his utter confusion, and he continues to look back and forth between Beidou and Ayaka, speechless.
“I thought I told you to at least give him some hints. Poor thing, he looks like his head’s about to explode,” Ningguang tells Beidou as she and Ayaka finally make their way at the bottom of the staircase.
“Well, then that would ruin Miss Kamisato’s surprise,” Beidou replies.
Before Kazuha could even respond to their conversation or ask any more questions, he was approached by Ayaka, “I’m sorry for not informing you Kazuha. Like Captain Beidou said, I wanted to surprise you. I hope you’re not too upset.”
Still in shock at her presence in Liyue, Kazuha quickly composes himself and gives Ayaka a genuine and soft smile as he takes her hand, “Of course not, I’m always happy to see you”.
“You should’ve seen him awhile ago, Ayaka. He looked like a sad puppy waiting for your replies to his letters,” Beidou jokes
“Really?” Ayaka asks worryingly as she once again looks at Kazuha.
“I just missed you, that’s all, but I’m okay now that you’re here,” Kazuha responds as he brushes his thumb at the back of her palm in an attempt to ease her troubles.
“Well, we’ll leave you two to it. I assume Kazuha would like to be the one to tour Miss Kamisato around Liyue Harbor before the festival officially starts,” Ningguang says as she links arms with Beidou, “If you two would like a higher view of the scenery later, you are more then welcome to come up to the Jade Palace.”
The younger couple expressed their gratitude towards Tianquan’s invitation, and the two pairs bid each other adieu.
Once Ningguang and Beidou were out of sight, the white-haired samurai then turned to his lover, “How were you able to get here? I thought the clan elders declined your request?”
“They did, but my brother and I were able to come up with a sort of loophole,” Ayaka says, “Since I am now mostly in charge of organizing most Inazuman festivals, we suggested that I attend this year’s Lantern Rite Festival for official business, so that I may draw inspiration for any upcoming festival back home.”
Kazuha nods as he processes Ayaka’s explanation, “But how did Beidou and Ningguang know about your arrival?”
“My brother corresponded with Captain Beidou and asked if I could board the Alcor on their way back to Liyue upon the ship’s scheduled visit in Inazuma. However, I’m not quite sure how Miss Ningguang found out. I can only assume that the Captain told her.”
As the two continue on with their conversation they then make their way into the Feiyun Slope. As Kazuha tours Ayaka around Liyue Harbor hand-in-hand, he also asks her a dozen questions such as “How was the boat ride?”, “Did you get sick?”, “How long are you staying for?”, “Where are you staying?”, etc., to which Ayaka responds to each inquiry in great detail, knowing how much her lover would love to hear the intricacies of her trip since he, too, tells her stories of his adventures in a similar fashion.
Of course, Kazuha was not the only one entitled to questions about his significant other’s trip, for Ayaka too had asked him to tell her all about his trip to Sumeru. Which, to Ayaka’s delight, was done over a meal at Xinyue Kiosk, where the two dined and Kazuha introduced her to different and authentic Liyue cuisine. The white-haired wanderer had even given his lover a dozen pictures of the beautiful Sumerian sceneries, which he meant to give upon his return to Inazuma when he would see her again. At least he thought, because fortunately for him, he would not have to wait that long to be in his beloved’s presence since she was sitting just beside him.
After the two had finished their meal and story exchange, the two continued on with their tour. The two stopped by dozens of shops, one of them being Mingxing Jewelry, where Kazuha bought Ayaka a butterfly ring. They also stopped by the Toy Shop, where Ayaka had stated that the Inazuman children would love to have such kites sold during their festivals. Kazuha also showed her Third-Round-Knockout and the Wanmin Restaurant, which he promised he would take her there in the next upcoming days of her stay. The two also stopped by the Scent of Spring, however, Kazuha had tried to dissuade Ayaka from staying too long since he was aware of Ying’er’s very peculiar nature and feared she might make his girlfriend uncomfortable, but he left the information about Ying’er out and instead told her that they could return another day–ideally when Ying’er was having her day-off. Fortunately, for him, Ayaka agreed and made their way further into the harbor. They had also run into a couple of Kazuha’s crewmates and Xinyan, to which Kazuha happily introduced Ayaka. The three conversed for a bit, the musician had even made a few friendly jabs at him and told Ayaka about how much he missed her while they were at the archipelago, to which Ayaka laughed. By the time, their tour had ended, it was late in the afternoon, and the festival was about to start, so Kazuha had brought Ayaka to the front of the harbor where they could make their own lanterns to release into the sky later on.
–
Come the evening, when the only source of light were the moon, stars, lanterns, and city lights, Kazuha brings Ayaka to the archway on top of the entrance to Feiyun Slope, “Here, so you can write your wishes on the lantern.” Kazuha says as he hands Ayaka a writing tool.
Ayaka gracefully accepts it and momentarily turns away from her boyfriend to write her wish. Seeing this, Kazuha chuckles and follows suit. As the two finished writing, they turned to one another holding their lanterns. “Are you ready?” Kazuha asks.
Ayaka nods as she moves closer to Kazuha. The two outstretch their hands far enough to make sure that their lanterns don’t get caught in the ceiling, and eventually let go. They watch their lanterns float up to the sky, getting lost in the sea of floating lights where they can no longer distinguish which ones were even theirs.
Ayaka rests her head on Kazuha’s shoulder, as they continue to look at the scenery in front of them. Losing themselves at the sight of lanterns and the fireworks display, and the sound of the lively music. After a few minutes of serenity, Kazuha then breaks the silence with his soft voice, “What did you wish for?”
Ayaka slowly lifts her head from his shoulder and turns to him, “I wasn’t sure if I was only supposed to write one, so I wrote a couple instead,” she says a little embarrassed.
Kazuha softly laughs at his girlfriend’s statement but nods urging her to continue.
“I wished for good health and prosperity for all those in Inazuma, and to be able to live up to my title as the daughter of the Kamisato clan. I also um…” Ayaka trails.
Sensing her hesitance, Kazuha once again takes her hand in his and runs his thumb at the back of her palm, silently communicating that whatever she had to say, he would never make fun of her for it, “You also?”
Ayaka closed her eyes and let out a sigh, hoping to gain some confidence from her actions, “I also wrote that I hoped I could spend the rest of my years with you, like this.”
Ayaka’s blushing, Kazuha thought to himself, and he knew that he probably was blushing as well, perhaps he was even redder than her.
“There’s no need to be embarrassed, Ayaka. If anything I should be more flustered.” Kazuha confessed.
Confused, Ayaka bobs her head to the side.
“All of my wishes involved you,” he says as he let out a nervous laugh, “I wrote that I hope I could be able to go on more adventures and that hopefully, you could be a part of them as well. Of course, I understand it would be difficult for us to receive permission from the clan elders, but I hope we could travel together.”
Before he continued, Kazuha placed his forehead on top of Ayaka’s, “I also wished that I could spend many more years and Lantern Rite Festivals with you.”
Ayaka laughs and she takes Kazuha’s other hand and intertwined their fingers, “Thank you, I’d like that. To more Lantern Rite Festivals.”
“To more Lantern Rite Festivals,” Kazuha repeats in a more quiet and breathy manner, as he closes the gap between them. Slowly, Kazuha pulls his hands away from Ayaka and migrates to her waist, while Ayaka places hers on his shoulders, pulling each other closer together till their bodies were flush against one another. Kazuha and Ayaka couldn’t ask for anything more, as they continued to kiss under the lantern-lit sky and fireworks romantically going off behind them.