Xiao and Lumine - A Christmas Special: As the snow falls

Lumine walked downstairs to find Xiao sitting in front of the fireplace. They had rented a house for the holidays, in Mondstadt. Lumine thought a change of scenery was exactly what Xiao needed, and she was right. As soon as they had stepped through the gates, she could feel him relax and slowly let go of the wall around him.

      He had the back towards her, but at the sound of her footsteps, he turned. "Lumine…" he stood up. "Did I wake you?" Lumine shook her head. She walked closer and put her arms around him. "Is everything okay?" She gently stroke away some hair from his face and looked into his eyes. They had a deep golden color from the light of the fire. At first, Lumine didn't think he was going to reply, but then he took a deep breath and sighed.

      "I just have a hard time believing that this is actually real. Every night I'm afraid that I will wake up the morning after and find out that it was all a dream. A wonderful dream, but…"

      Lumine put a hand on his cheek and gently pulled him closer. Their lips met in a soft, warm kiss. "Don't worry," Lumine whispered as she pulled away. "It might seem like a dream, but this is real. Very, very real." She could feel Xiao relax in her arms as soon as he heard her voice. He put his arms around her and hugged her tight, as if he was afraid she would disappear if he let her go.

      "You're right," he said into her hair. "I shouldn't worry. Let's go to bed." He let her go and took her hand, guiding her towards the bedroom. They laid down and he wrapped his arms around her. She rested her heart on his chest, listening to his heartbeats. She wondered how long it had taken him to finally rest like this, to be able to lean back and just… exist.

      As if he could hear her thoughts, he sighed. "Go to sleep," he whispered. Lumine didn't say anything. "Your thoughts are so loud I can hear them. Stop calling my name, I'm right here!"

      Lumine sat up, a smile on her face. "But, Xiao, I want you even closer." He sighed but couldn't help but smile too. "Fool," he whispered and dragged her closer again. She chuckled while calling his name over and over in her mind. She laughed at his frustrated gaze. "Lumine," he whispered. "I can't sleep when you keep calling my name."

      "I know," she said kissing him. "I just like to tease you sometimes."

      He laughed. "I know. But now, let's sleep. It's going to be my first Christmas tomorrow. I don't want to miss it."

      Lumine wanted to explain to him that Christmas was something he couldn't miss, but she didn't. She didn't want to ruin this moment with him. His first Christmas. Their first one together. Hopefully the first of many. As if Xiao heard, he squeezed her tighter before his grip around her became looser. She listened to his slow, steady breath. Finally he was asleep.

      As careful as she could, she snuck out of the room. If this had been a couple of months ago, there was no way she could leave the room without Xiao waking up. But now, after resting and relaxing, he had finally let his guard down. Finally allowed himself to enter the deep sleep he needed in order to feel rested in the morning.

      She went downstairs to the living room. The fire was slowly dying out and she lit a light to see. She went to the corner of the room, behind the couch, and pulled out a Christmas stocking. She had made it some weeks ago, when it was decided that they would spend Christmas together. Behind the couch was also a tiny wooden box. She smiled and put the box in the stocking together with a card and a picture she had taken of them with the Kamera. Even though she knew Xiao didn't like gifts, she hoped he would appreciate this.

      As quietly as she could, she snuck back upstairs and slid under the blankets, relieved when Xiao didn't seem to have noticed her being gone. She rolled over to the side and faced him. His breath was rhythmic, and she could see on his face that he was completely relaxed. At first, even while sleeping, he had always had a worried expression on his face. But now it was as peaceful as a baby's.

      Lumine smiled and fought the urge to touch him. If she woke him up, it would all be ruined. She had to make sure he stayed asleep. She wanted to be there when he found the Christmas stocking the next morning. She closed her eyes, but her heart beat fast with anticipation, and it took some time for her to finally fall asleep, but when she did, she slept soundlessly through the night.

      Xiao woke up early the next morning. Even though he was on vacation, it was hard for him to let go of old habits. The sun was barely up. He turned around and looked at Lumine. He had noticed her getting up in the middle of the night, but since it didn't sound like she had left the house, he had decided to stay in bed. And by the time she was back he had already fallen asleep again.

      He leaned down to her and kissed her on the cheek. "Hmm," she said and stretched. She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Good morning," she said and reached for him. He took her hand. "Good morning." He didn't ask about last night. For some reason, he felt that he would know soon enough anyways. And by the look on Lumine's face, he knew that she had made plans for the day.

      "You weren't supposed to wake up before me," she said. Xiao smiled but didn't say anything, he just looked at her. For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Even with the messy morning hair and tired eyes, she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen.

      She tilted her head and looked at him with a questionable look on her face – as if she tried to figure out what he was thinking about. "Let me go downstairs and make us breakfast," she said. "Then, I have a surprise for you. You can come down in a bit, but don't go into the living room. It's off-limits." He looked at her with big eyes and she laughed. "It's a good surprise," she reassured him. "I think you'll like it."

      Xiao crossed his arms and pretended to look annoyed. Even though he normally hated surprises, he couldn't help but feel a little intrigued by Lumine's efforts to make this vacation as perfect as possible. She had even asked Morax for permission for him to leave Liyue. When Morax had said 'yes', Xiao hadn't believed it. But it was there, written down and signed, as if it was a contract. Xiao was free to leave Liyue, but not only for this vacation. From now on he could leave as he pleased, and he didn't even have to notify anyone. As Morax had written: You've more than earned your freedom. It's time for you to live your life as you want. Consider any responsibility you had to Liyue fulfilled.

      This new freedom made Xiao feel… relieved. He had carried the burden of keeping Liyue safe for so long. It had been a never-ending war, a war he felt forced to fight until the end of time. And now he was free. Free to join Lumine on her journey to Fontaine. Free to see the world, to go places he had only dreamt about. In a way it was both a fantastic feeling and a terrifying one.

      He started to walk down the stairs, following the sounds from the kitchen. Even though he didn't really like human food, he would eat the food she made him. He had done so since they had first met. He was still thinking back to their first Lantern Rite. She had surprised him with a feast at Wangshu Inn, away from people's prying eyes. The gesture of making something for him – spending time with him during the most important human holiday – had made him feel appreciated. No one had ever done that, not even the people working at Wangshu Inn. They had always assumed that he would be busy during Lantern Rite. It was the busiest time of the year for him after all.

      "Xiao!" Lumine exclaimed when he entered the kitchen. She had prepared plates of cheese and meat with cubes of bread on the side. The last plate on the table was a fruit plate. Even though this was food he would rarely eat, he sat down at the table with a smile. "You did all this? For me?" She came around the table and hugged him. "Of course I did. I know it's not your favorite way of spending your time, but I hope we can enjoy the time together. I want to show you how you can celebrate Christmas, and this is the first thing you do: share a meal with your loved ones."

      Share a meal… with loved ones. Xiao couldn't remember the last time he had done that. He thought back to happier times, times spent with the other Yakshas. They had been a tight-knit group, always spent time together, laughed together. He shook his head. Even though the memories were mostly good ones, he didn't want to remember the pain of losing all of them. He wanted to be here with Lumine and move forward into the future with her.

      "Are you okay?" Lumine's worried voice broke the train of thoughts. "Yes," he said. "Thank you." Lumine sat down on the opposite side of him and started to put food on her plate. Xiao did the same. Even though he wasn't used to this type of food, he enjoyed the meal and the time with Lumine.

      They finished breakfast. Lumine cleaned the dishes after them and set the table for later. "Let's go outside. I'm sure you haven't seen that much of Mondstadt yet and I want to show you around." Xiao wanted to sigh but he smiled instead. She took his hand and led him to the door. "I want to show you something." They put on their jackets and Lumine led them outside. They headed to the city gates and took the path north of the city, towards Starfell Lake. Xiao was looking around, taking in the scenery.

      "This was the first time I obtained elemental powers," Lumine said and pointed towards the Statue on the island to their right. "I touched the Statue of the Seven and got anemo powers." She continued to walk past the Statue, down to the beach. "This is where some of my first memories are from. And it's where I first confessed to Paimon what had actually happened to me. I mean, the parts I remembered."

      Xiao listened to her without saying anything. They walked along the beach in silence before he said: "You really miss him." Lumine stopped walking. "I do," she said. "I'm sorry you haven't found him yet. I can't imagine how hard it has been for you, not knowing where he is or if he's okay."

      "Thank you." Lumine took his hand and squeezed it. "But I do want to believe that I'll find him one day. That one day we'll be reunited." She shook her head. "Let's not talk about that now. Actually…let us start to head back." They turned around and walked back towards the city, but instead of entering the city, they walked past it up to the big tree at Windrise. Xiao looked at the tree in awe.

      "I don't know the full story, but the people of Mondstadt call it the Symbol of Mondstadt's Hero. It's believed to have grown after the Hero of Mondstadt, Vennessa, ascended to Celestia."

      Xiao looked at Lumine with big eyes. "She… ascended to Celestia?" Lumine nodded "That's how the story goes." Xiao looked up at the tree and closed his eyes. Wind started to blow around them and Lumine saw a tiny smile on Xiao's lips. She let him have his moment but wondered what had made him smile. After a while, as the wind went still, he opened his eyes and looked at her. "Let's go," he said and took her hand. Together they walked back to the city and to their rented house.

      Xiao hadn't noticed how cold it was until the heat inside hit them like a wall. He looked up at the sky, at the grey clouds hanging low above them. Maybe they would get snow tonight. "Xiao?" Lumine called for him. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. When he came to the kitchen, she had prepared Grilled Ticker Fish and Almond Tofu. The gesture, together with everything that had happened between them the past few years, made his heart beat with passion and love for her. He embraced her. "Thank you. For everything."

      Lumine broke free and laughed while blushing. "It's nothing," she said. "I just hope I made it the correct way." Xiao looked down on the food on his plate. "It looks perfect," he said and took a bite. It was perfect. He closed his eyes while eating, reminiscing about old times. He didn't know how much Lumine knew about his past, other than what she had read in the book about the Yakshas. He knew that she knew this was Pervases' favorite food, and that, except for Almond Tofu, this was the only human food he ate, but he didn't know what other things she had found out about him.

      After they had finished dinner, Lumine stood up. She took Xiao's hand and led him to the living room. She had lit the fireplace and the flame burned bright. Over the fireplace hung a big, red sock made of fabric. It had his name on it.

      "What is this?" he asked and walked closer to the fireplace. He took the sock off the hook. The fabric was soft to touch. "See what's inside," Lumine said. She walked up behind him. He opened the sock and pulled out a picture. He remembered when she had taken it. They had been standing at Liyue Harbor, watching over the sea, when she had pulled out a Kamera. It was the first time he had seen one; he didn't even know she owned one. But she had taken a picture of them. He had his arm around her, and she was standing towards him with a hand on his chest. They both had smiled bright to the Kamera. It was such a beautiful moment to remember.

      Xiao was at a loss for words. "There's another thing there," Lumine said. Xiao opened the sock again and pulled out a wooden box. The pattern on it was intricate, with flowers depicted on each side. "I tried to make them look like Qingxin, but I have no idea if I succeeded or not."

      "They're perfect," he said. He opened the box. Inside it was a wooden flute. It was handmade. Lumine had bought it from a merchant she had met in Liyue some time ago. She had always planned to give it to Xiao, she had just never figured out when. Giving it to him for Christmas seemed like the perfect occasion.

      "I…" Xiao looked at her. "Thank you. I don't know what to say."

      "You don't have to say anything. I wanted this to be for you. For us."

      "I didn't get you anything."

      Lumine gently touched his face and kissed him. "Just being here with you is more than enough," she whispered. "This is what I wanted all along. For us to be together. It's the greatest gift you could give me."

      Xiao smiled down at her. Her words warmed his heart, but he didn't know the words to express how he truly felt. He leaned down towards her and kissed her again. "You are amazing," he whispered in her ear. She chuckled, a sound that filled his body and mind with peace and calmness. "Come," she said and took his hand, dragging him upstairs. She opened the balcony door and let the cold air flow into the room.

      "What are you doing?" Xiao exclaimed. "We're going to freeze!"

      Lumine turned around and looked at him. "Look!" She pointed outside and Xiao could see big snowflakes falling from the sky. They landed on the balcony and slowly covered it in white fluff. Lumine dragged him outside, and even though the cold wind made him shiver, he let her have her way. They stood there holding each other as the snow covered everything in a white blanket. "It's the first time I've seen snow in Mondstadt," Lumine said. "It's just as magical as I pictured it. It's said that when the snow falls it wipes away all past sins. It's like a new beginning. A clean slate."

      "I like that," Xiao replied. A new beginning. A fresh start, no longer bound by the contract to protect Liyue. A new beginning with Lumine. Just as he had wished for the past few years. Maybe it would finally come true.