Xiao and Lumine - Part 3: In the heart of the storm

Paimon and Lumine left Aaru Village and headed towards the desert to meet up with a researcher team that wanted to investigate the Mausoleum of King Deshret. Kathryne had personally recommended them for the commission, and Paimon and Lumine were still in need of money to take them further on their travels. Besides, they had already been traveling in the desert, and the area was not too unfamiliar to them.

 They were heading towards Khemenu Temple, the place where they were meeting the researchers. It was too dangerous to walk around in the desert without knowledge of the place, and the Akademiya had expressed great concern for the researchers in the desert. "Paimon thinks this will be a great time to go over what we've learned so far, don't you think?" Lumine nodded. Not that they had found much. But maybe Nahida could make something out of the information from Balladeer. Lumine could only hope there would be news for them the next time they were going to Sumeru City.

 "Paimon tired of floating," Paimon complained. Lumine couldn't do anything but smile at her floating companion. She couldn't imagine a journey without Paimon by her side. They had met two months after Lumine had woken up in Teyvat. With no memories of what happened other than losing her brother, she had wandered around alone. Lost. And then she had found Paimon in the sea, almost drowning. It was amazing how far they had come since then.

 "Are you okay?" Paimon asked. Lumine turned towards Paimon and nodded. Her thoughts drifted to all the people they had met throughout their journey, and everyone they were going to meet going forward. But before that, they were going to have one last adventure in Sumeru.

 The warm wind that had been blowing in their backs the whole time, slowly increased in power. "We should find somewhere to hide," Lumine said, even though they had told the research team that they would arrive at Khemenu Temple this afternoon. But if a sandstorm prevented them from reaching their destination, there was nothing they could do about it. Getting lost in the desert would not benefit anyone.

 They could barely see anything through the whirling sand. Paimon held on to Lumine's arm – if not she would've flown away like a balloon without a string. It got harder to move in the wind, and as the sand around them thickened, Lumine lost her foothold, and they rolled down a sand dune. Is this how I'm going to die? Lost in the desert, not being able to fulfill my wish of finding my brother? Even though she wanted to call for him, she knew that he wouldn't hear him. So in the heat of the moment, Lumine called out to the only person she could think of. She didn't know if he could hear her, but it just felt natural, and he had promised he would come if she called. She just hoped the wind would carry her call for help to him.

 The sand was all around them now, the storm was getting larger. Lumine tried to open her eyes, but she couldn't see anything, and her eyes immediately got filled with whirling sand. She squinted, a shadow was moving towards her, was it Paimon? No, Paimon was still clinging to her arm.

 Lumine lifted her hand to shield her eyes, but she still couldn't see clear. Exhausted after fighting her way through the storm, it all went black for a moment, and she fell to the ground, just barely noticing a person catching her right before she hit the ground. They picked her up in their arms. "I'm here," the person whispered. "I'm here."

 It was late afternoon when Lumine woke up. She looked around, they were at an oasis. She recognized it; they were at the Sobek Oasis. The storm was over, and the mild wind that always seemed to blow in the desert, was warming her up. Paimon was lying next to her, the little girl was curled up in a ball, sleeping peacefully. Xiao was sitting behind them with a thoughtful expression on his face.

 When he noticed Lumine looking at him, she could see the relief wash over him. "You're here," she said. "You called," he replied. "I wasn't sure if you could hear me." Xiao sighed. He moved closer and sat down next to her. "I could barely hear you. But it was still you. So, I came as fast as I could."

 Lumine reached for his hand – it felt right in this moment. Xiao let her take it, but she could feel him get tense. It was as if he was fighting with himself not to shy away. "Thank you for saving us," she said. "The storm just happened so quickly. I didn't have time to react. I'm sorry for bothering you." Xiao sighed again, as if her words annoyed him. "Fool," he said. "You could never bother me."

 Xiao's words warmed her heart, and she blushed. Then he looked at her, straight into her eyes. It was the first time he had looked at her like this, and she held his gaze. "Come back to Liyue with me," he said. "Please." The desperation in his voice, the underlying pain, was shining through this time. This was the first time she had heard him ask her anything at all. But even though she wanted to say yes, she knew she couldn't, and that pained her more than she wanted to admit.

 "I can't leave," she said. "Not yet at least. I still need to finish my commission. I still need to look for my brother. I have someone in Sumeru City now, someone that might be able to get me more information about him. I'm sorry."

 "I understand," Xiao said. "I just… I just want you to be safe."

 Lumine appreciated his words, and his concern, but she knew that no matter how much she wanted to come back with him, or how much he wanted it, she couldn't. But she could do one thing for him before she and Paimon would continue their journey.

 "Stay," she said. "Just for a little while. Just until tonight, then I need to head towards Khemenu Temple to meet the scholars. But until then I'll spend my time with you. And… I'll be back. I promise I'll be back."

 Xiao looked away. "One afternoon," he said. "And you'll be back. You'll come back to me." At this point it seemed like he was talking more to himself than to her. He didn't say anything else but settled down on the ground next to her. They were sitting less than a meter apart, watching over Paimon as she slept peacefully.

 After a while, Paimon stretched and yawned. "Where are we?" she said. "What happened?" Lumine told her about the sandstorm, and about Xiao rescuing them. "Paimon is very grateful for you coming all this way for us," she said to Xiao. Xiao just nodded in return. He yawned and stretched, then started to lean to the right, towards Lumine. Rescuing them must've taken more energy from him than he wanted to admit. Lumine caught him and placed his head in her lap, gently stroking his hair. Xiao mumbled something and put an arm around her waist, holding her tight. His chest was slowly rising and sinking, and her breath fell in sync with his. She decided to let him sleep. He looked so peaceful, so… Lumine didn't know how to describe him, but at least he seemed less hostile, less angry. It seemed like he could finally rest.

 "So, what are we going to do now?" Paimon asked. Lumine put a finger to her lips and looked down at Xiao. She didn't want to wake him up, especially not now. As if Paimon understood, she stopped talking and started to float aimlessly around the tiny lake, humming for herself. Lumine looked around. In the distance she could see the temple. Knowing how close they actually were made Lumine relax a bit. They would only be a day late to the meeting, not enough for the Adventure Guild and the Akademiya to be too angry with them.

 Lumine's legs fell asleep, and she tried to change her position as careful and silent as possible, but even with the tiniest bit of movement, Xiao instantly opened his eyes and sat up. "Hm," he said. "I must've fallen asleep." Lumine smiled. "Did you sleep well?" He nodded. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had slept like this. Without nightmares. Or without the constant inner battle he was always facing.

 "Thank you," he said and stood up. Lumine stood up too and stretched. The night sky was hanging over them like a dark blanket, covering the world. The stars were shining bright down at them, blinking, wishing them a safe journey. "I have to go," he said. "I stayed too long."

 "We need to leave too." Lumine waved Paimon over. "Did you sleep well, Xiao?" Paimon asked. He nodded. "Lumine," he said, facing her. He held her hands in his. It was the first time had had initiated contact with her. She squeezed his hands. "Come back to me," he whispered. He turned around and disappeared in a green mist before Lumine had the chance to say something. But she knew in her heart that she would. She would come back to him.

 Paimon and Lumine packed the little things they owned and started to head towards Khemenu Temple. One last commission. One last trip back to Sumeru City. And then they would head back to Liyue. To him. Lumine smiled. She couldn't wait to be back there.