Characters: Gorou, Baizhu, Zhongli, Diluc, and Tighnari
Gorou
Gorou had always harbored reservations about your participation on the battlefield. He had taught you how to fight upon your request and having fought many battles side-by-side, Gorou knew you were a capable fighter. But despite this, a part of him always worried about your safety. He couldn’t help it; he loved you too much to risk losing you.
He tried to keep you safe by suggesting you stay behind in Watatsumi and help Kokomi with strategizing, but this resulted in arguments between you. His ears flattened and his tail sagged like a scolded dog’s when you said you wanted to protect Watatsumi and its people since they were your home. Plus, you didn’t want to stay behind and anxiously wait for news from him just to know if he was still alive. Gorou had no comebacks to your points and could only sigh in resignation and apologize.
When the Watatsumi troops joined another battle against the Shogunate’s forces, Gorou trusted you to handle yourself. He had to believe you could because he couldn’t always protect you amid the chaotic battlefield. However, he forgot that there was more than just your life he needed to worry about. His own was at equal risk.
While fending off several opponents, Gorou didn’t notice an enemy sneaking up behind him until it was too late. Turning around, Gorou found himself with no time to react as the Shogunate soldier thrust his spear forward, prepared to impale the Watatsumi General through the chest. Gorou heard you shout his name, and then suddenly you appeared in front of him, intercepting the lethal blow. The strained little gasp of pain you let out as the weapon tore into your flesh ingrained itself into Gorou’s memory. He remained frozen in place, eyes wide with horror and disbelief as he watched you collapse to the ground.
Unfortunately, the enemy soldier gave him no time to come to your aid. Having retracted his spear, he aimed it once more at Gorou. Seized by panic, Gorou made quick work of the Shogunate scum before falling to his knees beside your figure.
The wound in your chest looked deep, as evident by the copious amounts of blood that seeped out from under your armor. He knew the situation was bad and that you might not even make it, but he tried to reassure you that he’d get you to a medic and you’d be fine. Despite his attempt to stay calm, internally he was panicking. Your eyes already looked unfocused, as if you couldn’t perceive the world around you. Gorou tore off the fabric of his pants and tried to bandage your wound to stave off the bleeding, but paused when you reached a hand up to touch his cheek. Your fingers were icy cold.
“Go…rou,” you croaked, your voice almost inaudible over the sounds of screaming and clashing metal of the ongoing war. Then, your hand fell away from his face, and you went still, your gaze hollow. Gorou called your name in a wavering voice. He repeated it several times and grasped onto your shoulders, begging you to respond to him, to please give him a sign that you were still with him.
You remained unresponsive.
Despair squeezed his heart like a suffocating vice, but he could not spare time to grieve for your passing. The battle was not over, and the Shogunate soldiers closed in on him once more. Reluctantly, he left your body where it was, and buried his anguish beneath a layer of anger and a desire for revenge.
That day, Gorou felled more enemies than he’d ever defeated in previous battles. He was ferocious, almost beastly in the way he slayed his opponents with a bow, teeth, and claws. It was a rookie mistake to let his anger blind him in his quest for vengeance, but Gorou couldn’t control the urge. He could either be a slave to his anger or let his sadness consume him to the point where he had no fight left in him. So, he fought.
Despite the losses Watatsumi suffered during the fight, Gorou’s army managed to win and push back the Shogunate forces. Once the fighting was over and the injured were rushed back to camp, Gorou made his way back to where your body lay in the blood-soaked ground amid the victorious cheers of his remaining men.
He knelt beside you and hugged your cold and stiff corpse in his arms tightly. He didn’t say a word, only closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as his shoulders shook in an attempt not to cry. There was a familiar stinging in his nose, and his vision blurred, but he refrained from crying. He couldn’t return to his men while looking like a weeping mess, because seeing their ever-confident and reliable General crying would shatter the soaring morale of their victory. But if anyone happened to look in Gorou’s direction, they’d see his hunched-over figure cradling you to his chest, while his ears drooped and his shoulders shook.
The days that followed were a blur. Gorou’s army returned to Watatsumi to recuperate and brief Kokomi on the results of the battle. Gorou was heralded as a hero for the fierce way he fought and brought victory for their cause, but the Watatsumi General couldn’t bring himself to feel happy. He tried to put on a smile and congratulate his men for helping to win the battle, made speeches to keep morale up, and oversaw the training of future soldiers. Life kept him busy, but there was a distinct hollowness to it now that you were gone. Before, he would take breaks from training to eat lunch or dinner with you, take walks by the beautiful beaches of Watatsumi, or hide away in your shared home and let you brush his tail much to his delight. Now… there was only an empty void.
When night fell and Gorou found himself lying alone in bed, he would surround himself with articles of your clothing that still carried your scent, and cry. When there was no one to see him fall apart, he would break down and cry hard while whimpering your name until sleep claimed him.
These crying fits only stopped when Kokomi approached him one day. She still looked composed and refined as always, but Gorou could see the sadness in her eyes that had become more prominent ever since she learned about your death. You were her dear friend, after all, and it pained her to lose you. She handed him a letter and explained that it was something you wanted her to give to Gorou in the event you perished in battle.
When Gorou fished out the letter and read the first few sentences, tears welled up in his eyes. The way you wrote to him was as if you were right there, speaking directly to him. He could almost hear your voice as you apologized for leaving him so early, but you were always prepared to give your life to him, Kokomi, and all of Watatsumi because you loved them so much. You told him to not let his grief consume him because you wanted him to enjoy the life you fought so hard to protect. Above all, you would be happiest if Watatsumi remained safe under his and Kokomi’s guidance.
It took Gorou several tries to read the letter since the tears blurred his vision, but once he calmed down, he found that the anguish in his heart lessened, if only a little. It would be a long road to come to terms with your death and not being able to enjoy life with you anymore, but for your sake, he will try. And maybe one day, once his own time comes, Gorou will tell you all about how Watatsumi overcame the war with the Shogunate and flourished in the following years, just as you hoped.
Baizhu
Baizhu is Liyue’s best doctor. He boasted a hefty record of healing patients with even the most obscure and difficult-to-treat illnesses, giving hope to the sick that they still had a chance to lead normal and healthy lives. But for all his amazing healing abilities, there were illnesses that even Baizhu could not cure. The day you died served as a stark reminder of his limitations.
You’ve been ill with a rare and mysterious illness ever since you were little. You had difficulties breathing, often coming down with severe coughs, and your body was weaker than normal, so you couldn’t participate in physical activities with other children. When the illness got particularly bad, you were left bedridden due to how weakened it made you. Worst of all, no cure for it existed. No matter how many doctors looked at you, nobody could figure out what caused your illness.
When you grew up, your condition worsened, but you had a shred of hope. Your parents heard about the amazing healing abilities of a doctor in Liyue, and your family traveled all the way to the Harbor in the hopes that Baizhu could cure you. To his chagrin and your disappointment, he could not. Even Changsheng’s powers couldn’t transfer your illness to him. Whatever disease you possessed was a result of your genetic composition, which made it all the more difficult to treat. The best he could do was concoct a medicine that staved off your symptoms, but it was by no means a cure.
Since then, you frequently came to Bubu Pharmacy to get medicine. Against all odds, you had become close to the doctor during your many visits and eventually became his lover.
Baizhu did all he could to search for a cure, not only because you were his patient, but also because he genuinely loved you and didn’t want to watch you suffer. However, despite the many late nights he spent researching and mixing various medicines, nothing helped you long-term. The best he could do was curb your symptoms for a time before you became resistant to the medicine and felt worse again.
The more time passed, the worse your body deteriorated. At first, you struggled to do any strenuous activities, so you resigned yourself to walking and not lifting anything heavy. Then walking became difficult, so Baizhu took the time to come visit you at home and give you new medicines to try in the hopes of getting you back on your feet. You would always smile and thank him, saying that he was better off focusing on his other patients, but Baizhu hated it when you said that. It sounded like you had given up on getting better. Even if you doubted you would live for very long, he promised he would find a way to cure you.
The doctor genuinely believed he could help you. It is a doctor’s job to heal the sick and save lives. No matter how impossible the task seemed, he believed there was a cure for your illness somewhere out there, it just needed to be discovered. But before he knew it, your condition got worse to the point that you coughed up blood and became bedridden, barely able to lift a spoon to feed yourself.
Baizhu experienced a rare panic, and spent all of his free time at your bedside, tending to you and giving you various medicines in the hopes of finding something that stuck. As the days passed and you continued to worsen, Baizhu still refused to give up. You had to get better eventually. You had to. Even as your breathing became weak and you could barely hold your eyes open or speak due to your feeble state, Baizhu refused to face the reality of your impending death.
Utilizing all the medicinal supplies and his knowledge, Baizhu continued to try and treat you. When that didn’t work, he tried to split the burden of your suffering by transferring some of the illness to himself using Changsheng. He would not—could not—give up. Even when your hand went limp in his, even when your breathing stilled and your pulse flatlined, even when Changsheng pleaded with him to stop, Baizhu didn’t pause in his desperate attempts to get you to open your eyes and smile at him again. Not until all his medical supplies were depleted and your body had grown cold.
He still refused to accept your death and his failure. If traditional medicine and Changsheng can’t help, what if a higher power intervened? What if you became a living corpse like Qiqi? Perhaps with the blessing of an adeptus, you could be brought back to life and continue to live together with him like before.
Hearing his deluded mumbling, Changsheng had to snap Baizhu out of his spiraling thoughts by reminding him that Qiqi’s case was special because she was still alive when she was granted an adeptus’s blessing. Her words cut him like a knife, for as much as Baizhu didn’t want to lose even this little shred of hope, he knew Changsheng was right. There truly is nothing that could bring you back.
At that point, Baizhu had to face reality. You were gone. Your illness ended up claiming your life despite his efforts.
That night was a rare time when Changsheng saw Baizhu weep. The doctor silently cried as he cradled your lifeless body in his arms, and apologized over and over for being unable to save you. He failed you both as a doctor and as your beloved, and the guilt ate him up inside.
Despite how firmly Baizhu believed that he could save everyone in need of his aid, deep down he knew it was improbable. Some injuries and illnesses were beyond saving. But out of all the people he couldn’t save, why did one of them have to be you?
Ever since the night of your passing, Baizhu slept poorly, plagued by guilt and self-loathing for not being the perfect doctor. The one person he wanted to save most, to spend the rest of his life with, was gone all because he wasn’t skilled enough.
Back when you were alive, he promised to create the elixir of immortality and get you to be the first to try it. He dreamed about a happy future where you, Changsheng, himself, and everyone else could all lead happy, healthy lives. But he was too late, and that promise was left broken, just like his promise to marry you one day.
Despite the tragedy, Baizhu tried to move on. His patients needed him. There were still so many lives he needed to save, so he couldn’t give up now. He tried to smile through the pain and work as usual, but even Qiqi could see how sad his smiles were. He is filled with longing whenever he thinks of you, as well as the ever-present guilt that never faded no matter how many years passed. Despite how painful it was for Baizhu to remember you, he held those memories dear to his heart. As short as your relationship had been, it was a truly special connection he knew he would never have with anyone else.
In the distant future, Baizhu will dedicate years of his life to researching your illness and developing a cure. Though the medicine won’t bring you back to him, he finds a bit of solace in knowing that no one else will have to lose their loved one to the disease the way he did.
Zhongli
Zhongli always knew you would die before him. You were a human, after all. Your lifespan was but a blink of an eye for his 6000-year-old existence.
When you expressed a desire to be in a long-term romantic relationship with him, Zhongli made it very clear that he was an ancient supernatural being who had lived thousands of years, and would live thousands more even after you die because his lifespan was unlike yours. He wondered if this would discourage you from pursuing him, but it did not. After carefully weighing the facts, you remained steadfast in your resolve to build a future with him, and he couldn’t help but admire your determination.
The decades you spent together were some of the happiest Zhongli ever had. You gifted him new memories and experiences of the simple, relaxed life he always wanted ever since he stepped down from his position as Liyue’s Archon. Drinking tea at the teahouse while chatting about his extensive knowledge on various topics, participating in festivals, hosting small gatherings to meet his adepti friends, and getting married were just some of the things you did together. Life was peaceful yet eventful, and Zhongli felt a sense of fulfillment from it. Being able to enjoy the fruits of his thousands of years’ worth of labor felt rewarding, and doubly so since he got to enjoy it with someone he loved.
As the years passed by, Zhongli noticed how your skin gradually developed wrinkles, and your hair gained new white strands. He knew you were getting older, while he still retained that ever-youthful appearance of a handsome young man. To avoid suspicion from the public, but most of all, to appease any insecurity you might have about growing old, Zhongli manipulated his appearance to age together with you. Each year, he added more wrinkles to his skin and grayness to his hair to match the speed of your own aging.
You were surprised when you first noticed these changes, but Zhongli could tell you appreciated his efforts. You had appeared downtrodden about growing older, while he still looked the same as the day you first met him. Now, you seemed more at ease, though he could still catch glimpses of sadness in your eyes. After all, the fact he had to manually age his appearance was a constant reminder that he was not human and that you would have to leave him one day.
As you grew older still and your body developed aches and pains that usually came with old age, Zhongli helped you through the difficulties. He did the more strenuous work around the house, supported you during walks, helped you read text you could no longer see clearly, and fetched your medicine from Bubu Pharmacy to keep your ailments at bay.
Despite the differences that came with you growing old, Zhongli never loved you any less. Everything about him was as constant as the bedrock of Liyue itself, and his love for you never wavered. Even when your beautiful, youthful looks faded, and he had to take care of your frail body, he still loved you just as much as when you first became a couple, if not more. He loved the person you were on the inside more than what you looked like on the outside, and in his eyes, your beauty never faded.
However, it still pained Zhongli to see your lovely hair grow white, and your body weak. It meant that death would come for you soon, and you would have to part ways. He knew it was inevitable, but a part of him silently pleaded ‘Not yet. Don’t go just yet, please stay a little longer.’
As you reached your late 80s, your health grew worse to the point you spent most of your time at home. Both you and Zhongli could tell that your time would come any day now, but you said that you were prepared. You got to live a long, happy life and had no major regrets, so death didn’t scare you. Rather, you have grown to accept it.
Zhongli would stay up late at night in bed with you to watch your sleeping face, trying to ingrain the memory of your features and of being together into his mind, because he knew each night might be the last.
One night, Zhongli woke up to the sensation of your life force growing faint, until it completely disappeared. He didn’t need to check your pulse to know you had passed away since he felt it. Your spirit was gone. His heart sank at the realization that this was it. He would no longer get to hear your voice, see your reactions to his stories and affections, or make new memories with you.
Zhongli had lost countless friends and companions throughout the Archon War. He was used to death and saying goodbye, but each time was no easier than the last. The weight of loss settled heavily on him because, despite the years he spent mentally and emotionally preparing for your death, it was still difficult to sit there beside your lifeless body and accept the fact you were gone. There were still so many things he wanted to experience with you. It was truly unfortunate that your human lifespan was so painfully short.
Zhongli took your limp hand in his and held it for a while as his mind went through your shared memories together. In his memories, you were vibrant and lively, the opposite of how lifeless you appeared now. With the part of you he loved most gone, all that remained was a body of flesh that appeared almost like a stranger. It made him miss you, but also helped in coming to terms with your passing.
He mourned for you throughout the night, up until the sun rose above the horizon.
Zhongli took part in arranging your funeral. He carefully supervised every step of the process to ensure your funeral was perfect, and that you were given the proper respect in your journey to the afterlife. Once you were laid to rest, he found himself wandering around aimlessly most days. He walked along the same paths the two of you used to take strolls on, visited your favorite locations in Liyue Harbor, and frequently brought your favorite food as an offering to your grave.
At the teahouse, Zhongli sat at the same table where you always had your dates and stared at the empty seat where you used to sit. He could picture with perfect clarity how you used to sit in that same chair and give him your undivided attention when he recounted tales of times past, and he always loved it when you did. Now, he could only stare off into the distance while reminiscing about the good times he shared with you. Though Zhongli was saddened he couldn’t make more memories with you, the ones he did have made him grateful that you had been a part of his life.
Diluc
Diluc met you shortly after you arrived in Mondstadt with nothing but a satchel of mora and the clothes on your back. You said you came to the nation of freedom in the hopes of starting a new life but never disclosed any details about your past. Though he was curious about the life you led prior, Diluc learned to let it go. After all, Mondstadt was home to many people with mysterious backgrounds and origins, so what’s one more?
During the months you spent together, you had both fallen in love with each other and began a courtship. Diluc knew with certainty that he wanted to marry you, so one fateful night, he got down on one knee before you and presented a golden ring topped with a piece of garnet. You said yes, and Diluc felt the happiest that night than he had in a long time, not since his father’s passing several years ago. Now, he was looking forward to having a family again.
After Diluc lost his father, Adelinde and Elzer were saddened by the drastic change in their Young Master. Diluc used to be so optimistic and passionate, brimming with the desire to become a knight and help people. After Crepus’s death, he had become closed off and aloof, becoming bitter at the corruption running rampant within the Knights of Favonius. However, with your arrival at the estate, Diluc seemed to slowly warm up and smile more, and the senior servants couldn’t be happier by the positive change. They hoped that your union would heal their Master’s wounded heart.
Initially, Diluc didn’t plan to host an engagement party, but his butler Elzer convinced him to go through with the Ragnvindr family tradition. With your agreement, Diluc hosted a ball and invited prominent figures in the business world to attend, most of whom he worked with. During the party, he introduced you to his business partners, making idle chatter and receiving congratulations on your engagement. Everything seemed to be going well, albeit a tad boring, until the two of you were approached by an unfamiliar man in a lavish suit.
The man said he was an acquaintance of yours, and sure enough, you seemed to recognize him. However, the way your posture stiffened, and the color drained from your face set Diluc on edge. He wanted to reject the man’s request to speak with you in private, but you interjected and agreed. Diluc didn’t want to leave you alone with someone who made you uncomfortable, but the pointed look you gave him made Diluc hold back his protests. With great reluctance, he let you go.
He was anxious the entire time you were gone, unable to fully focus on the business conversations and propositions he was discussing with some of the guests. To his great relief, you returned safe and sound, albeit with a troubled expression on your face. Diluc made a mental note to ask you about what happened once the ball ended.
The man you spoke with didn’t reappear that night, and the party came to a successful close after plenty of eating, drinking, and dancing.
Later that night, you fell sick. You were vomiting and sweating quite a bit, and at first, Diluc thought you had food poisoning. However, when he noticed you were vomiting blood, panic surged through him. You were poisoned.
He called his servants and asked them to fetch a medic, but your condition continued to deteriorate quickly. In mere minutes, you were unable to stay standing and were gasping for breath, so Diluc laid you down on the bed. Tears streamed down your cheeks while you apologized to him, as if you knew you were going to die and why. As if someone intentionally poisoned you.
Diluc tried asking for more information, but by that point, you could barely breathe, much less get a word out. All you did was futilely gasp for air while gazing at him with eyes full of remorse and fear.
Diluc didn’t want to think about the possibility of you dying because the mere thought opened old wounds that never fully healed. But as he watched you slowly suffocate; it triggered a surge of fear in him. This scenario felt so familiar. It reminded him of how Crepus died. Due to the Fatui’s schemes, his father had disintegrated into nothing in his arms, leaving him and Kaeya alone to pick up the pieces.
He couldn’t do anything to save his father then, and it frustrated him that he couldn’t do anything for you now, except sit there in fear and despair. Diluc gently took your hand in his, both for your comfort and his, and you clung to his hands like a vice.
Despite Diluc’s empty reassurances that you’ll be alright, that the medic is on his way, you had passed away in front of his eyes with a pained expression on your face. The sight of your last moments made his stomach churn.
As he sat beside your body in the dark room shrouded by night, his thoughts shifted to the reason behind your death. You were poisoned, but why? Did someone do it to try and get to him? He did have many enemies, after all. Then, he remembered the suspicious man that had terrified you so much and couldn’t help but think the secret lay with him. Whatever the case, Diluc swore to get down to the truth of the matter.
He gently removed the engagement ring from your finger and hung it on a chain around his neck to always keep with him as a memento. A reminder of the future he was robbed of with you, and of your life which was taken far too early and cruelly.
News of your poisoning spread to the Knights of Favonius. Jean organized an investigation team to catch the culprit and bring them to justice, but Diluc knew it would take them too long. Even after the Knights had improved their ethics with Varka, Jean, and Kaeya at the helm, Diluc was still reluctant to leave everything to them. He insisted on investigating the matter himself.
After many weeks of searching for clues, and even partnering up with Kaeya, Diluc managed to find the truth behind your murder. It infuriated him.
You were once a Fatuus but had defected from the organization and ran away to Mondstadt to start a new life. You wanted a life where you were free to live the way you wanted, instead of being forced to commit atrocities in the name of the Tsaritsa. But nobody leaves the Fatui alive. Your superiors had found you and sent a Fatuus to infiltrate the ball. After you resisted their attempts to coerce you to return, sometime during the party they spiked your drinking glass with poison, which was how you perished. You were killed for wanting to live your life for yourself.
The injustice behind your death pushed Diluc on a quest for revenge. He swore upon the ring hanging from his neck that your murderers would atone for what they did. After delegating the running of the Winery to Elzer, Diluc packed necessities and embarked on a Fatui hunt.
Over the next few months, he diligently searched and hunted down every member of the Fatui squad that killed you. He refused to take breaks, searching day and night for the exact location of the perpetrators and planning his revenge. He had tunnel vision that wouldn’t go away until his mission was completed. Diluc successfully slayed every Fatuus involved in your death. None were spared.
Once his mission ended, Diluc returned to Mondstadt, but he became colder than before, much to Adelinde and Elzer’s dismay. He was more stoic and aloof than before, rarely smiling or expressing any emotion. He completely closed himself off, not allowing anyone to get close. Diluc had lost too many people he loved and didn’t want to grow attached and experience another potential loss.
Sometimes, Adelinde would catch him sitting idly by a window and staring outside with a pensive, almost sad expression while twirling the ring around his neck. Elzer would spot Diluc standing by your and Crepus’s graves in the light of dawn, presumably after returning from another patrol around the city. Diluc would stand there for a while with his head lowered, looking so lonely and defeated, before heading inside the manor.
Diluc would never find someone new to love, of that he was certain. He will continue to wear the engagement ring around his neck up until the day he dies, and when he does, he hopes he will be buried alongside you and his father. If he cannot be with those he loves in life, then maybe he can be with them in death. Until then, he will push on and continue to live, blazing a path of justice to protect the citizens of Mondstadt so that no more victims end up like you and his father.
Tighnari
When a mother reported her child had gone missing within a withering zone in the Avidya Forest, Tighnari immediately dispatched a search and rescue team.
As a fellow forest ranger, you wanted to come along to help look for the child. Tighnari knew you were fairly capable of handling yourself despite not having a vision, but just to be safe, he paired you up with Collei. After all, it was already dark, and who knew what dangers lurked within the afflicted forest.
Right before you and Collei set out to search your assigned part of the forest, Tighnari told you both to stay safe and vigilant. Never did he think the reassuring smile you gave would be the last time he would see you alive.
He managed to find the missing boy before the withering got to him, and escorted the child back to camp for a checkup. As time passed, the other rangers returned, but you and Collei were nowhere in sight. Just as Tighnari was starting to get worried, Collei rushed over to him, out of breath.
In a panic, she explained that your pair had run into a hilichurl camp within the withering zone, and were chased by hilichurls through the forest. She got separated from you in the dark, and wasn’t able to find you again despite searching for a while.
Tighnari fought to stay calm as he rushed towards the location of the withering zone, and stopped when he saw your figure collapsed on the ground just outside the boundary. His heart dropped at the sight, and he quickly knelt beside you to check your vitals.
You had no pulse.
Tighnari felt like he was dreaming, as if he was watching someone else kneeling beside your body. That this wasn’t real. But as he looked at your glazed eyes which stared off into the distance, never once looking at him, reality set in.
You were dead.
Once he accepted that fact, Tighnari’s heart felt heavy, as if weighed down by an anchor.
You had tried to find your way back to camp, but having spent too much time in the withering zone, and not being a vision holder, you had inevitably succumbed to its effects just as you had gotten out of the zone. A pang of guilt welled within his chest. If he had paired up with you instead, or assigned you a different area to search through, would you have made it out alive? These thoughts looped in his mind and wouldn’t leave Tighnari alone.
When he returned to camp a while later, the rest of the Forest Rangers saw him carrying your body with a grim expression on his face. The fact Tighnari wasn’t asking for immediate medical assistance, and the way his ears drooped low, were all the rest of the Rangers needed to know you had died.
The guilt persisted like a phantom all throughout your funeral, and the days that followed after as he tried to keep it together. Breaking the news to your parents was difficult, but Tighnari forced himself to be the one to tell them. He was prepared for their devastation, and subsequent angry accusations for not protecting you like he promised. For once, he didn’t sass back, but rather quietly accepted their hatred. He believed that they had every right to blame him. After all, Tighnari was the one who was supposed to keep you safe, both as the leader of the Forest Rangers, and as your lover.
Tighnari never thought he would miss you as strongly as he currently did now that you were gone. It was nothing new for you to go days without seeing each other because he sometimes had to go to Sumeru City to give lectures or conduct botany experiments in Pardis Dhyai.
But this time was different. This time, he knew he would never see you again.
Never again will he come home to be greeted with your smile, and he missed the warm feeling that filled his heart back then. He missed your voice, the way you pet his ears and tail, the meals you brought him when he was busy with work, the letters you wrote to him when he was out on a trip… he missed you.
Some nights, he would wake up with tears in his eyes, filled with longing for the happy dreams he had about you. But they will forever remain only dreams, taunting him with a life he can no longer have because you’re not here anymore.
You will never return, and Tighnari was left with a heavy feeling in his chest that refused to completely go away no matter how many years passed. He will always regret sending you out with Collei that day.
He threw himself into his work to distract from the ache in his heart. The thought of someone else dying to the withering like you did scared him, so Tighnari made it his mission to eliminate all the withering zones in the forest. He never wanted something similar to happen to anyone else, and it was the only way he thought he could atone.
Different ways various genshin characters hold your hand
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Playing with your hand
Something about running their fingers over your own, tracing every knuckle, every crease, is just so comforting to them. You sometimes joke about how they should get a fidget toy already, but in their mind nothing can replace the warmth radiating from your palm as they run their thumb over the back of your hand before resuming messing with your fingers again.
HM: Albedo, but more so bc he finds the anatomy of your hands interesting and wants to study them
HM 2: Flins, but he does it to mess with you bc it distracts you and your pouty expression when you catch on to his intention amuses him
HM 3: Jahoda is used to tinkering with stuff so she does it out of habit to keep her hands busy, might actually invest into a fidget toy
Having their hand played with
Most people wouldn’t think they’re the type to enjoy this kind of affection. And yet, here they are, preoccupied with reading some book or notes or documents, while you fidget with one of their hands. You do it so much that they barely register it anymore, absorbed in whatever they’re doing at the moment. The second you let go of their hand though, they’ll shoot you a subtle frown, hoping you’ll get the hint and continue.
Alheitham, Diluc, Kinich, Neuvilette, Wanderer, Wriothesley, Zhongli, Arlecchino, Hu Tao, Jean, Beidou, Layla, Lynette, Rosaria + your faves
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
HM: Tighnari and Albedo, anytime except when they’re working, they’d lose focus.
HM 2: Fischl would be on here but she doesn’t like distractions while reading and I think all the fidgeting would be too much movement for her. She’ll read to you tho if you like that.
Squeezing for comfort
It started as a nervous habit. You told them to squeeze your hand whenever they’re anxious, and to remind themselves that you’re by their side, no matter what. Somewhere along the way, you started doing the same thing, the light squeeze now symbolizing presence more than stress. One short press for nervousness, a long one for reassurance and comfort, followed by the subtle massage of a thumb on the back of the hand. It’s like you have your own secret language, words not necessary to convey your feelings.
Nothing is better than a steady hold in their opinion. They’ll take your hand, lace your fingers and just hold on to your hand for a while. You need to let go for whatever reason? That’s rude. They’re sure you can manage just fine with one hand. But whatever, they’ll just let out a long sigh and immediately take your hand again as soon as you’re done doing whatever you needed to do.
Childe, Durin, Gaming, Kinich, Furina, Lynette, Xiangling + your faves
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
HM: Arlecchino, Xiao and Cyno, but only in private
Kisses your hand
They’re such a tease, playfully pressing a kiss against the back of your hand before lacing your fingers. They’ll leave a flirty comment, call you a dumb nickname, flash you a cheeky wink– anything to get a reaction out of you.
Childe, Dahlia, Flins, Heizou, Kaeya, Lyney, Venti, Beidou, Hu Tao, Jahoda, Rosaria + your faves
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
HM: Arlecchino, Wriothesley, Kazuha, Zhongli and Neuvilette do it in a non-teasing way. They’re very genuine about it and do it absentmindedly sometimes.
Will do your nails
They’ll gently take your hand into theirs, examine your fingers and decide to gently file your nails and put polish on. They’re very gentle with your hands and have lots of practice since this kind of became a semi-regular thing for you two.
This is cliché as hell, but it’s my truth, and I’m sharing it with you all. Gorou’s favorite position is doggy. Like right? We know this
Especially when he’s in a rut. He finds you, bends you over, and practically tears off your clothes.
He can’t help himself when he’s in a rut, and you just look so sexy
He needs to fuck you and breed you as his, and the best way to do that is when you’re bent over and his cock can thrust in and out of you with no problem
Hanahaki fic, gender neutral reader. During the ongoing war, reader is put into Gorou's team due to their work paying off. They catch feelings for him, but because they're a loner it's unrequited. Reader confesses, but things happen.
Turned out a LOT more angsty than I initially thought it was gonna be, reader dies.
--
"What's with the serious look, friend?" Kazuha hushes out, catching you off-guard as you're thinking about your feelings.
Kazuha was the only other person other than Gorou that you were close with in Inazuma. As angsty as it was, you didn't have any close relatives. Hell, you'd like to find out if you did have any living relatives. You didn't exactly grow up as normal, keeping your walls up due to the fear of being exploited. Becoming a soldier surprised you, but the man who stumbled upon you saw potential in you, and referred you to Sangonomiya Kokomi.
The man, Kazuha, was a quiet supporter, and he was happy to see you had a target you could place your anger onto - the enemy team - leading to you excelling in your career as a frontline soldier. That's how you met Gorou, who started talking to you after Kazuha introduced you to him personally.
Gorou treated you like anyone else, really.
But you went and fell for him anyway.
"I confessed to him." You sigh out. "It didn't go well."
Gorou had expected this to just be a normal request from you regarding work. Perhaps a day off, or maybe even asking if you could work behind the scenes rather than at front of line.
When you pull out a bouquet of flowers, he winces as he immediately realises what's going to leave your lips. He was hopeful these would simply be thank you flowers, but he knew based on your facial expression it was something more touching than that.
"I've caught feelings for you. Romancey ones." You keep it short and clear, to Gorou's relief.
But Gorou's relief is short lived when he realises that he knows nothing about you. How could he return feelings if all the conversations you've had were extremely work based, and the times it wasn't it was about the weather.
"I'm flattered, but I'm afraid I only see you as a coworker." He smiles softly, hoping it won't hit you too bad.
"Oh! Oh, yeah. That's fine, I-I was just testing my luck." You cough out, feeling something building in your throat. "You can keep these, I'm not wanting a reminder of my unrequited feelings. Burn them if you want." You spill out, pushing the bouquet to Gorou before walking as normally as you could.
--
"Ah, I see." Kazuha sighs, looking at the sunset as he sits beside you. "How are you feeling?"
You open your mouth to reply, only to begin coughing again. Kazuha looks over, expecting you to be fine. His eyes widen at the appearance of a petal not familiar to him. No flowers matched this colour scheme, but he noted it reminded him of Gorou's colouring.
"Ah, fuck." You chuckle. "I guess I have that stupid unrequited love condition." You shake your head, not seeing how Kazuha's face went to concern.
"Let's get you to the medics."
--
A day after you were admitted to the tent, you were told you couldn't work until this condition was resolved. Gorou had been informed through Kazuha, and he went to the tent to talk to you.
"Really? You told Kazuha about this before you told me?" Gorou huffs. "He doesn't work with us often enough, you just see him when he decides to come along."
"Well, I didn't expect to get this condition." You tut, crossing your arms as you look away from Gorou.
"You're putting up walls again." Gorou frowns, growing increasingly fed up with your defensive attitude. "You thought I would return your feelings with those basic conversations we've shared?"
"No, I just wanted to confess so I wouldn't have to think of any what if's." You reply.
"And it's not my fault I can't return your feelings." Gorou clenches his fists, increasingly frustrated at your replies. "Look, I'm sorry I don't feel the same way, but just take the surgery. I don't care if you forget about me, but you're one of our best soldiers."
"Everyone's replaceable, Gorou." You coldly retort. "I don't want to become completely emotionless."
"People wouldn't spot a difference anyway, _." Gorou sighs, beginning to leave. "Even if I did return your feelings, it wouldn't work. We can't be together because of our working relationship."
As much as it hurt, you knew it was true. He wouldn't see you as anything other than a fellow comrade, and it hurt to fully acknowledge it.
"Don't bother coming back." You weakly let out.
"I won't, don't worry." Gorour growls, walking out as he plans the next day.
--
Predictably, you didn't survive the condition. Despite Kazuha's pleas for you to just take the surgery and live without Gorou in your life, you were scared of letting go of the emotion you had recently grasped after keeping your walls up with people your entire life.
On your last day, nobody came to visit you. The only one who was by your side was the medic, who was pleading one last time to please just get the damn surgery. You declined it once again, and they reluctantly go along with your request.
The moments before your death were filled with nobody by your bedside, and you realised that you pushed people away far too often. If you had more people you held close and dear, you probably would have been fine without him in your life.
You get buried at the spot you and Kazuha would frequently meet up at. It was never an arranged spot, you both just coincidentally wanted to be there and met up.
Kazuha tried to continue going to that spot, but after a week he realised it wasn't healthy to keep doing that. He wanted to move on, and you weren't as close to him as what he initially thought you were.
You were just the first person to rely on Kazuha as your first friend, and in hindsight you wouldn't have met otherwise. The thought of someone as lonely as yourself hurt Kazuha to the core, and holding onto the what if's of someone who really needed a lot more support from professionals was not healthy.
I've been getting back into writing, but I don't really know if I'm 100% down to write fics on any character. So, I thought to write a list of characters and genres I'm down to write right now.
Four years ago, I published the first part of this little challenge. Back then, the game was still in its early stages and didn’t have nearly as many characters as it does now. But now, after four years, I’m finally ready to show you new characters – as seen through my eyes. I truly hope you’ll enjoy it!
Throughout August, I’ll be posting one scenario per day, each focused on a different Genshin Impact character of my choosing; both SFW and NSFW. Don’t worry about repetition – the characters will be completely different from those featured in ‘Genshin Impact Month 1’, so you can expect all-new stories. Most of these scenarios will include one, two, or sometimes a few characters at once. Just like four years ago, I’ll mostly be writing from a gender neutral or female reader perspective – it’s what I’m most comfortable with.
I hope you’ll have as much fun reading as I’ll have writing.
Enjoy, and see you soon! ✨
P.S. My other special months are here: ‘I love girls Month’, ‘Music & Vocaloids Month’.
done | 01/08. his sister’s new friend with KAMISATO AYATO and KAMISATO AYAKA
done | 02/08. eating pussy with NEUVILLETTE
done | 03/08. between hot and cold with YELAN and MAVUIKA
done | 04/08. crying on his shoulder with ARATAKI ITTO
done | 05/08. nightmares with YUMEMIZUKI MIZUKI
done | 06/08. exams time with XIANYUN and CLORINDE
done | 07/08. misunderstanding with FREMINET and ESCOFFIER
done | 08/08. making dinner with TIGHNARI
done | 09/08. sloppy kisses with SANGONOMIYA KOKOMI
done | 10/08. wedding night with DAINSLEIF
11/08. cheating with XILONEN on CANDACE
12/08. rainy day with GAMING
13/08. one night stand with WRIOTHESLEY and SKIRK
14/08. besties with FARUZAN and VARESA
15/08. little kindergarten with NAHIDA, YAOYAO, DORI, IANSAN, SIGEWINNE and KACHINA
16/08. lactation kink with KAVEH
17/08. big sis with LYNEY and LYNETTE
18/08. games and discord with KUKI SHINOBU
19/08. final battle with RAIDEN EI
20/08. sixth yaksha with ALL YAKSHAS
21/08. fight for you with ARLECCHINO and COLUMBINA
22/08. mascara and lipstick with YAE MIKO
23/08. PMS with THOMA
24/08. breaking up with ORORON
25/08. summer trip with SHENHE, CHASCA and CITLALI
26/08. his new student with BAIZHU and EMILIE
27/08. sweet granddaughter IL CAPITANO and PULCINELLA
Your? or the world? The choice is theirs to make.
pt. 2 here
Oh, how the hero had loved you.
How could he not, when you had bore into his soul, etched yourself into his heart and had designed a place for yourself in his arms?
But oh, the world is cruel.
Cruel that he must decide who he must give up, you or the world?
The world wants him to choose them. But what has the world done but taken from him?
You were the only thing that he cared for, yet even you, they intended to take?
Choose, they tell him, and he struggles.
How could he not, when the world tells him to choose them over his own life?
But alas, it has forced his hand, and his decision is made.
Alas, it does not mean that he loved you less. No, for he loved you more than the world but even then, his own morals– he struggles. He struggles to choose, but alas.
Alas, his love sits on the cold ground, tears marr your once smooth skin, and you cry out for him.
How could you, you scream until your throat burns.
I loved you, you cry until there are no more tears to cry.
He says nothing, not until you ask him– Did you even love me?
Oh, by God he did. He does. He has, He will, He loves you oh so desperately but what is that love if so many die in the end?
The answer burns his throat. Yes. Yes I did. Did. No he still does but he cannot choose you over the world.
The tears in your eyes burn with hurt. Questions swim in your eyes and he forces himself to look away.
Oh how the hero loved you. He loved you with so much intensity , but alas. Alas, alas, alas.
Oh, the world has forced his hand.
Thoma (ouch), ZHONGLI, Xiao, AYATO KAMISATO, wriothesley, NEUVILLETTE, Gorou + any fave character of yours !!
