The Vigilant Yaksha

Chapter 21

"What have you been up to? It's been a few days." Vena and the boy's were all seated at a table in the kitchen, grabbing a quick bite to eat.

"Just been training with Xiao and stuff." Vena spoke softly, trying to talk quickly between bites as she scarfed down her meal, not realizing before how hungry she actually was since she'd been distracted.

"Where is Xiao?" Diluc questioned with the raise of an eyebrow, noticing that he hadn't been with her earlier.

"He left last night to kill some demons I guess. He hasn't come back yet."

Diluc sent a look over at Aether at that, clearly having some unspoken conversation.

Vena's eyes quietly flicked back and forth between the two as she continued chewing her food, waiting awkwardly for someone to explain what the odd looks were for.

"What?" The purple haired cleared her throat, her nerves now rising at the silence that had fallen over the table.

"So, you and Xiao-" Aether's demeanor changed in a flash, him now leaning over the table with his elbows resting on it, hands clasped together as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Oh no.

"Wh-what about me and Xiao?" Vena was fast to shy away from his gaze, feeling her face flush with heat as she used her fork to play with her food, unable to look him in the face now.

"You've been spending a lot of... quality time with him. Anything you'd like to tell us?" He continued to tease, looking at her with half-lidded eyes and a wide smirk adorned his face.

Vena's stomach was in knots as her heart picked up it's pace at the question, face flushing pink as she stuttered, trying to think of what to even say.

Aether loved to tease Vena any opportunity he had, but why was this time different?

Why was her stomach fluttering and why did that question make her so nervous?

"I don't know what you mean-" Vena spoke quickly, unsure how to respond to his antics.

His smirk widened at her flustered expression, knowing he finally actually had her caught for once.

"Aether, stop being so nosy. Leave the poor girl alone." Diluc laughed lightly, picking up on how she was acting as well.

Wide blue eyes were now simply glued down to her plate, her lips set in a hard line as her mind raced with thoughts.

Is that what this feeling was?

No, surely not. Aether always played this game with her and teased her over anyone she seemed close to. He was like an older brother and was always finding different ways to pick on her, but she couldn't get over the look shared between Aether and Diluc right before he'd said it, and how different she felt towards being teased this time...

It had been far too many years for her to even remember what that feeling was... she hadn't experienced it in ages, so she couldn't even be sure that's what it really was to begin with.

"Well, we're going to stick around until he comes back then. Don't want to leave you here alone while you're still trying to train and learn." Aether's gentle and kind voice yanked her from her confusing thoughts, causing her head to raise and eyes to meet his gaze.

He was smiling gently at her, clearly feeling a little bad for maybe picking on her for something that was actually serious, obviously picking up on how different her reaction was from the usual times.

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"It's beautiful out today," Aether finally spoke after a good while of silence between himself and his best friend, then now out on a walk with just the two of them while Diluc and Chongyun rested and showered from their trip.

"Mhm." Came Vena's reply, not intending to be rude by being short, considering her mind was still reeling with thoughts, trying to debunk her emotions and what she was actually feeling.

Do I have feelings for Xiao...?

Is that even possible after all these years..?

All these years I didn't allow myself to fall in love again or feel this way about another human being that wasn't strictly platonic?

"I'm sorry for earlier." Aether quickly apologized, feeling as though her silence was because of him.

A gentle laugh came from the girl as they continued to walk down across the bridge, the breeze lightly picking up, tossing leaves around with the wind.

"You didn't do anything wrong." She stated with a smile, her voice soft as it floated across the breeze gently.

"But I clearly upset you-"

"I'm not upset." Vena reiterated, her voice a little more stern this time as she turned to look him in the eye, a smile still spread across her lips.

"More... confused."

"You know I'm always here if you want to talk." Aether pushed, honestly so relieved that she wasn't upset with him.

He'd never intentionally mean to hurt or upset her; She was his best friend after all.

More silence fell, and Aether embraced it this time, knowing she was thinking and surfing through her thoughts, trying to organize them and figure out exactly how to explain it all.

"I know it's confusing, but I want you to know, no matter what it is, I will always support you and want what makes you happy. To think, maybe after all this time, you might be able to love someone like that again."

They'd stopped walking by now, both leaning over the railing on the bridge to enjoy the sound of the water below.

The purple haired girl simply turned to him and gave a nervous smile before looking back out at the river.

"I don't think complicated quite covers even a small part of the situation." The girl gave a soft hearted laugh at that, shaking her head in disbelief.

"But I think maybe you helped me figure out at least a small part of it."