star's sky - xiao x reader

- act 3 ~

xiao and you landed on the balcony you met.

'what did you wish for?' he asked.

'i wished that you would love me back. it feels like i've known you since my soul formed, that we were always meant to meet,' you replied, taking his hand.

'i love you, xiao.'

xiao had never felt complete in his entire life. this was the first time he had. his heart felt like it was going to burst, he finally knew his feelings were reciprocated. he knew for sure you were his other half. someone who understood him, someone who knew the worst of him and the worst of his experiences and loved him wholeheartedly despite it all. you chose him, even after everything that made him disgraced and unworthy.

he wanted to be with you everyday. to feel you by his side. his heart was yours, he realised, along with the fact that living without you would destroy him totally.

'well, i should really go to sleep, shouldn't i? good night, xiao.' you said cheerfully and walked up the stairs.

he was enamored by you. completely and totally.

love made him excited for the next day, because you were in it.

xiao never realised how easy it was to fall into the rhythm of being cared for, especially since no one had done so in this way before.

you brought him almond tofu after you ate lunch. xiao never particularly enjoyed talking to people, so he just waited for your return. xiao has tried your favourite dish, surprisingly, as he wanted to get to know your tastes. he could see why you liked it, but the texture and taste weren't exactly up his alley. he made plans to learn how to cook it for you.

when xiao returned from nightly patrol, you checked him for any injuries, on the days you didn't go with him. your hands were warm, fingers brushing his body. he liked your touch.

the two of you hadn't done anything romantic since that little date, however. xiao didn't want to tell you he loved you as well. he spends his time away from you wishing that he could freely be with you without having to worry about you getting hurt, like everyone close to him had.

the yakshas, rex lapis. so many.

you were a luxury he let himself afford. maybe his karmic debt would just afflict him and not you, and you could be happy. he could be happy with you.

today was another day that you were accompanying him on his yaksha duties. xiao believed you were capable enough to handle a ruin guard by yourself, so he could take out the other hilichurl camps in the vicinity as you destroyed the ruin guard. he would get you after and return to the inn.

'the sky is still so beautiful.'

xiao looked down at you through the mask. 'do you like the sky?'

you nodded. 'it's free and limitless.'

xiao was beginning to understand why you wanted to know others' insights. to xiao, the sky was just a curtain over the world, a picture with the sun or the stars and the moon. but to you, it was something much more. he loved that about you.

xiao landed by the ruin guard, letting you get up. 'i think you can handle this well, [.].'

'i'll do my best. see you later, xiao.'

he jumped back up into the sky after he saw you engage the ruin guard and went to battle with hilichurl camps. xiao didn't really feel a need to rush back to you. you were capable.

why did he have a feeling of dread in his stomach, then?

he quickened the frequency of his attacks and movements. xiao couldn't shake the feeling at all.

you wouldn't be hurt, right?

xiao made quick work of the last hilichurls and made his way back to you as soon as he could, heart beating almost out of his chest and his motions clumsy and hasty.

he landed with a louder thud than usual. your back was facing him, your figure creating a distinct shadow on the ground. the ruin guard had fallen to your feet and was now disintegrating. if not for your heavy breathing, xiao might have mistaken you for an ethereal ghost, bathed in gentle moonlight. your weapon was beginning to disappear.

'xiao...' you turned around. 'i feel so cold.'

in that instance, time slowed for xiao. he could feel the warmth drain from his fingers, his toes, his heart. his mouth dried suddenly, he thought he was almost about to puke. he felt so tense, like his breath had stopped in his lungs.

why? why did i ignore that feeling? why am i so useless even after more than a thousand years? shouldn't i be stronger?

your abdomen. it was bleeding, a large, circular, bloody mark on it. the front of your clothes were bloodstained and torn, the fabric shredded.

xiao had seen much, much worse than this, but this was the most horrifying sight he had ever witnessed in his life.

you were swaying, like a thin reed. about to fall. xiao rushed over to catch you. he was surprised he could manage that, or any movement at all.

'[.]?! answer me! you can't...you can't die, please.' xiao was begging. you were limp in his arms.

he shouldn't have let you close. he shouldn't have let himself be close to you.

xiao wasn't really thinking, not anymore as he brought you back to wangshu inn. to him, it felt like watching a low quality reproduction of some new show. he was watching himself break down inside, realising that you, the light of his life, might not wake up. he watched his face become unemotional, a wall of apathy as he explained everything to verr goldet. as he carried you back to your room, as he bandaged you. xiao didn't know how he hadn't broke.

maybe that was just the last large shard of his fragmented heart exploding into a thousand pieces, the force numbing his senses.

xiao waited in your room, watching you, looking for a sign that you'd wake up soon. he held your hand often. less for you, and more for him. waiting for your hand to become any warmer, squeezing your hand to comfort himself.

you didn't show any sign of waking up soon.