To Bask in a Ray of Sunlight: a XiaoAether fanfiction

Chapter 4

Xiao.

"Nothing here, either." We hurriedly closed the gates before anything comes out again. For the nth time, Paimon hid somewhere, dissapearing without a trace. Not that it suprises me anymore.

"We're almost done," Aether pointed out. He drank his fill of water before giving it to me. I drank the rest of it, feelig a bit happy for some reason. Wait, happy?

I gave the bottle to him, feeling a bit confused of what I had felt. Aether took it from my hand, his ears quite red. "Are you sick?" I asked. We can't continue if he doesn't feel well.

"N-no, I just—" he bit his lip, which is quite attractive for me.

"Hm?" I signaled him to go on.

"Nothing, I just thought of something irrelevant." He cleared his throat. "500 meters from here, there will be a domain right beside the mountains. That will be the last one we haven't checked yet." I nodded as he lead the way. "We're right at the top of a mountain, so using a glider will be faster. Do you have one?" Aether asked as he ready his own glider.

"The inn provided me one." I took my own glider and wore it.

"That's.....the Wings of Freedom from Mondstat."

"Really? I didn't know."

"Yeah, and it suits you actually." He smiled sweetly. "Oh wait," he walked towards me, his hand reaching my hair. Too close, I thought. I closed my eyes shut. His hand caressing my face, travelling up to my hair. Strange desires started circulating in my thoughts. I want more, I need more.

"There," he said as he took steps back. He fixed my hair. "Your hair might cover your vision while we glide, so I fixed it up for a bit."

I took a deep breath. "I can fix it myself, you could've just told me."

"You can't see yourself right now, but I do." He answered back. I hate to admit, he has a point. "Lead the way," I said. He nodded and glide first. I followed him right after.

"Again, I know you don't care about the name of the domain, so I'll get straight to the potential monsters here. A lot of hilichurls resided in this domain and most of them can inflict pyro while the others only fight with weapons. There are only a few slimes here, but all of them are made of pyro." Aether explained.

"Got it."

"I'm opening the gates in 3, 2, 1....." we both pushed the doors open after his countdown dropped to 0. I closed my eyes and focused on looking for any signs of Karma.

"Oh here we go again," I heard clashing sounds and Aether's voice, but it didn't waver my focus. I trust his skills to fight them all. He's not a damsel in distress, after all.

I saw one. A bit tainted with Karma. But why is it only one? I opened my eyes and ran toward that particular monster. However, even before I reach it with my spear, it vanished into a void I've never encountered before.

A void similar to the night sky.

"They're too many!" Aether asked for help. I can't do anythink about what happened just now, but I'll think of a way how to get this through. I ran to Aether as fast as I could. He's right, there are too many monsters around him as I reached by his side. Most of them are abyss mages.

"We'll finish this as soon as possible, then we'll talk later." I glanced at him, who was still fending off monsters.

"Lament."

"What? No!" Aether yelled.

I jumped and plunged my spear right into the enemy I see near. As soon as my blade reached the floor, serveral emerald spikes emerged, eliminating off the other monsters around me instantly.

Little did I know, Aether was calling me, far from the battlefield, telling me to stop.

"Here, this can heal you..."

"I told you, I'm okay so don't worry about it." I assured him, putting down a piece of Sweet Madame on the side table of his room.

We're back at his teapot to mend our wounds and minor injuries. Paimon was still nowhere to be found, but she can pop out anywhere anytime. Aether, despite his own injuries, mended mine first. My mask depleted a bit of my health, but it'll be healed soon enough, anyway. However, Aether was still worried sick about my wellness.

"But...." he bit his lip, his face a little down.

I patted his head. "This is normal, there's nothing to be worried about." I took some of the medicine supplies and disinfect his wounds on his arm.

"Of course, getting wounds and taking damage is normal." He glanced at me. "But I'm just worried about you. For sure you feel pain while you're fighting. Pain is still pain, you'll always feel unpleasant with it."

"You're sweet." Aether's face instantly reddened. "I appreciate it. But you see, taking damage from my power is inevitable." I took his other hand as soon as I was finished bandaging the wounds of the other. "But I guess I can rely on you healing me?"

He held my hand while I was disinfecting his arm with my other one. "Yeah." Aether answered. I finished disinfecting his other arm and the wound on his cheek. I took the bandages and started covering the wounds up.

How many years has it been? My last memory with the other Yakshas, when Rex Lapis took me under his wing........it has been so long when I last felt secured with a person.

If only I could freely show how I feel to everyone......

I sighed. Like how my power inflicts damege to my body, this situation of mine is inevitable. It sounds cliche, but everyone who gets close to me will only hurt themselves in the end. Hurting Aether is the very last thing I would do and I'll do anything not to hurt him, even if it hurts me in return.

But this little moment...maybe I can be selfish just for a little bit.

"Thank you," I whispered.