The Final Chapter

Almost Frozen

Chapter 11

Gently Childe placed another blanket on the bed. "I have the tea...", he heard a soft voice behind him. A little girl in a blue dress with two ginger pigtails handed him a steaming mug. "Thanks Tonia..." His little sister looked worried at their guest. "Did she wake up, yet?", she asked. Tartaglia shook his head. "She will be allright, will she?" He nodded and then looked at their guest: "Of course she will. She is one of the strongest people I know!" Tonia smiled and then left the room. He placed the mug on the little table right next to the bed and then sat on a chair right next to it. His eyes scanned the face of his guest. Lumine's face. When he found her on his way back home from the meeting, he almost had a heart attack. Not only did she lay there completly unprotected, but almost frozen to death holding an extinguished warming bottle. So he brought her home with him and now she was here in their guest room, under three blankets next to a fire place, still unconscious. He layed back and sighed. Hopefully she would get her conscience back, before anyone noticed her here. After that escalation in the meeting, they would come for him and if they found her here, he could be accused of treason. Not that he wasn't already playing with the thought of betraying the Fatui and his archon. But he could not let his family get dragged into the mess he created. And letting the Traveler die was also not an option.
Something on the bed moved. Childe looked at the Traveler. She did not awake, but turned her head. He heard her wisper. "Paimon?... No... don’t ... leave me..." Concerned he stood up and sat next to her on the bed. He wanted to put his hand on hers to comfort her but couldn't bring himself to do it. Aether... How could you..." Her movements got wilder. Something was definetly fighting within her. If only he could do something. He stood up went to the door only looking back at the Traveler once for a brief moment. Whatever nighmares she had, they continued to torment her. He closed the door behind him. At least the Traveler was alive.

Lumine opened eyes and got up. The first thing she saw was a fireplace next to her. How did she get here? Where exactly was 'here'? Her eyes wandered through the room. It was small room with just a wardrobe and some cabinets in front of small window. Just one lonely chair stood in front of the fireplace on a worn out red carpet. She was sitting on a small bed under some blankets next to her an empty little table. She put the blankets aside and let her legs touch the floor. They still felt stiff and frozen. She looked up again preparing herself to stand up, but as she did that the door opened. But only a little before stopping again. A small ray of light shone into the room. "No I'm bringing her the tea. What if she is awake and sees you first? We don't want to scare her...", a familiar voice said. Another sighed and said something quietly. "Can I come with you? She knows me! And maybe Mr. Cyclops can help" She heard a chuckle. "When she's awake Teucer..." Then the door opened fully and in it stood Childe holding a cup in one hand. Of course it was Childe, who else would know her here in Snezhnaya... "Oh... welcome back, comrade", he said. As he closed the door she could spot curious small children behind him trying to catch a glimpse into the room. Childe put the tea on the table right next to her and moved the chair to face her. He sat down and smiled gently. "How long was I asleep?", she asked. "Only a couple of hours. The cold really got to you... Why were you out there without a coat or something?" Lumine looked down on the floor. "Hadn't thought of it..." She tried to laugh but it turned into a cough. "How did you get so far in the first place. I mean without a coat..." "Through a portal. I landed not far from a village and had not thought of anything after that..." He looked at her. Just going in without a plan sounded like him or like her companion Paimon but not like the Traveler. Maybe something drastic changed her. Something in Sumeru or the war... "Thanks for saving me, but I have to go...", Lumine said trying to stand up. She stumbled and fell, however Childe cought her and sat her back down. "First drink your tea and eat something. You have to warm back up. Then we can talk about everything else...", Childe said. "No!", the Traveler responded,  "I can't sit here and 'warm up' if there is a war out there! My brother is out there leading an attack that destroys innocent lives and I'm supposed to sit here?!" Her eyes filled with tears and her voice was full of hatred and anger. "First off, calm down. There are kids listening", he gestured at the door. Her look landed on him. Not the right time for a joke. "Second", he continued, "I know that this is hard. I can't imagine how it feels. But if you head out there now, you'll die. Warm up, so you can fight your brother for real and then get to it" He saw her smile. Finally she took the warm mug with the tea and sipped slowly. "It was very lucky, that you were out there...", she mumbled. "Yes it was. Just a few minutes later and you would have been gone..." Her eyes were glued on the floor. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts. For a while he let remain that way before he asked a question that had been on his mind ever since he found her: "You were all alone... May I ask, where's Paimon?" Lumine looked at him with first shock and then grief. It was a stupid idea to ask that after what he heard while she was dreaming. "If you don't want to talk about-" "She left. She betrayed me. One day as we were traveling she had a complete change of character. She spoke of: 'Returning to Celestia' and some mission. She explained nothing really, just said that her memories returned and she had to go. Then she left" Childe sighed. That seemed to really weigh on her. "Do you need any help with searching for your brother?", he asked. The Traveler smiled. "That would be nice"

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She's alive! Of course she is, I can't let everyone die :P
Also...
Yes there is a lot of dynamic between them, yes I like enemies to lovers too. But!
This is kept ambigious on purpose. If you want to read ChiLumi into that, do it. If you want them to just be close friends that is fine too.
Everything is valid.