After The Ending [Ayalumi]

A brand new start

The two siblings walked up to the entrance of the Estate and greeted the guard standing by. Lumine was already familiar with him, they had met on multiple occassions, but Aether had, of course never seen him before. The guard, Hirotatsu, asked them of the purpose of their visit and refered them to Madarame when the Traveler stated that they were there to pay a visit to Ayaka.

As soon as they passed the entrance and were about to take a turn to the left to approach Madarame, the housekeeper of the wealthy family noticed them and waved at Lumine while  jogging to reach them. That was another face the former Abyss Prince wasn't familiar with. The world around him was vastly different compared to how it was when he traveled across it with Dainsleif, he noticed that much earlier that morning in Inazuma City, but all the new people he saw reminded him of the fact that he had perhaps spent way too long in the depths of the Abyss.

Aether was snapped out of his trance when his sister introduced him to this tall, blond guy standing before them, after giving him a warm hug.

"I guess I should do the introductions. Thoma, this is my brother, Aether. Aether, this is Thoma, the housekeeper of the Estate and close friend of the Kamisato family." Said the traveler, rather awkwardly may I add.

"Your brother?! I didn't know you had found him, congratulations Traveler!" The young guy, whose name is apparently Thoma, replied to Lumine, before facing Aether and extending his hand for a handshake. "As the Traveler said, I'm Thoma. Your sister has mentioned you a lot, it's an honour to finally meet you."

Aether took Thomas' hand in his and shook it. "The honour is all mine, Thoma." They soon let go of each other's hands and Thoma averted his gaze back at the Traveler.

"So what brings you back here? We haven't seen you around in a while, did you want to visit Lady Ayaka?" Either the housekeeper was good at guessing or Lumine had been visiting the Kamisato Estate mostly for Ayaka's sake. Aether assumed that the latter was true.

"Ha ha, you know me so well. So, is she here?" The Traveler inquired as she was playing with her hands nervously in front of her.

"Of course! The Lady is practicing her swordsmanship right now. Let me take you to her." With that, the reliable housekeeper lead the twins to the other side of the porch, where they saw Ayaka swinging her sword gracefully, not even batting an eye at their direction as she was too engrossed in her polished movements.

"My Lady! You have visitors." Thoma called out to Ayaka, who halted her practice in response. She turned around to face the three of them and the second her eyes made contact with the Traveler's, the sword she held slipped past her fingertips and onto the ground as she ran toward them. Lumine took a few steps forward with a smile tugging at her lips and caught the Princess, who fell in her arms for a hug, something they both had missed tremendously.

It had been a very long time since the Traveler's last visit and Ayaka was starting to think they'd never see each other again. Nothing could compare to the happiness she felt as she saw Lumine, alive and well. Actually, scratch that, hugging the Traveler made her way happier than just seeing her a few feet away. That was the true peak of her happiness. Feeling her friend's warmth on her skin and her soft hair on the side of her face was something the Shirasagi Himegimi had been dreaming about for a while. With her arms around the blonde's shoulder, Ayaka kept her eyes closed as she savoured the moment.

Meanwhile Lumine had a secure grip around Ayaka's waist, not knowing how else to express just how much she had missed her. Unlike the silver-haired girl in front of her, Lumine's eyes were wide open, the thought of a simple hug being so pleasant had never crossed her mind, yet it was happening. She could feel her heart beat uncharacteristically loudly in her chest, paired with a feeling she was unfamiliar with in her stomach. Was that what they called 'butterflies in one's stomach'?