like the wind that flows through your hair

𝚇𝙸𝚇. 𝙽𝙾 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙲𝙰𝙽 𝙱𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙺 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙸𝚂 𝙴𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙽𝙰𝙻

"You can't avoid me forever even if you are still angry, Ayaka."

"What are you talking about?"

Zhongli tightened his arms securely around his wife from behind while resting his chin on her small shoulder. "Don't give me that. You have been throwing yourself into work ever since our first real argument."

Ayaka was caught like a deer in a lion's paws. It's only been a few days of awkward distance, and she's again reminded of how much she'd missed him. Badly. However, she refused to give in. She cleared her throat and replied curtly, "Well, summer festivals are coming up in Inazuma. I have to help Ayato out."

Zhongli only smiled down at her patiently. His touch grazed her arm, and his expression was suddenly unexpectedly sincere. He wanted so desperately to gather her close and hold her tight to him for weeks, months...however long it would take to coax the old Yaka out from this brittle shell. He turned to meet her cerulean eyes straight on, jumping in keenly. "Is that so? Then I will come around every day to assist you both."

"No need." Ayaka mustered a cold stare even as her whole body ached to throw itself into his arms. However, first, she knew she had to face her fears after dancing around the subject. She turned around slowly towards him fully and returned his pressing gaze. "Zhongli, there's something I would like to ask you...and I want you to please be completely honest with me."

Her voice hung heavily in the air before he finally spoke, "What do you want to know, sweetheart?" They were inches apart, and she could inhale the rich aroma that was all him. It was incredibly male, tangy, full of spice, and it could get her head spinning the way one too many glasses of wine did. "Ask me anything," he challenged. "I've nothing to hide."

Ayaka's voice was dainty, with a trace of anxiousness, yet earnest all the same. "What is the real reason you revealed your...sentiments regarding Tartaglia? And where do you stand in terms of our relationship currently?"

Zhongli listened to both her questions with a thoughtful expression as he pushed his fingers through his hair. His gaze met hers. He was serious. "Regarding Tartaglia, it was because you deserve the truth even if it's ugly or unfair. I was reminded of some things that I thought had been buried.

"As to where we stand in our relationship...I want you to know how much I love you. I have loved you from the very moment we met, and I love you now and every moment in between. Even if my way of expressing it is deranged and diabolical. You have given a meaning to my life that I had no right to expect, that no one can ever take from me. Now, what say you to this madness, darling?"

The fiery twilight sunshine danced across Zhongli's glinting, honest eyes when he spoke, making the tiny golden flecks within shimmer beautifully. His words tossed Ayaka on a rollercoaster ride of emotion. "I..." Her voice wavered with emotion, and she let the only truth she knew fall from her lips. "I love you. I love you always and forever even if the stars burn out of the sky. You will never find anyone else as devoted as I am to you, baby. No one."

She paused. The truth left a throbbing pang in her heart that it fought now to overcome. "You hurt me deeply, Zhongli. I was not prepared for this nor do I know what to do with this information. However, I did not marry you because I wanted to own you. I married you because I love you unconditionally and it is the only reason. So, I want to give you the freedom you desire and deserve to be yourself completely."

You put stars in my night sky
Now the constellations spell out your name

There was so much to say in response and yet nothing at all came to mind. All sorts of feelings rushed through Zhongli, physical and emotional. Hot and cold. An ache spread slowly from his gut, infiltrating every single cell in his body. She stared at him in silence, but his gaze was too intense, and she lowered her eyes and watched his pulse at the base of his neck instead. It seemed safer somehow. Zhongli remained silent but something changed. Ayaka felt it. His pulse was faster, and his breaths fell in shorter, quicker spurts. "I understand, baby. Forgive me."

His voice was like butter, thick and silky at the same time. She shuddered as his fingers slid along her arm to pull her in closer.