Genshin oneshots~ PART 2

My One True Love~ [Xiao x Lumine]

Xiao POV: 

The cosy afternoon sun seeps into my soul, enveloping me in it's warmth, I close my eyes... taking in the scent of the wind. "Hee hee!~ don't you look just like Xiao?" a voice echoes in my head, my eyes spring open, Lumine... I quickly teleport to her location. A beautiful young girl with gleaming blonde hair and a soft smile is seen sitting under a tree, giving a newborn kitten hugs and kisses, the kitten had dark fur with teal tints on it's ears, "Oh... Xiao!" she says noticing me staring, "would you like one too?" I shake my head, "a cat? Wouldn't it be terrified of me?", she chuckles softly. "No no! What I meant was..." she stands up and places a kiss on my lips, her lips are soft and gentle, it was quick... it was abrupt, but it was enough. I kiss her back gently, giving all of the love and hope I have left in me, I slowly break the kiss, "oooh~" Lumine says in a teasing manner, "is someone flustered?" I shudder, my blush becoming more and more obvious. "NO" I put my mask on and crossing my arms, "pfff..." I feel a pair of arms snake around my waist, pulling me closer, I could feel the warmth radiating from her body. "Xiao look at me..." she says softly, I exhale and remove my mask, my pupils dilate... still unable to look her in the eye. Her eyes are like an abyss of dreams and love, once I look into them, I'll never be able to get out, it puts me in a... trance, almost. Lumine's fingers gently trace my jawline, her thumbs caressing my cheeks, I lean into her hand, a sense of security washes over me. "Cute..." she says in a voice that was barely audible, "heh..." I chuckle softly, giving her a gentle smile. I suddenly remember why I checked on her, "you called my name... what did you need?" she raises an eyebrow in confusion, "I did? Well, I was going to go on a trip to Mingyun Village to explore the caves, want to come along?" I nod, "Mm..."

Lumine jumps into my arms, her legs wrap around my waist, her arms draped over my shoulders, "hold still..." I say as I focus on teleporting, my feet touch the moist soil outside a cave in Mingyun Village. I gently place her on the ground, "ah this is it! I heard there were excellent noctilucous jades here" she takes my hand and walks further into the cave. The cave was an ancient one, it's an iconic one to Liyue's history as it tells a story of 3 miners, "Lumine... this cave holds a special place in history, do you want to hear the story?" I squeeze her hand gently, "Mm? Oh, okay!" she sits down on a nearby rock, I sit beside her. "600 years ago... there were three very successful miners, Li Deng, Lin Jun, and  Ming... they were the best of friends, they had an unbreakable bond, the three would go into this cave everyday and come out with rich treasures, precious rocks and minerals worth a fortune both in their time and our time. People were astonished, this cave was visited by miners all the time, the only ones that manage to extract something of worthy value was the trio, 'how is this possible?' the other miners of Liyue pestered the trio to teach them their ways, but the trio would always say in unison, 'the ones who are brave enough to face the unknown will always uncover a gem'. A young boy called Little Zhang was captivated by what the miners said, so he creeps out of the house in the dead of the night with his father's pick and goes into the cave with a torch, he ventures deeper and deeper... until he has reached the dead end. Little Zhang sets his torch down on the ground, raises the pick above his head and plunges it straight into the wall, again and again, until a faint glow shone from the dark walls, his eyes widened in delight as he dug out the mysterious rock, with one last swing the shiny blue chunk falls to the ground. He picks it up, heaving... it was heavy, it was large, it was the size of a small boulder. Little Zhang carries the pick, torch, and rock back to the house. The next morning, he wakes up earlier than usual, carrying the rock into his parents room while shouting 'Mum, Dad! Look what I found!', his Dad scolded him for going into such a dangerous area at night and stealing his equipment but also praised him for his finds, his mother simply hugged him worriedly. The rock was soon identified as noctilucous jade, it was the biggest and heaviest in history, and it still holds the record today, Little Zhang was recognised as a miracle, people would clap whenever he is seen in public, children would always invite him to play, he still continues to inspire many many others to take a risk...however, one day the noctilucous jade was stolen, Little Zhang spent his life mining and looking for his stolen treasure, but it still hasn't been found today..."  Lumine looks at me with wide eyes, "Oh wow... he's really brave!" I nod in response. "Lets head further?" I ask, Lumine hooks her arm through mine as we go in deeper into the cave.

The cave wasn't like how it was in the past, it was now rich in noctilucous jades of all different sizes, the walls have also broken down over the years, several holes were made on the roof of the cave, the light spills in, creating a peaceful abode. "Hey look at this!" Lumine points at a pile of boulders, grouped together in a corner, "doesn't it just make you want to see what's under or behind it?" she says with a hint of curiosity, "I guess?" I wasn't sure how to respond. I watch her push the rocks apart, revealing a deep-looking hole, "... lets have a look" I carry Lumine in my arms and safely teleport us to the bottom of the hole. The sound of water echoes throughout, I focus on my vision, the vision glows brighter and brighter... "hey um, you can stop wasting your energy" Lumine says as she pulls out her Lumenstone Adjuvant, "Oh..." I say looking at her gadget. The Lumenstone Adjuvant lights up the entire cave, revealing the sharp jagged rocks and leftover debris from centuries ago, there was a dug out passage just up ahead, I hold Lumine close to me as we go in further, the passage leads us to a room with lots of jagged rocks surrounding the centre, in the centre of the room was the boulder-sized noctilucous jade, Lumine's eyes widen, "isn't that... Little Zhang's..." I nod solemnly, "we need to bring it to Mor- Zhongli, he'll know what to do with it" I walk forward, gliding my hands over the jade, it had a firm and cold texture. I try to pick the jade up, it wouldn't budge, I tried again, it was as if it was fused to the ground. I attempt one last time with the help of my anemo powers, *crack* the jade comes clean off the ground, "got it" I say, a few seconds later, the cave begins to shake and rocks fall from above. Dust clouded the room, amidst the chaos, I see Lumine coughing and dodging falling rocks, I tuck the jade under my arms and grab onto Lumine's waist with my other arm, teleporting us out of the cave. I gently caress her cheeks, wiping the dust off her face, "a-are you alright?" I search her face worriedly, "I'm fine..." she gives me a small smile. "Do you have enough energy to give this to Zhongli?" I ask, she nods her head. 

The two of us make our way to Wangshu Inn, "good afternoon Hu Tao!" Lumine says while giving her a little wave, "Oya? If it isn't the Traveller and her ~boyfriend~..." she says giving me a smug grin, I ignore the comment, "do you know where Zhongli is?" she notices the jade under my arm, "oh you mean gramps? He's in his room..." Hu Tao shrugs and skips off to scare a potential client. I gently knock on the door, "come in" a deep voice replies, "Rex Lapis..." I kneel down, "fufu~ no formalities needed Xiao, and isn't that Little Zhang's lost jade?" he says, I quickly get up and hand him the jade, "yes we found it in a hidden underground cave in Mingyun Village" Zhongli takes the jade, inspecting it carefully. "It would be far too greedy of us to exchange this for mora, so why don't we pay a visit to Little Zhang's grave? This does belong to him after all" Zhongli declares after some thought, Lumine and I nod in agreement. Moments later, the three of us arrive at a small gravestone under a cuihua tree near an old cottage in Mingyun Village, Zhongli places the jade beside the small gravestone, then summons a geo cage to protect it from thieves, the three of us link hands, I squeeze both Lumine and Zhongli's hand tightly, the three of us bow to the gravestone, we bow three times to show an appropriate amount of respect. "Should we say that iconic quote that inspired Little Zhang too?" Lumine asks, "what an excellent idea". The three of us say in unison, "the ones who are brave enough to face the unknown will always uncover a gem", a wave of joy and hope washes over the three of us, "did you all feel that? That surge of joy... and hope?" I ask, they both nod, "it seems Little Zhang is very thankful to have his treasure back" Zhongli says looking up at the beautiful Liyue skies, watching the finches flutter and dance in the air, a soft smile spreads across my face. I pull Lumine close to me, caressing her shoulder gently with my thumb, "I love you" I say softly in her ear, a small giggle was heard, "I love you too Xiao... always~"