𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 ♡ 𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐜 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

11

Walking down the forest of Sumeru, Y/N's mother pushes aside a large leaf in their path as the rain continues to pour down hard. She lets out a loud sigh of frustration and turns around to see if Y/N is behind her, whose small body was barely keeping up with her mother.

"Mother just how much longer until we-"

"Quiet!" She shouted as she continues on forward without helping Y/N through the mud, "I'm concentrating on finding an exit and you're making me annoyed with all the questions you're asking me every second."

"I'm sorry mother..."

'Annoying little brat... If only Gerhard didn't leave me with her...' The mother cursed in her head as she continues to walk forward.

She didn't wanted Y/N ever since her husband left her. It was already hard for her to get by and Y/N was a hinderance to her finance situation. The only way she could thought of getting rid of her was by leaving her in Sumeru's forest but even that was hard for her to do. The plan of leaving her here for the forest beasts was too cruel and Y/N had been nothing but good to her. But the thought of her rough life in Mondstadt driven her back to her plan and she stopped in her path as she turns around and kneel down in front of Y/N with a smile.

"Y/N sweetie..." She said as she cups Y/N's small face in her calloused hands, "You've been a good girl to mother. Can you be good and wait here for me while I find an umbrella for us? Stay underneath that tree right there and wait ok? No matter what, you just always stay there and wait ok?"

Y/N smiles innocently back at her mother, "Ok! I will!"

When she stood underneath the tree, she watches her mother runs off into the distance and waited with a smile for her return.

_______________________________

When the rain finally stopped, a forest ranger named Lina, walks down the wet ground of the forest as she and her comrades sets out to collect samples of mushrooms for the researcher back at the Akademiya.

Since it's almost nightfall and there'll be a lot of monsters around, she'll have to stick close to her group as they roam around trying to find any mushrooms poking out of the wet dirt underneath them.

As she continues to search, she finds one and plucks it out of the ground, "Gotcha!"

"HELP! HELP!"

She flinched at the cries of a little girl and quickly pulls out an arrow and brace herself for any danger, "Guys! I just heard someone crying for help!"

"Where?" Her partner Darren asked as she also pulls out her bow, "Everyone! Stick close together!"

They all rush towards the sound of the voice and they find Y/N huddling in a corner as a Rishboland tiger creeps up slowly towards her. Quickly, Darren shoots the tiger with an arrow, causing it to get frighten and run away. Omar runs up to Y/N, who was still crying and he took off his cloak to cover her with it, "It's ok sweetie. The beast is gone and you're safe with us. What's your name?"

Y/N stops crying and she looks up at Omar, "I'm Y/N."

"Y/N where's your parents? Why are you alone here all by yourself?"

"My mother told me to wait here for her so she can get an umbrella for us. I waited for so long but she never came back."

"Oh you poor thing! Your mother must've abandoned you here all alone." Lina said as she hugs Y/N.

Omar shook his head at Lina, "Don't say that Lina! You're going to make her sad and frighten her even more."

He picks Y/N up and holds her in his arms as he gives her a reassuring smile, "Let's bring you to somewhere safe Y/N. Sister Darren here will go look for your mother and me and sister Lina will keep you company until we find her ok?"

"Ok..."

____________________________________

The next week, Lina brought Y/N to the orphanage in Sumeru City and when they enter the building, Y/N looks up at Lina, "Sister Lina, why are we here?"

Lina kneels down to Y/N's level and she patted her head, "Y/N sweetie. Me and the other forest rangers can't find your mother. It's been a long time now so we have to bring you here. But don't feel too sad alright? Me and the others will continue to try and find her while you be good and wait here."

After talking to one of the workers there, Lina hugged Y/N before waving her goodbye.

For the next few years, Y/N would sit by the window and wait for news of her mother. Despite for how long it's been, she still had hope that her mother would come back and find her again.

However one day, young Alhaitham, who was around the age of 9 followed his grandmother to the orphanage to help her and finds Y/N, the lonely girl who would sit by the windowsill and stare out into the city waiting for something or someone. Curious about Y/N, Alhaitham approaches her and tapped her shoulder, "What are you looking at?"

Y/N flinched at his touch and turns to him, "Oh... I'm just waiting for my mom to come back."

"Really? How long have you been here then?"

"For almost 3 years now..."

"Well sorry to break it to you but I don't think she's coming back." Alhaitham said matter of factly to her, "In fact, it's probably why you're here."

Y/N's eye slowly gets teary and she bursted into tears right then and there. Alhaitham watches her as his grandmother ran up to him and pull him away by the arm, "Alhaitham! What did you do to that poor child to make her cry?"

"I didn't do anything. I just told her the truth and she got upset."

But if it wasn't for Alhaitham that day to fact check Y/N into reality, she would probably still waste away her life inside the orphanage, waiting in hopes for her mother to take her back to their home in Mondstadt.

Instead of waiting and wondering about her mother's whereabouts, she distracted her mind from that by reading the books in the orphanage library and taught herself how to read and write in Sumeru's language. Alhaitham, who would be at the orphanage to help his grandmother, would find Y/N in the library instead of the front desk staring out at a window. He approached her and ask about the book she's reading and even offered to join her which began their friendship.

Overtime, she developed an interest in plants and when she finally got permission to head out to explore the field near the city, she would collect small plants and bring them back to identify them and analyze their properties.

One day, while she was out collecting more plants, she came across an old man, wandering around the field collecting samples for his experiment. That was the day when she met her adopted father, Nazih, the Great Sage of the Amurta Darshan in the Akademiya.

The man was deeply impressed by Y/N knowledge on plants at her age and he starts to teach her about biology whenever he meets her at the field. Eventually, he would go to the orphanage to visit her and tutor her and Alhaitham when he had time. After a few months, Nazih took a liking towards Y/N and adopted her. Nazih loved Y/N as his own daughter and encouraged her love for knowledge on plants in hopes that she'll be able to accomplish great things in her study for Sumeru.

"Y/N, you will discover many great findings in the land of Teyvat. I can see that you possess the potential to become a great researcher one day and hopefully be better than me."

"Will that make you happy father?" Y/N asked him as she analyze the small blue mushroom under her microscope.

Nazih smiles and patted her head gently, "It'll make me the happiest and proudest father alive, Y/N."

Y/N smiles to herself as Nazih left the room for her to focus on her work. That day she made an oath to herself to completely devote her life to becoming Teyvat's most famous researcher.

Not just for her herself.

But for her father Nazih, the first person in her life to make her feel wanted and loved.