Trust-Scaralumi fanfic

Chapter twenty- Kabukimono puppet

    The next day, Lumine found Wanderer with his eyes closed, sitting alone outside in the freezing cold. She gasped, and quickly slid on a thick fur-coat on him. He didn't stir. She checked him for any signs of frostbite, but there weren't any. However, there was a faint tear stain on his cheek. She furrowed her brow.

    Wanderer was carried back inside the house by Lumine, and when his cold body was set down at the heart, he finally started to wake up.

    "Oh thank goodness-"  Lumine shot him a glare, "what were you thinking?! You could've died!"

    Wanderer gave her a confused expression, then sneered. "I don't die that easily like you do. Sheer cold doesn't affect me as much."

    Lumine gave him a concerned look.

    "Do you always make yourself suffer like that? Do you get some sort of sick pleasure from doing that?"

    Wanderer shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe."

    "Y-you!" Lumine started, but sighed, and let the topic go.

    Instead of continuing to speak, she just went into the kitchen, and after a few minutes, came out with a cup of hot water and a sandwich.

    Wanderer rolled his eyes, but accepted the food and drink. As the water slid down his throat, he felt it soothe some throat-aches, and made his stomach felt warm. The sandwich was also surprisingly good.

    Lumine hesitated, before speaking. "Yesterday, we were all so engrossed in the food that we forgot about the presents. How about we unwrap them today?"

    Wanderer shrugged. "Whatever is fine by me. Just get Kusanali and Paimon's approval."

    Paimon immediately floated in at the mention of presents. Nahida gingerly walked over, and smiled.

    "I see we're brewing up a nice conversation, hm?" Nahida said, giving Lumine a small wink.

    Lumine nodded earnestly, and said;

    "Presents time?"

    "PRESENTS TIME!!!" Paimon shouted in agreement.

    They arranged all of their presents in order, and each of them had a box. Paimon started tearing the wrapping paper off first.

    "Ah! It's a mini-Paimon!" Paimon laughed at the small Paimon statue. "Lumine hand-crafted..."

    Paimon looked up at Lumine, surprised.

    "You carved this yourself?! And painted it too?"

    Lumine laughed at her expression, and nodded. Next, Lumine carefully tore off the festive wrapper on her box. There were two things inside, a box of chocolates and another box. She knew who the chocolate was from (obviously Paimon), and slid open the other box. Inside was a ring, with the letter L engraved onto the silver.

    "I...got it for you because...it sends a little shockwave when the other rings's owner is in danger. I have one too, see?" Wanderer showed her his hand, which had a gold ring on his middle finger. 

    Lumine smiled at him, grateful for the gift. She slid the ring onto her ring finger.

    Nahida opened her gift next, and it was a little knowledge capsule. Her eyes instantly lit up.

    "Woah! Lumine, this is..."

    "This was our experience in Liyue in full color. At least, I hope so." Lumine said proudly.

    "Thank you!" Nahida hugged Lumine."

    Finally, Wanderer. He tore the box open, and saw a little puppet sitting at the bottom of all the wrap. With shaky hands, he gently picked it up.

    "Who...how did you..." Wanderer's voice shook, his eyes wide as he examined the doll.

    Lumine smiled at him sadly. "I...I went to Tartarasuna without telling you, just to retrieve it." 

    "But...Tartarasuna is all the way in Inazuma! That's so far away!"

    "I know. So I'm hoping that you like the doll. I searched all over, until I found your abandoned home."

    Wanderer stared down at the doll's little face, and its burnt edges. Little flakes of it was coming apart in his hands. The more he looked at it, the more he remembered the past.

    As much as he loved this doll, he suddenly got angry.

    "Why would you give this to me? I thought you were supposed to help me let go, not recall!" Wanderer tossed the doll at the wall, and stormed off.

    Lumine's eyes widened, and her eyes grew wet. She quickly scrambled to retrieve the doll, and furrowed her brow. She had thought that this would make him happy, seeing a piece of him retrived. But apparently not. She heard the front door slam, and quickly held the doll to her chest as she followed Wanderer.

    The snow outside was still falling steadily, just not as harsh or as much as the previous night(s). However, it was still thick enough to lose sight of something or someone very quickly. 

    As she looked around, lost in the flurry whiteness, she could make out an indistinct shadow not too far ahead of her. She ran after the shadow, praying that it's Wanderer.

    As soon as she reached the shadow, however, it had vanished. Maybe she was hallucinating, she wasn't too sure.

    She felt herself call Wanderer's name, but heard no responses. She looked around for street lights, but then cursed at her own stupidity. It was daytime, of course they wouldn't turn on the lights! 

    She wandered around aimlessly, and felt as if she was running around in circles. She still held the puppet close to her, though, and pulled it apart when she felt a little wet. A small tear was rolling down the puppet's cloth face, and she felt herself tearing up too.

    "Wanderer! Wanderer!" She called, spinning around, looking for him. The snow around her grew faster and more violent, covering up all of her hopes of finding Wanderer.

    "Wanderer..." She whispered, lowering herself to the ground. She sat down on the soft, powdery snow, her back leaning against a wall. More and more snow was being piled on top of her by the minute. But she didn't move, and let the numbness consume her as she fell into slumber.

    As soon as her eyelids dropped, the air around them froze. The snow hung around in the air, and suddenly, the snow that hasn't touched the ground yet vanished, revealing a cloudy sky above them. 

    Her fingers loosened around the puppet, letting it roll onto the ground next to her.

    "You idiot. You shouldn't have followed me." A soft voice murmured. It could just be in her head, but she hoped not.

    When Lumine didn't make a response, a coziness suddenly engulfed her, and she felt herself slowly warm up.

    "Did you see?! It was like the snow disappeared! Just like that!" A voice shouted.

    "This is perfect for business! People'll be desperate for more grain after that snowstorm!" Another spoke.

    "Can't you see, this is the time to prepare firewood for more snow!" Yet another voice sounded.

    Lumine felt like she was walking through seas of voices, but her legs weren't moving. Her body wasn't responding at all. Somehow, she could still feel the puppet lying still next to her.

    After a long time, she finally opened her eyes. The puppet was lying on her stomach now, and she felt something that was warm was wrapped around her.

    "Wake up, fool."