You remember the way that the lanterns had reflected upon Kunikuzushi's eyes at the last Lantern Rite.
Remember how they glistened like the stars.
Your very own galaxy.
And now, you stare back at him, but instead of the grandiose scenery of Liyue filled with lanterns leading you home, you are surrounded by the wreckage of the domain. Broken wallpaper littering the cut up tatami mats.
Vases broken, paintings torn off from the walls.
In the middle of the chaos stood Kunikuzushi.
Eyes glistening with tears, porcelain skin now littered with harsh bruises that match his hair.
He stares at you with eyes that look like they'll like glass, sobs escaping his lips with every breath.
"(Y/N)..."
He whispers your name for the first time, hand reaching out for you before his legs give out, prompting you to run to his side, arms wrapping around him as his arms automatically wrap around you as well, face buried onto your neck as he sobs louder.
"(Y/N)... d-don't abandon me... please..." He whispers against you, his grip on your clothes tightening as you pull him closer to you if that was possible.
You don't know what to do.
Your mouth feels quite dry as you continue to hold him.
It does not feel like it's enough.
Holding him like this while surrounded by the chaos and hurt that he's been marinating his sadness for who knows how long.
He needs to get away.
Get away from this domain.
From this island.
From this country.
"Kunikuzushi... hold on. I'll get you out of here." Keeping your eye on him, you materialise out of the broken room and onto a Liyue hill, a waterfall a few feet away from you with the sun just about to set.
Your personal abode.
Perhaps this will help with smoothing out the cracks in Kunikuzushi's heart...
Settling down on the grass, you pull him onto your lap as he continues to shake in your hold. You hold him tightly, a hand caressing his back as he mindlessly babbles against your skin, interrupted every few seconds by his hiccups as he tries to pull you impossibly close.
It takes hours.
Hours of sniffling.
Silence.
Tears.
It never stopped.
And though you may not understand it all quite well, you can feel it in his chest. Can feel it as his heart breaks as he presses against you.
His tears feel like venom as he tries and aggressively wipes them away with shaking hands.
His palms are filled with crescent maroons, blood barely seeping out from self-inflicted wounds.
Through those hours, you continue to hold him close, continue to caress his back and hair, whisper your words onto his ear, whisper so only he can hear.
Whisper so he knows you only mean them for him. No one else can ever come close to him.
You tell him of his worth. Remind him of who he is in your eyes and who he has always been.
His mother, how terribly hurtful his words had been towards her when he explained, did not deserve his tears for he is strong and precious and worth every single celestial blessing that may fall from the skies.
You utter such words in hopes that he would believe you.
You utter such words hoping that he would realise that perhaps there is more to the story than what he can feel in the moment but how terribly insensitive would you be if you told him now.
How ignorant would you be if you tried to 'defend' the electro archon.
For now, you wish to only offer yourself up to him as his support. As the person he calls out to in times of such tragedies.
Hours of crying renders him tired, inevitably falling asleep in your arms.
Carefully, you stand up, making your way to the side of the river, the waterfall's thundering water merely sounding like background noise as you begin to clean him up, a cloth in your hand as you wipe away the remaining tear stains on his cheeks.
With every wipe of the cloth, you wish to wipe away his anguish.
With every tear stain that disappears, you hope that a thorn in his heart is plucked.
"Kunikuzushi... the weakness that you speak of... I think that that is what makes you so strong. In a world full of pain, where so many choose to hide away from such emotions, you choose to embrace it... I wish to be like you someday. I wish to learn how to feel love like you do..."
Pushing his hair away, you press your lips against his forehead and hope to take away his pain and keep it for yourself.
