Through Thick and Thin- Diluc x (female) Reader

Chapter 62: Sincerely

I looked over to the door as it creaked open, and I nearly jumped out of the bed with joy. "Diluc!"
"Y/n, how do you feel?" Diluc asked, walking over and sitting at the foot of the bed. "Amber said that you wanted me to come see you, so I had Charles cover for tonight."
I glanced out the window, the remaining daylight slipping in through the blinds. The sky was orange, and night was going to fall within a few minutes.
"I feel better, now that you're here," I said, smiling at him. Although, he only tilted his head and looked to me with concern.
"Did something happen?" He said, sounding worried.
"No, I..." I stopped, sighing. What was the point in keeping it from him? "It's going to sound dumb, but... I just had a really nerve wracking dream. But it felt so real."
"What happened?" He asked, moving a little closer. He took my hand in his, running his thumb over my fingers in comfort.
I looked up to him, and felt a tear forming in the corner of my eye. I pushed it back, sighing. "It's really stupid. It is... it was back on the Jade Chamber," I began, and his eyes immediately showed understanding. "And it was right before the platform broke. And it was going the way it was supposed too, but I didn't save you."
"Y/n..." he said, squeezing my hand a little.
"And I know it's not right for me to disturb your work, but..." I said, feeling guilty about him taking time off. "It just felt too real."
He brought his other hand to my face, wiping the tear that I had been trying to suppress. "That isn't unreasonable."
I looked back up to him. He smiled at me, his red eyes peering into my eye. "It wasn't unreasonable for you to want me to come see you, and it wasn't unreasonable for you to have such a dream," he said, lightly brushing my cheek. "It was already a miracle that what happened in Wolvndom didn't scar you. A nightmare is best case scenario for you, looking back at what happened."
"You don't think... it's ridiculous?" I said, raising an ear.
He shook his head. "No, no. Not at all, y/n."
I wrapped my arms around him, embracing him. Diluc was a surprised for a moment, but his arms came to rest around me. Carefully, he hugged me gently, mindful of my injuries. "Why would I? You think I haven't had thoughts and dreams like that?"
I perked my ear, my head resting underneath his chin. "You... have?"
He reached his hand over, wiping my remaining tears. "I do. I often think about that night, in Wolvndom," Diluc ran his fingers through my hair. He sighed as he did so. "That night, after we got back to Mondstadt, I had a nightmare of my own when I slept in the cathedral. I had one in Liyue, too."
Liyue... I remembered the day we had arrived, and I returned from Bubu pharmacy to see him sleeping. He was restless, his breathing labored. I thought it was just because he was sick, but... was he having a nightmare?
I was silent for a moment, thinking it over. He suffered that night too, more than just physically. "Can... I ask what happened in them? The nightmares?"
Diluc hugged me a little closer. "Well... they were both the same dream. The same events occurred that night. The crossbow fired, only it didn't hit me."
I looked up to him, and his eyes peered down at me. Diluc looked hurt, pained.
"It hit you, but I couldn't do a single thing," he said, smiling even though his gaze expressed a whole different emotion. "I already have a vision, and I'm useless if it comes to first aid. I felt truly helpless, y/n."
"Diluc..." I said, sighing sadly. I looked down again, not sure what to say. Then, I felt a droplet on my face. I looked up to him again, my stomach dropping.
"You mean the world to me," Diluc said, smiling sadly as he shed a tear. "I don't know what I would have done if I woke up and that dream was real."
"I..." I said, at a loss for words. "Do you know why I was willing to trade my life for yours?"
Diluc stopped, gazing at me as the tear traveled down his face.
"Because I couldn't live with myself if I hadn't, Diluc," I said, brushing my hand against his cheek and wiping the tear away. "You and I have the same fears, don't we?"
"I never want to lose you," Diluc said, grabbing my hand and holding it closer to his face. "I love you more than life itself."

Not long after that, Barbara arrived to change my bandages. That feeling of melancholy and grief had died down, at least somewhat, after my visit with Diluc.
"Y/n... I'll come back in the morning, I promise," he said, holding my hand right before leaving the room. "Goodnight, dear."
I smiled at him one more time before he left, and then turned my attention to Barbara who was standing to the side.
"O-oh... I should start changing the bandage now," she said, fumbling with her supplies as she set the bag down. "How are you doing?"
"I'm feeling a bit better, now that Diluc came to see me," I said, a weight off my shoulders. I sighed as I thought about him calling me dear, which made me melt every time.
"Ah, I'm glad. Let's see how these look today," Barbara said as he held my arm out to her, and she unwrapped it swiftly. "This looks alright."
I had already begun to see the progress in my recovery. The deep cuts across my arm had closed, instead replaced by scabs. I remembered the feeling of the wounds closing as Barbara healed them the previous night, and shivered a little.
"At least it looks better," I noted, holding out my other arm.
"It looks much better. Better than I expected it too," she said.
Barbara unwrapped the other arm, revealing the same show of progress. "No issues here, Barbara said, setting aside the older bandages.
After cleaning them, applying the jelly, and rewrapping my arms, Barbara reached for a new roll of bandages. "How are your legs feeling?"
"Hm... alright," I said, pulling them out from under the covers. "Still stinging, but hopefully I can lose the crutch soon. Stairs are a real pain."
"And theres quite a few stairs in Mondstadt," Barbara said, smiling a little. She unwrapped my legs, and the same progress could be noted.
Already, the deep scratches that raked across my legs were closed up somewhat. They weren't as deep, as the red scabs covered the wound. I winced a little as she cleaned it, the cold water stinging slightly.
"It's a good thing nothing got sprained or broken," Barbara said, running the cloth across my skin. "It seems as though you ended up scratched due to a rough or sharp surface, but you didn't experience any blunt force besides the back of your head."
"Yeah, it knocked me out cold," I said, remembering the painful sting of the injury. "And my eye happened after that. My friend said that I couldn't protect myself with my arms, since I blacked out."
"That would make sense," Barbara said, spreading the red jelly across my legs. "The scratch on your eye is reminiscent to those on your limbs."
She wrapped my legs, and then moved on to my eye bandage. "Let's see how this looks..."
"So?" I asked as Barbara discarded the dirty bandages.
"Hm, healing much cleaner than before," she said, turning to grab the water and cloth. "It seems that my healing is taking effect more quickly than I anticipated. That's good, it will make up for the time that your body stopped healing itself."
I nodded, remembering how my body hadn't closed the wounds up on their own. It seemed predictable at first for the bleeding to continue, at least for the deep wounds. When Barbara first came to clean my wounds I had gotten nervous as I saw that small scratches were still bleeding even thought it had been several days. Was I asleep for so long because of that?
"I'm going to heal you again tonight, so you may end up not needing the crutches tomorrow, depending on how you feel," Barbara continued, focusing carefully as she cleaned my eye. "If my healing works as quickly as it did last night, then you should be fine. Just ensure that someone is there to help you down stairs."
I nodded, smiling a little. "At least I might be able to go to the tavern for a bit."
"Yes, you could," she said, turning to grab the jelly. "But, like I said, be extra careful. You are especially vulnerable now."
"I understand," I said, and then my eyes fell to the papers Jean had left on my dresser. "Barbara, when you're done, will you grab me a pen, please?" And then I remembered that I wanted to write a letter for the friends I had made in Liyue. "And some paper, too, if you can."

Xingqiu, Chongyun, Xiangling, Hu Tao

Hey. I've never been good at writing letters, and I don't really know how to start one without it sounding awkward.
Anyways, I ended up getting in a bit of a scrape when Osial attacked. To make a long story short, I fell off the Jade Chamber. But hey, at least I lived to write this terrible letter!
I'm writing to make sure you all ended up okay. Is anyone injured? Diluc is fine, thankfully, but I did end up a bit more scrapped than I'd like to admit. I hope to tell you more in person, hopefully not too far in the future.
I did have some things I never got to ask you guys while I was in Liyue. Since I didn't get the chance, I thought I'd put them in this letter.

Xingqiu: Do you have any book suggestions? I want something fantastical, something not unlike Veras Melancholy. I just finished that book, and I really liked it. Do you know anything like that I could try?

Chongyun: I have the most questions about you, I think. Why do you like your noodles cold? Can I ask how you got your vision? I never really got to talk to you that much when I was in Liyue. Would you mind telling me more when I come to visit?

Xiangling: How do you make Jewlery soup? I remember having some when I wasn't feeling great. It helped me out a ton. Where did you learn your cooking skills? I hope you can spare a secret or two sometime, I'm not great at cooking.

Hu Tao: I know it's morbid, but I remember when you spoke of the idea of Rex Lapis dying, and then he actually did. It really shouldn't, but it makes me laugh when I'm feeling down. That's been happening a lot, lately. Also, will you please pass a message along to Zhongli for me?

Zhongli: I'm just writing to make sure you made it to Wangsheng in one piece. I hope you could work things out with the Millileth. As for the Fatui, will you do me a favor? Punch Childe really good if you see him. Not just for what happened at the Golden House. He cost me an eye, literally.

I hope I can visit you all again. Sincerely,
Y/n.