We Meet Once More -- Sucrose x Albedo

Chapter 24

"I came back. Just like I promised."
He said through his flowing tears, no hiccups or sniffs disturbing him.

"Y-you kept me waiting..."
She whispered.

"I know... I'm sorry... that I didn't come sooner..."

That guilty sentence rang through her head. After months of waiting and her patience that nearly ran out as every day pass by, the wait for her was finally over. Thinking about how long she had waited for Albedo to return and now finding herself in his arms, she couldn't help but release a strong cry of happiness. 

SNIFF SNIFF

"H-hey, hey! Why are you crying?"
He asked in a panicked tone, letting go of the hug to look at her with his hands on her shoulders.

"I-I'm just... so happy!"

Albedo placed his warm hands on both of her cheeks, wiping the tears from her eyelids with his thumbs. Sucrose held both of his wrists, smiling.

"Stop crying, okay? They ruin your beautiful face."

"Speak for yourself! You're also crying!"
She laughed.

Albedo quickly released his soft grip on her cheeks, wiping his tears with haste.

"What tears?"
He asked, causing Sucrose to giggle.

Sucrose grabbed his hands again, rubbing them with her thumb while smiling. She then remembered something Noelle had told her before, and it brought her more tears than the joy she anticipated.

"The first thing I would do is cry while embracing them in my arms. To get that same old touch I once felt."

"I-I never thought... I would be this close to you... like before."
She sniffed in her pauses.

Albedo smiled before it faded away in an instant, remembering something moments ago.
After a while, they eventually calmed down from the crying as they sat on Sucrose's bed. Their eyes were still bloodshot red but that didn't matter to them.

"I still can't believe you're here. I-I mean... I thought you abandoned me!"

"I would never abandon you, Sucrose. I kept thinking about you every day, every hour, every minute, and every second that has passed by since I left."
He said, cupping her hand.
"You know... I thought you hated me so much after that misunderstanding that happened a long time ago. But ever since you wrote me that birthday letter for me, everything... changed. My perspective changed."

They looked at each other's subconscious loving gaze, staring at each other's colored eyes for a long time. There, they saw the familiar vision they once saw. It was all too much of a familiar feeling to not recognize it. It looked clearer to them this time. The last time they saw the unknown vision of their future, it was blurry and it began to fade away.

"You realized in that letter that I was never the one at fault, but him. Even though I did receive that letter, I was still so afraid to go back home. Because I thought that if I came back as a nobody, no one would notice me. Or even... remember me."

"Why would you say that?"
She said, cupping his cheeks.

"I wanted to come back with everyone's memories of me; vanished. Even you. Because then, I would watch you from the sidelines while I hid. That was what I thought before. Until I changed it and turned it into courage."

"Courage?"

"I built up the courage to come back and see you again. And no matter what, I will never leave you. Ever again. No matter if the people of Mondstadt talk behind my back or yours, no matter what people might say about us, or no matter how many times people try to separate the both of us — they will not stand in my way to be with you again."