Thank You, Traveler (Aether × Xiao Oneshot Angst AU)

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Abruptly, a yell of his name, although it was near, it felt quite distant to him. It forces him out of his mind, blankly staring at the ground. Realizing the familiarity of the voice, he lifts his head weakly. The pain had depleted all his strength, as proven by the hint of exhaustion in his eyes. One might presume that he is dead, if not for his adeptal energy constantly trying to keep his consciousness intact. As he felt a gentle, yet warm hand cupping his face up, his body felt numb, barely feeling anything around him.

The blond figure with a blurred face who had just entered his area of sight was constantly murmuring words but failed to grasp their meaning, as he was more focused on the pain. Though residing, he can still tell it's still there, sucking his life force out of him. The constant whispers in his head, telling him to give in annoy him greatly.

"Xiao... Can you hear me?"

"Please answer me. You were in a daze, and your eyes were wandering elsewhere."

"Please, Xiao..."

His trance snaps as he heard the soft yet trembling voice, laced with panic as he tries to change his position, laying him down while placing his head on top of his lap. He pats his head gently to soothe him down, seeing the amount of suffering he must've gone through. Xiao's body was cold and although the mist did manage to make him hesitant, he stubbornly proceeds no matter how many warnings were given to him in the past.

It was weird. He arrived at the Wangshu Inn with Paimon and he felt a tingling sensation on his spine, hinting that something was wrong. He tried calling Xiao's name, but he did not appear nor respond to him. With a sense of urgency, he left Paimon with Verr Goldet and began his search to look for him. Knowing which area he would usually patrol, he strided along the area, keeping an eye out for any signs of his presence. That is how he came to found that apparently Xiao is pinned to the ground, struggling to caught his breath. Feeling his powers and presence slowly dissipating, he knew right away he's in danger.

"T-traveller...."

He could see tears started welling up near the poor shocked traveller's eyes, his body shaking in fear of losing him. Oh how much he would like to lift his hand to wipe it off, telling him it's alright. Though, his words will be in vain with one sight of his current condition.

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise this time..."

He knew. He knew his time is coming.

"Don't...don't say like you're going to die, Xiao."

He hates it. The traveller hates it. He hates it when someone is still apologizing although they're right there, dying in front of him.

"Traveller, my time has come. There's nothing you can do about it."

That's true. Even if he survives his succumbing karmic debt, he will still ended up stranded and corrupted, like how his comrade used to be. Yes, it would be better to be dead. But atleast in his life, he could grasp the true essence of life and the one thing he found a nuisance before, an emotion, called love. He didn't realize it at first, but as he encountered him multiple times before and from the advices from Rex Lapis himself, he came to the fact that he should embraced it, and was actually planning to confess to him today. Well, unfortunately, the grim reaper decided to reap his life first. To him, love is such a delicate and pure emotion and he actually was relieved to acknowledged it. Knowing he can't be with him forever, he atleast should appreciate this newfounded emotion too.

Feeling the teardrops on his face and the sobbings from the traveller himself, he couldn't help but felt his heart ache. He weakly grasps his hand, which was not on his head, trying to calm him down. He struggles to open his mouth, gaping and closing his mouth like a fish, trying to force his voice out. Finally, he muttered:

"Thank you, traveller."

"F-for...sniff...what?"

"Thank you for opening my eyes to see another brighter view of life. Thank you for being here, and thank you...."

"For making me felt the emotion, love.."

As he finished his words, his eyes went blank and he stopped breathing. His body turned icy cold, not moving an inch. His hands lets go of the traveller's hand and falls to the ground.

"No no no no no no! Xiao, no... Please wake up..."

Realizing that he's gone now, he starts to sobs uncontrollably, embracing his stone-cold body into his chest tightly. Little did Xiao knows, he was also in love, and had been wanting to tell him too. Now, all his dreams and hopes to stay with him shatters as the harsh reality pierce his heart like a sharp dagger stabbed into his chest.

And that is how the story of the sole survivor of the Yakshas ended.

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Hiii! Thanks for reaching till the end! I never thought someone would read this oneshot mostly to suffer (ㅎ.ㅎ ). I must say tht I'm quite satisfied with my work. I'm not sure if I'm going to write more as it takes my whole ass confidence to even publish this thing. Plus, I'm currently busy due to my ongoing exam and no ideas to preach right now. It's up to you all to vote since uh, I don't know the function voting you see. I'm actually an ao3 reader. And I purely wrote this for fun so I don't mind sharing the pain to you all! Although, I'm sorry if there's any plot holes, am tryna make him die as soon as possible.
I actually wanted to make a cafe au, but I donno how to describe clothes and I'm not fond with coffees either (though, I drinks them to get caffeineeee).
Actually, according to lore, almost no one knows the traveller's real/canon name and since the name that they currently know of is a self-insert one, I just replaced it with 'Traveller'. Well, that's all from me, byee ⸜( •⌄• )⸝
(Damn sacrificed my sleeping schedule for this but its worth it.)