"You are so stupid to believe we will ever find this person of yours by keeping everything a secret. First, you don't know what they look like, and now, you won't even tell me their name?"
"Because I know that you wouldn't agree to go with me if I told you who he was!" Xiao couldn't tell what kind of face the woman was making, having her in front of him to lead the way. This whole thing is just absurd. Xiao was starting to question why he even agreed to this. "There's one more reason why you wanted to do this, does it?" The princess has gone silent after that, looking down on her feet as she walks. Xiao grabbed her by her shoulder and made her look at him, glancing hard at her, "Tell me."
"I wanted to... Escape the castle. And escape the responsibilities I'm supposed to do there, I'm just Hu tao, I don't know anything about the castles, I can't be the queen - and I do not want to get married to you, and I know you also don't want to. Meeting this person would be the only way to escape, so we can both be happy."
"I do not disagree with your idea, but do you really think we could escape? Wherever we go we will be found. Wherever we hide they will come to us. Because that's our fate. We will get married to each other... And have children... And-" the prince almost threw up by saying these words. Disgusting.
"No! I will never let that happen, Alatus. We will escape, together. And of course, we will get through this alive, both of us will be happy by the end of this."
Xiao almost slapped himself when he noticed that the corner of his lips was going upwards and started to form a smile, which the princess noticed. "Okay, don't smile now, you might fall in love with me." She winks, making the prince frown in disgust. "Let's go look for this person!" The worse thing is that this woman does not even know where that person is! What is this, some sort of guessing game? She said to travel the whole Teyvat, but what's the point of traveling it when you don't even know the appearance of the boy you're looking for? Such stupid lady. And she keeps insisting that fate will guide them towards this person.
But sadly, it did not. They've been traveling the whole Liyue, and Hu tao still shows no sign of giving up on finding this person. A whole week of eating Sunsettias and Apples that they can find in the streets, sometimes by the hilichurl and treasure hoarder's camp. Food and shelter weren't a problem for them. The problem is that the castle has grown suspicious of it. Cause man, it really has been a week of exploring every part and inch of Liyue. They've climbed every mountain, swam a big ass sea. And still nothing.
There's no doubt that in only a few more days, the castles will start to release some guards to go and look for them. "Let's not give up, okay? We promised each other."
"This is just ridiculous! We're not getting anywhere at all, tomorrow, or maybe in another day guards will be everywhere to come looking for us! If you're not going to tell me his name then I might as well just ditch!"
"Why do you care so much about guards?! You have your sword with you, fight them! And if you don't trust me with this, then go! Leave. This is all for your sake anyway-" the world did not even let the woman finish her rant when she slipped on the ground, making her fall, but suddenly - "You have the guts to tell me to leave when you can't even get a hold of your own feet. What would happen when I'm not with you?"
He had a grip on her waist, a very tight one, which stopped her from falling. She couldn't explain the sudden heat up she felt. It's like flowers were blooming inside of her, flowers, but moving... It's quite odd and weird, but it felt good. "Huh?" She says with a confused smile.
"You would be in great danger, idiot." Ah... So that's what it is. "What are you planning now?" Xiao asked, his grip on her waist loosening, and after that - he placed his arm on his hips. "Let's go to Inazuma!" What.
"Ain't no way. What the fuck are you on?! Is your head still okay? Is this a side effect of eating sunsettias for one whole week?"
"Hey! I'm still fine you know? I just believe that... The place where it's most unlikely gonna be, will be the place they will actually be on."
"I don't know but that sounded so stupid. Mondstadt is right here in front of us! One more step and we'll leave Liyue's borders, and now you want to go to Inazuma?!"
"What about it?! I know more information about him unlike you! You don't even know anything about him." The argument then stopped once they saw two sentinels from the castle wandering around, and Xiao cursed mentally, drawing out his sword just in case. "Hold my hand."
"Huh?"
"I said hold my hand are you deaf or what!" The girl hesitated for a bit, but gulped before holding it anyway. The prince pulled her, like so fucking fast that her bones could break. "Bro tryna pull my arm off or what?! That fucking hurts! I'll get you to jail, that physically hurts me and you didn't give me a warning at all! Were you planning to break my bones?!"
"Girl shut the fuck up guards from the castle were literally behind you, dumb bitch! Just tell me if you want to get caught and I'll happily give you to them."
"Stupid! If you handed me to them then you would've been forced to come with me too!"
Xiao only clicked his tongue as he dragged the girl with him, only to keep the both of them from getting caught. Ugh, the things he does for this forsaken woman. Hu tao just stares at their hands that were grasped together, staring at it as if there was nothing else in the world.
"We're at Mondstadt now. You have no choice, look for them here." He wouldn't miss the way the girl rolled his eyes at him, making him a little angry. "Look I'm here to help you because you said that only I can, stop complaining about it. I'm trying my best to be a helping hand. And it seems that we would stay hidden here in Mondstadt for a while because guards from Liyue are getting everywhere."
He dragged Hu tao once more. They're all scattered everywhere. Every mistake can lead to them being caught, they had to find Hu tao's person quickly.
"Ah... You saved our asses again."
-
They spent the rest of the day, of course, searching for this unknown person. But when the sun sets, they knew they had to find shelter. Hu tao came up with the idea to kill a hilichurl camp and steal their base, but Xiao disagrees with this - not because he didn't have the strength to kill a whole camp, but because he doesn't want to sleep in a stinky place where musty, and crusty hilichurls once slept on. Talk about being sensitive.
"Forget about your prince instincts! Learn how to survive in the wilderness."
"But Hu tao there are bugs on the ground!"
"Then don't sleep! Fuck you." The prince was left with no choice but to go follow her inside the hilichurl hut, also not forgetting to light up a fire for warmth. "Tell me more about Venti." They were sitting on the ground, it smelled so funky, it smelled so rotten. There were even some spoiled cabbages on the ground. Xiao had never thought he would ever sleep in such a place like this.
"Again?"
"We're friends now aren't we? I demand you to tell me something about Venti." Xiao sighs, I guess there was no denying that he had grown closer to this woman to the point that he didn't even feel uncomfortable talking about Venti to her anymore. "He's... My first love, my first kiss, my first dance. Heck, we even danced in the rain. He was so beautiful that I once accused him of being a woman, but despite the gentle face he had... He was dangerous. I could not forget how he stepped on that one treasure hoarder when he helped me with a mission I was assigned to do."
He was... Smiling. Hu tao realized how genuine the prince was while talking about Venti, he really love him.
"He had this voice that can calm down anyone even in the most difficult times. It's just so... beautiful." It really was a waste to just let the both of them end here. Hu tao had to find Venti, she'd do anything to make this lost heart happy once more. "And his aqua eyes... They're too warm, and they make me feel so lost whenever I stare at them"
"The way you describe him... You look so happy. You really love him."
"Of course," there was not a single hesitation to saying that, as he chuckled calmly. "Xiao, I want you to be happy." Xiao almost jumped when he heard her call him by the name he didn't allow her to ever say - though this time, there was no anger building up inside of him. "Once the time comes where you will be reunited with Venti, please, don't ever hesitate to fight against the castle. I'm on your side." There was a warm feeling that ignited in Xiao, he was thankful for Hu tao, he really was. Despite her being, stupid, and annoying, he was still thankful for the hope she had given to him.
There's a chance.
I'll meet you again, Venti.
And this time, I'm ready to protect you.
I will love you forever.
Because that's what we promised.
-
I'm actually quite sobbing 😧