The two ladies had been talking for quite a while when Ayaka dropped the idea of them sparring, just like they had many times in the past. Lumine had no reason to turn her down, both of them were fairly adept in the ways of the sword and had faced each other a multitude of times, it was almost a habit of theirs at that point.
This time, however, to add some excitement to the match, they wanted to add a prize for the winner or a 'punishment' for the defeated. Try as they might, they couldn't come up with anything good enough. Both of them would hand to the other the world in the blink of an eye if they could, so what are they supposed to do when the world isn't theirs to give? Well, they'd have to settle with something less.
The solution to this predicament that they decided upon was a rather silly one, it was more of a joke than an actual prize. It was the promise to meet up again in Ritou in two days; it could have been sooner, but as the Shirasagi Himegimi, Ayaka was burdened with a good amount of responsibilities that she couldn't ignore for the Traveler's sake, despite how much she wanted to. So, the defeated in their little spar would have to accompany the victor in Ritou, so no matter who won, they would meet again there; totally not an excuse for them to hang out again.
After the 'award' had been decided, the two stood up and got ahold of their swords, before they assumed their fighting stance at the area where Ayaka was practicing prior to their reunion.
Their little sparring didn't last long; after a few practiced dodges and perfectioned slashes, one of their swords hit the ground for the second time that day. As expected, Lumine was victorious once again. While the cryo vision holder was far above most when it came to swordsmanship, the Traveler was able to knock the sword off her hand quickly. She could have won much faster, but it had been a while since their last match, so she tried to make that moment last a little longer without making it obvious that she was holding back.
Saying that Ayaka hadn't been practicing all this time with the goal of reaching Lumine's level would be a lie. She deeply admired the Traveler and wanted them to be equals, but it seems like she needed a lot more practice to reach that goal. That doesn't mean that she was upset by losing, quite the opposite, she was glad the Traveler was still invincible as ever. That meant that she basically had her safety guaranteed, she was untouchable in Ayaka's eyes, just like the moon in the night sky. So alluring, yet so elusive at the same time. She wanted to get closer to her, but that only made her realise the distance between them. They were from two different worlds and whenever she wanted to take a step to close the gap between them, she only felt it grow larger, keeping her further and further away from the Traveler. She remembered then that she didn't even know the Traveler's name; that's how distant they were.
It didn't take long for Lumine to notice the sadness covering Ayaka's gaze and spoke up, worryingly. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?" She didn't look injured, but that wasn't enough to make her worry less about the silver-haired girl standing before her.
"No, I'm good, don't worry. I just was caught off guard." A pretty flimsy excuse, but it seemed to convince the blonde. "So, that means I'll accompany you in Ritou, right?"
"Yes, that's the price you have to pay for losing." Lumine made it sound as if it was a fate worse than death, when it was more akin to a gift for Ayaka, rather than a 'price'. Both winner and defeated were smiling brightly, a happiness they couldn't contain even if they tried radiating off of them. Their glee was washed away when the Traveler took notice of the position of the sun, it was starting to set and they had been together since morning. She had left her brother all alone for the whole day just because she loved Ayaka. She knew he would be fine, there was no doubt about that, but she thought it wasn't right of her to abandon him like that for hours on end either. She should go check up on him and see how he's fairing. "I'm sorry, but I should get going soon. Aether isn't very familiar with Inazuma and I've left him all alone." She informed Ayaka. While she didn't wish to leave yet, she would have to eventually and she feared that if she stayed for longer, she would completely forget about Aether and get lost in Ayaka's eyes.
"I see. You should go then, it is getting late afterall." A bitterness laced her tone as she spoke. At that moment she got an idea, but it would have to wait for another time.
With her sword back in its sheath, Lumine approaches Ayaka with open arms, hugging her as a goodbye. "I'll miss you a lot. But at least we'll meet in just two days." She said softly from the siver-haired girl's shoulder. "I'll miss you too. See you in two days then." Ayaka replied and squeezed the Traveler in her arms lightly, before letting her go.
"See you, Ayaka." Lumine, too withdrew from the embrace and headed for the exit. From there, she waved goodbye at the Shirasagi Himegimi once again and when she saw the Princess wave back, she finally left and teleported to the Realm Within to find her brother, who was already there.
The twins chatted for a bit, the conversation consisted mostly of Aether comparing Inazuma to the Inazuma of the past that he had once explored with Dainsleif. The former Abyss Prince sure was impressed by how much the nation had evolved.
Meanwhile, Ayaka went straight back into practicing her swordsmanship until the sun went down and she could barely see in front of her. Her mind wasn't as focused on the blade in her hand, however, because a certain good looking Traveler infected her mind like a disease. Even though she didn't manage to improve in the ways of the sword, she thought of a perfect gift to give the blonde. She thought she had to give her something, since the Traveler gave her a necklace. Lumine, obviously didn't buy the necklace thinking she would get something in return, so she was bound to be pleasantly surprised.
The time the two spent apart went by agonisingly slow for them even though it was merely two days. After Aether wished her good luck, she teleported from the Teapot straight to Ritou to wait for her beloved Princess. She arrived at the location they had arranged, next to a shop called Sailing Breeze, a bit earlier than the appointed time, just to make sure she wouldn't be late and make Ayaka wait for her. This little amount of alone time she got proved fruitful, as she had no idea what they would do, so she used that time to mull it over a bit.
Soon she managed to catch a glimpse of the lady that was plaguing that famous Traveler's thoughts and quickly fixed her dress to make sure she looked as good as she could before waving at Ayaka's direction.
The Shirasagi Himegimi was walking towards the blonde outlander gracefully with her hands behind her back in an effort to keep from the Traveler what she was holding. She couldn't wave back, it would surely look weird if she had only one hand behind her, it would be too obvious that she's hiding something and she didn't want to ruin the surprise, despite the fact she planned on revealing it herself soon enough. Therefore, she settled on quickening her pace to reach Lumine. "Hello, Traveler." She simply greeted now that she was standing before Lumine.
"Hi!" She also greeted and was about to go in for a hug when she realised that Ayaka seemed to be hiding something behind her back in her hands.
"Did I keep you waiting for long?" Ayaka asked, since she didn't have a watch on her, she wasn't aware of the exact time and worried about arriving late to their 'date'.
"No, not at all. I only got here a moment ago, actually." That was a little white lie from the blonde's part.
"Um, I got you something." The Princess announced as she brough the paper bag that she tried to hide in front of her before continuing. "It's not much, but I hope you'll like it."
"You really didn't have to... What is it?" Lumine asked with a dazzling smile and faint blush adorning her fair face as she got the paper bag from the sliver-haired lady's hand. The outlander attempted to 'accidentally' touch her hand, but thought it would look intentional and opted against it.
"I wanted to get you something, though." She copied the Traveler's response from when she had given her the necklace she still hadn't taken off. "Open it and you'll see." Was her answer.
The blonde untied the ribbon on the bag while trying to get a glimpse of what was in it unsuccessfully. With the decorative ribbon off, she opened the bag and pulled her present out of it. A fan much like the one Ayaka has, with intricate patterns all over it had the Traveler's jaw drop open. The fan in her hand looked rather expensive and just the thought of it matching with Ayaka's almost had her face flush red. She admired it from all sides, taking in its beauty as she spoke words of gratitude. "I'm at a loss for words... Thank you so much! I love it!" With that, Lumine jumped straight into Ayaka's arms, with the fan still clutched tightly in her hand. "I'm glad you liked it." Relief washed over the Shirasagi Himegimi as she was deathly afraid of the possibility of the Traveler disliking her present.
They both pulled away from their warm embrace as they were in a public space and didn't wish to catch everyone's attention. At that moment, Lumine noticed the necklace hanging from Ayaka's neck and while she didn't comment on it, she was thrilled to see she wearing it.
"Is there something specific you want to do?" The Princess finally brought up the topic of how they would spend their time.
"Not really, no. I was thinking we could get something to drink or eat and then walk near the sea if that's okay with you." A pretty simple suggestion, but considering how close the two were, they were bound to have a splendid time, no matter what they did.
"That's a wonderful idea. Let's get to it then." The soon-to-be couple then approached the nearby shop, arm in arm and ordered their drinks, two Rainbow Asters, one for each. The owner of the shop, Karpillia made the two drinks for the ladies and even gave them a little discount since the two customers were quite renowned.
Now with their delicious drinks in hand, they headed for the docks to take a stroll. With the calm sea on their left, the streets of Ritou on their right and a pleasant breeze all around them, the two walked peacefully, mentioning how the last couple of days had gone and commenting on the people they happened to pass by.
All of a sudden, the silver-haired girl asked a question the Traveler wasn't really expecting. "You haven't told me much about your world. What's it like there? Is it similar to this one?" That made Lumine realise that she had unintentionally kept a lot more from Ayaka than she thought. She wasn't used to talking about her home and was more than happy to listen to Ayaka talk, so it hadn't really crossed her mind that she probably seemed secretive and distrustful. Now that the opportunity had risen, she took it and described her old home in great detail to the curious Princess, who paid close attention and asked additional questions to comprehend what kind of place the Traveler came from. She was fascinated, to say the least. She wasn't aware that places like that could exist and she hadn't heard of the things the blonde was telling her ever before, not even in the most imaginative fantasy tales and light novels.
When Lumine was done with her thorough explanation of the place where she spent the first years of her life, it was getting late and the once pleasant breeze was turning cold and sent chills down their spines. They mutually decided they should start heading back, since it would take a while for them to reach the Kamisato Estate and they wanted to avoid arriving at their homes too late. So, still arm in arm, they started walking towards Ayaka's home, albeit rather slowly, since they silently agreed to prolong their date a little bit.
As the two were walking, they passed by a bulletin board in Ritou announcing several events that would take place during the upcoming Summer Festival and while Lumine didn't even notice it, the Shirasagi Himegimi did. The thought of going to the festival with the girl next to her immediately came to mind. She took some time to think about it more carefully and finally brought it up a bit later, after they had gotten out of Ritou.
"Do you remember the Summer Festival, Traveler?" The silver-haired girl turned her head towards her companion as she asked.
"Yes, of course. It's in a week or so, right?" Lumine was rather familiar with the celebrations in each nation of Teyvat for an outlander, due to the time she had spent in this world.
"Mhm! Do you plan on going?" It would be very unfortunate if the Traveler had already made plans for that day, but it seemed as if lady luck was on the Princess' side that day.
"Not yet, no. What about you?" The blonde returned the question, hoping that Ayaka would be free that day as well.
"I haven't made any plans either." She replied and proceeded to ask what she had been meaning to ask from the start. "How about we go together?"
"Why not? I'd love to!" The Traveler responded instantly with an excited tone lacing her words, as if she had been waiting for that question for all of her life.
The two ladies continued discussing about both the upcoming festival and many other things that were on their minds. At some point, Ayaka even brought up the idea of Lumine attending the festival in a kimono, something the alluring outlander had never worn before, but she decided to do so, just for the silver-haired lady's sake. During the remainder of their walk the conversation stayed on the topic of the kimono that the Traveler would wear and they arranged to meet up again the following day to pick the garment together.
Before they knew it, the grand Kamisato Estate was ahead of them. "We're here." Said the Princess as she unlinked their arms.
"Yea.. So, see you tomorrow?" Lumine tried not to show how eager she was to prolong the conversation and meet again, but she wasn't that successful at it.
"Mhm. Have a good night, Traveler." As she uttered those words, the Princess invaded the blonde's private space once again, this time however, instead of giving her a hug as per usual, she thought of something different and acted on impulse, thus pressing a quick, soft kiss on Lumine's cheek.
The almighty Traveler was, probably for the first time in her countless travels, frozen in place, flustered, while her heart was on the verge of jumping out of her chest and her face was a bright shade of red. Seeing her like that made Ayaka fully realise what she had done and ran off towards her home right after muttering a quiet apology that Lumine barely managed to catch. She stood there for a few moments with a hand covering her cheek as she watched her beloved Princess reach the Estate. When the Shirasagi Himegimi was out of her sight, the blonde teleported straight to the Realm Within to let her brother know of everything that transpired.
Simultaneously, a clearly embarrassed Ayaka passed by Ayato and Thoma, who were peacefully enjoying their alone time, without even looking at them or talking to them. She was too flabbergasted by her own actions to engage in a conversation, so she chose to spend some time by herself to recollect her thoughts. She feared that the Traveler didn't like her that way and worried about ruining their friendship.
In another room of the Kamisato Estate, the Commissioner and the housekeeper wondered about what could possibly have gotten Ayaka in that state. Their pondering, obviously, didn't last long, as they were both aware of Ayaka's feelings for the Traveler, so they quickly deduced that whatever it was, it had something to do with the alluring outlander. They shared a look that conveyed to the other their thoughts and began thinking of ways to assist the Commissioner's sister.
They managed to come up with a plan or two that they would perfect the following day, seeing as they were both tired and wanted to go sleep in their shared room already.