Ei: The archon doesn't know much about this day or its meaning, she's only seen it mentioned in some of the novels that Miko gave her from time to time.
This is the first time that she can share this day with someone special, but what could she do for him? Surely he already had something planned, he always does, but she still feels that its necessary to at least prepare a little gift or something for him.
So now we are here, in the kitchen of Aether's mansion in the teapot, the Raiden Shogun alongside her boyfriend traveling companion, Paimon, the woman and the fairy stood up in front of a metallic bowl and a few boxes of chocolate,
"Uhhhh Ei? Are you sure this is going to be okay?" Asked Paimon.
"Of course, with your help and with this book from... Xi-an-long?" Ei tried to look at the name once again, but she couldn't understand the name, must be form another nation.
"Its Xiangling! She is the best cook in all of Liyue!" Corrected the little fairy, Ei just nodded and proceeded to open the book, the two girls turned each page in search for something that they could easily do in a couple of hours, but most of the dishes where pretty complicated and needed more ingredients that they had at their disposal.
"What about this one?" Paimon pointed out a recipe, it was pretty small, it needed about three ingredients and the instructions seemed pretty easy, it definitely looked like something they could make.
"Perfect" Ei left the book on the counter and went to the fridge "We have milk... but I don't see any nuts... do you think we can replace it with something else?" Asked the archon.
"I don't know, the recipe doesn't say something about changing ingredients, but it should be fine! Aether always does it when we don't have something!" This was all Ei needed to hear, she quickly grabbed some grapes and some... green vegetables and quickly returned to the table.
"Alright! Lets get to work!" said an excited Paimon, the two of them got ready and began to prepare the gift for Aether.
*A couple of hours later*
It was almost night in Inazuma, but finally Aether could return to his home, he spent the whole day helping first Ayaka and then Miko with some of their requests... who involved eating a lot of chocolate for some reason and the latter couldn't stop trying to get closer to him, It was quite a strange day, especially for Valentine's Day, but luckily he had had time to buy a small gift for Ei, some special dangos that were cooked only this day.
The boy made his teapot appear in front of him and after rubbing it a bit, he closed his eyes, when he opened them again he was already in front of his home.
He slowly made his way towards the door, some of the lights were on so the boy guessed that Ei and Paimon were still at home, but the weird thing was that the lights were only on the kitchen... Ei always said that she didn't know how to cook while Paimon never did actually cook.
Upon entering the house, the boy quickly felt how the air was darker inside, as if a black cloud had entered the house, he tried to make his way towards the kitchen but was interrupted by Ei who quickly He quickly left the kitchen and stopped him right at the kitchen entrance.
"Aether! Welcome home" The archon said, but she was a little different than usual, usually she was very calm, but now she seemed nervous, her clothes were covered in brown spots and her apron had burn marks, her boyfriend quickly realized what was going on.
"Hello Ei... what happened in the kitchen?" A little drop of sweat run down the archon's face.
"Nothing, we were only talking with Paimon about something" The goddess tried to remain serious, but it was clear to anyone who knew Ei that she was trying to hide something.
"Ei" Aether brought his hand to Ei's and squeezed it gently "Did you try to cook?" The archon only nodded. "Did Paimon eat it and the passed out on the floor" She nodded again.
Ei continued to stare at the ground, her attempt to hide the mess she and Paimon had made failed miserably, she gently felt a hand on her cheek, as she looked forward she saw her boyfriend looking directly at her eyes.
"I'm not mad Ei, surely you wanted to surprise me for Valentine's Day, right?" She squeezed his hand in response. "And the two of you ended up making a mess?" The archon once again squeezed his hand "Its alright, just go take a shower while I clean this and prepare something for us to eat, then we can go watch the stars while we eat you present" For the first time, Ei noticed the little bag that was right next to the door.
"Are you sure you don't need my help?" Asked the archon.
"Don't worry, just take a shower and I'll have everything ready when you are done" Ei surprised Aether with a quick kiss on the cheek, then she made her way towards the stairs to go up to their room.
Meanwhile Aether stood there, watching his girlfriend climb up the stairs, there was something hypnotic of watching Ei climb the stairs. After the woman disappeared into the upper floor, he walked to the kitchen.
Inside it was a mess, smoke everywhere, chocolate in almost every surface, knives, and forks all over the counter and Paimon lying down on the floor with her face full of chocolate, the boy could only sigh as he grabbed a bucket.
Lisa: She already had everything prepared a month before the day arrived, even with all of her work she made time to prepare a special night for her and her cutie.
She sent him a letter a few days before so that the boy would return from Sumeru to visit her, after their meeting during her little vacation in the nation of wisdom, Lisa wanted to see her cutie again and what better opportunity than do it on Valentine's Day.
The librarian asked Jean for a day off to finish touching up the last details for her surprise, she took advantage of the fact that Aether would probably be finishing commissions all day before returning to Mondstadt, so she closed the library for the day and got to work.
*That night*
Aether had finally finished with all his commissions for the day, he hadn't been back to Mondstadt in a while so they had accumulated quite a bit, but thankfully he managed to finish them all in time.
After leaving Paimon at the teapot, Aether made his way towards the Knights of Favonius headquarters as Lisa's letter indicated, on the way he could see a lot of couples all over the place, some just hanging out, others eating and the rest buying gifts, this last thing the latter made Aether realize that he had no gift prepared for Lisa.
After thinking for a second, he decided to buy her some Cecilia flowers, he remembers form their first "date" that those were her favorite, he quickly bought some form Miss Flora and made his way towards the library.
Upon entering the building, the boy could see how it was quite empty, except for the light that came from Jean's office, there was no one else in the place, which was understandable since it was quite late and surely everyone had plans for the night.
He decided against paying Jean a visit, The Acting Grand Master probably had a lot of work and Lisa was still waiting for him, so he slowly made his way towards the library.
He quietly opened the door and closed it behind him, when he could finally look at the place, it was completely different, rose petals all over the floor, the candles gave a warm and homey atmosphere, but at the middle of the place, in top of the sofa, Lisa quietly looked at him.
Aether jaw fell down as he looked at her, she wasn't wearing her usual attire but the outfit she wore during her vacation in Sumeru.
"Hello cutie, why don't you come down here and you keep me company?" Without needing to be told twice, Aether quickly made his way downstairs as Lisa moved towards the bottom of the stairs "Happy Valentine's cutie" The woman wasted no time in clamming the boy's lips and gave him a sweet but passionate kiss.
"L-Lisa" tried to say Aether while catching his breath "This are for you" he gave her the bouquet of caecilians that he had bought a few minutes before, The librarian with a smile on her face received them, looked at them for a few seconds and thanked her before leaving them on the table beside them.
"Aren't you the sweetest? I think that my cutie deserves a little gift..." The woman grabbed the boy's hand and walked him towards the sofa, moving her hips as sensually as possible.
That was a Valentine to remember, luckily they closed the door, otherwise anyone who was in the building would have remembered it too.
Ayaka: Although she would love to be able to organize everything herself, she doesn't have the necessary experience to organize something that she considers perfect for both of them, and when it comes to Aether, she doesn't like to ask her brother or Thoma for help
So she and Aether just let themselves get carried away, they started the day together and did all kinds of activities, had lunch together, toured the entire Narukami Island, prayed at the Grand Narukami Shrine, they went to the beach together and she even recreated the dance she performed for him after they went to their first festival together.
At the end of the day, the two were back in the Kamisato Estate, They were both on the balcony of Ayaka's room, with her lying on his chest while he leaned against the wall, they watched the stars that illuminated the night in the land of eternity.
"Aether, Before you came to Inazuma, I thought it was impossible that one day I would find someone who would accept me as I am, everyone only saw me as the Shirasagi Himegimi" Ayaka put her hands on top of Aether's who rested on top of her stomach "But since you came into my life you changed it completely, you were my first friend, you taught me many new things, I was able to live new experiences together with you, and before long I couldn't help but to fall in love with you, And the day that you reciprocated my feelings was the happiest of my life, You are not only my hero and the savior of Inazuma, but you are also my special person, you are the person I want to spend the rest of my life with" For the first time since she started talking, Ayaka looked directly at Aether's eyes, her blue eyes meeting his golden ones "You are the person I want to spend my eternity with"
The girl brought her face closer to the adventurer's, delicately bringing her lips to his, uniting them in a soft and loving kiss, Aether quickly responded with the same delicacy as her, their fingers were still intertwined in Ayaka's lap.
After a few minutes the couple broke the kiss, leaning their foreheads against each other's.
"Thank you Aether, for making me the happiest girl in all of Teyvat" The couple shared a quick kiss, they continued to look at each other with with eyes full of love and affection.
"I should be thanking you Ayaka, not only for being the best partner I could have, you continue to support me even though my goal is almost impossible, you always listen to me when I need you and you even neglect some of your responsibilities to help me on my journey" Aether moved a little, leaving the girl on the cushions while he got up to look for something in the room.
When he returned, he brought a small bag with him "Happy Valentine's, Ayaka" The so-called princess looked at the bag in surprise, then at Aether, and then at the bag again.
"Aether! You didn't have to" Said Ayaka as her boyfriend rested the gift on her lap.
"But I wanted to" Aether smiled at his girlfriend who slowly began to open the gift, she began to take out the objects that were inside, first there were a couple of pictures of all of their travels together, there were even some that they took today! She didn't know how he did it, but he always managed to surprise her.
With a smile on her face, she continued to look at every single picture for a few minutes, remembering every single one of their outings and dates from all of the past few years, When she finished looking at all the photos, she looked at the bag again, at the bottom of it was a small rectangular package, She took it out of the bag and placed it on her lap, before proceeding to open it, she looked at Aether, who simply nodded at her indicating that it was okay to open it now. Ayaka carefully took out the little blue ribbon and put it inside the bag as to not to lose it, then she proceeded to open the little box.
Inside of it was a little fan, the same size as the one she used to wear, but this one had a light blue and gold design, the silhouettes of both could be distinguished along with some landscapes of Narukami Island.
"Aether... this is wonderful! Thank you so much" Ayaka stood up and hugged Aether who responded to the hug affectionately, the lovebirds stayed there for a few minutes until she was the first to separate.
"This reminds me, I also have something for you, please wait a second" Ayaka made her way inside the room and a few minutes later, she was out again but this time, holding a gold sword on her hands "Do you remember after the Warrior Spirit competition? I told you that you better take care of your sword, because if I manage to steal it one day your life will also be in my hands... I want you to take this sword now, it belonged to my family for generations and I was the first one with whom I began to train" She handed him the sword, Although it looked heavy, it was quite light and felt good in Aether's hands "And I'm going to take this one for myself" the Shirasagi Himegimi walked to the side of the balcony and grabbed Aether sword "Now, not only your life will be in my hands, but mine will be in yours as well"
Aether looked at Ayaka for a few seconds before she quickly moved towards her, bringing the two of them together again in a warm hug.
"Thank you Ayaka, I love it" The girl poked a finger into his chest
"I hope you continue to take care of me as you have been doing" Aether couldn't help but to let out a small laugh.
"I will, and you better take care of me as well" Ayaka smiled too, they continued to hold each other for a long time until it started to get pretty cold outside.
"Aether... would you like to spend the night with me?" The adventurer simply gave her a quick kiss and nodded, as soon as they finished kissing, Ayaka guided him towards her room to a night they will both remember for a long time.
Yae Miko: Valentine's Day with Guuji Yae... to everyone else that may sound wonderful, surely she would prepare the perfect day for her beloved and her with a beautiful dinner under the stars, the most delicious chocolate that a human can imagine.
That was not the case for Aether in his first Valentine's Day with Miko, It is not that she prepared something different from what he expected, but that she had not prepared anything at all.
Their relationship had started a few months ago but Miko had insisted that they sleep together so, according to her: "seeing you sleep is the most amusing thing",
Aether had no problem with that, though the kitsune's voluptuous body pressed against his made sleeping a bit more difficult than normal, but not that he was complaining.
Going back to Valentine's, is not that Aether expected something really special, maybe some store bought chocolates or a little gift from his new girlfriend, but when he gets up in the morning, he found nothing, not even Miko, the only thing there was a small note on the nightstand that was next to the bed, due to the type of writing and the fact that he was in their room, it was not very difficult to know who it was from, In it, she simply mentioned that she had to go to the shrine early and that she was waiting for him in the afternoon to help her clean the sakura tree.
Aether had no right to feel disappointed just as Miko had no obligation to give him anything, but the boy couldn't help but feel a little sad when he saw that she hadn't given him anything, but well, they did start dating a few months ago and surely they would have many more festivities to celebrate together in the future.
The day passed like any other, luckily for Aether there weren't many couples on the streets of Inazuma to remind him of what day it was, to his surprise, he ended up receiving gifts from people other than his girlfriend, as he passed through city in the morning on his way to the Adventurers Guild, Yoimiya ended up chasing him to give him a little small bag full of chocolates, she told him that she had prepared for all his friends and that she had saved one especially for him.
While he and Paimon had lunch at Uyuu restaurant an envoy from the Kamisato state appeared at the door, she addressed him and handed him a small blue and gold box with a ribbon, according to her it came from "Miss Kamisato" and that she wished him a happy Valentine's Day, that she would have loved to give it to him in person but due to her activities that was impossible but she hoped he would visit her soon.
Finally, a while before he headed to the Shrine, Kujou Sara rushed towards him, she asked him to accompany her to the Tenshukaku, that the Almighty Shogun wanted to speak with him as soon as possible.
The boy, thinking that something bad had happened, went at full speed towards the palace, but when he arrived he found Ei completely fine, she even was reading a novel on her throne, when the goddess noticed his presence she closed her book and walked to him with a little bag on her hand.
She gave him this small bag wishing him a happy Valentine's Day, she explained that she wanted to give him some homemade chocolates but after trying it a few days ago in the teapot (and failing miserably), she asked the Tenryou Commission to buy her the best chocolates in Inazuma.
The two talked for a while until Aether had to leave to help Miko, Ei's face of disappointment was quite clear, but Aether promised that very soon he would help her cook again, this seemed to make the archon happy, who smiled again before saying goodbye to the boy.
During the walk to the Shrine, the blond thought about leaving the chocolates in the teapot, but he would be late... and Miko hates it when he's late.
When he finally arrived, the boy noticed how the place was practically empty, there was no one at the entrance, not even the shrine maidens were walking around the place like usual, the only sound that was heard was the noise of the leaves moving with the wind.
Aether walked towards the shrine courtyard, Miko would probably be there right in front of the Sakura Tree. When he arrived at the courtyard, a little blanket was placed right on the middle of it, small boxes, and several bottles of sake on it, while the boy was still surprised a pair of arms wrapped around the boy's chest, he quickly felt the heat of another body right to his back.
"Look who finally decided to make his appearance" It was a voice that Aether could never mistake.
"Miko? What is all this?"
"Did you really think that me, Guuji Yae, would forget about Valentine's Day and disappoint my little one?" The kitsune moved just in front of Aether, her hand moving form his back and shoulder towards his chest in a very flirtatious way.
The two looked into each other's eyes, Aether was quite red while Miko had a mischievous smile on her face.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Aether. Now, why don't you let me take my gift" Miko licked her upper lip before launching into the attack, her lips colliding with the boy's in a passionate kiss, Aether was taken by surprise, but after a few seconds he managed to respond, moving his lips to the bottom of Miko's, his hands dropped all the packages to the ground and moved towards the Guuji's waist while hers where all over his hair.
The two kissed for a long time, Aether was the first to separate due to lack of air, Miko licked her lips, waiting for the opportunity to attack again, but with the edge of her eyes she could see the bags and boxes of chocolates on the floor, she quickly realized what they were, an aura of anger and jealousy could be felt right behind her.
The kitsune brought one of her hands to Aether's face and raised her slightly so that he was looking right into her eyes.
"My my, someone is quite popular... you little rascal, I think we should show everyone who you belong to, don't you think?" Aether could only swallow, he already knew that this night that was waiting for him was going to be very long.
Yun Jin: She doesn't usually have time during the nights because she practically always works at the Yun Han Opera, so the plans that the two had in mind were designed for them to do during the morning and noon.
The day started with Yun Jin visiting Aether very early in the teapot, she brought a small bouquet of flowers and a heart-shaped box of chocolates.
"Aether! Good morning and happy Valentine's Day"
"Yun Jin, happy Valentine's Day" The couple gave each other a little hug and kiss, the did just started dating a few months back and neither of them were really experienced with relationships so they decided to take it at their own pace, they even just shared their first kiss a couple of weeks ago.
When they finished kissing, Yun Jin insisted that Aether accepted the gifts despite the blond's embarrassment, he agreed on the condition that she would allow him to make her a cup of tea and something that they could share together for breakfast.
The couple spent the morning together, chatting, eating the chocolates that Yun Jin had brought and simply enjoying each other's company.
After a while, the two decided to spend the day in Liyue, visiting the different stalls and shops in the city, the two had lunch at Xianling's restaurant and of course the two had to share some Tianshu Meat and Cured Pork Dry Hotpot, this was due to Yun Jin's insistence, she didn't want those types of heavy foods to impact on her performance of tonight and would feel much better if she and Aether shared something.
As the night approached the couple realized that their time together was ending, soon she must return to the Heyu Tea House to prepare everything for her performance, today it was a sold-out crowd since couples all over Liyue will be attending.
The two walked slowly towards the place holding hands, trying to make the minutes last as long as possible, but finally, they arrived.
Aether squeezed her hand very softly, Yun Jin looked right at the boy's eyes, gold meeting red as the couple gazed at each other, after they stood there for about two minutes, the blonde slowly got closer to the singer and joined their lips together on a long but soft kiss.
"Thank you for a wonderful day, Yun Jin" A small laugh escaped form the singer.
"Thank you to you too, Aether" The girl she looked to the sides making sure no one was listening to their conversation, after she was sure that no one could hear them, she got closer to his ear and whispered "Wait for me tonight at your house, I want to do a show, but for you alone, an audience of one, what song would you like me to sing? The choice is all yours..."
The singer winked at the boy and ran to the stairs, leaving an embarrassed Aether that was most likely already thinking about his little personal show.
Eula: The couple chose to spend the whole day together at Aether's house, well, they didn't decide together but Eula did, she knows the way people talk about her and her family behind her back, it doesn't bother her, but if there is something that bothers her a lot its that people speak ill of Aether just because they see him with her, he says that it doesn't bother him in the slightest, that he is proud of being seen with her, but she will not tolerate anyone talking bad about him.
The day started with Aether getting up before Eula, this was not something very normal since the woman always had to go to work early in the morning, but to enjoy the day as much as possible she asked for the day off, because of that he decide to allow her to sleep a little longer.
While the boy finished preparing breakfast, Eula finally woke up and went down to the kitchen to join him.
"You didn't wake me up"
The Spindrift Knight walked towards the boy's position, taking a seat on the counter just a few meters behind him, without looking at her, he replied.
"Today is your day off, I wanted to let you sleep a while longer while I made breakfast, I was thinking about bring it to you in bed"
"Mhm, you should have waked me up, remember, vengeance will be m-" The knight was interrupted by a quick kiss on the lips that caught her out of nowhere, a big red blush could be seen on her face while Aether winked at her.
"Let's go to the table for breakfast and then you can continue with your revenge, okay?"
The blond continued walking towards the table with the dishes, leaving a completely red Eula in the kitchen.
*A little later*
After breakfast the couple went out to the teapot patio for a while, Eula insisted that as part of their long feud they should practice with their swords against each other, everything was, of course, part of her more than 20-year vengeance against him.
During the first months of Aether in Teyvat the two were very even, but with the passage of time and with the experience of the different battles that the boy fought against the Fatui Harbingers and with the Raiden Shogun it didn't take long for him to surpass Eula's level, It's not that she was bad, she was one of the best in Monstadt, but a human could never be compared to a goddess in strength or power.
The fight ended like most of the others, with Eula on the ground and Aether on top of her with his sword close to her throat.
"I win this time."
"Every time we fight, it seems that the odds are against me"
The boy got up and gave Eula his hand to help her up, she accepted it and with a little force the two were next to each other, both cleaning the dirt from their clothes with their hands.
"Every time you are getting better Eula"
"It's probably because we're training together every day, if I continue like this, I'll match you again and I can finally beat you again to complete my revenge"
"Of course, but I'm going to keep training hard too!"
"I would not expect anything less from my rival"
"Hehe, well! Let's go back and prepare lunch! I have the ingredients to make some Chilled Tomato"
Eula simply nodded and followed Aether towards the house, but she suddenly stood still, the boy didn't notice for about two or three steps before he turned around.
"Eula, is something wrong?"
The knight closed her eyes and walked towards the boy, as she got just in front of him, she pushed a little blue box into his chest.
"Happy Valentine's!"
Aether's face slowly turned red when he realized what this was about, he looked into Eula's eyes, but the words didn't come out of his mouth, meanwhile the light blue haired girl seemed quite happy with the boy's reaction, not realizing that she was also completely red, she shouted something about her revenge and ran towards the house, leaving and embarrassed Aether by himself.