"Lu Wen?" You lightly knocked on the old wooden door connecting to your best friend's room, careful not to be too loud as to wake your brother.

To your dismay, she answered almost immediately. Once again, she gave you that smile that could lift your spirits instantly. "Mornin' Y/N! How'd you guys sleep?"

To not arouse suspicion, you simply grinned back, "We slept fine, thank you Lu Wen."

"Course," she replied, as cheerful as ever, "How long are you planning to stay? Because if you're going to be here for a while, how about we-"

"Uhm, about that.." you began. Here it was, the moment you had to break your best friend's heart. You didn't want to do it, but you knew it was for her own good and safety, "I have to leave again."

Lu Wen just frowned, "Aw, that's a shame.. when will you be back from your trip? We can meet up afterwards!"

You shook your head, reluctantly keeping a smile on your face. Maybe you thought faking it would make the pain you felt go away. It didn't.

"No Lu Wen. I can't come back. Not for a while," you wrapped your arms around your body, as if you couldn't stomach the words coming out of your mouth.

"I.. don't understand-"

You continued, "I'm sure you know who Scaramouche is, right? Well, the Tsaritsa- er- the cryo archon.. knows about us and now she's sending people to take us into custody. Or worse.."

Lu Wen, as pale as a ghost, leaned against her doorway, as if she could faint at any second, "H-How could this happen..?"

"Some of Scaramouche's men ratted us out, and for the safety of you and Tobi, we have to leave.. or you'll get caught in this mess as well. I'd hate myself for the rest of my life if something happens to the two of you because of my reckless behavior.."

Not wanting to hurt your feelings, she straightened her body, changing her demeanor, "I.. understand. You're just doing what's best for Tobi and I," she smiled, though it was a smile full of sadness, "You're such a good sibling to him and one day, he'll be able to say it to you himself." She pulled herself together, clearing her throat which sounded a bit choked up, maybe she was holding back tears, "You'll probably want to say bye to him, huh?"

You nodded, to which you both walked down to Tobi's bedroom.

You gently knocked before letting yourself in, and as you predicted, he was asleep. Walking in, sitting at his bedside, you began to really miss him, though you hadn't even left yet.

Shaking him softly, you called out to him, "Tobi.. hey wake up sleepyhead."

The boy's eyes slowly opened, looking straight into yours. His eyes then lit up with happiness, "Y/N! Y/N! I had the most amazing dream! You were there! And mask man was there too! We lived in a pretty cabin by the water! Like a family..!"

The fact that he seemed so happy completely broke your heart.

"Tobi, I'll be leaving again, for a.. long time," you decided to get it over with, like ripping a bandaid.

He seemed confused, so you continued, "I'm going to a place with really pretty snow..! I wish I could take you, but I can't. But I promise to take you there someday!"

"Really??" He happily grinned.

You just nodded, "I love you so much Tobi. I hope you know that."

Tobi giggled, "I love you too Y/N!"

Immediately, you hugged him, enjoying the warm embrace of your little brother. You really were going to miss him.

Eventually, you had your things ready to leave, Scaramouche had been waiting just outside the city with Childe, who was going to help the two of you escape the region and make it to Snezhnaya.

"Lu Wen?"

"Yes, Y/N?" She turned to face you.

You averted your eyes, "If I don't make it back here.. please take care of Tobi for me.. I know it's a lot to ask, but he really loves you," you held back tears at this point, "And if it's too much for you to bare, just.. write a letter to my father. Tobi doesn't remember him, but he knows who Tobi is. He'll take him with a bit of convincing."

"D-Don't say that! You'll make it back alive! I know it! Tobi and I will be waiting right here when you return! And we'll go to Wanmin Restaurant, like the old days!" Lu Wen said, her eyes all misty.

You embraced your best friend, "Thanks for everything."

And like that, you set off for the outskirts of the city, being waved off by Lu Wen and Tobi at the door. You tried so hard not to look back at them, because you knew if you did, you would instantly break down. And you didn't want them to see you at your most vulnerable.

♢♢♢

The tall, ginger harbinger had snuck off from the rest of his troops to meet with Scaramouche. They were supposed to be discussing what the safest route was for Snezhnaya, but were constantly at each other's throats.

Instead of being productive, they were just bickering the whole time, like an old married couple.

You'd been standing behind a tree, secretly listening to them and giving yourself a good laugh. You had to admit, it was quite entertaining, plus it was nice to laugh for once.

Finally though, you'd had enough and decided to walk up to them.

"Oh, Y/N's back," Childe pointed out, causing the angry Scaramouche to turn around. As if he was a lost puppy, his eyes lit up when he saw you. It was very subtle, but he was definitely happy you were there. You found it cute how he pretended not to care though.

"It's about time," Scaramouche said, folding his arms, "Why does he have to help us anyway? We can do this perfectly fine on our own!"

You gently shook your head, "We need another person besides the two of us, someone who knows the Snezhnayan terrain better."

Just as he was opening his mouth to speak, he stopped himself. Maybe he realized that Childe did have more knowledge of the snowy landscape. He hated to admit it, but Childe was your best chance at avoiding all major Fatui routes.

Childe pitched in, "Hey, why do you guys want to go to Snezhnaya anyway? Isn't that the last place you want to be? I mean, you're being hunted by the Fatui-"

"We're trying to avoid Signora and any of her troops that may be looking for us. They currently know we're here in Liyue, so if we move quickly, and away from usual Fatui travel routes, we should bypass them," Scaramouche throughly explained, "For now at least."

Luckily, these weren't just normal Fatui diplomats. They were harbingers. They were your best bet at avoiding the Fatui's normal travel patterns.

You inched closer to Scaramouche, close enough to his ear so he could hear your light whisper, "So we're going to confront the Tsaritsa directly..?"

To which he responded with a simple nod. That alone sent chills down your spine. You'd have to stand in front of the cryo archon herself, vulnerable, and confessing to committing a serious crime amongst the Fatui. Great, that's exactly how you wanted to spend your last moments.

"Hold on hold on," you began and scowled at Scaramouche, getting the attention of both your boyfriend and Childe. You'd had enough of this, "Can you make up your mind already?! Are you quitting the Fatui? Are you just going to run? Are we confronting the Tsaritsa directly, or are you just going to leave it alone? And are we going to Snezhnaya or not?? Your indecisiveness is what got us into this mess in the first place, now will you PLEASE make up your mind and come up with a solid plan of action?!"

The two fell completely silent. After your sudden outburst, neither of them wanted to speak.

Scaramouche had never seen you yell at him in that way before. But to be honest, he agreed with you. He knew his mind was all jumbled up. He said he would do one thing, but then he does another. He was constantly contradicting himself and he couldn't stop it. Maybe it was because he was still so uncertain of the feeling of love, that it was messing with his ability to think straight.

Childe quickly looked at you, then back to Scaramouche, repeating that motion a few times. As much as he enjoyed seeing Scaramouche get scolded by someone other than Her Majesty Tsaritsa, Childe was genuinely worried. Was it for your safety, or for Scaramouche's? He didn't know.

Scaramouche took a deep breath, resting his body on a nearby rock, "You're right. I don't know what's come over me."

"..huh..??" Childe grew highly confused. Did Scaramouche just admit to weakness? And after being so outwardly yelled at? And by a simple adventurer, no less. Though, he couldn't help but smile. He could tell what a positive impact you had on his colleague.

Childe cleared his throat, hoping that by joining in the conversation he wasn't overstepping any dangerous boundaries, "If I may.. I think it would be wise if you avoided Snezhnaya. If you really do want to leave the Fatui, it would be in your best interest to quit over a letter. Quitting in person is far too dangerous, even for you."

You nodded, "He has a point. Maybe we really should just run away. It would be the easiest."

"And live in hiding forever? The Fatui would find us eventually, it's just a matter of time." Scaramouche added, he looked as if he had a really bad headache, which he probably did. He hadn't been able to just take a breather and relax in a long while.

Sighing, you folded your arms, "What are we going to do then..?"

All of this really made you wish you were back at home, living out your simple life, completing small commissions and requests, enjoying the quiet yet fun life in Mondstadt. If you'd never been assigned that meteor commission, you'd never would've met Scaramouche. And if you'd never met him, you wouldn't be in this tough situation.

Though, now that you thought about it, you didn't think you could live without him. He was a part of your life now, for worse or for better. You found yourself thinking about him all day and all night, even in your dreams. How could you even think about wishing you never met him.

Just before Childe started to say something, the trio heard a noise coming from the path behind you. Though you were all hidden from plain sight, you were indeed situated right next to the path into the city.

You suddenly started to regret picking this place as a meeting spot. You should've picked somewhere farther from the city.. you'd be too vulnerable here.

"What was that..?" You backed away, moving closer towards Scaramouche.

As if he had flipped a switch in his brain, Childe's carefree aura quickly turned into a serious one as he slowly crept towards the main path.

What he saw was obviously not good, because he quickly ran towards the two of you, grabbing his stuff, and started running farther into the wilderness.

Childe whispered, just barely loud enough to hear, "Hurry, they're already here!"

Eyes widening, you didn't even have the chance to move before Scaramouche's quick reflexes kicked in. He had grabbed your wrist and started running after Childe, hoping they weren't making too much noise.

"Not so fast boys," a woman's voice could be heard from behind. Her tone was almost seductive, if this were under different circumstances, you'd say her voice was quite attractive to say the least.

The three of you swiftly turned around, you were secretly hoping to get a glimpse of the owner of that beautiful voice.

"Ah, my two favorite colleagues~ I've been looking everywhere for you.. Balladeer," she said.

"Signora." Scaramouche greeted, but it was as if he'd done it reluctantly.