𝕯𝖎𝖉 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖌𝖊𝖙 𝖊𝖓𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊, 𝖒𝖞 𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖉𝖔𝖛𝖊? 𝖂𝖍𝖞 𝖉𝖔 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖈𝖗𝖞? 𝕬𝖓𝖉 𝕴'𝖒 𝖘𝖔𝖗𝖗𝖞 𝕴 𝖑𝖊𝖋𝖙, 𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝖎𝖙 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖇𝖊𝖘𝖙, 𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍 𝖎𝖙 𝖓𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖋𝖊𝖑𝖙 𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙... 𝕸𝖞 𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖁𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖆𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖊𝖘

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The lone glaze lily had overlooked the harbour for many a century. It was close to a millennium now—barely fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes... and it would have been a whole thousand years since he had seen her.

He found himself taking a singular breath in order to compose himself, before beginning the climb up Mt Tianheng's sister peak. It took little time to traverse the terrain and he was soon walking towards the glaze lily that never seemed to wilt.

He paused as he saw another figure seated beside the unwilting flower, head rested on her knees that were hugged close to her chest. Curved black-red horns protruded from her silken pale blue hair, slightly unkempt as if having been continuously rustled by the wind.

He took a few more steps towards the half-qilin, placing a comforting hand atop her head, careful not to graze her sensitive projections. "Your thoughts are deep, qilin. Enough to be lost in them."

Her eyes fluttered open, sunset-graced irises lined with the silver of tears, and eyelids swollen and red. "Rex Lapis..." she murmured, voice hoarse. "I was just... thinking of Guizhong."

He opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out, as if words that were even related to his dear friend were restricted—as if they were too sacred to ever be uttered. So he asked, his gaze drifting to focus on the glaze lily, "How long have you been stationed here, dear qilin?"

Ganyu rubbed at her eyes. "Since morning."

The god took note of the sky that had long since been swarmed by a velvety black, the lights of Liyue Harbour flickering on one by one—an attempt to mirror the starry expanse that hovered just above. He felt a small flicker of pride as he laid eyes on the accomplished city—on the fruits of his nation that had come so close to destruction.

"There was no work to be done?" he asked the newly-appointed secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

She loosed a shuddering breath, and his hand slid to his side as she made to stand, brushing her clothes clear of dirt and dust. "You're right," she said, gently brushing her nose with a barely audible sniff. She blinked, eyes still glossy from tears. "I'll get onto it right away."

"I mean not that you should force yourself. If a break is needed, do take one."

"That is unnecessary. My duties start officially tomorrow, but there are still prerequisite tasks to be done. It is already dark. Time is of the essence." The half-qilin dipped her head as she walked past as a sign of respect. "I simply wanted to say hello and goodbye one last time before my duties claimed all hours of the day."

Something within him strained at hearing those words, and he was left standing there speechless, even as Ganyu made her way down the mountain. Hello, as if one could still talk to her—talk to Guizhong—and goodbye... His hands flexed by his side. A goodbye had already been said many years ago. How could one say another when there was no one to say it to? Guizhong was... Guizhong was gone.

Though he could not fault the half-qilin for thinking such thoughts. She was one of the hardest workers in Teyvat. Adding to the load of duties she had already piled upon herself was sure to be stressful, and even he occasionally missed friends of old. The illusion that talking to a favoured object was the same as talking to the dead was, in his opinion, illogical. Still, for youths, perhaps it was enough to pretend to believe in such childish tales—to find comfort in the imaginary.

Rex Lapis knelt beside the glaze lily, fingers poised beneath its petals. They were soft, smooth, gentle—much like Guizhong was. It was little wonder why she loved them so.

Unfortunately, the God of Geo could not make flowers bloom—could not care for them as she had. In fact, ever since Guizhong had passed, it was like glaze lilies had ceased to exist. As if her absence had caused the flowers to mourn themselves out of existence, for when the humans would pick them, they would not regrow. Their seeds would not reproduce and scatter. But if that was the case...

Then why did this one... flourish? Even after all these years, it was still as healthy as it was in its prime. It should have perished—should have wilted like the rest.

A light sea breeze floated upwards off the harbour towards him—towards the glaze lily. A familiar scent wafted around him, the fragrance of something—someone—long forgotten by the world. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to bask in the glaze lily's smell, feeling the wind close around him like soft gentle hands, rustling through his hair.

"Guizhong..." he murmured into the wind. Perhaps it would carry his words to wherever she now resided—and she would know that he still remembered her. Still thought of her.

Morax... The god inhaled slightly as he heard her voice, an enchanting song in his ears. Accompanied by the glaze lily's delicate aroma, it was like... she was really there. Morax. But she could never be—

"Morax!"

His breath hitched and his eyes fluttered open. That voice... It couldn't have been—

But there she was. Standing with that immortal grace above the glaze lily, glowing edges shimmering and fading and fraying in the night, was... Guizhong. She smiled at him. "I called your name but you didn't hear me." That smile turned teasing and playful. "Or did you just not bother to listen?"

His mouth gaped open slightly, unable to utter any words. For one of the first instances in his long life, he found himself utterly confused and... and lost and overcome with shock. She was...

Guizhong's smile wavered slightly as she chuckled. "I've never seen you like this before, Li. Come—stand." He hesitated. Would he... follow the orders of an apparition? A trick of the light—a hallucination. She couldn't really have been...

But he stood, subtly glancing to the sides as if searching—searching for someone or something that had caused this. Because Guizhong... Guizhong was dead. She couldn't be here.

She reached a hand to his face, lightly rubbing against his skin—but he couldn't feel her. She was not here. "Li?" she murmured, looking up into his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to speak to her. "What's wrong? This isn't like you."

No, it certainly wasn't. He had never—never—acted in this way before. Even when she had died, he had enough mastery over himself to react appropriately to the situation. But now... When had he let himself become soft—let himself become so distraught and overwhelmed?

Rex Lapis lifted a hand to hers. Only his own cold skin met his hand. He didn't know what he was expecting but...

His gaze hardened. Guizhong retracted her hand, looking at him with a gaze equally as solemn. "Morax... Talk to me."

Something in the god told him to turn and walk the other way—walk back down the mountain and away from... whatever this was. But he didn't. He couldn't. He couldn't turn her away, even if she was no more than an apparition—a hallucination formed by the longing in his mind. So he swallowed and said, "Guizhong."

A ghost of a smile flickered on her lips upon hearing her name before disappearing just as quickly. "I am here, Morax. I am standing in front of you." Sorrow found a home in her eyes. "Please, believe me."

Something in his gut tightened at those words—at that longing tone full of despair. Full of despair because... he couldn't believe her. How could one ask someone like him—steadfast as a rock, immovable as a mountain—to suddenly change and believe... in the impossible? "You are dead."

The light in her eyes guttered. "Yes, Morax. I am dead—but I am still here."

"H—how?" He slapped himself internally for the stammer, steeling himself with another deep inhale.

"Does it matter how?"

"Yes," he breathed. "It does."

"Why?"

"Why?" he echoed. And he asked himself the same question. Yes, why? Why does it matter? "Because I..."

"Because... you don't understand. Is that right, Li?" The words clogged in his throat. That couldn't have been why. He had always understood everything that had happened before him—accepted it. Guizhong continued, "You don't understand how I'm here and so to counter that, you think up other things you know are real." She smiled softly at him, sadness evident in her expression. "You can't believe that I'm real."

He cast his gaze downward to his feet, unable to look at her with the shame written all over his face. "Just..." He couldn't find the words—couldn't find a way to express his pain, his shame, and his confusion without sounding... horrible. "Just go... Guizhong or not. Please..." Something in his body shuddered at hearing the sounds that came out of his mouth. Steadfast and immovable—the God of Geo—and still able to be... to be weak.

It was silent for a few moments. Had the glow in front of him dimmed, he would have thought she'd listened and gone—but it didn't. He supposed he was thankful she didn't listen—then again, Guizhong was stubborn enough that she'd never listened to anything he'd ever said. He smiled faintly at the memories.

"Morax." He lifted his gaze upon hearing his name. She offered an understanding smile. "This is very much like you." She made to hold his hand—though all he felt was the gentle breeze brushing against his fingers. "Guili..." she murmured and his eyes guttered at hearing that name—at hearing their names intertwined. She huffed a small chuckle as she reminisced about the glorious paradise they had established with Marchosius' help. "It was a beautiful place, was it not, Li?"

"Yes." He could barely get the word out.

"We both worked very hard on that civilisation... I still think of everything fondly... even that field of glaze lilies. Do you remember? Where we first met?" Guizhong's eyes were bright as she recalled the moment, staring at their hands. He... wished he could feel her touch. "Where we parted ways?" His eyes fluttered shut at those words. "In some ways... it was the perfect goodbye, wasn't it?"

"It... I..." I didn't want to say goodbye.

He heaved another sigh as the thought crossed his mind—as he revealed the truth to himself. And he opened his eyes to look at her. Her smile was... sad. Mournful. "I didn't want to say goodbye, either, Morax. Not then—not when I still had so many things to say. To you."

Indeed, the day she died, Guizhong was still trying to speak when she crumbled in his arms. It must've been excruciating to continue trying to communicate when her body was turning to dust. But still, she tried—only stopping when her vocal cords were affected and she could physically speak no longer.

"Do you know, Morax... how... proud I am of you?" A blink was the only response he gave. Proud? Of... him? She seemed to read the question in his eyes because she nodded. "Yes—proud. You rescued as many people as you could, salvaged our broken civilisation to create something new. And you... mingle with the humans... just like I used to ask you to. I know it must not be easy."

No, it certainly wasn't—especially without her by his side to guide him... She was... she was the brains to his brawn, the one who had crafted him, the artist who had sculpted him into the god he had become. Everything—it was because of her. And if there was anything he could do... to feel her touch again... to feel her artistic hands carving and shaping him into a better creature than the sorrowful being he had degraded into... he would do it.

"If only... you were here with me... Guizhong," he murmured.

"Whatever do you mean? I am here, Li. I am here with you."

"Guizhong... has died..."

At that, there was silence. Only sorrow hung in the air between them. That was right. Guizhong was dead. And there was nothing he could do to bring her back—to make up for his failure to keep her and the Guili Assembly safe.

"Morax." This time, he didn't lift his head. It's not real... It couldn't be. "Morax."

"The Guili Assembly is gone... Guizhong is gone... because I couldn't... I couldn't..." A breath shuddered throughout his body and he dropped to his knees, staring at the lone flower. Weakling. Stand up. But he couldn't—just as he couldn't protect what was dear to him. Stand, you pathetic god. You call yourself Rex Lapis—Stone King—and yet you still allow yourself to be eroded by the waters of time and emotion. Stand!

"Morax." This time, there was another tone in her voice, as if she were commanding him to give her his attention. He had rarely heard it from her—and had never heard it directed towards him. It compelled him to look at her—to look up at the most precious thing he had lost. Yes... he was always looking up to her, no matter how tall he grew. She was so... small and tiny and precious... but he could never look down at her. Only up. "It's not your fault." Her kind words graced him, comforted him, as they always had. But...

"Guizhong... It's gone... All of it. Everything we worked for was destroyed." His fists clenched at his sides. "I... couldn't save them... our people... I can only slaughter. I can only wash away what had once been." Just as he had washed away the Guili plains by inadvertently calling forth the tremor that shook Teyvat, bringing the flood that had wiped the Guili Assembly off the map—forever. He was... distraught... More than he had ever been before.

"No... not everything." Guizhong turned and beckoned him to stand, waving her hand over the harbour. "See—see the fruits of your labour. You made this, Li. You revived our broken civilisation and made it your own. It flourishes... because of you. You were not born to kill gods, Morax. You were born to create art." A small smile found its way onto her lips. "And what a beautiful artist you are, too."

"It cannot compare to what you were able to create—what you have done for this nation." His voice was steady as he spoke the truth, as he willed himself into calm, as he strode up beside her. "Liyue... needs you, Guizhong."

Guizhong's gaze slid to him. "It does not, for it already has you, Morax. You are more than enough for our people—for me." He met her gaze, finding that gentle smile on her lips. "And I am always here to keep the mountains company as we watch the harbour flourish." She knelt down and made to pick the glaze lily from the rock, lifting up a phantom flower and extending it to him. "You see? I am glad, you know, that my spirit was able to come here in this form. I couldn't ask for anything more than to find a home in a glaze lily after my death."

"You... live in the glaze lily?"

"In some way... I believe I am the glaze lily." She beamed. "Isn't it magnificent? I sustain it and it shelters me!"

He couldn't find the words—couldn't make himself accept her reasoning that seemed... so logical. He supposed it should've been obvious that this glaze lily was here because of her—the last wild glaze lily in existence.

She must've noticed because she asked, "Did you only think it was coincidence—that this flower has been stationed here since my death?"

Rex Lapis didn't meet Guizhong's eyes as she proposed the question. Of course, he did. Even now, it was still hard to believe that she...

His thoughts trailed off as shimmering hands made to cup his face and Guizhong's loving gaze met his. "I have always been here, Li, watching over Liyue Harbour, watching over the fruits of our labour, watching over the remnants of the Guili Assembly..." She beamed. "Watching over you." Please believe me, her eyes pleaded. Don't push me away now that you've finally found me again.

He lifted his hand to hers, and though he knew he could not touch her spirit, it really felt like... she was here—Guizhong was here. And for what may have been the first time since the fall of the Guili Assembly, he let himself go—let himself imagine, pretend, and feel.

A shuddering breath escaped as he finally felt her touch on his face and his gaze lifted to take in every angle and surface of one who had long since disappeared. I have been... lost without you.

Sorrow seemed to flash on her face—in her eyes—as she read the longing, surprise and despair held in his gaze, mouth left hanging slightly open. As if she knew that only now he had come to terms with the fact that he was talking to her.

"Dry your tears, dearest Morax," she whispered, making to wipe his cheek with her thumb.

He hadn't even realised they had fallen—realised that just seeing her again for the first time in a millennium would cause him such emotion. He wiped the few tears off his cheek that rolled down his face and stared at them, proof that even the Lord of Geo could cry. "I was always under the impression you didn't like my stoicness," he said with the smallest of smiles.

Guizhong laughed softly. "I have loved every part of you, Li—and I always will." She offered a feral smile, the playful behaviour he remembered making an appearance. "Whether you like it or not."

His breath hitched at the words—at the sight. "I do... In fact, I've missed it so... The love you gave..." His voice trailed off, unable to form the words he wanted. So Guizhong answered for him. She leaned forward, rising to her toes, and placed a phantom kiss on his lips. But there was little time to appreciate it—little time to return it. For as the words that he longed to say were finally ready to be spoken, coaxed out by the kiss, Guizhong had faded, her spirit returning to the glaze lily.

Sorrow overwhelmed him. She had gone—again. But now, he knew that she was never truly gone—that she would always be there, watching over Liyue. A faint smile caressed his lips. Watching over him.

And as he could still feel the touch of her phantom lips on his, he uttered the words that he had never spoken to her before but so desperately wanted to: "I love you, too, Guizhong." His gaze lifted from the flower to his nation—their nation. "Rest in peace... my love."

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A/N: Woohoo, a shipping chapter! Don't hate me for it 🥲 I just love tragedy
I was listening to Fourth of July while editing this AND THEN Need You Now began playing soon after that so now I'm sad
Also, I just love the theory that Zhongli was the one who caused the flood, not Guizhong, so I added it. Deal with it :P

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Completed: 12-09-23
Published: 2-10-23
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Fanart credits: https://www.deviantart.com/jacewisoul/art/Guili-Pain-897303671