The Irodori Festival had officially drawn its final curtain. Along the promenade, the vibrant stalls that once displayed the latest light novels and colorful silk prints were now skeletal wooden frames. Merchants moved with practiced efficiency, crates being hammered shut and heavy canvas tarps pulled over the last of the unsold merchandise.
At the edge of the pier, the scene was one of rhythmic chaos:
A massive merchant ship groaned against its moorings, its deck already crowded with passengers returning to the mainland.
Dockworkers moved in silhouette against the orange sky, heaving the final chests of festival memorabilia into the cargo hold.
The frantic energy of the festival had been replaced by a quiet, weary nostalgia.
The bustling crowds that had defined the past week had thinned to a few lingering travelers, their shadows stretching long and thin against the stone pavers as the sun began its slow descent.
"Careful with those!" The ship's captain barked at a worker struggling with a barrel. "That's Mondstadt wine, not fish guts!"
Klee barely heard him. Her red eyes were fixed on the crowd gathered to see them off—Ayaka in her pale blue kimono, standing serene as always; Thoma waving enthusiastically; and there, bright as a firecracker in her orange and red festival clothes, Yoimiya.
"Klee!" Yoimiya pushed through the crowd, nearly tripping over a coil of rope. "You're not leaving without saying goodbye, right? Right?"
"Yoimiya!" Klee broke away from Albedo's side and ran, her little legs pumping. They collided in a hug that sent them both staggering.
"Oof!" Yoimiya laughed, catching her balance. "You've got a good tackle there, Spark Knight! Been practicing your bombing runs?"
"Uh-huh!" Klee beamed up at her. "I got to show everyone my biggest bomb at the festival! Did you see? It made the BIGGEST splash in the harbor!"
"See it? I heard it from Hanamizaka!" Yoimiya ruffled Klee's hair, her golden eyes sparkling. "Though between you and me, my fireworks display was prettier."
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was—" Klee stopped, her smile faltering. "I'm gonna miss you."
The playfulness drained from Yoimiya's face. She crouched down to Klee's level, hands on the little girl's shoulders. "Hey, me too. But we'll write, okay? I want to hear about every adventure, every fish you blast, every time Master Jean puts you in solitary confinement—"
"Yoimiya." Ayaka's voice held gentle reproach.
"—which I'm sure will be never, because Klee is a perfect angel who would never break any rules." Yoimiya's grin was crooked. "Right?"
Klee giggled despite the tightness in her chest. "Right!"
Behind them, Paimon's voice carried across the dock. "Come on, Traveler! Paimon wants to get home before dinner! Paimon's had enough seaweed and fish to last a lifetime!"
The Traveler, silent as always, gave Ayaka a respectful bow. Xingqiu was already aboard, nose buried in a book, though he'd bookmarked his page to wave farewell.
"Klee." Albedo's hand settled on her head, gentle. "We need to board."
"One more minute?" Klee looked up at her brother, pleading.
Albedo's teal eyes softened. He glanced at the captain, who was bellowing about tide schedules, then back to Klee. "One more minute."
Yoimiya squeezed Klee's hands. "You know what? Next time you visit, we'll do something even bigger. Maybe we can work together—your bombs and my fireworks! Can you imagine? We'd light up the whole sky!"
"Really?" Klee's eyes went wide. "You mean it?"
"I never say things I don't mean." Yoimiya tapped Klee's nose. "That's a promise, okay? A Yoimiya-and-Klee-are-gonna-blow-stuff-up-together promise."
"Passengers! Final boarding!" The captain's patience had run out.
"That's—" Albedo started.
"Wait!"
The voice cut through the bustle of the port like a bell. Conversations died mid-sentence. Dockworkers stopped mid-step. Even the gulls seemed to pause in their wheeling overhead.
Yae Miko glided down the dock, her shrine maiden's outfit immaculate despite the dusty harbor, her fox ears twitching with barely suppressed amusement. She moved like water, like silk, like something not quite mortal.
Ayaka immediately bowed. "Lady Guuji."
"Oh my, what a send-off this has become." Yae Miko's lips curved in a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "It would be quite rude of me not to offer parting gifts to our honored guests, wouldn't it?"
Albedo stepped forward, placing himself slightly between Klee and the shrine's head priestess. His voice remained courteous, but something in his posture had shifted. "That's very kind, but unnecessary. You've already been a most gracious host—"
"Nonsense." Yae Miko's fan snapped open, then closed. "I insist."
From her sleeve—though how they'd fit there was anyone's guess—she produced two small boxes. They were lacquered wood, deep red, with gold clasps shaped like foxes. She held them out: one to Klee, one to Yoimiya.
"For the two brightest sparks of the Irodori Festival," Yae Miko said, her voice honey-sweet. "I noticed how well you worked together. Your fireworks display was quite... explosive."
Yoimiya reached for her box, but Ayaka caught her wrist. "Lady Guuji, you honor us, but such gifts—"
"Are freely given with no strings attached." Yae Miko's purple eyes glinted with something sharp. "What kind of kitsune would I be if I didn't appreciate a good partnership when I see one? Go on. Open them."
Klee looked up at Albedo. He was staring at Yae Miko with the intensity he usually reserved for particularly complex alchemical formulas. After a long moment, he gave a small nod.
Klee popped open her box.
Inside, nestled in red silk, was a necklace. The chain was delicate silver, but the pendant caught the light and held it: a heart-shaped crystal, no bigger than Klee's thumbnail, that seemed to pulse with its own inner warmth. Deep inside the crimson stone, something flickered—like embers, like distant lightning.
"Whoa," Klee breathed.
Yoimiya opened hers to reveal an identical piece. She lifted it from the box, and the crystal caught the sunlight, throwing red reflections across her face. "It's beautiful."
"They're a matched set." Yae Miko's smile widened. "Specially commissioned from a very talented artisan. You'll notice they resonate with your Visions quite nicely—both of you being Pyro users makes them particularly harmonious."
Albedo's eyes narrowed. "Resonate?"
"A figure of speech." Yae Miko waved her fan dismissively. "They're simply attuned to elemental energy. Harmless trinkets, really. Consider them a memento of new friendship."
Klee was already fastening hers around her neck. The moment the clasp clicked shut, she felt... something. A warmth that had nothing to do with the sun. It settled against her chest like a second heartbeat.
Yoimiya did the same, and for just a second—so brief Klee thought she'd imagined it—both crystals flared brighter.
"They're perfect!" Klee hugged Dodoco tighter. "Thank you, Miss Yae!"
"Yeah, thanks." Yoimiya touched the crystal at her throat, head tilted. "This is really generous of you."
"Think nothing of it." Yae Miko's expression was serene, unreadable. "Oh, but one small thing—these are quite precious. The enchantment is delicate, you understand. I would suggest you keep them close, and..." She paused, as if considering her words carefully. "Well, they're yours and yours alone. Best not let others handle them. Some people can be quite careless with others' treasures."
"We'll be careful!" Klee promised.
"I'm certain you will be." Yae Miko's gaze slid to Albedo, then to Ayaka, something arch in her smile. "Now then, I believe you have a ship to catch. Safe travels, little ones."
She turned and walked back up the dock, her footsteps making no sound. The crowd parted before her like water.
"That was..." Paimon floated down from the ship's deck, hands on her hips. "Does anyone else think that was weird? Paimon thinks that was weird."
"The Guuji is often cryptic," Ayaka said quietly. But her eyes followed Yae Miko's retreating form with something that might have been concern.
"All aboard!" The captain's shout broke the moment. "If you're not on this ship in thirty seconds, you're swimming to Liyue!"
"Klee." Albedo took her hand. "Now."
Klee let herself be led to the gangplank, but she turned back, waving frantically. "Bye, Yoimiya! I'll write you every day!"
"Every day might be a bit much!" Yoimiya called back, laughing. But her hand was at her throat, touching the crystal pendant. "But I'll read every letter, I promise!"
The gangplank drew up. The ship's sails unfurled with a snap of canvas. Klee climbed onto a cargo crate to see over the railing, waving both arms now, Dodoco dangling from one hand.
On the dock, Yoimiya waved back just as enthusiastically, jumping up and down. "Don't forget about our promise! Biggest explosion ever!"
"BIGGEST EVER!" Klee shouted.
The ship lurched as it pulled away from the dock. Ritou Port began to shrink—first the individual people became unclear, then the buildings, then the island itself became just a dark line against the afternoon sky.
Klee waved until her arms hurt, until Yoimiya was just a tiny orange dot, until Inazuma was nothing but a purple smudge on the horizon.
Only then did she slump down onto the crate, suddenly exhausted.
Albedo sat beside her, his weight making the crate creak. For a while, neither of them spoke. The ship rocked gently. Gulls cried
overhead. The Traveler and Paimon had gone below deck, and Xingqiu was still reading at the prow, his blue hair whipping in the wind.
"Brother Albedo?" Klee's voice was small.
"Hm?"
"Do you think... do you think I'll see Yoimiya again?"
Albedo looked down at her, then out at the sea. The wind tugged at his coat. "I imagine you will. Inazuma's borders are open now. And Mondstadt values its international relationships."
"But that could be years and years."
"Perhaps." He put an arm around her shoulders. "But some people are worth waiting for."
Klee touched the crystal at her throat. It was warm, almost hot, like it had absorbed the Inazuman sun. "She's really nice. She didn't treat me like a baby. She let me use the big fireworks, and she laughed at my jokes, and—" She hiccupped. "And I miss her already."
"That's called friendship," Albedo said gently. "The good kind. The kind that matters."
"Then why does it hurt?"
"Because the good things usually do, a little." He squeezed her shoulder. "But that just means it's real."
Klee leaned against him, watching the sun sink lower. The crystal against her chest pulsed with warmth, steady as a heartbeat.
Below deck, in her cabin, she'd write her first letter tonight. She'd tell Yoimiya about the waves, and how Paimon got seasick, and how the Traveler had to catch her before she floated overboard. She'd draw pictures of Dodoco waving goodbye.
She touched the necklace again. It felt like holding onto something precious, something secret.
On the dock, now far behind them, Ayaka stood watching the ship disappear. Yoimiya had finally stopped waving, but her hand remained at her throat, fingers wrapped around the crystal pendant.
"You're worried," Yoimiya said without looking at her friend.
"The Lady Guuji doesn't give gifts without reason," Ayaka replied quietly.
"Maybe she just liked our fireworks show." But Yoimiya's voice lacked its usual certainty.
Ayaka said nothing. Together, they watched the ship become a toy on the horizon, then a speck, then nothing at all.
In the fading light, if anyone had been watching closely, they might have noticed both crystals—one sailing toward Liyue, one remaining in Inazuma—pulsing with the same rhythm, perfectly synchronized.