#[ liyue. and i just cannot deal. any way-- that isn't what this rambling was about. it was about bringing her into this... ]

[yuelun]

This young man displayed the true prowess of alchemy to all, bringing with him a massive corpus of wisdom that even the Sumeru Akademiya did not possess. "The universe is heaven reversed, and the earth is a dream lost to time. This is dust, the most basic form of complex life." As if to provide evidence for this claim, Albedo lifted the burnt ash of the flower that once grew atop a Dendro Slime's head. Seconds later, a Cecilia sprouted forth from the ash in his hand. "And this… is new birth." (Albedo: Character Story)

When I've been wrecking my brain over whether or not Genshin draws the correlation between dust and ashes, and I happen to look into Albedo because of his tie (we can... call it that) to alchemy, and even the art of Khemia specifically which is the much more ancient form of it, and there it is. Now excuse me as I go ramble in my tags a little incoherently...

[miomines]

it's been far too long since zhongli has visited her. having him in her home feels comfortable in a way that doesn't happen with anyone else. it's comforting, warm and familiar. meili knows that he cannot come visit her constantly but at the same time, she can't help but hope.

"-accepted their place but now they've gained some type of pet," he rants. it's not often she gets to hear him annoyed at someone other than her songbird. "he doesn't even treat their grace with respect." 

meili hums in response as she places the teapot on a tray. she takes a moment to search her cabinets as she responds, "if their grace says it's fine, then you shouldn't worry about it."

a huff. she suppresses a smile as she places down the cups. he never comes to ramble to her like this anymore. it's amusing in ways she doesn't know how to word. despite the many years they've both been alive, zhongli will still come to her to talk about his annoyances.

"we can't speak for their grace," she picks up the tray and turns to face him. "if they want him near, then we must accept it. that's why they got annoyed with you in the first place, isn't it?"

the only way she can describe his expression is he's pouting. she has to stop herself from laughing. she forces herself to keep her expression neutral as she sets down the tray in front of him. he takes ahold of the pot and pours a cup of tea as she slides into the seat opposite of him.

"you can be happy for the small victories, dearest. like how their grace has accepted their position. that's one of the things you wanted, wasn't it?"

zhongli sighs as he pushes the cup towards her. "it is," he says. "i got to show them liyue like i've always wanted but…" he frowns as he sets the teapot down and cradles his own cup between his hands. "they brought their little pet along too."

meili hums as she takes a sip of tea. "is there a reason why they like him so much?" she asks.

"i cannot see the reasons if there's any," he scoffs. "the only way i can describe mingyu is a menace. he'll break things deliberately and then blame it on me."

….who?

she stares at zhongli as he huffs. hesitantly, gently, she puts the cup down and straightens in her seat. "what else does he do?" she asks slowly. zhongli doesn't pick up on her shock, her confusion.

"he refuses to use the proper titles unless he's mocking them."

("it's not disrespectful to call him morax, mama. i'm just using his name. rex lapis is a dumb title anyways.")

"he has the audacity to climb all over their grace without hesitation. he barges in meetings that have nothing to do with him just to crawl onto their grace."

("mama?" she looks up to see her sunshine peeking his head into her room. she pauses and readjusts her position before opening her arms. she smiles softly as he doesn't hesitate to run into her embrace. "are you working?"

meili hums and nods. "don't worry, sunshine. you can keep me company.")

"he refuses to respect any of the archons, including myself. it seems he goes out of his way to bother me specifically."

("i know they help others," he sighs. "but they've never helped me. i've tried everything. if morax won't help me, i'll have to deal with it myself. mama, i swear i'll come back to you.")

meili hums as she stares down at her cup. it can't be. it… it just has to be someone with the same name. it can't be her sunshine. it can't.

(but what if it is?)

"mingyu, was it?" she forces the name out of her throat. she looks up to zhongli and forces a smile. "forgive me for going off topic but could you describe how he looks like?"

zhongli frowns thoughtfully as he observes her. he takes a drink of his tea before he speaks, "he's not very tall. he has two different colored eyes. a result of a previous injury i believe." he hums as he drinks more. "brown hair with blonde streaks. a tanned complexion with freckles due to the sun."

"long hair?" she basically croaks out. mingyu always told her that he wanted to grow his hair out. they always cut it when they took him back. if it's him.

she shoots up from her seat at his nod. she has… she has a painting of him, of her sunshine, from all those years ago. "stay there," she commands as she rushes out of the room.

it can't be. that house was burnt to the ground. he had died. despite these constant thoughts, all she can do is desperately hope. it means he didn't die in a house that didn't love him. it means she still has her child.

"zhongli!" she nearly tears off the door as she returns with the canvas. he doesn't get a chance to respond as she immediately pushes the tea away. it falls to the ground in a loud crash but she doesn't care. she slams the painting in front of him before grabbing onto his shoulders. "does he look like that? anything like that?"

it's a painting that meiying did all those years ago of a moment between her and mingyu. it's been their sole memory of mingyu since that day. it's their one remainder of him.

she doesn't let go of zhongli as he inspects it. he's confused, she can tell. she never told him about mingyu because they weren't in contact at the time. by the time they spoke again, mingyu was gone and it was too painful. it hurt too much to think about, much less talk about it.

"it's… similar enough. he looks older than he is in the painting."

meili chokes back a sob. she doesn't even care that zhongli had been ranting about him until now. it doesn't matter because he's alive. he's alive. she nearly collapses as she wraps her arms around his shoulders.

"take me there, immediately."