Facing Callas's tombstone, Navia opened her mouth as if to speak her heart, but the words caught in her throat, leaving her tongue-tied.
Luna took Navia's umbrella and opened it. These days, the rain never ceased.
"Legend says Fontaine rains because the Hydro dragon weeps," she remarked.
Navia smiled. "If true, I wish this Hydro dragon would change its mood."
Removing her hat, Navia stepped closer, her boots treading on damp earth.
After all, her umbrella wasn't particularly large. While it could easily shelter one person, two required them to huddle close together.
Clutching her hat, Navia took a deep breath.
"Don't know what to say?" Luna asked.
Navia lowered her gaze, long lashes fluttering slightly. "You've seen through me again. Yes, even when he was still alive, we never truly shared our hearts."
"Now he's become a cold tombstone, a slab of stone that won't respond to a single word. I'm even more at a loss for what to say."
Luna combed through Navia's hair with one hand, smiling. "Then just say whatever comes to mind."
When children from the House of the Hearth lost their lives during missions, sometimes their bodies couldn't be found at all.
The families wouldn't erect tombstones for these vanished children either.
This wasn't due to lack of love, but because their disappearance would forever carve deep scars in the hearts of their families.
Not mentioning them wasn't about trying to forget.
"Your father lives eternally in your memories." Luna lifted her slender finger, gently tracing it upward along Navia's chest, then tapping the spot where her heart lay.
"If you can't speak to the gravestone, just talk to your family in your memories."
The light touch of Luna's fingertips against her skin brought a slight tickle.
But Navia didn't mind being touched like this by Luna.
She exhaled and smiled. "But the father in my memories isn't exactly vivid. Who can blame him for always wearing that stern face and never sharing his true thoughts with anyone...?"
"Still, I can say something to him."
"I'm no longer that Navia who needed your protection, Dad. You can entrust the Spina di Rosula to me."
Suddenly, Navia wrapped her arm around Luna's neck, pressing their faces together.
"After all, I have Lulu here - just as capable as a mother!"
Wait, isn't that a bit strange? Navia belatedly realized.
That sounds like I'm comparing our relationship to Clementine and Callas'... No, no, no!
Nothing like that at all!
Luna hadn't expected Navia to pull her in for such a close embrace.
"Your makeup won't get on my face, will it?" Luna asked with a smile.
"Of course not!"
The warmth from Luna's cheek pressed against hers made Navia's eyes glisten faintly. Her eyelashes brushed Luna's face as her gaze lowered.
Rain continued to patter outside the umbrella, but the earthy scent of wet soil and grass couldn't mask the delicate fragrance clinging to Navia's hair.
"It feels like it's been raining nonstop these past few days," Navia said, her breath warm against Luna's lips as she laughed. "It's getting chilly."
Their eyes met.
Luna led Navia a few steps away and murmured, "Come here."
"...Mm."
She opened her arms in invitation. Without hesitation, Navia responded with a soft sound.
Then she wrapped her arms tightly around Luna.
"How does Lulu always know exactly what I'm thinking?" Navia's breath brushed Luna's ear, warm and intimate.
"I don't think that question needs an answer."
"True enough. We're partners, after all!" Navia tightened her embrace.
"Lulu's body is more delicate than I imagined."
With one hand occupied holding the umbrella, Luna used her free arm to circle around Navia's back, stroking her hair.
"Can't be both dainty and built like a bear, can it?"
"That's so strange, I just feel... um, your body is so soft." Navia buried her face in the crook of Luna's neck, her hair tickling Luna's skin.
And so warm.
"It's as if any unpleasantness or gloom would vanish completely with this kind of embrace."
Luna gently tugged at Navia's hair. "There's a word for this behavior in the dictionary, called..."
"'Trust'! Heh heh, I know that one."
"It's called 'acting spoiled'."
Navia shifted her weight onto Luna, forcing her to steady herself. Her fingers traced random patterns across Luna's back. "Only those you trust can act spoiled. The meanings are essentially the same."
"Right, right."
Navia's fingertips brushed against the back of Luna's neck. "Lulu, have you... tried looking for your birth parents before?"
Look? Luna paused momentarily.
She answered calmly, "No. I'm an abandoned child. Even if I found them, what could I do?"
"Settle your heart's desires!"
Luna sighed. "I've never had such desires."
Her name was unknown, her identity a mystery. All they knew was that one was from Liyue, the other from Mondstadt. At the time, the basket only contained a card inscribed with "Luna."
"The orphanage said I was abandoned."
Left at the orphanage's doorstep because no one could care for her.
"Just like those cats left at the animal hospital's entrance."
Then the orphanage passed her to nobility.
It wasn't until her final escape with Lynette that she met Arlecchino. To her, the House of the Hearth was the only place that could truly be called home.
Yet she had left the House of the Hearth.
Though Arlecchino hadn't punished her, how could she possibly face the shame of returning?
After a moment of silence, Navia suddenly said, "I like Lulu."
"Hm?" Luna didn't immediately understand.
"Yes!"
Navia released her grip, her face devoid of any blush, as if she'd simply stated something utterly natural.
"I like Lulu," she repeated.
Luna's face burned, and she averted her gaze. "You... you don't mean...?"
Was actually saying this here?
"No! I don't know why I said that either. The words just slipped out when I came to my senses," Navia hurriedly explained.
Luna crossed her arms. "So you're saying..."
"No, I'm not!"
Navia's smile was radiant. "I'm not overthinking it, but this is truly how I feel. I like you, Lulu!—Well, in the purest sense of the word."
"No, I should say it's a kind of recognition," she added.
Recognition of the individual named Luna, affection for the individual named Luna.
No other emotions were mixed in, just pure and flawless.
Luna had an epiphany. "So it's like liking a pet?"
"That's completely wrong!"
"You don't want to keep me? Every day I could purr for you when you pet me?"
Navia's face flushed crimson. "That's such an absurd comparison... Wait, do you even understand what I'm saying?"
Luna smiled. "Of course. I like Nana too."
Navia couldn't help but gasp, her heart pounding wildly.
Luna gently caressed Navia's cheek.
"Because Nana is beautiful."
"...The face?"
"That's part of it," Luna said calmly, "but what I like most is this."
She placed her hand on Navia's chest.
"...The chest?"
"The way you live."
The way I live? Navia didn't quite understand.
She had simply followed the voice within her heart, walking forward without pause. Was this what Luna found beautiful about her?
Luna affirmed, "Nana is one of Fontaine's greatest treasures too."
This was the Phantom Thief's seal of approval.
Navia felt this sounded like something the Phantom Thief White Cat would say, but what really caught her attention was:
"One of them? The other could be—"
Yes, it could be Furina, Chiori...
"Lynette?" Navia murmured.
Why did it suddenly shift to Lynette?
Navia continued, "Earlier, Lynette called you 'Lulu.' I thought only I would call you that."
"That... What's your relationship with Lynette?"
Could they be partners?
Luna was about to respond when footsteps approached.
Both turned around, expressions of surprise.
"Monsieur Neuvillette? And..."
Clorinde and Furina?
Neuvillette looked at the pair. "Apologies, it seems we've arrived at an inopportune moment."
"It certainly looks like the perfect time," Furina said.
"It certainly doesn't," Clorinde sighed.