The Little Dewdrop

Ever since he heard about what Xiangling did to save Yelan, Xingqiu was admired by her. He would always talk to her when he had the chance, and was in total disbelief when she told him that she has failed in the past. "You failed and yet, you're still standing here, stronger than ever" he said while his voice was trailing away. "Oh well, that's the power of determination, I suppose" said Xiangling. "I see, uh Xiangling, can I make a promise to you?" "Sure little buddy, what's up?" she asked. "I promise to you that if anything bad happens, I'll do my best to protect you, ok?" "Uh that's a bold claim to make, you sure you can handle it?" Xiangling asked. "I'll give it a good try when I get the chance" said Xingqiu proudly. Xiangling just shook her head in agreement and went to do her job. Later that evening, Xingqiu wanted to hear from the others about how he can prove to Xiangling that he's capable of being a reliable Hydro. "So what you're saying is you wanna get Xiangling's respect, but she has no problem with you, so what are you saying?" asked Hu Tao. "I want Xiangling to put aside her hatred for Hydros and see them as equals because I believe that if this endless feud keeps going, both Hydros and Pyros will be gone" The two girls looked at each other hesitantly, then looked back at Xingqiu. "That's a hard thing to do, Xingqiu, Xiangling has hated Hydros since she met Furina, got badmouthed by Yelan, learned that they've been killing innocent people for no reason, I mean the list goes on and on, that's gonna take a lot of work to do" informed Klee. "I think that the best thing to do is to help the ol' Pyro out when she's in a spot of worry, does that sound fair?" asked Hu Tao. Xingqiu just smiled, walking away while thinking of how to get Xiangling to accept Hydros more. Next morning, Xiangling got done with her work earlier than usual, so she sat near her tent to rest. Suddenly, Aether and Lumine came around, they saw Xiangling and remembered about what Hu Tao told them when they first arrived. They had work to do, but they thought that teasing Xiangling would be much better. "Is that Xiangling?" asked Lumine. "It looks like Xiangling, but it can't be" said Aether. Xiangling pretended not to hear the twins' rambling. "If it's not Xiangling, then it must be just a useless Pyro, I think we should dump it in the sea" continued Aether. "No, this looks like a fine Pyro to be killed by some Hydros, I know a sighting near-" "Stop, I am Xiangling!" she said, but the twins' teasing kept going. Lumine wanted to put her near a sighting, while Aether argued that, "Doing such thing would be too cruel, the sea's better, besides, she already had her experiences with water" he said while winking. Poor Xiangling just shut her eyes and covered her ears until she thought that the twins left. That's when Xingqiu arrived shortly after. When Xiangling opened her eyes and saw Xingqiu, she thought he was the most beautiful sight ever. "Xingqiu, my dear ol' Hydro, save me!" Xingqiu quickly settled the dispute. "Aether and Lumine, what are you two playing at?" he asked sternly. "Oh, we were just uh running, yeah running" they said nervously. "Yeah, running your mouths off, if I see or hear you playing any others tricks, I'll tell Jean about you two" That made the twins quickly scurry away. "Those little demons, how do you do it?" Xiangling asked. "Oh well, me and Jean used to work with them, so I know how they act, and I've learned it from the best" the little Hydro said while winking at Xiangling. Ever since then, Xiangling is so ever grateful of Xingqiu because she thought that he saved her life, if only she knew that the twins were only teasing. Later that day, Xingqiu told Hu Tao and Klee about what he did. Klee was proud of him, but Hu Tao looked quite regretful. "What's the matter with you?" asked Klee. "I was the one who told them that they should tease Xiangling, but I never thought that they would say those kind of things" "I'm ashamed of you, Hu Tao, you had Xiangling nearly crying, all for a good laugh, such disgraceful behavior!" said Klee crossly. "How was I supposed to control what they said to her, so don't blame me for this!" Xingqiu just left the two Pyros to simply argued until they got tired and called a truce. When Xiangling and Xingqiu met again, she confessed something to him. "You know, maybe I was wrong before, some of you Hydros are really nice people, well when you act like it, of course" "So does that means that you accept Hydros for who they really are?" Xingqiu asked joyfully. "You know what, despite some of the cruel things they've done, they probably did those things because their bosses told them to, so I guess I'll cut 'em some slack for now" said Xiangling. Xingqiu was so proud that he couldn't help but hug her. "I love you, Xiangling" he said tenderly. "I love you too, you little dewdrop" she said while hugging him back. The others watched in silence, Hu Tao was crying quietly, while the twins just smiled and said, "You know, young Xingqiu ain't such a bad Hydro" That coming from the American twins was high praise indeed.