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Kaeya leaned against the stone railing of Mondstadt’s tallest tower, his vision blurred by the swirling mist of his thoughts. The crisp night air kissed his cheeks, but even the chill couldn’t ease the storm that raged in his chest. Down below, the city carried on as it always did: peaceful, oblivious to the turmoil that brewed inside him.
It had been years since that fateful night—since he had revealed the truth of his origins to Diluc, and in doing so, shattered the fragile bond they had shared. He had stood in front of his brother, as much a knight as a traitor, and told him the secret he had kept hidden his entire life: that he was a spy sent from Khaenri’ah. Kaeya had expected anger, but not the way it tore through Diluc like a wildfire, consuming everything in its path.
In the years since, the look in Diluc’s eyes haunted him more than any nightmare. That look of betrayal, of utter devastation, of something deeper than rage. It was a look that spoke of the trust Kaeya had destroyed with just a few words.
If I had just stayed silent… maybe we could’ve stayed brothers.
Now, every time their paths crossed, Diluc was nothing more than a stranger, a figure shrouded in the cold flames of distance and bitterness. Kaeya could see it in the way Diluc avoided him, could feel it in the air that seemed to chill whenever they were near. They were like two magnets with the same charge, forever repelling each other.
But it wasn’t my fault, Kaeya thought, eyes closing as he leaned his head back against the stone. I didn’t kill our father. I didn’t want this.
But even in his mind, the words felt hollow. He might not have been responsible for Crepus’s death, but his confession had destroyed what was left of his family. He had been the catalyst for the collapse of everything they had ever known.
No one knew just how deep the fracture between them ran. To the rest of Mondstadt, Kaeya was still the Cavalry Captain, always grinning, always charming. They didn’t see the cracks beneath the surface—the sleepless nights, the regrets that twisted his chest, and the weight of his brother’s absence in his life.
The next day, Kaeya found himself at the Knights of Favonius headquarters, standing before Jean as she assigned his next mission. His mind was wandering, barely focused on the details of the task at hand, until one name broke through the fog of his thoughts.
“You’ll be accompanied by Diluc,” Jean said, her tone neutral as if she hadn’t just dropped a bomb between them.
Kaeya’s heart stopped. Diluc? On a mission? With him? The last time they had worked together had been out of necessity, and even then, the atmosphere had been tense. This felt like a punishment wrapped in an assignment.
“Understood,” Kaeya replied with his usual smirk, though it felt tight, unnatural. He left Jean’s office, the weight of what was to come sinking in.
Working with Diluc was never easy—not anymore. They were both too proud, too stubborn to let the years of hurt go. But beneath the pride, Kaeya was terrified. Terrified of what would happen if he kept trying to fix things and failed. Terrified of what might happen if he didn’t try at all.
The journey to the mission site was silent. Diluc led the way, his crimson coat fluttering in the wind, while Kaeya trailed behind, his mind racing with everything he couldn’t say. Every step felt heavier than the last, weighed down by the years of unresolved pain between them.
Kaeya opened his mouth to speak, to try and bridge the gap with some half-hearted joke, but he couldn’t find the words. The usual charm that came so easily to him faltered in Diluc’s presence. There was no one he feared losing more, yet no one he felt he had lost so completely.
“Is this how it’s going to be forever?” he muttered under his breath, not loud enough for Diluc to hear.
Or maybe he had heard, because Diluc’s shoulders seemed to tense, but no words came from him either. They walked in silence, as they had so many times before, but this silence was suffocating.
The mission itself was routine—defending a convoy from Abyss mages and treasure hoarders. Nothing Kaeya or Diluc couldn’t handle. They fought side by side as they had in the past, their movements instinctive and precise. But where there had once been trust, now there was distance. Kaeya felt it in every step they took, in every swing of their blades. They fought like strangers.
The tension between them grew with every enemy they struck down. Kaeya could feel the weight of it, heavy on his chest, making it hard to breathe. He wasn’t sure if it was the mission, or if it was just the years of silence finally catching up to him. Maybe it was both.
The Abyss mages retaliated fiercely, more coordinated than they had expected. Kaeya was holding his own, but there was a moment—a split second of distraction. He had been too focused on watching Diluc’s back, ensuring his brother’s safety, that he hadn’t seen the mage behind him, hadn’t heard the incantation of a dark spell until it was too late.
But Diluc had.
The surge of Pyro energy engulfed the mage before the spell could hit Kaeya, the force of Diluc’s fire magic sending the Abyss mage flying. The danger was gone, but Kaeya was left reeling, both from the shock of the near miss and from the realization that Diluc had just saved him—again.
For a brief moment, he saw something in Diluc’s eyes that wasn’t anger or resentment. It was a concern, flickering like a dying ember before it was quickly extinguished.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Kaeya muttered, brushing himself off as he stood.
Diluc didn’t respond. He never did.
The sun had long since set by the time they made camp for the night. The fire crackled between them, casting long shadows across the clearing. Diluc sat on one side, polishing his claymore in silence, while Kaeya sat on the other, nursing the dull ache in his side from where the blast had thrown him.
The silence between them felt heavier than the night itself, and Kaeya could no longer stand it.
“Why?” he asked suddenly, his voice low but steady.
Diluc didn’t look up from his claymore. “Why what?”
“Why do you still protect me?” Kaeya’s voice was soft, almost defeated. “After everything… why?”
Diluc’s eyes flickered up, meeting Kaeya’s for the first time that night. His expression was unreadable. “Because that’s what I do,” he said simply. “I protect Mondstadt.”
Kaeya’s heart clenched at the words. He wanted to argue, wanted to say that he wasn’t just part of Mondstadt—he was Kaeya. He was his brother. Or at least, he had been.
“Is that all I am to you now?” Kaeya’s voice cracked. “Just another citizen of Mondstadt to protect?”
Diluc remained silent, but the tension in his jaw was evident.
Kaeya’s frustration boiled over. “You said nothing for years. You pushed me away, treated me like I didn’t exist, and now you just—” He choked on his words. “Do you hate me that much?”
Diluc finally set his sword aside, his eyes narrowing. “You think I hate you?”
“What else am I supposed to think?” Kaeya shot back. “Ever since I told you the truth, you’ve acted like I’m nothing to you. Like I’m the enemy.”
“That’s not—” Diluc began, but Kaeya cut him off.
“You blame me for everything, don’t you?” Kaeya’s voice was trembling now, his hands shaking as he tried to hold back the flood of emotions. “You blame me for what happened to Father, for everything that happened between us.”
Diluc’s eyes darkened, the mention of their father’s death clearly striking a nerve. “I don’t blame you for his death,” he said quietly, his voice tight. “But I can’t forget what you kept from me. I can’t forget the lies.”
Kaeya’s breath caught in his throat. “I never wanted to lie to you, Diluc. But how was I supposed to tell you? How was I supposed to tell you that I was sent here as a spy, that I was supposed to betray everything we grew up believing in?”
“You could have told me the truth,” Diluc said, his voice cold. “You could have trusted me.”
“I did trust you!” Kaeya cried, his heart aching. “But I was scared, okay? I didn’t know what would happen if you knew. I was scared of losing you.”
“Well, you did,” Diluc’s words were like a blade to the heart, sharp and unyielding.
The silence that followed was deafening. Kaeya stood there, the crackling of the fire between them the only sound in the stillness of the night. His heart clenched as he heard Diluc say the words out loud — words he had feared all along. It wasn’t just that Diluc was cold or distant. It wasn’t just anger.
Kaeya had lost him. Truly, deeply lost him.
Diluc’s gaze flickered briefly toward the fire, his face shadowed and hard, as if he were searching for words he didn’t know how to say. “I thought that the day you told me the truth, we could start over. That there’d be no more lies between us.” His voice dropped lower, his eyes darkening with the weight of everything unsaid. “But that wasn’t the case, was it?”
Kaeya swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he whispered, his voice cracking under the weight of his guilt. “I thought I was protecting you. I thought that if you didn’t know—”
“You thought wrong,” Diluc cut him off, his tone sharp but laced with a sadness that Kaeya had rarely heard from him. “You didn’t protect me, Kaeya. You abandoned me.”
The words hit Kaeya like a punch to the gut. He could feel his composure crumbling as he clenched his fists at his sides. “Do you think it was easy for me?” he bit out, voice shaking with barely contained emotion. “I didn’t want to carry that burden. I didn’t want to lie to you, but I didn’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” Diluc said, his voice low and tense. “You chose to keep secrets, and now we’re standing here, in the ruins of what could’ve been.”
Kaeya stepped forward, his hands shaking slightly as he stared into the fire, unable to meet Diluc’s gaze any longer. “I didn’t just lose Father that night. I lost you. And I haven’t been the same since.” His voice was barely above a whisper now.
The fire crackled between them, filling the silence, and Kaeya’s chest tightened with the weight of everything left unsaid between them. “You think you’re the only one who lost something?” Kaeya continued, his voice thick with emotion. “I’ve been carrying this guilt for years, Diluc. Every day, I regret what happened. I regret not telling you sooner.”
Diluc stood still, his expression unreadable as he listened.
Kaeya’s voice broke as he confessed, “I just… I don’t know how to fix this. I don’t know how to go back to being your brother again.”
The vulnerability in his voice hung heavy in the air. Kaeya, who always seemed so composed, so untouchable, was crumbling in front of Diluc, the weight of their broken bond pressing down on him like a suffocating force. And still, Diluc said nothing. His face remained stoic, but there was a flicker in his eyes — a flicker of something Kaeya couldn’t quite place. Pain? Regret? Or maybe, just maybe, there was still something left of the brotherly bond they once shared.
“I don’t want to hate you, Kaeya,” Diluc finally spoke, his voice quiet but firm. “But I can’t ignore what happened. I can’t just forget everything you’ve done — everything you’ve hidden.”
Kaeya's heart sank. He had known all along that forgiveness wouldn’t come easily. He had known that the damage had been too deep, too severe to mend overnight — if it could be mended at all.
But hearing it from Diluc, in those cold, firm words, felt like a final nail in the coffin.
Kaeya took a shaky breath, willing himself to stand tall despite the gnawing ache in his chest. He could feel his hands trembling slightly as he clenched them at his sides. “I never asked for forgiveness,” he said softly, the sharpness in his tone gone now, replaced by something far more fragile. “I only wanted you to know the truth.”
Diluc’s gaze hardened, and for a moment, Kaeya thought he might lash out again, that the anger bubbling beneath the surface would break free. But Diluc simply stared at him, eyes burning with a deep, smoldering hurt that Kaeya hadn’t seen in years.
“The truth,” Diluc repeated, his voice laced with bitterness. “Do you even understand what that means anymore, Kaeya?”
Kaeya flinched. The accusation hit harder than he expected, cutting through the armor he had spent so many years perfecting. He opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. How could he explain something so complicated, so filled with contradictions? How could he make Diluc understand the impossible choice he had been forced to make?
“I...” Kaeya faltered, his voice catching in his throat. He swallowed, struggling to keep his composure, to mask the pain that was threatening to choke him. “I never wanted it to be this way.”
“Neither did I,” Diluc muttered, his eyes flickering with a brief, fleeting sadness. For just a second, Kaeya thought he saw a glimpse of the boy Diluc once was — the boy who had laughed with him, trained with him, and stood by his side through thick and thin. The brother he had lost.
But the moment was gone as quickly as it came. Diluc’s expression hardened again, his voice turning cold once more. “But that doesn’t change what happened. It doesn’t change the fact that everything between us... it’s broken.”
The finality in Diluc’s words felt like a dagger twisting in Kaeya’s chest. He had always feared this moment — the moment when there would be no more room for hope, when the brother he had once known would be lost to him forever.
And now, standing here, staring into the fire, Kaeya realized that maybe that moment had come. Maybe it had come long ago, and he had just been too stubborn to accept it.
But even so, Kaeya couldn’t bring himself to walk away. He couldn’t bring himself to let go of the bond they had once shared, no matter how shattered it was. No matter how much pain lay between them now.
“I’m still your brother,” Kaeya whispered, his voice trembling with the weight of those words. “No matter what happened, no matter how much you hate me... I’m still your brother.”
Diluc’s eyes flickered, but he didn’t respond. He simply stood there, staring at Kaeya with that same cold, distant expression, as if he were looking at a stranger.
Kaeya took a step forward, his heart pounding in his chest. “If there’s any part of you that still cares, Diluc... if there’s anything left of the bond we once had... then tell me. Tell me how to make things right.”
For a long moment, there was only silence. The fire crackled and popped, casting long, flickering shadows across their faces. The weight of Kaeya’s plea hung heavy in the air, thick and suffocating.
Diluc’s jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Kaeya. “You can’t,” he said finally, his voice low and emotionless. “Some things can’t be fixed, Kaeya. Some wounds never heal.”
The weight of those words crushed Kaeya’s last flicker of hope. He had been holding onto the faint possibility that, somehow, they could rebuild what had been lost. That somehow, time and understanding would bridge the chasm between them.
But now... he wasn’t so sure.
Kaeya’s throat tightened, and he nodded stiffly, accepting the bitter truth. “I see,” he murmured, his voice barely audible. He had expected this, hadn’t he? He had known all along that Diluc wouldn’t forgive him, not after everything that had happened.
Still, hearing it out loud, hearing the cold indifference in Diluc’s voice... it hurt in ways Kaeya hadn’t anticipated.
“But,” Diluc added, his voice softening ever so slightly, “just because it’s broken doesn’t mean I’ll forget. You’re still my brother, Kaeya. That won’t change, even if everything else has.”
Kaeya’s heart lurched at those words. It wasn’t forgiveness. It wasn’t reconciliation. But it was something.
A small, fragile connection that hadn’t been entirely severed.
It wasn’t much, but it was enough to keep Kaeya standing. Enough to keep him fighting for whatever remained between them.
With a shaky breath, Kaeya straightened up, brushing a hand through his hair in an attempt to regain some semblance of composure. “I’ll take that,” he said softly, forcing a small, sad smile to his lips. “For now, that’s enough.”
Diluc didn’t respond. He simply turned away, staring back into the flames, lost in his own thoughts.
And as Kaeya stood there, watching the fire dance between them, he couldn’t help but wonder if there was still a future where they could stand side by side again — not as enemies or strangers, but as brothers.
But for now, all they had was the silence... and the flickering warmth of a fire that still burned, even in the coldest of nights.
Kaeya's heart felt heavy as he watched Diluc stare into the flickering flames. The silence stretched between them, filled with unspoken words and memories that were both cherished and painful. It was a chasm of hurt, and he could feel it widening with every passing second.
Kaeya shifted his weight, trying to find the right words as the silence between them stretched painfully. "You know, there were times when I thought… maybe it would have been better if you had just left me to die that day."
Diluc’s head snapped up, shock flooding his features. "What are you talking about?"
Kaeya let out a hollow laugh, bitter and raw. "If you hadn’t left me to live, I wouldn’t have had to carry this guilt. I wouldn’t have to bear the burden of our father’s death, knowing I kept you from the life you deserved."
Diluc’s eyes narrowed, confusion and anger mingling on his face. "That’s not how it works, Kaeya. You can’t seriously believe that."
"But I do!" Kaeya’s voice rose, desperation lacing his words. "You think I wanted to be stuck in this endless cycle of pain and regret? I thought I could protect you, but all I did was drag you down with me. Every moment I’m alive is a reminder of my failure."
"You’re not a failure!" Diluc shot back, the frustration palpable in his voice. "You’re my brother. You always have been. Not killing you was the only choice I could make."
Kaeya’s chest tightened as he met Diluc’s fierce gaze. "But at what cost? I’m still a liability to you. I’m still the reason you’re carrying this burden."
The fire crackled ominously, shadows dancing across their faces. Diluc took a step forward, his voice lowering to a tense whisper. "You think I wanted you to die? You think I'd ever wish that for you? You’re still here, Kaeya. You still have a chance to make things right."
Kaeya swallowed hard, his voice barely audible. "I’m not sure I can. The longer I live, the more I realize that I might never escape this darkness. You saved me, but I don’t think I can save myself."
Diluc stepped even closer, his eyes filled with an emotion Kaeya couldn’t quite read—anger, sadness, and something deeper. "Don’t say that. You’ve faced so much. You’ve fought for Mondstadt, for us. You’ve done everything you could. You’re stronger than you think."
"But it’s not enough," Kaeya replied, his voice cracking as emotions he’d buried for so long finally surged to the surface. "I should have been strong enough to protect you, instead of bringing you pain. I don’t know how to live with that."
Diluc’s gaze softened, the anger dissipating to reveal the hurt beneath. “Kaeya, I need you to understand something. No matter what you think you’ve done, you’re still my brother. You always will be. I may not be able to forgive you right now, but I’ll always want you to live.”
Kaeya felt a swell of conflicting emotions. The warmth in Diluc’s words was at odds with the cold reality that hung over them, but deep down, he recognized a glimmer of hope. “If only you could see how much I wish I could be that brother for you again.”
“You can be,” Diluc said fiercely, determination coloring his tone. “You just have to let me help you.”
Kaeya took a step back, struggling with the turbulent feelings swirling inside him. “I’ve caused too much damage, Diluc. I don’t want to drag you into my darkness any longer. You deserve better than me. You deserve peace.”
“Peace isn’t found in giving up,” Diluc replied, his voice steady. “It’s found in fighting for the ones you love. And I won’t let you turn your back on me.”
The weight of those words hung heavily in the air, mixing with the smoke from the fire. Kaeya felt a surge of longing, the wish to bridge the chasm that had formed between them. But could he truly do that?
Diluc’s face softened, his anger giving way to vulnerability. "Do you think I don’t regret what I did to you that day?"
Kaeya froze, his breath catching. "What do you mean?"
"I regret it too, Kaeya," Diluc confessed, his voice thick with emotion. "The day I hurt you, when I lashed out, I’ve replayed it over and over in my mind. I thought I’d lost my brother. And no matter how much I told myself it was justified, that I was hurting too… it didn’t make it right."
Kaeya’s throat tightened, his eyes burning with unshed tears. He had never imagined hearing these words from Diluc, the very words he’d longed for, and yet feared. "You… regret it?"
"I do." Diluc’s voice cracked, his fists clenching at his sides. "I regret hurting you, pushing you away when we both needed each other. I was blinded by my own grief. I never stopped to think about how much pain you were in. I just—"
"—You thought I betrayed you," Kaeya finished, his voice quiet but steady. "And I didn’t fight back. I thought I deserved it."
Diluc looked away, his jaw tight. "Maybe I thought that too, back then. But not anymore."
Kaeya felt his heart ache at the admission. "You saved me that day. But I wish you hadn't. I wish you had let me die because I didn’t deserve to live after everything I’ve done."
Diluc’s eyes snapped back to his, filled with fire. "Don’t say that. Don’t you dare say that, Kaeya. I saved you because I couldn’t lose you, and I don’t regret it. Not for a second."
Kaeya shook his head, tears finally slipping down his cheeks. "But I’ve only caused more pain. Every day since then, I’ve wondered if you’d have been better off without me."
"I wouldn’t," Diluc said firmly, stepping even closer until he was right in front of Kaeya. "Maybe I didn’t see it before, but I do now. I’ve been living in my own darkness too. And if I didn’t have you… I don’t know what would be left of me."
Kaeya’s breath hitched. "But I’m the one who brought you all this grief…"
Diluc’s expression softened, his voice quiet yet firm. "Maybe. But you’re also the one who can help us move forward. We’ve both made mistakes. But we’re still here. And I refuse to lose you again."
The weight of Diluc’s words settled over Kaeya like a heavy blanket, and for the first time in years, he felt something shift inside him. It wasn’t the end of the pain, nor the resolution of all their problems. But it was a start.
"I… I’ll try," Kaeya whispered, his voice raw but filled with determination. "For you. For us."
Diluc nodded slowly, the tension in his shoulders easing. "That’s all I ask. We can figure it out. Together."
Kaeya felt a flicker of warmth, something unfamiliar but welcome. He had spent so long believing that nothing could change, that he was doomed to live with the weight of his choices. But now, standing beside Diluc, he realized that maybe—just maybe—there was a way forward.
Together, they could face the darkness.
As the fire crackled behind them, Kaeya allowed himself to hope that one day, they might find the light again.