As Nat healed, she was assigned to work as assistant to Quarter Captain Kaeya, slight torture for Nat who was so used to being independent in her work. Kaeya, Albedo, and Huffman had been put in charge of splitting up Nat’s tasks in Liyue, and they always returned with a new book from Xingqiu for Nat to read.

He had sent her lots of books, and each time Nat sent back a letter explaining her thoughts and questions on the reading. So far she had read A Legend of Sword by a new author Xingqiu loved, as well as some books on combat, Rex Lapis, and Hu Tao’s favorite ghost story book. Nat enjoyed reading, and it was a great way to pass the time since she couldn’t visit her friend in person. Nat’s day to day was mostly paperwork, following up with local shops on supply chain issues, and checking in with the Sisters at the Church to make sure everything was okay.

Nat was sitting at Kaeya’s desk, sorting through paperwork, when Kaeya walked in with a smug look of annoyance on his face.

“That’s my desk,” Kaeya noted, looking Nat up and down. 

“Yes, and your work, but I’m almost done with it anyway,” Nat retorted with a smirk. Kaeya laughed to himself and took a seat across from Nat at his own desk. He told her about his day in Liyue, tossing a new book from Xingqiu onto the desk.

“Guhan arts this week, says he has lots to talk about for this one.” Kaeya remarked as Nat thumbed through the book. It looked to be about hydro combat specifically, but Nat knew Xingqiu wouldn’t give her a book with no purpose. She closed it before turning back to Kaeya, who was still rambling on about how different it was working with the Feiyun Commerce Guild.

Nat had six more weeks of office duties to get through before she would be cleared to return to her regular duties. She was heavily scolded by Lisa for walking to Dragonspine a few weeks ago, and told if she did anything like that again she would have to answer to Lisa, which quite frankly scared Nat. 

When she wasn’t assisting Kaeya or reading one of Xingqiu’s books, Nat was helping Albedo show his new assistant Timeous and new head alchemist, Sucrose, the ropes of working with the Knights. Timeous and Sucrose were both eager to learn and help out, but both were also shy and Nat wondered if being quiet was a requirement for alchemy. Earlier in the week she had dinner with the alchemy crew plus Lisa and Sucrose specifically seemed anxious to be there; Nat wondered if she was afraid of her or the new job in general and made note to be extra nice around Sucrose, just in case.

“Well, I’m starved. How about we get some dinner?” Kaeya asked, snapping Nat back to the present. She eagerly agreed, putting her new book in her bag as they headed out. After dinner, she waited in the library for Albedo to return from Dragonspine, reading on one of the couches in the lower area. Nat was so divulged in her book that she didn’t hear Albedo approach her from behind. After quick greetings, he took a seat beside Nat.

“How was work today?” Albedo questioned as he rummaged through his bag for his art supplies.. 

“Mundane and boring as usual, how was training?” Nat replied. Albedo had been training Sucrose and Timeaous on Dragonspine today, showing them the route to the lab, and some insider knowledge that would make Dragonspine easier for them to traverse. 

“It went as expected,” Albedo paused, musing on his words, “I think they can make it on their own next time, but I’m going to keep an eye on them to be safe, you know how Dragonspine can be your first few trips.” Nat shook her head in understanding, leaving the two in comforting silence. It was late, and they were the only two in the library, so Nat felt comfortable enough to lean into Albedo as she read her book. Albedo had finally found his sketch book in his bag, and started to sketch. The two sat there quietly until Nat dozed off. Albedo gently woke her up and the pair cleaned up and returned to his room for the night.

This was how most days went while Nat recovered and while she missed the rush of the fight and her travels, she secretly enjoyed the relaxed nature of her day to day.  Her life had always been full of something and to have downtime with those she loved meant more than she thought it could. Of course the new lifestyle came with its own challenges, but she knew they were only temporary. In six weeks she would be able to release stress through sparring, travel to Liyue, and venture to Draongspine once more.

Later that week in the early morning, Nat was chatting with Marjorie about stock supply issues: her shop was having a problem with incoming shipments as suppliers wrote that hilitrolls and treasurer hoarders were blocking the way. Nat was apologizing to Marjorie for the inconvenience, taking note to ask Eula and her team to check out the main trade route from Mondstadt to Sumeru, when Diluc approached her.

Nat and Diluc hadn’t talked a lot since his return. After Nat explained her past to her brothers, Diluc had continued to keep his distance. At first, Nat had wondered if she scared him. In all honesty, no one could really say what the Fatui had done to her, even as a child she had feared they were programming her to become a killing machine, though she wasn’t sure how possible that was. Nonetheless, she had seen Sandrone and what she was capable of, so perhaps one day Nat would just snap with no control, so she could understand Diluc wanting to stay away from her, especially after what happened to his father. A delusion backfiring was just as bad as a Fatui killing Crepus themselves. Nat said goodbye to Marjorie and turned to Diluc.

“Natalya, it’s nice to see you out today,” Diluc awkwardly smiled before he continued, “how are you feeling?” 

“Better, thanks for asking, but I’m ready to be out in the field again. Six more weeks and I can work normally and not do Kaeya’s paperwork.” Nat laughed, but Diluc scoffed at Kaeya’s name. Nat had heard from Adelinde that Kaeya and Diluc were not getting along lately, and she wasn’t sure why. Even Jean was aware that the two were bickering, but Jean thought it was just Diluc’s stubbornness. 

“Giving his humdrum tasks to a knight in need, sounds typical of Kaeya…” Diluc retorted.

“Well, it was Jean’s idea since Kaeya is covering a lot of my duties and I need something to do to keep me from losing my mind.” Nat said, defending Kaeya, not willing to take Diluc’s comments, especially when she was still hurting from Diluc’s actions.

“If you’re so bored, stop by the winery later for lunch. I’m sure Adelinde would be pleased to see you.” Diluc said as he started to walk away without waiting to hear Nat’s response.

Nat returned to headquarters, fists balled up at her sides the entire way. Diluc was so smug, and couldn’t even admit to wanting to have Nat around. It was infuriating and made Nat desperately want to hit something, but she kept her cool long enough to let Eula know about the Sumeru trade routes before taking a walk to Windrise to clear her mind.

While Nat wasn’t allowed to travel too far, Windrise was one of the few places Lisa, and Albedo, cleared Nat to travel to. When she got there she sat underneath the shade of the large tree, closing her eyes, fiddling with a rock dagger she created in her hand, thinking about Diluc and Kaeya. 

Kaeya had changed a lot in the years since Diluc left. He had taken on more responsibility with the Knights, wore more of his emotions on his sleeve, and was more open and honest with Nat. The two had gotten close, bonding over their internalized anxieties of being outcasts, and his quick thinking may very well have saved her life only a few weeks ago.

Diluc had also changed. While he had always been more in his head, he was more serious now. Stern. He didn’t seem to care as much about Nat, which hurt her more than he could ever know. He was the first person to help her when she left Snezhnaya and the first to hurt her as well. Nat sat with her thoughts, hoping Venessa or Barbatos would provide her some sort of guidance. Instead, she was greeted by a sudden ambush of slimes, perhaps this was a sign to just go with the wind.

Nat stood up quickly, grabbing at the sword on her hip, but quickly remembered she shouldn’t be fighting. Three anemo slimes and nothing else would be easy for her to handle without too much effort so she let go of her sword, instead creating more geo daggers in the air and piercing the slimes, watching them fly away after impact. She sighed, glad she didn’t need to fight but disappointed; she could very much use some sparring right now to clear her head. Nonetheless, she took off for the Dawn Winery, time to see what Diluc’s lunch was all about.

When she arrived she was greeted by Elzer who was returning from the vineyard. They said their hellos and Elzer guided Nat inside where Adelinde had set up a beautiful table for lunch.

“This is too much, I hope someone else besides me is coming for lunch,” Nat commented, giving Adelinde a hug. Adelinde giggled, guiding Nat to the table before responding.

“Nope, it’s just us and Diluc.” She answered as Nat sat down at a place setting. Adelinde fussed with the table, inviting Elzer to sit down as well. He took the seat diagonal from Nat as Adelinde rushed into the kitchen, Nat and Elzer made small talk as he informed Nat about some winery happenings and gossip among the maids.

“Some of the maids think Adelinde is hiding people in the walls, it’s madness Nat.” He sighed in exhaustion and Nat giggled in response. The younger maids had always been weary of Adelinde, but this was just absurd. Nat was talking about the books she had been reading when Adelinde returned from the kitchen with Diluc in tow. Diluc sat down across from Nat as Adelinde placed the remaining food on the table.

Conversation during lunch was light and awkward at times as they mostly talked about the winery, business, and Nat’s recovery.

“I’m honestly feeling much better, I owe a lot to everyone for helping me get this far,” Nat had replied to Elzer who had asked if Nat could still feel where the arrow had lodged, a question that caused Adelinde to kick him under the table. 

“Elzer, help me clean the dishes and prepare dessert,” Adelinde said as she stood up, ushering Elzer to come with her. As they cleared the table and passed through the kitchen door, Nat and Diluc were left alone. For a moment an awkward silence fell across the table, until Nat got brave enough to talk first.

“So where did you end up going the last few years?” Nat questioned, a smile on her face as she picked up her tea.

“I mostly wandered about. I was after the Fatui, attempting…” Diluc answered, not finishing his sentence.

“Revenge?” Nat questioned, a sad look on her face. When Diluc didn’t answer, she continued, “I’m sorry about Crepus Diluc, I can’t imagine what you’ve been through all on your own.” Nat paused looking at Diluc who didn’t look up from his tea. Seeing him like this made all of Nat’s anger toward him leave her mind. “I’m just happy you’re safe and okay.” She finished and Diluc looked up, seeing genuinity in her face.

“How can you just forgive me like that Nat? I’ve been worried to face you after everything and you can sit there, happy I’m safe?” Diluc’s voice got darker and more emotional with every word. Nat was taken aback, but Diluc continued, “Just for me to find out I should’ve been seeking out more revenge on the Fatui then I originally thought. To find out just how badly they hurt you too.” Diluc’s voice broke on the last word and in that moment it all finally clicked for Nat. 

Diluc hadn’t been avoiding her because he was scared of her, or mad at her. Diluc was upset with himself and unsure of how to approach Nat with it all, so Nat got up from her chair and sat next to Diluc, taking his hands in hers. 

“Hey, I’m okay and honestly I haven’t completely forgiven you. The last few years have been hard, but I know they were hard on you too. I have faith in us to talk it out and make it work, and I’m sure we won’t always think the other is right. But there’s no need for us to have all of those conversations all at once, they’ll happen slowly.” Nat reassured. 

“I should’ve kept in touch, or helped with the arrangements. I left it all to you both, but I’m the oldest. I should’ve stepped up to the plate, father would’ve -” But Nat cut him off.

“Your father would understand that everyone grieves differently. That you were doing what you thought was right, and he wouldn’t have doubted you.  He may have smacked the back of your head when you returned, but he would understand. It took me a long time to understand, but if I can do he would too.” Nat laughed, causing Diluc to smile. Without hesitation he took Nat in for a big hug, squeezing her almost too tight, but she hugged him back just as hard.

“Thank you Nat, I don’t deserve a sister like you.” Diluc responded.

“You won’t have me around much longer if you keep squeezing so hard,” Nat responded as Diluc pulled back, “You have gotten so strong Luc, what have you been eating? Nothing but Core Lapis?” Nat said as she could finally breathe again. They laughed as Adelinde and Elzer returned with dessert. Lunch continued on and Nat left the winery with another hug goodbye from Diluc. 

When Nat returned to Mondstadt she chatted with Timmie on the bridge, asking how his pigeons were before he left. Nat sat on the bridge wall, waiting for Albedo and his team to return from Dragonspine. When Albedo returned he was carrying a basket of Starsilver, his jacket missing. Behind him, Sucrose and Timeous followed both red in the cheeks, Sucrose wearing Albedo’s coat and Timeous carrying a large bag on his back. Confused, Nat hopped down from the bridge offering her assistance with the basket of Starsilver, though Albedo declined, telling Nat she couldn’t lift heavy objects yet. With a sarcastic huff Nat asked about their trip and how training was going.

“It was going great,” Timeous started with a smile, “until someone saw a peculiar object in the lake at Star Glow…” He finished, and Sucrose became more flush in the face.

“Dragonspine is full of unusual life forms, I wanted to see if it was a bone that could be used for my research for the modification of existing life.” Sucrose responded, frazzled.

“She fell in.” Timeous said with a laugh.

“Oh Sucrose, were you okay?” Nat asked, looking over at her as they all walked toward the knight’s headquarters. Sucrose was turning so red Nat thought she may be turning into a tomato. 

“Uh, yes, Mister Albedo let me borrow clothes and his coat.” Sucrose responded, looking at her feet as she walked.

“I let Sucrose borrow a few items of yours that you leave on the mountain. Thankfully, we were able to get her to a fire to warm up quickly.” Albedo added.

“Oh thank you Knight Nat, I didn’t know these were your things, I am so sorry I’ll make sure to wash them as soon as possible.”

“It’s okay Sucrose, and you can just call me Nat.” Nat smiled and they all parted ways, Albedo and Nat sticking together as they unloaded the Starsilver in the lab. Nat told Albedo about her day and lunch with Diluc. 

“Perhaps we all change for the better.” Albedo remarked and Nat sat on those words. Perhaps, he was right.