Canon-Compliant, Soulmate AU, Fluff, Minor Spoilers for Archon Quest?

Being the Archon of wisdom came with a lot of perks. Alongside to being able to watch over the entirety of Sumeru, Nahida had the information of every living being who had ever existed on Teyvat through her connection to Irminsul.

The grand tree granted her a lot of other abilities; her favorite of which being the ability to see people's soulmates. Whenever someone's history aligned with another's, their auras would slowly mesh together until they were a solitary unit. During her 500 year confinement, she would always watch eagerly as people's relationships would grow from a mere seedling.

Sometimes, the stars may fail to align, and supposed soulmates will drift away from one another. Other times, some auras would come close to one another but never quite fully merge.

It was only natural that not all soulmates would end up together; the people of Sumeru were ordinary people- there was no way for them to know who their soulmate was. Nahida knew of this- yet, ever the sucker for a happy ending, she often found herself giving her people a helping hand.

The soulmates she was currently observing were best friends, young men who had met as students in the Akademiya and grew pratically inseparable ever since. She had never seen two people who worked so well together- everything from their personalities all the way to their visions fell into perfect place with one another, like pieces of a puzzle.

There were a lot of things that Nahida knew about- but she had absolutely no idea as to why Cyno and Tighnari had yet to get together. She was never one to get frustrated- yet she could feel herself start to get a little annoyed the more she watched them. They were so close yet so far, and the little archon had finally had enough.

Cyno was currently accompanying Tighnari on a patrol around Avidya Forest. They were originally part of a bigger group, but had split up and were now alone. Now would be the perfect time for her to work her magic.

A faint green light emanated from the space between them, instantly catching both of their attentions. When they looked down at it, it faded almost instantaneously- in its place a singular red string tied around their pinky fingers.

"Hm?" Tighnari lifted up his hand, observing the string. It was practically weightless- he couldn't even feel it around his finger, and seemed to stretch as far as he wanted to pull his hand. He swiped at it with his other hand, and although he didn't even feel the string, it still moved as if he had flicked it. "That's odd. Cyno, are you seeing this?" He asked, turning to face his companion.

From the looks of it, Cyno had definitely seen the string. "Yeah," he muttered. "I can see it too." His eyes were practically glued onto it, body stiff and eyes wide as if he had realized something.

"Do you know what it is?" Tighnari prompted.

Cyno gulped, seemingly nervous all of the sudden. "I've read about a phenomenon like this in a few transcripts from the Akademiya. Whenever the Dendro Archon found two people to be compatible with one another, she would bestow a string upon their fingers, tying their fates together. Researchers have dubbed it as a Soulmate String."

It sounded ridiculous to Tighnari- but the way Cyno's cheeks turned the faintest shade of red was more than enough to confirm that he was serious about it. "So, this is just the Dendro Archon's way of telling us to get married?"

Cyno nibbled on his bottom lip, the string attached to his finger swaying due to his trembling hand. "Something like that, yeah."

No wonder he had looked so nervous. Tighnari huffed softly, cheeks tinting pink as the realization of what Cyno had just told him slowly sank in. A minute or so of silence passed- only to be interrupted by a snort from the forest watcher. "Holy shit, we must be idiots. I mean, seriously, the literal Goddess of Wisdom herself had to help us out." By this point, Tighnari was full on giggling- the back of his hand pressing against his mouth in a failed attempt to stifle his laughter.

It took Cyno a second before he joined in as well. "I feel so dumb," he admitted amidst a few chuckles of his own. "This entire time I was so worried about whether or not you'd feel the same it'd drive me insane."

Tighnari swatted playfully at Cyno with his tail. "You could've said something at the very least."

"I was nervous," Cyno admitted, finally calming down from his little laughter fit. Now, his gaze had taken on a more serious note. "You make me nervous, Tighnari."

"Do I?" Tighnari asked, to which Cyno nodded meekly. Feeling rather adventurous, he dared to take a step closer to the General Mahamatra. "And what do you plan to do about it, hm?" He hummed, a teasing lilt to his words.

Cyno stepped forward as well, his hand finding itself against Tighnari's waist as he closed his eyes and leaned forward to kiss him.

The kiss was well received, with Tighnari wrapping his arms around his neck and reciprocating the gesture. With both of their eyes closed, neither of them noticed the string around their fingers fading back out of existence, too invested in each other to care.

Nahida couldn't help but smile at such a lovely sight. She could feel their auras finally merging into one, and everything was right in the world once more. Her work here was officially done. (But it didn't mean that she'd stop checking in on their budding romance from time to time.)

Author's Note

I couldnt decide for the life of me what Soulmate AU to use for this until I had this idea, and GOD I love matchmaker Nahida it suits her so well. I just know she totally watched her people's love lives as if it were a romcom, and honestly, more power to her LOL

Word Count: ~1k Words