and then my soul saw youSpring, the flowers are in an abundant bloom.

Cherry blossoms, plum blossoms, magnolias, tulips, peonies. The peak of the season. Petals scattering here and there, bees and butterflies gathering around. A joyous spring, just as the ones before.

Zhongli loves it.

'A short walk in the park will be nice', he encourages himself. A just plan, acting as a reminder of the other things he needs to do, a reminder that he shouldn't waste his time. Despite that he finds himself sitting down on a park bench, relishing in the scenery, sometimes with a book in hand, more often than not.

He loves it anyway, so there's no such thing as a waste of time being here.

An hour passes. Two. Three. He loses count. The sun is close to setting. But Zhongli pays no heed.

The man places his book down. Closing his eyes and smiles. An uneventful evening, one might say when they see him. Walking mindlessly around the park, finding a perfect spot to read and losing track of time. Boring, perhaps. Yet he's delighted.

He takes a deep breath. Various scents of the flowers around him fill his senses. Sweet, subtle, delicate, some strong and some musky. Zhongli exhales.

Zhongli opens his eyes, feeling the warmness of the sun slowly leaving his skin. He smiles softly, an offering of goodbye to the remaining flickers of light. A thank you for the company. The dark brown haired man closes his eyes once more.

He inhales again. Exhales. Taking pleasure in the serene surroundings. Inhales. Exhales. Inhales. Exhales. Inhales.

Until a striking scent catches him off guard.

'Glaze lilies..' He recognizes it. A feeling like no other, overcoming his senses. Confusion soon grows. The flower is rare these days, everyone knows it. It doesn't grow in this park, Zhongli knows since he frequents this place often. The glaring scent he inhales makes it more confusing. He's surrounded by many flowers, why is it that a lone flower, a glaze lily, strikes more than the rest.

The scent grows stronger.

"Excuse me,"

He opens his eyes.

"Have we met before"

He doesn't respond. Her voice reminds him of a song. The tune he always wakes up to, greeting him every morning, lulling him back to sleep. Familiar, yet distant. What even is the song, he doesn't know. It reminds him of a longing, lasting for centuries and centuries. A pain. Why, he can't seem to pin it on anything.

"Ah—" She gasps to herself, eyes wide and her hand waving in front of her face, an attempt to get rid of the thought. "That came out unprompted, I'm sorry." The lady bowed slightly. Her white hair falls, framing her face when she straightens her posture after.

She probably thinks he's weirded out by the lack of answer—movement. Zhongli himself doesn't know what he's feeling, or what he needs to be feeling.

"It's just that," Her voice trails about. Their eyes finally meet. "It feels like we've known each other for a long, long while."

"...Yeah." Zhongli finally answers. He doesn't blink, he doesn't shy away from her gaze. Familiar, yet untouched. He can feel flowers blooming inside of his chest as they continue staring at one another. For what, everything is unclear as of this moment.

The man finally snaps out of his trance, "Pardon me," he breaks their eye contact. "Where are my manners" He chuckles to himself lightly, standing up.

The woman moves an inch, two, to give him space to stand, enough space between them.

"My name is Zhongli," he introduces himself, extending his hand for her to shake. Everything about this is odd, he can't deny. He doesn't have the need to do this, he doesn't have the need to trust whatever feeling his gut is making him go through. But he knows it's right. The man smiles at her.

"Oh," she smiles back softly, extending her own hand. "Guizhong. My name is Guizhong."