Genre: Action, Adventure, Angst, Comedy, Fantasy, Fluff, Genshin Impact, Hurt/Comfort, Romance

Summary: Minjoo wants freedom, Yujin wants home. Could flame and water ever get along though?

Word Count: 12112

Hashtag: #JinjooFiestaS3_Vaporize

a reaction called Vaporize

(A/n : this uses themes of the Genshin Impact Universe, but has no direct connection to the in-game lore)

Kim Minjoo never asked for her life.

Born the crown princess of the fantastical land of Natlan, Minjoo was born into one hell of a luxury.

Hell being the keyword of course.

Sit still.

Don’t do that Minjoo.

Don’t walk like that Minjoo.

You can’t do that in front of people Minjoo.

Sure, Natlan was the home to The Lady of The Fire, and Minjoo herself had the capability to take control over flames, but she never expected the smoke to suffocate her like this.

Ever since the moment her umbilical cord was cut, being a princess was her sole purpose, her mother and father believing her to be just another pawn in their little game of chess. Hailing from the City of War, and being devout believers in the Goddess of War caused them to become tremendously fixated on the idea of bloodshed and the centuries of planning and political moves that led to the eventual and unavoidable circumstance of warfare.

Except in their world, there were no rooks, no knights and no bishops.

Only a King and a Queen, and their loyal pawns.

And the most inevitable thing in a game of chess was surely a pawn’s demise.

The war has already begun, as it is just a continuation of past battles.

Despite her parent’s craving for order in court, Kim Minjoo is still a flame, and she wants to burn— brighter than ever before.

“Lady Kim,” one of her mother’s many servants calls, and she sighs as she turns to the older woman, arching an eyebrow at her, turning from her spot on one of the many balconies of the grand palace, planting her bare feet firmly on the ground.

“Your mother wants to see you,” she announces, and Minjoo sighs yet again, waving her off as she left her room, refusing to put on a pair of slippers as she dragged herself towards the throne room, where her mother would reside 85% of the time.

“Where is that girl? Her tardiness is beginning to get more on my nerves now than ever before!” She hears her mother squabble about none other than her darling daughter, the princess rolling her eyes before she slides down the railing of the stairs, her mother’s eyes going wide in shock as she saw the youngster acting ‘unlady-like’, the servants around her shuffling their feet— not wanting to listen to lecture the Queen would be giving the young Kim this time around.

“Minjoo,” Her mother practically growls at her, but Minjoo stands her ground, only flashing her a sly smile with innocent eyes, testing her mother’s patience even further.

“You know what? I don’t want to talk to you now— go- scram!” She orders as she leans back in her throne, Minjoo chuckling as she left the throne room, deciding to leave the suffocation of the palace.

Rushing to the back door of the palace, Minjoo grabs her hooded cloak, to avoid the masses from recognising her.

The last time that happened, her loyal knight Miyawaki barely made it out alive of the hoards of people that chased after her.

The Palace of Natlan, wasn’t as well guarded as one would expect. As a matter of fact, Minjoo was quite sure that even the average merchant in Liyue had better security than the Royal Base of Natlan. This was most likely because the people of Natlan just loved causing havoc everywhere, being the followers of the Goddess of War herself, obviously, petty arguments and bar fights would run through their veins at light speeds.

So as Minjoo, still barefoot, walks through the busy streets of Natlan’s main city, looking for anything that would catch her eye, and once something does, Minjoo finds herself stuck in a spot, staring at this strange girl with a witch’s hat placed delicately on her head, her bangs seeming as if they were cut with a knife with how wonky they looked.

The girl was sitting under a tree with a table laid in front of her, and by her feet was a sign with the words Free Astrology Reading written in neat handwriting. Minjoo chuckles at this slightly, because the girl looked more like she was begging for money rather than giving away astrology readings for free— whatever that meant.

Minjoo decides it wouldn’t hurt to get her astrology read, and perhaps give this girl a bowl of soup or something, she looked terribly hungry.

“Hello,” Minjoo says softly, standing directly in front of the girl’s table, the latter snapping out of her daydream to focus on the newcomer in front of her.

“Oh hello, would you like to have your future read? For free of course, I am Astrologist Mona Megistus,” She says with a tired smile, using one hand to push a chair in Minjoo’s direction, the fire elementalist gladly taking a seat across from this astrologist.

“Right, Mifestus, what is astrology?” Minjoo asks, not wanting to suddenly become part of a Teyvat-wide drug cartel purely because she wanted to know what on earth astrology meant.

Not that she thinks astrology has anything to do with drugs of course, but this Magistus girl seems to have not a lot of money- and who else also has not a lot of money? That’s right— drug addicts.

“First of all, it’s Megistus, and astrology is the art and study of one’s life based upon distant cosmic objects, usually the constellation’s that we are all bonded to upon birth,”

“Past, present and future, are all written in the stars— astrology is the art of reading the stars,” She says proudly, almost boasting even, but Minjoo is just glad that this girl is insane, and not a drug addict.

Well, Minjoo obviously knows what constellations are, being native to Teyvat and all— but Natlan was at a bit of a shortage when it came to knowledge of things outside of battle strategy, so this so called, art, was rather unheard of, even to the upper class of Natlan.

“Okay Mollestus—”

“MEGISTUS!”

“Megfistus,”

“Mona Me. Gis. Tus,” Mona pronounces word by word, trying to get her name through this silly girl’s head, and Minjoo thinks about it for a while, trying to implant the strange name into her head.

“Megtestis,”

“ENOUGH! Call me Mona instead,” Mona groans as she gives up, Minjoo also shrugging in defeat, deciding to go back to the topic at hand.

“So, you can read my future?” Minjoo asks, doubting the authenticity of the astrology that Mona brought to her land.

“Of course princess, I can do anything,” Mona says with a smirk, and Minjoo literally chokes in the air.

“H-how did you know—”

“Constellation Vulpecula, I knew as soon as I saw you— I’ve seen every possible outcome of your life, and I have come to one conclusion,” Mona says proudly, and Minjoo braces herself for whatever she was about to hear, hoping it was some sort of good news akin to perhaps- ‘you’ll finally escape Natlan’ or, ‘your mother will finally disown you’ or maybe even—

“You’ll be meeting your soulmate on Friday night,” Mona announces with a sly smile on her lips, and Minjoo’s mouth dangles open.

Soulmate.

“Oh don’t be so shocked princess, everyone has one- it’s just that some people know and some people don’t know,” Mona says casually, and Minjoo quickly stands up from her seat, slamming her palms against the table, looking the astrologist directly in the eye.

“I don’t trust you,” Minjoo snickers, but Mona just shrugs, humming a soft tune.

“Fair, you did just meet me today after all,” Mona replies. “And you don’t even know what astrology is, so it’s not rocket science that you don’t believe me,” Mona explains, but Minjoo shakes her head, deciding to put her ‘free reading’ card to good use even if she didn’t fully trust this lady with a hat that seemed a little too big for her head.

“Whatever, do I ever get to get out of Natlan?”

“Sure, if you play your cards right- that little soulmate of yours could take you anywhere you want,” Mona suggests, and Minjoo has absolutely no clue if she actually believed what this woman was saying.

“I’ll be taking your words with a grain of salt, Megistus,” Minjoo says through squinted eyes, Mona’s eyes lighting up at Minjoo’s words.

“You finally got it right!” She chirps, Minjoo sighing at the scholar's sudden burst of positivity.

“Right, whatever Festus, I’ll be on my way, you should eat- you look like you’re starving,” Minjoo remarks as she waves the astrologist goodbye, Mona opening as if she wanted to say something, but she closes it again, shaking her head, deciding to mumble something to herself instead.

“No Mona, no matter how hungry you are, and how rich she is, you shouldn’t use astrology as a way of gaining profit- it is a sacred art and—”

“Follow me, I’ll feed your ,” Minjoo scoffs as she sees Mona’s eyes light up like a puppy’s, the mage running after Minjoo at light speeds, Minjoo just sighing, deciding she’d have to go back to the palace earlier than the usual today.

——

“My lady!” Sakura exclaims as soon as Minjoo walks through the back door with Mona, the mage immediately disappearing, Minjoo almost screaming in shock if it weren’t for Sakura babbling as soon as she made eye contact with the Kim.

“Your mother! She’s holding another one of her, ‘gatherings’ my liege, we need to find you a suitable dress and we have to get you—”

“Woah! Sakura, chill, that’s not your responsibility, she probably already has ten dresses made, you know her,” Minjoo reminds, but Sakura sighs, though the princess isn’t really focused on the Inazuman knight, as she was trying to spot where the hell Mona went through the corner of her eye.

“You’re right, but still, you should go and clean up, though you do look less filthy than the usual,” Sakura points out, and Minjoo can’t help but hum in agreement, because usually, she’d sneak out to join the underground Pro - Bending matches (A game in which three Vision holders who could control Earth, Fire and Water came together to shoot goals and kick , very illegal stuff)

(A/n - Vision holders are what people who can control the elements are called)

“When is this thing again?” Minjoo asks before she walks off, trying to figure out where the hell Mona went.

“Tomorrow evening,” Sakura says quickly, before the loud below of a voice that was clearly General Kwon’s echoes through the hall, Sakura shooting off faster than the general could say “Get your here Miyawaki!”

General Kwon says those words far more often than necessary.

“Mona?” Minjoo whispers as she walks up the stairs, spotting a trail of water that seemed to lead to nowhere in particular, the princess slowly making her way back to her room, still wary of whether the mage really existed or not.

Maybe she was just a fragment of my imagination?

Minjoo thinks the possibility of that is very high, considering she’d never even heard of the word Astrology until she’d met the woman, so perhaps Mona was just something her mind conjured so she’d have some sort of hope that she’d be able to make her way out of Natlan sometime soon.

It’s a sad revelation, but Minjoo can’t help but believe that it was the truth.

Minjoo sits at the foot of her bed, ready to wallow in her sorrows of being the crown princess of the wretched land of Natlan.

“Boo!” Mona bursts out of nowhere, a splash of water along with her.

“What on earth—”

“Surprised?” Mona says with a prideful smirk, Minjoo just staring at her with wide eyes.

“Yes!? I thought you weren’t real for a second!” Minjoo exclaims, Mona letting out an evil laugh before replying.

“It’s one of my many skills as an expert in magecraft,” Mona says slyly, Minjoo groaning as she fell back on the bed, Mona jumping onto her bed as well, letting out a sigh of relief as she did so.

“Oh don’t fret Princess Kim, afterall, you will be meeting your soulmate tomorrow!”

Minjoo groans even louder.

——

Minjoo realised, only when the party began, that Mona never gave her any pointers on what her soulmate actually looked like or even better, who her soulmate was.

All Minjoo knew was that her soulmate could bring her somewhere far away from Natlan, which led her to believe that her mother must’ve invited some royals and aristocrats from Natlan’s neighbouring nations.

Her assumptions were correct.

All sorts of people in unfamiliar attire waltzed around the ballroom, flashing smiles and offering dances to the young princess, who politely declined with a half-assed smile, saying she was waiting for someone.

She knows her mother will scream if she hears Minjoo had someone on her mind.

It’s her mother’s absolute dream to marry her off to someone. Preferably someone with power and status, just so she could widen the circumference of her circle of contacts.

Everything’s a war strategy in the City of War afterall.

Minjoo moves with most elegance towards the three thrones at the edge of the room, a smirk on her lips as she sits on the one that was rightfully hers, scanning the room for anyone that catches her eyes- anyone that could be her ticket out of Natlan.

An agent?

Minjoo questions the presence of a Fatui agent at her mother’s esteemed parties, especially one that wasn’t a harbinger, nor anyone of equal importance. Agents, to her mother, were just lowlife commoners.

Fatui agents especially, weren’t the most wanted on her mother’s list of invitees, due to the fact that The Fatui were an organisation that brought havoc wherever they went, and their little agent cronies just spelled trouble and war crimes with each move they made. And all this was in the eyes of someone who had war burned into the folds of her mind.

The quick conclusion was, her mother hated agents, she enjoyed painting the bigger picture of war, but never the little portraits of those fighting it.

So what was a strange little agent doing in the ballroom of the most glamorous place in all of Natlan?

Strange because Minjoo notices, that her hood is pulled down, revealing messy unkempt hair that was cut below her ear, and her mask seemed a little different than the conventional agent’s, but other than that, the unnamed agent was well built and tall, her arms crossed as she leaned against the table that served beverages, unamused by the sight of gold and fire that decorated the hall.

Her mother called for this sudden fiesta to find Kim Minjoo a suitor.

Though she never explicitly says that this is the reason for the parties, Minjoo knows this woman all too well.

A fatui agent and a princess of a nation.

Oh that’ll piss her off.

Minjoo smiles as she stands from her throne once more, practically galloping towards the agent, as she turns to pay her mother one last glance, the woman staring at her with wide eyes, trying to read the next course of her daughter’s actions. She fails to do so of course, because if she succeeded, she would’ve stopped the youngest Kim right in her tracks.

“Hey,” Minjoo says with a sly smile as she approaches the agent, who ignores her at first- thinking that there surely was something the punch, or else no way would she be having these hallucinations.

“Me?” The agent points to herself as she questions the Princess, Minjoo nodding aggressively, holding out a hand for the agent to take.

“What’s your name?” Minjoo says quietly, knowing that by now, all eyes would be on her.

“Y-yujin, y-your Ma-jesty,” The agent stammers as she replies, Minjoo giggling at how flustered the strange agent was.

“Well Yujin, dance with me- by royal decree,” she requests loudly, with a devilish smirk just as alarming, eliciting some gasps and yelps from the surrounding group- the whispers coming not even a second later, though the music managed to drown out the specifics of what the darned aristocrats were saying

Before Yujin can even react, the Princess grabs hold of her hand, quickly lacing her left with Yujin’s right, placing the agent’s other hand on her waist.

“You do know how to dance don’t you?” Minjoo tip toes to whisper into Yujin’s ear, making the scene even the more intimate as they waltzed into the front and center of the dance floor, the red on Yujin’s face visible even with the mask on.

“It’s- part of my expertise,” Yujin says, a subtle hint of confidence bubbling in her tone.

“Good, you wouldn’t want to disappoint a princess,” Minjoo says with a smirk as she let’s Yujin take over, the latter proving she wasn’t a liar with the way she moved her and her partner, the twists and twirls exceptionally on beat as the song carried on, Minjoo actually having a fun time dancing with someone who wasn’t just dancing with her because they wanted her hand in marriage, but someone who was dancing with her- simply because they wanted to dance.

The Kim doesn’t even feel tired as the piece came to its conclusion, though she is breathless, and the people around them are clapping at the mini performances they put on, amazed at how this random Fatui managed to score the most sought after woman of the night.

Yet those thoughts don’t play at all in Yujin’s mind, because Minjoo is smiling at her, telling her with a cheeky tone that she wasn’t as bad as she expected, and all she can think of is how it was no wonder that this princess was so popular.

She’s gorgeous.

Is the last thought in Yujin’s head before the Princess suddenly surges forward, wrapping her arms around Yujin’s neck, pulling the latter’s head forward to place a gentle kiss on her ear before asking.

“Can I kiss you?” Minjoo asks, and by now, Yujin is a hundred percent sure there was something in that punch.

The agent manages to fumble out a yes before Minjoo somehow pulls her even closer, their bodies melting together as Yujin maintained a firm grip on Minjoo’s waist, the shorter of the two pulling Yujin down so that their lips could meet in the middle, and this time- the gasps are even louder.

It’s scandalous, and it’s dangerous— Yujin has only met this girl today— but it’s exhilarating, and it’s freeing, and also;

When else will Ahn Yujin get to kiss a princess?

“Yujin,” Minjoo announces even louder than before, despite being breathless from the intensity of the sudden kiss. Yujin puts her full attention on the woman, who’s eyes wore a serious expression as she gazed into Yujin’s dazed eyes.

“Marry me?”

Oh wow there were a lot of things in that punch.

——

“Kim Minjoo!” Her mother roars as Minjoo sits on the opposite end of their dining table from her mother, (That was meant to accomodate 30 people, mind you) the sheer loudness making the youngest feel as if she were right next to her.

“What? Don’t you want to marry me off?” Minjoo says nonchalantly, flipping the pages of her catalyst, a book-like weapon that allowed Minjoo to play with the flames she was given control over.

She was naturally talented in all ranged weapons, from bows to catalysts, some say she was born with it, some say that those talents were blessings from the Gods.

“Not to the Fatui!” Her mother snickers, but Minjoo wears a sly smile on lips, cocking an eyebrow at her mother.

“Why not? Snezhnaya has the second best war facilities in Teyvat,” Minjoo reminds her mother’s extreme dedication to the Goddess of War, but the older woman clicks her tongue, slamming a fist on the table.

“Then marry a harbinger, not a lowly agent,” Her mother growls, but Minjoo shrugs, trying her best to keep her ground.

Though she does harbour slight pity for the agent, she didn’t even know who Minjoo was other than her title, but now she’s been forced to marry the Natlanian, still dazed and clueless as she waited for Minjoo to end her ‘discussion’ with her mother as she dangled her feet off the bed of the princess’ room.

But alas, Minjoo has successfully embarrassed her mother in front of all her obnoxious friends, so the fire of pride in her heart remains ablaze, burning even brighter than before.

Last night was proof that Kim Minjoo did indeed have control over her own life, and in order to continue this show of power- she intends to go through with this plan, or else, it would just be another scene in her life that would prove how much her mother had control over her, and if the plan fell, it would be yet another excuse for her mother to deem her uncapable of holding her own.

“You are aware that all members of the Fatui swear themselves eternally loyal to The Tsaritsa right?” Her mother says, cocking an eyebrow, which is meant to be a threat, because most people who went to see the Tsaritsa, rarely ever came back without a serious case of frostbite on most parts of their body.

But Minjoo chuckles, because she doesn’t actually intend on marrying the Agent, she just needs enough time to get away from home— and enough time to disappear into the night, never to be seen again.

“I’ll ask her myself then,” Minjoo says with a nonchalant shrug, though her heart is racing- out of excitement or out of fear, she decides not to make that decision yet.

“You’ll probably die,” Her mother says, pulling out a pocket knife, twirling it between her fingers.

“You care?” Minjoo places a hand on her heart, pretending to be touched by her mother’s foward words.

“Not enough to stop you, if you’re so desperate to marry that lowlife,” The Queen remarks, throwing the knife with precision, the blade embedding itself right in between Minjoo’s ring finger and middle finger, the latter barely flinching, having experienced such random attacks all her life.

“Besides, engaging in a connection with the Tsaritsa isn’t that bad of an idea,”

—

“You’re crazy,” Is all Yujin says to her, shaking her head in disbelief, Minjoo tossing a few bags of stuff onto the carriage, and though it’s not as much as Yujin expected from a princess, it’s still a hefty amount for the poor horse to drag through the ice cold of Snezhnaya.

Though Yujin is praying it’s cold enough for the fiery princess to change her mind.

“You’ve barely scratched the surface there bud,” Sakura comments as she yanks a crate of food onto the carriage, climbing onto the driver’s seat in a flash (quite literally, as the Knight held dominion over lightning) Yujin barely able to react before Minjoo pulled her into the carriage, the agent still as dazed as the moment Minjoo approached her.

“You’re a madwoman,” Is all Yujin can say, Minjoo letting out a huff of relief as she kicks her feet up, placing them on the seat opposing her, which happened to be on the same bench Yujin was seated on.

“Oh don’t worry darling, you don’t actually have to marry me,” Minjoo says with a small smile, twirling an arrow between her fingertips, the entire arrow engulfed in tiny flames, ready to bite.

“Oh thank gods, I don’t have the energy to run from a fiery princess and her electro sidekick,” Yujin lets out a sigh of relief, leaning against the walls of the carriage, finally ruining her posture.

“Well, don’t think you’re off the hook just yet,” Minjoo points the arrow to Yujin, tipping it forward.

“Off the hook? Excuse me but do I owe you something Miss Kim?” Yujin asks, crossing her arms as she cocked an eyebrow, not afraid of the flames Minjoo showcased.

“Not exactly, but you still, technically, are my fiancé- so I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to do one little thing for me before we break up,” Minjoo remarks casually, and the agent tries her best to suppress the blush on her cheeks.

Of course, as a logical and realistic human being, Yujin doesn’t actually like this wild hearted princess, it just so happens that she was senselessly gorgeous, and the little smirk she wore could conquer nations far better than war ever could.

And Yujin’s heart was a small country compared to the towering nation of Natlan.

“And what is this- little thing?” The agent asks, prying the Kim for the specifics of what she had to do.

“Help me run away from Natlan,” Minjoo puts bluntly, and Yujin almost chokes on her own spit, shaking her head at the sudden revelation.

“And how am I supposed to do that?!” Yujin protests, having absolutely no idea on how to hide a famed princess from her shining throne.

“You’re fatui! It’s not that difficult, Sakura will tell my mother I’ve died, and while she does that, you can bring me to Mondtstadt, far away from Natlan,” Minjoo says as if the plan is foolproof, though Yujin sees multiple, very large holes, in the seams of that plan.

Yet, something still inclines her to agree.

“Fine— just- I want something out of this too,” Yujin demands, though her mind goes blank as soon as Minjoo nods, muttering something about it being fair.

What does Yujin want?

There are many things that the agent could say she ‘wanted’, yet those things weren’t exactly things the princess could give her, even if she had all the wealth in the world- even if she had conquered every nation in Teyvat.

No, even the brightest flames from the royal court could not enlighten Yujin’s wishes.

A home, stability, and a land to call her orgin was not something flame could grant.

Flames were fervent, uncontainable, aching to be freed, aching to be fed.

It devoured land, much less could it grant land.

Yujin sighs.

“Anything?” Yujin questions.

“I’ll try my best,”

“I’ll tell what I want you when were done,”

——

It’s been a few days since they’d both departed, and things go wrong faster than Yujin could ever expect.

Perhaps she should’ve expected it.

Nothing ever goes well when you come to Snezhnaya uninvited.

“Uh, my liege?” Sakura slides the curtain to reveal the half-awake agent and the sleeping princess, though the former becomes wide awake as she spots the armed Fatui warrior behind Sakura, pointing a gun to Sakura’s head.

“We’re going to need some identification,” The warrior growls, Sakura’s teeth chattering as she opened the door, Minjoo finally grasping the situation as she gripped the arrow she had been messing around with, ready to strike.

“It can control ice,” Yujin whispers, Minjoo looking to her with wide eyes.

“B-but, you can just show them your identification right darling? You are a member of the fatui,” Minjoo reminds, and Yujin bites her tongue as she slips out of the carriage, pulling up her hood as she planted her feet on the ground, the 6 foot 10 warrior turning to face the agent.

“I’m Ahn Yujin, a fatui Agent,” Yujin says with confidence, the soldier arching an eyebrow at the Ahn.

“Could you show your mark of loyalty?”

Yujin huffs as pushes her left sleeve up, turning her palm to face upwards, raising it high so it would be all in the warrior’s view.

“Did you… show me the wrong hand? I can’t really see— HEY!”

Yujin summons a sword into the palm of her right hand, sending an aggressive splash of water on the Skirmisher, the man roaring as soon as the wave hit, allowing Sakura to flash onto the top of the carriage, aiming the tip of her spear at the Fatui’s face.

Another bellow from the oversized man causes a shield of ice to form around him, Minjoo reacting twice as fast, a blazing arrow notched and ready to fire. The Fatui isn’t as slow as they expect though, because he shoots a blast of ice to Yujin’s face, the latter nearly frozen to death if not for the flaming arrow burning through the attack.

“Hold him back!” Minjoo yells as Yujin summons another stream of water, using the liquid to trap the skirmisher's head, preventing the man from breathing. Sakura joins in on the sudden battle, the electro spear piercing straight through the shield, causing the man to jolt from the constant shocks.

Minjoo notches three arrows at once, the tips blazing as she aimed the shot, letting out a calm breath before letting them fly.

The ice melts, taking the skirmisher along with it.

“I’ll explain once we get out of here,”

——

“So you’re not Fatui?!” Minjoo questions as the three sat together at the edge of a tavern, Sakura groaning with each word the Ahn said.

“Correct, as I said, I am Ahn Yujin, a nobody from Fontaine,” Yujin explains once more, Sakura somehow groaning louder than before. “I went to Natlan looking for something- unfortunately, I didn’t find anything,”

“So we came all the way here— almost got frozen to meat chunks by a Fatui skirmisher— for nothing?” Sakura complains, slamming her head onto the table, Yujin shrugging at the older woman’s distress.

“Most likely, yes,” Yujin replies bluntly, blobs of water floating around in her palm.

Minjoo just sighs as fire flew from her fingertips, the little blobs turning into vapour as soon as they met.

“So now you do owe me!” Minjoo bursts before Yujin can complain about the murder of her blobs, the Ahn and the Knight looking at Minjoo with wide eyes, though she wears a frown on her lips, her eyes remained lighthe