Xiao X Aether Novels & Stories

I never expected to get into it, but the dynamic between them is often this quiet, unspoken thing. A lot of fics focus on Aether as this silent witness to Xiao's suffering, using his outsider perspective to highlight Xiao's solitude. The emotions aren't in big declarations. They're in the details—Aether brewing tea without being asked, Xiao hesitating before accepting a simple meal. The authors get creative with translating Xiao's karma pain into something visceral Aether can almost sense but not fix. That helplessness creates a tension that's more emotional than romantic, sometimes. The best ones make Xiao's gradual softening feel earned, not sudden, like ice thawing under a steady sun.

Some lean too heavily on the 'hurt/comfort' trope, though. When every story is just Aether patching up another wound, it gets repetitive. The more interesting takes explore Xiao's perspective on Aether's own grief, the weight of searching for a lost sibling. What does someone who has endured millennia make of that kind of fresh, desperate longing? Those layers add depth beyond the usual protector/ward setup.

Okay, so looking for Xiao/Aether stuff outside of the usual 'Genshin' tags is kind of a project. My main hunting ground is Archive of Our Own, obviously, but the crossover filter is your best friend there. You have to get creative with the search. Instead of just filtering for the ship tag, try searching for the fandom tag of the other series first, then add 'Xiao Alatus' and 'Aether (Genshin Impact)' as additional character tags. I found a surprisingly solid one with 'Final Fantasy XV' that way—it treated Eos like another Teyvat region and the dynamics just clicked.

Don’t sleep on smaller fandoms either. I stumbled on a 'Tears of Themis' crossover that was more mystery-focused, and it worked because both travelers and lawyers are digging for truths. The characterization for Xiao in that was spot-on, all guarded protectiveness. Tumblr blogs that curate rare pairs sometimes signal-boost these niche crossovers too, but you gotta dig through the reblog chains.

You can practically map out the arcs before you even open the fic sometimes, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of the most-read stuff revolves around Aether's endless search for his sister clashing with his deepening connection to Xiao, that whole 'do I stay or do I go' tension. The yaksha's duty versus personal desire is another huge one—him believing his karmic debt makes him too dangerous to be close to anyone, especially someone as 'pure' as the traveler. Then there's the miscommunication trope, where one of them overhears something out of context or assumes the worst because they're both kinda terrible at talking about feelings. I've seen a few interesting ones where the conflict is external, like another adeptus or even a member of the Liyue Qixing disapproving of their bond. It's all about pitting devotion against some form of duty or perceived impossibility.

Honestly, what keeps me coming back isn't the conflict itself but how it's resolved. Does Xiao finally accept that he deserves something good? Does Aether choose to make a home in Teyvat, even temporarily? The best fics make the angst feel earned, not just repetitive cycles of the same argument. I do wish there was more variety though, maybe exploring conflicts stemming from their vastly different lifespans or Aether's encounters in other nations creating distance.