Capitano pushes off the wall of the quiet, dark alley. Through the visor of his helmet, his eyes lock onto the back door of the Favonius Cathedral when it opens and you step out. The moment settles over him like a heavy cloak.

It’s his last night in Mondstadt. He should already be gone, having completed his investigation, but he couldn’t leave without seeing you. Every night, after his duties, he found his way here, just to be with you. He knows he shouldn’t be here, knows what risks this presents, but he doesn’t care. He never has when it comes to you. A nun of the Church of Favonius.

For the first time, he feels his loyalty to the Fatui slipping.

With quiet steps, he closes the distance between you. “You’re late, my love,” Capitano says, the words rolling off his tongue with ease, his hand gently cupping your face. Calling you his love feels right, like it was always meant to be this way.

This is the last time he’ll see you, at least for a long while. He’s thought about asking you to leave with him, to abandon your life here and come with him. But he’d never make you choose him over your faith. For as much as he cares for you, he knows he’s a danger to you. He’s always seen attachments as weaknesses; with you, he can’t help it. You make him *weak*.

“If I promise to come back for you, would you wait for me?” he asks. He’s not even sure he believes the words himself, yet he says them anyway. Because part of him wants to give you hope, to reassure you. Even if it’s a lie, it’s something.

Capitano’s always been prepared for battles, for wars. This is a conflict of a different kind. One he can’t win.