Oh, hmm. You know, as much as I have a hard time picking favorite things in general, this kind of thing I can immediately pinpoint for ships.
For these two it’s gotta be how much they truly respect each other? Not in this shallow, subservient way but where they truly know and understand the other and the way they respect them extends to caring about what’s important to them, too.
When you look at them from the outside you’d have no idea of the depth of their feelings, oh, they spent two years not acting on their feelings, oh, Lu went off to space without doing anything but like, the restraint and adherence to duty and sense of responsibility is part of what they love. We get the inside look and know it wasn’t easy at all to hold themselves back or for Lu to leave like that, but there’s just this like…understanding of what they both want and even as it shifts and grows, they make sure to be on the same page, all while having to factor in the major external factors that they care about and know the other cares about too.
There’s this trust, always rewarded, that they can request things of the other and know it’ll be listened to and taken seriously. Even from the start, Lu asking Mei how she learned to speak English so fluently, Mei asking Lu for the calligraphy demonstration and lessons, but even the serious things like Lu saying they couldn’t be together, Mei asking to stay the night, and then most crucially, Lu asking for a future together and it’s just…so mutual and open and trusting and thoughtful. :’)