A/N: So, this is my first finished Tegami Bachi piece, although not exactly my first Tegami project. This is actually a boredom piece where I was trying to work out two additions to my main Tegmi fanfic, which is going veeeeeery slowly, but there are little things in here that connect it... ANYWAY, just a bit of a clarification warning, this takes place at original starting point of Tegami Bachi, running almost parallel to Gauche's delivery of Lag, so...yeah... XD I suck at explanations-just read it! As usual, thanks goes out to Chibi for giving this a once-over, and I really appreciate reviews. Now, on with the fanfic!
Disclaimer: I do not own Tegami Bachi, Amberground, Gauche, Sylvette, Aria, Lloyd, and whatever else I missed belong to Hiroyuki Asada. However, Lukas, Rossa, their dingos, the story and probably most things you don't recognize here are mine. :)
The night sky was big, just like their mountain. In comparison, Central Yuusari seemed to be small and stifling at times to them; the people here were as numerous as the stars in the Amberground sky. Back home, everybody knew everyone else, their business, and every little rumor that was spread about them. Here in Central Yuusari that was hopeless—too many people to even think of knowing every single thing about everyone like in the small town they came from. Instead they were simply happy to have gotten to know the shopkeepers of the shops they frequented and some of their coworkers as well as a few select faces among the normal Central residents. It was amazing how no matter where they went or how old they got there was always something that made them feel small.
First it had been the mountain. Looking out at the rest of the world from the top made you feel like you were standing on top of the whole world from there, yet you felt like a little speck of dust when you saw all the land around you dotted with towns and cities. Even when you came down from the mountain, it made you feel small—both remembered looking up at it from the bottom when they left. Lukas remembered holding Rossa's hand and thinking that it felt small and fragile in his grasp, squeezing as tight as she could through two pairs of gloves (his and hers) though whether it was supposed to be reassuring or out of nervousness, he wasn't sure. He remembered thinking that maybe she was too young, maybe Rossa should take Kivala and go home, but he also knew Rossa would pitch a fit if he suggested it out loud. "Together, Lukas. We've always been together, done everything together, so why should we stop now?" For being two years younger than him, there were times when Rossa almost seemed older than him. She was more like his twin than his little sister, even as little kids they had gotten along extremely well. To be honest, Lukas had been fascinated by the little girl who looked so much like him and Rossa had never had any objections to depending on anyone—particularly her older brother.
From childhood their worlds had been intertwined so that there was no real way of separating them, there were no other children their age in their village to play with, and even then the children had their own small, tightly-knit groups that they hung out in. Lukas and Rossa just happened to be the only two in theirs. They spent their time in admiration and fascination of the blue-uniformed man who came up to the mountain to deliver the mail; they loved to listen to his stories. That was why they left—a fascination and a knack for not fitting in.
Then it had been Central Yuusari. There were so many people there that it made you feel as though you were just a single drop of water in an ocean. Well, that's how it made Rossa feel, anyway. Three years ago the idea had scared her, what if she lost Lukas in that ocean? What if she got lost in that ocean and couldn't find Lukas or home ever again? "Hold my hand, please, Lukas? I don't want to lose you in this sea of people…" She had been silly at thirteen, but Lukas had never really minded, he still didn't. In fact, it was rather common to find the Tuluse siblings walking hand in hand through Central Yuusari; those who knew them laughed and joked with them in greeting while others just stared after them. Rossa didn't care; she knew that this way she would never lose Lukas permanently to that sea of people while Lukas was just happy his sister didn't think she was too old to hold his hand—it was nice to feel needed in those little silly ways of hers.
But the sky… It was every bit as big as their mountain and the population of Central Yuusari combined and bigger than even that. It could swallow you whole and no one would ever know… And so they stood on the hill together with their dingos looking up at the vast Amberground sky with all it's winking stars, Rossa's hand squeezing Lukas' as tight as she could through two pairs of gloves. Standing there, it wasn't impossible to imagine that the whole sky could fall on them without qualm, and Rossa's mind tended to wander to the oddest places. Lukas still thought that her hand felt small and fragile, but he also knew that Rossa could take care of herself now. In those three years she had really grown up, hand-holding and odd thoughts aside. She was sixteen now, Lukas knew that maybe she would drift away from even these things as she began to really notice other boys, but as long as the one(s) she chose to go out with were good, he didn't mind too much. He was pretty sure she had a thing for that boy she had met on their first day and gotten along with ever since, Parker, he was an okay guy… Heck, even he didn't plan on staying glued to his sister forever, though he hoped they would stay close. Personally, he liked that girl who worked in the little pastry shop down the street from the Hive—she was a sweet little thing named Delphine.
"Maybe we should—" Rossa starts to speak, but is interrupted by another voice.
"Heeeeeeeeeeey! Lukas, Rossa!" Both Bees and dingos turn to find the voice's owner, a brown-eyed, blonde-haired girl running towards them with a large and rather furry dog by her side.
"Hey, Aria!" Rossa waved her free hand enthusiastically as the other Bee stopped in front of them, trying to catch her breath.
"You okay?" Lukas asked her, looked of mixed concern and confusion spreading across his face. Aria nodded and held up a finger, beside her, her big dog panted.
"…Fine, I'm fine. Director Lloyd wanted to see you two back at the Hive." Aria finally huffs out, Lukas nods, 'hmm-ing' as he does.
"Alright, thank you Aria. Would you like to walk back with us?" He offers kindly, Rossa nods in agreement with his suggestion. Aria is one of the few coworkers that they know and get along with, but they would have offered it to anyone, as they hated leaving others alone when they left together. The white wolf that had been standing at Lukas' side stepped forward to sniff the large dog. With Aria while the large white and gray cat curled around Rossa's legs watch curiously.
"I…sure." Aria finally, standing up straight as Lukas and Rossa turned completely around, releasing each other's hands.
"Well, what are we waiting for, c'mon!" Rossa said, a bright smile tugging at her lips as she brushed strands of her fiery red-ish orange hair out of her eyes while Lukas tugged his hat down over wild, frizzy spikes or similar color, jade eyes shining in anticipation. They were Letter Bees, this was their job and they had devoted their hearts to the job—the Tuluse siblings wouldn't change it for the world.
As they stepped forward with Aria, a thought struck Lukas—the world was filled with things that were big, like Amberground, their mountain, the population of Central Yuusari, and the sky as well as the number of stars in it. All of these things, when you thought about them, could make you feel small and insignificant. Considering all of the people out there, you probably were, but people were prone to not think much about it, so they never really felt that way. Now that he really thought about it, Lukas realized that with the amount of people they really knew, even with all the places they had been, and the fact that they spent probably eighty-five percent of their time was spent working, their worlds were small—incredibly so—just like how you felt when you took the time to really think about how small you were.
There were many others out there; too many to count, just like the stars in the Amberground sky. What did the actions of three teenagers really matter in the long run? What did it matter that the three all set off for Central Yuusari's Bee Hive down the same road, chatting about life, how things were going, and Gauche Suede. He was gone on another delivery, Aria said, and when he came back he would go to the capital to work because he had been promoted. His sister would be left alone, something Rossa firmly objected to, unable to imagine life without Lukas for so long. Sylvette Suede was even younger than she had been when they left home, Rossa hated that, and Aria and Lukas agreed with her. It was then that the decision was made—the three and anyone else who wanted to help along the way would make sure Sylvette was okay, help her if she needed help with something. Her big brother was off working and didn't know when he would be able to move her to the capital, until then, they would take up the duties of her big brother to help her out. When they got to the Hive and saw Director Lloyd, they were given orders as proctors for the next exam for new Letter Bees, among which they were warned was a young girl and her dingo who had been highly recommended by another Bee. "Keep an eye on them." Director Lloyd told them, to which both Bees responded with nods and promises to do so before heading out to their main lookouts on the testing path.
Maybe they were small and insignificant, and maybe their worlds were incredibly small as well, but who was to say that it was not small and insignificant people meeting other small and insignificant people and their incredibly small worlds that interlocked to create the future? With both their conversation with Aria earlier and their promises to watch over the promising young girl during their jobs as testing proctors, certain paths were chosen for their future to take, and directly affected others' futures. Who was to say that their meetings and conversations and such didn't build up to something much more significant, that maybe such small things that wouldn't make such a difference could build up to make a world of difference.