Title: Oranges and Omens
Description: Childhood friends Rosalía and Joaquin have shared the most important parts of their lives together – except for their feelings about each other.
A/N: Third piece in the Santa Esperanza universe. Apsara, this one wouldn't have been written without you – many thanks for wanting to know more about Joaquin and Rosalía's story!
Characters:
Joaquin de Vittoria - Jadeite
Zacarías de Santangel - Zoisite
Serafina de Luna - Usagi
Rosalía de Teran - Rei
Dimas de Teran – Mamoru
Casimiro de Ortega - Kunzite
Magdalena de Saravia - Minako
Belén – Beryl
Nicodemo de Villarreal – Nephrite
Maricela de Soria - Makoto
Emilia de Palma – Ami
Oranges and Omens
Toads
Two blond heads bent over the riverbed, the sun burnishing them to palest gold and ruddy bronze before it moved on to frolic in the river. The boys were too absorbed in their task to take notice of the diamond-bright sparks the sunlight struck off the river. They were busy collecting their own prizes – squat brown toads that burrowed in the cool, squelchy mud to get away from the summer heat.
Joaquin de Vittoria picked up a particularly ugly specimen, examining its protruding eyes and warty back. Before it could hop away, he deposited it into the bucket of cold water and quickly replaced the cloth covering to prevent any escapes.
"When you get caught, I want it to be known that this was not my idea. In fact, it would be best if you didn't give me any credit at all."
Zacarías de Santangel, who had been frowning in close concentration over his own catch, finally looked over at his friend for the first time in a good five minutes. "Get caught? Doing what?"
"Aren't we gathering these so you can put them in Serafina's bed?"
There was genuine shock and horror in Zacarías's voice. "No! Whatever gave you that idea?"
Joaquin blinked at him. "Because last month it was lizards."
"Oh, that. Lizards run in and out of the house all the time, and they wouldn't have been hurt unless she sat on them. These, though – they wouldn't like it very much." He cast a fond look at the amphibian cupped in his hands. "Their skin would dry out quickly, and they might die."
"Then why are we catching all these toads?" Joaquin demanded.
"I'll release them later. After I study them. I'm going to be a naturalist," Zacarías announced proudly.
"What's a naturalist?" an unfamiliar voice piped up.
Joaquin spun around, dropping another toad in the process, but Zacarías, who believed that everything he did was of universal interest, even to strangers, was completely unfazed. He proceeded to explain grandly, "A naturalist is a man of the world. He studies all the creatures in it, observing how they live and why they do the things they do."
"And then they go on and tell everyone else what they've discovered," Joaquin added dryly.
The newcomer, a small girl with two glossy braids hanging down her back, regarded them with frank curiosity. "But why frogs?"
"These are toads," Zacarías corrected her. "Not frogs."
She rolled her eyes, which were a startling shade of purple that matched the violets growing on the riverbank. "All right, then, why toads?"
Zacarías looked down his short nose at her. "Because they are clever and agile and helpful, since they eat insects, and some are even poisonous," he finished impressively. "Those are the most beautiful."
The girl glanced at the creatures in question dubiously. "Are you sure? They look rather ugly to me."
"That's because fortunately for us, these are not the poisonous kind," Joaquin explained. Zacarías had been rendered wordless by her unflattering judgment of his current passion.
She turned her attention to him for the first time. "Are you also going to be a naturalist and study ugly creatures?"
Zacarías opened his mouth to protest, but Joaquin said quickly, "Not me."
"Then what are you going to be?"
He dug his bare toes into the oozy mud. "I don't know yet. I don't think I have much of a choice. My family have been orange farmers for generations. I'll probably never travel farther than the next town over, and that will be to sell oranges."
"I don't think so." The girl regarded him steadily with her uncanny eyes.
He smiled at her confident pronouncement. "You don't?"
She nodded and beckoned him closer, and he leaned down obligingly so she could whisper in his ear, "I know because I can see the future."
She wasn't quite as quiet as she had hoped because Zacarías started to laugh.
"It's true! Don't you believe me?" she demanded, her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.
"Of course n–"
"I believe you," Joaquin said, and a surprisingly sweet smile spread over her face.
Before she could say anything else, they heard a boy's shout, his voice conveying both relief and exasperation.
"Rosalía! You were supposed to stay close by." It was a boy around their age, with the same rich dark hair as the girl. He skidded to a halt, showering them with dust and stray clumps of dirt as he wiped the sweat from his face. "Papá told me to keep an eye on you, and you know–"
"I'm fine, Dimas." She rolled her eyes, impatient with his fussing. "I just went down the hill."
"You know you can't wander off alone anymore. It's dangerous."
"Papá's worried about the kidnappings," Rosalía explained knowingly to the other two boys.
"You aren't supposed to know about them!" Dimas exclaimed, outraged. "Even I don't get to get to hear the grownups talk about it. Mamá always makes them go talk somewhere else."
Joaquin tilted his head, using his left hand to shade his eyes from the hot sun. "Kidnappings? We haven't heard anything about them."
"You must not be from around here."
"Of course they aren't," Rosalía scoffed. "Have you ever seen them before?"
Dimas looked injured, so Joaquin explained quickly, "We're visiting my uncle, Donato de Vittoria."
His face cleared. "We know Marqués Donato. He has the best orange groves in the area."
"Yes, oranges. It's always oranges with the de Vittorias," Zacarías quipped, while Joaquin accepted the compliment to his family with a courteous bow to Dimas and an elbow in the ribs for Zacarías.
"Anyway, there have been several kidnappings over the past few months," Dimas told them. "Anonymous ransom notes were sent to their families. Sometimes they demand money, but other times they want old family heirlooms. Diamonds and emeralds, rubies and sapphires have all been exchanged for hostages. Some of them have been secret for so long that it was a wonder the kidnapers even knew to ask for them."
Rosalía crossed her arms. "What do they want with those stupid jewels, anyway?"
"They're extremely valuable, for one thing. Besides, most women worship gemstones the way you covet chocolate," Dimas teased her. "Mamá says you'll change your mind one day."
She shook her head, a mulish look on her face. "I never change my mind."
He grinned. "It's true enough. Anyway, we should return before they come looking for us, Rosalía," he said to his sister.
"Yes, Dimas," she sighed. "It was nice to meet you, Toad Naturalist and Orange Farmer."
As the two heads as dark as blackbird wings disappeared in the distance, Joaquin asked, "Do you think she can really see the future?"
"Hm?" Zacarías was crouched down again, having already resumed his prospecting.
Patiently, he repeated his question.
"Don't be silly. That's impossible," Zacarías replied dismissively. "Only witches can see the future, and everyone knows they spring fully-grown from spider web silk and dead embers on the night of the new moon."
Joaquin let the matter drop. As he dangled his feet in the water luxuriously and watched his friend catch toads, he thought that the little spitfire seemed like someone who could make the impossible possible.
