1.
The first time Aaeru hears about miracles, it's her grandpa that's talking to her. He's looking up at the faraway night sky, muttering things that Aaeru can't understand. She's too distracted to really care, since she's chasing fireflies, but she perks up at the word "miracle," since it's an unfamiliar word and sounds sort of pretty.
"What's that, Grampa?"
"A gift from Tempus Spatium," he answers. She waits, but that's all he says.
She sits down cross-legged in the grass next to him. Not being able to sit very long, she quickly grows restless, but suddenly, among the twinkling stars, a line of light zips across the dark canvas and disappears.
"A shooting star! Make a wish, Aaeru!" Aaeru watches her grandfather close his eyes. Looking up at the sky again, she strains to think of what she should wish for, even though she doesn't really think she'll get it. I want to fly a Simoun in front of Grampa, she thinks at last, and then, I want to go to that other world.
She decides then that it's going to happen. All that she wants to achieve or will want to achieve…It's going to happen without her even wishing it. She doesn't need anybody's help to reach her goal.
The stars in the sky twinkle like her grandfather's eyes when he is having a good laugh and she thinks the night is probably agreeing with her. She looks over and sees him looking peaceful with his eyes closed. He opens them and Aaeru asks, "What did you wish for, Grampa?"
"I can't tell you," he said, "or it won't come true." This doesn't make any sense to Aaeru, but she thinks she probably won't tell anyone her wishes either, just in case.
Later on, Aaeru decides she doesn't believe in miracles, nor does she believe in wishes. She also finds out that a shooting star is nothing but a meteor burning up in the atmosphere. Her wish to fly a Simoun in front of her grandfather doesn't come true—he dies before she becomes a Sibyllae. That's when her resolve grows to go to that other world, the one her grandpa had longed for. Her first wish didn't come true, but she will make the other one come true with her own two hands.
She just isn't sure how she's going to do it.
2.
Miracles don't come up again until the war starts and Aaeru, eager as ever, joins the war effort as a Sibyllae. People tell her she's a priestess and must act like one, but truth be told she doesn't care much for tradition. Neither does a sibyllae Aaeru meets named Floe, who Aaeru sometimes talks to when she is first getting settled into Chor Tempest. The bouncy girl doesn't much catch Aaeru's attention, though, as Aaeru spends most of her time outside of the room of the Sibylla Aurea, Neviril, pounding on her door and demanding she come out and fight.
One day Floe and Aaeru are sitting in the ballroom on the steps, watching Chor Rubor fly their Simoun out as the patrols shift. Floe's legs kick at the steps in frustration.
"It was always Chor Tempest that did patrols," she complains. "What's with this? Chor Rubor never did anything before…They're so useless…" she grumbles as her voice trails off.
"I just wanna fight," Aaeru says. She pouts as she continues, "We'd be much better off if Neviril would just come out of hiding and join us again…"
"Aw, if that happens I'll never get to be your pair," Floe responds. Aaeru doesn't listen.
"What's with her? Pouting in that room all day…Really!"
Floe looks at Aaeru with an annoyed expression. "She lost her pair, you know. Lovers' wounds don't heal just like that…" Her gaze turns wistful and like she's looking at something far away. Aaeru's still not really listening.
"I wonder what it'll take to get her to come back…"
"A miracle, probably."
"Guess it won't happen, then." Aaeru sighs, an uncharacteristic sign of defeat.
Floe furrows her brow. "That doesn't sound like something you'd say! Where's your spunk?" Aaeru looks at Floe in annoyance. Looking back at the sky, she becomes preoccupied with the clouds. Floe does too, apparently, because soon she's naming objects she finds in the clouds' shape. Aaeru only sort of listens as she thinks.
Turning to Floe, she says, "I'm going to get Neviril to be my pair, no matter what."
Floe grins. "That's the spirit!"
Aaeru looks back at the sky. "I can make anything happen by myself," she says, but in her head, she makes a wish without knowing why.
3.
Moonlight shines on the Simoun as Aaeru places a hand on the cold helical motor. Despite that, the hangar is dimly lit to the point where Aaeru can barely see her reflection in the metal. Her eyes strain in the dark for a while, but are unable to make out more than the silhouette of her shadow. Who is she? Why is she here? What is she doing?
It was just a few hours before that Aaeru had bounded into the dining hall and asked Neviril to perform the Emerald Ri Majonn. Floe had taken Aaeru away from the other's disapproving glances after Neviril had run out of the room. Aaeru still isn't quite sure why Floe had said anything she'd said after that.
Aaeru had told Paraietta later that she hadn't meant to hurt Neviril, she had just thought they could do anything if they were together. As Aaeru thinks now, she knows that what she had said is true. What she doesn't know is how this had happened. How long has it been since the blonde girl had determinedly told Floe that she could do anything by herself? That's true, too. She had managed to make Neviril her pair.
Aaeru is broken out of her thoughts by footsteps nearby. Turning, she can barely see the figure of Wapourif. Aaeru smiles.
"Wapourif! Why are you out here so late?"
The mechanic smiles back. "I'm always up this early to prepare the Simoun for the morning patrols."
Widening her eyes, Aaeru asks, "Morning already? How long have I been awake?"
Wapourif's smile softens. "Sibylla Aaeru…I heard about what happened."
"Yeah," Aaeru says while scowling. "I guess it's all over the ship by now, huh."
"Well, Sibylla Morinas does tend to keep a loose tongue," Wapourif responds cheerfully. He grows serious. "I should never have told you about what happened with Sibylla Amuria."
"Why? You might as well have, nobody else talks about it."
Wapourif sighs. "Please try to understand. What happened back then was a terrible loss. It would be a miracle for these wounds to heal so quickly."
There's that word again, the one that follows Aaeru around and taunts her. The thing that Grandpa had thought so highly of as he looked at a star-spattered sky. What use is a miracle to Aaeru? All she needs is herself and Neviril and they can go to that other world together. She breaks out of her trance and is about to respond to Wapourif, but his head is tilted up to the sky and his eyes are closed. When he opens them, he looks back at Aaeru. "Sorry," he says with a bit of embarrassment in his voice. "There was a shooting star."
Aaeru turns away. "You shouldn't tell anyone what your wish is," she says. "It won't come true if you do. …At least, someone told me that once." She walks away from the hangar and back into the Messis, away from the night sky.
All she needs is herself and Neviril.
4.
Aaeru had been surprised when Neviril had told the officials that Aaeru was her pair after they had announced the arrangements for their next mission, but it doesn't really soften the blow that Aaeru will have to stay behind. Of course, she only thinks she's staying behind for a brief moment before Yun and she are sprinting to the only available Simoun and taking off. The flight is as invigorating as ever as they take off, but their kiss—Aaeru really doesn't think she would have bothered given the urgency of the situation, but Yun is more ceremonial than her—their kiss lacks the odd feeling of before Aaeru flies with Neviril, a difference which Aaeru can't begin to describe. She thinks of Floe back on the Messis trying to explain to her about kisses and pairs, but soon she is thinking of nothing but the flight and getting to the others before the others get to the enemy.
Yun sits quietly in the sagitta seat, and Aaeru pictures her same stoic expression she usually holds. The two sibyllae are really quite as different as night and day, and Aaeru doesn't expect Yun to speak to her. This expectation is broken when Aaeru hears Yun's voice say, "It must be hard to make peace with a soul of the dead when you've never met her."
This is about as cryptic to Aaeru as anything Yun ever says. "Can you make sense sometimes?" Aaeru asks with a scowl.
"Do you want to be close to Neviril?"
"Come on, why the topic change?" Aaeru responds, because she isn't really sure how to answer Yun's question, which Aaeru thinks is phrased oddly as she isn't quite sure what the other girl means by 'close.'
"I didn't change the subject. You must know that Neviril is struggling with making peace with Amuria's death. You however…you have not even made peace with Amuria. As I said…it must be hard to do so when you've never met."
Aaeru has been scowling at every word since the name 'Amuria' was mentioned, and she retorts, "I'm Neviril's pair. I'm not Amuria's. And Neviril isn't Amuria's pair anymore, either."
"Bonds aren't broken so quickly," Yun says. "I asked if you wanted to be close to Neviril. If you do, you must know that you have to at least recognize Amuria's importance to Neviril, too."
Aaeru sputters. She doesn't understand Yun's words and isn't sure how to feel about them. All she responds with is, "Hey, quit telling me what to do!"
"Very well. It was just my advice."
Aaeru scowls, not answering. They fly in silence for a while before she hears Yun talking quietly. "…Making peace with the souls of the dead…perhaps it would be a miracle."
Aaeru understands that Yun is not talking to her. She stops briefly to wonder who the girl is talking to, and then wonders about the girl's motivation to fly. Wondering further, Aaeru thinks about the use of the word 'miracle,' and whether Yun thinks whatever she's talking about can happen or not.
Reality comes crashing in like an ocean wave as all of these thoughts come to a screeching halt and Aaeru forgets everything. Suddenly, they've met up with the others, and with the sight before her eyes Aaeru can't contain her horror because Mamiina….Mamiina is lying on the ground on the enemy ship, not breathing or moving or wishing. Aaeru screams at the realization she comes to.
Somehow, Mamiina is dead.
5.
Aaeru has never been good with death. Ever since her grandfather died, even since more recently when she had had to cut off the dead soldier's hand, she has never been good with it. With how much enthusiasm had she looked forward to killing the enemy? The 'enemies' were the 'others' were the 'not human', and yet she knew they were human and lived and could bleed and could die. And could wish.
Mamiina's wish had been to fly with Neviril, and even after attaining that wish, she had died. Aaeru turns this around in her head. Swimming in the maaju pool, she cries, not stopping when she comes up from the pool only to see that Neviril is there. "I have to live," Aaeru says. She can't die. She hasn't even gone to that other world. She hasn't achieved her grandfather's wish for a miracle.
Neviril's hand is somehow calming as it slips into Aaeru's. It reminds her that they can do anything together. Amuria couldn't achieve her dream with Neviril, but Aaeru can and will.
It is not long before they are sent to the ruins, and the High Priestess gives Neviril the news. Amuria could be alive.
Aaeru is shocked, but Neviril is ecstatic, which Aaeru can't quite reason out since Neviril is her pair now and nobody else's. She thinks of Floe and Wapourif's words. 'It would be a miracle.' Getting over Amuria would be a miracle.
To be 'alive' means to still wish and dream and make miracles happen. Maybe Amuria could make anything happen with Neviril, after all. Suddenly, Aaeru doesn't want to be able to reach her goals with Neviril. She tells her pair this one day, running out of the room as she says that she can't do a ri maajon with her.
Aaeru may not go to that other world. It's only then that she remembers her grandfather's words.
Don't tell anyone your wish. It won't come true.
Aaeru has already told Neviril her wish. The wish she and her grandfather had shared, to go to that other world.
Neviril takes Aaeru aside soon after that. Aaeru doesn't want to hear what she has to say. She knows the first part of it, the part about Neviril wanting to see Amuria again. Aaeru has known it for a long, long time. The words that come out of Neviril's mouth next have been known to Aaeru, too. They had just been shoved down in her mind.
Neviril is in love with Aaeru. Immediately, an inexplicable pain goes to Aaeru's chest, and it doesn't leave as Neviril walks away. It's still there when Aaeru is walking towards Neviril later as the other girl backs away and tells her why the pain exists. Aaeru knows that's why, too.
Aaeru is in love with Neviril. They look out the window and Aaeru thinks about Amuria, wondering if Neviril is thinking about her, too. Aaeru doesn't mind if she is. After all, more than one person has loved Neviril and wanted to take her higher into the sky to achieve their goals.
Aaeru thinks about what Yun said and knows now that she had been right. Only after Aaeru accepted Amuria could Neviril accept and love them both. After a pause Aaeru tells Neviril that Amuria was a strong person. Neviril agrees with her.
"I think…it was a miracle that brought us together," Neviril murmurs.
"You and Amuria?"
Neviril smiles. "All of us."
Aaeru smiles back. "That wasn't a miracle."
"Can't you recognize romantic language when you hear it? You're supposed to agree." Neviril laughs, which sounds nice to Aaeru. She disagrees with Neviril though.
"What brought us together means more than a miracle."
Neviril's eyes widen, probably at the unexpectedly tender way her new lover had just spoken. "Aaeru? What did it, then?" The response to her question comes as Aaeru looks up at a perfectly blue sky.
"It was a promise."