Aria: The Heart and the Mask
Letter to a Friend
Zen rya ku—
How are you, pen pal? It's been quite a while since I've written you, hasn't it? I'm so sorry about that! Things have been very busy around here in Aria Company. A lot of customers have been signing up with us, and I've met some interesting people. Neo-Venezia does attract all kinds, doesn't it? Not just a wee 15-year-old with stars in her eyes. I've met grumpy people, sad people, and happy people since Spring started. I like to think I've given them a little peace of mind and the happiness that Aqua can bring. Happy memories, like the ones the Three Water Fairies could give their passengers . . . .
The wonderful thing that happened continues to happen. Ai continues to improve in her skills as an undine. Much has transpired since I took her glove off this Spring. I see myself in her—and I don't mean the parts of me that silly Aika keeps harping on about. Sometimes I am reminded Alicia and Grandma when I find myself out in the lagoon, training with Ai, talking with her, and I wonder if the things I'm thinking of were the same things going through Alicia's mind when she was training me. It is humbling to think that I'm part of such a distinguished line; I can't help but feel proud of it as well. When I set my entire life on Man-Home aside to become an undine, I sometimes wondered during the early days if I had made the right choice. But when our dear Snow White asked me to set my course long ago as part of my Prima test, I already knew by then where I wanted to go, where to point my prow, what to answer; I've never regretted my decision. And I've never been so happy.
I wonder if this is the thing people call destiny. If so, then it's something that's been very good to me. I've met wonderful new people here and found my place under the stars. Years of being at the helm of Aria Company haven't diminished the awe that I feel at being responsible for something people like Grandma created.
And now I'm responsible for someone else. Not only do I pass on what I know to her, I help her with her homework, I remind her about the things she needs to do. I even give her advice on boys—as if I had any experience with them (Akatsuki doesn't count!). I really does make me feel like I'm her older sister :) Or, as Aika suggested once, her mom.(!)
Well, I guess I can only try and be as good a teacher to her as Alicia was to me. Just yesterday Aika and Alice were questioning me—no, interrogating me—about my plans for Ai. No pressure, right? Friend, and now student and colleague. The future of the company. No pressure at all. Hahiii . . . .
Let me tell you one of the things that happened just before Ai became a Single. It was early autumn . . . .
"Senior! Hey, Senior! Are you ready? We're going to miss the regatta!"
Looking up from her typing, the young woman with the long pink hair waved out the bay window spanning the entire front of Aria Company. "I'll be right there, Ai dear!"
Akari Mizunashi shut her laptop and placed it in a drawer. Then she went to the side door and opened it, stepping out into a world of blinding blue.
At the left side of the Aria Company building was a ramp that wound its way into the water. At its foot a white gondola with blue deck trim and rails waited, bobbing gently in the calm water. Standing on the aft deck was a young woman wearing a white uniform also trimmed in blue. She reached out as Akari crossed the walkway and came down.
"Please take my hand," she said as she assisted the elder undine aboard. "Do you want me to drive?"
"It's alright, Ai dear." Akari placed a hand on the beret that the younger woman wore and gave it a caress. "I'll take us to San Marco."
Ai looked up at the company office. "President Aria?"
"Went off with President Hime about fifteen minutes ago," replied Akari. "I don't think we'll—"
"Puinyuuu!"
Something large and white and four-footed scampered out from behind the building and barreled straight towards them. They stood aghast as it launched itself into the air from the top of the ramp, aiming directly for Ai.
In an instant Ai turned and caught ten kilos of frantic fur in her arms. She staggered backward, but Akari's arm restrained her and kept her from falling into the water.
"President Aria!" the Pair exclaimed. "What in the world's gotten into you?"
The answer shot out from behind the building. Small and tortoiseshell-colored, it followed the path the company's namesake had taken.
"Maa!" It ran down the ramp and jumped onto the gondola, scrabbling at Ai's legs, trying to climb them. President Aria squirmed fearfully in Ai's arms.
"President Maa, how are you?" Akari knelt down and scooped the cat up in a hand. "What are you doing here?"
"She was with me," came a voice. Akari and Ai looked up to see Alice Carroll, an undine working for another company, walking to the edge of the ramp. Her light green hair was windblown and she looked a little breathless. "We were going back to Orange Planet when she saw President Aria with President Hime. I was too near the canal edge. The rest you can guess."
Akari smiled and handed Maa back to her keeper. "Hello, Alice."
Alice scolded the cat before replying to Akari. "Going to the regatta too?"
The Aquamarine nodded. "And you?"
"Ditto. I'm on my way to pick up my passengers near the Rialto."
"Why don't we go together? We're on our way to San Marco. Let's meet at the number 16 bricola in two hours or so."
"Hmm . . . sure, why not? Better than going alone with all those other boats sure to be there." The prodigy smiled and fanned herself with a hand. "Whew! It's hot."
"I'm so sorry you had to chase after the cats," Akari apologized. "As I'm sure President Aria is, too." She paused as the cat nodded, still keeping an eye on Maa in Alice's arms. "How about dinner somewhere afterward? My treat."
Alice smiled. "That'll certainly make up for the long distance I had to run."
They set the time and place, and as the young Prima took her leave and headed back between the buildings lining the waterfront behind Aria Company, Akari turned and patted President Aria's back. "Shall we go then?"
The cat let out a trembling, relieved "Nyuu."
They headed down the wide channel to Marco Polo Spaceport, then San Marco, Akari rowing a little faster than usual because she knew there would be a lot of jostling for viewing places before the regatta, and she wanted pick her passengers up early to get first dibs on the best location.
Their passengers turned out to be a salt-and-pepper-haired gentleman in a dark suit and bow tie and a striking young woman about Ai's age, dressed in dark brown slacks and a slate-gray vest with many little pearled buttons over a puffed-sleeve, lace-fringed shirt. He was alive with curiosity and excitement, gray eyes lit up as he conversed with Akari, but she glowered, black thunder and grumbling, smoldering foulness written all over her face.
They an hour touring the city, then headed out into the channel, making for the bricola. The sun was already westering, and on the glittering waters they could make out many little black shapes in the distance.
Ai pointed to their left. "Miss Akari, I think that's Miss Alice."
Akari squinted. "Yes, it's her. Sir, this is the companion I was talking to you about. If you'll allow it, we will meet up for a minute at that spot." She pointed to the tall pile of wooden stakes standing some distance off in the lagoon.
"Sure, go ahead," the man, whose name was Mr. Hinglef, said.
"Thank you."
Alice's white gondola came closer. Standing on the deck like she had belonged there all her life, the green-haired undine waved once. Akari waved back.
"Good afternoon," Alice called as their boat came alongside. "Just in time. What are your plans?"
"We're going to get a spot near the finish line," said Akari.
"Ah, we'll be going to the middle of the crowd." Alice brushed her hair away from her face. "I guess we won't be going together after all."
"Not unless your guests–" Akari smiled and nodded at the couple seated in Alice's gondola "–are willing to try something different."
"Oh? What's that?"
----------oOo----------
"This is a neat lookout!" exclaimed the brunette as Alice helped her up the last step. They were on an outcrop of rock in the middle of the sea, rising up like a ruined tower from a fantasy tale of old. "How come we're the only ones here?" Less than fifty meters away from them lay part of the 400-meter regatta course, crowded on one side by boats of every stripe and shape.
"Well, until yesterday everyone thought a camera crew would be using this point, so no one thought of asking," Akari explained as she helped Mr. Hinglef up the steepest portion of the flight of stairs. He held on to her as they climbed; at one point he wavered, his footing a little unsure.
"Careful, sir," Akari cautioned, holding on to his shoulders. Mr. Hinglef looked down at the fifteen-meter drop to the rocky shore below and instinctively leaned against his guide. He thought he smelled jasmine as she brushed against him, mingling with the cool salt air.
"There's no rush," she was saying. "We can sit here and rest. The race won't start for a while yet."
"No, no, I'm fine. Never had a head for heights, that's all," the old man insisted. He grasped the inner railing and continued ahead of Akari. "Just don't make me look down, I'll be okay."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know!" was all Akari could say as she helped him up the last few steps. Clearly she had made a blunder, not foreseeing this development.
"It's no big thing!" Mr. Hinglef exclaimed. "Come now, Miss Mizunashi, hold my hand. Up! Look, here we are! You're right, Miss, it is a magnificent view," he said, addressing Alice's passenger.
In the distance lay the city, a lonely outpost on the water, its roofs upthrust against the vault of the heavens. On the flat top of the promontory stood—of all things—a table and a couple of folding chairs.
"Senior," said Alice, gesturing at the equipment, a question in her voice.
"Well, I sort of had a talk with one of the committee in charge the day before yesterday, and I found out the crew wasn't going to use this place any more. So I thought it'd be a waste if no one came here." Akari grinned sheepishly.
The three undine made their guests comfortable as they waited for the regatta to start. It was left to Ai to make the trips up and down the stairs, first to get the picnic basket and eatables her mentor had stowed in the rear compartment of the gondola, and then to get blankets and carry President Aria up.
Presently the race started with a literal bang, as a flare soared into the sky and a pop sounded across the water. Dozens of sleek, small boats, each rowed by two men in tandem, churned the water with their oars as they strove to reach the end of the line, turn, and then race back to the starting point. Mr. Hinglef cheered loudly as they crossed the outcrop, explaining that one of the boaters was a relative of his. His companion, the glowering girl, softened her attitude a bit and made several appreciative comments about the view. Alice's pair of riders—well, they shared in the excitement and the food, but we all know that people in love are in a world of their own making, so smitten with each other that they have little time to deal with people who exist outside it . . . . They were there but they weren't really there. Ai noticed this and, being a teenager herself, wondered what being in love must be like in between the cheering and serving and tidying up.
On the second pass, Ai forgot all about her musing and, forgetting herself, stood up and shouted. "Hey, isn't—Miss Akari, Miss Alice, look!" She pointed. "It's Miss Aika!"
Akari turned her attention towards Ai's enthusiastically stabbing finger. "It is!"
"A friend of yours?" asked the man who was Alice's passenger.
"Yes, it is." She served them some peach wine and went back to the table behind their seats, where she found Akari giggling to herself.
"I can't believe it's the Al we know," she whispered as she arranged some crepes on a platter. "How did Aika ever convince him to go rowing?"
"Senior Aika is a woman of much talent," Alice pontificated, grinning.
But evidently those talents lay elsewhere, because when the race ended four minutes later, the two weren't even in the top fifteen . . . .
----------oOo----------
There was one more heat, this time for gondolas. The flat-topped mascarete with their rowers withdrew to the audience side, while the gondoliers assembled at the same departure point that the previous racers had used. It was won by a lad from Murano island. Following his victory, prizes were awarded on a barge set centrally in the audience portion and fireworks sent sizzling into the darkening sky.
The group watched the fireflowers hissing and crackling in the air above their heads.
"They're so pretty," Alice's passenger said. She flinched when one rocket exploded loudly and laughed.
"Yes, well, I guess it's almost time we go," Mr. Hinglef said, rising from his seat. "This day has been very exciting and all, but now it's getting a bit dark and I would like to get some rest."
"Of course," Akari said. She and Ai started packing up what little remained to be cleaned.
It was over in a few minutes. Lamps were beginning to be lit among the spectators' craft, and they could see a few of these pulling away from the crowd.
The couple wanted to stay a few more minutes, so Akari and Ai had to say goodbye to Alice. She asked about the table and chairs, and Akari winked at her.
"Don't worry about them. Woody will pass by tomorrow."
The Aquamarine descended the stairs first with Mr. Hinglef, and Alice returned to stay near her customers. That left Ai, President Aria, and Diana, Mr. Hinglef's niece, alone on top of the stairs.
"Hey, um, look," the brunette hedged. Below them the surf sounded, as it had for the last 100-odd years. "I'm sorry I was such a grouch today."
Ai smiled a little smile. "It's alright. Do you feel better now?"
Diana nodded. "Could I ask you something?"
"Yes?"
"How old are you?"
"Seventeen."
"Hey, I was right. Same here. And you're working as an undine, right?"
"I'm training to be one."
"And you like it?"
Ai nodded.
"Gosh, it's hard to stay mad with all this fresh air and good food," Diana gushed. "You're happy doing what you're doing, right? I mean, I can tell. It shows."
"I am."
"You're so lucky." Some of the animation seemed to leave the girl, and she stood on the steps and looked out to sea. "It wasn't my idea to come here, you know. I mean, the city. There was something very important to me back at Man-home, and I had to leave it to accompany my Grandfather here. So, um, that's why I was so pissed off this morning. I'm sorry."
"It's alright, Miss Hinglef." Ai sensed the other girl wanted to say more, but she held her peace and did not inquire.
President Aria made a noise, and both girls looked down to see him tugging on the hem of the junior gondolier's skirt, signaling that he wanted to be carried.
"Oh, President Aria, you should walk down," Ai said affectionately, hoisting him up. "The exercise will do you good."
"Um, hey. Could I—could I be the one to carry him?"
"Huh? Well . . . what do you think, President Aria?"
"Puipuinyu. Puipui."
"He agrees." Ai handed him over to Diana, and the two excused themselves from Alice and went down, where Akari and Mr. Hinglef were waiting for them.
"All set?" the pink-haired gondolier asked. They chorused in the affirmative, and they all boarded the gondola. Akari expertly guided their boat out of the lee of the island and headed back to Neo-Venezia.
They were passing though a calm and isolated stretch of water when something huge glided by silently under their gondola.
"What was that?"
"Ah!" Akari said, peering into the water. "A giant ray. Don't worry, it's harmless."
The massive animal circled them several times. It was far bigger than their craft. Then it lifted a wing and slapped the water's surface with it several times before turning away and vanishing into the gathering gloom.
"Do you see them much around here?" Mr. Hinglef asked, wide-eyed.
"No, they usually don't come this close to the city. This is the first time I've seen one personally. You must be favored by fate to receive such a visit from a rare animal."
"You think so?" Mr. Hinglef laughed heartily as they continued on their way. "That really tickles me pink. Favored by fate. You have a way with words, Miss Mizunashi." When they parted at the docks near the cathedral, Ai was sure his and Diana's "we had a pleasant time today" was heartfelt.
----------oOo----------
"Sorry I'm late," Orange Planet's wonder gondolier apologized as she ran up to her friends at the Piazetta of San Marco some time later. Nighttime had come and claimed this part of Aqua as its own, and the streets were alive with the yellow and silver light of lamps and the bustle of people. "What are you doing hiding behind that pillar?"
Akari's hand shot out and yanked Alice behind the colonnade. "Look!" she hissed, pointing. "Over there."
Alice slowly peeked out. To her right was the rest of the Square; to her left were the lagoon and the columns bearing the statues of Saint Mark's lion and Saint Theodore on his crocodile. Straight ahead of her, under one of the lamp posts fronting the opposite side of the Piazetta, stood the two boaters they had seen rowing vigorously during the race. One was dressed in the dark clothing of a Gnome, one of the people who worked underground and maintained Aqua's gravity; the other, taller figure was a dark-haired girl wearing yellow jumpers and large bangles around her wrists.
"And? I fail to see why we need to—oh goodness!" Alice swallowed. She withdrew and looked at the Aria Company employees. "I guess now wouldn't be a good time to disturb them."
"Puinyu!"
Ai giggled. "Senior Alice, she'd never forgive us if we barged in on them."
"Let's give them some privacy." Akari gestured away from the Piazetta. "It's a precious moment for them."
Alice frowned. "Senior, you really do say embarrassing things."
"What?"
"Well, seeing as how Senior Aika isn't here to remind you, I thought I'd do it. Saying embarrassing things is prohibited!"
Akari chuckled. Ever since Athena Glory, Alice's mentor, had traded in her undine uniform and gondola for stage dress and bright lights, she and Alice had grown closer together. How could they not? Both of them were bereft of seniors they cared about, both had few close friends, both had shared the same joys and sorrows as training partners. It was good to see the normally reticent girl joke and smile. "Let's go. I know a place that makes good pasta. It's this way." As they all beat a retreat into the less well-lighted portions of the colonnade, she added, "Be kind to Aika, alright? Don't tease her or Al about this."
"Roger," said Alice.
"I won't," agreed Ai, her cheeks red for some reason.
They kept silent for several seconds, mingling with the tourists and locals who made the vicinity such an interesting place to visit. Then Akari stopped walking and looked back.
"Not unless," she amended, tittering, "not unless it becomes too much to keep in." Finally she gave in and laughed. "They're so cute!"
The other two undine joined her merry noisemaking, causing passerby to look curiously at them.
----------oOo----------
"Achoo!"
"Al? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. It's probably just the damp air." The bespectacled young man smiled sheepishly. "You know, for a split second I had the strangest feeling someone was talking about us . . . ."
"Stop talking like a superstitious old man. Let me keep rubbing your back to make sure. I'm really sorry I bullied you into participating and tired you out." Warm arms encircled the Gnome and stroked his back again.
"I'm alright. Just give me a few minutes."
"You're not just saying that, are you?" asked Aika S. Granzchesta, heiress of the Himeya Company of gondoliers, as she continued her brisk ministrations.
"You didn't bully me. I wanted to come along. It was interesting. Thanks for dinner." Albert Pitt breathed in Aika's perfume. "You smell nice."
Aika pulled away from him. "Really? T-thanks. You didn't do so bad at the oars, you know, for someone with very little practice."
Al nodded and looked up at the stars. He must've been feeling chilly; his cheeks were pinkish, Aika noted.
"Well, I think I can go now."
"I'll walk with you back to the entrance."
The next morning the three employees of Aria Company were just finishing breakfast when someone appeared at the open window.
"Hello again. So sorry to disturb you."
"Miss Diana!" Akari stood up. "Won't you join us?"
"No thanks. I'm in a hurry, actually. I . . . I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am about yesterday. Here, I brought a little something for you." The girl in the sea-green pencil skirt and blue blouse laid two round metal containers on the counter.
"You were no trouble at all," Akari said. "Though I was sad that we couldn't seem to reach you, at first. You're feeling better now?"
"Much better." Diana blinked and looked at Ai. There was moisture in her eyes. "When I saw that you were making my grandfather happy . . . . I realized how selfish I've been acting lately." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "He is ill, and coming here was his wish. No one else could come with him, so I had to. Thank you for making him happier than I've ever seen him for the last couple of months." Diana inclined her head for a moment. "N-now I have to go."
"Catch your breath for a moment—"
"Oh, no, I really must. It's a long way to the hotel and I've got to get back before he discovers I've left . . . ."
"Wait, I'll take you there!" Ai volunteered. "It'll be faster than walking."
"But you can't do that—"
"I'm taking you as a friend, not a customer."
"Ai-chan, school . . . ."
"I won't be late, Miss Akari."
"Alright. Off you go, then."
The Aquamarine untied and readied their black gondola as her charge gathered up her things and led Diana to the craft.
"So, give me your hand . . . see you later, Senior Akari."
Akari leaned on the rail and waved as the boat pulled away. Beside her, President Aria did the same.
"President Aria, I don't know why, but I feel very content just now," she confided. She chuckled when the cat pointed to his belly. "No, I don't think it's the food. I'm just happy that I'm here, where I am, with everyone. I'm happy seeing Ai grow up. It's kind of hard to explain . . . ."
The phone rang, and Akari went and answered it. Outside, the sky was a brilliant blue shot through with the bright yellow of the morning sun; it promised to be another fine day.