Viola sat by herself before a sturdy but barely functional table in the comfort of her own home in the center of the lush Chorus Plains. Her friends were in the other room of the tiny house socializing with each other. She had retired to her room to rest; however, a notebook laid in front of her, and she grasped a long, hay-yellow quill. A small bottle of ink was placed by her diary. Her diary was opened, and so far, it contained the following words:
April 8
Dear Diary,
No matter what I do, I cannot sum up enough courage to at least say a hello to Jazz. I don't know what to do. I feel like a shy little girl when I'm around him.
Viola was looking up at the ceiling of her tiny cottage for inspiration. Suddenly a thought of interest burst into her head. With a raise of eyebrows, a knowing smile, and an "A-ha!", Viola dipped the tip of her quill into the ink bottle and began scribbling some more into her journal:
Maybe I should ask him to the beach. I remember hearing that he wanted to go the beach one time to relieve his stress.
After she finished writing the last word, Viola put down her quill and read the two sentences she wrote over and over again. Finally, she leaned back to rest against the back of the chair, feeling satisfied.
"What'cha doin'?" asked a high-pitched voice.
Viola instantly jumped like she had seen a spider on her open diary and spun around to find the red-haired guardian of Agogo Forest leaning forward, her head barely touching Viola's shoulder.
"S-Salsa!" Viola cried, slamming her diary closed. She knew that she would regret it later for the ink had not completely dried. "What are YOU doing here?!" she demanded from the pint-sized child.
"I got bored," she complained. "Fo' a bunch of ol' people, they sure talk 'bout borin' things." she sighed in frustration. Her back curled forward, and her arms hung like chains in front of her. Suddenly she perked up, her elf ears raised as high as an excited dog's. "So what'cha doin', ol' lady?" she asked again.
"I'm doing nothing!" Viola shouted. Her desire to squish the little pest grew along with her anger. "And stop calling me old lady!" she added.
"Do you like Jazz?" Salsa suddenly asked Viola, remembering what Viola had written in her diary, as if she didn't hear what Viola had said.
Viola's jaw dropped. She could already feel sweat pouring down her head and her cheeks turn a rosy hue.
"Th-That's none of your business!" she stammered nervously, her blush deepening even more.
"Aww!" Salsa cried happily, ignoring what Viola said again. "The ol' lady is in love with Jazz though she won't admit it! How cute!" Viola swore that she could see hearts floating in Salsa's eyes.
"Enough!" Viola yelled, rushing forward to cover Salsa's mouth with her hands. "You're going to attract attention!"
"Mmph-phmm!" Salsa exclaimed in surprise.
Viola took the chance to take deep breaths while Salsa was trying to become peaceful. After Salsa managed to calm down, Viola uncovered her mouth, now completely mellow herself.
"Now," Viola asked the younger person, "promise not to tell anyone else, especially Jazz?"
"Okay, okay, I do," Salsa replied with a sigh. "It's not like he's gon' b'lieve me anyway."
"Good," Viola said with a smile. "You can go now."
Salsa rushed off out the door and into the living room where the others were. After a few seconds, Viola followed suit, joining her companions for socialization.
"What took you so long?" Allegretto asked Viola.
"Oh," Viola replied, trying to think up of a reasonable answer, "Salsa was bothering me again, so I had to--" Viola turned to point a thumb at Salsa, but she let out a gasp of shock.
Salsa was talking to Jazz.
"SALSA!!" Viola cried, rushing over to the eight-year-old guardian and her crush. "What are you doing?!"
"I only asked him where my hat was," Salsa began. "I swear."
Viola found that Salsa was right - she was not sporting her trademark hat.
"Viola?" Jazz asked, confused. He averted his focus back and forth between the two ladies. "What's going on?"
"Oh, u-um…" Viola stuttered, straining to prevent a blush from spreading across her cheeks, "I…was…about to ask Salsa if she wanted to pet my goats." she decided, grinning similarly to the Cheshire Cat. (AN: To me, Viola managed to get her goats back after the game ended.)
"Y-Yeah!" Salsa agreed, playing along with Viola's plan. "In fact, I'm gon' go righ' now 'fore th' goats ge' away!" she added, dashing out the door.
Jazz stared at the door in wild amazement for several moments before turning to Viola.
"Is Salsa acting okay?" Jazz inquired Viola.
"Yeah," Viola responded. "You know how little kids always like animals." Suddenly Viola remembered what she was writing in her diary earlier. "Oh! Umm, I was planning on going to the beach and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me or not?"
"Really?" Jazz said, raising an eyebrow in interest. "I needed a break, so I'll go with you."
"Is tomorrow fine?"
"Sure," Jazz answered, smiling gratefully. "Tomorrow it is."
Later on, when everyone had left the small hut to do their own businesses, Viola had withdrawn back into her undersized bedroom to meditate on her day. Once again, her diary was open in front of her, beckoning for her to spill all her secrets and feelings into its empty pages. After Viola had inspected her diary for any smudges or leaks in the ink that could had happened, she started on logging her day once more:
Dear diary,
Salsa actually found out about my crush on Jazz. I had her promise not to tell anyone. Also, I managed to ask Jazz out to the beach! It wasn't so bad after all.
Viola once again relied on the ceiling for inspiration before concluding the recap of her day:
I think I can trust Salsa for once on our secret.
You know the drill, people! Review if you can! :) And if it's possible, add more JazzxViola stories! :D