"You love him, don't you?" she prompted. "You must be very happy to be marrying him."
Alicia Florence let the voice of her strawberry haired junior intrude over her silent musings. Orange dusk flooded through the window glass, coloring her pale cheek and paler sweater. She hadn't noticed the time coming on as she waded through the stack of reports on her desk. Now that the warm reminder was glinting in her eyes, she realized it had been some time since she'd comprehended any of the words she'd been staring at. Her mind was drifting. The memory of a conversation was the first sound to catch her ear in hours.
"You must be glad your wedding will finally arrive. And the weather is so cool and beautiful; it's as if Aqua wants to celebrate too!"
Alicia could appreciate the warm breezes and blue skies poised over the city. She liked the way people moved under that kind of weather: as if what they did was good and nothing too upsetting could occur because the world was smiling down on them. Kindness and optimism flourished under clear skies, she theorized. But she doubted the planet cared about her marriage. If it did, it would know kindness and optimism weren't quite the themes of the day.
Ideally, it would snow. Since the ceremony would be held on a boat, floods wouldn't help. But snow and bitter cold wind might convince everyone to postpone the event again.
Of course, there was no hope of that in the middle of summer. Even if the planet cared, Aqua had to abide by the seasons too. Now was the time for blue skies. …And weddings. It had already been put off three years longer than expected. Her miracle was already over; this time her wedding day was going to be perfect.
"You love him a lot."
The young woman stared across her office to where the memory of the blue-trimmed Undine perched on a tall stool, browsing through the titles on the bookshelf. Her hair was strawberry blonde, sun-streaked with highlights and gradients, and fell in a long tail that swung three-quarters of the way past the stool's leather seat. She paused her perusal to select a book, glanced up to meet Alicia's silence, and smiled cheerfully. The smile lit her green eyes and radiated from her face honestly. It was a smile everyone returned, consciously or not.
"I'm excited for you," she said. She tapped the cover of the book she'd chosen: Marriage of Traditions, Manhome to Aqua.
Akari didn't understand. She celebrated marriage on her gondola every month. She carried newly-weds from the church; she guided couples on their honeymoon; she met retirees on their fiftieth anniversary. For Akari, marriage was a happy union between devoted lovers. Honestly: Alicia had no desire to ever change that understanding. Her cheerful, faithful junior shouldn't know what malignant, overpowering coercions existed beyond the scope of Aria Company. Let her be safe in that precious haven.
"It must be wonderful, to marry the person you love," she said.
Alicia sighed and closed the report she'd been staring at. As often as Alicia took respite in Akari's simple joy, her words cut. It must, indeed, be wonderful to marry the person you love. But Alicia wouldn't know.
It wasn't in her to be bitter over that fact. After all, it was a path she'd chosen for herself. But there was sadness, regret. Moving forward always seemed to be accompanied by the pain of paths not chosen. It was a natural part of the world. Still, she wished she could drag her feet and put off the future a little longer.
She did wish -Akari, at least- would stop waiting for her to be happy.
Aria Company was still lit when she walked by, like a lantern patiently calling her home from the darkened streets and black waters. Not her home, Alicia reminded herself. But the imagined invitation diverted her feet anyway. It would be supper time now, and she knew she would be welcomed if she dropped in. A place would be set for her. She followed the sharp corners of the cobbled street and felt her anticipation rise. It wasn't food she hungered for; it was something she couldn't find in her own kitchen.
The wooden porch was dark, and the company office –on the first level of the tidy little building- was closed up for the night. Alicia let herself in and would have called out, but was arrested by the quality of the air in the room. Music was being generated somewhere above, and the sound carried like ripples spreading from an oar, lapping against the walls and spilling down the stairs. It was an engaging, happy sound and she didn't want to ruin the song's presence. She went upstairs quietly. On the last stair, she settled against the wall to admire the sight.
Ai, Aria Company's sole apprentice, sat at the table, facing away from Alicia. The girl was fourteen, auburn, and spritely. A red bow adorned her short hair, making her seem younger than she was, but it fit her innocence of character. Her white uniform still fell across the narrow span of her shoulders and Alicia guessed she had only recently returned from practice. Like her senior before her, Ai was a dedicated student. Even the falling night could not always retire the girl from the day's study. Apparently, she even practiced singing in the evenings.
Ai had a pleasant voice. Her tone was girlish and not particularly rich, but it was charming. She was pitched marginally lower than many of the sopranos aspiring to be Primas. It meant that where some girls sang out high and screechy, Ai was warm and fuzzy. She sang like she was musing aloud. The song had an absentminded quality as she worked on something shielded from view by her body. Alicia let herself sink into the mellow atmosphere.
Aria-shachou noticed her first. The tubby white cat had been murmuring along with Ai from across the table when his blue eyes caught a flutter of fabric by the stairs. Alicia smiled in return when he cried out a joyful cat greeting. Ai turned in surprise, but she was just as pleased to see her visitor. "Alicia-san!"
"Good evening, Ai-chan." Alicia laughed and stepped the rest of the way inside. "I came to visit."
"Yes!" She was quick to stand up and offer a place at the table. "You've come at a good time. Aria-shachou and I were about to eat dinner. But there's too much again." The last mournful complaint was echoed by the cat for emphasis.
Alicia laughed. "My, my. That's very lucky then."
"Would you like some tea?" Ai asked as Alicia unburdened herself of her work notes and collection of reports.
"Yes. That would be wonderful." The temperature was yet pleasant, but on the harbor's edge where the breeze kicked up from the salt water, there was a clammy chill and she had been glad of her white cotton sweater. Ai gathered up her own papers and tucked them away in a folder before taking down Alicia's favorite teacup and filling it from the still-steaming pot.
Like always, the place felt like home. Ai felt like family. Holding the plush weight of Aria-shachou against her belly, she felt her body release tension that she had not even noticed she was carrying. She didn't like to think she was always carrying that tension, but the relief was too physical to deny. Instead, she ignored it, sitting to watch her cute junior bustle around the kitchen.
"Where is our Aquamarine tonight?" she wondered. It gave her a special tickle to use that name –the one she had chosen when Akari succeeded her as Prima. It was embarrassing too –so Alicia didn't usually use the moniker in public. But, if anyone did, Ai understood and shared the intention behind Akari's work name.
"Some urgent work came at the last minute," Ai explained. Just a hint of disappointment colored the girl's voice, and Alicia understood why there was too much food. "Again," apparently. She was glad she had decided to visit tonight, and glad it wasn't just her own selfishness being satisfied.
"My, my. Her popularity must be rising again."
"Yes!" Ai agreed with a brave attempt at enthusiasm. "She is booked through the next month. The customers are very happy when they can get a reservation on Akari-san's gondola."
"Akari-chan has always tried her best to please her customers," Alicia observed. "It's too bad she doesn't have as much free time, though."
Ai set the teacup and saucer down on the table and eyed her senior peripherally. "Do you think I'm being lonely?" she accused. Her tone suggested such an emotion was disdainful. "Akari-san always has time to teach me. And if I ask her to, she tells a customer she can't make any more reservations so that we'll have time together."
"My, my." She didn't know what else to say to that announcement. Sometimes Ai seemed to prickle over the most unexpected things. Alicia understood the girl was fiercely loyal, and that was entirely alright.
"There's an important project Akari-san is helping with. They can only work on it at night, so Akari-san often comes home late."
"I see," she said, still a bit mystified. "What is the special project about?"
Ai met her eyes boldly and offered a purely mischievous grin. "It's a secret."
"My, my," Alicia giggled. She liked Ai's confidence. Rank and seniority seemed to roll off the younger girl like rain rolled off the streets of Neo-Venezia, leaving it unperturbed. Though polite and well-behaved, she never lost her sense of Self before anybody. It was refreshing.
"Do you like mushrooms?" Ai asked. The kitchen timer dinged and the girl peeked into the oven, letting escape a wave of delicious heat. Aria-shachou hopped over to get a view and Alicia helped herself to the oven mitts.
"Yes," she assured her junior happily. Carefully, she extracted a baked casserole that she was quite certain was the product of neither Ai nor Akari's cooking. Not that the girls were poor cooks, but Alicia was familiar with Akari's recipes. And Ai was still learning from Akari.
Alicia's stomach rumbled audibly, and she chuckled, patting it. Ai giggled, and her stomach growled an assent. They both laughed and Aria-shachou's fat belly echoed the sentiment, loudest of all. "Shall we eat?" Alicia suggested.
Ai set out plates, and Aria-shachou arranged the silverware, while Alicia scooped out portions from the hot dish. She was careful to set aside some for Akari, though Ai told her not to bother –Akari ate out when she worked this late.
Ai chatted about her day, and Alicia was pleased to hear how practice was going for the youngest Aria Company employee. It was a day filled with exploration and adventure, and reminded her of Akari's younger days. New eyes, she reflected, always saw new wonder in their city. It was part of the joy of being a guide; the customer's vision always spied something unique, even looking over the same old sights. And Ai, being an off-worlder like Akari, had newer eyes than most apprentice gondoliers. Whatever disadvantages she had in not being native to the city, would be overcome by her enthusiasm to discover it.
"How has your work been?" Ai asked. "Is the Gondolier Association very busy?"
"Yes?" Alicia started, caught day dreaming. "Ah, yes. I am in meetings and lectures almost every day. It's challenging, and very fun. I meet a lot of different gondoliers and see how each one can bring something very special and unique to the city they work in."
"Hmm? That sounds interesting."
"Yes!" she agreed. "The atmosphere of the whole city can change, depending on the types of Primas who work there."
"I think I can understand that," Ai mused. "When I first came to Aqua, I rode gondolas and let other Undines show me the city. But I thought it was boring. I didn't like Neo-Venezia very much until I rode Akari-san's gondola. Because she made it fun."
"That's the type of Prima she is," Alicia agreed.
Akari had a talent for sharing her joy of a thing. It was why she was so popular. It was why her retired senior visited so often, even with the Association and the wedding filling every spare moment of her schedule. That aura of happiness she carried with her was addictive. It could change boredom into fun, dislike into love. Alicia kept thinking a little bit of that magic was all she needed.
She made progress on her work for the Gondola Association after Ai and Aria-shachou retreated upstairs to sleep. Before they went Ai tried to convince Alicia to take the bed, or at least a futon, but Alicia waved her off. Since Ai would have an early morning helping Akari open and prepare for another day of customers, she sent the girl to bed. Alicia was feeling re-energized and relaxed. She wanted to finish her work in comfort and greet the Aria Company Prima before heading home.
By the time the twin moons were sinking low in the sky, Alicia's eyes were dry and she was wondering if she ought to pull out the futon after all. Her reports for the rest of the week were done and Akari still hadn't returned.
She was starting to worry in earnest when she spotted a gondola, lit by a lantern over its prow, making its way across the water. It was a slow arrival. When the white and blue craft finally bumped against its familiar berth, Alicia had been watching from the porch for some time.
"Alright, there, you've made it." Akatsuki's unusually soft prompting guided them in, so Alicia wasn't startled when two figures stood in the dim lantern light. She was surprised, certainly. She was more surprised when the figure that was Akari wobbled and fumbled the oar. "Oop! Got it." Akatsuki set the oar down and grounded a foot on the gangway to pull the gondola into place.
"Th- Thank you, Akatsuki-san," Akari murmured around a yawn. She wobbled again as if the gentle breeze was threatening to bowl her over. The young man looked up in alarm.
"Ah! Watch out, Momik- Ah! Okay." Akari fell against his shoulder just as Akatsuki put an arm around to steady her. For a long moment they stayed like that, and then she started to slip. "Woah! Hey! Don't-" She would have fallen –to her knees, or into the water- but at the last moment Akatsuki got an arm under her and lifted her in a cradle carry.
He stood like that: one foot in the gondola, one foot out, bearing up under the young Undine, apparently entirely nonplussed.
"Akari-chan?!"
He turned gratefully at the interruption and put two feet on solid foundation as Alicia hurried across the porch. "Ah! A-Alicia-san!" he exclaimed, several degrees louder than he had been.
"Akari-chan?" she asked. She put one hand against the Salamander's, to share his burden, and the other to the young woman's slack face. "What happened?"
"Ah." Akatsuki managed an uncomfortable shrug and narrowed his eyes at the head of reddish blonde hair. "She fell asleep."
It took Alicia a moment to calm her panic and realize it was true. Akari was fast asleep, breathing deeply, and even smiling faintly. Alicia hesitated to guess at the cause of this state, as everything that sprung to mind was strictly illegal to those driving gondolas through the city. Her position on the board of the Gondola Association would become a lot less pleasant if it became her duty to strip the one Undine she'd personally trained of her title and work privileges.
"I'll lay her down," Akatsuki grunted.
"Ah, yes." Alicia tarried long enough to tie up the white gondola and unfold the tarp over the seat. She followed Akatsuki inside, noting with misgiving that his breath had smelled of wine.
Inside the door, she tapped the light switch. Akatsuki had laid Akari across the small sofa in the shop's waiting area. He knelt by her head with a complex look on his face. When Alicia joined him, he frowned. "She worked all day, but she said she was still energized and wanted to help. It took longer than we expected, but she said she would stay until we were finished." He sniffed. "Of course, Momiko would completely overestimate her strength. As soon as everyone went home, she almost fell asleep in her gondola."
"My," Alicia breathed. "Thank you for escorting her home." The trunk next to the bookshelf held several blankets, intended for customers on cold days. Alicia retrieved the soft green one to drape over Akari's thin body.
"It's only natural!" Akatsuki's chin rose proudly under Alicia's gratitude. As another thought occurred to him, he glared down at the sleeping girl and gave her hair a sharp yank. She cried out and he yelled, "Make sure you rest properly after this! Even Allies of Justice know to take care of their bodies." Satisfied, he stood and clapped his hands for emphasis. "I'm off. I still have to deliver our work-" He hefted the small bag slung over his shoulder. "Sleep well, Momiko. Thank you for your work tonight. Good night, Alicia-san."
In a moment he was gone, marching animatedly towards the city, singing to himself. Alicia turned to look at Akari, but the Undine was already asleep again –if she'd ever fully woken up.
"Akatsuki-san," she muttered, rolling her face into the cushion. "Pulling those is forbidden."
Alicia sighed, relief mixing with the faintly wry good humor that so enjoyed witnessing Akari's antics. Clearly her junior was working hard, and she was being well supported by her friends. Her nose, and belated common sense, told her the girl hadn't been drinking. She was doing well and it made Alicia proud.
"Thank you for your hard work, Akari-chan," Alicia murmured.
"Alicia-san," Alicia started, but Akari was still sleep. Her voice was muffled by the sofa cushion. "To be getting married… you must be happy."
In Alicia's ears, it didn't sound like the same eager observations Akari's memory haunted her with. The inflection was different. You must be happy. It sounded like a plea. More than anything, Akari would want people to be happy –whatever their life held.
"Yes," Alicia agreed easily. Akari didn't understand. She didn't have to be happy to be getting married, as long as she was happy. And she honestly was. She brushed long strands of hair away from Akari's face, relishing in the silky texture under her fingertips.
The girl made a weak movement as if to catch her hand. "Must…love…" Alicia had to lean close to catch the last muttered words before her exhaustion pulled her deeper into sleep.
"Yes," she agreed again. She didn't have to love her husband, as long as she loved. And she honestly did that too. Alicia pressed a kiss against Akari's forehead, inhaling the scent of her hair. Beneath the sea salt that flavored everything in Neo-Venezia, she smelt faintly of strawberries –probably her conditioner. "I love you, Akari-chan."
It was time to go. Dawn would be coloring the sky soon and she needed to clean up before a breakfast meeting. Despite the all-nighter, she was feeling a little wired –full up, from her visit to Aria Company. She dimmed the light without plunging the room into complete darkness, and turned to gather her things.
Ai, in pink bear-faced slippers, hopped down the last few steps. Her arms were stacked with a thick quilt, a fresh uniform, and an alarm clock. She set the bundle on the floor at the end of the sofa and turned the hands of the clock –to four hours later, Alicia noticed.
"Are you leaving now, Alicia-san?" Ai whispered.
"Yes."
"Thank you for visiting. Go safely."
There didn't seem to be anything else to say, so she let herself out with a smile and murmured "I'm off."
As the door shut Alicia wondered how long Ai had been standing on the stairs. But given the expression on the youngest Undine's face, she decided she didn't want to know.