Depth

The tailor's shop in Harmonica Town always had a pleasant look of untidiness about its showroom floor, but in the days leading up to the New Year Festival the place became an absolute war zone. The beautiful displays of lace dresses and silk suits shared wallspace with rainbow bolts of fabric and paper patterns, and the tables and benches where shirts and pants were stacked in colorful squares were half-covered with unfinished pieces and opened boxes of accessories. Both the sewing machines and the coffeepot were constantly running, and dirty china teacups made precarious towers on the countertops and in the sink.

"We're not going to make it."

Luna, the part owner and business manager of the shop, spoke these words around a mouthful of pins, despite having a pincushion bracelet strapped around each of her wrists. Kneeling in front of a dress model with her hands full of gathered lace, she worked with a steady urgency that belied the frazzled expression on her young face. A fine sheen of sweat made strands of her bubblegum pink hair stick to her forehead and her sapphire eyes were narrowed in both concentration and rapidly building frustration.

"We're going to make it," came the low, calm voice of her sister, repeating the same answer she had given Luna since they had begun preparing for the festival at the end of the month. "Don't fret."

Luna had to wait until she had finished pinning the fabric around the model's hips to answer. "You can say that because you enjoy this mess," she said curtly, cutting a harsh look at the blue-haired girl feeding a length of soft pastel yellow linen one of the sewing machines.

"I don't know why you're worrying. This isn't your first festival, you know."

"It's not, which is why I'm upset. Why do we always wait until the last minute to finish this stuff?"

Candace, placid as a forest lake, selected a length of cream lace trim and held it up to the collar of the blouse she was making. "We didn't wait. We've been working hard all year."

"Yeah, well, we obviously didn't work hard enough. We know everybody wants to buy new clothes before spring at the New Year's Festival and we never finish until the night before." She jabbed another needle into place. "Maybe if Julius hadn't picked the worst time to propose to you, we'd be fine. We had to drop everything to make your wedding dress—"

"Luna," warned a quavering voice from behind the front counter, "calm down, please. This is no time to bicker. We'll have everything ready on time, as we always have. We'll be fine."

Luna glanced over at the tiny woman in the kerchief and huge, wire-framed glasses. Shelley, their grandmother, had paused her embroidery of a leather jacket's sleeves and was looking pointedly at her.

"Grandma, I've got three dresses to finish. These are supposed to be my big selling pieces and they're not even hemmed yet."

"Maybe if you'd spent less time agonizing over your stylistic choices and trusting your intuition, you'd have finished them by now," Shelley remarked, going back to her work. "Don't pick fights with Candace because you're frustrated with yourself."

Luna scowled at the dress form, her blush deepening the pink of her cheeks.

"Do your best, Luna," Candace urged. "Your dresses will be absolutely beautiful. When I'm done with this, I'll come help you, okay?"

Luna glanced at her sister, who was beaming a gentle smile at her. Ever since she'd gotten married, Candace had developed a peaceful, self-assured demeanor that was a complete departure from the shy, withdrawn habits she'd had when she'd been single. Whether it was because the outgoing Julius was forcing Candace out of her shell or if she was unconsciously adapting to his personality, Luna had to admit that a happily married Candace was worth all the trouble the wedding had caused.

"Yeah," she said, trying to make her answering smile more grateful than stressed. "That would be nice."

The bell above the front door jingled. Three pairs of eyes looked up as a young girl wearing a puffy-skirted maid uniform and matching black ballerina flats enter the shop. Her blue eyes brightened and she beamed a manic, too-wide smile at them all. It was the waitress from Ocarina Inn, and in her hands she held a bulging paper bag with the shop's logo imprinted on the front.

"Hiya, girls!"

Luna turned back to her work. Shelley bowed politely and Candace nodded her welcome. "Hello, Maya," she said warmly. "It's nice of you to come visit."

"Aw, thanksies!" Maya gushed, causing Luna to inwardly flinch. She lifted the bag and shook it gently. "Who wants cookies?"

Only Candace's hands remained steadily at work; Luna and Shelley both froze. Maya's culinary attempts were well known amongst Harmonica Town's residents. Only Chase, who was the cook at the Brass Bar, and Yolanda, Maya's grandmother, had ever had the courage to eat what Maya brought to the table. Not even Colleen would touch her daughter's cooking. Maya had the special talent of not realizing that she had no talent whatsoever at anything she did. The girl was cheerful to a fault, cute as a button, and empty as air—traits which made her triply obnoxious to Luna. While it was true that Luna herself was cheerful and cute, she also had more emotional depth than a puddle in the street…and she didn't shriek like a stepped on-cat whenever she was happy.

Candace actually sounded grateful. "Of course we'd like some. Thank you."

"Yay!" Maya danced in place before romping over to the kitchen table in the adjoining room. "I'll leave 'em here, okay?"

Luna was opening her lips to ask who made them but Shelley saw her question and decided to cut her off. "You're very generous, Miss Maya. Let me go brew some tea and we can enjoy them together."

She made a point of pausing as she passed Luna, and whispered, "You will eat one."

Luna nodded stiffly.

Shelley straightened her glasses and disappeared into the kitchen. Maya reentered the shop, twirling her twin braids between her fingertips. She looked cleverly at Candace, her mouth curved in what she thought was a sly smile. "Is it ready yet, Candace?"

To her sister's surprise, Candace returned the smile, reached under her workbench, and pulled out a square of folded purple cloth. "Tell me what you think."

Maya let out a shrill squeal and ran past Luna, who had gotten up to see what Candace had made. As Maya seized the cloth and shook it out of its folded square, Luna heard the faint jingling of buckles and beads. Peering closer, she saw that the cloth was a robe of some sort, with a deep hood and triangular panels in the front that were decorated with patterns of light purple thread and silk tassels on the ends. The back panels sported stars shaped from thinly cut slivers of crystal and pieces of blue and purple opal. Even at the distance she was standing, Luna could see that the cloth itself was heavy, high quality wool, lined with shining black silk. It was familiar. She'd seen it somewhere before….

"It's perfect!" Maya gushed, just as Luna breathed, "That's the Wizard's robe!"

"Yeah!" Maya hugged the purple fabric under her chin. "Isn't it great? It needed mending and Candace offered to do it for free. That's what we made the cookies for, as thanks."

Luna looked pointedly at her sister. "When was this?" she asked.

Candace reached out and straightened a beaded tassel on the robe's trim. "A few weeks ago," she said, almost too carefully. "It was a quick project, really."

"But look at all the stuff you put on it!" Maya turned it over and over in her hands. "New opals and thread and everything! And it smells like you washed it, too." She buried her face in the fabric and inhaled a loud breath. "Not as good as what his house smells like, but he won't mind. I don't think."

"I'm sorry," Candace said. "It's customary to wash the garments we get—"

Luna was very quickly picking up on something she hadn't realized before. "Wait, wait, wait," she said, coming around the display table so she could confront the two girls face-to-face. "Why are you running errands for the Wizard, Maya?"

"Cuz he asked me to, silly!" was Maya's giggled reply.

Luna looked at Candace. Candace shrugged. The pink-haired girl tried again. "Why would he ask you, is what I'm asking."

"Oh, well, one day I noticed that there was a snag on the shoulder where that pretty pattern is, and then he accidentally burned the fringe on one of his sleeves, so I asked him if he wanted me to fix it and he said no thanks, and then I was like well I can take it to Sonata Tailor and he said would you really and I said sure so he gave it to me and I brought it to Candace and she said she'd be able to fix it up no problem and she did and he's going to be so happy!"

Maya's rapid explanation was only a little hard to follow, but Luna still hadn't gotten an answer to her real question. One day I noticed…this meant several things that she was absolutely having trouble wrapping her thoughts around.

Maya had spent time in the Wizard's house.

Maya had spent multiple days with the Wizard.

Maya was on speaking terms with the Wizard.

Her thoughts solidified into words. "Don't tell me you're dating the Wizard?"

"All right, then. I won't," Maya singsonged.

Luna's jaw fell open. "You are!"

"Well, yeah, isn't it totally obvious?" Luna could barely resist shaking her head 'no'. "He really doesn't want me going around talking about it much but I think everyone can totally tell. Even Mama asked me why I was going around smiling more than usual and even though I didn't tell her I think she can see right through me. It's so hard to hide it, you know?"

"But…what do you do together?"

"Lots of things!" Maya gushed. "Walks and talking and gathering mushrooms or shells on the beach and sometimes we listen to music and sometimes we cook together and I usually brew him coffee in the Inn in the morning and then we drink it together and it's so fun! Doesn't it sound fun?"

"Yeah, I guess." Luna was piecing the image together in her mind. Maya, walking on the beach by the Wizard's side, babbling to him in her chipmunk's voice while he listened attentively, his mismatched eyes gazing lovingly at her. Her brain refused it. Helpless, she looked to Candace for guidance, but her sister's heart-shaped face was very carefully guarded, even a little severe.

I'm not trying to be mean, Luna thought desperately, trying to covey the thought with her eyes, but, come on! How can it work?

The Wizard had lived in Harmonica Town for as long as anyone could remember, and that was about as much as anyone knew about him. He kept to himself and talked to the stars. Nobody knew his real name, but most of the women called him "Mr. Fortune Teller" because he sometimes read love horoscopes. Luna didn't trust him at all. It was impossible to guess his age but instinctively she knew that he was very, very old, despite his unlined face and dark, smooth skin. She'd gone to him once before, when Shelley had been very sick and there had been no doctor to take care of her. His house had been completely dark, save for a circle of candles on the table in the middle of the room. She had stood hand-in-hand with Candace, breathing in the smells of peat and spices and fire and scalding coffee, as the Wizard muttered unintelligible words over a bowl of blood-red liquid. They'd given it to Shelley to drink and she'd gotten better. The Wizard never asked for payment.

To imagine this silent magician with the twittering bubble that was Maya was…baffling, to put it mildly.

"I can't wait to see what he looks like when he puts it on," Maya was telling Candace once Luna came out of her reverie. "It'll be so…so yummy!"

"Don't forget to bring him by the Festival tonight to show me how it fits him," Candace said.

Maya's face grew troubled. "I'll try," she said, sounding a little defeated, "but he doesn't really like groups of people, you know? And we kind of had something planned already—a little celebration of our own, so to speak!" The sly smile was back on her face again. "I can't tell you any more or else I'll ruin the surprise for myself and for everybody!"

"Oh, no, don't spoil your party on my account," Candace said seriously. "I'm just happy I was able to finish this in time."

"Speaking of finishing on time…?" Luna interjected, folding her arms. "We've got a lot more work to do. And we need to set up the booth, besides."

Maya grinned foolishly at her for a few seconds before catching the drift of Luna's words. "Oh!" she finally said. "Oh, yeah! You guys are probably busy. I bet you want me to let you get back to worksies, right?"

"Yep," Luna said, but Candace dug an elbow into her side and said hurriedly, "We're very happy for you, Maya, is what she means. We hope to see you at the Festival, but either way, you're both invited over here whenever you'd like."

"Yay!" Maya hugged the robe again. "That'll be fun! We'll bring cookies!"

We?

"Wait, Maya," Luna called to the waitress's back as she romped towards the door. "Who made the cookies you brought today?"

At the door, Maya beamed a brilliant smile over her shoulder. "Gale and me, of course!"

And then she was gone.

In the kitchen, the teakettle began to whistle.

"You shouldn't judge," Candace said quietly.

Luna squared her shoulders. "I wasn't judging," she said.

Candace turned and settled down at her workbench again. She spoke over the quiet hum of her sewing machine. "You were. It was written all over your face."

"Because it's ridiculous!" Luna exploded. "Can you imagine empty-headed Maya and the freaking fortune teller together? It's ridiculous! What do they have in common?"

Candace let the question go unanswered as she sewed lace around the collar of the blouse she had made. When finished, she held it up and inspected it, running her fingers over the pattern. "That's what people said about Julius and me," she said.

Luna winced. "That's different." The words sounded weak, even to her.

"You know it's not."

To hide her shame, Luna reached into an open box and pulled out more fabric for the petticoats of the dress she was assembling. "I mean, why not go with Chase, or Gill? Even Toby—at least he visits the Inn sometimes when he's got a delivery from the Fishery. At least he can talk to her about cooking fish or—or something."

"Imagine what people said about Julius and me," Candace said again, a little more forcefully. "Just imagine what they said about timid little Candace and the man who wears perfume and eyeshadow."

"I didn't hear anybody saying anything about you."

There was a small smile in Candace's tone. "That's probably because they were too afraid to say anything within earshot of you."

Luna huffed. "Still…."

"Still, it's not nice to make generalizations. Nobody deserves to be judged based on appearances alone. That's why people become so shy; they don't trust anyone enough to truly open up. You always see a smiling, cheerful Maya, so that's as deep as you think she goes. It could very well be that she's as shy as me or as wise as the Wizard. She's just smart enough to disguise it." Candace hung the blouse on a silk-wrapped hangar on the edge of her workbench. "If she wasn't, she'd surely end up just as ostracized, don't you think?"

Luna thought of Maya's empty smile, her annoying habit of off-key humming, the many times she'd seen the waitress trip over her shoelaces and drop whatever tray of food she'd been carrying. She heaved a sigh and shrugged. "I suppose."

"Girls."

Shelley stood in the doorway to the kitchen. She held a cup of steaming tea in one hand and a plate of jam cookies in the other. Her eyes were wide behind her glasses. "You should try these," she said, admiration in her voice. "They're…actually quite good."

She held the plate out. Candace and Luna approached and each took one. They were still slightly warm. Luna waited for Candace to bite into hers and then did likewise.

It was soft and chewy, with just the right amount of tartness from the raspberry filling. Luna's eyes widened with surprise. She looked at her sister.

"See?" Candace said, taking another bite.

Instead of answering, Luna finished her cookie and returned to work on her dress. She thought about Maya and the Wizard on the beach, but in this image, neither of them were talking. They were just staring out to sea.

They made it.

By the time the Festival began that night, Sonata Tailors' booth was all set up in the courtyard in front of the Town Hall. While it was true that Luna had to make a few last-minute additions to her pieces by crouching behind the booth with a needle and thread flashing in and out of a bunch of fabric piled in her lap, she had to say she was pleased. Next year, she thought as she gazed at their colorful displays of clothes, we're starting two months early.

They sold nearly all of their wares. Candace's blouse went to Renee, who loved the soft yellow color, while all three dresses that Luna had made were quickly divvied up between Selena, Colleen, and Angela. While she hated to see the off-the-shoulder magenta gown go to the Brass Bar's dancer, she had to admit it looked wonderful against the girl's copper skin.

She shared a cup of cocoa with Candace and Shelley while Mayor Hamilton and Ramsey judged the contestants in the mining and gathering competitions, and they sold their last accessories—the straw hats being especially popular with Angela—just as the fireworks were being prepped for lighting. Remembering the taste of the raspberry jam cookie she'd eaten, Luna looked around for Maya, but the waitress wasn't there. She decided that she'd make something nice for Maya for spring. Perhaps a purple sundress, to match the color of the Wizard's robe. Dark purple, like the night just after sunset. It wouldn't be one of her usual pastel pieces. It would be something more. Something with depth.

And while the whole town looked skyward at the fireworks exploding into rainbows overhead, Maya, wearing her mother's wedding dress, quietly slipped out of Ocarina Inn and ran through the darkness towards Celesta Church with the purple robe clutched in her arms.

Here's my submission for The Village Square's 2016 Gift Exchange! I hope you liked it, Swag Giraffe! Thank you for being...not very picky!

For some reason I feel like Luna would really find it hard to accept a pairing like Maya and Gale. Luna's girly but she's also very practical, I think. At least in a business sense. She's got a lot of layers and I feel like she'd be someone to judge quickly and then re-think the situation and amend her ideas. Candace, being level headed and introspective, probably would help her a lot with that.

Please forgive any errors you find, and point them out to me if you can so I can correct them. I posted this kind of quickly because it's deadline time.