The morning after her date with the Wizard, Akari was surprised to discover a letter in her mailbox.

No one ever writes me mail, what could this be? She flipped it over, immediately recognizing the loopy handwriting on the envelope. She was careful in opening it, wanting to preserve both the letter and the envelope.

Dearest Akari

I hope this letter finds you well.

I'd like to take a moment to thank you for doing me a favour by joining me gazing at stars. I know that you are a busy person.

Thank you very much. I hope that we can have such an opportunity again.

Thank you again.

-Wizard

She smiled, returning to the house to file it away in the bookshelf. It might be nice to pull it out at some later day and look at it again, she mused. Akari paused for a moment, feeling like something was odd, but unable to place her finger on what exactly was different.

What should I do today? She wondered vaguely. I could go visit the town, I should at least go see the Wizard to confirm that I had fun on our date, but for some reason, I'm just not in the mood to deal with other people today. It was almost New Year's; she'd be seeing everyone all in a group pretty soon anyway. So much had happened this month, it was rare that Akari sat back and reflected. Perhaps she would also go to see Kathy today. Suddenly, she realized what was off: Kathy had not come to see her. Perhaps she was sick today? Or maybe just busy. In any case, Akari did not want to deliberately seek anyone out today, not for long-term conversation. Perhaps she would also make her way over to Flute Fields to ask Renee and Anissa about their wishes, she was so close to being able to ring the purple bell…

In any case, she decided that she'd better get a move on if she wanted to get anything accomplished. She headed out to the Wizard's house, checking the road ahead for signs of chatty villagers. To her relief, she had left early enough that the afternoon buzz of the town had not yet begun. She found the Wizard sitting on one side of his crystal ball, and Anissa sitting on the other side, her eyes wider than usual, and her gaze searching.

"You and Jin are very compatible… He may seem cold, but he's really just… conservative… There's really not much more I can tell you…"

"No, no, thank you. I just wanted another opinion. I'm glad that I came here." Anissa said, standing up, her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Akari. "Akari! How long have you been there? Oh my, this is so embarrassing."

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop." Akari assured her, "I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

"Please don't, especially not Jin. He'd think it's silly that I come here."

"My lips are sealed." Akari told her, watching as she shuffled out of the room, still looking as though she had been caught in some kind of shameful act.

"She comes by often…" The Wizard told her, "Many of your friends do… But only the women, for some reason…"

"I'm not that surprised." Akari said, thinking about how vastly different the men and women of the island were, "But at least you've got visitors now."

"I'm not good at dealing with people… I don't have many friends… But with you, it is different. My rhythm of life... Is erratic with you around... Very difficult..."

"Oh." Akari's heart sank, "I did not realize that I made things difficult for you."

"That's… Not what I meant by that…" The Wizard looked horrified, "It's just that… It has been a very, very… long time since I had regular contact with another person… Life is… Different for me now, but it is also… Better."

"Are you sure?" Akari asked, her spirit still dampened.

"Yes." The Wizard said.

"I'm glad, because I think that my life now is better too." Akari's heart lifted back into its usual place. The two of them smiled at each other for a moment before Akari remembered why she had come in the first place. "Oh, I wanted to tell you that I got your letter, and that I also had a great time yesterday."

"I'm glad." The Wizard smiled.

"Anyway, I'll see you again tomorrow, I should probably go."

"Very well, I shall see you… Tomorrow."

Akari left, feeling happy once again. Happy enough that the prospect of going to talk to Kathy was more appealing now, she doubted that Anissa would tell her about her wishes after their encounter this morning anyway. She'd give it a day or two, wait for Anissa to calm down, and then make an attempt. And she certainly did not want to go all the way to Flute Fields just to talk to Renee. So instead, Akari tread the familiar path to the Brass Bar. Hayden greeted her, looking a little less than his usual jovial self.

"Oh, Akari, hello. I suppose you're looking for Kathy?"

"Yeah, is something wrong?"

"I don't know. She's shut up in her room and won't come out. I thought we got past this stage when she was a teenager." He sighed, "You two are close, would you mind going in there to see what's wrong with her?"

"Of course." Akari said, concerned. Temperamental as Kathy may be, it was not like her to be so immature. She knocked on Kathy's door tentatively.

"Go away dad!" Kathy's voice was shaking, and full of raw emotion.

"Kathy, it's me… Akari."

"Oh! Just a minute…" Akari heard the lock turn from the other side of the door. Kathy still wore her pajamas; a tank top with athletic shorts. Her eyes were red and puffy, her face mottled.

"Kathy, what happened?" Akari asked, leading Kathy over to the bed and making her sit down.

"Akari," Kathy began, "I think I might be pregnant…"