Author's Note: I would like to thank deeply Ainikki-Chan and EvilReceptionistOfDoom (Platy-Senpai!) for their help and Beta-Read my English version. It means a lot to me to share my translated writing about the Moribito fandom with other fans~
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Part I
Departure
"Are we almost there?!" a child's voice echoed from the driver's back seat.
"Almost, Alika," Balsa replied, trying to focus on the road as well as the lights.
"You said that an hour ago!"
Balsa sighed and turned on the light that had turned green. Her daughter was going to be eight years old in a few months and it was her very first real trip outside Yogo's country. They were going to visit Aunt Yuka who lived in the Nordic country: Kanbal, which was three times bigger than Yogo. Most years, Yuka came to visit them in the summer for about a month. This time, Balsa decided it was their turn to visit her, for a change.
Basically, Balsa's entire family was supposed to go there, but her husband, Tanda, Alika's father, couldn't come this time; too many patients and scheduled appointments with his naturopathic clinic. Grandma Torogai, on the other hand, just never liked air travel and hated crowds. An asocial, as she often described herself.
Tanda reassured them that he would still keep in contact with each other and check in with Skype calls. Alika quickly packed her bags, excited as never before. Torogai said and maintained very often that the little one was a reincarnated Kanbalese soul born in the wrong country. Even though her father was half Yakoo, the little girl had only inherited her father's eyes and their shapes. Balsa had physically passed her 90% of her Kanbalese genes and taught her the language. As a result, Alika was fully bilingual from her earliest childhood.
"Are we almost there?!" Alika asked impatiently, pulling her nose out of her book for the tenth time in an hour.
"Look to your right," Balsa said, pointing out the window.
The airport appeared in the distance. Balsa entered in the lot where people parked when going on a trip for a set time. She went to get a cart to put their two main luggage and carry-on bags on. Alika was frolicking happily and looked carefully at the departure time, the seats and the flight number; their flight was scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and it was currently 8:30 a.m. Balsa smiled at seeing her daughter being so impatient.
"It's not the first time you've set foot here, though," she smiled. "You often came to greet me with Dad when I came back from a trip abroad."
"I know! But this is different, because I'll be with you! Why do we have to be there two hours before the flight?"
"In general, it's for the unforeseen events; if you have problems with your suitcases or your check-in or the airline company and so on."
"Ah!"
As they walked towards the machines that would scan their passports, QR codes and print their official tickets, Balsa saw two young teenagers who looked genuinely lost and panicking in front of the signs and the airline companies. Alika was about to walk towards a machine when her mother grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in the direction of the teenagers.
"Mommy?!"
"Is everything all right?" Balsa asked as the young man jumped. "Shhh... what's going on? Are you lost?"
"My sister and I..." the young boy teenager began in his husky voice. "We don't know how to get the tickets and how to check-in... the adults before us did for us, so my sister and I couldn't learn how to do."
From their language accent and their appearance, Balsa guessed they were from Kanbal and the teenager must have taken the woman as one of their own, speaking Kanbalese directly to her and not Yogoese.
"I'll teach you. What is your name?" She smiled at them.
"I'm Kassa," the young man introduced himself. "This is my little sister, Gina."
"I'm Balsa and this is my daughter, Alika. Come with us."
Kassa had a boyish face and looked a little unsure of himself, but she could tell he was a serious youth who cared about his sister. A head shorter than her but sturdily built, he looked about fourteen or fifteen years old. Gina was dark skinned and her braided hair was looped on top of her head. Her aura exuded a very strong will. Balsa initially assumed she was only about ten years old, but she revised her estimate to twelve or even thirteen.
She taught her daughter and the Kanbalese teens where to click on the touchscreen and how to scan the barcodes. The tickets printed, Alika looked at them constantly, staring at the gate number, trying to find the meaning of the strange three-letter acronym.
"Mommy? What does it mean NYE and KBL?"
"It's just the international name of the airport. Instead of writing fully, they always use three letters. 'NYE' for New Yogo Empire and 'KBL' for Kanbal."
"Ooohhh!"
They went to the baggage check-in with their passports. The Kanbalese teens were dealing with the 'Yusa' airline company while Balsa and her daughter were with the 'Aogiri' airline company. Alika watched their two sets of luggage disappear onto the conveyor belt with a puzzled gaze as Balsa stuck their tags on their carry-on bags, which would allow them to find the luggage at the airport upon arrival.
"Mommy," her daughter began, hesitation in her voice.
"What's wrong, honey?" Balsa answered.
"What if we lost our luggage and they went on the wrong plane?!"
The Kanbalese woman burst out laughing and pulled her daughter into her arms, waiting for Kassa and Gina.
"There's no risk of that." She smiled. "Well... it can happen, but generally you need to know the airports are very well equipped and organized. If we lose our luggage, there are always solutions. Do you see these labels on our carry-on bags?"
"Yes."
"Thanks to them, we will be able to find our luggage on the conveyor belt. It's very important to never lose them and always carry them with you until their arrival."
Kassa and Gina reached them shortly after their own check-in. Together, they headed to the customs section. Arriving in front of a security guard, Balsa showed both of her hands and the guard ran a piece of cotton over her palms. Alika was going to show her hands to do like her Mom when the guard told her that she didn't need to. The little girl gave Balsa a puzzled look.
"This, sweetie, is a drug test. Carrying out illegal drugs and prescription drugs without having them specified, or boarding as intoxicated on a plane is a serious problem when you go through the customs."
The guard made a sign at Balsa that everything was fine and did the same with Kassa, but not with Gina. They lined up to cross the security curtain. This step stressed Alika out even though she knew she had nothing dangerous on her. She jumped a bit and leaned against her mother when she heard a loud ringing sound as someone passed through the security curtain.. Gina seemed a little more nervous than her brother, but since they were both coming back from a trip abroad, they had already done this step once.
"Mommy…" Alika was scared.
"It can happen that the curtain rings. The technology isn't perfect even if it's very well developed. If you ever ring while passing the curtain, don't panic. Stay calm and let them touch you even if you aren't a person who likes to be touched. They're just doing their job."
They moved forward. Balsa explained to her they had to deposit all passports, jewelry, objects and bags in the storage tray provided for this purpose; they would then pass under the scanner on the conveyor belt. Water bottles were prohibited; only empty water bottles were permitted. Her daughter's stare showed she still had questions in mind. Balsa explained her about following events in the past. People had tried to go through customs by preparing homemade bombs in liquid form. Since then, all liquids that were transported before going through customs were strictly prohibited. Once accepted across the security lines, people could buy and refill their water bottles as they wanted without restriction.
The time came for them to pass the curtain. Balsa gave her daughter a confident look and showed her how she positioned herself: legs apart and arms straight, elbows bent and not moving. Alika felt Gina's hand on her shoulder. The guard motioned for the little girl to come forward. Balsa proudly told them that it was her daughter's first time going through customs. Alika swallowed and walked quickly, positioned herself and didn't move. The light turned green and she went to join her Mom, who congratulated her as they took back their items from the storage tray. The Kanbalese teens passed through. Kassa was stopped for a moment, then sat down on a bench. The guard touched his leg. Finding nothing, they let him go.
"You did that right, Alika-Chan!" Gina congratulated her.
"Thank you... it was a bit stressful, but... now, it's done! We're on the other side now!"
They stopped for a moment. It was time to buy something to eat. They headed for the gate number which would lead them to the same flight: Kanbal; the departure was scheduled in two hours. Once seated, Alika opened her Nintendo 2DS XL which had been put on standby, She started meeting other characters via Mii from several different countries. Balsa watched the teens talking with her daughter when her cell phone buzzed in her pouch. She opened it and the screen showed a new message on Messenger: it was her Aunt Yuka!
Aunt Yuka - 09:34 a.m.
How is it going? : 3 Did you go through customs?
Balsa smiled and answered back:
Balsa - 9:34 a.m.
We just sat down (heart emoji)
Alika went through customs like a champion, though she was a little scared. I also helped two teenagers who are on the same plane as us and we'll all hang out together.
She returned her attention to the people walking through the halls of the airport. Her cell phone buzzed again.
Aunt Yuka - 09:40 a.m.
What good news!
Are you still going to arrive at Kanbal airport around 2:30 p.m? If we count 3 hours for the flight, it will let me know the time to arrive and wait for you.
Balsa - 09:41 a.m.
Yes! Right now, there's no delay.
It's still saying that the boarding is at 11:30 a.m.
I will write you back before getting on the plane and when we arrive.
Aunt Yuka - 09:41 a.m.
Perfect! Have a nice flight, can't wait to see you, both of you!
(Heart 3x)
"Alika!" Balsa called out as her daughter quickly turned her head to her. "We're gonna take a selfie just to show Aunt Yuka that we've passed customs."
Her daughter leaned against her quickly and gave a wonderful smile before turning back her attention to Gina. Balsa looked up at her cellphone and sent her picture.
Balsa - 9:45 a.m.
(Sent a photo)
Aunt Yuka - 9:45 a.m.
(Responded with a heart-in-eye emoji)
You are so beautiful!
Alika turned her head by looking at Kassa, intrigued. He seemed very focused on his own cellphone. She stood up and took a look.
"Oh, you're playing Pokémon Go!" the little one exclaimed.
"Oh! yes," he said, sticking his cellphone to his chest, suddenly embarrassed.
"Why are you embarrassed? Chagum-Niisan was constantly playing this game... Mommy and Daddy say that I'm too young to play with him, so I play on their account or my DS."
"... I don't know. Generally, I don't dare to say or to show that I'm playing at Pokémon Go. My cousin Shisheem used to say he's level 48 when I am only 26... he's from the Valor team, the red one and I am Instinct, the yellow..."
"Niisan was Mystic. Blue is his favorite color. Why did you choose Instinct?"
"Because I chose my team after my favorite legendary bird: Zapdos, and not because of the color or the team's motto..."
"Ohhhh! I see... is Gina playing it too?"
"A little, but not a lot," she replied. "I'm on the same team as my brother. Zapdos represents lightning, like the God Yoram! The goal of the game is to kick the Pokémon out of the Gym outside the raids and the tasks. The Valor team is known to be the most aggressive, and unfortunately the Instinct team is the least popular and the most bullied... I find this ridiculous; it's just a game after all! But our cousin Shisheem doesn't agree with us and takes great advantage of this side to bully us... both in person and online."
"Anyway," Kassa added, "there're a lot of Pokéstops here, it's great!"
Hours passed and the speakers announced to passengers the boarding for Kanbal was about to begin. People started to get up and form a line.. Balsa wrote to Yuka one last time.
Balsa - 11:25 a.m.
This is the last message I'll send you, it's time to get on board.
See you soon Aunt Yuka! (heart emoji)
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