IMPORTANT NOTICE!!
This fic will contain shoujo-ai, meaning girl/girl relationships. So yeah. You've been warned.
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Chapter 1: I'm Not Afraid to Fly, Just Wanna Touch the Sky
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"My feet hurt!" complained Aika loudly, "I've just about had it with fighting all these stupid monsters, and I'm tired and I'm thirsty and have had enough of marching through this desert wasteland when there is NOTHING HERE!"
Vyse winced and turned around.
"Really, Aika, would you try not to complain so much? I mean, c'mon, we have to be close! And think of all the gold and new kinds of treasures that we can find!" said Vyse. Currently the young Air Pirate captain was searching for a treasure of an old pirate that was supposed to be located on an island near Nasr.
"But we've been hiking for that last three hours, and haven't found anything! And every time I ask you about it, you always say 'But we have to be close! Just a few more minutes!' At least that's what you've been doing for the last two hours!" Aika whined, "And what about you, mister famous treasure hunter, what have you got to say for yourself?" Aika suddenly turned on Domingo, who was scratching his head and looking at the map, obviously puzzled. Vyse had decided to bring Domingo along with them, and of course Fina was there too, as well as Marco, who had insisted on coming. The rest of the crew was back at the ship, no doubt partying.
"Umm..." said Domingo as Aika spun on him, "Well, according to the map we SHOULD have found it already, but you know, maybe something went wrong... I dunno, this thing confuses me..." Domingo scratched his head again, thoroughly stumped.
"YOU MEAN YOU TWO HAVE NO IDEA WHERE WE ARE???" shouted Aika. Both Domingo and Vyse huddled together under the mad redhead's wrath, looking at her like they were afraid her hair might burst into flames any moment now or something equally frightening.
"We do too know where we are... we just... don't know where the treasure is!" said Domingo. Vyse sweatdropped.
"Aika..." he said, trying to calm her down, "The ship will be here soon... I told the crew to come back in four hours to pick us up... so even if we don't find anything we won't be stranded out here for much longer..."
Aika glared them down, while Marco laughed in the background.
"She certainly looks like she's about to hurt you two REALLY bad!" said Marco, shaking with glee. He soon shut up as he too found himself face to face with Aika.
"You just stay out of this, you little wrench!" said Aika, and then returned to her original prey.
"Vyse, I've just about had it with your rushing into things without a plan! It takes a real idiot to run around willy-nilly in the desert looking for some treasure that might not even exist with a stupid map that is wrong, or maybe it's just that you two don't have enough brains between you to read it properly!" Aika yelled at them. Vyse and Domingo merely stared up at her, quivering. Out of all the things Vyse had faced in his days as a pirate, nothing came even close to being as scary as a mad Aika.
"You two are really pitiful, you know that..." Aika began, but was soon cut off again by Marco.
"Hey look! There's our ship!" All eyes turned upward, and sure enough, Vyse's crew was returning. A little early, but it seemed good for all of them. Vyse and Domingo breathed a sight of relief. The ship landed, and everyone boarded.
"Returning empty handed, eh Cap'n?" said Don, who was at the helm, as all the explorers entered the control room, "Too bad, too bad. Maybe there isn't any treasure after all. Or maybe we had the wrong island or somethin'. Anyways, I figured 4 hours was way to long for all of you to stay out in the sun for, all that dehydration and stuff they tell you, so I decided to head back. Hope that's okay."
"Yeah, it's okay... we weren't really finding anything anyways," said Vyse, and then got closer to Don and whispered, "THANK YOU! You saved Domingo 'n me from Aika... she was getting pretty mad at us..." Don nodded knowingly.
"Anytime, Cap'n," he said.
Aika, who had been very happy for a little while at the early return of the ship, now went back to what she had been doing as she entered the room.
"That was the most annoying things that I have ever done in my life!" she said, voice escalating sharply as she talked. Vyse and Domingo went back to their huddle behind Don.
"Wow now," said the helmsman, "I've got nothin' to do with this, so I'm backing down." Aika smirked at him as he backed away.
"Now," she said, "I know that you two guys might got marching off into the desert and not think anything of it, but us girls have problems with it! Just look at my hair! It's a total mess, and I hate the feel of being a big greasy sweat-ball! And look at Fina! All that walking through the sand and the wind under that hot sun messed up her too. Now I know that guys probably don't even CARE if you go around smelling like a PIG, but us girls have some sense of hygiene!"
Marco snickered in the background, muttering, "Yeah right!"
"Did I tell you already to stay OUT of this?" asked Aika, not even looking at him, but keeping her glare firmly on Vyse and Domingo. Marco, wanting to keep it that way, quickly scuttled off to attend to his deck-swabbing duties.
"Yes ma'am!"
"Soo," said Aika, turning away from the two air pirates, "If you two don't mind, Fina and I are gonna go freshen ourselves up before dinner." Aika grabbed Fina as she marched out.
"Oh!" said Fina, giving a glance back at the very frightened Vyse and Domingo, but then followed Aika.
"Wait!" said Vyse before the girls left, "I've got an idea!" Aika turned around.
"You've got an idea? This a first-time thing for you Vyse?" Aika asked.
"Umm..." said Vyse, not exactly sure how to respond. He HAD come up with ideas in the past before, lots of them. Aika knew that.
"Lets hear what you've got to say then, Vyse," said Aika.
"Well, I get it that you girls need a bit more ah... care than us guys do," said Vyse. Aika smirked.
"So," continued the Air Pirate captain, "I thought that maybe you two could have a day off tomorrow... you, to relax and everything, while the rest of go off and look for the treasure."
"What EXACTLY did you have in mind, then, Captain?" asked Aika.
"Well, er," said Vyse, thinking quickly, "You know, there's this great knew spa type thing that they've set up on Sailor's Island, I thought maybe we could drop off you and Fina there for the day, and we come back and get you."
All anger Aika had previously had seemed to evaporate.
"Oh really! That new spa on Sailors Island! You would really give us a whole day there, Vyse!" she said, running up and hugging her childhood friend, "That is SUCH great idea!!"
Vyse grinned.
"Well, you know, I'M the one who came up with it so..."
"Ummm..." said Fina, "Aika... exactly what is this 'spa' thing you're talking about?" Aika stared at Fina, and then began laughing.
"Should have figured you wouldn't know what it was, Fina," she said, and then went on to explain, "The day spa on Sailors Island is this great spot to relax at... they've got hot baths and things to relax in, massages, and oh! It's just wonderful, Fina you'll love it. This kind of thing came originally from Yafutoma, but now that eastern and western Arcadia communicate freely, it has come over here."
"Oh," said Fina, "It certainly does sound like a lot of fun. You can count me in." Aika grinned.
"Then it's decided! Tomorrow Vyse will drop us off at Sailors Island for a day of relaxation! Ahh, I just can't wait!"
As the door shut behind Aika and Fina, Domingo gave a big grin to Vyse.
"I gotta hand it to ya, buddy, you sure did handle that one well! One minute Aika is looking like she is gonna kill us, and the next she's hugging you in her happiness!" said Domingo.
"Well, I've known Aika all my life, so I've learned how to handle her sometimes," said Vyse. Domingo just shook his head.
"Guess I'd better go up to my position on the lookout tower, eh Cap'n?" he said.
"I think you'd better!" said Vyse, grasping the helm, "We'll be staying at Maramba tonight I suppose. I think everyone's tired, and that's a nice bed that's close by. Then tomorrow morning we'll swing by Sailors Island and get rid of those girls!"
"Aye aye!" said Domingo, and left.
Vyse steered his ship across the desert lands, and circled down over Maramba.
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The next day, Aika rose from bed with a start.
"Rise and shine, Fina, remember where we're going today!" she said. Fina sat up and yawned. Belle in the other bed got up too.
"You two are lucky, getting to go to that spa! Wish I could go too..." she said.
"Sorry Belle, I know that you and the other girls would wanna go too... I'm sorry we forgot about you. But hey, I promise next time we'll take you!" said Aika.
"Thanks Aika," said Belle, "It's really okay though. Watching Vyse, Domingo, and Marco go treasure hunting across the desert again might by pretty funny. And you to definitely deserve a day of rest after marching through across that island yesterday for hours!" Aika gave a wry grin.
"Yeah, well, I suppose that's what you get for being Vyse's best friend!" she said, and Belle and Fina giggled.
Vyse's crew set out early that morning. Aika seemed to be dancing around the ship the entire way to Sailors Island.
"Wow, Fina, I can't believe where we're going!! Thanks again Vyse!" she hugged the young Air Pirate, who blushed and tried to shove her off.
"Hey, Aika, you're gonna make me loose control of the ship... and quit dancing around so much, it's annoying," said Vyse. Aika ignored him and continued to run around doing some kind a 'happy-dance.'
When they docked at Sailors Island, Aika jumped off the ship before it could come to a complete stop. Don shook his head.
"Ya can tell that she's excited about today," he said to Domingo.
"Yeah, well they don't know what they're missing out on! I can tell you for sure that we're gonna find some kind of treasure today! And Aika isn't getting any of it!" said Domingo.
Fina got off the boat, and went running after Aika. The crew watched them go for a moment, and then took off.
So, armed with enough gold to get them through a day's luxuries, Aika and Fina walked down the street of Sailors Island. Aika halted at a very elegant sign that read 'Katrina's Day Spa.'
"Here we are!" said Aika, and both Fina and her headed inside.
They were greeted by a young Yafutoman girl, who smiled at them as they walked in.
"Welcome to Katrina's Spa. My name Celyna, and both of you look ready for a day's relaxation," she said.
"We sure are!" said Aika, "Nice to meet you, Celyna. My name is Aika and this here is Fina. We're Blue Rogues here for a nice break." Celyna gave a cute smile.
"Well then, you came to the right place!" she said, "I'm assuming you want to get started in our luxurious hot bathes?"
"Yeah yeah yeah!" said Aika, beginning to get hyper again, "We're all ready for that, yes we are!"
Fina smiled at her friend.
"Yes, miss Celyna, Aika and I would like to start off like that... shall we pay you now, or do we pay afterwards?" she asked, taking out their fairly large bag of gold.
"You can pay afterwards, Fina, thanks for asking," said Celyna, "Now, please follow me." The two girls followed the young Yafutoman down a hallway and through a door that opened up to reveal a large room with about 5 gigantic bathtubs. There were curtains that could be drawn around each for privacy. A rack and benches lined one side of the room, and there was also a mountain of towels.
"Wow!" said Aika, "This place looks... absolutely amazing!" Celyna giggled.
"Well, you can hang you clothing over there, and it will be all taken care of. There are towels over there, and here are some robes for you to put on when you are finished," said Celyna, handing them two soft, fluffy bath robes. Then she smiled at them and left the room.
The water looked steaming hot and very pleasant, Fina noted. She couldn't wait to try it out. Aika was already one step ahead of her. The redhead was quickly stripping off her clothing.
"C'mon Fina!" said Aika, "You wanna get in the water, don't you?"
"Yes," said Fina, blushing slightly. Aika looked at her, confused for one moment, and then smiled.
"Oh, I get it," said Aika, "You're a little shy, aren't you Fina? Well there's no need to be! We're all girls here! We all got the same stuff, if you know what I mean. Now come on!" Fina blushed some more, walked over and began to undress.
Fina found herself watching Aika as the she undressed. Aika had it easy. Fina felt scrawny and awkward, but Aika... Aika was far from awkward. She had all the right curves in all the right places. And soft, smooth skin that was tanned from spending time under the sun and sailing so much. Fina's skin was very white. Part of it had to do with the fact that she was a lot more covered up than Aika, but Fina thought that it also must have to do with being a Silvite.
Aika stood up, fully nude, and Fina quickly turned away, mostly to hide her face, which was bright crimson. Fina could feel the heat rushing into her ears, and she fervently hoped that it would go back down.
Fina heard a little "Ooooo," behind her as Aika stepped into the water.
"It's hot!" she said, easing her way in, "You ready Fina? C'mon!" Fina quickly walked over to the edge, trying not to blush at her nakedness, and stuck a foot in.
"Oh!" said Fina, quickly withdrawing it, "It is hot!" Aika laughed.
"Of course it is, silly," said Aika, "It's meant to be hot. Now come on. Ahhhh... this feels so nice..." Aika had quickly gotten herself situated on one of the ledges of the tub. As Fina stepped slowly in, she could see that the large tub, more like a small pool, was quite deep, with ledges of various depths around the sides.
Fina slowly eased her way in, and sat down. It DID feel good. You didn't get many hot bathes like this down on Arcadia. Most were cool, as it was a hassle to heat up the water. Fina supposed that there must be some kind of natural hot springs heating the water or something along those lines.
"Wow," said Aika, who had paddled out into the center, "This thing is REALLY deep!" Fina dropped off her ledge, and was quite surprised to find that her feet didn't touch the bottom. Aika was treading water in the center.
"This is just SO amazing!" she said, and then swam back to sit next to Fina. They sat on the ledge awhile, simply relaxing.
"Hey!" said Aika suddenly, "Look over here!" Fina glanced over to where Aika had gone too, and saw the redhead sitting by a large collection of what looked to be all different kinds of soaps and shampoos. Fina could resist a grin.
"This is really neat," she said, moving over next to Aika, and taking one of the bottles.
"I know," said Aika, "I've never had any kind of a bath close to this in my life! Mmmm... smell them Fina. It's so lovely!" Fina opened the bottle and stiffed the soap, and then giggled.
"It smells like flowers in the spring!" said Fina.
"And this one like fresh peaches!" said Aika, "I say that we try them all!" Fina giggled some more. There were sponges and clothes next to the soaps, and the girls used those to wash their bodies. Some they used on their hair (Fina washed her hair 6 times, wanting to try all the varieties), and some seemed to create lots and lots of bubbles.
"Wow! Look at what we've done!" said Aika, looking around at their bubbly and steamy world. Fina looked around also. The air smelled sweetly of the various soaps. Giggles from the girls echoed across the room.
After awhile of messing with the soaps, Aika and Fina decided just to relax. Fina found one particularly high ledge where she could rest her head and let the rest of her body float lazily in the water. Aika did a quick dunk to rinse her hair one more time (though it probably didn't do much good because of the high soap content of the water). Fina watched as orange hair fanned out across the water. Aika emerged once again, and gave a puzzled look to Fina.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" asked Aika. Fina blushed slightly once again.
"Oh nothing... it's that you've got great hair. It's such a vibrant color," Fina answered softly. Aika's hair had great body to it, and while she normally wore it up in her funny looking braids, Fina liked it much better down, though she never told this to Aika. Fina's hair was just short, straight, thin, and boring. Luckily it was always mostly covered by her bandanna.
"So you like my hair, huh Fina?" said Aika, "Well, I think you've got nice looking hair too... it really suites you well, you know."
Because I'm flat and boring too, thought Fina was a bitter edge, which startled her.
"You know, I bet we could do SOMETHING with it..." continued Aika, swimming over to Fina to play with her hair. Fina smiled a bit. She really liked it with when people played around with her hair. Especially Aika.
"Hmmm..." said Aika, not noticing Fina's face, which was growing steadily redder, "You Fina, your really do have nice hair... it's so pretty and elegant. Just like you. That's what I mean when I say it suites you well." Fina tried to hide her face as she turned beat red at Aika's comment.
"Tell you what," said Aika, "We can do something with your hair afterward, okay? I really want to see what we can come up with. Vyse will be so surprised when he sees you I'm sure, eh?" Aika winked at Fina. Fina blushed even more, if that was possible.
"So Fina, how do you feel about Vyse? I think he might have a crush on you!" inquired Aika. Fina didn't exactly know what to say. She had really never thought of Vyse as more than a friend... well, that wasn't entirely true, she may have thought about him a few times... like that... but now she was quite sure that she didn't like Vyse in that way. She hadn't ever really liked a boy. Vyse and... and Ramirez... well, they were more like her brothers. Big brothers, who watched over her. At least Ramirez had been a long time ago. Now it was Vyse.
"You like him, don't you?" asked Aika, grinning when Fina didn't answer.
"Oh know! No, I honestly don't Aika!" said Fina.
"Yeah..." said Aika, in a very sarcastic tone that obviously said she didn't believe Fina.
"Aika!" said Fina, "I really don't like him! And I promise I really have thought about it a few times, but I've decided that I don't. He's more like a really good friend. A big brother even." Aika paused for a few moments, studying Fina, who tried to act to her best ability like she was telling truth. And she really was telling the truth.
"Okay, okay. Whatever you say Fina," said Aika, "I suppose that Vyse has the big brother affect on people. You just know he'll protect you, no matter what... I suppose he does feel like a brother to me too though. He does flirt with you sometimes though." Fina blushed some more.
"I thought... I thought that YOU liked Vyse, Aika," said Fina.
"Me?" asked Aika, "Well... not really. No. Sure, he's a nice guy... but Vyse can be a real airhead sometimes, you know what I mean. Nope, I've pretty much given up on men for the time being. A while back I tried to show him that we could be more than friends but... you know Vyse... either he ignored me or he's just totally clueless." Aika gave a little sigh, a flicker of some emotion flitting across her face for a moment, "Maybe I'll find myself a good guy sometime, but for now, I'll settle with being an Air Pirate with great friends!" Fina grinned.
"You know," she said, "Poor Vyse, here he has two lovely ladies, and he has no chance with either of them!" Aika started to laugh.
"Know what ya mean, Fina," she said, "Poor Vyse. I know that he's never been on a date before. At least not one that I know of. Never had a girlfriend before, though the girls seem to be all over him. I think he likes it, but he never really takes a girl up on her offer. Sometimes I wonder if it's because he's so absorbed in sailing, which could definitely be true, or maybe he really DOES like one of us, or maybe he's just... you know... queer." Fina cocked her head at this.
"What do mean, 'queer'?" she asked innocently, quite confused.
"Oh Fina, there you go again," said Aika, "Anyways, queer is... well, homosexual. He likes guys instead of girls. People of the same gender. Maybe he's gay."
"Oh," said Fina, looking down at the soap bubbles floating across the water, "Is that... bad?"
"What?" asked Aika, "Bad? Well, some people might tell you so... some people think it's gross and wrong and everything, but I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with it. People like that are just the same as you and me..." Aika looked at her friend for a moment.
"Fina? Is anything wrong?" she asked, "You're looking kind of down."
"Oh nothing," said Fina, immediately trying to erase that look from her face, "It's just that... the Silvite Elders once talked about how loving somebody of the same gender is a sin... there were stories of two woman long ago being banished because they were in love..." Aika remained quiet for a moment, listening to Fina.
"It sounds to me like these Silvite Elders were a couple of jerks, Fina," said Aika finally. Fina continued to look down at the water.
"They really weren't... they were really quite wise I think... they just had different views of things than most of the people down here on Arcadia have," said Fina.
"Let's just say misinformed then, okay?" said Aika, cracking a smile. Fina found herself smiling some too.
"Okay," she said.
"Hey," said Aika, grinning, trying to cheer Fina up "Maybe Vyse has been secretly having a relationship with that helmsman of ours, the one who never speaks... Lawrence. He's pretty cute, you know... or maybe Domingo... naw, he's too obsessed with women... maybe we'll have to hunt out a boyfriend for him or something... of course, we're already having enough trouble finding OURSELVES boyfriends, let alone one for Vyse now too..." Fina smiled at Aika. Truth be told, she had never really thought of finding a boyfriend after she had decided that she didn't like Vyse.
Now they both finally remained quiet for quite some time. Fina floated in the water, while Aika sat on the side. All was quiet as they both concentrated and being totally relaxed. Steam floated over the pool, and sweet scents wafted through the air. Fina felt herself getting drowsy, and began to slowly nod off into sleep. Aika also slipped off into a slumber.
Neither of them knew later how long they lay there, but Aika was the first one to wake up.
"Oh," said Aika suddenly, "I am HOT!" This woke Fina up too. The Silvite's face was flushed red. She moved herself into an upright position.
"Wow Fina, you are RED!" said Aika, rubbing her eyes and looking at the other girl, "I think we stayed in this hot water for too long." Fina was beginning to feel a bit dizzy, and moved to get out of the water.
"I think we'd better get out now," she said.
"Good idea," agreed Aika, and wadded out of the water also, "But wasn't that just fantastic... wow, I just feel so revitalized! And the hot water just eased all my aching muscles!"
"Mine too!" said Fina, smiling. Sailing was tough work sometimes, and it felt good to relax in the hot water, especially after that trek yesterday, which seemed like days ago. Even this morning seemed like days ago. It felt like they had been lying in that water for SUCH a long time.
Both girls put on their robes, which were a lovely shade of light blue, and went down to Fina's ankles. They found that their clothes at been removed at one point while they were in the water.
"Prolly to be washed," said Aika, "After all, they were all sweaty and gross." Fina nodded. They headed out of the bathing room to be met by Celyna.
"Ah, I see you've finished," she said, "Did you enjoy it?"
"More than ever!" said Aika.
"It was really great, Celyna," said Fina, "But what did you do with our clothes?"
"Oh, one of the girls took them out while you two were in there," said Celyna, "They are being washed right now, and we'll return them to you at the end of you're visit."
"Told ya," said Aika.
"Thank you very much Celyna!" said Fina. Celyna smiled.
"Think nothing of it! That's our job here, to make sure that you have the best time possible!" she said, "Now, what would you like to do next? We have a variety of things available for you, such as our amazing, world famous massage treatments..."
"Actually," interrupted Aika, "I'm ah... kinda hungry... is there any way we could..."
"Say no more!" said Celyna, "Here at Katrina's Spa we can provide you with some small, nice snacks. If you'll come this way, please." Aika and Fina bother followed her into a room where there was a few tables set up.
"Today is a slow day, and I'm sure that madame Katrina would love to eat with you," said Celyna.
"Really? Katrina? The owner of this place?" asked Aika, surprised.
"Why of course," said Celyna, smiling, "Katrina just loves to meet all of her customers and chat with them. She's determined to find all that she can about the Western culture, and talking with guests is a great way to do this." And with that, Celyna went through a pair of doors to get the meal ready. Aika and Fina sat down at the low, traditional Yafutoman-style table.
"This place is really quite unique," Fina commented. Aika nodded.
"I know..."
Just then, a middle-aged Yafutoman woman walked into the room and smiled at Aika and Fina.
"You must be the two Air Pirate guests that Celyna told me about," she said.
Aika smiled and nodded, "Yes were are, Katrina ma'am, I'm Aika and this is Fina. We're members of Vyse the Blue Rogue's crew. And may I say, this is an amazing place that you run here..."
"Thank you," said Katrina, smiling broadly, and sat down.
Just then a few girls entered the room. They were younger than Celyna, and two appeared to Yafutoman while the other looked like she was a Sailor's Island resident who had been hired. They carried a kettle of tea, four cups, and a tray with an assortment of foods. Aika's eyes widened and the redhead grinned.
"Wow! This looks delicious!" she said. Katrina smiled.
"Glad you like it. These girls here are excellent cooks you know," said Katrina, and then turned to the girls, "That will be all now, thank you." The three girls bowed and left the room. Celyna entered just then and sat down. She poured tea for all four of them.
"Thank you, Celyna," said Fina, and slowly took a ship of the hot herbal tea. It was quite nice.
"So," said Aika between mouthfuls of food, "Katrina... I would love for you to tell me how this place got started!" Katrina smiled and nodded.
"Well," she started, "You say that you are a member of Vyse's crew, right?" Aika and Fina both nodded.
"Then you know Moegi?" asked Katrina.
"Oh yes, we know Moegi," said Aika, "She joined our crew back when we were searching for the Moon Crystals, and when we found our way to Yafutoma for the first time. She decided to come with us to see the world. I don't know if we've seen her for awhile though..."
"Yes," said Katrina, "Awhile ago Moegi came back to Yafutoma to tell us all of the wonderful things that she had seen on her trip around Arcadia... it was really quite amazing to here about all the things in the Western world for the first time. Yafutoma learned all about these new things, and the people were quite excited. We started out by incorporating a few Western things into our society... of course, Yafutoma still has its traditions and all, but the new Western ways make our life easier and more colorful."
"And the things we learned from the Yafutomans make our life easier too! It's because of you that our ship can soar to new heights!" said Aika.
"Yes, I guess we have all helped each other," said Katrina, and then continued, "Eventually, some Yafutomans wanted to move to the Western lands. This caused some arguing on whether we should allow people to migrate. However, we found that there were a few Westerners who wanted to move to Yafutoma. Eventually we decided to let the people move freely between the East and the West." Fina nodded.
"So I'm assuming that's how you made your way here?" she asked. Katrina smiled.
"Yes, Celyna and I, as well as a few other girls, some of which you have seen, decided to come here and start up a spa business here in the west. I used to work at a local one in Yafutoma, and I know quite a bit about running a business and such. We decided to start it on Sailor's Island, as you can see," said Katrina, "The people here were amazingly eager about it. Together with some Western geologists, we managed to find a small, underground natural hot springs, which made this location even more perfect. We hired ourselves some builders to help, as well as a few more Westerners who were willing to help work in the Spa. It all turned out quite nice in the end, and we were all very proud. I must say though, I wasn't at all expecting the instant popularity. We had many, many customers just in our first week. In fact, we've been so successful that there have been requests for our spas to be set up in many other places, such as Nasr and Ixa'taka."
"You should help us set up one on Crescent Island!" said Aika, who couldn't resist the urge to blurt this out, "Fina and I just love this place so much, and it would be soooo nice to have our own place like this on Crescent Island..."
"Where is Crescent Island?" asked Katrina.
"Oh..." said Aika, "Well... it's kind of our own kinda secret island where our base is. I don't know have secret it is anymore though, and it probably would be crawling with people if we had our own spa-type place there, but I was just thinking for the crew and all..." Aika gave a hopeful grin.
"I really don't know about that just right now, we're already well under way on working on Ixa'taka, but if you only want a small one..." said Katrina.
"It's really okay," said Aika hastily, "I'm sorry, I kind of got away from myself there... it's just like I said, this place is so amazing, it would be nice to have one of our own... I bet everybody would want that though... but it wouldn't have to be extensive, we could run it ourselves, having the people who aren't sailing at the moment help maintain it for the other crew members... oh, and there I go again, sorry..."
"No Aika, that's alright," said Katrina, "Actually, we have been discussing plans for a few smaller ones after we get larger spas set up in the major locations of Arcadia. I can stay in touch with you about a private spa for Crescent Island."
"Really?" said Aika, perking up again, "We've got two of the greatest builders in Arcadia on Crescent Island, and one of them is from Yafutoma too. Just drop by any time, I'm sure they could work something out with you." Katrina grinned at Aika's eagerness.
"Well Aika, we can work on it," she said. Aika smiled.
"Thanks."
The rest of the meal was rather uneventful. Aika and Fina went on to tell Katrina and Celyna all the adventures they had had sailing, and all the things they had seen.
"That sounds so exciting," said Celyna, "I sure would like to become a sailor one day..."
"Yes Celyna, but if everybody was a sailor we wouldn't have this wonderful place to come and relax at when we're tired!" said Fina. Celyna grinned.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right..." said the young Yafutoman.
The rest of the day was spent doing various other things. Aika and Fina went on to have an extremely relaxing massage. They took another dip in the bath too. The afternoon was nearly over when they left.
"Thank you for coming!" called Celyna as they left.
"Anytime!" said Aika, "And I can guarantee you that we'll be back... maybe with some other members of our crew! And remember what I said about Crescent Island Katrina!" The spa owner merely smiled and waved at Aika and Fina.
"Well," said Aika as they walked down the street of Sailor's Island, "I'd say that we've got a little bit of time, what do you want to do?"
Fina didn't have a chance to answer, as just then two people rushed past then: a woman and a young man.
"Stop you thief!" cried the woman.
A/N: So yeah. The first chapter of my little fanfic. I'm not the best writer in the world I don't think, but I at least try, so please take the time to review if you're feeling especially nice today.
This fic will contain shoujo-ai, meaning girl/girl relationships. So yeah. You've been warned.
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Chapter 1: I'm Not Afraid to Fly, Just Wanna Touch the Sky
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"My feet hurt!" complained Aika loudly, "I've just about had it with fighting all these stupid monsters, and I'm tired and I'm thirsty and have had enough of marching through this desert wasteland when there is NOTHING HERE!"
Vyse winced and turned around.
"Really, Aika, would you try not to complain so much? I mean, c'mon, we have to be close! And think of all the gold and new kinds of treasures that we can find!" said Vyse. Currently the young Air Pirate captain was searching for a treasure of an old pirate that was supposed to be located on an island near Nasr.
"But we've been hiking for that last three hours, and haven't found anything! And every time I ask you about it, you always say 'But we have to be close! Just a few more minutes!' At least that's what you've been doing for the last two hours!" Aika whined, "And what about you, mister famous treasure hunter, what have you got to say for yourself?" Aika suddenly turned on Domingo, who was scratching his head and looking at the map, obviously puzzled. Vyse had decided to bring Domingo along with them, and of course Fina was there too, as well as Marco, who had insisted on coming. The rest of the crew was back at the ship, no doubt partying.
"Umm..." said Domingo as Aika spun on him, "Well, according to the map we SHOULD have found it already, but you know, maybe something went wrong... I dunno, this thing confuses me..." Domingo scratched his head again, thoroughly stumped.
"YOU MEAN YOU TWO HAVE NO IDEA WHERE WE ARE???" shouted Aika. Both Domingo and Vyse huddled together under the mad redhead's wrath, looking at her like they were afraid her hair might burst into flames any moment now or something equally frightening.
"We do too know where we are... we just... don't know where the treasure is!" said Domingo. Vyse sweatdropped.
"Aika..." he said, trying to calm her down, "The ship will be here soon... I told the crew to come back in four hours to pick us up... so even if we don't find anything we won't be stranded out here for much longer..."
Aika glared them down, while Marco laughed in the background.
"She certainly looks like she's about to hurt you two REALLY bad!" said Marco, shaking with glee. He soon shut up as he too found himself face to face with Aika.
"You just stay out of this, you little wrench!" said Aika, and then returned to her original prey.
"Vyse, I've just about had it with your rushing into things without a plan! It takes a real idiot to run around willy-nilly in the desert looking for some treasure that might not even exist with a stupid map that is wrong, or maybe it's just that you two don't have enough brains between you to read it properly!" Aika yelled at them. Vyse and Domingo merely stared up at her, quivering. Out of all the things Vyse had faced in his days as a pirate, nothing came even close to being as scary as a mad Aika.
"You two are really pitiful, you know that..." Aika began, but was soon cut off again by Marco.
"Hey look! There's our ship!" All eyes turned upward, and sure enough, Vyse's crew was returning. A little early, but it seemed good for all of them. Vyse and Domingo breathed a sight of relief. The ship landed, and everyone boarded.
"Returning empty handed, eh Cap'n?" said Don, who was at the helm, as all the explorers entered the control room, "Too bad, too bad. Maybe there isn't any treasure after all. Or maybe we had the wrong island or somethin'. Anyways, I figured 4 hours was way to long for all of you to stay out in the sun for, all that dehydration and stuff they tell you, so I decided to head back. Hope that's okay."
"Yeah, it's okay... we weren't really finding anything anyways," said Vyse, and then got closer to Don and whispered, "THANK YOU! You saved Domingo 'n me from Aika... she was getting pretty mad at us..." Don nodded knowingly.
"Anytime, Cap'n," he said.
Aika, who had been very happy for a little while at the early return of the ship, now went back to what she had been doing as she entered the room.
"That was the most annoying things that I have ever done in my life!" she said, voice escalating sharply as she talked. Vyse and Domingo went back to their huddle behind Don.
"Wow now," said the helmsman, "I've got nothin' to do with this, so I'm backing down." Aika smirked at him as he backed away.
"Now," she said, "I know that you two guys might got marching off into the desert and not think anything of it, but us girls have problems with it! Just look at my hair! It's a total mess, and I hate the feel of being a big greasy sweat-ball! And look at Fina! All that walking through the sand and the wind under that hot sun messed up her too. Now I know that guys probably don't even CARE if you go around smelling like a PIG, but us girls have some sense of hygiene!"
Marco snickered in the background, muttering, "Yeah right!"
"Did I tell you already to stay OUT of this?" asked Aika, not even looking at him, but keeping her glare firmly on Vyse and Domingo. Marco, wanting to keep it that way, quickly scuttled off to attend to his deck-swabbing duties.
"Yes ma'am!"
"Soo," said Aika, turning away from the two air pirates, "If you two don't mind, Fina and I are gonna go freshen ourselves up before dinner." Aika grabbed Fina as she marched out.
"Oh!" said Fina, giving a glance back at the very frightened Vyse and Domingo, but then followed Aika.
"Wait!" said Vyse before the girls left, "I've got an idea!" Aika turned around.
"You've got an idea? This a first-time thing for you Vyse?" Aika asked.
"Umm..." said Vyse, not exactly sure how to respond. He HAD come up with ideas in the past before, lots of them. Aika knew that.
"Lets hear what you've got to say then, Vyse," said Aika.
"Well, I get it that you girls need a bit more ah... care than us guys do," said Vyse. Aika smirked.
"So," continued the Air Pirate captain, "I thought that maybe you two could have a day off tomorrow... you, to relax and everything, while the rest of go off and look for the treasure."
"What EXACTLY did you have in mind, then, Captain?" asked Aika.
"Well, er," said Vyse, thinking quickly, "You know, there's this great knew spa type thing that they've set up on Sailor's Island, I thought maybe we could drop off you and Fina there for the day, and we come back and get you."
All anger Aika had previously had seemed to evaporate.
"Oh really! That new spa on Sailors Island! You would really give us a whole day there, Vyse!" she said, running up and hugging her childhood friend, "That is SUCH great idea!!"
Vyse grinned.
"Well, you know, I'M the one who came up with it so..."
"Ummm..." said Fina, "Aika... exactly what is this 'spa' thing you're talking about?" Aika stared at Fina, and then began laughing.
"Should have figured you wouldn't know what it was, Fina," she said, and then went on to explain, "The day spa on Sailors Island is this great spot to relax at... they've got hot baths and things to relax in, massages, and oh! It's just wonderful, Fina you'll love it. This kind of thing came originally from Yafutoma, but now that eastern and western Arcadia communicate freely, it has come over here."
"Oh," said Fina, "It certainly does sound like a lot of fun. You can count me in." Aika grinned.
"Then it's decided! Tomorrow Vyse will drop us off at Sailors Island for a day of relaxation! Ahh, I just can't wait!"
As the door shut behind Aika and Fina, Domingo gave a big grin to Vyse.
"I gotta hand it to ya, buddy, you sure did handle that one well! One minute Aika is looking like she is gonna kill us, and the next she's hugging you in her happiness!" said Domingo.
"Well, I've known Aika all my life, so I've learned how to handle her sometimes," said Vyse. Domingo just shook his head.
"Guess I'd better go up to my position on the lookout tower, eh Cap'n?" he said.
"I think you'd better!" said Vyse, grasping the helm, "We'll be staying at Maramba tonight I suppose. I think everyone's tired, and that's a nice bed that's close by. Then tomorrow morning we'll swing by Sailors Island and get rid of those girls!"
"Aye aye!" said Domingo, and left.
Vyse steered his ship across the desert lands, and circled down over Maramba.
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The next day, Aika rose from bed with a start.
"Rise and shine, Fina, remember where we're going today!" she said. Fina sat up and yawned. Belle in the other bed got up too.
"You two are lucky, getting to go to that spa! Wish I could go too..." she said.
"Sorry Belle, I know that you and the other girls would wanna go too... I'm sorry we forgot about you. But hey, I promise next time we'll take you!" said Aika.
"Thanks Aika," said Belle, "It's really okay though. Watching Vyse, Domingo, and Marco go treasure hunting across the desert again might by pretty funny. And you to definitely deserve a day of rest after marching through across that island yesterday for hours!" Aika gave a wry grin.
"Yeah, well, I suppose that's what you get for being Vyse's best friend!" she said, and Belle and Fina giggled.
Vyse's crew set out early that morning. Aika seemed to be dancing around the ship the entire way to Sailors Island.
"Wow, Fina, I can't believe where we're going!! Thanks again Vyse!" she hugged the young Air Pirate, who blushed and tried to shove her off.
"Hey, Aika, you're gonna make me loose control of the ship... and quit dancing around so much, it's annoying," said Vyse. Aika ignored him and continued to run around doing some kind a 'happy-dance.'
When they docked at Sailors Island, Aika jumped off the ship before it could come to a complete stop. Don shook his head.
"Ya can tell that she's excited about today," he said to Domingo.
"Yeah, well they don't know what they're missing out on! I can tell you for sure that we're gonna find some kind of treasure today! And Aika isn't getting any of it!" said Domingo.
Fina got off the boat, and went running after Aika. The crew watched them go for a moment, and then took off.
So, armed with enough gold to get them through a day's luxuries, Aika and Fina walked down the street of Sailors Island. Aika halted at a very elegant sign that read 'Katrina's Day Spa.'
"Here we are!" said Aika, and both Fina and her headed inside.
They were greeted by a young Yafutoman girl, who smiled at them as they walked in.
"Welcome to Katrina's Spa. My name Celyna, and both of you look ready for a day's relaxation," she said.
"We sure are!" said Aika, "Nice to meet you, Celyna. My name is Aika and this here is Fina. We're Blue Rogues here for a nice break." Celyna gave a cute smile.
"Well then, you came to the right place!" she said, "I'm assuming you want to get started in our luxurious hot bathes?"
"Yeah yeah yeah!" said Aika, beginning to get hyper again, "We're all ready for that, yes we are!"
Fina smiled at her friend.
"Yes, miss Celyna, Aika and I would like to start off like that... shall we pay you now, or do we pay afterwards?" she asked, taking out their fairly large bag of gold.
"You can pay afterwards, Fina, thanks for asking," said Celyna, "Now, please follow me." The two girls followed the young Yafutoman down a hallway and through a door that opened up to reveal a large room with about 5 gigantic bathtubs. There were curtains that could be drawn around each for privacy. A rack and benches lined one side of the room, and there was also a mountain of towels.
"Wow!" said Aika, "This place looks... absolutely amazing!" Celyna giggled.
"Well, you can hang you clothing over there, and it will be all taken care of. There are towels over there, and here are some robes for you to put on when you are finished," said Celyna, handing them two soft, fluffy bath robes. Then she smiled at them and left the room.
The water looked steaming hot and very pleasant, Fina noted. She couldn't wait to try it out. Aika was already one step ahead of her. The redhead was quickly stripping off her clothing.
"C'mon Fina!" said Aika, "You wanna get in the water, don't you?"
"Yes," said Fina, blushing slightly. Aika looked at her, confused for one moment, and then smiled.
"Oh, I get it," said Aika, "You're a little shy, aren't you Fina? Well there's no need to be! We're all girls here! We all got the same stuff, if you know what I mean. Now come on!" Fina blushed some more, walked over and began to undress.
Fina found herself watching Aika as the she undressed. Aika had it easy. Fina felt scrawny and awkward, but Aika... Aika was far from awkward. She had all the right curves in all the right places. And soft, smooth skin that was tanned from spending time under the sun and sailing so much. Fina's skin was very white. Part of it had to do with the fact that she was a lot more covered up than Aika, but Fina thought that it also must have to do with being a Silvite.
Aika stood up, fully nude, and Fina quickly turned away, mostly to hide her face, which was bright crimson. Fina could feel the heat rushing into her ears, and she fervently hoped that it would go back down.
Fina heard a little "Ooooo," behind her as Aika stepped into the water.
"It's hot!" she said, easing her way in, "You ready Fina? C'mon!" Fina quickly walked over to the edge, trying not to blush at her nakedness, and stuck a foot in.
"Oh!" said Fina, quickly withdrawing it, "It is hot!" Aika laughed.
"Of course it is, silly," said Aika, "It's meant to be hot. Now come on. Ahhhh... this feels so nice..." Aika had quickly gotten herself situated on one of the ledges of the tub. As Fina stepped slowly in, she could see that the large tub, more like a small pool, was quite deep, with ledges of various depths around the sides.
Fina slowly eased her way in, and sat down. It DID feel good. You didn't get many hot bathes like this down on Arcadia. Most were cool, as it was a hassle to heat up the water. Fina supposed that there must be some kind of natural hot springs heating the water or something along those lines.
"Wow," said Aika, who had paddled out into the center, "This thing is REALLY deep!" Fina dropped off her ledge, and was quite surprised to find that her feet didn't touch the bottom. Aika was treading water in the center.
"This is just SO amazing!" she said, and then swam back to sit next to Fina. They sat on the ledge awhile, simply relaxing.
"Hey!" said Aika suddenly, "Look over here!" Fina glanced over to where Aika had gone too, and saw the redhead sitting by a large collection of what looked to be all different kinds of soaps and shampoos. Fina could resist a grin.
"This is really neat," she said, moving over next to Aika, and taking one of the bottles.
"I know," said Aika, "I've never had any kind of a bath close to this in my life! Mmmm... smell them Fina. It's so lovely!" Fina opened the bottle and stiffed the soap, and then giggled.
"It smells like flowers in the spring!" said Fina.
"And this one like fresh peaches!" said Aika, "I say that we try them all!" Fina giggled some more. There were sponges and clothes next to the soaps, and the girls used those to wash their bodies. Some they used on their hair (Fina washed her hair 6 times, wanting to try all the varieties), and some seemed to create lots and lots of bubbles.
"Wow! Look at what we've done!" said Aika, looking around at their bubbly and steamy world. Fina looked around also. The air smelled sweetly of the various soaps. Giggles from the girls echoed across the room.
After awhile of messing with the soaps, Aika and Fina decided just to relax. Fina found one particularly high ledge where she could rest her head and let the rest of her body float lazily in the water. Aika did a quick dunk to rinse her hair one more time (though it probably didn't do much good because of the high soap content of the water). Fina watched as orange hair fanned out across the water. Aika emerged once again, and gave a puzzled look to Fina.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" asked Aika. Fina blushed slightly once again.
"Oh nothing... it's that you've got great hair. It's such a vibrant color," Fina answered softly. Aika's hair had great body to it, and while she normally wore it up in her funny looking braids, Fina liked it much better down, though she never told this to Aika. Fina's hair was just short, straight, thin, and boring. Luckily it was always mostly covered by her bandanna.
"So you like my hair, huh Fina?" said Aika, "Well, I think you've got nice looking hair too... it really suites you well, you know."
Because I'm flat and boring too, thought Fina was a bitter edge, which startled her.
"You know, I bet we could do SOMETHING with it..." continued Aika, swimming over to Fina to play with her hair. Fina smiled a bit. She really liked it with when people played around with her hair. Especially Aika.
"Hmmm..." said Aika, not noticing Fina's face, which was growing steadily redder, "You Fina, your really do have nice hair... it's so pretty and elegant. Just like you. That's what I mean when I say it suites you well." Fina tried to hide her face as she turned beat red at Aika's comment.
"Tell you what," said Aika, "We can do something with your hair afterward, okay? I really want to see what we can come up with. Vyse will be so surprised when he sees you I'm sure, eh?" Aika winked at Fina. Fina blushed even more, if that was possible.
"So Fina, how do you feel about Vyse? I think he might have a crush on you!" inquired Aika. Fina didn't exactly know what to say. She had really never thought of Vyse as more than a friend... well, that wasn't entirely true, she may have thought about him a few times... like that... but now she was quite sure that she didn't like Vyse in that way. She hadn't ever really liked a boy. Vyse and... and Ramirez... well, they were more like her brothers. Big brothers, who watched over her. At least Ramirez had been a long time ago. Now it was Vyse.
"You like him, don't you?" asked Aika, grinning when Fina didn't answer.
"Oh know! No, I honestly don't Aika!" said Fina.
"Yeah..." said Aika, in a very sarcastic tone that obviously said she didn't believe Fina.
"Aika!" said Fina, "I really don't like him! And I promise I really have thought about it a few times, but I've decided that I don't. He's more like a really good friend. A big brother even." Aika paused for a few moments, studying Fina, who tried to act to her best ability like she was telling truth. And she really was telling the truth.
"Okay, okay. Whatever you say Fina," said Aika, "I suppose that Vyse has the big brother affect on people. You just know he'll protect you, no matter what... I suppose he does feel like a brother to me too though. He does flirt with you sometimes though." Fina blushed some more.
"I thought... I thought that YOU liked Vyse, Aika," said Fina.
"Me?" asked Aika, "Well... not really. No. Sure, he's a nice guy... but Vyse can be a real airhead sometimes, you know what I mean. Nope, I've pretty much given up on men for the time being. A while back I tried to show him that we could be more than friends but... you know Vyse... either he ignored me or he's just totally clueless." Aika gave a little sigh, a flicker of some emotion flitting across her face for a moment, "Maybe I'll find myself a good guy sometime, but for now, I'll settle with being an Air Pirate with great friends!" Fina grinned.
"You know," she said, "Poor Vyse, here he has two lovely ladies, and he has no chance with either of them!" Aika started to laugh.
"Know what ya mean, Fina," she said, "Poor Vyse. I know that he's never been on a date before. At least not one that I know of. Never had a girlfriend before, though the girls seem to be all over him. I think he likes it, but he never really takes a girl up on her offer. Sometimes I wonder if it's because he's so absorbed in sailing, which could definitely be true, or maybe he really DOES like one of us, or maybe he's just... you know... queer." Fina cocked her head at this.
"What do mean, 'queer'?" she asked innocently, quite confused.
"Oh Fina, there you go again," said Aika, "Anyways, queer is... well, homosexual. He likes guys instead of girls. People of the same gender. Maybe he's gay."
"Oh," said Fina, looking down at the soap bubbles floating across the water, "Is that... bad?"
"What?" asked Aika, "Bad? Well, some people might tell you so... some people think it's gross and wrong and everything, but I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with it. People like that are just the same as you and me..." Aika looked at her friend for a moment.
"Fina? Is anything wrong?" she asked, "You're looking kind of down."
"Oh nothing," said Fina, immediately trying to erase that look from her face, "It's just that... the Silvite Elders once talked about how loving somebody of the same gender is a sin... there were stories of two woman long ago being banished because they were in love..." Aika remained quiet for a moment, listening to Fina.
"It sounds to me like these Silvite Elders were a couple of jerks, Fina," said Aika finally. Fina continued to look down at the water.
"They really weren't... they were really quite wise I think... they just had different views of things than most of the people down here on Arcadia have," said Fina.
"Let's just say misinformed then, okay?" said Aika, cracking a smile. Fina found herself smiling some too.
"Okay," she said.
"Hey," said Aika, grinning, trying to cheer Fina up "Maybe Vyse has been secretly having a relationship with that helmsman of ours, the one who never speaks... Lawrence. He's pretty cute, you know... or maybe Domingo... naw, he's too obsessed with women... maybe we'll have to hunt out a boyfriend for him or something... of course, we're already having enough trouble finding OURSELVES boyfriends, let alone one for Vyse now too..." Fina smiled at Aika. Truth be told, she had never really thought of finding a boyfriend after she had decided that she didn't like Vyse.
Now they both finally remained quiet for quite some time. Fina floated in the water, while Aika sat on the side. All was quiet as they both concentrated and being totally relaxed. Steam floated over the pool, and sweet scents wafted through the air. Fina felt herself getting drowsy, and began to slowly nod off into sleep. Aika also slipped off into a slumber.
Neither of them knew later how long they lay there, but Aika was the first one to wake up.
"Oh," said Aika suddenly, "I am HOT!" This woke Fina up too. The Silvite's face was flushed red. She moved herself into an upright position.
"Wow Fina, you are RED!" said Aika, rubbing her eyes and looking at the other girl, "I think we stayed in this hot water for too long." Fina was beginning to feel a bit dizzy, and moved to get out of the water.
"I think we'd better get out now," she said.
"Good idea," agreed Aika, and wadded out of the water also, "But wasn't that just fantastic... wow, I just feel so revitalized! And the hot water just eased all my aching muscles!"
"Mine too!" said Fina, smiling. Sailing was tough work sometimes, and it felt good to relax in the hot water, especially after that trek yesterday, which seemed like days ago. Even this morning seemed like days ago. It felt like they had been lying in that water for SUCH a long time.
Both girls put on their robes, which were a lovely shade of light blue, and went down to Fina's ankles. They found that their clothes at been removed at one point while they were in the water.
"Prolly to be washed," said Aika, "After all, they were all sweaty and gross." Fina nodded. They headed out of the bathing room to be met by Celyna.
"Ah, I see you've finished," she said, "Did you enjoy it?"
"More than ever!" said Aika.
"It was really great, Celyna," said Fina, "But what did you do with our clothes?"
"Oh, one of the girls took them out while you two were in there," said Celyna, "They are being washed right now, and we'll return them to you at the end of you're visit."
"Told ya," said Aika.
"Thank you very much Celyna!" said Fina. Celyna smiled.
"Think nothing of it! That's our job here, to make sure that you have the best time possible!" she said, "Now, what would you like to do next? We have a variety of things available for you, such as our amazing, world famous massage treatments..."
"Actually," interrupted Aika, "I'm ah... kinda hungry... is there any way we could..."
"Say no more!" said Celyna, "Here at Katrina's Spa we can provide you with some small, nice snacks. If you'll come this way, please." Aika and Fina bother followed her into a room where there was a few tables set up.
"Today is a slow day, and I'm sure that madame Katrina would love to eat with you," said Celyna.
"Really? Katrina? The owner of this place?" asked Aika, surprised.
"Why of course," said Celyna, smiling, "Katrina just loves to meet all of her customers and chat with them. She's determined to find all that she can about the Western culture, and talking with guests is a great way to do this." And with that, Celyna went through a pair of doors to get the meal ready. Aika and Fina sat down at the low, traditional Yafutoman-style table.
"This place is really quite unique," Fina commented. Aika nodded.
"I know..."
Just then, a middle-aged Yafutoman woman walked into the room and smiled at Aika and Fina.
"You must be the two Air Pirate guests that Celyna told me about," she said.
Aika smiled and nodded, "Yes were are, Katrina ma'am, I'm Aika and this is Fina. We're members of Vyse the Blue Rogue's crew. And may I say, this is an amazing place that you run here..."
"Thank you," said Katrina, smiling broadly, and sat down.
Just then a few girls entered the room. They were younger than Celyna, and two appeared to Yafutoman while the other looked like she was a Sailor's Island resident who had been hired. They carried a kettle of tea, four cups, and a tray with an assortment of foods. Aika's eyes widened and the redhead grinned.
"Wow! This looks delicious!" she said. Katrina smiled.
"Glad you like it. These girls here are excellent cooks you know," said Katrina, and then turned to the girls, "That will be all now, thank you." The three girls bowed and left the room. Celyna entered just then and sat down. She poured tea for all four of them.
"Thank you, Celyna," said Fina, and slowly took a ship of the hot herbal tea. It was quite nice.
"So," said Aika between mouthfuls of food, "Katrina... I would love for you to tell me how this place got started!" Katrina smiled and nodded.
"Well," she started, "You say that you are a member of Vyse's crew, right?" Aika and Fina both nodded.
"Then you know Moegi?" asked Katrina.
"Oh yes, we know Moegi," said Aika, "She joined our crew back when we were searching for the Moon Crystals, and when we found our way to Yafutoma for the first time. She decided to come with us to see the world. I don't know if we've seen her for awhile though..."
"Yes," said Katrina, "Awhile ago Moegi came back to Yafutoma to tell us all of the wonderful things that she had seen on her trip around Arcadia... it was really quite amazing to here about all the things in the Western world for the first time. Yafutoma learned all about these new things, and the people were quite excited. We started out by incorporating a few Western things into our society... of course, Yafutoma still has its traditions and all, but the new Western ways make our life easier and more colorful."
"And the things we learned from the Yafutomans make our life easier too! It's because of you that our ship can soar to new heights!" said Aika.
"Yes, I guess we have all helped each other," said Katrina, and then continued, "Eventually, some Yafutomans wanted to move to the Western lands. This caused some arguing on whether we should allow people to migrate. However, we found that there were a few Westerners who wanted to move to Yafutoma. Eventually we decided to let the people move freely between the East and the West." Fina nodded.
"So I'm assuming that's how you made your way here?" she asked. Katrina smiled.
"Yes, Celyna and I, as well as a few other girls, some of which you have seen, decided to come here and start up a spa business here in the west. I used to work at a local one in Yafutoma, and I know quite a bit about running a business and such. We decided to start it on Sailor's Island, as you can see," said Katrina, "The people here were amazingly eager about it. Together with some Western geologists, we managed to find a small, underground natural hot springs, which made this location even more perfect. We hired ourselves some builders to help, as well as a few more Westerners who were willing to help work in the Spa. It all turned out quite nice in the end, and we were all very proud. I must say though, I wasn't at all expecting the instant popularity. We had many, many customers just in our first week. In fact, we've been so successful that there have been requests for our spas to be set up in many other places, such as Nasr and Ixa'taka."
"You should help us set up one on Crescent Island!" said Aika, who couldn't resist the urge to blurt this out, "Fina and I just love this place so much, and it would be soooo nice to have our own place like this on Crescent Island..."
"Where is Crescent Island?" asked Katrina.
"Oh..." said Aika, "Well... it's kind of our own kinda secret island where our base is. I don't know have secret it is anymore though, and it probably would be crawling with people if we had our own spa-type place there, but I was just thinking for the crew and all..." Aika gave a hopeful grin.
"I really don't know about that just right now, we're already well under way on working on Ixa'taka, but if you only want a small one..." said Katrina.
"It's really okay," said Aika hastily, "I'm sorry, I kind of got away from myself there... it's just like I said, this place is so amazing, it would be nice to have one of our own... I bet everybody would want that though... but it wouldn't have to be extensive, we could run it ourselves, having the people who aren't sailing at the moment help maintain it for the other crew members... oh, and there I go again, sorry..."
"No Aika, that's alright," said Katrina, "Actually, we have been discussing plans for a few smaller ones after we get larger spas set up in the major locations of Arcadia. I can stay in touch with you about a private spa for Crescent Island."
"Really?" said Aika, perking up again, "We've got two of the greatest builders in Arcadia on Crescent Island, and one of them is from Yafutoma too. Just drop by any time, I'm sure they could work something out with you." Katrina grinned at Aika's eagerness.
"Well Aika, we can work on it," she said. Aika smiled.
"Thanks."
The rest of the meal was rather uneventful. Aika and Fina went on to tell Katrina and Celyna all the adventures they had had sailing, and all the things they had seen.
"That sounds so exciting," said Celyna, "I sure would like to become a sailor one day..."
"Yes Celyna, but if everybody was a sailor we wouldn't have this wonderful place to come and relax at when we're tired!" said Fina. Celyna grinned.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right..." said the young Yafutoman.
The rest of the day was spent doing various other things. Aika and Fina went on to have an extremely relaxing massage. They took another dip in the bath too. The afternoon was nearly over when they left.
"Thank you for coming!" called Celyna as they left.
"Anytime!" said Aika, "And I can guarantee you that we'll be back... maybe with some other members of our crew! And remember what I said about Crescent Island Katrina!" The spa owner merely smiled and waved at Aika and Fina.
"Well," said Aika as they walked down the street of Sailor's Island, "I'd say that we've got a little bit of time, what do you want to do?"
Fina didn't have a chance to answer, as just then two people rushed past then: a woman and a young man.
"Stop you thief!" cried the woman.
A/N: So yeah. The first chapter of my little fanfic. I'm not the best writer in the world I don't think, but I at least try, so please take the time to review if you're feeling especially nice today.