August 25, Summer, year 36
There's a Firefly Festival… but I have no idea what it's about. Not mourning the dead, they already did that with Obon… Oh well, guess I'll just have to wait and find out.
According to the Skye, the game of the day was 'who can upstage whom in finery,' at Court. Since many of them would go directly from court to many of the pavilions scattered around the castle grounds—and some farther distant ones—for the darkening so that the fireflies could come out, they all wanted to look their most impressive in hopes that they might coax one to land on them.
"Wait, you mean it's actually going to get dark?" Lauren's disbelief was echoed by all of them, even as she straightened the ribbon in her hair. "How?"
"All over the Moon certain spells will be invoked to provide the illusion of night," Skye explained, pulling his blue sweater over his head. "We won't see the stars, not until the Earth Viewing, but at least this way it'll be dark for a period of time. The fireflies should be beautiful."
"So it's just watching real fireflies?" even Alan was disappointed.
"Mhm," Skye affirmed, smiling a little wryly. "But at least we aren't expected to sit with my mother and siblings. We're going back to the glade for this."
Which explained why they were all dressing in comfortable casual instead of their 'sorta-fancy,' mother-made clothing. Lounging around a wooded clearing was preferable to sitting with a bunch of poison-tongued courtiers any day.
"Will anyone be joining us?" Claire asked, tying Mirei's ribbon for her.
"It's possible. We might see any one of my siblings who've found the place."
All of three, and the ones she liked best. No troubles there.
Naturally, it couldn't be so easy. While Tsukiko, Daisuke and Yukiko had gone to one of the public pavilions—Tsukiko needed to be there to dim the piece of blue sky anyways—everyone else had showed up at the glade.
Claire's expression was clearly disgruntled, but when Miharu and Tenshi joined the gathering she found herself unable to stay sulky, and joined in the conversation, stumbling along in beginning Moon Speak. For practice.
If she wanted to be honest she rather liked the winces she got when she mangled the language. They were amusing as hell.
Skye just shook his head in amusement at his wife—he knew she could speak better than that, he was teaching her—and bowed to the Princess Akahari and her daughter Kimiko. It was the first time that Kaemon had requested his wife to come to Tranquility Palace, and she was a shy thing, less so than Hotaru, but obviously uncertain.
In the face of Claire, the uncertainty melted away, the blonde's naturally sunny nature once again winning her an unexpected ally.
Kimiko was less uncertain, jumping at the chance to play with Hoshiko and Meredith, both of whom had brought dolls and were cheerily playing house. Soon enough Kimiko joined them, and they changed from house to a skipping-rope game… though where the rope came from, none of them would ever figure out.
Jamie was lying on his back a little ways away from the main bustle of the group, so he was the first to see Hikari's hesitant approach. The Princess looked like she wanted nothing more than to be somewhere else. To Jamie it looked as though she hadn't prepared for the kind of gathering that tended to happen when his mother was around.
Which was loud, boisterous and full of laughter and fun. The fifteen-year-old boy sat up after a minute, and caught her attention by the move alone, but raised his hand anyway. The cat-green-eyed woman made her slow way to where he sat, smiling a little gratefully.
"My thanks," she said as she arranged her skirts. "I do not often spend this festival out of doors, so I am… unaccustomed to how things are to commence."
"You're not alone," Jamie smiled a little sheepishly. "Of us," and he made a slight gesture that took in his mother and siblings, "only Dad knows what's going on and he's really not telling."
"He always was the enigmatic one," she sighed softly. "Every girl in the courts has—had," and Hikari corrected herself lest she let slip her plans, "dreams of being his Lady."
Jamie squirmed a little uncomfortably. He didn't like thinking that any of the other women he saw walking around in satins, silks and gauzes would think about his dad like that. It just felt creepy. Besides from his point of view his parents were perfect, so why should anyone want to change that?
Hikari wisely kept the rest of the comments to herself, and simply sat with the teenager as the sky overhead shifted from pale blue to a deep velvet purple. Not dark enough to reveal the stars or the Earth, but dark enough that soon tiny pinpricks of light—fireflies—were making themselves known all around the clearing.
Laurie—who never went anywhere without her art supplies and Melissa's panpipes—pulled out the musical instrument and started to play. From somewhere, Claire produced a recorder, piping along with her green-eyed daughter, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. For them, it was.
The collective People listened in surprise, as all the kids but Meredith joined in the music making, and that was simply because the youngest was too shy to sing in front of so many people.
Skye let out a faint, heartfelt sigh as he listened, eyes sliding half-closed. Though it was peaceful enough, he found himself wishing for their home in Forget-Me-Not Valley, a place that wasn't entirely perfect.
Hikari slipped away softly, some distance. A public gathering like this would be a bad place to even remotely reveal her hand, not with him there. It would ruin all of his carefully laid plans, after all, and in revenge he would likely ruin all of hers.
In a more sober moment, she could see and understand the bond between the silver-haired Prince and the golden-haired mortal. And if she felt like being utterly honest, she envied it. Skye had married the person he'd loved—that was such an odd emotion—and had gotten children in the bargain. He hadn't married for politics, despite Queen Tsukiko's attempts, he hadn't married to cement an alliance or foster a treaty.
Such a simple reason. Such a dangerous reason. Mortal lives and mortal love were… fleeting, after all.
A razor thin smile flitted across her face, and she slid away back into the woods. She would do things slowly and carefully for now, no need to make them overly curious about her reasons. Not with the way they all seemed to be falling over themselves to get Claire's attention.
He watched her go, and expelled a faintly relieved sigh. How she had found this place and why she had come were things he would have to ask her upon his return, and he rather hoped he wouldn't have to force them out of her.
There was a point after all, where usefulness ended. He fingered the dagger-hilt hidden under his shirt thoughtfully, then scowled to himself and let his hand drop. It was too public, too soon. Death would be the last thing that happened to him if that little blonde spitfire got her hands on him after such a weapon was revealed.
"That went well," Claire yawned, nestling up to Skye as they rode the clouds back to the palace.
She had a flush across her face, her eyes misty. Clearly, during the card games she'd had too much to drink. But it had been a good evening. Toshihiro had unbent enough to join in the card games—even though he lost several times in a row to the dealer, Claire—and had even laughed on several occasions. They were short spurts, often surprising even him, but it was still laughter.
Meeting the wives of his two younger brothers—Princess Akahari and Princess Haruka—had been a treat. Haruka, out of her robes, had a personality similar to Claire's, which made her more than suitable for the military general Akio. And Akahari's kindness had clearly healed up Kaemon's mental injuries if not the physical ones. Both women were appropriate matches.
And Kimiko was adorable, even Claire had said it. But then, she thought all children were adorable if they behaved well.
"It did," he smiled, shifting slightly so that he was leaning against the edge of the clouds, her head resting against his chest. "And what fun it was, hmm?"
"Agreed."
The sky overhead was lightening back to pastel blue, a fact lamented by all the kids who had been attempting to sleep on the way back. As if hearing the complaints the clouds shifted, small pieces changing into a band over five different pairs of green-or-blue eyes, blocking out the light.
Claire winced herself, but Skye's hand against her face was cool, and he made a better sunshade. At least, in her mind he did.
Once back in their rooms, Claire did her best to bustle quietly and get everyone into bed. In the end, Skye had to help her with getting into their bed, and held her very gently as she drifted into slumber.