Under the Starry Sky
Chapter 02 – Uncontrollable Feelings
Furina was in her kitchen, standing still, holding the tray of macarons that Aether had given her. Her feelings at that moment were all jumbled up like a puzzle that had never been put together before in her life. She didn't know how to deal with that sensation deep in her heart; it was a mix of feelings that had suddenly surfaced. Despite being a great actress on the Opera Epiclese stage and successfully hiding her true self for five centuries, it was undeniable that she couldn't hide from herself what she was feeling for the Traveler. The same Traveler who had helped her save Fontaine and free herself from the clutches of loneliness.
"This is so sudden…" she murmured to herself, gazing at the piece of macaron in her right hand. "Why is this happening right now? Is it because I reunited with him?" Furina questioned herself.
Furina closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and calmed herself a bit. Slowly, her heart slowed down, and her thoughts returned to normal.
"Calm down, Furina," she told herself, releasing a sigh. "Pull yourself together, Furina!"
She placed the tray on the table and finished eating the macaron.
"If I stay here thinking about silly things, hours will pass, and I won't have accomplished anything in my day. I need to organize my groceries," she said, starting to unpack the bags. "First, I'll put the cans of tomato sauce, packages of pasta, and canned meat on the top shelf of the cabinet. To be honest, it's the worst part, as I can't easily reach the top shelf." She affirmed, recalling that she needed a stool to reach the upper part of her cabinet. "And the vegetables, I'll put them in the fridge as usual."
And so, she did, with a slight change in where she placed the pasta packages.
"Great! Everything is in its proper place," she said, hands on her hips, proud of herself. "Tomato sauce and canned meat on the top, and pasta packages on the bottom shelf of the cabinet," she pointed to the cabinet. "And the vegetables in the fridge," she pointed to the refrigerator.
However, she realized something was missing. She had forgotten to buy her favorite drink: Fonta.
"Oh, I remembered, I forgot to buy Fonta," she recalled what she had forgotten. "But it's okay. What's done is done. I still have one last bottle in the fridge. Later, after I prepare my lunch and read my book, I'll go to the store to buy a few more bottles."
Deciding what to do during the afternoon, Furina put on her light blue apron, which had a cute Blubberbeast embroidered on the front. After that, she took out the ingredients she was already familiar with from cooking the same thing every day and placed them on the kitchen table.
"Today I'm going to make macaroni and cheese!" she exclaimed, opening a box of macaroni. "First, I'll put the macaroni to cook, but first, I need to boil the water."
She took a pot from her cabinet, filled it with water, and placed it on the stove.
"Meanwhile, I'll prepare the other ingredients, like the cheese sauce. I just hope I know how to make this sauce, as it's my first time."
About five to eight minutes later, the water Furina had set to boil was ready to cook the macaroni. The girl put a good amount of macaroni for one person to eat. Fourteen minutes later, the macaroni was cooked. Furina drained the water from the macaroni and placed it in another pot.
"Now, to finish, I'll mix all the seasonings with the macaroni and let it heat for a few minutes," she said, putting the macaroni in a pan.
Then, she added all the ingredients, one after another. The delicious aroma of her recipe spread throughout the kitchen. Surely, even people passing by Avenue Vasari could smell that delightful fragrance.
"While it heats, I'll grab another macaron and eat," Furina said, reaching her hand to the tray. "Hmm... Which one should I choose?" She questioned, in complete indecision. "Ah, whatever. Anyway, I'm going to eat them all." She affirmed, taking a light blue macaron, just like her apron. It was a blueberry-flavored macaron.
Taking a light bite of the macaron, her heart quickly raced. That feeling she had when the Traveler looked into her eyes and complimented her came rushing back.
"I like your new look. It suits you." That phrase echoed in her mind once again. Although it was a simple compliment that anyone could say to her, for her, that compliment meant a lot. Furina had felt special because of simple words from the Traveler.
"It's so hard to deal with this kind of feeling," she expressed, placing her right hand over her chest and closing her eyes while feeling the accelerated beats of her heart. "Did I… really fall in love with the Traveler?" She asked herself in a calm whisper. "And now, what do I do? Is this the feeling of love?" She felt apprehensive because she knew the Traveler wouldn't stay in Fontaine for long, as she knew he had already traveled through various nations.
Suddenly, Furina smelled something strange. It was the smell of something burning. She opened her eyes, widening them, realizing that the macaroni and cheese she had so carefully prepared was burning. Literally catching fire.
"No! My macaroni!" The girl screamed in desperation, seeing the pan on fire.
Desperately, Furina ran to grab a dishcloth to contain the flames. She soaked the cloth in the kitchen sink and threw it over the pan, covering the entire perimeter and managing to control the fire.
"Ohh, my macaroni and cheese burned completely," she said desolately with the situation she found herself in, knowing she would have to start everything from scratch. "It's his fault!" She exclaimed, blaming Aether for distracting her and making her think about him. "When I meet him, he'll see something."
And after the incident, Furina had to start her recipe all over again. And the hours passed.
Outside the Fontaine Court, a blond traveler faced some hilichurls, who were bothering beginner travelers and merchants who relied on that path to reach the Fontaine Court.
Aether seemed to be at a disadvantage against them, but it wasn't something common. It was as if the young man were distracted, thinking about something or maybe someone. Someone he had bumped into earlier.
"Hah!" Aether struck the shield of one of the hilichurls.
"Be careful, Aether!" Paimon shouted, watching the fight from afar.
A hilichurl hit Aether's shield with force, and he couldn't dodge the blow in time.
"Aether!" Paimon shouted again. She was terrified.
"I'm fine, Paimon!" said the blond, getting up from the ground.
"If you're not fit to fight, we can retreat for now!" Suggested the little floating creature.
"No, I'm fine! It's almost over! Don't worry about me, Paimon!"
"If you say so," said Paimon, shrinking behind a rock.
"Darn it. Why can't I get her out of my head? I've been thinking more about Furina since we met earlier today." He thought while fighting. "Am I worried about her living conditions? Living on macaroni doesn't seem very good." Aether was genuinely concerned about the girl, and somehow, he wanted to help her.
Minutes later, Aether managed to eliminate all the hilichurls, thus completing his daily missions given by the Adventurers' Guild.
"There! Managed to deal with all the hilichurls in this area. I hope more won't show up here," he said, checking the surroundings for any more enemies. "Paimon!" Aether called his adventure companion. "You can come out from behind that rock. I've eliminated all the hilichurls."
"Okay." She nodded, slowly coming out from behind the rock, checking if there were any more hilichurls nearby. "Good job, Aether! We got rid of them all!"
"We? Who did all the work was me," Aether said, crossing his arms.
"B—But Paimon was cheering for you, you know!" Paimon crossed her arms indignantly at the words of the Traveler. "By the way, you seemed to be daydreaming when you were facing the hilichurls. Did something happen?" Paimon asked.
"I wasn't daydreaming. I'm just tired from the missions we did today," he replied, hiding the fact that he was really distracted thinking about Furina.
"If you say so... Well, let's go back to the Adventurers' Guild to collect our daily rewards."
"Sure," Aether replied, heading back to Fontaine Court.
"If I run into Furina, I'll ask her if she needs help in the kitchen to prepare different meals," he thought.
The afternoon had arrived, around four o'clock.
Furina was returning from the supermarket after buying some bottles of Fonta. The bag was very heavy, making it difficult for the girl to climb the stairs. Inside the bag were about eight bottles of Fonta.
"Wow, this bag is really heavy," Furina complained, holding it with both hands. "Before, when I was at Palais Mermonia, I didn't have to go through this. I just had to ask, and someone would bring it to me in an instant," she said, reminiscing about the luxurious days she used to have.
"Today was extremely exhausting for Paimon," Paimon complained.
"I can't understand how the day can be exhausting for you. You just float and watch what I'm doing," Aether said.
"I'm cheering for you. Plus, Paimon floats all the time, and that's pretty tiring." She clarified.
"You've told me that already."
The more they walked, the more the conversation between the inseparable companions flowed.
"What do you plan for dinner?" Paimon asked, placing her small hands on her belly.
"I was thinking of making pizza," he replied.
"Yay! I love the pizzas you make!" Paimon said, raising her little arms and clapping with joy.
Just ahead, walking in the opposite direction of Aether and Paimon, was a person carrying a heavy bag. It was Furina, but her face was hidden by the bag, making it difficult to recognize her.
"Look, Aether!" Paimon exclaimed, watching the person. "That person seems to need help with their groceries. Let's help her!" She said, running towards her.
"Do you need help with your groceries?" The Traveler asked.
"Help? It would be welcome. If you're willing to help me, I don't see a problem. Just don't try to take advantage of the situation," she said.
With that said, Aether took the bag from her hands, doing her a great favor by lightening the load.
"Furina?!" Aether and Paimon exclaimed, astonished to encounter the girl again.
"Traveler?! You're the one I wanted to talk to!" She said, frowning and pointing her finger at him.
"What?! What did I do?" The young blonde asked, not understanding the situation he had just gotten involved in, almost dropping the bag.
"Because of you, I burned my macaroni with cheese that I was going to eat for lunch, so I had to prepare everything again! And it was a lot of trouble to prepare all the ingredients," she explained to the young man.
"Hold on. It hasn't sunk in for me yet. Are you saying that I'm to blame for ruining the macaroni you were preparing?"
"That's exactly what I said! I'm glad you understood accurately."
"And how could I achieve that when I wasn't even in your house?" He said, still confused about the situation. "Feel free to ask Paimon, as she was with me all day."
"It's true. Paimon can confirm everything. Aether spent the whole day doing daily missions, so there's no way he could have bothered you," Paimon explained, also confused.
Furina became furious.
"What I'm trying to say is that I've been thinking about yo... Ahem! I mean, I've been thinking about what you said... Well, about eating macaroni every single day. I think I should change my culinary routine." She explained, letting slip for a brief moment the real reason why the disaster happened in her kitchen.
"You were thinking about me?" He asked.
"I heard her say that too," said Paimon.
"N—No! I meant what you told me earlier!" She exclaimed, extremely embarrassed.
"Wow, she's quite the hothead," Paimon teased. "Her face is even red, like a pepper."
"Enough already! Look… What I mean is, just forget what I said, okay? Otherwise, you can hand me my bag, and I'll carry it myself."
"If you don't need our help, then hold onto your groceries," Aether said, extending his hand with the bag for the girl to take.
"Well, maybe I do need a little help, you know? A madam can't always carry heavy things." She said, smiling a bit awkwardly.
"All right... Madam," replied Paimon with a sarcastic tone.
Furina walked alongside the Traveler in silence. Her shy behavior was due to what she had inadvertently revealed earlier. Aether also maintained complete silence for a similar reason. He intended to offer to teach the former archon the magic of cooking since he was an expert in the kitchen. However, something seemed to be stuck in his throat, preventing him from uttering a single word. This behavior was not typical of him. The last time he acted like this was when he accidentally sat next to Neuvillette at the Opera Epiclese. Even the chatty Paimon didn't utter a single "a."
"Finally, we've arrived," said Furina in front of her house. "You can hand me the bag now; I'll take it from here." And so, Aether did. "Thank you, Traveler and Paimon," she thanked with a serene tone.
"It was nothing," said Aether, smiling slightly.
"You're welcome, Furina."
"Then… If you'll excuse me, I have some tasks to attend to," the girl said with her cheeks slightly blushing.
"Furina…"
"What now?" She asked.
"I've been thinking. If you have some free time, I can cook some dishes from other nations that I learned during my journey. If you want, I can even teach you," said the young man, finally managing to say what he wanted.
"You're going to cook delicious recipes from other nations for me?!" Exclaimed Furina, completely thrilled with the Traveler's words. "Ahem… I mean, are you planning to spend your time cooking for me? I know I'm worthy of receiving this kind of treatment, but… Know that I'm an excellent cook and can manage just fine. But if you insist on wanting to cook for me, I will gladly accept your invitation."
"Excellent cook? But you said you burned your macaroni yourself," said Paimon.
"Hey! That was an accident because I was distracted."
"Since you've accepted, when can I come to cook for you?"
"Let's see… Come in two days. I'll be free, so I'll have all the time in the world," she replied.
"All right!" Agreed the blond.
They bid farewell to each other, and Aether and Paimon went back to the house where they had been living for some time.
Upon entering the house, Furina took the shopping bag to the kitchen, placed it on the table, and stood still for a few seconds. Suddenly, she started jumping for joy and humming through the house, expressing her happiness that Aether would cook for her. She may not have shown so much excitement when the Traveler offered to cook, and she even tried to disguise it in their presence. However, now that no one was watching, she could release all her excitement. She could hardly contain her enthusiasm.
To be continued…