Nahida entered the atelier just after Goshtasb had finished speaking. The three of them stared at her wide-eyed. They were perplexed by her sudden visit and, in Goshtasb case, also a little bothered that she had come in without waiting for permission. Dori was well aware about the Archon's social ineptitude, so she didn't think too much about it.

"What is it?" Nahida asked innocently. "Is there something funny on my face?"

"No, it's nothing," Dori said. She cleared her throat. "So, what do you want from this humble merchant, o Lesser Lord Kusanali?"

"First of all, I would like to apologise for the misunderstanding." Nahida raised a hand to her chest. "The butler left in a hurry before I could finish speaking. Actually, I have come to see Sucrose."

Sucrose was surprised. "Me?"

Nahida nodded, and Dori frowned at Goshtasb. The butler avoided his gaze, ashamed of how hasty he had been.

"Oh well," Dori sighed. "We will leave you to your own devices. If you need me, I will be somewhere in the palace."

Dori pulled Goshtasb's arm and they left the atelier before the latter had any time to react. Sucrose offered Nahida a seat and both sat down on the couch. Unlike their first encounter, Sucrose wasn't anxious about being alone with Nahida, although she was impatient to know what Nahida wanted to talk about, as well as to ask her about the Aranara.

Nahida began. "So you have already communicated with the Aranara, have you not?"

"H-how do you…?"

Befuddled, Sucrose had a big knot in her throat, and words were unable to leave her mouth. Nahida had anticipated her; in fact, that was the reason for her visit. And Sucrose had talked with Arake barely a little while ago.

"I can communicate with them by telepathy from anywhere," Nahida answered to what she had supposed Sucrose wanted to ask her. "I was in the grove northeast of here when Arake told me about a 'big Nara' who could see them. I knew it must have been you and, since the palace was nearby, I decided to pay you a visit."

Sucrose assumed that Arake must have told her the wrong name he called her with, 'Crows', and Nahida guessed that he meant 'Sucrose'. Anyway, Sucrose knew that there was no better time to ask her about it than now.

"But why can I see them? Is it because I have childish dreams?"

"One thing is unrelated to the other," Nahida denied. "There are plenty of adults who still believe in fairy tales, too, yet they can't see the Aranara. Yours is something different; something like a gift; something only you possess. Even if you were to abandon your dreams, you would still be able to see them."

"A gift?" Sucrose repeated. "And how come I have something like that? Is it related to my lineage?"

"No, nothing of the sort. It is just as simple as that you have it and nothing more. You should not think too much about it."

Nahida's argument, or rather, lack thereof, disquieted Sucrose. What if Nahida's claims were just a concoction and she didn't have any gift, after all? If that were the case, and if she really was the only one who could see the Aranara, was it perhaps because nobody in Teyvat had a dream as childish as hers? In that case, maybe Nahida was just lying to her so that she didn't feel bad about herself.

"Anyhow, this is not something that needs to go public or anything of the sort," Nahida continued. "You do not need to tell anybody, if you do not want to. The children, however, will know sooner or later, because the Aranara are already aware and they will surely tell them. But this is something you need not worry about."

Sucrose felt a little relieved. Keeping in secret that she could see the Aranara was much easier than hiding her ears: she just needed to be careful not to be seen talking to 'herself'. And regarding the children, all she could do was trust Nahida. In any case, the best method to hide such a thing was not to think too much about it; therefore, she shook her head and tried to do so.

"I'm really curious about why I can see them, but it doesn't look like fretting about it will change anything…" she sighed with resignation. "I think I will just try to follow your advice, Nahida."

"I am pleased to hear that," Nahida smiled. She then stood up from the couch and went towards the door.

"Hold on, are you leaving already?" Sucrose asked puzzlingly.

"Yes. I only came because I was nearby, but it is getting late," Nahida replied. "Tomorrow, however, I will return to pick you up. There is some place I would like to show you."

"I don't think it will be possible," Sucrose regretted. "Dori doesn't allow me to go out if she's not with me."

"How come?"

"You don't know?"

Sucrose was surprised. After both her first and current experience with Nahida, she was expecting that the latter had already been aware of her little trip to the forest, and the consequences it had led to.

"Even though I have my means to know, I do not use them to snoop the lives of others, as if I were some sort of busybody neighbour," Nahida explained without any reservation. "These last two weeks, I have checked on you only once to see how you were doing in your new life. I knew that you were feeling down, but not the reason why, and I never pried into it."

Sucrose wondered what those means to know which Nahida constantly mentioned actually were, and how she was able to be aware of almost everything. But most importantly, she wondered what she herself would do if she had such methods at her disposal.

"Shall we ask Dori, then?" Nahida suggested. "She may let you go outside if I accompany you. We lose nothing by trying."

Sucrose agreed, but on the condition that Nahida did the asking. It was her idea, after all.

They left the atelier and went into the palace. Sucrose already knew its interior by heart. However, finding Dori turned out not to be as simple as she had thought. They tried in her personal sitting room, then in the dining room, the common sitting room, and finally in her bedroom, all to no avail. While they wandered around the first floor, thinking about where Dori could be, they bumped into her in one of the corridors.

"I was in the restroom," Dori said while drying her hands with a handkerchief. "Did you need something?"

Nahida told her her intention to take Sucrose to a certain place the following day, and she was asking for her permission. Dori not only agreed, but also invited Nahida to stay the night over.

"But of course! This way, you needn't go all the way back and forth!"

"Will I not be a bother?" Nahida hesitated.

"Oh silly, I wouldn't be inviting you if you were a bother."

Nahida accepted Dori's invitation and bluntness. Even so, she thought that her presence might cause the rest of the employees discomfort; therefore, she never got separated from either Sucrose or Dori, the only ones who were on familiar terms with her.

When bath time came, Dori asked Nahida if she wanted to bathe together with her, to which she accepted. They extended the invitation to Sucrose, but she still preferred to bathe alone.

After dinner, the three of them spent time together in the guest room where Sucrose had been before having her own bedroom, and which was going to be Nahida's room for the night. They were already wearing their sleeping clothes: Sucrose, her sky blue nightgown and her gloves; Dori, a simple purple pajama, at least in comparison to her usual sumptuous outfit; and Nahida, another one, lent by Dori. Most of the time was spent by Dori and Nahida chatting about many trivialities in Sumeru. Sucrose didn't know how to participate in that conversation, yet she paid attention, nonetheless. She neither asked something that had been bothering her the whole time.

The next morning, the three of them had breakfast and left the palace together, although they would go different ways not long after. Dori would go to the northern port town of Bayda Harbor, whereas Sucrose and Nahida would go southwards.

"Hey, Dori," Sucrose spoke all of a sudden, "I've been wondering if I should ask you this since last night: Why do you allow me to go out accompanied by Nahida?"

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief, as if a heavy weight of some sort had been lifted from her after asking that question.

"Because nobody knows Sumeru better than our Archon," Dori answered while pointing at Nahida with her thumb. "If we don't trust her, who should we trust, then? Besides, she worries about you even more than I do, and that's saying something."

Dori winked at Nahida and the latter smiled. Sucrose wondered if they had talked about something during their time alone in the bath; but still, she felt relieved and happy that she had people concerned about her. When they reached the point where they would split up, Dori reminded Sucrose to keep constant attention to her surroundings in order to learn the area; once she felt that Sucrose was finally ready, she would allow her to go out on her own again. She also told her to look forward to her first payment.

As they followed the roads, Sucrose watched her surroundings, just like Dori had advised her. She recognized that they were now close to Gandharva Ville. She tried to notice where narrow paths diverted from the roads, where trees or rocks with unusual shapes stood, or where the very few signs in the area pointed to. Sometimes, they even stopped in order to give Sucrose more time to memorize the area, and Sucrose also used each one of those opportunities to gather materials. She tried to memorize those gathering spots, too, as they might prove useful for future gatherings, as well as for direction references.

At a certain point, she asked Nahida: "Why do you worry so much about me?"

"Because it is my duty as Archon to watch over my nation, as well as every being living in it. And you are Sumerian now," Nahida replied. "Likewise, I told you that I know about your situation, remember?"

She didn't remember; she had never forgotten to begin with. It was thanks to Nahida that she had been able to begin her new life in Sumeru without any more setbacks, despite her mysterious arrival. And she was still grateful to her for that.

"That, too, is a reason why," Nahida continued. "After all that you had to go through, I want you to live a peaceful and happy life here, in Sumeru. And I will do whatever I can to ensure that so happens. You had not had your wings cut; you were simply tossed out of your nest. You can still fulfill your dreams."

The warm smile which Nahida was showing while she spoke those encouraging words touched Sucrose. Although she had said it in a metaphorical way, she was right: not everything was lost to her; she had already experienced so a few times. Now, more than ever, Sucrose felt like she could live a new life, especially with people like Dori or Nahida by her side. She wanted to thank her, but when she opened her mouth to say it, she said something else instead:

"What was that?"

She turned her sight towards the thicket. Her nerves were on edge. She raised an ear and focused herself on hearing.

"What is it?" Nahida asked, whispering.

"I just heard something."

"I heard nothing. Are you sure you have not imagined it?"

Sucrose was completely sure that she hadn't imagined it. She focused even more on her raised ear. She even stretched her body upwards, as if she would be able to have better reception by doing so. Indeed, she could hear something, albeit barely.

"It's a voice," she concluded. "And I think I know it."

"Shall we take a look, then?" Nahida proposed.

Sucrose and Nahida slowly went into the thicket, keeping themselves close to each other and trying not to make any noise. As they moved forward, the voice was becoming clearer and Nahida could hear it, too. They stopped close to a standing, large broken tree trunk. The voice was coming from inside:

"…but I'd like that he weren't so strict. And then there's Madam Faruzan, too: she never stops praising me. I know that she has good intentions, but… I just don't know how to handle her and I feel bad for it…"

Sucrose and Nahida approached the trunk and went around it. On the other side there was a big opening. They peeked into it. The trunk was hollow, and inside it, crouched down, was…

"Collei?"

"Sucrose? And… Lesser Lord Kusanali!?"

Sucrose, Nahida and Collei stared at each other amidst an awkward silence. Collei was reddening by the second, steam began to billow out of her head, and only unintelligible moans came from her mouth; she was dying of embarrassment. Sucrose was blushing, too. She knew that they had just caught Collei doing something which the latter didn't want anyone to know, and she was feeling awful for it. Nahida, on the other hand, broke that uneasy silence:

"Were you talking with the Aranara, Collei?"

"N-no! I was just…!"

That question caught Collei by surprise. She tried to come up with an excuse, or just say something, yet everything was as unintelligible as before. Nahida smiled.

"Did you know that some Aranara live in hollow tree trunks? Here, for instance, there is one."

Sucrose then noticed that in front of Collei there was, indeed, an Aranara. He had the same appearance as Arake, but this one was orange.

"Nahida's right. There is one here, with you."

She spoke without thinking. For a brief moment, it didn't matter to her that she was giving herself away; she only wanted for Collei to stop feeling mortified.

"Thank you for wanting to make me feel better, Sucrose," Collei mumbled. "But you don't need to bother: I know perfectly well that we can't see them."

"You are mistaken, Collei," Nahida interceded. "As a matter of fact, Sucrose can see them."

Since Sucrose had already said it, Nahida saw no point in trying to hide it from Collei any further. Collei looked at Sucrose with so much fixation and amazement that it was now her turn to have steam billowing out of her head.

"Is it true?" Collei asked incredulously but excitedly. "Can you really see them?"

Sucrose made a few light nods and shook her ears in embarrassment.

"I'm so jealous! I've always wanted to talk with them!" Collei praised her. "If there really is one here, can you talk to him? I'd like to know what he has to say."

Her eyes shone brightly, thrill filling every inch of her body. Sucrose and Nahida smiled. No trace of embarrassment remained whatsoever in that place. Nahida looked at Sucrose and extended her hand towards the Aranara.

"Would you like to do the honours, Sucrose?"

Sucrose leant her head into the inside of the hollow trunk, as there wasn't enough space for both her and Collei, and spoke to the Aranara.

"Hello. Could we talk for a moment?"

"Of course! Araki wanted to talk to Nara Crows, big Nara who can see the Aranara," Araki said. "Araki is very polite and was waiting for Nara and Lord of Dendro to finish talking without interrupting."

As Sucrose had feared, the Aranara were all going to address her as 'Crows'. She sighed and dropped both her head and her ears. Nahida let out a small chortle.

"Don't laugh, Nahida," Sucrose grumbled. She sighed once again. "Anyway… Your name is Araki? You look a lot like Arake?"

"That's because Araki is Arake's twin sibling," Araki explained. "Born from same Vasoma."

"Indeed," Nahida confirmed. "In that sense, the Aranara are like the oviparous species: they are born from Vasoma Fruits as if they hatched from an egg. And sometimes, there have been instances of more than one Aranara being born from the same fruit. In the case of Arake and Araki, they are a family of six."

"Really? I didn't know that!" Collei said excitedly after hearing Nahida's explanation. Since she could neither see nor hear Araki, she just watched Sucrose talking to thin air. "And what else can he say?"

"Nara Collei can't see the Aranara," Araki regretted. "But Nara Collei comes often to Araki's place. Nara Collei has many problems and comes to talk about them. And Araki listens, because Araki knows that it's important to listen to others when they're in trouble, even though Araki can't help Nara Collei."

Sucrose moved her lips with insecurity. Collei noticed.

"What's wrong? What is he saying?"

Sucrose hesitated. "He says that you really aren't alone; that he listens to you."

Collei turned an intense red again. She covered her face with both hands.

"But Araki won't tell anything! Not even to Lord of Dendro!" Araki continued. "Nara Collei's troubles can only be told by Nara Collei!"

"He also says that he won't tell us a word!" Sucrose hurried to convey.

Collei's face peeked out from between her hands.

"Does he really mean it?" she stuttered.

"The Aranara are unable to lie. You can rest assured that your secrets will be safe with him," Nahida asserted. "So I would appreciate it if you kept coming to visit him; he really likes your company despite you not being able to see him."

Collei nodded shyly. She knew that she could trust her Archon's words; otherwise, she would never have believed that there was an Aranara there, to begin with.

Nahida, after nodding smilingly to Araki, told Sucrose that they should be on their way if they didn't want to arrive too late to their destination.

"Can I go with you?" Collei asked. "I'm free right now, and I could use this experience before I begin the job."

Sucrose had no clue as to what Collei meant, whereas Nahida seemed to know what the Forest Ranger trainee was thinking. She smiled.

"But of course. You are not bothering us."

"I'd be glad if you came with us, Collei," Sucrose opined.

Collei happily thanked them and exited the hollow tree trunk. Sucrose bid Araki farewell on behalf of all three of them.

"Araki looks forward to receiving more visits from Nara Collei!" Araki said. "And also to talk again with Nara Crows!"

Sucrose grumbled when she heard that name once again. Nahida laughed again and Sucrose glared at her.

"What is she laughing about?" Collei asked curiously.

"Collei, what's my name?" Sucrose replied with a question of her own.

"Sucrose. Why?"

"Thank you."

Collei was confounded and at a loss for words, yet she didn't ask any more; she didn't dare to. They came out of the thicket the way they had come in and resumed their way, now accompanied by Collei. They made some more small stops for gathering materials. Collei was interested in knowing what an alchemist based their choice of materials on, and Sucrose was happy to give her brief explanations. During one of said stops, Nahida went off a little while looking for materials, and Sucrose took that chance to ask Collei:

"Is something bothering you?

"Why do you ask?" Collei replied puzzlingly.

"Because, a few stops before, Nahida said to me: 'It seems like Collei wants to ask you something. She has the same face as you whenever you hesitate to ask a question."

Collei let out a chuckle when she imagined Sucrose acting like her.

"All right. No point in keeping this to myself, then," Collei breathed in. "How come you can see the Aranara?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Sucrose admitted. "Nahida says that it's because of a 'gift' of some sorts that I have, but I don't fully believe it. Maybe she just says that so I don't feel bad about myself for being too childish."

Collei remained silent for a few moments, thinking about how to respond to Sucrose's claim without saying anything that might upset her, but nothing came to her mind. Instead, she asked her another question:

"Why do you call Lesser Lord Kusanali 'Nahida'?"

"Because she asked me to do so," Sucrose replied.

"So I did, as well as I am asking you now to do the same, Collei," Nahida said, who had just returned with her hands full of herbs.

"I can't do that! As our Archon, you must be treated with proper respect!" Collei excused herself.

Nahida smiled gently. "In that case, please respect my wish to be treated as if I were just like all the rest. You would make me happier if you just were yourself around me."

Collei made a slight, shy nod. She still wasn't sure that that would be the right thing to do, but those were her Archon's wishes; she should at least try it.

Nahida gave Sucrose the herbs which she had gathered. Sucrose picked a few from the heap and put them into a pouch. Then, all three of them began to walk once again.

"Oh, by the way, Collei!" Sucrose said. "Can you keep the fact that I can see the Aranara a secret?"

"Yes, of course," Collei winked. "Your secret is safe with me."

Not long after, they reached a village spreading out at both sides of a river. Each side was divided into two levels. The lower level was composed of only wooden walkways at each riverside. There were some moored boats, as well as fishing rods, nets, lines and baits. Most of the houses in the village, all wooden and Sumerian styled, were located on the upper level, which connected both sides of the village via suspension bridges. Sucrose already knew why the bridges were built so high up: that way, ships could sail through the river without obstacles while passersby could cross over it anytime.

"We have arrived," Nahida announced.

"Vimara Village?" Collei asked.

"Indeed. There is somebody I would like for Sucrose to meet."

They walked towards the center of the village following the course of the river on their right, then climbed up a path with some wooden steps which led to the upper level. Once there, they turned right and walked a little more until they reached a small field where three children, two boys and a girl, were playing.

Nahida approached the children. "We're here!"

The three children turned towards Nahida and ran excitedly to her.

"Nahida! You came!" the first boy exclaimed.

"Collei is here, too!" the girl added.

"And look who they've brought with them!" the other boy said.

Nahida asked with a smile to the children to settle down and began to explain everything in order. First, she introduced the children to Sucrose: the first boy was Kavus; the girl, his little sister Sudabeh; and the other boy, Iotham. She then tried to introduce Sucrose to the children, but they interrupted her, saying that they already knew her: she was the big Nara who could see the Aranara. Their Aranara friend had already given them a small description of her and she was just like they had been told. Sucrose wondered what was said about her while concealing her blushing.

"Is it really true that you can see the Aranara?" Kavus asked.

"What's your name?" Sudabeh questioned.

"Because it's not 'Crows', right?" Iotham guessed.

A dumbfounded Sucrose asked them how they knew that her name wasn't Crows, after telling them her correct name. The children told her that they knew that her name was wrong because the first Aranara to meet her had been Arake.

"Arake's no good when it comes to learning others' names," Kavus explained.

"And then the other Aranara only learn the wrong name," Sudabeh continued.

"Just like Mihikah," Iotham nodded.

"About Mihikah, where is she now?" Nahida asked. "Is she in the usual place?"

The three children nodded all at the same time.

"Mihikah wasn't feeling too good, and went there to rest a bit," Kavus explained.

"Arakom is keeping her company," Sudabeh said.

"Do you want to see her?" Iotham asked.

Nahida nodded and asked Sucrose to go see Mihikah with her. The children were about to go with them, but Collei preferred for them to stay there with her, and let the other two talk to Mihikah without a crowd.

"I will show you how to throw the boomerang," she proposed, after seeing them disappointed.

The three children brightened and they remained behind with Collei. Sucrose and Nahida continued onwards and reached a small cave nearby. They went in, with Nahida first. Sucrose trod with care: more than once she almost hit the ceiling of the cave with her head.

"The children usually come here to play," Nahida said, "especially Mihikah, because she cannot get much direct sunlight."

"Why not?"

They reached the bottom of the cave before Nahida could answer. It was a large cavern. Sunlight filtered through several small holes covered in vegetation in the ceiling. The walls were full of drawings and doodles, and on the floor there were sticks and stones with clear signs that they had been used to carve on those walls. Around the center of the cavern there were a few round rocks which the children used to sit down on.

On one of those rocks sat a girl. Sucrose was surprised by her appearance. She had white, pale skin, deprived of any kind of hue. Her shoulder-length hair was albino; it almost seemed transparent. She was wearing a short shirt and short pants, both cyan; long white socks, and blue shoes. As they approached her, Sucrose beheld the color of her eyes: they were like the glaciers from Dragonspine. In front of the girl there was a yellow Aranara with the same appearance as Arake and Araki talking to her. So those two are Mihikah and Arakom, Sucrose thought. Both turned towards Sucrose and Nahida, and the Aranara began to gambol full of excitement:

"Look, Nara Ka! It's Nara Crows, the big Nara who can see the Aranara!"

There was that name again. This time, however, it didn't upset her as much as the previous ones, probably because she now knew how Mihikah was called by the Aranara. Mihikah approached Sucrose and introduced herself:

"Hello, my name is Mihikah. Nice to meet you," she said politely. "What's your name?"

"I-I'm Sucrose. Nice to meet you, too," a surprised Sucrose replied with the same politeness. "Aren't you bothered that the Aranara call you with a wrong name?"

"I've gotten used to it," Mihikah smiled.

Then came silence, except for the noise made by Arakom's continued skips. Sucrose observed Mihikah's pale skin. She could discern without too much effort her veins in her arms. Mihikah noticed.

"What is it?" she asked innocently.

"It's nothing," Nahida interceded. "It's just that she'd like to ask about your skin, but doesn't know how."

Sucrose turned bright red; Nahida had hit the mark. She didn't know how to ask her because she herself didn't like to be asked about her ears. She had assumed that it might be a sensitive subject for Mihikah; and yet, Nahida had been the embodiment of bluntness. She felt quite ashamed, and also a little scared. Mihikah, however, laughed:

"You're so funny! You look like a tomato!"

Sucrose covered her bright-red face with both hands while Mihikah continued laughing out loud. Arakom then began to gambol around Sucrose.

"Nara Crows! Don't cover your face!" he exclaimed. "That way, you can't look at Arakom! Look at Arakom!"

It took a while until that scene caused by Nahida's frankness, who was just staring nonchalantly, calmed down. All three girls were sitting on the rocks; and Arakom, overjoyed on Sucrose's lap. Mihikah didn't have any trouble speaking about her condition, besides that she didn't know how to do so properly; therefore, she asked Nahida to explain it in her stead.

"Mihikah was born with a particular condition, due to which her body is unable to produce the pigment which gives colour to our skin, hair and eyes."

"Is that why she can't get too much sunlight?" Sucrose assumed.

"Nara Crows, besides special, is also very smart!" Arakom praised. "Nara Ka gets sunburned very easily. She has also sickened sometimes."

"It looks like you have a little fan," Mihikah commented laughingly. "He's been talking nonstop about you and how much he wanted to meet you since yesterday."

Mihikah's everyday life was heavily affected by her genetic disorder. Sumeru's torrid sun was too intense for somebody with her condition; therefore, she hardly ever was outdoors. She played most of her time in her home or inside the cave. She did sometimes play outside with her friends, but she began to feel dizzy with ease and had to go away to somewhere shady and fresh. Her favorite weather was overcast, because it allowed her to stay outdoors without worrying herself about her skin.

Mihikah told Sucrose that she would like to live a nightlife, away from the sunlight, when she grew older, and that her friends had promised her that they will have that same lifestyle so they could still be together. Sucrose couldn't help but think about her childhood friends, and how, despite being so close at first, they had grown apart as time went by. She hoped from the bottom of her heart that the same never happened to Mihikah.

Even so, Sucrose stared bewilderingly at Mihikah. She was surprised by how the latter was this unconcerned about her condition. A question was on the tip of her tongue, and before she had a mental block for thinking it twice, she let it out:

"And does everybody treat you differently?"

"Not really, no," Mihikah answered. "My parents love me, and my friends are very nice to me. If I was here alone with Arakom, it was because I asked them: I needed some silence to better get rid of the dizziness I was having. It's true that strangers give me odd looks, but I don't mind."

Sucrose reflected on Mihikah's words and thought about herself when she was little. Unlike Mihikah, she had always minded what others would think about her ears. She wondered what could have been if she had never paid them any mind. She was so deep in thought about her ears that she didn't realize that she was unconsciously rubbing one of them, which made Mihikah notice.

"Are those your ears? They're so cute! Would you let me touch them?"

Sucrose covered her ears embarrassingly as a reflex. She thought about how to refuse without disillusioning Mihikah, but the little albino was staring at her with so much eagerness that she couldn't bring herself to.

"All right. But only a little and if you promise me not to tell anybody."

Mihikah nodded and carefully approached her hand towards the ear Sucrose had offered her. She rubbed its back with her index and middle fingers. Sucrose tried her best to conceal her embarrassment and her tickles. She had allowed her because she thought that Mihikah was already having enough letdowns because of her condition, and she didn't want to make her sad for refusing. All of a sudden, she felt her other ear being rubbed as well; and she knew that method.

"What are you doing, Nahida?" she groaned.

"Nothing," Nahida replied. "I just want to feel your ears a little, too."

Before Sucrose had time to say anything to her, Arakom shouted:

"No fair! Lord of Dendro and Nara Ka are selfish! Arakom also wants to cuddle Nara Crows!"

He then squeezed himself against Sucrose's belly. The current state of affairs was beyond anything Sucrose could bear; she lost her patience and jumped up all of a sudden. Nahida and Mihikah were taken by surprise, and Arakom fell off of her, although he landed on his feet.

"That's enough!" Sucrose snapped blushingly. "I'm not a plush!"

She ran off, leaving a bewildered Nahida and Mihikah behind.

"It looks like we have scared her off," Nahida commented.

"Looks that way," Mihikah laughed.

When Sucrose emerged from the cave, she found Collei enjoying herself playing boomerang throwing with the kids. The children noticed her and ran to her. They asked her about Mihikah, who showed up just thereafter and joined in the game.

Sucrose observed Collei and the children playing seated on the grass alongside Nahida, and Arakom on her lap once again. They were all having fun, even though none of the children was managing to get the boomerang to come back at them. Mihikah seemed like she was shining under the sunlight. Sucrose appreciated in her thoughts that the children were having so much fun with Collei to poke around her and her ability to see the Aranara, because she had had enough embarrassing situations for the day. She looked at Nahida, who was gazing at the children with a broad smile on her face, and thought about how she acted quite more casually towards the children.

The game ended when lunchtime came and the children had to go back home. Collei also had to go back to Gandharva Ville, as she needed to study during the afternoon.

"Are you leaving too, Sucrose?" Mihikah asked.

"Yes. I also have things to do this afternoon."

"Arakom hopes to see Nara Crows soon!" Arakom exclaimed, gamboling. "Nara Crows, promise!"

After a warm farewell, Sucrose, Nahida and Collei left Vimara Village and began their return trip. Collei was tired after having played so much with the children, yet she didn't lose any trace of her radiant smile.

"Do you like kids, Collei?" Sucrose asked.

"Honestly, I haven't thought about it," Collei admitted, still smiling. "I only know that I don't have as much trouble interacting with them."

Sucrose was happy for Collei, although she also remembered that book about the Aranara that was in her house. Perhaps she really read it to the children. Despite her curiosity, she didn't bring it up, because she feared that doing so might erase Collei's smile, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. Soon after, they reached the fork where they would split up. Nahida talked to Collei:

"Collei, thank you for taking care of the children while we were talking with Mihikah."

"It was nothing; I had fun, too, Lesser Lord Kusanali."

"I thought I asked you to call me Nahida."

Collei blushed intensely. "I'm sorry, Lesser Lo-lor…! …Nahida," She managed to correct herself in time. "Ugh… It's going to take me some time to get used to it…"

"Then you better start practicing now," Sucrose teased, after a small chortle. "I'm glad that you have come with us, even though we haven't talked as much as I would've liked…"

"Don't worry!" Collei smiled. "We're going to have plenty of chances soon!"

"Why do you say so?"

"It's a secret!" Collei finished, winking.

She left towards Gandharva Ville before giving Sucrose time to think about what she had just said. Sucrose and Nahida continued their way back towards the Palace of Alcazarzaray; Sucrose was Nahida's responsibility until they arrived. They walked in silence for a while, until Nahida asked Sucrose:

"What do you think about the Aranara?"

"I don't know. Peculiar, maybe?" Sucrose replied. "But I didn't expect that they were so different, even though everyone I've met are siblings."

"In this regard, they are just like every other living being: each one is unique," Nahida explained. "Appearance, personality, traits…"

"Well, I'd like for Arakom not to be on me all the time…"

"Arakom is quite hyperactive. And he was the most excited when it was known about a certain big Nara," Nahida chuckled. "Mihikah was not exaggerating when she said that you have a fan."

"About Mihikah, you wanting me to meet her had something to do with my ears. Am I wrong?" Sucrose said seriously.

"Did you deduce it or guess it?" Nahida implied jokingly, then she spoke in earnest. "Yes, that was the reason. It saddens me that you feel so ashamed about yourself. That is why I thought that it might be a good idea if you met somebody who also had an unique, evident trait."

Sucrose was in two minds about appreciating her concern or telling her to mind her own business. In any case, it was true that Mihikah paid no mind whatsoever to her condition, regarding the opinion of another. Maybe because she was still a child? But Sucrose was already hiding her ears as a kid.

"When Mihikah was born," Nahida continued, "a great stir was caused. Her parents were convinced that she wasn't their child, and rejected her. The Akademiya intervened, yet the scholars didn't know how to solve the situation. In the end, thanks to a certain biology student's thesis, it was proven that she was indeed their daughter.

"Is that why they love her so much now?" Sucrose inquired stunningly. "Because of remorse?"

"I could not tell you," Nahida admitted. "But I do not sense anything of the sort whenever I speak with them."

Nahida's story took Sucrose aback. The whole matter about Mihikah went beyond what she had initially supposed. Did she really pay it no mind? How did the other adults really treat her? How was she exactly affected by prolonged exposition to sunlight? She had more and more questions inside her curious mind. Still, she knew that she was going to leave those questions unanswered, for she didn't want to bother neither Mihikah nor her environment with her questioning. The lives of others shouldn't be disturbed just for the sake of research; that much, she was aware of. Therefore, she decided to just keep improving her alchemy, fulfill Dori's assignments, and probably consider what to do about her ears. Maybe.