The lady in the gazebo put down the book she had been reading at the approach of the tuxedo-wearing man. "Yes?" she asked softly. Whatever trace of annoyance she felt at the disturbance she carefully concealed under her temperate demeanor. "What is it?"
"You have a visitor, Madam." The man bowed respectfully, extended his right hand outwards and slightly behind him, and gestured towards the low white gate that separated the gazebo's partition from the rest of the garden. It was a hidden sanctuary on an island near the Italian coast, an island with a hotel, stuck like a pale-beige dot in the Adriatic of the late 1930s.
"Oh?" The woman looked past him to see...
"Fio!"
The perky Assistant Chief Engineer of Piccolo SpA, standing just inside the gate, removed the wide-brimmed hat sitting on her head and waved it. "Hello, Madam Gina!" she called, strolling up to the gazebo and looking at the profusion of blooms all around her. The skirt of her yellow summer dress swirled around her ankles as she walked. "My, how beautiful your garden looks."
"Thank you for the compliment. Have a seat, please." As the young lady entered the gazebo and sat down, Gina asked, "Would you want anything?"
"No thanks. I just dropped by to see how you were doing." At that, the owner of the Hotel Adriano dismissed her servant, who walked away and shut the gate behind him.
"Dropped by to see me?" she asked, leaning closer to Fio. "It's a long way from Milan to here, Fio. Some tea, perhaps?"
"Yes, please. Ah, well," the brown-haired ingénue chuckled, ruefully scratching the back of her head, "my uncle's thinking of extending his business hereabouts, so he sent me to have a look around. I thought I'd come here, since I was in the area."
"That's not all, is it?" Gina smiled gently at her. "You're worried about him, aren't you?"
Fio's face became crestfallen. "Well, now that you mention it... yes. Aren't you too, Madam Gina? Or should I say... Mrs. Pagot?"
"Gina will do." The woman wearing the close-fitting, many-buttoned cream blouse and calf-length skirt poured some tea into a china cup on the tray on the bench beside her. "Of course I'm worried. But I know Marco can take care of himself." She finished pouring and handed the cup and saucer to her friend. "If there's anything to be worried about, it's whether he's breaking hearts over there as we speak. Don't you worry about that, Fio?"
"W-what? Well, since he's yours already, I don't think it'd be my place to think of such a thing." She took a sip of her drink to calm an incipient attack of nerves, then set the china down. "I'm more worried about the shadow of war that's growing over all the country," she said. "The Fascist Party is simply becoming too much for me to handle."
"Well then, you might want to go back to America before the storm breaks," returned Gina, leaning against the low white gazebo railing and looking out at the aquamarine flatness of the Adriatic spread out before them. "As for me, I will stay here and wait until Marco returns." Still staring at the water, she added--mostly to herself--"I don't think God would be cruel enough to deprive me of another husband so soon."
Fio, hearing something else being left unsaid in Gina's quiet voice, asked, "Wedlock doesn't suit you, Madam?"
Gina glanced her way for a heartbeat and sighed. "Not really. Marco's still too much of a lone wolf, and I guess I've become too used to being alone most of the time."
"I can stay for a while and keep you company, if you'd like," offered Fio.
"That would be nice. Thank you." Gina smiled at her.
Fio gazed out at the same water, sparkling jewel-like under the bright summer clouds, and asked, "I wonder what he's doing now?"
------oOo------
Marco Pagot put enough vitriol in his swearing to make even the affable Mr. Ikeda wince and look curiously at him.
"What's the matter, Pagot-san?"
"I'm sorry, Ikeda-san." He looked up from his S.21's open overwing engine casing. "I just hate it that I couldn't fly today because of this thing." He slammed the access panel shut, and his grease-stained shirt and work pants showed what he'd been doing for the past two hours.
"I keep telling you you can't work on that by yourself," said the balding farmer. He and a few neighbors had built the improvised dolly the crimson seaplane was resting on, to haul it from the river and back, and the whole awkward contraption was sheltered in his barn. "You need someone's expert help to fix that up."
"Expert help?" Marco asked, walking and jumping heavily down from the Savoia's wing. The plane bounced slightly as it was released from the burden of his weight. Not for the first time that day, he wished Fio's uncle Mr. Whiskers would suddenly appear and overhaul his plane like he used to. "Where am I going to find someone who can tinker with an engine that's almost seventy years old?"
"Go put an ad in the paper," Mr. Ikeda suggested, "and see who crawls out of the woodwork. You got those antique-shop fellows to buy your Mauser, didn't you?"
Antique, thought Marco as he wiped his hands clean on a rag. I'm an antique now. I wish I weren't. I would really like to get back home to Gina. White sheets, good wine... He tossed the rag onto one of the S.21's floats, and turned his attention from his problems to helping Mr. Ikeda with the sacks of vegetables he was dragging into the barn.
------oOo------
Three days later, the next time Juna visited, the studio was in an uproar. She had come with Katsunari and Yuuki, but when they learned that things were amiss, they begged pardon and turned to go away.
"No, no, wait!" said the thin old man who had met them at the door. He wore thick-framed, large-lensed eyeglasses, had short hair, and looked as if he smiled infrequently. "Perhaps you're what she needs. I will allow you to enter. Just go to her room. It's on the third floor."
The trio entered and went up the skinny set of stairs with the large windows on its right, all the way to the last landing before the roof deck exit. There they found the small room that had been converted into a place to stay for the wayward warrior princess.
Juna knocked timidly once on the door and opened it a crack. There, under the covers on a low, simple bed, lay Nausicaä. Seated at her side was a man who also wore eyeglasses. He was close-bearded and had an old body, but his eyes were bright as he turned to face Juna.
"Shocho," she said, bowing deeply. "Excuse us, please. We were told to come up here."
The old man nodded, and the three quietly entered the small enclosed space and shut the door behind them.
"Miss Ariyoshi," croaked Nausicaä, her lips forming a weak imitation of a smile. Her face was glistening with the sheen of sweat, and her skin was pasty and her expression haggard.
"Nausicaä-hime," said Juna quietly. "What's wrong?"
"She's dying," interrupted the old man, not looking at either of them but out the small window at the end of Nausicaä's room. "My daughter is dying, and she didn't see fit to tell me about it until it was too late."
"But, Father..."
"No, be quiet, my child," he said. "I am very hurt by what you did. Didn't you trust me enough? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I already told you... I didn't want you to worry. I'm sorry."
Juna looked at the pair. "Perhaps it's not too late," she said. She told the old man what she had in mind.
"If you can help her, I would be grateful," he said. "I shall leave you with her. Please do all you can."
Juna nodded, and the old man stood up and left.
Nausicaä coughed. "Miss Ariyoshi, please forgive me for deceiving you. I was letting my pride get the better of me."
"There's no need to apologize now." Juna sat down on the wooden chair. "You two should leave us alone for a while. Especially you, Ka-chan."
Ka-chan bristled for a moment, and her mouth turned down under her face mask. She didn't come all the way to the studio to be brushed aside, but she knew Juna was just concerned about her getting too close to sick Nausicaä and getting infected by whatever disease the Princess might have in her. Particularly since she had a knocked-out immune system.
"Okay," she said. "We'll wait out in the corridor." The pair exited the room, and Juna turned to the bedridden girl.
She wants to be independent, this friend of yours, Nausicaä sent.
Yes. Incredibly so, like a bird newly escaped from a cage. She's been sick for a long time.
Like my father Jhil was. Nausicaä looked up at Juna. Sometimes it's better to go quickly than linger, isn't it?
Is that what you're trying to do?
No. Nausicaä shook her head. At least, not now. I was thinking perhaps it was a way to get home. But now that I see how much I have pained the old man, I think that perhaps I was wrong in keeping my secret.
Well, I'll try to help you. Would you please sit up?
Nausicaä attempted to do so, but was too weak and fell back on the bed, coughing. A streak of blood appeared on her lips, and for the first time Juna noticed the basin hidden under the bed, full of pink water.
Never mind, she sent as the brown-haired girl wiped the offending mark off her face with the back of her hand. Could you lie on your stomach?
No. I can't breathe when I'm like that.
Then I'll have to help you sit up. Juna assisted the khaki-clad Princess into a sitting position, then left her to cough for a while. Nausicaä drew the basin out and spat into it, then took a towel lying on the dresser at her bedside and wiped her mouth with it.
What should I do? the Princess asked.
Lift the back of your shirt, please, replied Juna. Can you withstand sitting like this?
If I fall, just catch me. Nausicaä did as the Avatar instructed, and modestly turned away from her. Is this fine?
Yes. Juna moved the chair closer to her, placed her hands on Nausicaä's back, and closed her eyes. Unbeknownst to her, she transformed again into her full altered-state being. The room lit up with a gentle pink glow.
What are you going to do?
A dance of life, a plea to one not of this earth, answered Juna inscrutably. It might take a while.
Nausicaä felt the soothing warmth of the hands on her upper back. Miss Ariyoshi?
Hmm?
Thank you. Why are you helping me like this?
Don't mention it. It isn't every day I get to meet someone who's been through the same things I have. I would rather have you around to talk to.
Nausicaä smiled. A rather selfish reason, don't you think?
Oh, very selfish. Very selfish indeed.
------oOo------
Deep within Nausicaä, a song began to build. She had heard it often, but only fleetingly, and knew not where it came from. When it sounded through her mind, it was usually being sung by the sweet, haunting voice of a child, but there were no words to it, and the voice sang it all alone. Now, however, it was joined by a husky, slightly lower, slightly older child's voice, which followed the first in as much as to only embellish and complement it. Rarely did the second child sing the same way as the first, but somehow the two never clashed, never had their harmonies become dissonant, and soon Nausicaä found herself wandering that strange land that the rest of us encounter only in our dreams.
------oOo------
Katsunari leaned against the corridor wall and kicked her heel against it. "They've been in there for an hour now," she said. "Wonder what Juna's doing."
"Well, whatever it is," said Yuuki, "let me tell ya, that Nausicaä girl is quite pretty."
"Yuu-chan..." Katsunari growled threateningly.
"What? I was just thinking out loud."
"You think everyone who has boobs and wears a skirt is pretty," Katsunari accused him, getting off the wall and pushing his temple with an index finger.
"Hey, excuse me for having male hormones," Yuuki sniffed. "You're such a shrew, KatKat."
"A shrew?" asked Katsunari, pinching his shoulder hard. "I'm just trying to keep you true to your word, Yuu-chan. You did tell me you'd stay with me even if my operation went through, didn't you?" A lonely expression appeared momentarily in her eyes. "Or was I wrong? Do... do you want us to go our se--"
"Hey, hey, what's bringing this on?" said Yuuki. He clasped her shoulders, then brought his right hand up under her chin and lifted it. "I was just kidding. You didn't hear wrong, I said what I said." He pulled Ka-chan's mask off and was about to give her a kiss, when the door to Nausicaä's room opened and a tired, worn-looking Juna emerged into the corridor. Her hair was mussed and sweat decorated her forehead, making her Toki no Shizuku shine with a liquid gleam.
"How is she?" asked Katsunari, blushing a little. Yuuki straightened and cleared his throat, replacing her mask on her face as he did so.
"She'll sleep for a while," answered Juna, closing the door behind her and digging out a handkerchief from her pocket.
"What did you do to her?"
"I healed her wounds and made the microbes in her body flourish," said Juna. "They were getting overwhelmed, and their absence was causing her an infection. Her fauna should keep her insulated from the effects of our environment for a while longer." Juna wiped the perspiration from her forehead. "It was hard work. Not all of her cells would respond to me. They kept saying that they didn't understand." Seeing the somewhat mystified looks on her two friends' faces, she continued. "I'd better ask shocho if we can transfer her to the city. Ka-chan, is it okay if she stayed at your cousin's apartment?"
"Well, I guess so. Amiko-oneechan's pretty lenient about that. She's always saying how lonely her place is without people to fill it. But there's no more room, so I'll have to double up with her."
"Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't I double up with you, and she can have my room all to herself?" Yuuki suggested. That earned him a punch on the arm from Katsunari, whose cheeks deepened in color.
Juna laughed. "Come on. I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I'll just talk to shocho a bit, then we'll go see Mr. Pagot."
------oOo------
The trio were walking down the lane to Mr. Ikeda's farm when an unusual-looking car passed by them. And immediately slewed to a stop, turning sideways and blocking the road with its skeletonized bulk.
The woman who was sitting in the open two-hole cockpit, driving the vehicle, whipped her shades off. She straightened in her seat. Her eyes flashed.
"Hey, you!"
"Uh-oh!" said Katsunari in alarm. "It's one of those police officers we tangled with in Yoyogi Park!" She turned worriedly to Yuuki, who unconsciously pulled her closer to him.
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(Posted Thu, 17 Mar 2005 20:20)
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