*****
Present day...
Zara rubs the corner of the box's note between her thumb and forefinger, her mind still processing the rush of memories it elicited. She purses her lips thoughtfully, still conflicted about how she feels.
After that night, they haven't talked about what happened in any meaningful capacity. The next morning, it was like there was an unspoken truce between the two of them to continue their original dynamic in the short-term, the only hint of the prior night's misgivings being the tension that seemed to linger in the air between them during periods of silence. However, even that lessened in the following days.
In fact, she isn't even certain that Alara clearly remembers the whole night, given how intoxicated she was. Even if she'd been ready to talk about things more, they quickly found themselves occupied by the events surrounding the nobles' meeting. However, she's certain that Alara remembers enough about that night – a couple days after the incident, she found the box and this note sitting right here on her desk.
She still hasn't addressed the reappearance of the box, either internally or externally. That's partly because of how busy the days since it arrived have been, but...it's also because she isn't sure what to do or how to feel. She originally hoped that by the time she saw this box again, Alara would empathize with her more, or at least accept and support her decisions. However, it happened so quickly that she finds those possibilities unlikely. And yet...
They don't have much time left together.
After seeing how things played out at the nobles' meeting, Zara is expecting to semi-permanently return to the wolf-kin village after she finishes acting as an ambassador between Mizuki and the other demi-human races...which should start tomorrow. After that, she'll just tell Mizuki that he can visit and ask for her help as-needed. The only such thing that comes to mind is the meeting with the Empire's representatives.
So, once she and Mizuki depart for their meetings with the demi-human settlements tomorrow, her time living in Eden will officially come to an end. In fact, she intended to ask Mizuki to go ahead and send her to the wolf-kin village once he returns this afternoon.
Zara once again inspects the box with a conflicted expression, her gaze lingering on it in silence for several long moments. Eventually, she lets out a deep sigh. Then, she grabs the box and places it with her other treasured belongings inside her travel pack.
She takes one last look around the room, feeling neither disdainful of, nor particularly attached to it. Then, she unceremoniously exits and shuts the door behind her, bringing only clothes, money, and her few personal belongings.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
Alara walks through the streets of Eden, slowly leading Alyse and Alto towards their mansion, where she's confident that Zara is located. With every step closer that they draw, as the mansion's resident mountain looms higher in the distance, she feels her heart beating faster and faster, until she can barely hear the sounds of her own footsteps.
Her anxiety about talking to Zara hasn't been this bad in prior days since the night she learned Zara is leaving. But following the nobles' meeting, she's now aware that Zara and Mizuki will be leaving tomorrow to track down the various demi-human tribes. So, the thought of leaving things with Zara in their current gut-wrenching state when they set off is horrifying - she's terrible at just living with discomfort. She always has been.
If something is bothering her, in any capacity, she's almost obsessive about resolving it. It's why she was so quick to try and 'deal with' Mizuki once upon a time, it's why she couldn't wait more than a couple days before trying to give Zara her gift back, and it's why she abhors the thought of leaving this rift between them while Zara goes of with Mizuki for who knows how long. She desperately wants things to go back to the way they were a few days ago.
At the same time, though, she knows something like this was inevitable with the way things were going. She needed to resolve the conflicting feelings she didn't even know that she had about her relationship with Zara. And...
She feels like she has.
The past few days of reflection, and even her talk with Alto and Alyse today...they've given her clarity. She's prejudiced against commoners and other races, yet the only such people that she personally knows have all failed to substantiate that prejudice. If it were only one, it might be easy to ignore, but...Mizuki, Alto, Percivil, and Zara...that's too many. And yet, it took alienating one of them with her prejudice, even after coming to respect them, to recognize how problematic her attitude about other races is. She knows...
If she really cares about her relationships with Mizuki, Zara, and the others, she needs to change. Really, truly change. And she's now more sure than ever...she does care. No...she cares deeply - the thought of losing Zara or Mizuki especially is terrifying. They're the sole reason she's been so immensely happy this past month. They're her friends...practically family, now that she's finally being honest with herself. Hell, Mizuki really will be family soon. So, she's finally going to do whatever it takes to put them before her pride, and she's going to change...because she needs them in her life.
Fundamentally altering her instinctive thoughts about other races isn't something that she can say comes easily - her prejudice hasn't evaporated just because she wants it to - but she's willing to admit her faults and work on it. She's not sure how long that will take, but she's committed. And in the meantime, she'll never - ever - let those feelings hurt someone else she cares about like she did that night with Zara.
'No matter what, supporting them needs to come first. That's where I erred with Zara - all I could see was the fact that she was leaving me. I was so conflicted about how much I cared for her, and so vulnerable and insecure about expressing those feelings, that I took her prioritizing her people as rejecting what I felt. She was never choosing one over the other, until I forced her to...'
But despite all her resolve, despite knowing all this logically, the thought of airing all this with Zara today is beyond daunting. And yet, she knows she'll regret it immensely if she doesn't do exactly that. So, somehow, she's going to find the courage to be vulnerable about all these thoughts with Zara today...and hope it's enough to fix things.
That's the part that scares her...that she might have already gone too far. She vaguely recalls Zara implying that things could be fixed between them - that Zara hadn't written her off. But she also noticed that, despite having likely seen it, Zara hasn't bothered to move the gift that Alara left on her desk. She can't help but feel like that's a bad sign...
Alara lets out a deep sigh, and tries to force her thoughts to less troublesome things...she's only partly successful.
'It seems I've really left a negative impression on Alyse over the years...'
Truthfully, that's not really a shock to Alara. Even back then, she knew very well that she was being a bitch...she was trying to get under people's skin half the time. She just didn't care, and perhaps she didn't fully understand just how much of an ass she was. Now it's coming back to bite her...
She really wants Alyse here in Eden...preferably as her personal guard, or rather, executive assistant. Not just because she's learning how much having real friends enriches her life, and Alyse apparently reminds her of Zara, but because Alyse is, well...exceptional. Her skills as a warrior are first class, especially her swordsmanship, and she's got a surprisingly keen mind for matters of state, too, though she rarely deigns to use it.
Alara can already imagine all the things that Alyse could semi-independently oversee for her to perfection. Not the least of which is the building and management of Nina's requested combat center, and the training and hiring of the Zuki territory's guards. Two of Alara's biggest concerns - fixed. Then, Alyse is not only qualified and respected enough to handle delicate negotiations outside Eden independently, but she's also eager to travel. She'd probably even accept the job of traveling to the demon continent with a smile on her face!
The only problem is...she seems to loathe the idea of working for or even being around Alara.
'I've tried everything I can think of to secure her for the position, to no avail. If only I knew her better...how to win her over...'
As Alara ponders the conundrum for a few seconds, until an idea occurs to her.
'Wait...maybe Alto knows! She acted so insightful when we were at the hot springs...'
Alara turns to her right, where Alto should be walking beside her. And indeed, she is, but there's another unexpected sight as well. Alyse, who was originally to Alara's left, has migrated over next to Alto at some point and is currently engrossed in conversation with her.
"Cool...cool...so, uhm, what do you personally like to do around Eden? Like, where's your go-to if someone asks you out on a date...hypothetically?" (Alyse)
Alto raises her eyebrows.
"I do not partake of the public recreation in Eden. When he's available, my favorite hobby is research with Mizuki. When he's busy, I like reading new books, or visiting my friend Kara and her son. If someone asked me out on a date, I'd say no...I'm not interested in wasting time entertaining a random person's romantic interests, regardless of where they take me." (Alto)
Alara could swear that she sees Alyse's eye twitch at the response, and a her voice seems a bit strained when she replies.
"Okay...let me ask a different hypothetical. If Mizuki was going to take you on a date - one without any research - where do you think he would take you?" (Alyse)
Alara, unaware that she's forgotten her own question for Alto, watches in silent curiosity. To her surprise, Alto's eyes seem to wander to the horizon, as though she's thinking about the question seriously. Alyse seems surprised by her serious demeanor as well.
Eventually, Alto purses her lips and nods absentmindedly.
"He would take me somewhere I haven't been before, to show me something I haven't seen before...and then we would talk about it. If I had to guess, it might be an underwater ecosystem, like a coral reef...or it might be the moon." (Alto)
Alyse stares at Alto with a dumbfounded expression.
"D-Did you say...the moon?" (Alyse)
Alto looks at her and nods nonchalantly, leaving Alyse lost for further words.
Meanwhile, Alara is equally surprised by Alto's answer herself, but...not for exactly the same reasons as Alyse. Mizuki doing something absurd like traveling to the moon doesn't phase {AN: hehehe} her anymore. Rather, she's curious about something else...
"Wait...Alto, I was honestly expecting you to be all like 'Mizuki and I are not lovers, so he would not ask me on a date, and if he did, I would need to take him to a healer, because he is clearly suffering mental damage,' or something like that." (Alara)
Alto turns to face her, wearing a surprisingly disdainful expression.
"Alara, please be reasonable. Alyse asked me a hypothetical, whose premise dictated that Mizuki had asked me out on a date. It's boring and unimaginative to give a response that violates that premise, as it completely undermines both the point and the enjoyment of such discussions." (Alto)
Alara blinks.
'Is this girl serious? Wait, no, that's not even the point...'
Alara shakes her head briefly, refocusing on the part she was truly thrown by.
"Okay, sure, fair enough. But to clarify, if...hypothetically...Mizuki did ask you out on a romantic date, would you agree to it?" (Alara)
Alto raises her eyebrow in a way that speaks volumes about her opinion on Alara's intelligence.
"That should be obvious from my answer to Alyse's hypothetical...of course I would." (Alto)