Sidestory: Cocona's life, Metafalica's thoughts
I waved enthusiastically, one final time, then stepped inside and shut the door of the airship behind me.
The sound of the crowd outside immediately subsided, and I slumped against the door. Fighting Antibodies? Sure. Pitting myself against a military AI, subroutine against subroutine? Been there, done that, kept the mental bruises, still don't feel quite human. Singing my soul out, all to convince a hurting and desperate planet that, please, we're here to help?
All of that happened, but none of it compares to the feeling of being hero-worshipped, chased down and begged for autographs. I hate it. I hate it, but I couldn't just… I couldn't tell them I don't want that. No-one would understand.
My knees were still quivering.
"—ocona. Cocona!"
"...Sasha?"
I gave my best friend a glance. She looked worriedly at me, then hauled me to my feet, and I let her pull me along. She quickly found the way to our cabin.
It was a nice one I guess, all padded with expensive-looking upholstery and even some leather. Only the best for the saviours of the world, even on the first inter-tower passenger flight ever. Two beds, which immediately left me feeling uncomfortable.
I took a deep breath. There was no call for panic. Without Saki and the others— but I'm almost literally the last person the Wills would ever hurt. Not that it was ever about that.
Sasha gave me another look, then gently turned me around and peeled off the backpack I was wearing. I took comfort in her touch, the safety of it.
"Do you want to find some food?" she asked. "Or, maybe… there's an observation lounge. We didn't get to see anything when we came, but the fog of death is gone now."
"Just give me a minute," I said, not really wanting either. I slumped bonelessly on one of the beds, on my back. Mine. Sasha watched it happen, sat down next to me and squeezed my hand, a slight frown on her face.
"They mean well, you know."
"I know." I sighed, lifting a hand up towards the ceiling. The lighting shone brightly through my fingers, letting me confirm that the trembling in my limbs was finally subsiding. "It's just overwhelming. I've never seen that many people in one place before. I'm not sure if Metafalls even has that many people. They all think I'm such a great person, and I'm just… I'm not a goddess. Tyria's a goddess. Saki is literally a goddess. Finnel is…" I shrugged, as much as I could on the bed. "I'm just me. If they knew me, they wouldn't be that glad to see me."
"Really?" she said, a laugh in her voice. "I'm hurt. Say, do you think I should tell your brother you don't think he likes you? Or Ms. Jakuri, I'm sure she'd want to know—"
"Don't you dare!" My eyes widen, and I flipped myself around, the better to grapple Sasha. She wouldn't seriously tell Jakuri that… but she absolutely might conspire with Cro.
Later, after my inevitable victory, we were back to back on the bed. It's a compromise between my need for hugs, and my need to get over my need for hugs, and one I was never entirely sure made sense even to myself.
"...What do we do when we get back?" I wondered. "After saving the world, what's next?"
Sasha's response came slowly. "I have absolutely no idea."
"Save some other world?"
A muted giggle. "Maybe the moon?"
"Bring Ar Ru, go sightseeing?"
"Absolutely impossible."
We were quiet, while I thought about Ar Ru. I hadn't seen hide nor hair of the poor girl since we won, and I should have felt happy about that, but I found I actually missed her, just a little. We were finally starting to really get along. I knew Aoto missed her too, and more than just a little. I wondered if he'd miss me?
I guessed Saki would take all his attention.
"I'm going back to Jakuri and Cro," I said, just to say something. "I need a break. My knees still hurt. Frankly, I might be done with this 'fighting' thing—maybe I'll study agriculture? Being 'Cocona, savior of the world' is tiring."
There was another minute of silence.
"—wasn't Jakuri going back to Ar Tonelico?" Sasha asked, confusion in her voice.
"Sure, so she can invite all her friends to the wedding," I snickered, and I'm sure Sasha could feel my suppressed laughter. Oh, there was no way she'd be staying away. Maybe all three of us would move.
I'd be happy to hear her voice again. I'd be happy to have someone I could ask for help, to not do everything myself. Truth be told, I'd be happy just to be there with the two of them.
I liked 'Cocona, Jakuri's protege and Cro's little sister' a lot more.
———————————
Clip. Clip. Clip.
The sound of the scissors was my first clue. My stomach tying itself into knots was the second, guilt lurching upwards as I acknowledged what I'd been feeling for ages. There was a guest in our house, in our living room, in fact right here.
I looked upwards from my book, frowning as I tried to parse the sight in front of me. Fauri stood there, her face set with concentration as she moved in a slow circle around an empty space in the middle of the room, making clipping motions with a pair of scissors as she went.
My little sister could be every bit as strange as mom sometimes, but cutting an invisible friend's hair was a little odd even for her. I grimaced. To judge from the height and the guilt, the friend in question was obviously Metafalica, which made this the fourth time this week that our house had been invaded by the spirit that was both still upset with me and, in a certain sense, always and forever a part of me. As I was thinking that, the feeling surged.
"Hey, hold still! You're going to ruin your hairdo."
I looked away. I had plenty of experience working through guilt, and more importantly, Fauri needed some advice. I tapped the table to attract her attention.
"You do know that you'll have to clean that up yourself, right?"
"I know," Fauri chirped, not quite looking at me. "I'll clean every bit that's still here when I'm done."
She had an impish grin on her face. I narrowed my eyes. "Which means?"
"It'll all evaporate." She threw her arms out to the sides, for emphasis. "Poof!" Fauri grinned. "I wish my hair did the same. Ah, Parsnip, lean down a bit? I can't get at—Thanks."
I shook my head, smiling despite myself. Good, we wouldn't have invisible hair all over the floor. "That'd be convenient, wouldn't it."
"Wouldn't it?" Fauri echoed, returning to her work. "But it's a little sad, too. She can't leave anything of herself behind. Well, except for a giant continent-sized tree, and half a dozen pre-built cities, and… um, what else was there?"
"Lush valleys, rivers and forests?"
"Those are parts of the tree," Fauri dismissed. "What were you reading?"
You wouldn't understand—
"An analysis of some of the options for sustaining Ar Tonelico while the main anti-gravity system is down for repairs." I frowned at the pages. Frankly, Fauri might be more likely to understand this than I was.
"Aunt Sasha was here? Is she coming back?" Fauri had tensed, and was looking all around. She looked simultaneously eager and terrified.
"Not until tomorrow, I think."
"Oh phew…"
Fauri went back to her haircut, me to my reading. For a while I had Fauri's soothing chatter for a backdrop, Parsnip this and Parsnip that, but eventually that reduced to just the whisper of her scissors. I felt downright fuzzy inside, a common danger of sitting too close to the adorable little girl.
So long as I didn't ask myself what this amount of cutting was doing to Metafalica's hair, anyhow. I solemnly swore never to let Fauri cut my own hair, the consequences didn't bear thinking about. It was a pity that I wouldn't be able to see.
I frowned at the paper. Had this been printed upside down? I'd never thought of myself as an idiot, but being around Sasha too much made it easy to doubt that.
"Say…"
Clip, clip. Fauri seemed to be trying to even out the hair on either side. By the looks of it, she'd succeed once she'd reached a buzz-cut.
"How come I'm Cocona, anyway? You call Metafalica Parsnip, and Shurelia, Turnip. You've got a nickname for everyone you've ever met, including Mom, Cro and yourself. So why am I just Cocona?"
Fauri shot me a quick, impish grin. "Did you want something else? Mom always said you were hard-headed, so… Coconut?"
"No, that's fine," I answered quickly. "But…" Something clicked. "Cocona? Are you saying I don't get a nickname because my name is already a fruit?!"
Fauri nodded quickly, giggling as she answered. "Cocona's your nickname. It's just also your name."
I supposed I should be happy I hadn't fallen victim to Coconut, legendary head-seeking fruit or not. Although, that was a worryingly narrow escape.
"What if my name hadn't been a fruit?" I paused. "Don't tell me… Coconut?"
Fauri looked at me like I'd just claimed that apples fell upwards.
"Of course not! If it hadn't been a fruit, then I wouldn't have used fruit in the first place. Or… vegetables." She frowned. "Plants?"
I felt the sudden, unbearable urge to cuddle my sister.
I didn't. If I had, then I might get blamed for that hair.
———————————
"Ninety-nine point three percent match across both scenarios, and I think most of the loss was caused by those papers, she didn't give up nearly as fast. She's going to be smarter, there's no way around that. Isn't this good enough?"
"Sasha, you're crying..."
