Cloudbusting, 5/6
PART FIVE: THE BEAST LETS BELLE GO
They headed back for the woods in uplifted spirits, but even though they'd done a fine job clearing the way on their journey to Snow Lake, it was still a long trip and the rain beat them to the castle. It came down in a torrent, made all the more problematic by her already wet clothes and the cooler air in the forest. She hurried as best she could, shivering as the rain plastered her hair against her face and turned the dirt path into lumpy, splattering mud. She squelched along as best she could until Aiba finally turned back and looked at her, balanced easily on a fallen log.
"Oh!" he cried, hurrying back to her. "Oh, I'm in so much trouble."
"What?" she asked, struggling to be heard over the wind howling through the forest and the rain falling.
"Jun's going to kill me!" He turned, putting his back to her before crouching down and setting down Satoshi's basket. "Come on, I can't let you slog through this."
She stared at his back, blinking rain from her eyes. "I can walk perfectly fine!"
"Would you hurry up?" he insisted, wiggling his back a bit.
She stood there a full moment, realizing she hadn't been carried on a man's back before aside from her father's when she was a little girl. It was an incredibly intimate gesture, she'd always thought. She'd been friendly with some of the boys in university, even gone to dinner with a few, kissed one or two. But until that moment, Becky's romantic life had been fairly non-existent. She'd always been so busy with work and her own writing world, and coming home to Sora always meant unwanted attention from Alaric.
What did it mean for her to let Aiba carry her? And what's more, he wasn't even human! Well, she chastized herself, he very much was underneath all that fur. What if she ignored the whole "curse from the goddess" bit? What if he really was a man? But they were only just friends, weren't they? They hadn't known each other for so very long. Perhaps she was overthinking. Perhaps she was just nervous about the attention. Perhaps...
"Becky!" he interrupted her. "Now, before I fail any more attempts at being a gentleman. Come on!"
She crouched down, pushing her wet hair out of her eyes and latched her arms around his neck, and the hair there was thinner and damp. He rose to his feet, muttering a quick "Excuse me" before settling his arms underneath her legs and starting to move. She was suddenly up higher, her head resting against his shoulder. He was warm, far warmer than she felt, probably because of the extra amount of hair underneath his shirt and vest, and he seemed to move forward through the mud with little difficulty.
They left the basket behind, and she held on tight as he carried her back. She said nothing for a good long while as the rain continued to fall. It fell harder and thunder boomed noisily overhead as the ancient trees swayed around them. Aiba's footfalls were steady, his bare feet squishing the mud. She closed her eyes, smelling a mix of rain and Aiba. She couldn't help but think about when Sunshine and Trouble got wet from being out in the rain - their coats would smell awful.
But Aiba didn't really smell like an animal at all. Just like a soaking wet human, probably the same as her. Her dress clung to her, chilling her to the bone. She tried not to shiver, almost unconsciously pressing herself closer to Aiba's back and his warmth. He was just as quiet as he'd been in the weeks before he'd started to open up, the days when he'd been more like her shadow than anything else.
He didn't lose his grip on her once, carrying her steadily onward, even as the rain showed no sign of letting up. She seemed to drift off, the day slipping away under the constant damp that pervaded her skin and her senses. The minutes ticked on, and just as she felt herself sliding into a strange half-sleep, she heard the pathway under Aiba's feet turn from slimy mud to solid wood planks.
The first voice she heard was Sho's, the rain plink plink plinking off of his metal body. "...came out here as soon as it started raining. What took so long in coming back?"
"We went to Snow Lake," Aiba tried explaining, and Becky heard Satoshi's voice.
"Nino hasn't come back yet. He probably hasn't been able to fly in the storm."
Becky perked a bit at that. How long could they be away? Was it a matter of time or a matter of distance before their metal bodies started to fall apart? More metallic footsteps and a third voice. Jun.
"Come on, let's get her inside. Is she alright?"
She wanted to respond, wanted to say she was perfectly alright, but it appeared that she wasn't. As soon as Aiba carried her into the castle and out of the rain, the cold hit her like the dead of winter, and her teeth were chattering. She'd been out in the rain far too long.
She could hear Sho's steady voice. "What are we going to do? She needs a warm bath..."
"Well, we don't exactly have a lady's maid around!" Jun snapped back. Aiba didn't respond, gingerly carrying her through the castle and up the stairs without complaint.
"I'll help," Satoshi offered, and Becky felt Aiba's hold on her tighten slightly.
"...can...change myself," she murmured, opening her eyes a bit. They got her into her room, and she felt clumsy metal fingers untying her boots. Eventually Aiba settled her down, and she felt the familiar cushion of the chair just on the other side of her screen in the changing area.
"Let's give her some privacy, Masaki," Jun ordered, and she blinked a bit, trying to stay steady in the seat, leaning against the wooden arms.
She heard Satoshi speak from the other side of the screen as rain pelted against the bedroom window glass. "I've lit a fire. Are you okay?"
She nodded, her limbs feeling heavy and her skin clammy. "I've got my trunk back here," she muttered. Slowly, she slid her way out of her soaking wet dress and the breeches beneath, struggling to poke her head through the hole of a nightdress. She bent down to pick up her clothes, stumbling a bit around the screen and feeling Satoshi's cold metal hand steady her wrist.
"Let's get you under the covers," he said gently, and he coaxed her over to the bed and helped her get settled. He'd even laid a warm towel over her pillow, and she sighed as soon as she felt the warm blankets over her. It was a different sort of warmth than being carried by Aiba. "Is there anything else you need, Becky?"
She exhaled, shutting her eyes and listening to the storm. "Thank you, Satoshi. I'm perfectly fine."
"I see," he replied, drawing the pink curtains. "Did Masaki really carry you back the whole way?"
She felt a lightness start to take over as her body finally gave in to its need for rest. "Yes, he did."
Whatever Satoshi's response was to that, Becky didn't hear it. She fell asleep, spending the next several hours in a fever dream. She was inside Jun's castle, but snow was falling in fat, fluffy snowflakes indoors. Four men were urging her along down the hallway, each with dark hair and smiles. Somehow, Becky felt they were familiar. The dream shifted and flipped around, the castle brightening.
The four men disappeared from her vision, and she was standing on the porch of her father's house, spotting a figure off in the distance, amongst the wildflowers. She didn't know how and didn't know why, but she had to get to the person in the flower field. For some reason, the smokestacks of Sora in the distance were red and white, matching the towers of Matsumoto Castle. The person in the field didn't look around, but his back seemed somehow familiar.
She hurried forward, hearing the person's voice calling for her. "Becky, Becky, hurry up!" The voice was Aiba's, but the body was not. It was like running through quicksand, and she hurried, desperate to catch up. And just as she got close, just as she saw that Aiba's body from behind was thinner, shorter, human with the same frizzy brown hair, she was back in the castle and it was dark.
Aiba and the wildflowers had vanished. Alaric Gaston stood at the top of the castle staircase, extending his hand.
She felt the dream swallow her whole.
--
When she woke there was a damp cloth on her forehead and an automaton without clothes by her bedside.
"You gave us quite the scare, Breeches," Nino chided her as sternly as he could. "Going to Snow Lake during the rain storm of the century. Not even a parasol. And you went with that idiot."
She turned, seeing the usual nothingness looking back from Nino's metallic face. She felt as though she knew his real face though, as if she had seen it recently. "Is Aiba ill too?"
"No," he replied, "unless being sick with worry for you is now a medical condition."
Her embarrassment mounted, and she wanted to hide under the covers. Fainting? Getting sick from the rain? What would befall her next and cause her captors to worry? "And what about you? They said the storm had kept you from flying back."
He held up a limb, showing off only four metal fingers on his left hand. There was a hole in the metal where his pinky should have been. "I wasn't far enough for it to really do damage, but the Rain Goddess likes to give us little reminders of who's really in charge."
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
He snorted. "It's just a finger. Aiba's going to make me a new one. A really fancy one with a shiny claw of death at the end."
"You're serious?"
He got up from the chair at her bedside, laughing. "I don't think it'll be as fancy as all that, but a man turned machine can still dream, can't he?"
She sat up in the bed, looking around. The sun was high overhead - it was already midday the following day. Her body still felt weakened, but it seemed that her fever had broken during the night. She held the cloth in her hand. Who had been in to keep watch? He seemed to notice her staring.
"Is there a particular answer you want to the question you're not asking me, Breeches?"
She looked at him. "I'm sorry?" For some reason, even though she'd personally requested he stop visiting so sneakily, Becky liked the idea of Aiba sitting at her bedside while she rested. The thought, however, made her long once more for the safety and secret hiding place under her blankets. Why did she want Aiba watching at her side? Would it be so different from an automaton vigil?
"We finally got him to go to sleep. Or more like I did," Nino said, confirming it for her. "I finally managed to get back, and Sho's blabbing about you being sick and feverish, and Jun's telling me Aiba dragged you home looking like you were bathing in a mud puddle, and Satoshi's hanging up your clothes and underthings to dry like it's just another day at Matsumoto Castle."
"Sounds like quite the situation to come home to."
He chuckled. "No kidding! So there I am missing a finger and enduring all the trauma that goes along with it, but I go upstairs and see Masaki in the chair watching you like you're going to disappear if he glances away for a split second."
"Nino..."
He waved her off with his four-fingered hand. "It was really sweet in a way that made me want to throw up a bunch of screws and bolts. But I reminded him that stalking girls he likes while they sleep is not the way to do things..."
"Nino," she interrupted again, feeling even more embarrassed. And slightly like she was thirteen or fourteen all over again. Girls he liked? Aiba liked her? Liked liked her?
The automaton perched his body at the foot of her bed, ignoring any sense of propriety. Typical Nino. "Oh, don't give me that look, Rebecca Vaughn. Don't look at me like you don't know."
"What don't I know?" she asked, fearing the answer. Aiba was many things - gentle, kind, sweet, loyal, and extremely frustrating. But he was also a man trapped in a beast's body. It was something she still had difficulty wrapping her head around. Everything about Masaki Aiba was the opposite of Alaric Gaston. Were he a normal flesh and blood human, she'd have no trouble admitting feelings for him. Well, she'd still have trouble, but more out of shyness than out of being a different species.
Nino shook his head. "He's liked you since the first time he saw you. He's kind of spontaneous that way. And we thought, maybe a little too ambitiously, that if the plan with your father didn't work out, maybe..."
"You haven't seen another woman in a hundred years," she protested. "And neither has Masaki. It's almost too convenient that my father had a daughter, isn't it?"
So the automatons' plot had been more than they'd let on. Becky was the back-up plan, wasn't she? If her father couldn't reverse the Rain Goddess' spell, than maybe love for Masaki would solve their problem. They probably hadn't told Aiba - they'd been watching the two of them all this time, waiting to see if Aiba could be coaxed out of his shell. Waiting to see if Becky could get over her own reservations. Waiting for the sparks to fly.
If there was one thing Becky hated, it was being told what to do.
"Nino, I'd like you to leave."
"Can't you tell that he's happy? Can't you tell that you are too?" He grew more and more frustrated with her. "Can you honestly tell me you don't feel anything for him?"
"He's a friend! Just like you and Sho and Jun and Satoshi are my friends here!"
"You're lying to yourself," Nino protested.
"I said you should go," she said, finally raising her voice. "You don't know anything about how I feel!"
He'd been manipulating her all along, hadn't he? He'd been manipulating her the most. Telling her about the past, encouraging her friendship with Aiba. Was it out of love for Masaki or wanting to be human again? Love didn't work that way. It wasn't something you could set up as an experiment, like one of Masaki's mystery contraptions in the workshop.
"Kazunari."
The two of them both turned, spying Aiba standing in the doorway. All this time the door had been open. Masaki moved around so quietly, neither of them had known he was there. "Masaki," Nino stuttered, caught off guard for what might have been the first time in his life.
Aiba didn't look sad. Nor did he look happy. He merely stood there. "Kazunari, she asked you to leave her alone." Had he heard? Had Aiba heard her say she felt nothing more for him than friendship?
She couldn't say anything, wanting to get out of bed and run to Aiba and say that she didn't know how she felt. That she didn't dislike him - that she actually did care about him, but she just didn't know what to do or what it meant. She was still so unsure, so confused. She'd felt happy alone in his company. She'd felt safe and protected as he carried her all the way to the castle. She liked the way he asked questions about her stories and the way he didn't always think before he spoke and the way he put others before himself.
Instead, she stayed put, body still weak as Nino got up as he was told. She watched him depart, Aiba right behind him.
--
Three days passed as she struggled to overcome her cold. It was frustrating in equal measure to see the sunshine outside and to know that Masaki was probably shut up in his workshop, thinking that Becky didn't love him. Probably thinking that she had been his best chance for turning human once again, but she'd never see him as anything more than a friend. One hundred years of friendship from Nino, Jun, Sho, and Satoshi hadn't been enough - hers was just a drop in the bucket.
She'd stayed shut up in her room, most of her contact being with Satoshi who diligently brought her three meals a day. On the first day of her illness, Jun had brought up all her writing materials, but he hadn't returned since. Sho steered clear, probably sensing the change in the air, too - he'd been tending to Becky's gardens in her absence. Her writing went poorly, and though she'd done her best to ensure that she didn't waste any of the materials Jun had provided her, the bedroom floor was littered with failed paragraphs and sub-par sketches of airships and treasure hunts. Satoshi usually scooped up her wasteful efforts, depositing them in a basket at the side of the bed in case she wanted to look at them again.
On the fourth day, she finally decided that she was fully recovered. Becky hated sitting and dwelling on things, hated the way she behaved when she let her self-pity take control. After Satoshi departed with the breakfast tray, she dressed in a summery gown with a cheerful floral print, hoping she could get her mood to match. She gathered up her papers, having gotten through a new batch of edits the night before.
She marched downstairs and out into the courtyard, seeing Nino for the first time since she'd asked him to leave her room. He'd been her first friend at the castle, and much as he was frustrating, Becky had decided that Nino's desire to be a human was not truly as strong as his desire for Aiba to find happiness after so many years not being himself. She'd been too confused about her own feelings not to see how fervently the automatons wanted Aiba to find love for the sake of love alone. The becoming human again part was probably just a bonus.
Becky still wasn't sure what she felt. She cared about him, and her time spent reflecting had made her all the more positive that he was kind of perfect in his own strange way. There just wasn't much she could actually do about it. At least she didn't think so. She'd close her eyes and think of Aiba's voice, Aiba's laughter, and would take comfort in it. But then she'd remember his strange face and his large hands and the way he stooped over to try and look smaller, and it would still give her reason to fear, reason to be confused.
But if anything, she still wanted to know him and wanted to be around him. Surely that had to count for something.
She approached Nino, papers in tow. He was fixing a few dials on the dirigible, not greeting her with his characteristic wit. He instead waited for her to speak. She held out her edits, staring at his metal chest rather than his face. "I know it's a lot to ask you to keep going back and forth, but I have some more things for my father to mail to the capital."
He accepted the papers without complaint. "We'd fly around the world for you. You have to know that."
She sighed. "But why? I'm not the person you need. I guess I'm not the one you need to help him."
"That doesn't matter," he said quietly. "Any other messages for your father?"
She nodded. "If it's not too embarrassing for you, tell him I love him and miss him."
"I'd tell him you were giving up writing to live in a cave if you asked. It's not embarrassing, okay?" He held the papers up. "Let me tell Jun I'm off and see if we need anything. I'll see you later on."
Becky bid Nino farewell, gathering her courage to walk over to the workshop. She'd promised the other day that she'd help with Aiba's machine. Whether she was in love with him or not, he needed her tiny hands to get the Cloudbuster Machine back to its original glory. She had to have faith in her father's abilities since her own prejudice was keeping her from being useful in any way.
She knocked on the door of the workshop, hearing Aiba's hammering. "Masaki. It's Becky."
The hammering stopped almost instantly. "You can come in." His voice was missing the cheer it had held during their walk the other day. She wished she could go back in time, get that Masaki to come back with all his enthusiasm and smiles.
She entered the workshop cautiously, waiting at the edge of the workbench. Masaki was elbow deep in his Cloudbuster Machine, seeming to be working on attaching more of the metal tubes to the center of the contraption. As far as she could understand, the tubes funneled the energy from the clouds in and shot the rain back out. Beyond that, Aiba's descriptions had been too rapid fire and confusing. He set down his tools, wiping his hands clean.
"How are you feeling? The others haven't been bothering you, have they?" he asked gently, looking anywhere but at her face.
"Much better. I got a lot of writing done. Whether it's coherent or not will be up to my publisher in the capital."
He nodded, opening a tiny drawer in one of the tables and pulling out several shiny unused dials, laying them out in some sort of Aiba order that made sense to nobody but Aiba himself. "I'm sure it's perfect. They're good stories. Just from the way you talk about them, I'm sure they're great. I would have loved them when I was little."
She smiled weakly, appreciating the compliment but wishing it didn't hurt so much to receive it. It seemed from the slump of his shoulders and the way he wouldn't look up that he'd given up hope completely, and that was all her fault. "But I've had enough of writing, enough of being cooped up in that room. I was hoping I could be your assistant today."
He stopped, one of the dials dropping out of his hand and onto the table with a dull thunk. "You really want to help out with my machine?"
"Of course," she said. "I told you I would. And you were going on and on about how small my hands were. I figure I could do whatever you need that requires some slim fingers."
He seemed to brighten a bit at her offer, scooping the dials back up. "Well, then you're just in time," he said, gesturing for her to follow him over to the machine. He set the dials down on the control console's chair, pulling the console apart. "Now this will take me half the time and a quarter of the effort. Come here."
She obeyed, walking over shyly and waiting for instruction. He seemed to become someone else entirely when he was in front of one of his inventions. His voice sped up and his words ran together, so eager was he to spit out his explanations and his excitement. Becky did her best to translate Aiba's strange inventor language into something she could understand. As far as she could tell, Aiba was going to bore several holes into the panel - it would be Becky's job to insert the dial and then get on the other side of the panel to secure it.
Her earlier unease and Aiba's shyness disappeared soon after they got to work. He directed her with a well-trained eye, explaining how best to twist the dials into the holes he'd managed to drill with another one of his strange inventions. She went back and forth, using Aiba's smallest tools - the ones that had apparently been for Nino's hands prior to their transformations.
She put one of the dials on upside down and instead of chastizing her for her mistake, he laughed hysterically, insisting that they leave it there just the way it was. She couldn't keep from smiling, feeling better than she had in days. He'd give her a long complicated direction, and she'd do it in a simpler way, earning a surprised look and another giggle from him. "Oh," he said time after time, "that was quicker, wasn't it?"
Satoshi brought them lunch, admiring the progress they'd made on the Cloudbuster Machine while the two of them ate. They were just finishing up and Satoshi was clearing the plates when they heard the humming sound of the dirigible returning.
"He's back early," Satoshi remarked, heading out of the workshop and into the afternoon sun.
She was surprised when Aiba suddenly grabbed her by the hand, pulling her along. "Come on, I want to tell Nino how much better an assistant you are than he is. I want to see how he'll react..."
"Masaki, wait!" she cried, doing her best to keep up with his long strides as he pulled her out of the shop and into the courtyard as Nino landed. Sho and Jun emerged from the rear door, also curious about Nino's early arrival. Most days when he went to visit her father, he stayed and chatted with Maurice, letting him know about the goings-on at the castle, waiting patiently while her father went into town to pick up supplies for them.
She blushed as they stood in the courtyard, waiting for Nino to shut the dirigible down and open the gondola door. Aiba's large, furry hand completely engulfed hers, and he hadn't thought to let go of her yet, he was so excited. She didn't feel like wriggling away, enjoying the feeling of Aiba's enthusiasm seeming to transfer from his body to her own as he held her hand.
"Something's wrong," Sho said as Nino had barely gotten the gondola on the ground when he opened the door.
The first word out of Nino's mouth was her name. "Becky," he said, sounding panicked. "Becky, you have to come with me."
Her first thought was Maurice and the rainbow house. "Something happened?" she asked, worry clouding her features. Aiba gently released her hand, taking a step back. "Is my father alright?"
Nino shook his head. "When I got there, he was gone. He always leaves a note if he goes wandering off for this herb or that, but this time there was a note hammered to the door." Nino hurried back into the gondola, holding it out to her.
She grabbed it, unable to stifle her gasp.
House condemned - Occupant to be tried in High Court.
Reason for official condemnation - Occupant entered Western Wood against established law.
By order of Mayor Wulfric Gaston.
She was surprised there'd even been a notice on the door. That had been Alaric's doing, it had to have been. She handed the notice to Jun, who sounded immediately suspicious. "He entered the Western Wood?" Jun asked. "But why? He swore he would not..."
Nino still hadn't shut the dirigible's engine down. "Of course he didn't! I see him at least once a week, and he tells me every time that he's been behaving himself. He's been staying out because he promised Becky he wouldn't go."
"Then why has he been arrested?" Sho asked. "What proof do they have?"
"The dirigible," Nino explained. "The last time I spoke to Maurice, I saw a carriage approaching the house as I took off. Whoever was inside must have seen me flying off and over the Western Wood. Your father never had visitors any other time, but this was the day of the storm, so I left later than usual..."
"They were spying on him," Becky muttered. "Alaric was watching and waiting. And now they've taken him. Oh no, they've taken him!"
"But Becky, didn't you say this Gaston person has had it out for your father? Don't you think he's doing this to try and draw you out?" Satoshi asked, but Becky shook her head. It didn't matter - her father's life was at stake. Alaric had bided his time, and he'd finally had enough. She knew exactly where they took criminals awaiting trial. The courthouse and jail were right at the edge of the town square.
Becky stepped forward, right into the gondola with Nino. "I need you to take me to my house. I have to go into town and do something about this."
"Of course," Nino said, already heading for the control panel.
"Wait a moment," Jun interrupted. "What's to guarantee that this Mayor Gaston will release your father? What's to say he won't arrest you as soon as you appear?"
She stood her ground. "I have to go. Even if it's a trap, I have to go. He's my father." Her heart and mind were already racing, imagining her father being hauled away from the rainbow house, away from the Rain Goddess' shrine and the keepsakes of her mother's. She imagined him sitting alone in the jail, in the center of a town he had never cared for.
Becky looked to Jun. "I will honor my promise. Give me one day. Let Nino drop me off and come back the next day. If I'm successful, I'll bring my father with me. We can both stay here at the castle so he can finish his work."
Jun seemed to be weighing the options, Sho and Satoshi unsure of what to do. "But what if you're unable to bring your father with you?"
She'd told the automatons about Alaric and his father's great dislike for Maurice - what she hadn't told them, any of them, was about Alaric's liking for her. It was the only negotiating tactic she had remaining to her. And her one last tactic was going to ruin her life. But her father was too important, too precious to her. If ensuring her father's release meant that she'd become Mrs. Alaric Gaston, then she'd do whatever she could to see her father walk free. She couldn't bear to look at Aiba, instead keeping her gaze focused at the purple lapels of Count Matsumoto's jacket.
"The mayor's son is in love with me," she admitted. "I'll negotiate with him. I ask you for one day. If I don't appear at my father's house tomorrow, then they've probably tossed me in the cell with my father..."
"Miss Vaughn," Sho interrupted. "I won't see you fly off to certain imprisonment! I used to be the mayor of Sora, let me speak with this Mayor Gaston. I can..."
She looked to him kindly. The thought of Sho Sakurai in his red coat and metal body descending upon the center of Sora town to argue with Mayor Gaston was too much. "I thank you, but this is something I must do alone."
"But this is too dangerous," Satoshi said. "Becky, I don't want you to go."
"I don't think it's a good idea either," Sho agreed. "At least let Nino go into town with you."
"He can't!" Becky argued. "His body already started to break down staying at my house too long. I can't let him put himself at further risk to go into town. I won't ask that of any of you!"
"Becky, what if I stayed with you?" The four automatons turned their blank gazes on their friend, and Becky looked over to see the determination in Aiba's face. "I can keep you safe. Let me go with you."
It wasn't something she was used to seeing in an animal's face - it was something all too human. It was heartbreak. She gripped the open door of the gondola, squeezing tightly at the honesty in Aiba's face. He really was in love with her, she could see it so plainly now.
"I can't let you do that, Masaki. The people in town can't see what's happened to you. It could get out of control. They'd arrest you the same as me, and then how would that help your friends?"
"You helped me out so much, and I've already taken you away from your father," he said. "I can't let you go. Not like this. Not if I don't know if you'll come back or not."
She tried to smile. "Of course I'll come back," she said, the lie burning painfully. "Who else is going to install those knobs and dials wrong, huh?"
"Masaki, it's her father," Nino said gently. "You're not going to change her mind."
"Becky, please," Aiba begged her. "Whatever you have to do, please don't put yourself in danger. I'll never forgive myself if I let you fly away and something happens to you."
She remembered Alaric's threats, the cruel way he'd behaved the last time they'd met. Becky knew that Alaric was holding her father's freedom over her head as one final manipulation, his final means of getting her to be his and his alone. Becky hated to give in, and she hated the look in Aiba's eyes. She knew very well indeed that Aiba wouldn't be able to bear another burden.
It was as though the other four weren't there when she looked into his face. "I promise. I will see you again," she said quietly before stepping inside. "Nino, close the door."
He did so, engaging the lock and heading for the control console. She sat down on the bench, not able to look out the gondola window to see Aiba staring back. She had to save her father, no matter what it took. That would be her final gift to Masaki and the others for their friendship and kindness. In exchange for her father's freedom, she'd give herself as the prize. Then he'd be able to complete the potion and cure Masaki's curse. It was the only way now. She had to put her faith in the Rain Goddess. She had to pray for a miracle.
Nino didn't speak for some time once the dirigible left the ground, heading back east. "I know why you're doing this," he said.
She didn't reply, instead gazing out the window at the neverending sky.
"You think your father's means of helping Aiba are superior to your own. You think you can't be of any use at the castle."
She could feel her eyes welling up, but she refused to let her tears fall.
"Well, you're wrong," Nino continued.
An hour later they finally landed in the field of wildflowers. She'd refused to let him take her any further and risk harming himself. Nino left the engines running - he wouldn't demand to stay with her. He'd go back as she'd asked. He'd let her do as she wished, even if he didn't necessarily agree with it.
"I'll return at sunset to this same spot," Nino said quietly. "If you need to hide in the Western Wood until then, do so. But this is where I'll be. I'll wait all night if I have to."
She grasped his cold hand, clutching it between her own. "Promise me that you'll look out for my father. He can cure Masaki. If anyone can fix him, it's my father."
He nodded, opening the gondola door for her. "Be careful, Breeches. Please?"
She exited, walking away as Nino shut the door again and the dirigible rose into the sky. Sora rose up in the distance, the dark smokestacks a far cry from the clean air and brightness that had characterized the past several weeks at Matsumoto Castle. Walking straight to the courthouse and pleading with Alaric would solve nothing. She had to break her father out. She'd go under cover of darkness, hurry him back out of town. They'd hide in the Western Wood until Nino returned and would fly away. It was a risky plan - the exact kind of risk the automatons had warned her about.
But she'd promised to see Aiba again. Marrying Alaric Gaston would render that promise impossible. She couldn't bear the thought of never walking the courtyard of Matsumoto Castle again, not seeing the strange smile on Aiba's furry face. Satoshi's meals and Sho's stories and Jun's conversation. Nino's teasing. She didn't want to part with any of it.
She headed for the house, hoping the dogs were out and about and taking care of themselves. She needed to change into dark clothes for sneaking about, needed some small tools to break the locks at the jail. She'd known the Gastons a long time - she'd been in and out of the mayor's mansion, in and out of the courthouse and jail plenty of times. She and Alaric and the other children in their circle had snuck about, looking for secret entrances. She'd get her father out that way.
Plan set in motion, she opened the back door to get changed. What surprised her then was seeing Alaric Gaston himself sitting at the kitchen table.
"Welcome home, Rebecca," he said, rising to his feet and producing a revolver. He pointed it straight at her heart. "I've been expecting you, my dear."
PART SIX
They headed back for the woods in uplifted spirits, but even though they'd done a fine job clearing the way on their journey to Snow Lake, it was still a long trip and the rain beat them to the castle. It came down in a torrent, made all the more problematic by her already wet clothes and the cooler air in the forest. She hurried as best she could, shivering as the rain plastered her hair against her face and turned the dirt path into lumpy, splattering mud. She squelched along as best she could until Aiba finally turned back and looked at her, balanced easily on a fallen log.
"Oh!" he cried, hurrying back to her. "Oh, I'm in so much trouble."
"What?" she asked, struggling to be heard over the wind howling through the forest and the rain falling.
"Jun's going to kill me!" He turned, putting his back to her before crouching down and setting down Satoshi's basket. "Come on, I can't let you slog through this."
She stared at his back, blinking rain from her eyes. "I can walk perfectly fine!"
"Would you hurry up?" he insisted, wiggling his back a bit.
She stood there a full moment, realizing she hadn't been carried on a man's back before aside from her father's when she was a little girl. It was an incredibly intimate gesture, she'd always thought. She'd been friendly with some of the boys in university, even gone to dinner with a few, kissed one or two. But until that moment, Becky's romantic life had been fairly non-existent. She'd always been so busy with work and her own writing world, and coming home to Sora always meant unwanted attention from Alaric.
What did it mean for her to let Aiba carry her? And what's more, he wasn't even human! Well, she chastized herself, he very much was underneath all that fur. What if she ignored the whole "curse from the goddess" bit? What if he really was a man? But they were only just friends, weren't they? They hadn't known each other for so very long. Perhaps she was overthinking. Perhaps she was just nervous about the attention. Perhaps...
"Becky!" he interrupted her. "Now, before I fail any more attempts at being a gentleman. Come on!"
She crouched down, pushing her wet hair out of her eyes and latched her arms around his neck, and the hair there was thinner and damp. He rose to his feet, muttering a quick "Excuse me" before settling his arms underneath her legs and starting to move. She was suddenly up higher, her head resting against his shoulder. He was warm, far warmer than she felt, probably because of the extra amount of hair underneath his shirt and vest, and he seemed to move forward through the mud with little difficulty.
They left the basket behind, and she held on tight as he carried her back. She said nothing for a good long while as the rain continued to fall. It fell harder and thunder boomed noisily overhead as the ancient trees swayed around them. Aiba's footfalls were steady, his bare feet squishing the mud. She closed her eyes, smelling a mix of rain and Aiba. She couldn't help but think about when Sunshine and Trouble got wet from being out in the rain - their coats would smell awful.
But Aiba didn't really smell like an animal at all. Just like a soaking wet human, probably the same as her. Her dress clung to her, chilling her to the bone. She tried not to shiver, almost unconsciously pressing herself closer to Aiba's back and his warmth. He was just as quiet as he'd been in the weeks before he'd started to open up, the days when he'd been more like her shadow than anything else.
He didn't lose his grip on her once, carrying her steadily onward, even as the rain showed no sign of letting up. She seemed to drift off, the day slipping away under the constant damp that pervaded her skin and her senses. The minutes ticked on, and just as she felt herself sliding into a strange half-sleep, she heard the pathway under Aiba's feet turn from slimy mud to solid wood planks.
The first voice she heard was Sho's, the rain plink plink plinking off of his metal body. "...came out here as soon as it started raining. What took so long in coming back?"
"We went to Snow Lake," Aiba tried explaining, and Becky heard Satoshi's voice.
"Nino hasn't come back yet. He probably hasn't been able to fly in the storm."
Becky perked a bit at that. How long could they be away? Was it a matter of time or a matter of distance before their metal bodies started to fall apart? More metallic footsteps and a third voice. Jun.
"Come on, let's get her inside. Is she alright?"
She wanted to respond, wanted to say she was perfectly alright, but it appeared that she wasn't. As soon as Aiba carried her into the castle and out of the rain, the cold hit her like the dead of winter, and her teeth were chattering. She'd been out in the rain far too long.
She could hear Sho's steady voice. "What are we going to do? She needs a warm bath..."
"Well, we don't exactly have a lady's maid around!" Jun snapped back. Aiba didn't respond, gingerly carrying her through the castle and up the stairs without complaint.
"I'll help," Satoshi offered, and Becky felt Aiba's hold on her tighten slightly.
"...can...change myself," she murmured, opening her eyes a bit. They got her into her room, and she felt clumsy metal fingers untying her boots. Eventually Aiba settled her down, and she felt the familiar cushion of the chair just on the other side of her screen in the changing area.
"Let's give her some privacy, Masaki," Jun ordered, and she blinked a bit, trying to stay steady in the seat, leaning against the wooden arms.
She heard Satoshi speak from the other side of the screen as rain pelted against the bedroom window glass. "I've lit a fire. Are you okay?"
She nodded, her limbs feeling heavy and her skin clammy. "I've got my trunk back here," she muttered. Slowly, she slid her way out of her soaking wet dress and the breeches beneath, struggling to poke her head through the hole of a nightdress. She bent down to pick up her clothes, stumbling a bit around the screen and feeling Satoshi's cold metal hand steady her wrist.
"Let's get you under the covers," he said gently, and he coaxed her over to the bed and helped her get settled. He'd even laid a warm towel over her pillow, and she sighed as soon as she felt the warm blankets over her. It was a different sort of warmth than being carried by Aiba. "Is there anything else you need, Becky?"
She exhaled, shutting her eyes and listening to the storm. "Thank you, Satoshi. I'm perfectly fine."
"I see," he replied, drawing the pink curtains. "Did Masaki really carry you back the whole way?"
She felt a lightness start to take over as her body finally gave in to its need for rest. "Yes, he did."
Whatever Satoshi's response was to that, Becky didn't hear it. She fell asleep, spending the next several hours in a fever dream. She was inside Jun's castle, but snow was falling in fat, fluffy snowflakes indoors. Four men were urging her along down the hallway, each with dark hair and smiles. Somehow, Becky felt they were familiar. The dream shifted and flipped around, the castle brightening.
The four men disappeared from her vision, and she was standing on the porch of her father's house, spotting a figure off in the distance, amongst the wildflowers. She didn't know how and didn't know why, but she had to get to the person in the flower field. For some reason, the smokestacks of Sora in the distance were red and white, matching the towers of Matsumoto Castle. The person in the field didn't look around, but his back seemed somehow familiar.
She hurried forward, hearing the person's voice calling for her. "Becky, Becky, hurry up!" The voice was Aiba's, but the body was not. It was like running through quicksand, and she hurried, desperate to catch up. And just as she got close, just as she saw that Aiba's body from behind was thinner, shorter, human with the same frizzy brown hair, she was back in the castle and it was dark.
Aiba and the wildflowers had vanished. Alaric Gaston stood at the top of the castle staircase, extending his hand.
She felt the dream swallow her whole.
--
When she woke there was a damp cloth on her forehead and an automaton without clothes by her bedside.
"You gave us quite the scare, Breeches," Nino chided her as sternly as he could. "Going to Snow Lake during the rain storm of the century. Not even a parasol. And you went with that idiot."
She turned, seeing the usual nothingness looking back from Nino's metallic face. She felt as though she knew his real face though, as if she had seen it recently. "Is Aiba ill too?"
"No," he replied, "unless being sick with worry for you is now a medical condition."
Her embarrassment mounted, and she wanted to hide under the covers. Fainting? Getting sick from the rain? What would befall her next and cause her captors to worry? "And what about you? They said the storm had kept you from flying back."
He held up a limb, showing off only four metal fingers on his left hand. There was a hole in the metal where his pinky should have been. "I wasn't far enough for it to really do damage, but the Rain Goddess likes to give us little reminders of who's really in charge."
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
He snorted. "It's just a finger. Aiba's going to make me a new one. A really fancy one with a shiny claw of death at the end."
"You're serious?"
He got up from the chair at her bedside, laughing. "I don't think it'll be as fancy as all that, but a man turned machine can still dream, can't he?"
She sat up in the bed, looking around. The sun was high overhead - it was already midday the following day. Her body still felt weakened, but it seemed that her fever had broken during the night. She held the cloth in her hand. Who had been in to keep watch? He seemed to notice her staring.
"Is there a particular answer you want to the question you're not asking me, Breeches?"
She looked at him. "I'm sorry?" For some reason, even though she'd personally requested he stop visiting so sneakily, Becky liked the idea of Aiba sitting at her bedside while she rested. The thought, however, made her long once more for the safety and secret hiding place under her blankets. Why did she want Aiba watching at her side? Would it be so different from an automaton vigil?
"We finally got him to go to sleep. Or more like I did," Nino said, confirming it for her. "I finally managed to get back, and Sho's blabbing about you being sick and feverish, and Jun's telling me Aiba dragged you home looking like you were bathing in a mud puddle, and Satoshi's hanging up your clothes and underthings to dry like it's just another day at Matsumoto Castle."
"Sounds like quite the situation to come home to."
He chuckled. "No kidding! So there I am missing a finger and enduring all the trauma that goes along with it, but I go upstairs and see Masaki in the chair watching you like you're going to disappear if he glances away for a split second."
"Nino..."
He waved her off with his four-fingered hand. "It was really sweet in a way that made me want to throw up a bunch of screws and bolts. But I reminded him that stalking girls he likes while they sleep is not the way to do things..."
"Nino," she interrupted again, feeling even more embarrassed. And slightly like she was thirteen or fourteen all over again. Girls he liked? Aiba liked her? Liked liked her?
The automaton perched his body at the foot of her bed, ignoring any sense of propriety. Typical Nino. "Oh, don't give me that look, Rebecca Vaughn. Don't look at me like you don't know."
"What don't I know?" she asked, fearing the answer. Aiba was many things - gentle, kind, sweet, loyal, and extremely frustrating. But he was also a man trapped in a beast's body. It was something she still had difficulty wrapping her head around. Everything about Masaki Aiba was the opposite of Alaric Gaston. Were he a normal flesh and blood human, she'd have no trouble admitting feelings for him. Well, she'd still have trouble, but more out of shyness than out of being a different species.
Nino shook his head. "He's liked you since the first time he saw you. He's kind of spontaneous that way. And we thought, maybe a little too ambitiously, that if the plan with your father didn't work out, maybe..."
"You haven't seen another woman in a hundred years," she protested. "And neither has Masaki. It's almost too convenient that my father had a daughter, isn't it?"
So the automatons' plot had been more than they'd let on. Becky was the back-up plan, wasn't she? If her father couldn't reverse the Rain Goddess' spell, than maybe love for Masaki would solve their problem. They probably hadn't told Aiba - they'd been watching the two of them all this time, waiting to see if Aiba could be coaxed out of his shell. Waiting to see if Becky could get over her own reservations. Waiting for the sparks to fly.
If there was one thing Becky hated, it was being told what to do.
"Nino, I'd like you to leave."
"Can't you tell that he's happy? Can't you tell that you are too?" He grew more and more frustrated with her. "Can you honestly tell me you don't feel anything for him?"
"He's a friend! Just like you and Sho and Jun and Satoshi are my friends here!"
"You're lying to yourself," Nino protested.
"I said you should go," she said, finally raising her voice. "You don't know anything about how I feel!"
He'd been manipulating her all along, hadn't he? He'd been manipulating her the most. Telling her about the past, encouraging her friendship with Aiba. Was it out of love for Masaki or wanting to be human again? Love didn't work that way. It wasn't something you could set up as an experiment, like one of Masaki's mystery contraptions in the workshop.
"Kazunari."
The two of them both turned, spying Aiba standing in the doorway. All this time the door had been open. Masaki moved around so quietly, neither of them had known he was there. "Masaki," Nino stuttered, caught off guard for what might have been the first time in his life.
Aiba didn't look sad. Nor did he look happy. He merely stood there. "Kazunari, she asked you to leave her alone." Had he heard? Had Aiba heard her say she felt nothing more for him than friendship?
She couldn't say anything, wanting to get out of bed and run to Aiba and say that she didn't know how she felt. That she didn't dislike him - that she actually did care about him, but she just didn't know what to do or what it meant. She was still so unsure, so confused. She'd felt happy alone in his company. She'd felt safe and protected as he carried her all the way to the castle. She liked the way he asked questions about her stories and the way he didn't always think before he spoke and the way he put others before himself.
Instead, she stayed put, body still weak as Nino got up as he was told. She watched him depart, Aiba right behind him.
--
Three days passed as she struggled to overcome her cold. It was frustrating in equal measure to see the sunshine outside and to know that Masaki was probably shut up in his workshop, thinking that Becky didn't love him. Probably thinking that she had been his best chance for turning human once again, but she'd never see him as anything more than a friend. One hundred years of friendship from Nino, Jun, Sho, and Satoshi hadn't been enough - hers was just a drop in the bucket.
She'd stayed shut up in her room, most of her contact being with Satoshi who diligently brought her three meals a day. On the first day of her illness, Jun had brought up all her writing materials, but he hadn't returned since. Sho steered clear, probably sensing the change in the air, too - he'd been tending to Becky's gardens in her absence. Her writing went poorly, and though she'd done her best to ensure that she didn't waste any of the materials Jun had provided her, the bedroom floor was littered with failed paragraphs and sub-par sketches of airships and treasure hunts. Satoshi usually scooped up her wasteful efforts, depositing them in a basket at the side of the bed in case she wanted to look at them again.
On the fourth day, she finally decided that she was fully recovered. Becky hated sitting and dwelling on things, hated the way she behaved when she let her self-pity take control. After Satoshi departed with the breakfast tray, she dressed in a summery gown with a cheerful floral print, hoping she could get her mood to match. She gathered up her papers, having gotten through a new batch of edits the night before.
She marched downstairs and out into the courtyard, seeing Nino for the first time since she'd asked him to leave her room. He'd been her first friend at the castle, and much as he was frustrating, Becky had decided that Nino's desire to be a human was not truly as strong as his desire for Aiba to find happiness after so many years not being himself. She'd been too confused about her own feelings not to see how fervently the automatons wanted Aiba to find love for the sake of love alone. The becoming human again part was probably just a bonus.
Becky still wasn't sure what she felt. She cared about him, and her time spent reflecting had made her all the more positive that he was kind of perfect in his own strange way. There just wasn't much she could actually do about it. At least she didn't think so. She'd close her eyes and think of Aiba's voice, Aiba's laughter, and would take comfort in it. But then she'd remember his strange face and his large hands and the way he stooped over to try and look smaller, and it would still give her reason to fear, reason to be confused.
But if anything, she still wanted to know him and wanted to be around him. Surely that had to count for something.
She approached Nino, papers in tow. He was fixing a few dials on the dirigible, not greeting her with his characteristic wit. He instead waited for her to speak. She held out her edits, staring at his metal chest rather than his face. "I know it's a lot to ask you to keep going back and forth, but I have some more things for my father to mail to the capital."
He accepted the papers without complaint. "We'd fly around the world for you. You have to know that."
She sighed. "But why? I'm not the person you need. I guess I'm not the one you need to help him."
"That doesn't matter," he said quietly. "Any other messages for your father?"
She nodded. "If it's not too embarrassing for you, tell him I love him and miss him."
"I'd tell him you were giving up writing to live in a cave if you asked. It's not embarrassing, okay?" He held the papers up. "Let me tell Jun I'm off and see if we need anything. I'll see you later on."
Becky bid Nino farewell, gathering her courage to walk over to the workshop. She'd promised the other day that she'd help with Aiba's machine. Whether she was in love with him or not, he needed her tiny hands to get the Cloudbuster Machine back to its original glory. She had to have faith in her father's abilities since her own prejudice was keeping her from being useful in any way.
She knocked on the door of the workshop, hearing Aiba's hammering. "Masaki. It's Becky."
The hammering stopped almost instantly. "You can come in." His voice was missing the cheer it had held during their walk the other day. She wished she could go back in time, get that Masaki to come back with all his enthusiasm and smiles.
She entered the workshop cautiously, waiting at the edge of the workbench. Masaki was elbow deep in his Cloudbuster Machine, seeming to be working on attaching more of the metal tubes to the center of the contraption. As far as she could understand, the tubes funneled the energy from the clouds in and shot the rain back out. Beyond that, Aiba's descriptions had been too rapid fire and confusing. He set down his tools, wiping his hands clean.
"How are you feeling? The others haven't been bothering you, have they?" he asked gently, looking anywhere but at her face.
"Much better. I got a lot of writing done. Whether it's coherent or not will be up to my publisher in the capital."
He nodded, opening a tiny drawer in one of the tables and pulling out several shiny unused dials, laying them out in some sort of Aiba order that made sense to nobody but Aiba himself. "I'm sure it's perfect. They're good stories. Just from the way you talk about them, I'm sure they're great. I would have loved them when I was little."
She smiled weakly, appreciating the compliment but wishing it didn't hurt so much to receive it. It seemed from the slump of his shoulders and the way he wouldn't look up that he'd given up hope completely, and that was all her fault. "But I've had enough of writing, enough of being cooped up in that room. I was hoping I could be your assistant today."
He stopped, one of the dials dropping out of his hand and onto the table with a dull thunk. "You really want to help out with my machine?"
"Of course," she said. "I told you I would. And you were going on and on about how small my hands were. I figure I could do whatever you need that requires some slim fingers."
He seemed to brighten a bit at her offer, scooping the dials back up. "Well, then you're just in time," he said, gesturing for her to follow him over to the machine. He set the dials down on the control console's chair, pulling the console apart. "Now this will take me half the time and a quarter of the effort. Come here."
She obeyed, walking over shyly and waiting for instruction. He seemed to become someone else entirely when he was in front of one of his inventions. His voice sped up and his words ran together, so eager was he to spit out his explanations and his excitement. Becky did her best to translate Aiba's strange inventor language into something she could understand. As far as she could tell, Aiba was going to bore several holes into the panel - it would be Becky's job to insert the dial and then get on the other side of the panel to secure it.
Her earlier unease and Aiba's shyness disappeared soon after they got to work. He directed her with a well-trained eye, explaining how best to twist the dials into the holes he'd managed to drill with another one of his strange inventions. She went back and forth, using Aiba's smallest tools - the ones that had apparently been for Nino's hands prior to their transformations.
She put one of the dials on upside down and instead of chastizing her for her mistake, he laughed hysterically, insisting that they leave it there just the way it was. She couldn't keep from smiling, feeling better than she had in days. He'd give her a long complicated direction, and she'd do it in a simpler way, earning a surprised look and another giggle from him. "Oh," he said time after time, "that was quicker, wasn't it?"
Satoshi brought them lunch, admiring the progress they'd made on the Cloudbuster Machine while the two of them ate. They were just finishing up and Satoshi was clearing the plates when they heard the humming sound of the dirigible returning.
"He's back early," Satoshi remarked, heading out of the workshop and into the afternoon sun.
She was surprised when Aiba suddenly grabbed her by the hand, pulling her along. "Come on, I want to tell Nino how much better an assistant you are than he is. I want to see how he'll react..."
"Masaki, wait!" she cried, doing her best to keep up with his long strides as he pulled her out of the shop and into the courtyard as Nino landed. Sho and Jun emerged from the rear door, also curious about Nino's early arrival. Most days when he went to visit her father, he stayed and chatted with Maurice, letting him know about the goings-on at the castle, waiting patiently while her father went into town to pick up supplies for them.
She blushed as they stood in the courtyard, waiting for Nino to shut the dirigible down and open the gondola door. Aiba's large, furry hand completely engulfed hers, and he hadn't thought to let go of her yet, he was so excited. She didn't feel like wriggling away, enjoying the feeling of Aiba's enthusiasm seeming to transfer from his body to her own as he held her hand.
"Something's wrong," Sho said as Nino had barely gotten the gondola on the ground when he opened the door.
The first word out of Nino's mouth was her name. "Becky," he said, sounding panicked. "Becky, you have to come with me."
Her first thought was Maurice and the rainbow house. "Something happened?" she asked, worry clouding her features. Aiba gently released her hand, taking a step back. "Is my father alright?"
Nino shook his head. "When I got there, he was gone. He always leaves a note if he goes wandering off for this herb or that, but this time there was a note hammered to the door." Nino hurried back into the gondola, holding it out to her.
She grabbed it, unable to stifle her gasp.
House condemned - Occupant to be tried in High Court.
Reason for official condemnation - Occupant entered Western Wood against established law.
By order of Mayor Wulfric Gaston.
She was surprised there'd even been a notice on the door. That had been Alaric's doing, it had to have been. She handed the notice to Jun, who sounded immediately suspicious. "He entered the Western Wood?" Jun asked. "But why? He swore he would not..."
Nino still hadn't shut the dirigible's engine down. "Of course he didn't! I see him at least once a week, and he tells me every time that he's been behaving himself. He's been staying out because he promised Becky he wouldn't go."
"Then why has he been arrested?" Sho asked. "What proof do they have?"
"The dirigible," Nino explained. "The last time I spoke to Maurice, I saw a carriage approaching the house as I took off. Whoever was inside must have seen me flying off and over the Western Wood. Your father never had visitors any other time, but this was the day of the storm, so I left later than usual..."
"They were spying on him," Becky muttered. "Alaric was watching and waiting. And now they've taken him. Oh no, they've taken him!"
"But Becky, didn't you say this Gaston person has had it out for your father? Don't you think he's doing this to try and draw you out?" Satoshi asked, but Becky shook her head. It didn't matter - her father's life was at stake. Alaric had bided his time, and he'd finally had enough. She knew exactly where they took criminals awaiting trial. The courthouse and jail were right at the edge of the town square.
Becky stepped forward, right into the gondola with Nino. "I need you to take me to my house. I have to go into town and do something about this."
"Of course," Nino said, already heading for the control panel.
"Wait a moment," Jun interrupted. "What's to guarantee that this Mayor Gaston will release your father? What's to say he won't arrest you as soon as you appear?"
She stood her ground. "I have to go. Even if it's a trap, I have to go. He's my father." Her heart and mind were already racing, imagining her father being hauled away from the rainbow house, away from the Rain Goddess' shrine and the keepsakes of her mother's. She imagined him sitting alone in the jail, in the center of a town he had never cared for.
Becky looked to Jun. "I will honor my promise. Give me one day. Let Nino drop me off and come back the next day. If I'm successful, I'll bring my father with me. We can both stay here at the castle so he can finish his work."
Jun seemed to be weighing the options, Sho and Satoshi unsure of what to do. "But what if you're unable to bring your father with you?"
She'd told the automatons about Alaric and his father's great dislike for Maurice - what she hadn't told them, any of them, was about Alaric's liking for her. It was the only negotiating tactic she had remaining to her. And her one last tactic was going to ruin her life. But her father was too important, too precious to her. If ensuring her father's release meant that she'd become Mrs. Alaric Gaston, then she'd do whatever she could to see her father walk free. She couldn't bear to look at Aiba, instead keeping her gaze focused at the purple lapels of Count Matsumoto's jacket.
"The mayor's son is in love with me," she admitted. "I'll negotiate with him. I ask you for one day. If I don't appear at my father's house tomorrow, then they've probably tossed me in the cell with my father..."
"Miss Vaughn," Sho interrupted. "I won't see you fly off to certain imprisonment! I used to be the mayor of Sora, let me speak with this Mayor Gaston. I can..."
She looked to him kindly. The thought of Sho Sakurai in his red coat and metal body descending upon the center of Sora town to argue with Mayor Gaston was too much. "I thank you, but this is something I must do alone."
"But this is too dangerous," Satoshi said. "Becky, I don't want you to go."
"I don't think it's a good idea either," Sho agreed. "At least let Nino go into town with you."
"He can't!" Becky argued. "His body already started to break down staying at my house too long. I can't let him put himself at further risk to go into town. I won't ask that of any of you!"
"Becky, what if I stayed with you?" The four automatons turned their blank gazes on their friend, and Becky looked over to see the determination in Aiba's face. "I can keep you safe. Let me go with you."
It wasn't something she was used to seeing in an animal's face - it was something all too human. It was heartbreak. She gripped the open door of the gondola, squeezing tightly at the honesty in Aiba's face. He really was in love with her, she could see it so plainly now.
"I can't let you do that, Masaki. The people in town can't see what's happened to you. It could get out of control. They'd arrest you the same as me, and then how would that help your friends?"
"You helped me out so much, and I've already taken you away from your father," he said. "I can't let you go. Not like this. Not if I don't know if you'll come back or not."
She tried to smile. "Of course I'll come back," she said, the lie burning painfully. "Who else is going to install those knobs and dials wrong, huh?"
"Masaki, it's her father," Nino said gently. "You're not going to change her mind."
"Becky, please," Aiba begged her. "Whatever you have to do, please don't put yourself in danger. I'll never forgive myself if I let you fly away and something happens to you."
She remembered Alaric's threats, the cruel way he'd behaved the last time they'd met. Becky knew that Alaric was holding her father's freedom over her head as one final manipulation, his final means of getting her to be his and his alone. Becky hated to give in, and she hated the look in Aiba's eyes. She knew very well indeed that Aiba wouldn't be able to bear another burden.
It was as though the other four weren't there when she looked into his face. "I promise. I will see you again," she said quietly before stepping inside. "Nino, close the door."
He did so, engaging the lock and heading for the control console. She sat down on the bench, not able to look out the gondola window to see Aiba staring back. She had to save her father, no matter what it took. That would be her final gift to Masaki and the others for their friendship and kindness. In exchange for her father's freedom, she'd give herself as the prize. Then he'd be able to complete the potion and cure Masaki's curse. It was the only way now. She had to put her faith in the Rain Goddess. She had to pray for a miracle.
Nino didn't speak for some time once the dirigible left the ground, heading back east. "I know why you're doing this," he said.
She didn't reply, instead gazing out the window at the neverending sky.
"You think your father's means of helping Aiba are superior to your own. You think you can't be of any use at the castle."
She could feel her eyes welling up, but she refused to let her tears fall.
"Well, you're wrong," Nino continued.
An hour later they finally landed in the field of wildflowers. She'd refused to let him take her any further and risk harming himself. Nino left the engines running - he wouldn't demand to stay with her. He'd go back as she'd asked. He'd let her do as she wished, even if he didn't necessarily agree with it.
"I'll return at sunset to this same spot," Nino said quietly. "If you need to hide in the Western Wood until then, do so. But this is where I'll be. I'll wait all night if I have to."
She grasped his cold hand, clutching it between her own. "Promise me that you'll look out for my father. He can cure Masaki. If anyone can fix him, it's my father."
He nodded, opening the gondola door for her. "Be careful, Breeches. Please?"
She exited, walking away as Nino shut the door again and the dirigible rose into the sky. Sora rose up in the distance, the dark smokestacks a far cry from the clean air and brightness that had characterized the past several weeks at Matsumoto Castle. Walking straight to the courthouse and pleading with Alaric would solve nothing. She had to break her father out. She'd go under cover of darkness, hurry him back out of town. They'd hide in the Western Wood until Nino returned and would fly away. It was a risky plan - the exact kind of risk the automatons had warned her about.
But she'd promised to see Aiba again. Marrying Alaric Gaston would render that promise impossible. She couldn't bear the thought of never walking the courtyard of Matsumoto Castle again, not seeing the strange smile on Aiba's furry face. Satoshi's meals and Sho's stories and Jun's conversation. Nino's teasing. She didn't want to part with any of it.
She headed for the house, hoping the dogs were out and about and taking care of themselves. She needed to change into dark clothes for sneaking about, needed some small tools to break the locks at the jail. She'd known the Gastons a long time - she'd been in and out of the mayor's mansion, in and out of the courthouse and jail plenty of times. She and Alaric and the other children in their circle had snuck about, looking for secret entrances. She'd get her father out that way.
Plan set in motion, she opened the back door to get changed. What surprised her then was seeing Alaric Gaston himself sitting at the kitchen table.
"Welcome home, Rebecca," he said, rising to his feet and producing a revolver. He pointed it straight at her heart. "I've been expecting you, my dear."
PART SIX