milliways_bar | (no subject)

Mia was just heading down for lunch when she sees a familiar face of her own.

"Hello Zelda. How are you?"

It's been a little while. There was a very short pause in Mia's voice when she caught herself almost saying, "Jessica."

Zelda looks up from her drawing and smiles brightly. "Hello, miss. I am fine, and yourself?" she asks, tilting her head to the side curiously.

After a bad couple of weeks, she is relieved to see someone she knows.

"Please, call me Mia, and I am doing well."

She gestures to the couch.

"May I join you?"

Zelda brushes the end of her dress out of the way, and makes room for Mia on the couch. "Of course, of course." she replies. "Please do."

She looks down at her sketch then back to Mia. "This is the man I spoke of before." she says, showing her the drawing. "Does he look like the boy you spoke of?"

Mia takes a seat.

She looks at the drawing and shakes her head.

"I'm afraid not. Alex doesn't have such distinctly pointed ears."

The idea makes her smile, though. He'd look pretty funny with them.

She smiles and lifts her hand to her own upswept ears, pulling a few strands of hair out of the way.

"We have not spoken in a while, have you met anyone else?" she asks, putting aside the drawing.

"I've met quite a few people. I also managed to get my paperwork done, though I'm not too sure how I did that, but at least now I don't have to worry about it. I feel more free to speak to everyone I run into here now that it's done."

She is smiling, but there is some concern in it.

"How is your home?"

"I am glad you got your work done. Responsibilities can sometimes be cumbersome." she replies, nodding.

"My home." she sighs with relief. "It is well. Link came for me..." she says softly, nodding to the man in the drawing. "He and a princess from another realm freed us. Everything is as it should be." she smiles, but there is a hint of sadness still...

"How is the rebuilding of your city coming?" she asks.

"Thank goodness things are better."

Mia is familiar with that smile, as hers has a touch of sadness as well.

"I haven't been home since coming here. I've been told time is probably frozen, so literally no progress except for the paperwork that I've finished."

She nods. "I have been spending a lot of time here lately, as well." she replies. "What do you do to occupy your time besides work?" Zelda asks. "I seem to have difficulty finding things to do."

Mia thinks and starts ticking things off on her fingers.

"Well, since coming here, I've received a pet hedgehog that I like to play with and care for. Not long ago, there was a massive snowball fight that I took part in. I recently got a copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The book is so massive and I've only read a few entries, so that will keep me occupied for a while. I also got a rememberizer."

She pulls the last two objects out from her sleeve pocket. She opens the rememberizer, which looks like a compact mirror with a dial.

"This has my memories on it. Here, I can show you the boy I was speaking about before."

The rememberizer's screen shows a young boy.

Her eyes grow wide as she stares at the tiny mirror. "Extraordinary." she murmurs. "He looks like Link, a bit. But you are right, the ears and the hair...not quite." she laughs.

"What is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?" she asks, looking at the book she is holding.

Mia closes the rememberizer and idly traces the large, friendly letters on the cover of the Guide that read, "Don't Panic."

"As far as I can tell, it's an encyclopedia of sorts. I've never had a book quite like this before."

She opens the Guide, revealing that it's much more like the rememberizer than a normal book.

"I'm not used to calling something like this a book, but you can read it. It doesn't run on magic the way the rememberizer does. I imagine this is all technology. The search is voice activated. The last entry I was looking at was the Babelfish."

And the Guide displays the entry.

Zelda stares at the Guide. "How strange..." she says, looking at not only the entry, but the book as well. "I do not have anything like this in my library. Very odd..."

"And it can find anything?" she asks, looking back to Mia.

"It is limited to what the researchers put in it, but it hardly feels like a limit considering how much information is in the Guide. I haven't been able to find my world in here yet, mainly because searching 'Lunar' turns up entries on moons. I've been looking through some of them and haven't had any luck yet."

She has a scary sort of feeling that if any researchers were on Lunar and wrote about it, what she should really be searching for is her last name.

Zelda looks at the object once more and settles back against the couch. Best not to mess with magic that one does not understand...

"But is there anything that book could tell you that you want to know about your own world?" the princess asks. "That can sometimes be dangerous..."

"If it's been researched, yes. I suppose the trick is in knowing what to look for. Other than that, the entries I usually read are ones that are connected to what I was looking for."

She thinks about the dangerous part.

"Do yo mean like finding out what happens in the future, or perhaps what would have happen if you did something differently?"

Mia, like everyone else, has her own questions about that.

She nods. "In Hyrule, there are those who can fortell events. I suppose it would be useful to know what was coming, but what could that do to the way one lives one's life?"

"I've never met a person who could do such a thing, but I have met someone who acted like she could. In the end, she was wrong."

She's back to smiling.

"Knowing would be nice, but I kind of like not knowing. Either way, I intend to learn from my mistakes and use that to make better decisions in my life. That's the best way to ensure a good future."

If only Ghaleon could have seen that.

"I agree." she replies. "Even though knowing the future could have helped my people. It is better for me to have made my own mistakes, and become stronger for it."

"You mentioned some sort of animal before. A hedgehog? Is that some sort of boar or pig?" she asks, curious.

"I understand that. Perhaps Vane would still be flying if we had known before what I know now, but I actually like it on the ground."

"Not really. He looks more like a porcupine, but his quills soften so it doesn't hurt to pet him. I really don't know why they're called hedgehogs, to be honest. He is a nice pet and I am glad to have him with me. His name is Edgeworth."

She looks near giggling.

"He doesn't like to be in the bar too much because the waitrats try to take him. One time, he actually jumped into my cup of juice to avoid being bussed."

And now she is.

"Edgeworth." she repeats. "That is a good name. I should like to meet him sometime." she grins.

"The waitrats do get a bit over anxious at times." she agrees, nodding.

She starts to take a sip of tea and pauses. "Oh dear, I have been remiss. Would you like some tea, Mia?" she asks, placing the china cup back on the table.

"I'll have to bring him down sometime for you to meet him. He's sleeping in my room right now."

"I would love some, thank you."

Zelda motions to a waitrat, and a moment later a pot of tea is brought with sugar and cream. She pours a second cup in the delicate china and looks up to Mia. "Sugar or cream?"

She moves her sketch out of the way as she shifts around thing on the table to make room. "Do you draw or sketch?" she asks.

"A bit of both, please."

Mal may ruin tea, but Mia isn't too much better.

"I've never really had much practice in drawing. The last thing I tried drawing was an airship and then it was a rough sketch so that I could show someone what it looked like in comparison to his world's airships. I've been told that I'm fairly good at sculpting, though."

Zelda obliges, adding cream and sugar to Mia's tea, and offering it to her.

"Really? I have never tried to sculpt. Is it difficult?" she asks. Zelda finishes her cup of tea, and pours another.

She takes the tea. It's a welcome change to have some normal tea instead of the blueberry tea she's been having lately. Both are excellent, but variety is the thing that keeps people from using cliches like the one this sentence nearly ended in.

"Well, I was sculpting under unusual circumstances. It was part of a test where the goal was to sculpt something that would impress Damon, the keeper of knowledge in my world. The clay was too big for one person to sculpt alone and we had no idea what would impress Damon, so the five of us took turns, groups of four working the clay while someone directed. During the time I was sculpting, I never got any complaints on my work."

Another sip of tea.

"I had been so busy at home that I never really had a chance to polish it into a real skill."

"Quite a task. It would be difficult in any case, but to do something of that nature under such pressure...surely you must be gifted." she replies, taking a sip of tea.

"You should try practicing here." she adds.

"I don't know how gifted I am, but I did enjoy it. I think everyone else did too."

"I should, but I'm not sure what to make... Even back then, when it was my turn to decide what to make, it took a little while for me to choose something. To really practice, I would have to make more than one piece."

"You should try to sculpt people in the bar." she suggests. "I'm sure there are people that wouldn't mind sitting for you to sculpt them." she smiles. "Yrael in particular seems fond of the arts."

Mia sips her tea and, once done, smiles.

"That is a good idea. I would like to speak to Yrael again and I could ask when I see him next."

She puts her chin in her hand and taps her lips thoughtfully.

"I wonder if he would like a sculpture of his cat form. If he likes it, I wouldn't mind letting him keep it. Besides, if I do much work, I might not have room to keep it all."

Zelda nods and takes another sip of tea. "Yrael seems like a nice person. I have only spoken with him once. We played music together. He is an excellent performer."

"I am sure that people would be flattered to be sculpted. And Bar could provide anything you need, I am sure." she adds.

Mia laughs.

"I know his cat form isn't permanent, but it's the only form I've seen him in. The first thing I thought of when you said you played music with him was a cat playing an ocarina."

Zelda laughs.

"No, he plays the violin, very well I might add." she remembers fondly.

"Do you play any instruments?" she asks, after finishing her tea.

"I'm afraid not. I did sing once before and I do love music, but I do not know how to play. I'm not too sure I'm good at singing, nowhere near as good as Luna anyway, but one would be hard pressed to find anyone quite as good as Luna. I did see an interesting looking flute not long ago."

Maybe she should learn how to play?

Wow, at least Mia's got the time.

The mention of the flute makes her think of Link again.

"Music is a marvelous way to pass the time." she replies. "I love to play the harp..." she pauses, thinking of something.

"I think..." she stops, trying to remember something. "There is a man, Sheik, that plays the flute." she finishes. "Perhaps he could help you." she adds.

"Thank you. I will keep an eye out for him and Nick, the one with the interesting flute. Perhaps I will be able to play better than I sing."

Mia finishes her tea.

"You should hear Alex play his ocarina. I have a wonderful memory of it."

She opens her rememberizer. The screen shows the boy from before playing the song of the Goddess on the shore of a lake.

Zelda can hear the sound of an ocarina as she delves into her memories.

"The ocarina is a magical instrument, very beautiful." she agrees.

The princess smiles to see the boy again. He looks so similar to Link in many ways...

Mia nods, quiety enjoying the music. Its power never ceases to amaze and soothe her.

This? Is one truly content Mia.

Zelda silently pulls out a second sheet of paper and begins to sketch as she listens.

(http://pics.livejournal.com/truequest/pic/0000gdcg/)