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The waves lapped at Ai-Ai Island’s shores, every day and every night. The sun shone, the gales blew, and the moon glittered amongst countless stars until. Ten years passed. For Tera, it was the blink of an eye but when she came face to face with Uta once more she remembered.
“Ah, that’s right. Humans have different life spans to us.”
Her voice came off as admonishing unto herself as Uta merely smiled. She was twenty-four now and wizened beyond her years. At least in part, due to her adventures on Ai-Ai Island. Though the usual flow of time in her world also probably helped. Tera couldn’t take all the credits as she studied Uta’s face.
“It’s good to see you again.”
Tera smiled. Uta’s voice was still as sweet as she remembered, her smile as shiny and sparkly as ever but it was strange. There were some changes. For one, Tera had to look up ever so slightly to meet Uta’s eyes as Uta was taller than her now.
She was prettier, too.
Her hair was long and luscious, a gentle brown, to her waist and her eyes were bright as jewels and red as garnets. She had filled out some, too, in her bust and hips. She was wearing a costume which was reminiscent of something Tera had seen before – in a previous life, as a part of Amasu. It was full of white and pink ruffles, a silhouette closer to a sweet pastry than clothing in Tera’s opinion.
“It’s good to see you, too.” Tera admitted.
She didn’t want to come on too strong but who was she kidding. Sakura Uta was at the top of her invite list for the next Super Miracle Idol Festival for a reason and even Tera couldn’t keep up her rocky facade for this excitement. Her heart – no, her whole soul – stirred to see Uta in the flesh again.
“I’m glad to be here.” Uta said. She pinched her skirt by the unnecessarily ruffled fabric to imitate a curtsey. “So, want to show me around? Show me what’s new?”
“Huh? But it's only been-” Tera cut herself off there. Duh.
Ten years was a long time for a human but nothing at all for the coral sprites but she held her tongue. It was best to be lenient to a guest. So, Tera nodded her head and she offered her hand to Uta. With a grin, Uta accepted and together, the two hit the pavement.
The hype for the ten-year special Super Miracle Idol Festival was in full swing. All kinds of people from all kinds of places and worlds filled the streets of the main platform. The Amasu statue looked over all the different denizens with a kind gaze as the scents of sweet and savoury foods filled the air and the music. There was so much music. Song and dance: it all filled the streets.
As did the various greetings.
No matter where they went, what corridors they went down or what paths they crossed, someone knew one or both of them. Tera was known by all: her long red hair whipped about as she tried to make herself and Uta sparse but there was no escaping the stardom. How irritating. They were constantly called too and greeted, hellos and goodbyes and “Would you like to stay for dinner?” type platitudes.
Uta loved it. She lapped it all up, glad that her presence hadn’t faded. Not ten years later, not even a thousand years later. Tera was more curmudgeonly about it as they finally left for the outskirts but the village was no better. They stopped to say hi to Midori and the kids. They hadn’t changed a day by their standards but to Uta she could see all the things they took for granted.
The fact the kids had gotten taller by mere millimeters, the different flowers in bloom in planters that dotted the village scape. Those kinds of things that not even Tera, the current protector of Ai-Ai Island noticed. How embarrassing. To her, a thousand things had changed. To them, it was only yesterday that she had last visited as a fourteen year old.
After an hour or so hoofing it through the greenery and the different paths on Ai-Ai Island, they ended up on the very cove they had met ten years prior. The sands were still refined sugar white. The ocean was still full of vibrantly coloured fish and seaweed that danced in the perpetual currents. It had, truly, become a safe haven thanks to their combined efforts at the previous Super Miracle Idol Festival. With relish of these natural wonders, Uta beamed as she put her hand over her eyes to prevent glare as she scanned the horizons from left to right.
“Kira-kiralala!” Uta swooned.
Tera folded her hands in front of her. She didn’t disagree. It was beautiful to watch the water and how it sparkled. There was deep, azure waters as far as the eye could see and Tera looked it all straight on: the clouds, the breeze, the birds that flew in the sky. It was home to her but something entirely new to Uta.
Once Uta finished taking in the sights, she turned herself ever so slightly to better face Tera. Tera blinked. Uta bore a serious expression and Tera didn’t consider it her imagination.
“I’m so happy,” Uta said, “to be here again. I understand why the Showa Idol loved being here. There’s inspiration and imagery in every aspect of Ai-Ai Island and also… Because the people are so full of love! It’s wonderful.”
“Mm, it is.” Tera mumbled.
Uta blushed slightly, “I’m glad to see that the people here love you so much, Tera, you aren’t alone anymore.”
“I’m not.” Tera complained and she puffed out her cheeks to pretend it annoyed her. “I can’t get any peace and quiet around here no more. It’s so noisy!”
Uta laughed. Tera pursed her lips together. There was no point lying. They both knew that Tera liked the attention. To call her a goddess was too much but if she could be accepted as a daughter or a sister, well, that could make her pretty happy if she could ever be honest with herself.
“What about you?” Tera asked in a small voice, her gaze dipped low to the sand and to Uta’s sandals. “How’re people treating you in your world?”
“I’ve become a proper idol.” Uta said. “Not Cure Idol but Sakura Uta the Idol.”
Tera clicked her tongue. Uta laughed again.
“Oi, oi.” Tera complained. She tried to keep it going for old time’s sake but Uta could see straight through her.
Uta fidgeted. She swayed where she stood, closed her eyes. She relaxed herself as something serious emanated off of her as she enjoyed the beach and all the serenity it could offer. Tera waited for Uta to be ready for wherever this conversation was about to turn.
The sea stretched further. Its cold waves reached them. Their feet got wet as they were kissed and nuzzled by the breeze. Uta let go of the breath she was holding as she made a confession too dreary for a bright and sunshiney day like today but to be fair.
That’s probably how that girl would want to be remembered.
Uta stretched her arms behind her. Her fingers knotted behind her. Tera studied her carefully.
“I did some looking into Amasu’s Showa Idol.” Uta confessed, bittersweet. “I sent a letter to her loved ones… They never stopped looking for her.”
“Oh.” Tera made a small noise.
Uta nodded her head, she curled a strand of her brown hair behind her ear, only for the sea breeze to untuck it mere seconds later. The scent of the sea was salty and full of heart. They had their backs to the sun. Uta’s gaze was far away, over the horizon, through time and space itself in all the cerulean glory offered by the sea and skies.
“Yeah…” Uta agreed. “I don’t know if they believed me, they never wrote back but I hope it brought them peace to know she was loved to the very end.”
“I’m glad.” Tera said. “Well, not glad. But you know what I mean.”
“I do.” Uta bowed her head.
She paused. She drew a semi-circle in the sand with the tip of her toe. She then met Tera’s gaze. Her eyes were brilliant. Sparkling. Tera’s heart thumped in her chest.
“Tera.” Uta called her name.
“Yeah?” Tera responded, she shivered slightly.
“Do you love idols?” Uta asked.
Tera clicked her tongue. She wiped her face and she felt granules of salt on her fingertips. Her brows furrowed. She didn’t know how to reply to that question but she knew what to say. If that made sense.
“‘Course not. I hate ‘em.” Tera replied with a whinge to her voice. She tried hard to sound as big and brash as she had back then when they first met.
Uta, meanwhile, didn’t laugh at her. She didn’t push back. Instead, her gaze merely softened.
“Liar.” she quietly accused Tera. “I know you love me.”
“Wrong.” Tera raised her voice.
She didn’t mean to but she had. Thus, her voice echoed over the sand and water but Uta didn’t mind. Especially as Tera backstracked, she eased her heel into the depth of the sand and felt the warmth the grains had absorbed in their compaction. She stepped backwards, her shoulders raised to hackles as she clumsily explained herself.
“I love you.” Tera confessed. “I love Sakura Uta. I don’t love idols. I just like you.”
Uta’s smile only got shinier, her head got bigger. Tera pouted with a blush. This was exactly why she didn’t like idols. They got too big for their britches and were so cute it made Tera want to explode. And they were so good at singing, too, with voices that were sweet and soothing.
“I love you, too.” Uta replied and she ever so naturally transitioned into a song.
A serenade just for Tera: a private performance, lyrics of love notes for her and only her. Tera closed her eyes. She let Uta’s acapella wash over her and she felt something. A tear down the arch of her cheek. She couldn’t help it. They didn’t have long. Her heart lurched at the mere inference of it, let alone the actual thoughts that swarmed like schooling fish.
“I’ll keep coming to each and every festival Ai-Ai Island hosts, promise,” Uta told her as she finished her song, “so you’ll just have to look forward to them, m’kay?”
“Mm.” Tera agreed through blubber that she wasn’t proud of. She couldn’t help herself. She was sobbing by now.
Uta offered her hand. Tera accepted it but with her other hand, she had to hide her tears and embarrassment. She really was a shard of Amasu’s. She had all the best and worst qualities of that no-good, lousy, kind and caring goddess. It sucked. She slept for a thousand years to see Uta again and then she only had to live through another ten. It was really nothing, not in the grand scheme of things but that was kind of the problem.
They didn’t even have a century at best before Uta…
Before Uta ended up just like the Showa Era Idol before her.
Uta made an exaggerated sigh. She tightened her grip on Tera’s hand and feebly, Tera unhooked her arm from over her face. She looked horrid. Splotchy and tear stained but Uta’s kindness was all encompassing.
“C’mon,” she encouraged Tera, “cheer up, I want to see your smile. That’s the Tera I’ll always love forever.”
Tera nodded her head. Jeez. She was being so immature. She didn’t want to be anything like Amasu but sometimes it was easier said than done. She took a breath that caused her to shudder outwards from the centre of her chest but hey. At least she stopped crying.
“Do you promise to sing my favourite song at tonight’s performance, Sakura Uta the… uh…”
“Reiwa Idol.” Uta completed Tera’s sentence for her.
“Yeah, the Reiwa Idol.” Tera said. She didn’t really get the terminology for eras from the human world but she liked the feeling of it as a title on her mouth. It was almost as good as calling Uta a priestess, in all honesty.
“Very well then, Tera, I would love to sing HiBiKi Au Uta for you.” Uta said.
Tera smiled as Uta’s voice trailed into the opening lines of the ballad. They held hands tighter. Firmer. Then they walked the beach together. Footprints in the sand, Uta’s voice to accompany the lapping of the waves of the water. It was absolute bliss: even without the realisation that they would have to part soon.
For one, so that Uta could get ready for her performance later and then again afterwards but until then.
Until the sun went down and the stars shone, they had all the time in the world to be together.