A brisk walk through the Sentorayan streets on a mid-afternoon, a chill in the air carried a pleasant bite to contrast against the coming warmth of spring with crowds and couples walking through the streets in padded yokuis and jackets. The sensation of spring was enough to fill Iris up as she took in the cool air in her lungs. In the month after Reyz’s defeat, days like today are a blessing in Iris’s life; a brief respite and return to the normal life her and Arylos wished to live. Days like this help her move forward from Nageki’s destruction. One would be hard pressed to believe that it’s almost been a year since then.

Iris sat at a bench near one of the many parks, enjoying the green and blue of the natural park as she watched people come and go through the streets. Her life finally felt like it was returning to normal, if one disregards her inhuman roommate.

But was there something missing?

Iris looked to the people walking through the streets. The families walking with their children, the newlyweds with locked arms, the young ones a few years younger than Iris going on shy dates. It reminded her of a void in her heart that she didn’t consider. She had many suitors, but none actually worked out. Many left her after a while or were only wanting her due to her father’s status as Patriarch.

And now none of that mattered anymore. This was a fresh start.

Why was this suddenly happening? Why was she feeling this? This doubt. This guilt. Was that the right emotion? It wasn’t pain, but it was more of a sickness; a feeling in her stomach that she could not shake. A question she didn’t know she had, an answer that she could not change.

She got up from the bench and went for a walk down the street. Maybe focusing on all of this was bad for her mental health. This is a fresh start so if she really wanted to look for a partner, she could without the issues of her birth. This was a new city with new people after all. Iris turned down a different street and saw a familiar woman walking from the other side of the street.

“Bellona!” Iris waved down the woman with a smile.

“Well look at who it is,” Bellona responded with a smile of her own as she approached Iris.

“How has work been with Sentarus?” Iris asked, trying to make small talk.

“Sheesh, that man has issues,” Bellona responded with a deep sigh. “I’m grateful he took me in when I left Templarius, but keeping the streets safe is always stressful.”

“I can only imagine,” Iris responded with a shy laugh. “And I’m sure the sudden return of the cold doesn’t help.”

Bellona nodded before looking around. “Is Arylos with you? I figured he would be here.”

Iris shook her head. “He’s working today. Apparently Garris wants him to attend some meetings or something. Since I’m off today, I figured I’d take a walk.”

“Hmm, I can understand,” Bellona responded as she continued her walk down the street, inviting Iris along. “Which reminds me, are you planning something for the Day of Warmth?”

“Huh? What’s that?” Iris asked.

Bellona looked to Iris with confusion. “Was Nageki really that cut off from the rest of the country? It’s a national holiday.”

“Nageki was at a far corner of Kaiyumi,” Iris answered. “We have different customs and holidays for the most part.”

Bellona chuckled softly. “The Day of Warmth is a celebration next week to celebrate the middle of spring. It’s a day where you give gifts to those who mean the most in your life. People who helped you, teachers, family members, close friends, and so on. The idea is that the gift is to be a small token of your appreciation that you otherwise can’t demonstrate.”

Iris thought about the meaning of the holiday for a bit. “So, it’s like when you say you can’t thank someone enough for something, you could give them a gift on the Day of Warmth to show your appreciation.”

“In a way,” Bellona responded. “I figured you would have some people in mind to give gifts to.”

Iris shook her head. “Not really. Everyone in Nageki died so I have no one that close to me.”

“Oh but you do,” Bellona answered with a smile. “Isn’t there someone close to you who you always feel appreciative for?”

Iris thought about it for a moment before she caught on with a blushing smile. “You’re right! I could get Arylos something!”

“That took you a lot longer than it should have,” Bellona responded with a laugh. “I’m actually kind of worried about you; wouldn’t he have been your first pick?”

“I know,” Iris answered with her head lowered. “I just have a lot on my mind, I guess. I feel listless today. Thinking about giving Arylos a gift doesn’t help either.”

“How come?” Bellona asked, starting to show concern.

Iris thought about how she really felt; about what was stopping her. “I guess it’s just that he’s so different. If I give him a gift, would he really understand what I’m trying to tell him? He has emotions, but it seems like he doesn’t understand them; like there’s a disconnect somewhere and he can’t understand any of it. So would he really understand a gift of my appreciation?”

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Bellona thought about the dilemma for a moment. “You have a point; you’re trying to tell another culture, another species, something that’s important to you. There’s no way to truly get the message across.”

Iris nodded. “And I’m still sorting it all out. I appreciate him as my friend, but lately, it feels like my own emotions are twisted. Like there’s something in me that I just can’t understand or satisfy and I don’t know what it is.”

Bellona chuckled and turned to a merchant on the side of the road. “How about this, have you ever flipped a coin to make up your mind when you were unsure about something?”

“I’ve done that a few times,” Iris responded, coming over to look at the wares on offer; various trinkets and sweets, some decorated in pretty colours meant for couples.

Bellona picked up a small bone necklace to look at it closer. “Have you ever had that feeling clear once you flipped the coin but before it landed? You didn’t know what you wanted before you flipped it but now that the coin is in the air and your decision relies on fate, you instantly knew for certain what you wanted.”

Iris nodded, starting to catch on.

“Then that’s all it is,” Bellona answered while putting the necklace back down. “Your emotions are all twisted right now but they will straighten up and become clear once you actually give your gift to him. So get him something simple, something that even he can understand and it will help you understand as well.”

Iris understood what Bellona was telling her. She didn’t know anything right now but she would know when the time comes; that’s what is important. She felt that question in her fade away and replaced by a new determination.

“Thank you, Bellona,” she told the hardened warrior who somehow understood human emotions this well. “I’ll look into it and see what I can give him.”

“Good girl,” Bellona returned with a wide smile. The two women parted ways and Iris began returning home, trying to sort out this confusion in her. Bellona was right at least; whatever this emotion is will be sorted out one day.

She returned to the house near the twilight hours and entered into the foyer. To her left, she saw Arylos under the torotsu in front of the lit fireplace and a book in hand.

“Done running around for Garris?” Iris asked while removing her shoes.

“For now, yes,” Arylos responded while turning a page in his book. “The fact that I made it back without slitting my own wrists shows just how much restraint I’ve learned.”

Iris chuckled as she approached Arylos. Without looking up from his book, he lifted the blanket of the torotsu to invite Iris in. She smiled and took a spot next to Arylos under the sheets. Once she was settled, Arylos placed a small bottle of sparkling pineapple juice on the table.

“I thought you said I drink too much of this?” Iris asked with a teasing smile.

Arylos chuckled and glanced towards Iris. “You do, but am I ever able to stop you?”

“Nope,” Iris said with no hesitation and grabbed the bottle and popped off the cork. “I thought you would be working in the basement?” she asked before taking a drink.

“I’m taking a break for now,” Arylos responded while turning the page and staring at the strange characters like his eyesight was failing. “I would rather spend my time trying to get better at this language of yours.”

“How’s that coming?” Iris asked, taking a glance at the book he was reading.

“I’m getting better for the most part,” Arylos responded, continuing to eye the characters. “The different pronunciation rules for different characters is throwing me off. There’s a lot of them and they have such varied sounds. It’s really strange to me.”

“How do you think I feel?” Iris said with a scoff. “I still remember those drill books my parents got me when I was younger. It was nightmarish having to write those characters over and over again. Is the Titanic language any easier?”

Without looking, Arylos took a book from next to him and handed it to Iris. She stared at the strange symbols of lines and circles, each interlacing and intricate and made the Kaiyumian script look like chicken scratch by comparison. She opened the page and saw the symbols dance along the page in a strange and hypnotic motion, like they were alive.

“That there is our equivalent of a children’s book,” Arylos explained, trying to read what one character was, unable to remember which one it was and trying to find its radicals.

“Why do the words move like this?” Iris asked, trying to follow the dancing characters.

“That’s just how our language works,” Arylos responded while putting his own book down as he gave up trying to read.

“But what language works that way?” Iris asked, setting the book on the torotsu so Arylos could help her.

Arylos pointed to some of the spiralling characters as he explained. “Our language doesn’t just carry words. It carries images, emotions, meanings, and even time. Like how you can imagine what ‘hot’ is, only with our language you actually feel what ‘hot’ means.”

“How does that work?” Iris asked, trying to process the foreign symbols.

“You’re experiencing it now,” Arylos explained. “I don’t know your language, so I’m using my language to speak to you. You can’t understand a lot of it, but you’re able to pick out the words of your own language from it.”

Iris stared at him, trying to understand what he was saying and Arylos continued his explanation. “Imagine I’m talking to you but you have someone interpreting my language right here. Only the one interpreting it is you. It’s strange, but it’s how I speak.”

Iris looked back down to the words on the page, remembering that she was able to pick up some random words in the last book she saw with this language. “So in theory I can understand this, provided I can find out how,” she summarised aloud.

“I doubt you can read the language fluently, but I’m sure you can pick out parts of it,” Arylos explained, leaning backwards. “Remember the vision I showed you of my world?”

“You spoke in a strange voice and tongue but I could hear your voice in my head,” Iris explained.

Arylos opened his mouth and a strange whispering sound came out followed by the same howling speech that made Iris’s ears hurt. As the words came out, she could hear Arylos’s own voice in the mix. “This is what our language sounds like, and you can hear individual words to help you understand,” he explained within her head.

Iris took this in and then realised what this all meant. “Your people created our world to observe. So having a language that can allow you to understand us and us understand you would help you in that goal.”

“That’s exactly the point,” Arylos nodded.

Iris felt a little concerned now. She remembered he was a different species and they may never truly be able to understand each other. She could only hope that they can at least find some common ground somewhere.

And she only had a week to find that common ground.