Chapter Text
Suletta Mercury, nine years old and full of energy, is on vacation. Her mom had finally, finally after years of pleading, let her go with her on one of her trips. And even though her mom had told her to behave and stay in her office, the station they were on was far more interesting than Mercury, and Suletta was far too curious to stay inside one little room. Everything was small and dirty and the lights flickered on Mercury. Everything was sharp, cold, and above all harsh on Mercury. Everything from sight to sound to touch to taste to smell, all were harsh. The sight of the lights was harsh, the sound of the big machines the people used were harsh, the clothes she wore were harsh on her skin, the food she ate was harsh on her tongue, and the smell of oil and sweat was harsh on her nose.
In contrast, this new station was all soft. Warm lights that weren’t too harsh on her eyes, a pleasant, clean, smell. The food she had tried was sweet and delicious unlike anything she’s had before. Even the clothes her mom had bought for her were soft. And the sound, the current object of her attention, was most interesting of them all. A soft twinkling that she followed as she made her way through the halls. It was music, she knew that, though on the old speakers of Mercury music always sounded harsh, even Aerial could not properly replicate those sounds with her own speakers. But this, this sounded like the night sky should. So she follows the sound, as it gets louder and louder, but not loud enough to hurt.
There’s a big door in front of her, and as she passes it she can hear the direction of the sounds change. So, the music must be behind the door she thinks. For a brief moment, she considers going back to her mom’s office. After all, her mother had told her to behave. Yet, if she moves forward, she’ll gain two. Experience, learning where the music is coming from. Pride, from being a girl who can choose to go where she wants. And if she manages to talk to the person playing the music, and behave for them, then she’ll gain Trust from her mother for being able to do so. Puffing out her cheeks, she pushes the door open, the music spilling out still louder than before, before it stops abruptly.
Suletta blinks, looking at the room. There are two people there, one on a comfortable chair, the other, someone small like her, sits on a bench in front of something Suletta had never seen before, all black, glossy wood with black and white keys on one end.
“Oh, hello there.” The woman on the chair stands up, walking over to Suletta as the door swings shut behind her. “Who might you be?” She has silver hair that falls down past her waist, a cascade of starlight.
“I-I’m Suletta Mercury.” Suletta says, smiling. “I c-came here with my mom for a v-v-vacation, she works here.”
“I see.” The woman smiles, bending down to talk to Suletta better. “My name is Notrette Rembran, and this is my daughter.” The woman looks over at the girl on the bench. “Mio, please introduce yourself to our guest.”
The girl hops off the and walks over to Suletta with a stride Suletta would only be able to describe as elegant. She has the same hair as her mother, though shorter and done up in a small braid that fell over her shoulder.
“Yes mother.” The girl bobs her head. “I am Miorine Rembran.” The girl bows, and, knowing that she should do whatever the other person did to show respect, Suletta bows as well. The result is their foreheads bumping together, and both stumble back. Notrette is there in a moment, laughing lightly and helping first her daughter up, then Suletta. Suletta studies Miorine, who stares back with a slightly sour expression on her face.
“S-sorry.” Suletta gulps, knowing that she had done something to mess up again. “Sorry Miss Miorine.” She bows again, this time not hitting Miorine. “I-I just came in here, there was this pretty music. I didn’t mean to disturb you.” She starts to back away, but Notrette puts a gentle hand on her back. Suletta is transfixed on Miorine though, who’s expression softens after the compliment to her music.
“Please, don’t worry about it, little Miss Suletta. My Mio forgives you, don’t you Mio?”
“Yes, it was an accident.” Miorine says. Suletta smiles, and looks between her and the wonderful instrument she had been playing. Notrette dips down, whispering something in Miorine’s ear, and Miorine’s eyes light up. “Would you… like to hear me play?” She asks.
“Mhm!” Suletta nods, and Notrette leads the two of them back to the thing that Miorine had been using to make music before. Miorine goes back to the bench, while Notrette lets Suletta sit on her lap next to it. Suletta’s focus continues to dart between the thing and Miorine herself, who takes in a deep breath and places her fingers on the keys. If the night sky had a face, she would think it would look like Miorine’s, silver hair and silver eyes, regal like the kings and queens that would be in the shows that Aerial would watch with her.
Then like a solar flare, Miorine begins to make music again. Suletta sways back and forth with every little beat, hearing the music swell and fade, rise and fall, as Miorine focuses entirely on a sheet of paper in front of her, swaying with it as well. The music, and the spell it casts on Suletta, lasts for two minutes before it ends in a flourish, and Miorine pulls her hands back, taking a deep breath. Suletta claps happily, amazed by what she had just heard. She jumps up off of Notrette’s lap, and skips around the room.
“T-that was amazing, Miomio.” Suletta says.
“Eh!” Miorine sits up straight, turning to Suletta. “Miomio?” She asks, and Suletta gulps nervously, once more wondering if she did something wrong. Notrette sits back in her chair, laughing again, and the two girls look over at her.
“Look, my Mio, you’ve made your first friend, after all, friends do call people by nicknames all the time.” Notrette says, as the laughing dies in a small cough.
“Mhm! There aren’t a lot of people my age on Mercury.” Suletta explains. “In-in fact, I’m the only one there who’s as old as me. So… if Miomio is my friend, she’ll be my first friend.” Suletta’s eyes light up happily and she runs over to the other girl.
“W-well…” Miorine looks over at her mother, who nods at her daughter’s hesitation.
“Of course, little Miss Suletta, friends tell other friends about each other, and you know my Mio likes to play the piano.” Suletta nods. That must be what she was making music with, a piano. “But what about you, what do you do?”
“Well,” Suletta smiles, and out of the corner of her eyes she sees the door swing open. “I pilot my little sister Aerial, she’s a… mobile suit I think is what mama calls her. And people on Mercury need help sometimes so I help them. They all say that I’m the best pilot that Mercury has.”
“It’s true, she was beating me in simulations when she was six. My Suletta is very skilled for her age.” Suletta turns at her mom’s voice as she enters the room. Prospera Mercury is all smiles as Suletta runs up to her, and she places her hands on her daughter’s shoulders.
“You must be her mother.” Notrette rises, stretching out a hand for Prospera to shake.
“Indeed, pardon my darling daughter if she interrupted anything, music practice it seems.” Prospera grasps her hand, shaking it firmly.
“No, not at all. Miorine doesn’t have many children her age, and Suletta said that Mercury was just as lonely. It's good for girls their age to have a friend. Will she be around often?”
“Perhaps, at least for a few weeks a year, though even she doesn’t want to leave Mercury for long. Unfortunately since the deposits of Permat were discovered on the moon, Mercury has been left behind by most of the solar system, and it needs all the help it can get, even from my little Suletta.”
“Ah… I understand, I come from Earth so you can imagine how it feels like to see… well see my husband and others in the group approve of taking drastic measures against us.” Notrette scowls slightly, then coughs. "Pardon if I spoke too frankly."
“Not at all. Are you Notrette Rembran, by any chance?” Prospera asks, sounding surprised.
“I am, and that’s my daughter, Miorine.” Notrette nods over to Miorine, who is hanging back, slightly nervous at the odd woman in the strange helmet.
“I see, such a beautiful little girl.” Prospera smiles, and reaches up to take off her helmet, blinking at the light. “I can see that she’s nervous, most likely about this.” She holds up the helmet. “Don’t worry, it’s just to help me see.” Prospera bends down to Miorine’s level. Miorine steps forward, now that she can see the woman’s eyes. They seem kind enough, like her own mother’s. “Perhaps we could talk more, Miss Notrette.” She adds, looking up at the other mother.
“I would appreciate the company, Miorine isn’t the only one who feels a little lonely from time to time. My husband is so focused on his meetings all the time, I practically raised my dear Mio alone.” Notrette nods, laughing lightly. “Miorine, could you take Suletta to our little secret place? You can show her around there.”
“Of course, mom.” Miorine walks over to Suletta, formally offering a hand for her to take. Prospera lets go of Suletta’s shoulders, and Suletta seizes the hand eagerly, much to Miorine’s surprise.
“Treat her kindly, Suletta, and don’t get too excited.” Prospera tells her, giving her head a few pats and ruffling her hair. Suletta nods, then lets Miorine lead her out of the room into the hallways. Suletta has only ever held her mother’s hand, but Miorine was so short, she had to reach up a bit and Suletta had to stoop forward a bit.
“S-so, you have a secret place too? I have places like that on Mercury, th-there’s some vents that only I c-can fit into so I sometimes sn-sneak through them, and Aerial, she lets me sleep in her cockpit sometimes.” Suletta explains excitedly. Miorine perks up at this. Though the girl had barged in, and hadn’t even been considerate enough to knock, she was treating her like they were best friends. And the stories she told so far were interesting to Miorine, who only knew the station and the cold relationship between her parents that she knew was wrong in some way. She did not like her father, that was certain. She liked her mother, that was also certain. She could go either way right now about this Suletta Mercury.
“Well, it isn’t as fun as crawling through vents…” Miorine leads her onto a patch of greenery, a park, and to a small building sitting on the grass. Suletta seems to be marveled by even the simple park.
“It’s amazing.” Suletta gapes at the expanse before her. “Just like in the shows I watch with Aerial, all green, and blue skies, like Earth.”
“Yes, mama is from Earth, and one day, both her and I will go there, that’s what she promised.” Miorine leads her up the stairs of the tiny building, then taps in a code on a number pad set into the floor.
The door opens, and Miorine leads her into the most wondrous place Suletta had seen yet, walls covered with plants, clambering to the roof, spreading across the floor. Miorine walks over to a table in the center of the room, pulls on a drawer and pulls out something red about the size of her hand.
“Here, you remind me of my mom’s tomatoes.” Miorine explains, holding it up to Suletta. Suletta takes it reverently, staring at it with wide eyes. “I mean your hair…” she pokes at the tuff that sticks up from the rest of Suletta’s hair. “Go on, bite into it.”
Suletta takes a bite, and discovers what love tastes like.
Suletta’s trip lasts a week, and even afterwards she keeps in contact with Miorine, chatting with each other by video or text messages, it is slow communication but Suletta accepts the few minutes it takes for each message to pass to Miorine, and MIorine to reply. Suletta is allowed to stay for two weeks the next year, and the year after that. Miorine becomes an important part of Suletta’s life, floating at the same level of importance as Aerial and her mom do. She was her friend, her only friend her own age who she ever had. She could imagine seeing Miorine all her life, even if she knows Miorine wants to go to Earth, and she increasingly wants to help Mercury as she becomes aware of how bad things are for the people around her. She helps them by saving them, but every rescue is another mobile craft they can hardly afford to replace damaged or lost, more pressure on the remaining craft and thus more craft breaking faster. Suletta resolves to do something permanent to help them. And... if she does, perhaps she could go to Earth then and see it with Miorine. At the very least, she can't imagine the vacations ending any time soon.
It’s two months before her next vacation to Miorine, when Suletta is twelve, that her life changes. She’s sitting in Aerial, watching an anime, a high school drama, when Aerial tells her she’s getting a call. The caller ID reads Miomio, and Suletta straightens up in her seat, smoothing out any wrinkles in her shirt before hitting the accept button. She forgets that given the distances between them, the message would be recorded, and take a few minutes to reach Suletta.
Miorine looks haggard, bags under her eyes, her usually meticulously combed hair disheveled, paler than usual, and her eyes themselves are rimmed with red.
“Suletta.” Miorine sniffles, and Suletta realizes that Miorine was crying. Suletta wishes she could reach through the screen, comfort her friend. “Tell your mom to come quickly, and y-you too, m-mom…” Miorine looks away. Suletta can hear something bang against the door behind Miorine. “Mom died, and dad… dad said I can’t go to the funeral, and I won’t be allowed to see you anymore.” Her voice shakes as she stares at the camera, at Suletta, and Suletta feels her heart drop and tears spring up in her eyes. Miorine’s mother had been nothing but kind to her, as kind as her own mother had been. The banging grows louder, and then suddenly stops as the door groans, being opened by brute strength. Suletta sees a man in a black suit enter, a pair of glasses obscuring his eyes. With giant strides, he walks towards Miorine, who tries to put herself in front of the computer. The man simply picks her up and puts her behind him before walking over to the computer.
The video cuts off, and the despair Suletta felt is replaced by a burning determination. She’s saved people before, certainly it was always from mining accidents, but this was her best friend, her first friend, her only friend. And she was in trouble. So she begins powering up Aerial fully. She doesn’t even remember flipping any switches, she just needs Aerial to start up, and she does.
Never mind that it would take her weeks to get there in Aerial. Suletta’s mind is racing, she needs to call her mom, and Aerial helpfully calls her before she can even say outloud what she wants.
“Suletta, what’s… why are you powering up Aerial?” Prospera asks, frowning and putting her hair in its headband.
“I-I-I-I need to h-help Miomio. Her mom died an-and-and her dad, she’s in tr-trouble. I need to help.”
“Oh… silly girl.” Her mother shakes her head. “Aerial, shut off before your sister hurts herself. I’ll be down in a few minutes, and then you can explain everything.” Then she ends the call.
And just like that, Aerial powers down, only her cockpit lights active.
“Aerial…” Suletta sniffles. “Please.”
One flash. No. Suletta pulls the controls fruitlessly.
Suletta curls up in a ball, and waits for her mother. She comes in under two minutes, sprinting, and Aerial opens the cockpit. Suletta looks up to see Prospera approach, and then she embraces Suletta tightly.
“My dear, silly girl, what happened?” Suletta only points at the view screen where Miorine’s message had been, and Aerial replays it, and Suletta pulls herself closer to her mother’s embrace. “Ah… you would fight for her, wouldn’t you, my little Suletta?” Prospera asks softly.
“Yes… she’s like you, and Aerial. Important to me.” Suletta shivers, sniffles, turning away from the screen.
“I’ll see what I can do then. You can’t go off with Aerial, we need you here. But, I’ll try to help, I promise.” Prospera coos, and rocks Suletta back and forth until she stops crying and falls asleep. Unfortunately, as Suletta would find out, there was not much they could do, legally or illegally, with the power that Delling Rembran had. And so, she lost one third of the most important people in her life.
Suletta is seventeen when she scrambles to activate Aerial, the person floating out in space doesn’t have time for the ship to maneuver to rescue them, this is a moment of life and death, one that she is all too familiar with. Seconds matter in these situations, and those seconds are lost by inaction. The school she is going to, Asticassia, hangs in front of her like a flower. Aerial hums at her touch, and she sees groups of people scrambling to get out of the way as she takes a slow, cautious step forward. The braces holding Aerial in place groan, then snap, and she winces at the damage. Still, the doors to the bay open and she steps out, jumping off the side of the ship gracefully and keeping the person in Aerial’s visual field of view, centring in on them.
The person waves their arms desperately as Aerial approaches, and Suletta hurriedly envelopes them in Aerial’s hand, pulling them to her cockpit and opening it. Once inside, she can refill the space with air in a few seconds and let them breathe. The person continues to wave their arms as they approach, and Suletta pushes herself out of the cockpit, disengaging their depleted oxygen tank and pulling them both inside. Then she closes Aerial’s cockpit, watching the person pulled into her lap.
“Are-Are you okay.” There’s no response. “Hello, can you hear-” The person slams their helmet into Suletta, and she recoils back.
“Don’t interfere!” The person has a woman’s voice. One that sounds strangely familiar. “I’d almost made my…” Suletta finally manages to pull her head forward enough to see the woman again, and the woman raises her visor. “escape…” Miorine gawks at Suletta, and Suletta gawks back, taking off her helmet despite the risks that posed. “Suletta!” In a complete reversal of her previous behaviour, Miorine throws her arms around Suletta, hugging her tightly. “Suletta.” She repeats as if she can’t believe it herself, clinging to her like she’ll disappear at any moment.
“Miomio.” Suletta smiles, laughs and returns her friend’s hug as tight as she can. “I-I tried to come after your message, but…” She adds sadly before trailing off, slowly turning Aerial around to return to the ship with one hand while the other continues to grasp at her long lost friend.
“And you still have that lame ass nickname for me.” Miorine laughs quietly. “I just… didn’t expect you to be here, now.” She mumbles, sighing and letting the embrace slip loose. Instead, she sits naturally on Suletta’s lap.
“Y-yeah…" Suletta shakes her head. "Y-your nickname, if you want it to be… to be something else… I didn’t realize you thought it was lame,” Suletta rubs the back of her head awkwardly. “How about… Mio.” She remembers Notrette always called her that. Miorine stiffens slightly, shuffling a bit to get into a more comfortable position.
“Sure… it’s… it’s been a while since anyone called me that.” Miorine admits, sniffling, letting her emotional wall to the outside world drop, or rather being unable to keep it up in the face of Suletta. “But it’s you.” Suletta can tell that even though she’s happy to see her, there’s a sadness that lingers around Miorine. Miorine rests her head on Suletta’s shoulder, looking out the side of Aerial’s cockpit.
“A-and about what you said… your escape. Did you mean-” Suletta had seen it before, sometimes with space suits, sometimes without. A final escape.
“No, there was a ship that was supposed to pick me up.” Miorine frowns, seeing the concern in Suletta’s eyes. “I messed up on the amount of oxygen I had, that is all. I’ve been trying to get to Earth ever since mom died, and then… you never came and I thought… well I know my father isolated me, hired new people to teach me that he controlled, but at the time…” she had been angry with Suletta, she thought that her one friend, the person she was closest to outside her mom, had abandoned her. “I am sorry for headbutting you.” It’s a concrete thing she can apologize for, one that doesn’t require stripping down years of her own thoughts and the anger that came with them. Suletta came back for her, in the most dramatic way she possibly could have.
“It-it’s alright.” Suletta shakes her head. “It wasn’t that painful. But… you mentioned going to Earth so… so… I’ll, I’ll take responsibility for that, I’ll hel-help you get to Earth.” she promises, wrapping one arm around Miorine’s shoulders. “I’m just glad you’re alright, and…” Suletta pauses, taking a deep breath. “I’ve missed you, Mio.”
“I have too, Suletta.” Miorine replies quietly. Miorine turns to look at her, and feels her sadness melt away. She is not alone anymore. She won’t be alone again, she decides to herself. So she pulls herself just a bit closer to the rambunctious comet that seems to fly into her life at the most unexpected times.