Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Oh! No, no. It's fine. It's just no one ever asked me before. I don't know where to begin. Um," he thought. Aidan really didn't have any adventures... except with this one family who took him in. It didn't turn out well. He didn't want to tell her about it. But, he has seen many beautiful places... and Tora looked like the kind who enjoyed beauty. "Alright," he began. "Once, about ten miles outside Kyoto, in a tiny fishing village, there was a beautiful waterfall. It was about 20 or so feet high and landed in a crystal clear pool underneath. Cherry trees dotted the landscape and green grass covered rolling hills. It was the most beautiful spot. What I didn't know, was why it was so beautiful. Around the waterfall I saw a tiny shrine and fields of crops. The locals said the goddess of water herself came down and made that place. So, they built that shrine and served her and they said that they'd had good crops for over 100 years." He looked to mizu, he knew she'd like that story because of the water and the locals worshiping her. "How about that Mizu-sama? Maybe you're the goddess who flew in from the heavens and made that spot," he said flirting with her. He like to see her and Tora smile and giggle and turn red. "It saved my life, that it did. Wild berries also grew around the water, I ate some and drank, slept in the cool grass, and was on my way in a day or two."

"I would love some Mizu-sama," Aidan said smiling at her. "Oh, and thank you Tora-sama, it was a most beautiful place!"

Mizu set some sakura mochi on two little plates and set them out before her friend and the patron. "I hope it pleases you both," she spoke, still smiling.

Aidan watched Tora and Mizu as they both had a dreamy look in their eye. He was glad his story had made them smile. "Maybe one day you both will." He took a bite of the Mochi. "Delightful!" he said, taking another one. He drank some sake to wash it down.

"I visit it all of the time now," he said closing his eyes. "In my dreams." He had to fight back a tear he felt form in his eye, remembering why he needed such a place to retreat to. He won the battle, opened his eyes and smiled at mizu. "And now that you know what is looks like, you can go there too in your dreams." He finished off his piece of Mochi and finished off his sake.

"Thank you," Aidan said taking bite of his Mochi. "Yes, I see your point. But, what is life without imagination? The dances of a Geisha... or the song of a bird. None can be truely interpreted without imagination. I believe once you've lost imagination and the ability to dream, you've become a very cold person." He looked solemnly into his cup of sake. What he had said went against his father's teachings, "A man needs to be tough and unemotional," he remembered his father say. "Leave that kind of softness to the women boy!" he shuddered at his memory. He became aware of the reflection in the glass... it was he... but he looked like his father, but they were so different. He wondered how he would have turned out of his father were still alive. In a way, he was glad, he would have never met Tora... "Haha... tiger... she's nothing like a tiger," he thought. "Maybe in beauty and mystery, but she doesn't look fierce at all." and he never would have met Mizu either.

Mizu smiled, her eyes clear pools of cerulean-violet filled with delight. "You're right Aidan-sama, imagination is precious. There would be no stories without imagination, no poetry without imagination, no music without imagination...there would be so few things enjoyable." Her expression softened as she blushed, hiding her delight behind her shyness. "I'm sorry, I have rambled on again," she apologized.