Laura had taken her on a walk around the village promenade where Laura lived. She used to love watching the boats and skiffs sail by when she was with her grandmother. It felt strange being back in the area without her parents or her grandmother. It felt like she wasn't supposed to be there, like she needed the permission to be there, but she didn't know who to ask anymore. Auburn was unconscious, and she supposed Laura and Dr. Tausidi were responsible for her when he was out. It just felt…strange. Everything felt so very weird.
She felt somehow grown-up and yet not at all. As they walked near the water, Laura quietly began humming an old song. Sio knew it well. It was a common shanty in the town of Isandur.
She remembered some of the lyrics.
And to that ol' sea
I reckon thee
has taken all but one
my love for thine
so sublime
All loss is but none
Sio watched as Laura took a rock from the shore, thin, flat, and round, and threw it across the still shore. She watched as it skipped and plopped into the vast lake.
So cold are the waves
And night like a throne
bewitched am I
to give it away
for something unknown
better thought as a lie
Laura hummed the last of the tune and beckoned Sio to stand near her. She hopped up on a nearby boulder and held out her hand for Sio to take. Sio silently took it and Laura pulled her up on the rock. Then they sat watching the small ripples in the water.
"I like that song." said Laura. Sio nodded. She did too. The town fishermen sang it often while they casted their nets. Sio used to love coming here with her mother, hearing the people sing while they worked. She supposed she still did, but she didn't really know anymore. Can someone love something when the people they shared it with are gone? Sio brought her knees closer to her chest. It was colder for some reason.
Laura wrapped an arm around Sio's shoulders, half embracing the girl. Sio felt a burden in her chest and her eyes felt heavy, but she refused to cry. She didn't want this to be a sad moment. Laura rubbed Sio's shoulder.
"What's the song about?" Sio asked. Laura hummed to herself in contemplation. She answered after a few moments.
"I think it's about losing something precious to gain something even more precious." Laura attempted to explain, but Sio wasn't quite understanding.
"What does that mean?"
"Think of it like this. I have a favorite thing. My mother's ring. It's the only thing I have of hers. I wouldn't give it to anybody because it reminds me of her, but when I got married I gave my mother's ring to my husband."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because I love him more than my attachment to the ring." Laura said, but added "But I'll admit, I gave it with a hope that he'd keep it safe."
"So you gave it hoping he'd give it back?"
"I gave it in hopes that he'd keep it in the family, so that one day our children might have it. I entrusted him with this hope."
"So what does that have to do with the song?"
"The singer entrusts the sea with her hopes, which the sea returns by giving her a sense of freedom. She leaves everything she loves to gain something she finds more precious."
"Her freedom."
"Yes, exactly!" Laura patted Sio's arm lightly. "Do you get it now?"
"I think so." Sio said slowly. She thought to herself for a while, watching the gentle waves by the shore lap on the rocks and sand and ice. She looked up at the sky, orange with red pastel streaks in it refracting off of the lake that appeared a deep maroon. "Does the Symphony do the same thing?"
"What do you mean, Sio?" Laura asked quietly. They sat there a while. Sio pondered a little more before answering.
"Is the Symphony like the sea?"
Laura was taken aback by the question. Sio wondered if she said something wrong but Laura replied to her quietly.
"Yes, I suppose it is."
—
They returned to the clinic just as the evening was approaching. Dark maroon sky bled into the horizon on the reflecting surface of the ice around them. The silhouettes of the shell units contrasted greatly with the light coming out of the windows of the sleepy town. It was quiet save for the occasional porch conversation here and there. Both Sio and Laura entered the clinic when Dr. Tausidi greeted them.
"Welcome back." She said as she sat at her administration desk entering data. It was located just to the left of the entrance. Sio and Laura walked around the desk to better face Dr. Tausidi. "You've just missed Otheyo, he was visiting Auburn who, by the way, is awake and eager to see you, Sio."
"What for?" Sio asked nervously. Dr. Tausidi shook her head at the girl.
"Nothing bad, Sio. Come let's see him." With this statement in the air still, she stood from her station and held her hand out to Sio who took it sheepishly. She wasn't afraid of Dr. Tausidi, truly. The doctor had been a family friend since…forever, really. She was like a grandmother, albeit not nearly as close as she was to Sio as Sio was to Iridia Yuka. She was always busy being the only medical doctor in the village. They turned down a small corridor then took a few steps into Auburn's section of the medbay, passed the still recovering geminidi. Auburn perked up as soon as Sio walked in.
"Little Sio!" he exlaimed. He took care not to move too much out of the cot, but he was clearly relieved to see Sio well. Sio approached the side of his cot letting go of Dr. Tausidi's hand as she did.
"Hello," she said in a small voice, but she smiled still. It was good to see Auburn in high spirits. She was worried about him. He was sickly looking not two hours ago, but it was clear whatever treatment Dr. Tausidi put him under was working wonders on his condition.
"You've developed a bad habit of disobeying orders, little Sio." he said sternly as he looked at her. Sio's face fell a little. But Auburn quickly added, "But in this case I'm glad you did."
"I just wanted you safe." She said as she looked at the floor.
"I know." he said quietly. "I wanted to apologize to you, about what I said earlier."
"You don't have to, Auburn." She said glancing upward towards Auburn's face. "I know that it's my fault, for what happened in the mines."
"No, no little Sio. That's not true." He said, desperation clear in his distress. Sio teared up and wiped at her eyes.
"But it's true what you said, that I put grandmother in much more danger by going after her when I should have stayed with Otheyo."
"But what happened in those mines wasn't your fault. That's actually why Otheyo came by. Sio…" He paused unsure of whether to tell her, but relenting admitted to her, "the mines were a trap."
"What do you mean? That can't be true!" Laura exclaimed.
"It's true, Laura. Dr. Tausidi heard the news just as I did." Auburn said.
"He speaks rightly, Laura." said Dr. Tausidi. "Otheyo said after careful look at the brinewater pump, there were clear signs of tampering. Someone wanted the mines to fail."
"But who could want that?" Asked Sio, rubbing the last of her tears away. "Did they want people to die?"
"We don't know. But I promise you, little Sio," Auburn sat up taking his hand and placing it over his heart. "I will find out."