Jaki's World
Chapter Four: Coming of Age
by Naia Zifu
Jaki loved the relationship he had with the woman who took care of him--
she fed him, changed his water, talked to him, gave him fun stuff to play
with-- but as great as she was, she still wasn't a fish. And for some
things in a fish's life, only another fish will do. True, Jaki had never
seen another fish in the vicinity of his tank, but the woman provided him
everything else. There was no reason to think she couldn't do this,
too. So Jaki set about making it clear to her he was ready to become
a family man by building a nest in one corner of his tank, made up of hundreds
of tiny bubbles. The nest was as big as he was, by the time he was finished,
and sparkled in the light like a cache of jewels. He was quite proud
of himself for having built such a splendid nest his first time out.
Now he just had to wait for the woman to take notice.
A few long, frustrating hours later, when she finally came in from outside,
her face, body, and clothes were all smudged with dirt and her hair was falling
out of its bun. There was a large hole in the right leg of her pants,
as well, underneath which the skin was dirty but unharmed. Even through
all the dirt, she was still lovely, especially for not even being a fish.
The woman smiled at him wearily as she unpinned her hair, shaking loose her
long gold and red waves.
"I know I'm late with your dinner," she said. "I was careless and
fell off a cliff. . . and no, there's no punchline."
Oh, well, no wonder she was late, and looked like such a mess, Jaki thought.
Wait a minute, a cliff? Jaki swam to the front of his tank and looked
at her with concern. She was okay, right? She looked okay.
She had to be okay, or else who would take care of him?
The woman dropped a couple of little red worms into the tank for his dinner,
and flopped down tiredly in her chair to watch him catch the meal. It
was only then her ruby-hued eyes caught sight of the cluster of shining bubbles
in the corner.
"You made a nest?" she said, to which he replied by swimming in eager circles.
"My baby fishie's ready to have babies of his own."
Well, he was almost five months old now. It was about time he started
thinking about having a family, before he got too old to keep up with the
kids. Besides which, he was sure he'd be a great father, and he'd. .
. er, try not to eat them. . . even if they looked especially tasty. . .
The woman sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I don't know,
Jaki. I'm not sure I'm ready to be a grandmother just yet. Maybe
next time."
Jaki half-heartedly finished his dinner before swimming off into the corner
to sulk. This was the first time the woman had ever denied him anything
in the time he had been living with her, and he didn't think he liked it.
Although he also had to consider what this woman must've been through today.
She'd fallen off a cliff, after all-- it was a wonder she was even still here
to take care of him! His concern for her well-being quickly took over
from his own selfish desires. There was still time for him to spawn
later, if he wanted. Now he wanted nothing more than to let the woman
know how much he loved and appreciated her. Jaki swam to the top of
the tank and allowed the woman to stroke him, hoping to show that all was
forgiven.
"I'll have to tell you all about the thing with the cliff," she said, "but
first I need a long, hot bath and something clean to change into. See
you when I get back?"
Jaki swam in happy little circles. He always did like it when the
woman told him stories, and this sounded like an especially interesting one.
How often does a person accidentally fall off a cliff, after all?
Looking wistfully at the nest he had built, he allowed himself to muse for
a moment on how nice it would've been if the woman were a fish like him; one
as bright and showy as she was would've made for some beautiful babies.
But Jaki was content enough just living with and being cared for by her.
Besides which, if she'd been a fish like him, how would he ever have gotten
his rocket?
©2008 Naia Zifu ([email protected]), all rights reserved.
Galaxia is a SM character I don't own rights to. Jaki is a black
and gold halfmoon betta fish given to Galaxia by Neo Queen Serenity while
she was guest-starring in a holiday special over on Court Intrigue. As
always, I'm not trying to make money off anyone else's ideas.
Jaki's World started out as a way to amuse myself while waiting for actual
gaming to begin on This Chaotic Universe (http://chaoticuniverse.proboards105.com),
and meant to take place during that version of reality. I'll likely
do some fic along a similar line, however, which these should just as easily
fit into.