Jaki's World
Chapter Two: Riding On the Rocket
by Naia Zifu
Jaki moped in the corner of his tank, lacking even the motivation to patrol
it as he should. His beloved rocket ship had gone missing and he didn't know
who had stolen it. He tried to take good care of his world, the way the woman
who looked after him took care of hers, but this had happened while he was
sleeping and the thief had left no clues. How would he ever get his rocket
back now? And what would he tell the woman when she came around and noticed
it missing?
There was no time to think of that now, as the woman came into the room.
She was wearing a flowing white gown which was cut low at the front and had
a full, sweeping skirt long enough to hide her feet. Her thick waves of gold
and red hair fell loose all around her slender form as she seemed to glide
into the room, beautiful as a mermaid.
Don't let her notice the rocket is missing, Jaki pled silently as he swam
to the top of the tank to greet her.
"Good morning, my sweet baby fishie," she said cheerily. "Sleep well?"
A bit too well, apparently, Jaki thought, but tried to hide his guilt by
swimming in excited little circles.
"I know you're hungry," the woman said. "I'll get your breakfast in a minute,
but first I have a surprise."
From behind her back, she produced his missing rocket ship. Wait, why would
she want to steal it?
"I fixed your rocket," she said as she gently placed it back into the tank.
"Now it'll take off just like any rocket should, and I can finally take you
to see all those places I've told you about."
Those were just the words Jaki had been waiting to hear ever since she'd
given him the rocket in the first place! After giving a grateful fish kiss
to the hand that was returning his rocket, he zoomed gleefully around his
tank several times. In that moment, he was certain no fish anywhere in the
galaxy had ever had a better caretaker than the one he had.
"So where would you like to go first?" she asked, smiling sweetly as she
dropped a couple of larvae in for the promised breakfast. "Not Mau, I assume."
Jaki flared angrily at the mention of the planet populated by cat people.
"All right, I'll take that as a 'no'," she said with a chuckle. "Maybe Earth,
then?"
Jaki wasn't sure about that idea at first, as he knew there were cats on
that world. But that was also an important world to the woman, he knew, as
that was the place where she had first learned the value of love and friendship.
He thought it might be nice to meet firsthand with the girl who had taught
her such an important lesson, to tell the girl how much he appreciated what
she'd done. Without that human girl, he was sure he wouldn't even be here
at all, much less have such a nice place to live with so much fun stuff to
do. And he definitely wouldn't have such a nice woman to love and take care
of him, as she wasn't shy about admitting to him how cruel she had been before
that human girl helped her. He'd been quietly munching his larvae while considering
the situation, but now he came to a decision he hurriedly finished the last
of it. Swimming once again in happy little circles, he indicated his agreement.
"All right, then, get in your ship," the woman said.
Of course, there was no room for someone as big as she was to join him inside,
but he wasn't worried-- from all the stories she'd told him of her adventures,
Jaki knew the kind of creature this woman was didn't need a ship to fly through
space.
Unfortunately, he didn't get to feel the feeling of weightlessness and zooming
through space at faster than light speeds. He didn't get to see the shining
blue planet of her stories looming larger as his tiny rocket drew close, nor
did he get to meet the blonde odango-haired girl who had helped the woman
win her soul back a few years ago. Jaki woke up to find his rocket still firmly
anchored into the gravel of his tank, with none of the working hatches or
tiny controls he was so sure the woman had just installed. It had only been
a dream.
Jaki moped in the corner of his tank, mourning the loss of the working rocket
he'd never actually had, when the woman who cared for him entered the room.
Dressed in a long, pale yellow gown that trailed behind her as she walked,
she looked almost as lovely as an angelfish. His mood lifted almost instantly
at the sight of her.
"My, don't you look nice this morning," she said cheerily. "And what would
my baby fishie like for breakfast this morning? House speciality of the day
is fresh, live brine shrimp."
Jaki swam in circles to show his approval, and the woman dropped a couple
of the tiny animals into his tank. She sat down in her usual chair at the
small table on which his tank sat to watch him catch the meal.
"Did I ever tell you about the planet I used to own where nearly everything
was underwater?" she asked.
Jaki swam to the front of the tank and listened interestedly as she began
to describe a world where all the people had fins just like fish did. She
described everything so clearly, it was almost like he was right there with
her.
It was true, no fish in the galaxy had ever had a better caretaker than
the woman who looked out for Jaki.
©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.