Weekend in Sulani
The Espinoza Dynasty
With winter settling its cold grip around Britechester, the warm tropical beaches of Sulani are sounding more and more appealing by the day as Ava's date with Haikili draws closer. But first, a few minor things to take care of- such as stopping a burglary and winning debates at the weekly Debate Showdown! After all, romance can't be the only thing to fill her weekends!
Thursday started off idly. Snow coated the ground outside, and it was too cold to venture out to study at the Commons, so Ava spent the morning and early afternoon putting the finishing touches on her presentation for There's an Aperture for That. She felt like she had almost mastered photography- like there was little else left to learn in the subject.
The final presentation she gave to her professor confirmed it. Ava had learned all there was to know about photography. Such an easy skill to master, in only three classes!
On her way back from turning in the presentation, Ava was pleasantly surprised to find Aurelia waiting outside her apartment. "Hey, Lia! What brings you over?"
"Hi, Ava! It was fun hanging out at the debate practice last night, so I thought I'd come over and see if you were available for a hour or two. I've got something for you, too."
"Oh, Lia, you shouldn't have!" Ava exclaimed, accepting the gift all the same. Inside was a figurine of DJ Candy, who just so happened to be one of Ava's favorite modern musicians. "I love it! Thank you. Do you wanna come inside? You can meet Bubbles!"
"That sounds great!" Aurelia agreed, and followed Ava into the apartment.
"Something on your mind, Lia?" Ava asked her younger cousin as they sat down at the dining table. "You seem a little distracted."
"It's just been a whirlwind couple of weeks." Aurelia chuckled ruefully. "I've had a lot more attention from the Ondarion royals than I'd bargained on, after the whole fiasco with the Envoy."
"Oh right, you were all caught up in that!" Ava gasped. She'd seen the story on the news channel, but had forgotten Aurelia's part in bringing it all to light. "I'm amazed the reporters didn't mention you."
"Between you and me, I asked to remain unnamed." Aurelia admitted. "I know Mom and Dad want me to be famous, but I'm not ready for that yet."
"Secret's safe with me. Let's watch a movie, I haven't turned on the TV in ages."
"Have you been finding time for yourself, in between everything?" Ava asked Aurelia. "I know Aunt Carin and Uncle Saiyan hold you to pretty high standards, but are you finding time for your hobbies too?"
"Oh, I am!" Aurelia reassured her. "I've been practicing Wellness recently. It combines well with the ballet, keeps everything in shape when I don't have time for combinations."
"Alright, good. I just wanted to make sure."
"I appreciate you checking in." Aurelia smiled. "What's new with you, then?"
"I'm seeing someone." Ava answered. "His name's Haikili, we went to high school together and recently reconnected. I'm going to spend the weekend with him."
"Oh, that sounds nice! I'm happy for you."
"Thanks, Lia."
After Aurelia left that night, Ava settled in for what should've been a peaceful night's rest. Unfortunately, it was not. About 2am, Ava was woken up by the blaring of the burglar alarm in the hallway, and the scraping of the lock on her front door. When she got up and flipped on the lights, she got a glimpse of a figure in black and white, wearing a mask and clearly panicking over the alarms.
Some descendant or copycat of the infamous Robin Banks, she supposed.
"Hey!" Ava yelled over the alarms as she stormed out of the apartment. "Get out of here before I call the police!"
Caught and panicking, the burglar fled down the stairs as fast as she could. Ava waited to make sure she was gone before going back into her apartment, pulling a table in front of the door to block it until she could get the lock fixed in the morning.
Ugh, what a nuisance!
She'd always loved this hobby. Maybe she should take an elective next term...
The snow was lovely, but Ava was already tired of it, and it had only been winter for a week! She longed for the sunshine to come back, for all the flowers to start blooming again. But she still had three weeks left to go...
At least tomorrow, she would be on Sulani's sunny shores. Haikili's invitation couldn't have come at a better time, this seasonal depression would drive her crazy!
With classes over for the day, Ava decided to get the apartment tidied up before the weekend. Liliana had agreed to come over to feed and play with Bubbles while she was gone, so that was all sorted. Haikili didn't mind the kitten, but he wasn't exactly fond of her yet either. Oh well, he'd come around.
While Ava started a load of laundry and cleaned up, she found herself actually enjoying the chores. There was something nice about seeing everything come together, even with how much she had despised chores when she was younger... maybe she was Neat like her father after all.
Of course, after that, she had to play with Bubbles! She couldn't imagine life without this little kitten, now. The apartment felt a lot less lonely than it had a few days ago.
Once playtime was over, and Ava had eaten dinner, she headed to bed early. She would participate in the Debate Showdown first thing in the morning, and then hop on the train to Sulani to meet Haikili in Mua Pel'am. She could not wait!
The sun was just coming up when Ava arrived at the site of the debate. Temperatures had increased overnight, causing the snow to melt away, to her relief. Excited as she was about the debate, she hadn't been looking forward to standing in the snow!
Thanks to her study and practice, Ava performed spectacularly in the first debate, coming away with a prize of almost 500 simoleons! She didn't realize the Debate prizes were that big- where did the University find the funds for that, she wondered?
Either way, it was a nice little boost to her household funds.
For her first true large debate, Ava did very well, coming in third place in the overall showdown. She couldn't stay long to socialize with the Guild though- she had a train to catch!
There were some topics she definitely needed to research in more depth for next time, but overall, she was very happy with how it went. She was glad to get out her summer clothes, though, and headed off to Sulani.
The address Haikili gave her was for a house near the base of the Mua Pel'am Volcano- which looked very expensive! Ava's family had always simply been comfortable, never as rich as some of their other family members, and the idea of even renting a house like this for the weekend was mind boggling.
"Welcome to Sulani, Ava." Haikili greeted her as she walked up to the house. "Debate go alright?"
"Pretty darn well, actually! I came in third!" Ava proclaimed proudly.
"I knew you'd do well, you're a smart girl."
"So, what are we doing first?" Ava asked. "I want to see everything! I've so missed the sunshine, and the island is beautiful!"
"Slow down there, Ava." Haikili chuckled. "I've got a plan, but I've got something to ask you first."
"Oh? What is it?"
"We've been dating for a little while now, but we haven't formalized anything." Haikili started. "I wanted to wait to ask you somewhere nice like this, but do you want to take things to the next step? Be my girlfriend?"
Ava's heart leapt in her chest! "Yes, absolutely!"
"Great." Haikili grinned. "Let's get changed, I've got sights to show you."
The two of them changed into swimwear, and Ava internally rejoiced in the warmth of Sulani's sun. 'I bet it never snows here,' she thought.
"Where are we going first?" She asked Haikili.
"The waterfall, obviously. It's the best spot on the island- quite a romantic place, too."
"I bet it's beautiful." Ava smiled. "Lead the way!"
The waterfall was absolutely breathtaking, and they were the only people down there. "Most of the tourists come during the morning, so it's all ours tonight." Haikili told her.
It was believed by the Merfolk, Ava learned that night, that it was considered good luck to share a first woohoo under the waterfall. They believed it would bring the ocean's blessing to a new relationship. This was also how Ava found out that Haikili was a Merman. Which did make some of the things he'd said before make sense- Merfolk had control of the weather.
With that all in mind, it only made sense to share her first woohoo with Haikili under the waterfall. She would've expected breathing to be a problem, submerged under the water, but oddly enough it wasn't.
When they emerged, the sun was setting, and Ava was glowing with the excitement and joy of the evening. While Haikili went back into the house to get them some food, Ava stood out on the path leading down to the water's edge, watching the sun sink down behind the ocean.
What she wouldn't give to stay here forever!
"Why didn't you ever tell me you were Mer before?" Ava wondered as she and Haikili shared a small dinner.
"Not something we tend to share around. A lot of occults get taken advantage of for their magic." Haikili answered.
"I'm not an occult myself, but several of my aunts and cousins are Spellcasters." Ava told him. "Magic runs in the family- heck, it's at the root of all the dynasty drama right now." She shook her head. "But we don't need to talk about that right now."
"Do you want to go for a swim before we call it a night? The stars are beautiful out on the water."
"That sounds lovely."
Haikili was right, the stars really were breathtaking- and so many more of them than Ava could ever see in Britechester or San Sequoia. She could see every star of the Reaper's scythe constellation, and could almost make out the Cowplant behind the encroaching clouds.
Dear Watcher, Ava loved Sulani! Did she really have to go back to cold and snowy Britechester on Monday? She wanted to stay here!
Soon the night chill started to creep in, though, and she and Haikili returned to the house to rest. They'd have a full day together tomorrow, and more sights to see.
Resting in his arms as she drifted off to sleep, Ava felt absolutely content. There were so many good things ahead of them!
Ella was worrying for nothing, she was sure of that.
I hope you all enjoyed Ava's first official story collection! Next week, we will be starting a new journey with Leia Constantin, continuing her progression through the Reaper career, and exploring her paranormal romance with the Grim Reaper himself... 🫢
Stay tuned, it's bound to be a good one! Thank you for your support so far, and let me know what your favorite part of Ava's collection was!
Bye for now!
- Paxxie
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