Ao Hoshizaki was still a child when an accident nearly killed her.
The healers saved her life, but the damage left behind something they could not completely mend.
Ao could still think. She could still understand.
Every word spoken to her remained perfectly clear.
Her own words were another matter.
Thoughts that existed whole within her mind emerged as fragments: numbers, colors, objects, pieces of old memories and, sometimes, long streams of strange imagery that sounded almost poetic despite never being intended that way.
─── ✦ ───
𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐎𝐖𝐃𝐄𝐑
For years, people mistook difficulty speaking for difficulty understanding.
Ao learned to live with the misunderstanding.
Machines proved easier.
A broken mechanism did not care how she described it. A rifle did not require conversation. Metal, powder and motion followed rules that words rarely seemed willing to obey.
She became a Machinist.
A remarkably good one.
─── ✦ ───
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐃
Somewhere along the road, she met Lyra.
At first, the black-haired Veena understood Ao no better than anyone else. Lyra found her infuriating. Ao found Lyra's temper rather entertaining.
Neither intended to remain beside the other for long.
They did anyway.
Years passed.
Shared journeys became shared memories, and shared memories became something neither of them was particularly willing to name.
Then, gradually, Lyra began to understand.
Now Ao can speak in fragments—
「...Five. The blue one first.」
—or lose herself in long cascades of imagery—
「...Reflections, scarlet ribbons over drifting clouds... clinging to silent things, tiny particles...」
—and Lyra understands her perfectly.
There is no magic involved.
No secret language.
No code Lyra could teach another person.
In fact, Lyra could not imitate Ao's speech if she tried.
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