Synopsis[]
On a winter day, Alicia tells the three trainees how she, Akira, and Athena started practicing together as journeymen, like their students do now. Alice realizes her trio will also break up when they become full undines, and Athena and Alicia tell her it's important to enjoy the present rather than regret what has been—or will be—lost.
When Akari transports glassware in her gondola, the apprentice glassmaker supervising the cargo complains about criticisms of his master's work as "fake" because the long tradition of Venetian glassmaking was broken before being revived on Neo-Venezia. Akari tells him she doesn't believe anything is fake, and while Neo-Venezia may not be the real Venice, it is still a living city, one she treasures for itself.
When Akari asks Alicia what she wanted to be when she grew up, Alicia rolls a couple large snowballs with the help of strangers before answering she wanted to become someone who made people have fun.
Alice finds an abandoned kitten and names it Maa after its unusual meow. Because pets are forbidden in company dorms, she hides Maa in her wardrobe for a week. When Maa is discovered, Athena rescues it and arranges to have it adopted as the company's new president.
Late one night, Akari hears a distant train and imagines it's the train from Night on the Galactic Railroad. The next night, President Aria gives her a ticket and takes her to the railroad tracks, and when a train arrives, several cats are waiting to get on. Before Akari can board, she notices a kitten has lost its ticket and gives it hers, and as the train departs Akari sees the conductor is Cait Sith.
In a bonus chapter, President Aria is transported to a parallel world where all the characters are of the opposite sex.
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