S02E12 - Chasing That Mirage... / The Light of That Wind Chime...
Synopsis
In the first half of a two-part episode, on a summer day hot enough to see mirages on the ocean, Akari goes shopping in the afternoon. Through the heatwaves, she sees the street suddenly empty of people and thinks she has wandered into a dream. She follows President Aria into a cool cafe where only iced milk is served, because it's a refuge for the city's cats where humans usually cannot go. When Akari leaves, she sees Cait Sith tip his hat to her, and then the cafe turns into a boarded-up building and the people return. In the second half, Akari buys a nightshine windchime, a summer specialty of Aqua with a noctilucent clapper. For the month its glow lasts, she takes it everywhere with her, and at night holds tea parties with President Aria in her gondola, using it as their light. When it begins flickering out, Alicia and Akari follow Neo-Venezian custom and row out into bay to let the clapper drop into the water when it dies. When Akari's does so, it leaves behind a rare tear-shaped crystal, and Akari begins crying.