There's always a blue sky in your heart
Good weather again today.
Luna! It's mornin'!
Yeesh.
How long ya gonna sleep?
Today's the day we're goin' to the Eastern Woods, ain't it?
Luna?
Oh no! A bad fever!
How many degrees?
39.1°C.
That's high!
Luna...
Did something happen?
It's bad news--Luna has a fever!
Luna... are you okay?
Don't! Just go to sleep!
--You have a fever! --I have to go...
Don't! Just sleep peacefully for today!
A cold?
Chako's checking into it right now.
Maybe she's just worn out.
Then I guess we'll have to delay the trip.
I guess we'll get to take our first day off in a while.
Don't speak so cheerfully!
Aren't you worried about Luna?
It's not like worrying about her will make her better.
Stop it! We have to be quiet.
I can't tell with just my abilities.
Oh no! Her fever's gone up again!
How was it?
I ain't sure of the cause.
If we can't do somethin' to bring the fever down, it'll be painful.
It would be good if we had some medicinal herbs to help her fever, but...
Accordin' to my data, Kudzu roots are effective at lowerin' fever.
Kudzu roots?
It's a leguminous plant species that grows wrapped 'round trees.
The key ingredient's in the root.
I see.
And that will bring it down?
I got the image data, so I'll search for that.
Very well.
Bell, do you know of anything else?
When we didn't have medicine, I've boiled and drank Mugwort.
It's got various vitamins...
...and it seems to be effective in bringing' down fever too.
It's not enough alone, but for Luna it should be fine.
But we've never seen Mugwort.
It's okay. I'll search for the Mugwort.
I'll help too!
And I want some nutritious food.
Like fruit or eggs.
I'll get the eggs.
No helping it.
I'll go search for fruit.
Then, we'll leave Sharla to attend the patient...
...and split up to search.
Wait!
I want to search with Chako!
Are you sure?
You might get attacked by a giant lizard or a man-eating plant.
But...
...I'm the one who knows best where plants can be found.
There might be dangerous cliffs or something too.
Can a weakling like you really do it?
I want to be of some use to Luna!
Very well.
I'll attend to Luna.
Sharla, please go with Chako.
Thank you, Menori.
Now I'm soaking wet.
What d'we do? It's a penetratin' rain.
Let's go.
"Let's go?" We'll get soakin' wet. Is that okay?
It's fine.
H-hey, wait!
Sharla, I'm in trouble if you leave!
Rain...
Yes. If we'd left today, we would have been rained on.
Good thing we delayed it.
Where's Sharla?
She went to search for herbs.
It's the first time I've seen Sharla like that.
She desperately wanted to help you.
It's good to have friends.
Be careful you don't slip.
Sharla!
You okay?
Ow!
You can't go any further.
Sorry, Luna. Maybe I should just sit out.
If you sit out now, they get what they wanted. I definitely don't want to lose.
It's okay.
I'm with you.
Although I may be a little unreliable.
Sharla, you understand best of all that Bell is really a kind person.
Sharla, let's give our best!
I'm okay.
As long as I'm walking, it won't hurt.
You ain't okay at all!
I can't give up just from this.
Luna taught me that!
Okay! I'll help too!
Hey, Chako...
How did Luna get so strong?
Let's see...
It might look that way from where you stand, Sharla...
...but she ain't really that strong.
The first time I met her...
...Luna was a total coward.
This was about, oh, eight years back.
Back then, Luna's mother dyin' was still fresh in her mind.
...and she always cried.
Welcome home, Luna. There's a snack for you in the fridge.
I'm home!
Luna?
Are you here?
Found you.
Back here again?
Luna, you like this place.
Ta-da!
I'm always away from home because of work...
...I thought you'd be lonely by yourself.
Luna, this is your new friend.
Hello!
I don't need it!
Luna! Hey!
I was already hated by Luna...
...but her dad said we'd be able to patch things up 'n chased after her.
But Luna wouldn't open her heart up to me.
I left Luna's house, but I didn't have a destination.
In an observation park where you could see the real stars...
...I ended up lookin' up at the stars before I even realized.
What are you doing?
I ain't doin' nothin'!
And why're you in a place like this?
Whenever I get lonely, I come here and look up at the stars.
Really?
Lookin' up at the starry sky kinda calms your feelings, right?
Are you lonely too?
Darn right I am!
There ain't a robot pet who wouldn't be lonely if her master hated her.
I'm sorry.
It's okay.
I'm Luna!
I...
...hate my old name.
I was thrown away by my old master.
"Minna no Ie" means Everyone's House.
I was thrown away by my old master.
I don't really know why...
...but I was worn-out, my main switch was turned off, and I was thrown away.
I was put on a conveyor belt...
...and was gonna be disposed of with the rest of the scrap.
When I was about to be melted down, right in the nick of time, your dad found me and pulled me out.
And then he washed me and fixed me up good as new.
And he put me in a box as a present.
So that's what happened.
Yeah, so I hate my old name.
You're a girl?
Sure am!
Will you give me a new, elegant name?
Let's see...
Cha... Chako!
What's elegant about that?
It's cute!
No, no. Make it a different one!
Can't help it! I'll just have to put up with that name!
Really?
Nice to meet you, Chako!
Nice to meet you, too.
Since then, Luna 'n I became friends that never doubt what's in each others' hearts.
But then, two years after that...
...her dad died...
All girls, whoever they are, have glass slippers in their heart.
Glass slippers?
A dream they had when they were little...
...or some fantasy.
When Luna was eight, her glass slippers broke.
Mine did when I was thrown away.
Since then, Luna 'n I have lived together, just the two of us.
So that's what happened.
It's a sad story that brings tears to those who hear it and those who tell it.
But I wonder why...
Even though so many sad things have happened to her, Luna's always bright and cheerful.
When times are tough, look up to the sky.
There may be rainy days, but there's always a blue sky in your heart.
Whether it's a pitch-dark night or a day with bad weather, so long's the sun's still there, a day with a blue sky will come.
There's always a blue sky in your heart.
Exactly.
So you can't worry about things forever.
There's a blue sky in your heart.
Good.
There's lots of them!
If you crumble the Mugwort leaves and rub them in a wound, they'll also act as an antiseptic.
So, I think this much should be enough.
It looks like a dead end.
They're beautiful flowers.
Sharla, these plants look a bunch like the ones in my data!
We'll know once we dig out the roots, right?
That's true, but the roots are on the cliff side.
Chako, a little more!
I can't, I'm at my limit!
Sharla, hang on!
We made it up.
Are you hurt?
This is it! No mistake!
This is medicine.
It might taste bad, but put up with it 'n drink it all.
Hey, Chako...
Today, you talked about glass slippers, right?
Even though I'm fourteen years old, I still have glass slippers in my heart.
Even now I cling tightly to my glass slippers and keep dreaming.
It's not like it's a bad thing.
Luna told me the same thing.
But because of that, I don't think I've been able to accept reality yet.
You see, I love fantasy stories.
I've even written some myself.
But...
The princess stealthily snuck out of the castle and went to play in the forest.
In the forest, many beautiful flowers were blooming, and many cute animals had also gathered.
What'cha writin'?
What are you doing?
Lemme look for a sec!
Stop it!
Give that back!
Give it back!
What, what? "Once upon a time, there was a docile princess."
"She failed at everything she tried, and was only good at giving names to things."
Ha! That sounds like you!
Please, give it back!
Once, I reached out to a girl in the class who was being left out and became friends with her.
But because of that, I was left out as well.
I'd always been bad at being part of a group, so it didn't really bother me...
...all of a sudden, the girl I reached out to had switched to the side of those leaving me out.
After that, no matter how I tried to make friends, I could never take even one step forward.
I retreated into my shell more and more.
I felt that if I didn't, my glass slippers that were so precious to me might be broken.
I thought that one day, my own wonderful story would start.
A tale like one of those fantasy stories.
Just then, Luna appeared before me.
Even though I'd just met her, for some reason I warmed up to Luna.
Because nothing like that had happened to me before.
I'm sure it's because Luna was so kind and cheerful.
Since then, the story I'd been imagining really began.
But now that it's begun, I see that there's more to reality than just happy times.
There are many hard or frightening times...
...and the heroes of the story can't be disheartened.
But I became disheartened right away, and became a burden to everyone.
That's not true.
Luna, you were awake!
Sharla, you've worked very hard since we came to this island.
The best at braiding rope and cooking food is you, Sharla.
And when we come back to Everyone's House, it makes us feel relieved when you say, "Welcome home," to us.
Like we've really come home.
Luna...
Sharla, you're not being a burden on anybody.
Thank you.
I...
I guess I...
have been running away from reality until now, but from now on I'll try to accept reality, a little at a time.
Reality's not that bad all the time, after all.
The reason I've made so many friends...
...is because I came to this planet.
Sharla...
Your fever's mostly gone down.
What a relief!
If I'm going to be attended to courteously...
...maybe I should stay sick a little longer.
What'cha sayin'? I should punish you for that!
That's right!
Sorry, sorry!
You seem to have gotten better.
Menori!
Thanks to all of you.
Thank you!
It'll be dawn soon.
I want to see a bit of the sunrise.
Sure, let's take a look.
Good morning, Luna.
Are you okay now?
Your skin tone looks better too.
Thanks.
The sun has risen again.
And so, there'll always be a blue sky in your heart.
That's right!
What's that?
It's Chako's pet phrase.
She's been saying that since I was little.
But Sharla, why do you know it?
What's it matter?
Looks like there'll be good weather today!
We delayed our trip to the Eastern Woods until Luna recovered...
Shingo couldn't wait to see the advanced civilization...
...and he tempted Howard and Chako to go with him!
Luna can't seem to hear the mysterious voice, so we get lost in the forest.
Which way should we go?
Next time: These are the Eastern Woods!?