Aria the Natural

Synopsis

Alice tells Aika and Akari that she's having bad luck that day because she failed yesterday's personal challenge, which Akari calls childish and cute. The next day she sets the challenge of walking home from school stepping only on shadows, and she almost makes it before failing. Athena happens to see this from her gondola and sings a song that distracts Alice. The following day, Alice attempts the same challenge, and this time meets Athena on the way. When Athena catches Alice from tripping over Maa, Alice makes a new rule banning assistance from others, saying 'this is my battle', and starts over. In crossing the last stretch outside Orange Planet, Alice misses a jump but Athena suddenly provides her with a shadow. When asked why, Athena says she's an ally of Alice, like an ally character in a video game. Alice makes another rule that Athena is allowed to help, and walks the rest of the way in her shadow. Akari describes the song that Athena sings as making one 'light-hearted,' and Alice realizes Athena had sung it the previous day to cheer her up and that Athena has been her ally all along.

(Source: Wikipedia)