"It is," Setsuko replied. "We have a holiday dedicated to the moon, actually. People gather into pavilions or gardens at night to watch it over wine or tea, although the best one I had was when we were on a boat, watching it as we sailed down a river. Do...do you have such holidays here?"

Just then, Pip returned with a tray that threatened to topple over in her hands, it was so full of drinks. There was a dish of what looked like dried flowers, two glasses of liquid the same brilliant red as the hibiscus flower itself.

But the cocktails were what Setsuko found mesmerizing, perhaps more than the tea: presented in those impossibly delicate-looking goblets, a hibiscus bloomed from the bottom of each, sunk in a most curious golden bubbling concoction.

She reached out, finding the glass sturdier than she'd originally thought, inspecting one for a closer look. It smelled delightfully of roses, lime, and something else she couldn't quite place.

"It's--it's beautiful," she said.