Ep. 16: Parting With That Gondola...

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During a routine inspection, Akari and Alicia are told that Akari's gondola is too worn-out for tourist service and should be sold as a freight hauler. When Akari asks to keep it just for training, she's told that the gondola would be happier if it were used daily instead of infrequently. At Alicia's suggestion, Akari takes the gondola on a 'Goodbye, Gondola-san tour' of places where she has special memories it was involved in, shown in a series of flashbacks, including taking Akatsuki as her first paying customer and meeting Alice, ending with her retracing the route of her test for promotion to Single from before the series began. While descending a canal lock on her return, she falls asleep and dreams the spirit of the gondola appears and says it was fate that brought them together. As she returns to Aria Company, she is reminded of the first time she rowed the gondola. (Source: Wikipedia)