Fall has arrived in Neo-Venezia and the girls have switched into their winter uniforms. And yet, Aika feels so unmotivated... She wants to do more than just go through the motions of everyday practice. She wants to really sharpen her skills, and become as good as the legendary Great Water Fairy, the greatest Undine of all time! So the three of them are sent to go visit this legendary lady in her house out in the country... but she's nothing like what the girls expect.

Winter has come - the mornings are crisp and cold, and it's hard to get out from under the covers to go practice sculling. So as a special treat, Alicia suggests that they visit a hot spring! Akari's never seen one before so she's excited to go, and all the others decide to join in as well.

It's time to ring in the new year, and everyone in Neo-Venezia has come together to celebrate! Even little Ai has come back from Manhome to take part in the winter festival. But as people gather and memories are shared, President Aria suddenly wanders off. Akari and Ai attempt to track him down, but what they find is a mysterious New Year's gift from Aqua itself.

Two wonderful things have happened: it's time for Neo-Venezia's annual Carnevale, and Ai has come back to Aqua for a visit! As Akari and Ai wander through streets full of bright colors and beautiful masks, they catch a glimpse of Casanova, the mysterious master of ceremonies. Who is the man behind the mask? The two are curious, but they'll need to be careful. You know what they say about curiosity and the cat, after all...

Even though Akari is relatively new to Neo-Venezia, most of her friends have lived in the quiet island town all their lives. One sunny afternoon, as Akari, Akatsuki, Akria and Al are all eating lunch together, Al tells a story about when they were children, and the mysterious young boy who put Akatsuki squarely in his place.

When Akari takes her gondola in for a routine inspection, she's given some startling news - the repairman tells her that the gondola is now too old and worn for tourism use, and should be sold off for hauling cargo. Although she at first resists, Akari knows that the repairman is right; so she decides to travel with her gondola to all the wonderful places that she's been, as a way of saying goodbye.

Aika is stuck in bed after catching a cold. She wonders about Akari and Alice... Are they slacking off without her? Surely they're lost without her guidance! So she sneaks out of bed one day to go take a peek... Later, Aika has a cute new set of hairpins, and she'd like to show them to Al. But she can't find the chance to visit him, and it's bothering her more than it should. Why does her heart ache when she thinks about it?

The whole town is sizzling in a strong summer heat wave, and the girls are doing the best they can to beat the heat. But then, Akari spots a woman dressed all in black, with even her face covered with a thick black veil. Aika tells Akari a Manhome legend about the spirit of a woman dressed in black, who was angered that she couldn't be buried on San Michele Island. Supposedly the ghost spirits away any gondolier foolish enough to take her on board... but that's only an old story, right?

In the still of the night, Akari is woken up by the distant sound of a train. But Neo-Venezia's trains don't run at that hour, so what was it she heard? And to make matters even more mysterious, the next day, President Aria gifts her with a train ticket. It would seem Akari is about to have another brush with the secretive spirit, Cait Sith...

When Akari innocently suggests that perhaps the little space between two stairs at the Aria Company is a portal to another world, President Aria, ever curious, squeezes through the gap, and pops out on the other side to find a terrifying sight! The second story is a flashback to when Akatsuki was little. He considered himself to be a superhero, but he wasn't quite as heroic as his imagination led him to believe...

Heavy rain keeps the girls from their usual gondola practice, so instead they spend the day at Himeya. They start off studying at first, but when their minds drift off to what nicknames they'll take as Primas, Akira steps in and gives them some good old-fashioned paperwork to do. Even that can't get Aika down, however... because she's noticed lately that people whisper to each other when she walks past. Does that mean she's finally being recognized for her skills as an Undine?

As snow softly covers Neo-Venezia, Akari and Alicia are out for a walk. Akari asks Alicia what she thought as a child - back then, what did she want to be like when she grew up? But in response, Alicia just begins to roll a ball of snow on the ground. As they walk around the city pushing the snowball, it grows bigger and bigger, to the point where people remark on it everywhere they go. Alicia only continues to smile, but it's certain that her answer is hidden there somewhere.

Akari finds herself nervous coaching a new undine as a Prima, until she awakens to find that it is just a dream. To soothe her worries, Alicia recalls stories of her beginnings as a Prima, as well as the memories she made.

As winter melts into spring, Akari, Aika and Alice all continue to practice and set new goals for themselves. But Akari still feels like she isn't good enough to become a Prima. Will she or any of the girls ever be truly satisfied with their talents?

A new vendor has opened up shop in Piazza San Marco, selling heart-shaped chocolates in glass bottles. Akari buys a bottle, and later goes to buy another, but by then, the patissier has mysteriously disappeared. Where did he go, and will he ever return?