~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So Many Years...

Now Clef was alone, left to himself and his memories. His feet led him to a place that seemed somewhat familiar, though why he remembered it he couldn't tell. The trees seemed to have bent inward to create a living house, branches twisting inward like furniture. It seemed a lot more like a normal house than it had been when he left-

What? Where did that come from? Left? How could he have left, when he hadn't been here before?

It still seemed so familiar...

There was that thick feeling in the air, the way everything felt like her. Mazda Miata. She had disappeared...because he had said the wrong thing to her. How could he have been so cruel?

She had been such a maddening pupil. A nightmare. Getting into fights, getting drunk, skipping classes.

And he had loved her.

Then he saw her-she emerged from another room in the house, and looked at him with surprise. All of a sudden, Clef felt like a brick wall had just slammed into him. Years of memories broke forth in his head, overwhelming him with long-forgotten information, taking him back to a moment years ago, finishing a thought so long left unfinished-

"-can't do this to me!" he shouted at her. "I can't forget what's happened here, please, don't do that to me! Miata, I don't want to forget-"

"Shh," Miata replied, her voice smooth. "It's over. I did what I had to, and I'm sorry, but now it's over."

"It's..." Clef began, relaxing a little as the memories took their proper place in the chronology of his mind. "It's over."

"You did well. The Magic Knights won the Legendary Battle, because you gave them their magic. You gave them Mokona."

"But-I forgot you-"

"It was the only way. I wouldn't let you burden yourself with me. You couldn't know that the Forest of Songs existed until the Battle was done. And there was no warning, when Zagato kidnapped the Princess," Miata replied. Clef sighed.

"We were expecting her to fall apart, not for Zagato to take action. And I never told you-I met your old friend Alcione."

Miata giggled. "She was a worthy enemy."

"Yes, I remember that. I'll never forget that." Clef was laughing, too. "How could I have forgotten anything? It seems so real to me now, so natural-and yet, also, a bit like a dream."

"Sometimes it seemed this way to me, like I dreamed all of it..." Miata replied. "But it was real."

"We've lost so much time," Clef replied. "We have to make up for it."

Miata smiled. "I'd love to," she said. "But we've got another matter to deal with at the moment. The Cathedral awaits."

"Well, it can wait a little longer," Clef said. Miata laughed and gave in.

"It's been there for thousands of years," she agreed. "It can hold on for one more night. Even though you look far too young to be thinking of such things."

"I'm still just as much a man as when I left," Clef replied.

"Prove it, shrimp." Miata replied. He kissed her.

Miata and Clef stood on the edge of the forest and watched the Stratus land. Everyone seemed to be converging around the lake.

"And now the real fun begins," Miata said.

"I thought the real fun was last night," Clef replied. Miata turned red, but she laughed.

"The lake is a test all its own." As if on cue, Cressida appeared over the lake as the Magic Knights came upon its edge. "And now it's my turn. See ya!" Miata dashed off, and though Clef followed, he couldn't keep up. The Byrde soon caught up with the Magic Knights at the bank, and she was the first to plunge in. Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu followed.

She must know what she's doing, Clef thought, but he still felt apprehensive. He waited, nerves on edge, for her to surface, but nothing broke through the serenity of the lake. He found himself staring at it, shaking. To one side of him, he realized, were Ferio and Hayase; to the other side of him was Ascot. They all seemed paralyzed with fear and confusion, looking to Cressida, who floated over the lake, silent. Everything was silent.

Waiting.