"Don't tell me you can't swim!" Sakura laughed happily.

Sayoran blushed and looked down, the cheerful bubbling of the brook behind him. "No, princess. I can't."

"Well then I'll teach you!"

Sayoran gazed at the slowly moving river in front of him. "I'll teach you!"

How much she had changed, he thought. In so little time. He could still remember her voice, so sweet and innocent.

But it had changed. Changed, as all things seemed to do. Nothing ever stayed the same, nothing ever stayed still.

Much as he wished time could have stopped at that moment, it wouldn't. Because it couldn't. Time always had to move forward, no matter how many people wished it to stop.

"Aah." Sayoran fell to his knees. Water gathered at the corners of his eyes. Not tears, though. Never tears. He had to be strong. Strong for his Princess. Even if she never remembered him again, he had to keep her safe. Forgetting the odds, forgetting the odds stacked against him. Against them.

"Hey, kid." Sayoran looked up, hastily wiping his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Kurogane asked stiffly.

"Hmmm? Oh, nothing." He climbed to his feet, dipping one hand in the water as he did. He lifted his hand up to the sky, watching the drops glisten in the sunlight.

Kurogane was silent. Waiting.

"I was just thinking of the past." He said indifferently.

But Kurogane could hear the pain he was trying to hide.

"Eh?" Sayoran was almost knocked over into the river when Kurogane reached out to ruffle his hair embarrassedly.

"You're a good kid." He said gruffly. "Don't forget it." The black ninja walked away slowly.

Sayoran looked after him in bafflement. Then he remembered the river. Turning back, he surveyed the surface of the river for a moment. And he turned away.

"Sayoran-kun!" He heard a voice call. Sweet and innocent. But still sad.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Don't tell me you can't swim!"

He blushed and looked down. "No, Princess. I can't."

"Well then, I'll teach you!"

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Hey guys, I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack!! Mwhahahaha…okay, forget that just happened. In case you guys didn't get it, Sakura managed to repeat the lines from her memories at the end.