I have written a Haibane Renmei fan fiction work. It answers the question:

'What if someone gave Reki a big hug and looked after her, before she got to Guri?'

Of course this would remove the last third of the anime, and probably the anime could no longer exist. But, face it, this is what you all want to do, anyway, isn't it?

This is a Haibane Renmei fan fiction story. However the vast majority of it is not set in the Haibane Renmei fiction universe, it is set in our prosaic world, somewhere in the early to mid nineteen hundreds. The whole point of this will be completely and utterly meaningless to someone who is not familiar with the Haibane Renmei storyline. The story itself is easy to understand and read, but why it is structured the way it is will only be understandable to someone who has seen the anime. So you have been warned! Watch the anime first, and then come back to this story. It will be more than worth it. Watching the movie that is; you might also enjoy my story.

The usual disclaimer applies: Haibane Renmei is owned by ABe Yoshitoshi and whoever owns the copyright. I am only borrowing the setting for a non-commercial fan fiction story. Any other fan fiction writer may use my story as they see fit in their fan fictions, as long as they add their own disclaimer. For any other usage of this story, and in particular any commercial usage, don't ask me; ask ABe Yoshitoshi and/or the copyright holders.

There is not much in the way of spoilers to the movie in this story.

Horace pushed his cart up to the junction and stopped for a rest. The track continued straight ahead, over the railway line and into the distance. The track also branched in both directions, and followed the railway line. Horace looked around, brushing the rain water off his coat in a ineffectual attempt to keep dry. There was nobody in sight, and no signs of any recent activity. The small trees and shrubs on either side of the road and rail tracks grew in patches, with low grass between them. The soft sound of the rain hitting the ground, and his rain coat and cart, and the leaves of the vegetation, was the only sound.
"Well, which way?" said Horace, talking aloud. Actually, he didn't really care, any direction was good enough. He had enough food in his cart to last a few weeks, and water was easy enough to get.
"Right" said a voice.
Horace picked up the cart handles and trundled it around and started down the right hand branch- and then abruptly stopped.
"What? What was that?" Horace did not have a habit of hearing voices out of thin air.
"Am I hearing voices now? Maybe I've been by myself for a bit too long?" But there were no replies.
He shrugged his shoulders. Whatever, he didn't have any preference anyway.

He pushed the cart along the track. One wheel had missing spokes and was causing the cart to wobble with every rotation. He would soon have to abandon it. It didn't worry him particularly; he had done most of his travel with only a backpack after all. The cart had been a bit of an experiment. It allowed him to carry more supplies, but it could be a pain when travelling in hilly country. The track continued alongside the railway tracks, with about ten metres separation. There was nothing in particular to look at, so he just drifted off in a reverie, idly noting that the shadows were beginning to lengthen and that he would soon have to camp.
"Camp here" said the voice.
He stopped. This was getting serious, twice now he had heard a definite voice.
On the other hand, right here was a good place to stop for the day.
"Well, if I'm going crazy, at least I'm still acting reasonably sane." With that contradictory thought, he pushed the cart just off the track, closer to the railway line.

Setting up camp was easy. The rain, not very heavy, was coming in towards the railway track, so he put his ground sheet between the tracks and his cart. Another waterproof sheet went vertically down the cart's side, stopping the rain from drifting in sideways onto the groundsheet. Then the tent top sheet was stretched from the top of the cart to a couple of sticks and two guy ropes. Onto the ground sheet went his sleeping roll, and a box of food and cooking utensils. Horace took of his raincoat and sat down in his makeshift lean-to. It was dry, but drafty, since three of its sides were open. Since the weather was cool but not too cold, Horace couldn't be bothered putting up the full tent.

An hour later he was sitting in his sleeping roll, a woollen beanie on his head to keep warm, eating his meal. He had heated a can of beef stroganoff, cut it open and dumped the contents into his tin plate. The little kerosene heater heated some water, which he used to make some sort of approximation to a gravy. He washed down his meal with hot cocoa, turned off the heater, lay down and eventually went to sleep.

"She needs help now!"
With the voice still echoing in his mind Horace scrambled out of his sleeping roll and peered into the night.
"Who needs help and why?" he asked himself. He looked around, just as the moon appeared between a gap in the clouds. By some celestial event or a quirk of the clouds and maybe distant smoke, it appeared to be red. He could see the twin steel tracks of the railway glinting in the moon light, and in the distance he heard the sound of a steam whistle. The clouds covered the moon again and the lighting was back to dim.
"That would be the train approaching the road junction" he thought to himself. Sure enough, he could now see the train's headlight, coming closer.
He looked down the track to the right and-
A smallish figure, maybe a young teenage girl, walking on the tracks. She walked along until she got opposite to Horace, then she stopped and looked at the oncoming headlight. She stood there, mostly just a shadow to Horace's vision, but he could she her shoulders drooping. Stood without further movement. Watching the headlight becoming brighter.

By now Horace was running. The steam whistle was silent, but he could clearly hear the chuffing sound of steam escaping the pistons and the clatter of the wheels being driven and the clickety-clack as they went over the joints in the tracks. He could also see the girl clearly in the headlight. She was still standing there, looking straight ahead. He slammed his leading foot onto the railway track's ballast, reached out with his hands, picked her up and held her to his chest, and continued over the tracks and to the ground at the other side. He had been running too fast to control his movements and he was falling. He felt a flick as something brushed the very tip of the sock on his foot. The steam locomotive was a roar of sounds of hissing steam and screeching wheels and then it was past. Horace managed to rotate his body and he came down on his side with a thump and ended up on his back, still holding the girl in his arms.

He lay there, hugging the girl as the train carriages rattled past. The last car sped by and the sound of the train faded and left the night to only the gentle sound of rain falling on the ground.
"Well" he managed to say.
Remembering that flick across his foot, he wiggled is feet and toes. Didn't appear to be any damage. He had a brief close up look at the girl's face as the train was bearing down on them. He replayed this image in his mind's eye: eyes red from crying, a look of total defeat and hopelessness.
Carefully he levered himself into a seating position, still holding her. She was conscious but inert, she was also shivering. She was wearing only a thin shirt and a thin skirt, and was soaked to the skin, and she felt cold to his touch. She didn't look at him, just stared at the ground.
"Right, let's get you back to my camp" he said. There was no reaction, so he climbed, somewhat shakily, to his feet and carried her back. It was still dark; he could barely see his cart. And as he carried her, he was trying to work out what the hell to do. She was soaked to the skin and badly needed warming up, but she was not functioning at all. So she wasn't going to be of much help to herself. He ended up wrapping her in his one and only towel, putting his only spare blanket around her, taking off her shoes and socks, and putting her, as is, into the sleeping roll. Fortunately it was wide enough for both of them. He got in himself, in sitting position. Reaching out, he lit his lantern, lit his stove and set his kettle to heat some water.

"Hello, young lady," he said, "I'm going to make you a nice hot cup of cocoa. Are you warming up yet?"
He patted her head and tried to act as gently as possible. At last she acknowledged his existence, and looked at him. She was no longer shivering.
She finally managed to say a single "yes".
"Good, good. Here, the cocoa is ready. Careful, it is hot."
He reached over and slowly raised her to sitting position, the blanket still around her, and put his arm around her to hold her up. With his other hand he held the mug. The girl was trying to hold it also, but her hands were shaking too much.

Half an hour later: Horace lay in the darkness, listening to the girl's regular breathing. He still didn't even know her name, and he certainly didn't know why she was walking down the railway track in the middle of the night. What terror was she fleeing?

Horace opened his eyes. Morning already. He lay there, relaxing a bit- then he remembered last night. He turned his head.
"Nope, it wasn't a dream" he said to himself.
He carefully got out of the roll and busied himself making a stew for breakfast. He figured she might be hungry and in need of a good feed.

He was finishing his cooking when he noticed that she was still sleeping, but beginning to move around as if she was agitated.
"She's having a nightmare?" he thought, just as she proved his supposition by waking up with a scream of terror.
"Whoa there" he said has he kneeled by her side, "Surely my cooking isn't all that bad?"
The girl, who he judged to be about thirteen years old, sat up and looked around in confusion. She had medium length black hair and, to his eye, sort of looked like she was Asian. Perhaps Chinese or Japanese? After a while she gathered her wits about her and looked at him. There was more than just a little bit of fear in her eyes. He didn't think it was the after effects of the nightmare either.
"Hmm, that's not a good sign, what was she running away from?" he thought.
He extended his hand.
"My name's Horace. Don't worry; I intend to look after you." He decided not to say anything about returning her to where she had come from, until he had found out more about her circumstances.
She looked at his hand and then extended her hand and briefly shook his.
"I'm Rebecci"
"Hello Rebecci! Would you like some breakfast? I've made some stew, and there's cocoa afterwards, and as a special treat there is some chocolate!"

She was silent as she ate a large helping. He could see the life coming back to her movements and her face, and she appeared to actually enjoy the chocolate at the end.
"Now, you don't have to tell me much, but, ah, do you want to go back to where you came from?"
The reaction was instant.
"No, No, No, please no!" There was a look of fear in her eyes again, and- a look of disgust? She folded herself up and wrapped her hands around her knees.
Horace decided that was a sufficiently clear answer to that question.
"Ah, your parents?"
"They died two years ago in a boating accident" she said. Her voice was small and flat and she looked blankly into the distance as she said this.
"OK, I think I'm getting the idea. Would you like to accompany me to the next town, and then we shall see what to do next?"
She nodded her head and said "Yes".

"Well, I shall take out my map." He shuffled around the contents of his pocket and eventually retrieved his map.
"Hmm, there are several little town sites..."
"That one" said the voice. His finger had been pointing to one of them, not the closest one either. He had forgotten all about the voice up until now.
He looked at Rebecci. She was busy licking the last of the chocolate off the wrapper, and didn't seem to have heard anything.
"That's the town we are heading for, then."
He privately reflected that since the voice seemed to have led him to save the girl, he supposed that he couldn't go far wrong by trusting it a little more.

"Ok Rebecci. We need to do some walking, it will take about a week to get there and there are no settlements along the way. And right now-"
He went through his pack and fished out his spare shirt and his spare jumper.
"Go behind the cart and drop sheet, and dry yourself off and change your top and wear this shirt and jumper. You'll just have to wear that skirt for the time being, but since it has stopped raining it should dry out soon enough."

When she was ready, he packed, turned his cart back the way he had come last night, and off they went. At the junction they kept going along the track that followed the railway line. The weather had become dry and not too windy.

They walked in silence, Horace pushing the cart and Rebecci walking next to him. He figured he would wait until she was ready to talk. She started off walking without much life, but as the sun climbed up in the sky she became gradually livelier. She looked around, and admired the occasional bird that flew pass. He kept a watch on her walking, and when it appeared that she was getting tired, he declared it was time to stop. He was striving to be careful not to exhaust her, since she did have a very taxing misadventure last night. Also the sleeping arrangements had been exercising his mind.

"I think we will camp here for the night. Also, I'm wearing woollen underclothes, which are great in wet weather, especially at night. They keep reasonably warm even if wet. However for you..."
He got out his spare blanket.
"Do you know how to sew?"
"Yes, I do"
"Ok, what you can do is to sew this blanket and turn it into a sleeping bag. So you still sleep inside my sleeping roll, since it is waterproof, but you are in your own sleeping bag, made of wool. That way you can keep warm even if your clothes are damp."
He found his sewing equipment, and she started, with enthusiasm, to sew up her sleeping bag. He smiled to himself. Doing something herself to help out would give her a sense of achievement and involvement.

As dusk approached, he showed Rebecci the cooking stuff, and asked if she would like to cook up the meal while he set up the tent. Since he had plenty of time, he had decided the full tent would be more comfortable. As he went through the procedure of assembling the tent, he watched as she tried to work out how to set up the camp stove.
"Hmm, she's getting a bit frustrated, but she still hasn't asked for help." he thought.
Eventually-
"Rebecci, it's all right to ask for help, you know."
"Oh, yes. Well, can you please show me how to get this, this stove to work!"
"Certainly"

That night, as he listened to her regular breathing as she slept in her own sleeping bag inside the bigger sleeping roll, he thought:
"What the hell am I letting myself in for?"
"Do I have any choice?"
"Not as far as I can see."
"Do I have anything else I want do?"
"No."
He went to sleep.

The next day she woke with another nightmare, but the terror seemed to be less than the first morning. As the day progressed she was starting to become talkative, a little.

They were eating lunch under the shade of a tree. The ground was hard and rocky, so Horace had put the sleeping roll on the ground, still rolled up, and they were sitting on it.
"So, where did you and your parents live?" said Horace.
She named a town some distance away, along the coast.
"We could see the ocean from our front window. I had a cat named Muffin and I helped baby sit the baby next door. Dad would carry me on his shoulders as we all went shopping." she said. She leant against Horace as he put his arm around her. After a while she continued.
"After the ... accident ... my aunt took me in. But her husband didn't want me and I was looked after by a distant cousin. But she was too old and ill to cope and ..."
She stopped there and clung to his arm, tears trickling down her face.
Right there and then he was committed.
"It's all right; you don't have to tell me anything more that you don't want to say. Or you can wait to some other time if you want."
He decided to tell her a little bit about himself.
"I was a chartered accountant in one of the big cities. Married to my wife of twenty years, but no children. Sadly she died two years ago, and after that I settled my affairs and decided to just drift around for a while. Which is why I am here, right now."
"I tell you what, since you need someone to look after you, and I've got some spare time, how about I look after you for the foreseeable future?"
"Will you leave me like the others?" spoken in a voice that wavered from her emotions.
"Well, assuming I don't die, and I have no intention of doing so! I promise to stick with you no matter what." he said. "Is this a deal?"
"Yes"
They shook hands, she dried her face, and they set off again. Holding hands.

"By the way, I need to know for my own comfort, the whoever you were escaping from, are they likely to try to find you?"
A small silence. Then she spoke in a small voice, "I don't think so, they will just keep driving."
"Good." he said aloud.
"I just hope I never meet them." he said to himself.

Again, in his sleeping roll as he listened to Rebecci sleep, he had a little talk to himself.
"Now you have really let yourself in for something."
"I know."
"You can't back out now; her life has been stuffed up more than enough already."
"That's right."
"You can't rely on the voice helping you out, you know."
"I think I might be grateful for that bit."
"Do you have any idea of just how difficult this is going to be?"
"... No I don't, actually."
"God help us."

On the fifth day, the cart's wheel finally gave out. Horace looked at the cart, leaning at an angle with only one functional wheel.
"I think that's the last of the cart." he said, without any particular regret.
Rebecci looked horrified, "What are we going to do"?
Horace laughed. "I carry what we need on my back, like I have done before. This just means we can't carry as much food, but we are almost at the town anyway."
"So let's set to and work out what to take and what to leave."
The camped there for the night. Her morning nightmare was definitely getting milder. After breakfast, Horace made up his backpack. The sleeping roll was on top, with the tent sheets wrapped around it. Most of the tinned food, which wasn't much by now, was left behind. He took the dried food, and his spare clothes and his cooking gear. Fortunately he had a small day pack as well, which Rebecci carried. He made a pile of the left over tin cans; put them under the cart to keep the rain off.
"We might as well eat as much as we can, so would you like to pick one of the cans of fruit, we will have it before starting off." said Horace.
Rebecci carefully considered the available offerings, and selected a can of peaches. "My favourite".
"Rightio." said Horace. He got out his can opener. After stuffing themselves with canned peaches, he cleaned up the mess. He then wrote a sign on the side of the cart: "Take what you want."

Two days later they were almost at the town. They briefly stopped at a windmill, and Horace had rigged up a tent sheet as a make-shift shower cubicle. They had a wash and did their best to rinse the worse of the dirt out of their clothes. Horace dug out his sole comb and ran it through his hair a few times. Then he spent twenty minutes combing Rebecci's hair.
"Well, all of the knots are out of it now. I'm afraid I don't have any hair ribbons."
"It will have to wait." she said.

By late afternoon they were walking down the main street of the town. Horace had been mulling over what to do. Ideally he wanted boarding at somebody's house, where there were adult females present. He hadn't said anything to Rebecci, but he was acutely conscious of the fact that there were some things a man wasn't much good at, when it came to bringing up a young lady. A bit of guidance from a mature lady would make all the difference. As for the long term, well, they would just have to wait and see what happens.
But how to find such a situation?
The voice came to the rescue. "Turn left here."
"As you wish." said Horace. Rebecci looked up in puzzlement.
"Sorry," said Horace, "I'm just talking to myself. Also we are going down this side street."
Rebecci took his hand; she was thinking that if he did go crazy she could try to calm him down.

There were horses pulling carts clip clopping past, the occasional horse and rider, plus cars and trucks. In their scruffy walking clothes, and packs across their backs, they looked a little out of place, but not too much. The town people who were on foot were in a variety of outfits, ranging from nearly as bad as Horace's and Rebecci's, to almost formal attire. The road they were following was evidently leading to the more residential part of the town. There were fewer businesses and shops, and more houses. It was a nice street, it had trees down both sides, and most of the houses had gardens, overlooked by verandas. Here and there were children playing, a few neighbours gossiped over their fence, a couple of teenage boys were practicing riding a bicycle. They dodged around a horse that was tied to a post, and waited as a car reversed out of a driveway. Horace was beginning to wonder what was the next stage, when a couple, maybe in their mid twenties, came in sight, walking arm in arm down the side of the road towards them.
"Veronica and Wilbur. They are thinking of renting out their two spare bedrooms." said the voice. Its longest announcement yet.

"Well, here goes" said Horace to himself. Holding Rebecci's hand, he waited until the couple were about to pass, then called their attention.
"Good evening, Veronica and Wilbur. I'm sorry to interrupt you, but we are in need of accommodation for a while, and I believe you have some spare bedrooms?"
The couple came to a halt, looking surprised. Wilbur looked Horace over, and decided he didn't look particularly threatening. Veronica had a glance at Horace, and then looked at his hand holding Rebecci's, then looked at Rebecci. Rebecci, in turn, looked at Veronica, and smiled tentatively. She also moved as close as possible to Horace.
"Well, yes we do, but how did you know? We were still talking about it." said Veronica.
Horace shrugged, "Lucky guess I suppose? My name is Horace and this is Rebecci. You see, I have just started to look after her, and my previous life of wandering around as a nomad is just not a suitable lifestyle for bringing up a young lady. Also as a man there are certain, ah, aspects of bring up a lady, emm, which I prefer if there are some ladies around, if you see what I mean."
"Yes, I do" said Veronica, looking at Horace with a certain amount of caution. "How long have you been looking after Rebecci?"
"A week."
Veronica raised her eyebrows. "Indeed." She knelt down on the road, incidentally getting her dress dusty, and spoke to Rebecci.
"How has he been looking after you?" she asked.
Horace also knelt down, and Rebecci put her arms around him and smiled as she looked into Horace's face.
"Very well, madam" said Rebecci.
Horace had smiled back at Rebecci, his face softening.
Veronica looked at them smiling at each other, and made her decision.
Wilbur also saw these smiles and the expression on his wife's face.
"It looks like we have boarders. He does seem to be a nice bloke, anyway." he thought.

Wilbur had shown them the two bedrooms. They were at the back of the house, which by closing off a connecting door became an independent living quarters, there was a living area and a toilet/bathroom and a basic kitchenette.
"Which bedroom do you want, Rebecci?" asked Horace.
Rebecci looked at them both, and picked the one which appeared to have more sunlight and a better view of the garden.
Horace moved his stuff into his bedroom, opened his shirt, unzipped his waist pack and extracted his wallet. He took out a suitable amount of cash and went out to find Wilbur or Veronica.
"Yes, this will do as a bond and the first few weeks board and lodging" said Wilbur, counting the notes.

Later that night, after Rebecci was safely asleep, Horace made is way back to Veronica's and Wilbur's living area.
"Now, if you can tell us how you met Rebecci?" asked Veronica.
"It was about 2:00 in the morning, last week when there was a full moon but it was covered in clouds, she was walking in the rain on the railway track." started Horace.
"How did you see her if it was so dark?" asked Wilbur.
"Oh, the headlight of the train was bright enough..."
At this, Veronica, who had been leaning back a bit, straightened out and slammed her shoes onto the floorboards. "What!"
"How about you start from the beginning and tell us the whole story." she said. It was more of a command.
Which is what he did, including the bit about the voice.

The couple exchanged glances.
"I and my husband will need to talk this out between us," said Veronica, "but you do intend to keep your commitment?"
"Yes, I do."
"If I may ask, why are you taking this on?" said Veronica.
"Because she needs someone to look after her, and I have the time."
"And?"
"And because I love her."
Veronica looked at Horace and nodded her head. "So far, you're doing all the right actions. I just hope you keep that up."
"Yes madam, I hope so too." said Horace. "Tomorrow, if it is possible, I am hoping you will be able to find time to take Rebecci shopping and get her some decent clothes and shoes and everything else she needs. I have enough cash on hand to pay for that. While you are doing the shopping I shall go to the local bank and start arranging an account and a line of credit. I have independent means so I can afford this. I shall also go to the post office and send off a few telegrams to the lawyers who are managing my affairs, since I intend to start the proceedings to adopt Rebecci as my daughter."
"Then in that case I think we will get along handsomely." said Veronica, as she and Wilbur stood up.
Horace said good night and went to his own bedroom.

Horace was waiting outside the local haberdashery. It was just after lunchtime, the following day. He had done his business at the local bank and post office, and now it was a matter of waiting until the telegrams and telephone calls and letters all found their destinations and their replies were returned. Meanwhile, Veronica and Rebecci were finishing off their shopping spree.

Veronica and Rebecci came out of the shop. They weren't carrying much, it was all being delivered. But obviously Rebecci had wasted no time in trying out her new wardrobe, she was wearing a pretty blue dress, brand new shoes, her hair was tied back with a ribbon and she had a fashionable hat to top it all off.
Horace took one look, then looked at Veronica and said, in mock despair "Where's Rebecci, you were supposed to be looking after her but now I can't see her-".
At this, Rebecci poked Horace in the stomach.
"Don't be silly, you know perfectly well who I am!"
"Yes, indeed, and you do look very nice."
"Veronica has taken me shopping and I have three pretty dresses, and two pairs of shoes, and warm socks, and ribbons for my hair, and, and..."
"And various other items that a true gentleman would never inquire about." added Veronica.
"Indeed" said Horace.
"I've also got a stuffed bunny rabbit for my pillow, and some paints and a drawing pad! One day I'm going to paint a portrait of you!" said Rebecci, talking to Horace.
"So you can paint? Very good." said Horace. "I also have been busy..."

Two weeks later they all met at the local lawyer's office. On a previous day Horace had already updated his will and set up various other financial arrangements. The lawyer had a big smile on his face as he laid out all of the documents on the table.
"I am pleased to say everything has come together so well, thanks to Horace's efforts." said the lawyer.
What he was really saying was that the application of Horace's money had worked wonders in finding all of the relevant documents and arranging the legal aspects.
There were legal forms for adopting Rebecci, and legal forms appointing Veronica and Wilbur as Powers of Attorney in the case of anything happening to Horace, and there was event a legal form for Rebecci to sign. This particular form actually didn't have any legal powers behind it, apparently the care of a orphan child can be assigned to whoever without the slightest input from the child themselves. However Horace was adamant that Rebecci be involved, so the lawyer had prepared an official looking document, to be signed by Rebecci and the three adults, saying she agreed to the adoption.
"If you could please sign here" said the lawyer, quite a few times.
So Rebecci signed, and Horace signed, and Veronica and Wilbur signed, and the witnesses signed, and Rebecci became Horace's adopted daughter.
"Hello, my daughter."
"Hello... dad."
They walked home together. That is the three adults walked. Rebecci skipped and hopped home, all the way holding Horace's hand.

Horace stood in the church's vestibule, feeling just slightly self-conscious in his rented suit. The last seven years had added a few lines to the already existing creases on his face. Not all of them were from simple aging, either. Rebecci was never going to be the easiest daughter to bring up. In fact, both Rebecci and Horace were glad to be able to put the worse behind them. So were Aunty Veronica and Uncle Wilbur.

"Don't look so miserable, old man," said Wilbur, playfully punching Horace on the shoulder. "They're going to be living just down the street from us; she'll probably gate crash you every time they have an argument."
"I know."
Horace looked at Rebecci. She was dressed in white, with a long flowing train, currently being held by two little flower girls.
Well, actually, one flower girl, aged seven, knew what to do. The other, aged five, just wanted to give Rebecci a hug.
"Mum, mum!" said the seven year old girl, "Carla keeps wanting to play with aunty Rebecci!"
"Hold the train up, Jennifer, and Carla will copy you. I hope." replied Veronica.
Rebecci was explaining, for the tenth time, to Carla, what she needed to do. Eventually Carla was standing next to her sister holding her side of the dress's train.
Horace was watching this.
"Amazing how she is so patient with the children. Especially considering some of the troubles we've had..."
Rebecci was smiling and talking to the two girls. A slim lady, taller than when he had first met her, but still not a tall as him. Socially confident, most of the time. Strong willed, verging onto obstinacy. Loving towards children. A loving daughter and a loved daughter.

For the last time the voice spoke "Thank you."

Horace blinked, and then nodded in silent affirmation.
"Honey, Horace, Rebecci, its time to move." said Wilbur.
Rebecci straightened out, took Horace's hand and looked up at him.
"Oh, dad" she said, "Where's your hanky". She took it and dried his cheeks.

The music started, more enthusiastic than expert. Horace and his daughter Rebecci walked up the aisle to where the groom and his best man were waiting, with the flower girls in tow.

At the same time, assuming that saying 'at the same time' has any meaning in these circumstances, in a world which was further away than the furtherest galaxy, but simultaneously closer than the smallest sub-atomic distance, a young teenage girl was waking up in a strange bed.

"Where am I?" she asked, in puzzlement.
She remembered falling, and she remembered a fluffy gown. Was she still in the clouds? She fingered the sleeve of her coat. It was no longer fluffy. She looked around at the room she was in. She was lying in a big bed with railing across the bottom. There was a large table, and some chairs and some sparse furnishings. She wiggled her back; she must have slept wrong as there was some sort of uncomfortable stretching pain.

The door opened and in walked a small teenage girl, about twelve. She had blond hair, cut straight around, and was wearing shorts and a t-shirt top, and carrying some shopping.
"It's amazing, you slept the whole day!" she said. "I'm Kuu, pleased to meet you!"
"Oh, hello Kuu." said the girl.
After Kuu came another girl, about fifteen. She was wearing glasses and was taller than Kuu, and looked cute in her miniskirt and top. She was carrying what looked like a frying pan with a hole in the middle.
"Hello, I'm Hikari. Perhaps I should have stayed with you..." she said.
"But you had to go to get the halo mould." said the next girl. This girl was dressed in a mannish trousers and coat, and also looked about fifteen.
"I'm Kana. I hope Hikari doesn't do anything silly this time!"
"Kana, shut up!" said Hikari.
"Oh, ok, my, my, you're really touchy today." said Kana, making a face.
"Hello, Hikari and Kana" said the girl.
Next through the door was a boy, about nineteen, carrying more shopping.
"Hello there, I'm Hyouko. That's Hyouko as in ice-lake, ok!" he said.
The last person, a girl about seventeen, came in and shut the door.
"Hyouko, don't keep going on about that!" she said. She turned to the girl, "He's always saying that, don't mind him. And my name's Midori".
"Oh, hi Hyouko and Midori" said the girl.
By now, the girl couldn't help noticing that every last one of these people had small charcoal coloured wings, and a softly glowing halo.
Kana dragged up and chair and straddled it.
"Hello. Welcome to Old Home" she said.
"Old Home?" said the girl.
"It's this place, where we all live. Kuu and Hikari and I have lived here for all of our time in Guri, while Midori and Hyouko moved here from the abandoned factory a few years ago. We had to have extra help with the children, the House Mother was finding it a bit much all by herself, so they agreed to come over."
"Oh"
"Firstly, would you like to tell us your dream?" said Kana...