Decades upon decades later, Persona stood over the ground where Alice Academy used to stand. It has been almost fifty years, yet why were his memories of this place never staying back in the past where they should be?

Memories are a person's greatest enemy.

Chuckling darkly at the truth he once never believed in, he made his way through the thick woods once known as the Northern Forest, past events bombarding his mind even as he continued to walk. It wasn't amusing anymore. He kept remembering them as if they had only happened yesterday, and not over five decades ago.

His thinking halted for a moment when he stopped by a lake he didn't remember being there. Shrugging it off as nature just changing over time, he peered down at the clear waters… and into his reflection. And then he laughed.

The way he looked was impossibly the same as the Persona from when Alice was still standing. Fifty years. Everything has changed except for him. It was ironic that he—

Persona went stiffly still as all his senses went on full alert. Enemies hunting him down were the least of his worries now—if his calculations were correct, his possible conspirators would now have been old men with great-grandchildren, old men rotting in prison, or hell, simply just dead men. This precaution could all be just for a stray animal or this forest's keeper (though he highly doubts someone takes care of the forest anymore), but he spent most of his life guarded. Give the man a break. Old habits die hard.

He remained in his standing position but kept his eyes to the bunch of trees to his side. Too quickly than he'd expected, someone darted from those trees. He almost went into a defensive stance if not for the fact that the person who jumped was just a mere kid.

Familiarity warmed a part of him as he stared at the little boy of about ten. Those black locks and cat eyes were very much like his favorite Kuro Neko's. Son, grandson, or great-grandson? He wondered.

The kid finally noticed Persona's presence. He ran to the older man in that clumsy way kids always tend to have. As he got closer, Persona got a closer look at how he resembled his Hyuuga boy.

"Hey." He smiled. Over the years he'd finally learn to do that without looking like he was grimacing. "Did you come here alone? What's your name, child?"

"My name's Kai. Kai Hyuuga." He just wouldn't wipe that smile off of his face. "Papa and Grandpop are coming soon to see my secret place. I told them about this pretty lake but they wouldn't believe me. They said there ain't no lake around this place. So I wanted to show it to 'em myself."

Persona's eyes strayed to the waters then back at Kai. "Hmm. Do you know Natsume Hyuuga?"

Kai laughed. His expression now was filled with adoration by hearing the name. "He's my—"

"Kai, where in Hayley G. Hoover's name are you?" A rustle from the spot of trees where Kai came from.

"Papa!" Kai swiveled around and ran to where his father was. "Papa, look, I met a friend!"

The little dynamite of a kid disappeared in the forest and then reappeared with a brunette man. This family was playing a joke on him, Persona was sure of it. Kai's papa was Mikan Sakura in a man's body.

Kai's dad immediately spotted Persona and ushered his son behind him.

Persona cocked his head to the side. He was nothing but friendly to the kid. He looked down at himself and figured out why. Over the years he hadn't been able to change out of his black clothes. He stood up and raised both his hands up, showing the other man that he was unarmed. Or something.

"I'm not here to harm your child." He smirked. "In fact, I was already leaving before you came." A lie.

He retreated slowly to assure the father and son that he wasn't up to no good. Kai shouted at him, telling him to wait, but he was long gone before the kid even finished his sentence. Soon he was ignored by the two as they fawned over the supposedly nonexistent lake.

Persona didn't leave right away. He propped himself up on one sturdy tree near the clearing, watching the little familial scene below. They talked about a lot of things. Man, these two had a lot of Mikan Sakura in them. The seemingly endless chatter halted when a third person came into the clearing.

Ah, there goes my Kuro Neko.

Even in old age he'd been able to recognize his favorite Black Cat. He didn't quite expect the way he looked, actually. The bald head and hunched back he expected was instead a good mane of black hair with little grays and a big and lean body that wouldn't be mistaken for an old man's.

He's becoming old now, that bastard. Persona finally tore his eyes from the family. And very soon he was back to his own little thought bubble. Hell, he was going to be around until this family's next generation. And the next. And the next…

I was born to curse the living; I was cursed to live forever.

He forced the image of the family away from his mind in vain. Something foreign clawed at his heart. It… hurt knowing that he got to live without experiencing the ephemeral joy of living life to its fullest. He had life, period. He's got more, and definitely no less.

I wrote this a while back under the prompt 'ephemeral' for The Revolution. I found it in one of my folders so I decided to upload it. :)

o3o