Renton smiled and wiped some of the sweat from his face. He shielded his eyes from the sun as he watched Eureka step around the construction towards him.

"Renton! Water," she smiled back at him broadly, holding out a bottle.

"Thanks, Eureka." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, and took a quick swig. But, he had to turn back to his work. At the moment, he was building a wall. He had all the materials he needed, and help from a few of the surviving scientists down at the base who had lived through The Flood, it was just hard in the hot sun that shone overhead.

He stepped back for a moment to admire his work. Their house. His and Eureka's. At the moment, it looked a bit lopsided and wasn't even close to being finished. But that was fine. He was at the Warsaw hill with Eureka, and that was all that mattered.

"Hey, Renton!" came a voice from the far side of the soon-to-be house. It was Lucas, one of the men who had volunteered to help him and Eureka out.

"Yeah?" Renton asked, stepping over a pile of building materials to shake hands with Lucas. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing," said Lucas. "Just that me and the others are gonna head back to the base real quick. Gotta get the new glass for the window panes."

"Oh," Renton said. "Cool. I guess I'll just keep working on the structure of this wall, then."

"Yeah. We've got the base of the interior pretty much set up. Just need you to check on it."

"Thanks, Lucas. See you soon."

Renton saw Lucas and a couple other of the guys leave the worksite. He wouldn't want to make the long walk in the heat like this, but that was their choice.

Speaking of the sun, he looked over at Eureka. She was kneeling down in the grass, playing with a ladybug she had found. She had chosen a beautiful white outfit today. She had taken to wearing clothes fairly quickly.

Renton felt, just for a moment, tears sting his eyes. If she had been able to go out in the sun before, what might she have done? What might they have done?

Then he smiled. She had sacrificed her personality so that they would have time together. And he was thankful for that: so thankful, it made his heart want to burst open. But still, he couldn't be faulted for wondering how things might have been, right? Eureka probably would have called him an idiot right about now. He wiped the tears from his eyes. She was right. He was happy, with her. That was what was important.

Renton felt a hand on his arm. Looking around at Eureka, he saw she was pointing behind them.

"What's that?" she looked at him plaintively, her bottom lip sticking out just a little bit. Renton wasn't entirely sure how much of everything she understood yet. She might have been pointing toward a bird, or a stray battleship, although those were rarely around anymore.

"I don't know Eureka, what is it?" he asked, turning around. Eureka looked beautiful today, with her hair tied back in a ponytail that reached all the way down her back. She had never wanted to cut her hair, which was fine, because he didn't want her to either. Although, if she did, he would have been fine with it. It just... would've reminded him of before.

"I don't see..." he started, looking around. But then he stopped. There, just off the horizon, was a shape he recognized.

"Green," Eureka said under her breath. She latched on to Renton's shoulders from behind, and tried to make soothing motions. Perhaps she could tell he was... agitated.

"Eureka," he said. He turned around, making sure she was listening to him. Although, generally, she was pretty good at paying attention to him. He loved her... so much. Renton shook his head. He had to get her safe.

"Eureka," he began again, "you need to go down to the checkpoint between here and the Warsaw base."

She looked at him a bit confusedly.

"Check-point?"

Renton nodded his head. He mimed the shape of the small lodge, and it's garden.

"Checkpoint, lodge, flowers, garden, windows."

At window she lit up. She had been most excited to discover them at first, running in and out of the lodge to see through both sides.

"Window... lodge!" she grinned, clearly glad to have figured it out.

"Yes Eureka. Now go there. Fast." He made a running motion with his arms.

She looked at him woundedly. "I don't want to go," she said.

"Eureka, please," Renton pleaded. "It's important."

Something in his tone must have convinced her, because, with a final glance back at Renton, she stepped around the construction site and then started running in the opposite direction.
Renton let out a sigh of relief. He would protect her, no matter what. At least it was getting easier to communicate with her. She had made a lot of progress in only a few months.

He looked back at the looming Gekko, and noticed he had tightened his grip on the trowel he was holding. What did they want?

Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

..............................................

"Hey, Eureka?"

"Yes Renton?"

Renton looked out at the sight before them. The sun was just rising, casting rays of fresh light over the verdant valley. Several glistening waterfalls reflected the new sun, their faint sound reaching his ears.

He looked over at Eureka. She was still watching sunrise over the valley, her face completely still, calm, at peace.

Renton felt all those words could describe him as well. He brushed some of her lengthening hair off of her shoulder. She leaned into him, holding his hands in her lap.

There was another word that described them. In love.

"Yes Renton?" she asked again, slightly tilting her face up into his. He kissed her. He couldn't help it. The sun was playing slightly off of her face, her eyes sparkling. It was slightly awkward, kissing her upside-down, but nothing they hadn't done before.

"I was going to say that... maybe we should go back pretty soon."

She smiled. "I was thinking the same thing, Renton. Maurice, Maeter, Link and everyone else is probably missing us by now. I think it's time that we went back to our family."

"Right," Renton said. He laid back on the ground. "I wonder how Holland and everyone else is doing."

"We should go find out," Eureka said, laying down beside him.

The both looked up at the artificial sky of the Earth in silence for a while, just enjoying the sounds of the Earth.

"Yeah."

"Renton?"

"Yeah, Eureka?"

"How are we going to get back?"

Renton blinked.

"I... really don't know."

Eureka smiled at him. "That's alright," she said. "I'm sure you'll figure out something. You always come up with a way, Renton."

Renton smiled back. "That's right."

He kissed her again. It was still the same as the first time, he felt the same euphoric feeling of sheer happiness and contentment.

He wondered how his grandfather was doing.

Well, it was time to find out.

…................................................

Holland Novak looked out through the bridge's segmented windows. The mountain here was pretty. He could see why the kid – no, Renton – would want to live here. In fact, he felt just a little bit of jealousy of the nice set-up they had here. Only an hours walk down to the ocean, too. Of course, everyone these days had an ocean view.

He felt someone's eyes on the back of his neck. Leaning back in the command chair, he looked up to see Talho looking down at him. She was up on the observation level, as usual. She hardly ever seemed to be in charge of the ship anymore. Of course, she did have other pressing duties.

"How's Wendy/" he asked her.

"Oh, she's fine. She fell asleep a little while ago. She loves that crib that Lady Coda gave us."

Holland grimaced. "You know I'm still uncomfortable with her being so kind to us. It doesn't make any sense to me why she would do it."

"Look Holland," Talho sighed, clearly exasperated with her husband. "After she came over to ask us stuff for that book she's writing, she asked me if there was anything I needed for the baby. She was really taken with her, you know."

Holland reached a hand behind his head, and slumped in his chair. "Yeah, I know all that. But still... she's kind of creepy. And old."

Talho smiled. "You know, pretty soon we're gonna look a lot like her."

"Not all that soon," Ken-Goh spoke up from the front. "Remember what Mischa said."

"Yeah, I know. But that doesn't change the fact that we're still aging faster than normal."

"But not as fast as we were, right?" Gidget added. "That's got to count for something."

"Gidget's right," Woz said from the side. "We've all accepted what we've got. There's no point in brooding over it."

"It doesn't matter."

Everyone looked at Holland.

"It doesn't matter," he continued, "as long as we use the time we have, then we don't have anything to complain about. We're still human beings. My... daughter proves that. I think we should be thankful for what we've been given. And that's why we're here."

Everyone nodded.

Holland closed his eyes. It was one of the few things left on his list of stuff to do. He'd be damned if he wasn't going to finish it.

"Hey, guys?"

Holland opened his eyes again, sitting up in his chair. He folded his arms.

"What, Moondoggie?"

"Where are we gonna land? There's construction stuff all over the place."

Woz spoke up. "There's a pretty clear landing area over by the lodge a little bit down the mountain."

Holland nodded.

"Do it."

…..............................................

Renton was running, his breath coming in short, quick gasps. His lungs felt like someone was stabbing a knife into him repeatedly. The mountain air was not made for running. His shoes flung dirt behind him as he ran.

They had just flown over him! The bastards, they had known all along where he would send Eureka. They must have planned the whole thing out. Come to think of it, maybe they had even timed it so that Lucas and the others would be gone! Or maybe they were all in league with each other? He didn't know. He didn't care. He just ran.

What did they want her for this time, anyway? He didn't know.

He only knew one thing. He had to protect Eureka.

He could see the Gekko below him. They had landed in a large, flat area. The grass there was now crushed. He had forgotten how big the ship was. It dwarfed the tiny checkpoint lodge. But it didn't matter.

He could see figures. One looked like the Commander. With a final burst of speed and a yell, he threw himself at the taller man.

They both sprawled to the ground. Renton could hear voices around him, but they didn't matter. This man was responsible for so many of the bad things that had happened to Eureka. This man was responsible.

Renton punched him in the face.

He felt a restraining hand on his arm. He pulled free, and threw another punch. The other man didn't even try to protect himself. He just laid there and took it. It made Renton angry.

"You... bastard!"

He felt someone grab him. They wrapped their arms around his chest, tried to pull him up. Then he felt tears on his shoulder. That made him pause. He looked around to see Eureka hugging him, trying to pull him away, making indistinct sounds.

"Renton! No!" she said, looking at him tearfully. "Don't... don't!"

"Eureka..." he stared. He looked at her. She didn't remember this. She didn't remember the Commander, the Gekko. Nothing.

He found he had stood up. Eureka buried herself in his arms, mumbling into his shirt. He put a hand around her. He felt strange. Disconnected.

He looked around, only now recognizing people he had gotten to know during his time on the Gekko. There was Mr. Matthieu, Ken-Goh, Talho, Misha, and a couple others he couldn't quite remember the names of.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked. For some reason, he couldn't really feel all that angry at them anymore. Eureka wouldn't like it.

"You make a guy feel real welcome, Renton."

Renton turned around. Commander Holland had gotten up. He was wiping some blood from his nose on his pants.

"What do you want with Eureka?" Renton demanded.

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I said nothing."

"No. I wouldn't"

He didn't know what the Commander was getting at. What was his game?

Talho walked over. She put a hand on his shoulder. Renton looked at her. He had never really had anything against Talho. She looked older, but not as much as he had imagined she would.

"Can we all go inside that lodge?" she asked kindly.

Eureka reached out a hand and traced the pattern of the flower on Talho's cheek. Talho looked at her confusedly for a moment. Then she blinked, putting up an uncertain smile. Eureka smiled back broadly.

"Flower... pretty," Eureka said.

Renton interjected. He realized, as much as he didn't trust these people, they had a lot to talk about.

"Let's... let's all go inside."

He and Eureka walked up the steps to the front of the lodge. Eureka still hung close to him. He could tell she was uncertain if he was alright or not.

He looked into her eyes, and smiled.

"It's alright. I'm O.K," he reassured.

She grinned and kissed him on the cheek. He opened the door to the lodge, holding her close. He didn't care what the Gekko wanted with Eureka. He wasn't going to let them have it.

He walked in to the lodge, opening some of the windows to let in the air, and light. It was a little bit stuffy in the small room. It wasn't always occupied. In fact, it was generally all closed up. Eureka plopped down on a small couch in the main room. Renton wanted to join her.

Commander Holland, and the rest slowly filed in, sitting down on some of the chairs and couches. There weren't enough. The Commander remained standing, leaning against one of the walls. Renton went over to the rusted sink and got him a paper towel for his bloody, slightly twisted nose. Mischa walked over and started looking at it.

Talho started speaking after Renton had got them all drinks of water, and had sat down next to Eureka. She clung close to him, unsure now of all these strangers, probably.

"Look, Renton," she began, "we felt that, after everything that happened, there were some things that were left... unresolved."

"And that we owed you an apology!" said the girl – Gidget?

Renton was taken aback. "An.. an apology?"

"Well," Talho said, "something like that."

Renton clenched his fists. Eureka looked up at him worriedly.

"Renton?" she asked.

"You guys, you think you can just apologize?" He stood up and glared at them all. "You think you can just wave away what you all did with an apology?"

Talho looked down.

"You held us hostage!" he yelled. "You were going to drug me for your own purposes. I got shot!"

"Yeah, but-" Ken-Goh started.

"You took advantage of Eureka!" Renton stalked around the room, pacing. "You planned to use her for your own selfish purposes, even though you knew it would be harmful to the world! Your crew members attacked and assaulted her!"

"That wasn't-" Gidget said.

Renton tried to stop, but tears started coming to his eyes. He pointed at the Commander. "You tried to kill us! When you couldn't get your way, you attacked us, and we would've died if it hadn't been for Eureka and Nirvash. And then... and then they... they both... they left."

He was really crying now. He wished he wasn't. He didn't want them to see him so weak. He didn't want Eureka to see him hurt. He looked toward Commander Holland. The man didn't say anything, just leaned against the wall, staring at the wood floor, arms crossed across his chest.

Renton was about to say something else, but Eureka got up and tried to bring him back towards the couch. He looked at her. She looked scared.

Mr. Matthieu raised a hand.

"Umm... I hate to interrupt, but what happened to the girl.. er... Eureka?"

Renton sat down on the couch again. Eureka's hands tried to wipe away his tears. He looked at her, and covered her hands with his, putting them in his lap. He looked at Mr. Matthieu.

"I told you, didn't I? She left. She sacrificed herself to save the planet. To save me."

"Then who's-"

Renton looked down.

"She's not... not the same person you had on your ship."

Talho looked close to tears herself. Gidget had covered her mouth with both hands. Mr. Matthieu looked confused. Commander Holland had looked up, one eyebrow raised.

There was a long pause.

"This isn't all of you." Renton suddenly realized. "Where's Hilda? And... and the other guys?"

Talho smiled. "Moondoggie's probably asleep at his station, Woz and Jobs are arguing about wind dynamics, and Hilda's taking care of my baby Wendy. "

Renton blinked. Then he started to piece things together, and looked at the Commander. A thought occurred to him, and he looked back at Talho.

"Is it-"

"It'll have the same growth rate as a normal human," Talho smiled. "Thanks for asking."

In spite of himself, Renton couldn't help smiling too.

Talho continued. "She's the reason Holland stopped attacking you."

Renton leaned back in the couch.

"Really?"

Mischa spoke up. "The fact that he had a child brought Holland back to his senses. Isn't that right, Holland?" She looked at him expectantly.

Holland grunted.

"He's not very good at giving apologies," Talho said, smiling.

Renton looked at Eureka. She had been sitting up, listening intently, since she had heard the word 'baby'. She had seen one a month or two ago, and had been intensely interested in it. Renton didn't think she entirely understood what it was, but he could only guess.

"Can we go see the baby?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," Holland said, surprising everyone. "I think she's awake right now."

He turned toward the door, stopping halfway through. He looked back at everyone.

"Well?"

He shrugged, and then closed the door behind him.

"That's our Fearless Leader," Mr. Matthieu muttered under his breath.

"Well, we'd better go follow him," Ken-Goh said.

"Yeah," said Gidget.

They all got up, and left. Talho stood up, and looked at Renton and Eureka.

"Are you coming, Renton?"

Renton looked up at her, then over at Eureka, who looked fairly curious. She clearly could tell something was going on. He looked back at Talho, and stood up.

"Yeah," he said. Eureka stood up with him.

"Yeah," she said. Talho looked at her and smiled. She smiled back.

...........................................................................

"What is it?"

"I don't know."

Renton and Eureka stood near one of the giant pillars that existed everywhere around the Earth. But...

"This one's different." Renton said.

"I know."

She held his hand a little worriedly. She could feel something was off. He could tell.

"Are you alright?"

She looked at him and smiled.

"Yes Renton. I'm fine."

Renton thought her wings looked a little down, which generally meant she was feeling confused, but he held off from saying so.

He turned back to the giant pillar. It had to be at least as large around as one of the Coralian storms he remembered. But unlike the ones that he and Eureka had seen elsewhere on their travels, this one just felt... different. He didn't really know how to describe it.

"I think we should go inside," Eureka said slowly.

"Go inside?"

"Yes."

"But, Eureka, these things don't have any way in. We've checked."

"This one does." She pointed.

Renton followed her gaze. She was right. There was what looked like a small opening near the base of the pillar.

"An opening? I wonder who put it there."

Eureka looked at him. "I think we should go in. It feels like it might be our answer to getting back to the others."

"It feels like it?"

"Yeah. Renton, let's go in. If it gets us back to the kids, and everyone else, then we should try it."

Renton was unsure. But he soon found himself walking with Eureka down towards the opening through the scrubby underbrush.

"Hey, Eureka?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been wondering... what you want to do when we get back."

Eureka was quiet for a little bit. Then she smiled.

"After we see the crew of Gekko, and our family, I'd like to talk to Anemone and Dominic. We never really got to talk to them about everything, and they're the only people who can really... understand us."

She looked down. "There are some other things I'd like to do that we haven't done yet-"

Renton blushed.

"-like visit that place you said Charles showed you."

"Oh." Renton felt stupid for a moment. But then he thought of something.

"Where are we going to live, Eureka?"

"I thought we'd live on the Gekko." She looked a little confused. He brushed some of the hair out of her face. They might have kissed then. A short while ago, they would have. But they had been trying to... moderate things a bit in light of seeing everyone again.

"Well, yeah, we could stay there for a while. I want to too. But don't you want to, eventually have someplace that we can really call our own? I met that man whose wife had the desperation disease... or, didn't-"

"You told me about him," Eureka said. "It sounded so nice that they still loved each other, and that he took care of her even when she wasn't able to."

"Yeah," agreed Renton. "And he had built their house with his own hands. It was beautiful."

"Well..." Eureka said. She looked unsure.

"You don't have to say anything now," Renton said, "just think about it."

"OK, Renton."

The brush around them suddenly opened up, and they found themselves staring in the face of an enormous cavern. Renton thought the Gekko would have been able to maneuver in there no problem. Maybe two Gekkos could have fit.

"Is that the hole we saw from far away?" he wondered out loud.

"I think it is," Eureka said.

"But it's so big. I wonder what it was for."

"Let's find out."

She smiled at him.

"Yeah."

They walked under the lip of the cave. It wasn't really all that dark, considering how much light was pouring in through it's gigantic opening.

Renton felt the ground underneath his feet change.

"Wh- stone?"

Eureka stopped when he did.

"What is it, Renton?"

"It feels.... I don't know. Not natural."

"Is that unusual?"

He looked at her, in the light, her hairclip reflected the light, shining golden in her hair.

"Well, yeah," he said.

"But the last cave we were in had a carved floor."

"That was a man-made chamber though, for holding Ms. Sakuya."

"And the one before that, where... where I tried to go back through the Scubs."

"But that was because there was a city built in there."

"Well, maybe a city was built in here."

Renton looked around him. The walls of the cave looked perfectly normal.

"But that's...impossible?"

"Renton, nothing's impossible. The fact that I'm here with you proves that."

She leaned into him. They took a quick kissing break.

Later, when they started walking deeper into the cave, Renton couldn't help but bring it up again.

"I wonder if it's on the remains of one of Earth's cities," he said.

"Renton, look!" Eureka ran over to one of the walls. "There's stairs here!"

"Stairs?" Renton walked over. She was right. A large staircase carved out of the rock.

"I wonder how high it goes?" Eureka wondered. Then she brightened. "Renton, it might go all the way to the surface!"

Renton thought about it, but couldn't find anything wrong with the idea.

"You're right, it might. Let's go up and see."

The staircase was very dark. For some reason though, there started to be glowing crystals at even intervals after a short distance up. It reminded Renton of the light in the cave, where all the LFOs had been dying. He shivered.

"Eureka... this feels weird."

She gripped his hand tighter.

"I know. Let's just see how much farther we can go."

After what felt like several hours, they emerged onto a... platform of sorts. It was a circular room, with the crystals shining brightly. Renton could see the entrance to another staircase leading still further up. He felt worn out, and tired. But if they had to climb more stairs, he would do it. For the his family, and the crew of the Gekko, and most of all, for Eureka, he would do it.

"Renton, there's writing on the walls."

He looked over to where Eureka was standing, close to one of the glowing crystals protruding from the walls.

"What?" he asked.

"Writing, on the walls. Come look."

He walked over to where she was, and saw she was right. All over the walls, there were huddled clusters of writing, in handwriting varied and even in some different languages.
Renton leaned close to read the nearest one.

"This says 'that Rio Espenada find the cure for desperation disease,' Eureka," he said.

She nodded. "This one over here says 'that Robin Dustael will communicate with the Coralian Control Cluster.'"

"I don't get it," Renton began. "What are these things?"

"They're wishes," she said slowly.

Renton blinked, then looked at the writing again.

"Yeah, Eureka, I think you're right."

He ran his hand over the wall. It felt so smooth to his touch. But also very cold.

"How did these get here?"

"I don't know," Eureka said. "But I don't think many of them came true."

Renton looked over at her. She looked back at him, her eyes sad.

"I don't think any of these came true, Renton."

"Why do you say that?"

"They feel cold, lifeless."

Renton pressed a hand against the wall again. He was surprised when it suddenly gave way.

"Wh-?"

He stumbled, falling flat on his face.

"Renton!" Eureka cried, and rushed to his side. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Renton mumbled. His face hurt, but it'd be fine. He'd suffered much worse. "What was that? The wall just... disappeared."

"Renton..." Eureka was looking around at the walls of the new chamber they were in. It was smaller... but brighter, for some reason.

"What is it?"

"Is that a compact drive?"

Renton sat up. He saw it now, too. On a... pedestal in the middle of the room, was a glowing compact drive.

"Yeah, it is. I wonder what's it's doing here."

Eureka had gotten up, and was staring at the writing on the walls of this new chamber. Renton got up and joined her.

"Renton, these wishes have been granted. I just know it!"

"Huh."

Renton didn't know what exactly was going on. But then he saw something... a handwriting he recognized.

"Hey, Eureka, this is my Sis' handwriting!"

She rushed over to where he was standing.

"Really?"

"Yeah, look. 'That Diane Thurston will be able to find her father.'"

"That's great Renton! That means that these stairs must be the way that people were able to find the control cluster over the years."

Renton felt strange. This place, even if his sister had been here felt... too powerful.

"Maybe we should just keep going up the stairs."

"Sure, in a minute," Eureka said distractedly. She looked around. "I wonder if there's... There's some!"

She rushed over to the far side of the room, and picked something up off the ground.

"Look, Renton! We could write our wishes on the wall too!"

Renton looked at the chalk she held in her hand. If she wanted to do it, then it was fine by him.

"O.K.," Renton said. "Let's do it."

Eureka went over to a blank space on the wall. She started writing, and spoke as she wrote.

"That Renton, and Eureka.... will be able to see Maurice, Maeter, and Linck again... as well as the crew of the Gekko, and everyone we know and love." She signed it, then held out the chalk to Renton.

"I think I should have put 'they' instead of 'we'. But it's O.K. Here, Renton, you should sign it too."

Renton nodded. She smiled.

"Yeah."

He took the chalk, and signed his name.

There was a blinding flash of rainbow light from the compact drive. Renton instinctively protected Eureka with his body, and shielded his eyes. They were both thrown against the wall, and Renton felt like his eyelids were burned through.

It was dark when he opened his eyes. He guessed he needed to readjust.

"Eureka, are you-"

She nodded, smiling up at him.

"Yes, Renton. I'm fine. Thanks for protecting me." She gave him a quick kiss.

He stood up.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"I think we should just keep moving."

"Yeah, I think so too."

After their eyes readjusted, they made their way back over to the next flight of stairs.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to get very tired of stairs?" Renton asked himself.

"Don't worry," Eureka reassured him. "We're going to see everyone again, I just know it!"

They started up the stairs running.

…...................................

Holland leaned against the doorway of Wendy's room. Everyone else was inside, Talho was holding the baby out to Eureka. The blue-haired girl was looking at Wendy like she was the greatest thing in the world.

Holland smiled. He had to admit, Wendy was the greatest thing in the world. He just wondered sometimes how much time he'd have with her.

He really wanted to talk to Renton. It wasn't that he wasn't good at giving apologies - well, maybe he wasn't with some people – but he liked his apologies to be personal. Heart – to – heart. And he wanted the kid to know exactly how he felt.

Quite honestly, he was impressed, and maybe just a little bit jealous of the kid. That Renton had risked everything, almost killed himself to save the girl he loved. Now, he would live a good, long life with her exactly where he had wanted to. It was almost like a fairy-tale.

He shook his head. No. No more fairy-tales. He was done with that kind of bullshit.

"Holland?"

He turned around. Mischa was standing in the hallway.

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you going to say hello to the baby?"

Holland looked back at the room full of happy, bubbling people.

"Looks like they've got it covered."

"I see. You want to talk to Renton."

Holland could see Renton. He was a little apart from everyone else, keeping careful watch over Eureka.

"Yeah. I guess I do."

And, on a spur of the moment decision, Holland beckoned to Renton. The kid looked up.

"Want to take a quick walk with me?"

Everyone looked at him. He hated it when they did that. It made him feel like some sort of time bomb or something. Holland could see the distrust in the kid's eyes; he kind of felt guilty about that. But then Renton slowly nodded, looking over at Talho. How come he trusted her?

"Talho..." Renton trailed off.

Talho looked at the kid a bit exasperatedly.

"Don't worry, Eureka will be fine. I promise."

Looking slightly mollified, Renton moved over to the door, where Holland was.

"Commander, look. I-"

"Just call me Holland."

Renton kind of looked like that might be the last thing he could do. He was about to say something else, too. But Holland cut him off.

"Take a walk with me?"

Renton just nodded.

They walked out of the Gekko in silence. Holland wasn't entirely sure what to say, yet. He thought Renton looked a bit uncomfortable, but he didn't really know what to say to solve that. There was a barrier there.

"Nice place you've got up here," Holland said.

Renton nodded.

"It's a beautiful mountain," he tried again.

Renton just nodded.

"Why'd you choose to live here?"

"We made a promise."

The way he said it made Holland not want to pursue that line further. But Renton spoke first, next.

"Why did you ask me to take a walk with you?"

Holland put his hands behind his head.

"I guess I just wanted you to understand why I did the things I did, and why I know they're wrong now."

"But why? I wouldn't think that my feelings would matter to you."

Holland smiled. This kid just wouldn't let up.

"I'm going to die one day. One day sooner than most people. But not as soon as I thought I would."

Renton looked at him.

"What does that mean?"

Holland shrugged.

"You'd have to ask Mischa for all the details. But basically, the energies released during The Flood acted on our... condition. She says we've got quite a bit longer than we would have hoped for. Still not nearly as long as most people, but longer than we thought."

Renton was silent, looking out at the mountain landscape. Holland continued.

"So, you see Renton? In doing what you did, you not only got rid of the Image, and save the world, but you also saved us. The crew of the Gekko. And that's what I want you to know."

"I didn't do it on purpose," Renton said.

Holland nodded.

"Yeah, but it still happened. And I'm still grateful."

They both heard footsteps. Turning, Holland saw Eureka and Talho running up behind them.

"Renton!" Eureka gasped, and threw herself at him. Holland saw Renton's face go rapidly from confusion, to distrust, to suspicion.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded.

Talho looked at Renton, smiling. She was breathing rather heavily. Holland felt a little twinge of worry, but dismissed it. Talho could take care of herself.

"Nothing. She just saw you weren't around, and decided to chase after you."

Renton's expression changed to guilty. He looked at the girl in his arms. She looked up at him. Holland could tell she was almost in tears.

"Don't go," she pleaded. Renton hugged her close.

"I'm so sorry, Eureka. I promise to never leave you again."

Holland raised an eyebrow. Some commitment, that. The young couple held each other for a moment.

Talho moved over to where Holland was.

"So. Did you say what you wanted to say?" she asked him.

"Yeah," Holland said. That was all Talho needed. She could probably figure out the rest.

He wrapped his arm around her, both of them looking at the younger couple embracing for a moment.

"You know," Talho whispered, "they really are amazing."

"Yeah," Holland agreed.

They all stood there for a while. It was getting close to sunset. The sky was painted shades of orange and purple. It was all pretty beautiful.

Holland saw Eureka's head turn, distracted. She pointed at something off to Holland's right.

"Renton, what's that? Renton?"

He looked over to where she was pointing. It looked like a small flower, glowing in a crazy combination of colors.

Renton looked over.

"Luna-" he started. "But they don't bloom... don't even grow this time of year."

The two pairs were slowly drawn over to where the small flower was blooming. Renton started talking, almost to himself.

"This flower grants wishes. Our Teacher said so. He showed us one, a long time ago. Me and Eureka."

The girl looked up at her name. Renton smiled at her.

"A lifetime ago," he said.

Holland watched the flower. He had heard of it, of course. It was actually in the Ageha mythology in a place or two. But he had never actually seen it.

"I wish," Renton suddenly said, "I... I wish I could have seen how things might have turned out.:

Suddenly, the flower stopped glowing like a rainbow. It just sat there, like any old flower. There was only a split-second warning before it burst open.

There was an explosion of color and light. Holland felt himself thrown back, landing on the ground some five feet away. Talho landed on top of him.

He opened his eyes. He hadn't realized he had closed them.

"Talho..."

"I'm alright," she said.

"No, not that. Renton and Eureka are gone."

It was true. Holland looked around. The field they had detoured into was empty, save for what looked like the remains of the little flower.

"Where did they go?" he wondered aloud.

...........................................