It was over, as far as I could tell.

Haruhi had unknowingly and possibly unwillingly given up her "godly" powers. It was simple, I suppose. She never listened to logic and even less did she consider the "unworldly." It took about as long as expected, but just like that, Haruhi stopped showing any sort of unusual behavior. She gave up her god powers. She was a normal girl, like she always thought she was, at least normal in the world-altering sense. She was still as eccentric as ever, excelled in academics and athletics, but in the end, she no longer possessed the ability to tamper with the natural world.

I should say I am relieved… but dammit if this wasn't a frustrating mess. And it continued. The ridiculousness never stopped with her regardless of having powers or not.

That's what I thought at least. I figured the SOS Brigade was a staple in this universe even sans the time-altering, ESPer infested, alien occupied mess it was.

So imagine my surprise when Koizumi approached me after school one day before I had even left my classroom.

"Hello," he said in that faux pleasantness that I was accustomed to. Something was strange though. He lacked his ever-present bewitching smile. Though it always annoyed me, it was even worse when he looked serious. That faking bastard, what does he want now?

"As I'm sure you've long been aware… Suzumiya-san no longer possesses the means in which to alter the universe."

Yes, I'm aware. We've been over this before.

He smiled faintly, "Well, I planned on saying this delicately but I guess it's easier for me to just out and say it."

Out with it, I've got places to be.

"My Agency has reassigned me. I will be leaving this school very soon. I wish you a pleasant life in whatever is ahead for you. Perhaps we shall remain in touch."

I stood there, mouth slowly falling open the more he rambled on. What was that again, Koizumi? He's leaving? I didn't know whether to be happy or sad. He was an annoying stick in my side but he stood by us all this time. I still didn't trust him though. I asked if this was a joke.

He just chuckled in response, his annoying smile plastered on his face as usual. Some goodbye this was. "No jokes here, this time. I hope through our difficult situations, you've warmed up to me somewhat, hmm?"

Koizumi leaned towards me as I leaned back. It was a reflex, I suppose.

Laughing, he returned to his original posturing but I noticed a haunch in his back. He looked more worn than I have ever seen him. Smile, dammit. I'm not used to this serious side of you.

He smiled, "I've only ever been serious with you, Kyon-kun. Thank you for being so understanding in all of this. In the end, I'm sad to say, we still never solved the mystery behind you." He leaned in again, "perhaps the answer lies ahead."

I flinched away from his whispering words. Always the creepy one, aren't you? Even when saying goodbye.

Though that last thought stung a little. Here we were, in the middle of some random hallway, actually saying goodbye. Something seized in my throat but my face remained as pinched as ever. Koizumi laughed again, patting me on the shoulder.

"I won't be gone until tomorrow so perhaps we can say our heartfelt goodbyes then. I still have Suzumiya-san to give my apologies to," his face fell slightly but he perked up almost instantly. His smile in place as it always was. "Until then…" he waved behind himself as he walked away.

I was slightly at a loss for words. I never even considered the SOS Brigade being down a member, even if the situation has definitely changed. I figured he was still a student and still had school to finish out. I guess I was wrong. I hung my head as I walked towards the clubroom.

…

Knocking on the door as I was used to, I heard the timid voice of Asahina-san calling out to me. Ah, Asahina-san, I knew she was always a stable figure in this wavering landscape. When I walked inside, instead of being greeted by her lovely maid costume, offering me steaming and delicious tea, Asahina-san was standing near the table, hands clasped in front of her.

I walked in but before I could speak, she was bowing her head down low.

"T-Thank you very much!" She said between hiccups. When she stood back up, her eyes were filled with tears. The very sight incited tears of my own to form. Asahina-san! What wretched beast made you cry? I swore I would have their head.

She continued to shake as she tried her hardest to gather the strength to speak.

"K-Kyon-kun… for everything you have d-done for us, I'd like to thank you for your hard work! I am no longer need- need-!" She broke into a fresh wave of sobs. "Needed in this time! I…I- will be returned to my own time shortly!" She finished the rest of her speech in quick hurried gasps.

I stood rooted to the spot. What on Earth did she just say? I was imagining things right now, wasn't I?

"Asahina-san," I laughed nervously. Clearly I had gone temporarily mad and had misheard the clearly insane sentences she just uttered. "What was that?"

Shaking her head, she clutched her slender hands to her face and sobbed louder than I have ever heard her. The sound broke my heart. The pain of which shook me out of my stupor. The words had finally sunk in.

"You're… leaving?"

Her head bobbed up and down.

"To your original time… in the future?"

She nodded again.

The world turned black around me. It was inevitable, I should have known. Even students graduate high school one day. But not yet, not for another year or so. We all still had time together. First Koizumi and now Asahina-san? I couldn't stand for it. I wouldn't stand for it!

I slammed my fist into the wall besides me. She jumped, and I rushed forward to grab her tiny, innocent hands. Cheeks blazing, I spoke what words I had left inside me. "Asahina, I won't let you leave! Who is making you return? The work isn't done here yet!"

I knew I was mad for trying. This was future business stuff. As always, Asahina would be left out of the loop. She was merely doing what she was told, details be damned.

However, that wouldn't stop me from trying to reason with her.

"Kyon-kun… I'm sorry. It isn't up to me. This is my farewell." Tears streamed down her face, staining her blouse with gray unhappy splotches. I felt the need to scream rising up inside me.

I couldn't move but Asahina stepped forward to embrace me, the pressure against my chest was warm, the most pleasant sensation I've ever felt. Any other day, the tears from my eyes would have been great tears of joy. But now…

"Asahina-san!" I clutched her to my chest. This was our first and only hug I could remember being this emotional. I wanted to capture it in a photo to preserve the memory, but being held by her was a small enough happiness that this goodbye wasn't completely painful. Besides, maybe I'd meet her again in the future. It was a hope I could hold on to.

…

I was alone in the clubroom. Sniffling as I glanced around at the various paraphernalia that continued to litter this now depressing place. Her costumes were still hanging and her tea-set still sitting where they have always been. I briefly pondered whether she would return to get them and decided I would sit and wait for that moment.

Looking down, I also spotted Koizumi's games. I wasn't nearly as devastated to hear of his departure from this school but who was to know it would set off a chain reaction within the brigade members.

I avoided thinking about what this might mean for the remaining member who was curiously absent from her usual spot against the window. I refused to turn my head, not willing to acknowledge the empty presence. I couldn't lose them all.

Had she left already? Was it already too late to say my last words? What reason would she have to stick around if the other two were no longer needed?

Turning my head in a manner that mimicked a creaking doll's, I looked to her usual chair. Upon its seat, I noticed something.

Walking towards it, I recognized the small rectangular bookmark. A seizing flared up in my chest as I read it, hoping there was some sort of solution to the disappearance of brigade members. Instead, there was merely a time and a location.

Nagato's apartment.

Without missing a beat, I sprinted down the steps and exited school grounds. I was heaving by the time I reached her neighborhood, banging on the door until I was let in.

Asahina was hard to say goodbye to… but out of everyone, Nagato was one I couldn't imagine not being there. She was ol' reliable. Someone I could always trust to be there for whatever may come.

At her door, I collected myself. Breathing in and out to calm the strain on my heart. I knocked tentatively and the door opened almost immediately. Nagato's eyes stared through me like daggers. She stepped aside to let me in.

Without giving me a second's pause, her words tore me in two, no matter how expected they were.

"I'm being recalled," she said simply, standing still in the middle of her large apartment, "my presence is no longer required to observe Suzumiya-san's actions."

Like large pools, her eyes pulled me in. Emotionless or not, I couldn't tell. My own eyes were filled with tears. The room blurred around me.

I fell to my knees, similar to that night on the hospital roof, and gathered Nagato's hands in my own.

"R-Remember what I told you? I wouldn't let the Data Overmind take you away from me."

Her head briefly shook. I could tell this was a situation where nothing I could do would make a difference. If Nagato knew it was hopeless… then who was I to attempt anything? Now, even Haruhi couldn't fight for her to remain.

I began to sob. Pathetically on my knees, pressing her small cold hands to my face. It was a goodbye I never fathomed being real.

I gasped suddenly when I noticed her hands becoming immaterial before me. It reminded me of a sight I've seen before, long ago when the nightmare of Haruhi's reign had only just begun. When Asakura Ryouko faded away into nothingness, like bright pixels being flown away like sand.

In a desperate attempt to hold onto her, I stood, clutching at her cardigan. I shook when I looked into her normally stoic face and saw tears swimming deep in her empty gaze.

She held up her slowly fading hands, herself surprised at the suddenness of her recalling.

I could neither breathe nor speak. Even Nagato wasn't prepared for this. This was how our goodbye was going to end? She was literally going to vanish before me. I couldn't stand by and watch this!

I screamed at the ceiling, demanding that they couldn't take her. That I still needed her help. She was still needed here and Haruhi would wreck the world to get her back!

The ceiling didn't respond and I broke down in fresh sobs, grasping at Nagato's slim shoulders. Her arms were half faded away now.

"Kyon…" her voice a whisper. I've never heard so much emotion in my entire time knowing her. I've also never heard her say my name either. I mustered a smile as my heart folded in on itself.

"…I've… always treasured our time together."

I nodded, knowing that speaking at this time would fail me.

She was more than half dissolved by now, the colored dust whirling around me in reflected light. It was a sight to be seen. It was beautiful almost, in contrast with the tragedy that was unfolding now.

Knowing that time was scarce, I held her tightly to my chest. She mumbled her final words as she disappeared from my grasp, like a fine mist. I was holding onto nothing.

"Thank you."

…

This time, it was actually over. The SOS Brigade was devoid of members, including myself. I couldn't possibly return to that clubroom if there wasn't Koizumi to play games with, Asahina's tea to drink, or Nagato sitting reliably by the window. It was just another empty room to me. And one I hoped I would soon forget.

There was still Haruhi to deal with, too. I couldn't forget about her. Even she wouldn't disappear, which was a blessing on its own I guess. All this time, we were working to understand her powers and in the end, her powers were the gift that brought us all together.

Where was the universe that I fought for? The one that I worked tirelessly to preserve? That universe didn't matter to me anymore if there were people missing from it.

The Agency, the Organizations of the future, the Data Overmind, they were all my enemies now. My single ally being Haruhi. Would she stand for this travesty? I wonder if she was able to say her own goodbyes.

At least I had her. Haruhi's tenacity wouldn't accept this outcome. I was filled with a sudden optimism. If she could gain powers and then lose them… Who's to say she couldn't gain them again?

Together, we would destroy this world, and rebuild it again with the SOS Brigade intact.

...

AN: I've always been a fan of the Haruhi series. Only recently, when I rewatched the entire series plus the movie and light novels, did I realize just how deep that love went.

I needed to write a story. Something sad and sappy as per usual... I wrote this. I wonder if there ever would be a conclusion to the series and if that end would be a happy one.

Anyway, if you liked this, I have another Haruhi story currently in the works! Thank you and please review!