Moving on through season two and beyond...
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"She'll come back."
Tsutomu did not respond to her. Instead, he sighed and pulled his knees to his chest and let his head tilt back until it touched the wall. He glanced about his bedroom morosely with eyes that looked like, but were not really, his.
"I don't think so, Birdy. I think this is it." He replied finally. He was surprised at how calm he sounded. He had been convinced he would have taken things harder than he really felt.
"That's not true. Sayaka wouldn't give up on you so easily..." She answered.
"She's right though. We live very far away from each other. We can't see each other very often and it's going to be even worse when she starts college in Australia." He argued, raising his eyes to the ceiling. He knew she had been fighting for them. Ever since Nataru had vanished she'd been obsessed with seeing them make it together as a couple. More than a few time he'd wondered if he had stayed in the relationship more for her sake than his own.
"Besides," He added, "I, no, we have been busy, too, you know. You have your assignments and that's made me rather unavailable, Birdy." He gave a pointed look to himself in the mirror across the room.
Birdy sighed, exasperated. "But you love her!"
Tsutomu was quiet at this. He did. Or, at least, he had loved her. But, the fact was that, as she was while possessed by the Ryunka, Sayaka had changed. She saw him as a reminder of that which she had lost and couldn't remember: the grandfather and life-long housekeeper; dead and buried, and friendships she remembered only peripherally. Tsutomu's friends had gradually drifted away from her-a natural side effect of living so far away. Sayaka had made new friends locally. It had been only a matter of time before she had left him behind, and part of him admitted that he had known it since his "second" first date with the traumatized girl.
"I know... but it wasn't my decision to make." He smiled sadly at his reflection. "Anyway, it's all right. Hey, what about that case you were telling me about? When are we leaving?"
He could hear Birdy huff and puff a little before responding, unhappy at the abrupt shift in conversation."Tomorrow at four in the morning."
"Aw, Birdy! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Tsutomu moaned. He hoped she'd take the bait and forget their earlier conversation.
She did. "Why? It wouldn't have made a difference!" She erupted angrily.
"At least I could have gone to bed a little earlier!" He whined, eyeing the clock he kept on his desk. It was nearly eleven at night.
"Oh shut up... you'll be fine!" Birdy dismissed breezily.
"I'll be fine? Won't you need some sleep, too? Isn't it a good idea to be fully rested before taking on another life-threatening case?"
"Altairians don't need as much sleep as humans!"
"Oh, really? The why'd you sleep in til' noon yesterday? Huh?"
The argument went on for a good hour in such a manner until Birdy hit herself with a pillow.
0
It was cold the morning they left. The sun had barely begun its' ascent as Birdy climbed into the ship. Moments later Tsutomu watched through her eyes as she began the start-up procedures for launch. Unlike airplane flights it took her mere moments to perform the proper checks and lift off. Soon, the city shrank behind them until there was nothing discernible except the faint lights that illuminated those parts of Japan's countryside. Then, after a while, that too was gone until the earth itself steadily vanished into the darkness of space. He thought he would have been sad to see the planet disappear. Yet, once it was gone, all he felt was relief and... something else too... a stirring in his heart that he hadn't noticed before: excitement. He was about to embark on another adventure; one he shared with another. That thought alone made all the difference. He wasn't just excited for the thrill of a new escapade, he was looking forward to it because she was there. And that alone, made all the difference.
It was time to let go.
Birdy wasn't sure if Tsutomu had meant to mentally speak aloud but she faintly heard him sigh."Goodbye, Sayaka."
