"There you are, little one, I was starting to worry," Kahi spoke as she stepped into the dojo where her uncle was currently teaching a group of ten year olds. She walked over to him as he watched the children sparring with each other for the last part of their session. "I see you got the necklace we had made for you. Okay boys, go ahead and clean up. Your parents will be here soon."

"He had to take me to his estate for it," Ivanna spoke as she followed him into his office and curled up on the couch.

"That would explain why it took longer than I thought. Are you okay? It looks like you've been crying. What did he tell you?"

"He didn't say anything other than explain the properties of the necklace," she lied with a shrug. "Wasn't very talkative this time around. I know that we weren't supposed to ever meet but it was nice to see who he became."

"And...?" Kahi frowned as he looked at her.

"It's hard knowing that I'll never see that side of him ever again. I don't know how long it'll be before I go so I can't be going and saying goodbye to my friends, to say goodbye to you… What will we tell people?"

"How about when we get home, you write letters to everyone you want to say goodbye to and leave them on your desk? That way you'll be prepared for whenever it happens, you won't leave any regrets here and I'll make sure to deliver them. To those you leave behind, we'll tell them that it was your cancer. I really wish that I could tell you that you'll make it back, but the way you go back, there is no return."

"Tooru may have mentioned something about that," she muttered. "Something about a priestess who regularly goes through some portal between here and there. That she tried to bring me back but it didn't work."

"Is there anything else that he told you that you're not saying?" Kahi demanded and she shook her head, thinking about how soon she would be leaving if he was right. "Ivanna Dai Yukimura you are the world's worst liar. You're thinking about whatever it is you don't want to tell me."

"He kissed me on the forehead after I ended up hugging him," she blurted out, saying the first thing that she could think of that wasn't the one thing she could never tell him.

"Oh… I see why it would have been hard to say goodbye then. Being able to see how much he has changed because you entered his life, to see the final change before meeting who he was…"

"If you wanted to write a letter for him…"

"He made it clear that I would never see him again. We already said our final goodbyes and he kept my necklace as a memento. Do you have any other sessions tonight?"

"Not tonight."

"Can we order out from that dumpling shop down the street?" Ivanna asked as she followed him to the cleaning closet and pulled out the mop and bucket. Filling up the bucket with water and cleaner for the mats, she got to work on mopping the floors while he started to sanitize all the equipment.

"I don't have any problem with that," Kahi hummed happily as they worked on cleaning up the dojo. "Any homework for this weekend that you need to catch up on?"

"No, I've already turned in this last week's today. I planned to work on next week's packet on Sunday," Ivanna smiled as she finished mopping and carried the bucket back to the mop sink to dump it. "Movie night in your room tonight? It's been a few weeks since we've had one. I want to spend as much time as I can with you while I am able."

"Sounds like a date, little one," Kahi smiled as he took the bucket of dirty mop water from her and dumped it. "Why don't you call in our order? You know what I like, I'll finish up here and lock up."

"Sure," Ivanna smiled before grabbing her bag, her smile fading as soon as she stepped outside.


Kahi looked over at the girl he had waited half of a millennia to care for as she fought to keep her glazed eyes open to watch the movie. She had picked some iconic American film called 'The Princess Bride' that was about a boy sick in bed, who's grandfather reads him the story of a farm boy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love. Now the characters were planning to storm the castle to save the girl and Ivanna was fighting to stay awake to watch.

Smiling at how determined she was to try and finish the movie, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close so that she could lay her head on his shoulder and her eyes fell shut. He listened to her slow breathes and her weak heart beating instead of watching the movie and smiled sadly as he thought of her inevitable future. As he started to focus back on the movie, Ivanna's breaths started becoming ragged and her heartbeats out of sync. He looked back down at her and saw a pained expression on her sleeping face.

Feeling his own heart drop into his stomach he started shaking her to try and wake her but she was not responding as the beats of her heart became more and more strained and her breaths more shallow. Pulling her into his lap and rocking her small body as she fought her dreams, he felt hot tears fall down his own cheeks. He heard a door slam closed in the house before the inuyoukai that never strayed too far away from the dying girl in his arms stood in the doorway, his shirt and jacket out of place as if he had been running and the expression on his face made Kahi dread what was happening.

"She won't wake back up… will she?" Kahi whispered as he looked back down at Ivanna, her head against his upper arm and he could see her pained expression.

"No…" Tooru spoke solemnly.

"How does she arrive in the past if she is here?"

"That I do not know."

"But you knew that tonight was her last?! Why did you never tell me this? We could have better prepared her for her future…"

"You would have forced her to stay awake and only prolong the inevitable, but even then I don't think anything would have stopped this night. It is her fate to enter the past in a way that would prevent her from being able to use the same portal like the priestess does. She had agreed it was best not to tell you so that she could make best of her last night with her family."

"You told her?"

"I had to give her the time she needed to so that she could take care of the regrets she had… to say goodbye to everyone she cared about. She needed the closure."

"And what about me?!"

"You were never supposed to get so attached. You were only supposed to be her caretaker, Kahi."

"I tried to…" Kahi whispered sadly as he listened to Ivanna's breaths as her shallow breaths slowed, many seconds in between each breath. "She's dying…"

"To have to die twice…"

"Fate has a twisted sense of humor," Kahi cried as he rocked Ivanna in his arms, tears falling down her own cheeks from her pain.

Tooru sat beside him on the bed and held her hand silently as she gasped for air and a tremor racked through her body. Her heart feebly tried to keep beating but each beat was slower than the last. Soon the beats of her heart fell silent and her body went limp as she exhaled for the last time. Both youkai let out whimpers and closed their eyes, mourning silently.

A light seemed to press against the lids of their eyes and as they opened their eyes, they had to squint at the bright light that seemed to be coming from Ivanna. The visible parts of her tattoos glowed purple as the light seemed to wrap around her body. The light became so bright that both youkai had to close their eyes to protect themselves and soon the light disappeared and when they were able to open their eyes again, Ivanna's body was gone, the clothes she had been wearing still in Kahi's lap.

"The fates spirited her body to the past…" Kahi gasped as he touched the shirt.

"That explains a lot," Tooru spoke with a small snort of amusement. "It's time to take my leave."

"Now that she has gone back, are you going to reveal yourself to the council?"

"No. I doubt you will see me again, old friend, for if I reveal myself, you will pay for it as much as I would," the inuyoukai spoke as he stood.

"Take care of yourself, my friend. I have a funeral to plan for those of this time and letters to deliver with her goodbyes."

"Call my office if you need anything further," Tooru spoke before disappearing from the room.