"…If I don't know how to love you…I'll leave you be."

The crowd erupted in applause following Monika's piece. She and Sayori stood up, faced the audience, and bowed gracefully before taking their leave, and sitting next to their friends.

"That was fantastic Sayori! You nailed every note perfectly!" Jin said in an encouraging tone.

"I don't know about perfect," Sayori said with a chuckle. "It's hard to notice mistakes when you're in the audience, but I could point out at least three to you later. Monika however did it perfectly."

"Pssh, I betcha I made five," Monika retorted with a playful smile.

"Regardless, you both did fantastic," said Yuri. As the next students took the stage, the group quieted down to listen to their piece. Student after student, performer after performer, the hard work and dedication of the young musicians amazed the crowd. Each piece radiated its own display of talent and vibrato. It was a great night, especially for Jin and Sayori.

At the after party, the students all partook in dancing and refreshments, though Jin and Sayori did the same thing they did at the festival. They found a quieter place to sit and just talked amongst themselves. Sayori was dressed stunningly, her now long peach colored hair cascading smoothly down her bare shoulders, her petite figure adorned with a sparkling red gown, and a pair of glass bead bracelets on each wrist. And yet, despite all her fanciful attire, she still wore her signature red bow in her hair. Jin almost couldn't bear to look at her for more than a few seconds at a time, lest he break down and cry, overwhelmed by how beautiful she was. He felt as if he didn't even deserve such a treasure, when compared to his more understated suit and tie.

"Come on you guys! Why don't you stop being love birds and have some fun?" Natsuki barked. Jin looked nervously at her, then back at the floor. He had learned how to dance not too long ago with Sayori in preparation for the recital after party, but he wasn't sure if he really wanted to do it.

"I dunno…I'm afraid I'll look dumb to be honest," Jin admitted.

"No one cares about that, Jin! We're all just having a good time! Look at Yuri!" Natsuki pointed to where Yuri was on the dance floor, trying her best to dance with a boy she had been hanging out with at school recently, though looking admittedly a bit flounderish while doing so. "She's got two left feet when it comes to dancing, and look at how happy she is! She doesn't care at all, and neither should you!"

"Yeah, come on Jin! It'll be fun!" Sayori said, standing up. She grabbed on to Jin's hand and pulled him up as well, dragging him out onto the dance floor. She turned around and took both of Jin's hands in hers. "Okay, remember how we practiced? Try not to step on my toes like last time, okay?"

"Eh…right…" Jin felt the sweat drip down his brow like bullets. He assumed a dancing posture with Sayori and began to move in step to the music with her. He didn't really know where to look as his nervous eyes darted from his feet to other students to, awkwardly, Sayori's chest. He couldn't bring himself to look directly at Sayori considering how nervous he was.

"Hey dummy, you can look at me you know," said Sayori sarcastically. Jin quickly darted his gaze to Sayori's eyes. Her expression was a mixture of amusement and frustration. "You know, I never thought that of the two of us, YOU would be the one nervous at a dance."

"I've…never been to one…I didn't know what to expect…" Jin said feebly. Sayori giggled back at him.

"Neither have I, but that's okay. Just look at me, don't think about anyone else, don't think about what they think of you…" Sayori said reassuringly. Jin did just that, fixing his gaze on Sayori, staring deep into her clear blue eyes. The rest of the dance hall seemed to fall away. Soon he felt relaxed, and his movements began to harmonize with Sayori's. The two of them danced like two birds through the air, and soon enough, they found each other performing with each other the dance they had practiced beforehand. Gliding like kites through the sky, flowing into each other's movements, a circle of students began to circle around them to admire their dance. When the song had finished, Jin noticed everyone standing around him and Sayori, and his face instantly turned beet red.

"Woo! Go Jin! Go Sayori! You two are awesome!" Called out Monika from behind a few rows of students, waving her hand to get their attention. Sayori waved back and dragged Jin into the crowd to meet up with Monika and her boyfriend. The rest of the evening went smoothly for them. Jin felt like the luckiest man alive, privileged to be the one to dance with the most priceless and precious girl in the world to him. When they boarded the bus back home, Sayori fell asleep on his shoulder. Feeling her hand, he noticed that she was cold and forgot to bring a jacket. He took off his own jacket and laid it over her shoulders. He wished that moment could last forever.

A week had passed, and Jin and Sayori had used that time to gather preparations for their before-college road trip. The day had arrived, and they had just finished packing their suitcases.

Sayori arrived at Jin's place with her belongings precariously stacked in her arms. She awkwardly reached for the doorbell and rang it. Jin answered quickly.

"Hey, what's up…oh my, that's a lot of stuff," He said.

"A little help please!" Sayori asked sheepishly. Jin took some of the crates off the top of the stack and helped Sayori bring in her suitcases. "Careful with those ones on top, those are Natsuki's prize winning cupcakes!"

"Oh, that's right, she won blue ribbon at a town bake-off this week, didn't she? I wish I could have been there." Jin remembered. He went to grab one for a taste, but Sayori franticly swatted his hand out of the way.

"Hey, hey! Those are for the road trip!" Sayori scolded.

"But I just want a taste, jeez," Jin said, exasperated. The two of them packed up their belongings and walked out to his car. Much to his surprise, Monika, Yuri, and Natsuki were waiting outside to say goodbye.

"Jin! Sayori!" Monika called out. Sayori ran as fast as she could to Monika with her luggage and threw her arms around her in a tight embrace. "We wanted to say goodbye since you two are going off to college. It's gonna be really hard not seeing you every day…"

"I know Monika…we're gonna miss you too," Sayori replied. "But don't worry, we'll stay in touch, and we'll visit you all from time to time, wherever your paths take you." She smiled sweetly at the three of them and at Jin, and they all shared in her happiness and infectious joy.

Then Yuri spoke up, "Sayori, I wanted to give you a copy of my book that I'm sending to the publishing company. I hope you and Jin enjoy it." She handed her a book in a green paperback cover that she had bound at an office store a few days before. The title read "Jade, and the Whispers of the Hollow".

"This looks great! I'll be sure to read it every night with Jin," Sayori said excitedly, turning back to him. Jin smiled and nodded in approval.

As they all exchanged their goodbye hugs and words after loading their luggage into the car, Jin and Sayori waved goodbye to their friends as they drove down the road. Natsuki ran down the sidewalk after them, trying to tell them a few last parting words.

"Bye Sayori! Bye Jin! Thanks for everything you've done! I love you both! Don't eat all those cupcakes too quickly!" She shouted, tears filling her eyes.

Sayori leaned out the window and waved back to Natsuki, "We love you too Natsuki! I'll write you and the others some postcards! I promise!" She rolled down the window and Jin sped up as he made a turn towards the highway. Monika and Yuri caught up to Natsuki to see tears streaming down her smiling face.

"I'm so happy for them Yuri…" Natsuki said, choking on her words.

"Me too Natsuki…me too…" Yuri answered.

"We all are. The things they've done to help us are immeasurable…I miss them already, but we'll see them again, I just know it," Monika said, pulling Natsuki and Yuri in for a hug.

The day rolled on by, and so did Jin's car. The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was a brilliant gradient of blue and orange. The sounds of Pink Floyd hummed from the radio, and Sayori sung along absent mindedly the whole time.

They were in the middle of nowhere, driving towards their destination by the ocean. It would be nightfall before they got there…or earlier, if Jin had noticed sooner that his gas tank was almost empty.

"Crap, we gotta stop for gas," he told Sayori. She glanced over at him and nodded in acknowledgement. Pulling off of an exit ramp, Jin turned into a gas station in a ramshackle area off the side of the highway. He pumped the gas into his car, and while doing so, Sayori got out to grab a snack from the quick-e-mart. Once she returned with a bag of chips, she walked up next to Jin and asked him something.

"Jin, the sun is going to set soon, do you think we could find a place to stop and watch it?" she asked.

"Sure, I don't see why not." The gas nozzle made a loud thumping noise, and Jin pulled it out to place it back on the pump. They both climbed into the car and drove around to find a good place to park and watch the sunset. He found a spot on top of a hill that was away from the other buildings in town, and parked his car at the top, facing the sunset.

"This looks like a great spot," Jin said, turning the key and exiting the car. He and Sayori sat on the hood of the car, watching the sun set below the horizon together. All the pain and suffering they had been through together seemed to melt away in that moment. Jin wrapped his arm around his beloved and pulled her in tightly. She laid her head on his shoulder in response. She turned to him and whispered in his ear.

"I love you."

"I do too."

"I want to be with you forever…"

"So do I…you're so precious to me…"

"Hold me…forever…"

"I'll never let you go."

The two of them looked into each other's eyes before slowly pressing their lips together. In that moment, they had become comfortably numb.

Jin and Sayori; they were meant to be, forever and ever.

The End

~ OK ~

Author's Notes: Thanks for sticking through to the end! I hope the payoff was worth it. As I stated at the beginning of this story, the reason I wrote this was because of an intense desire to see the characters have a happy ending. I wanted to see their issues resolved, including those of the MC. Sayori in particular was the character that I wished to see happy in the end the most, because, I'm not going to lie, I love her a lot. I wanted to see her happy with the MC, and making all the people around her happy as well was in my eyes a mandatory prerequisite for that to happen. I think I managed to pull it off well, but I won't beg for praise or anything. As indicated by the title and their repeated references throughout the story, the classic rock band Pink Floyd was a major thematic device I wanted to use for this. I feel that Pink Floyd's often moody songs and lyrics were a perfect fit for this kind of story, and personally I could see Sayori as a listener of their music. I hope everyone out there who read this has a fantastic day, and I hope you enjoyed my story!