Sakaki quickly hurries through the forest, leaving the scene of carnage behind her. This will definitely be on the news tonight and she wanted to be as far away as possible before any tv news crews show up. That fellow she helped had blood in his eyes so he might not have been able to look at her, but the others around would have definitely noticed her. And armed with a description of her, the authorities will definitely want to question the only witness who was able to walk away when the rest had to drag themselves away.

Now that she remembers, she had actually been crushed inside the car, which explains why her innards were tingling and she couldn't breathe for a while. It was because all of her inner organs had been ruptured. Her bones should have been crushed too.

Sakaki checks her wallet to find three hundred and fifty dollars in it. She grumbles at this ill turn of events. With Aria and Don's accounts now lost to her, she needed to stretch her budget once again. At least that accident did solve the future problem of needing to get rid of the car. She just hoped that it got wrecked enough so they won't be able to trace it to the original owner. Hopefully all trace of evidence got destroyed.

She continues walking ever onward through the forest, having to push branches and brush aside. In time, she emerges before another road and for a moment wonders which way to go. Wait! Of course, her memory is now sharp enough that she can recall that atlas! Since she always tended to consult it. She had studied her route often enough to know that she is heading away from the Ottawa River, so that means she is heading south. That makes west to her right and she turns there to go up the road. Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is not that far away.

Sakaki keeps walking. As much as it pains her to have lost her stuff, she can't help but feel a touch of relief over no longer having to lug so much with her. And at least she has the most important things of all is what counted.

It's a long walk as the passing vehicles fail to stop and offer her a ride. That is when the sound of a car slowing behind her makes her look back. The car is exactly like Yukari's car, minus the dents and the driver being on the lefthand side like all North American cars. Disregarding the eerie similarity to the Yukarimobile, Sakaki knows that the driver wants to give her a lift, hopefully to Ottawa. She walks up to the passenger side as the window lowers, then leans in to regard the driver.

Who turns out to be Yukari.

Sakaki reacts with shock as her expression and manner shows it as such. Her heart even skips a beat. She finally shakes her head in the effort to clear her thoughts and briefly rubs her forehead. She knows full well that Yukari is dead, the memory of her dead face filling her mind. This is just a fellow Japanese woman who just happens to look like Yukari. In fact, she could be her long lost identical twin, right down to the hairstyle.

"Is something wrong?" The woman asked in flawless English. Where Yukari had a voice that reminded one of a spoiled brat, this woman's voice sounded softer and more mature.

"Ah, are you going to Ottawa?" Sakaki finally asked.

"Yes," the woman answered. "Hop in."

Sakaki gets in next to her and they are off. This woman is obviously not Yukari since she is driving normally.

"So what's your name?" The woman suddenly asked in Japanese, though with an English accent.

Sakaki remains silent for a moment. "Tameni Jouryoku."

"Pleased to meet you, Tameni," the woman continued in Japanese. "My name is Carrie Miyazaki."

Sakaki blinks over her name. "I figured that you're Japanese too," she then said in Japanese as well. "And I notice that you speak excellent English."

"That's because I was born and raised in this country, making me a Japanese-Canadian. My parents immigrated here before I was born. That's why I have a Western name."

"Kaori is also a Western name?" Sakaki mused whimsically.

"What are you talking about?" Carrie asked as she shakes her head with a slight frown. Then it comes to her. "Oh, wait! You're thinking of K-A-O-R-I. No, mine is a Western name and it's spelt, C-A-R-R-I-E, and is actually short for Caroline."

"Oh, I see," Sakaki said with a blush.

There is another moment of awkward silence between the two, until Carrie breaks it.

"Back there when you first met me, you acted surprised. It was as if you had seen me before. Wanna talk about it?"

For a moment, Sakaki is hesitant to actually speak of it. Yet.

"You . . . You look so much like a friend I had back in Japan," she answered sheepishly, then remains silent for a second or two. "She got killed in a car accident."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Carrie cooed. "And I happen to look just like her, don't I?"

Sakaki looks blankly at her, though her eyes show a touch of grief. "If I didn't know any better, Carrie-chan, I could swear that you were her brought back from the dead."

"How old was she?"

"Twenty-nine."

"Well I'm twenty-six, so there's your answer. What was her name?"

"Tanizaki Yukari. Or Yukari Tanizaki as it's pronounced in this part of the world."

"Never heard of her," Carrie briefly frowned then shakes her head. "Then again it's always said we have a double out there somewhere. Perhaps you may have your own."

"Perhaps."

They continue their conversation in Japanese. Carrie tells her that she is married with a baby boy, and works as a software designer. Sakaki only tells her that she is on vacation in Canada. She feels relieved to be finally talking to another fellow Japanese in her native tongue; yet at the same time unnerved to be doing so with someone who looks exactly like Yukari. But where Yukari was childish, lazy, hotheaded, loudmouthed, and a horrific driver to boot; Carrie turns out to be warmhearted, considerate, and an excellent driver. If anything, she is like Nyamo used to be.

"Ottawa, the nation's capital," Carrie announced as they approach the city. "So where do you want me to drop you off at, Tameni?"

Sakaki catches herself from asking to take her to the nearest motel, but then decides on something else. Carrie definitely didn't hear about the accident just yet or she would have talked about it. But when she does, she might end up putting one and one together, especially if any of the survivors did happen to see her leaving the scene, and tell the authorities about it.

"Drop me off at the government building," she then answered.

"You mean the Parliament Building?"

"Yes, the Parliament Building."

Carrie drives up near the Parliament Building to let Sakaki out.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Tameni," Carrie said pleasantly.

"And it was nice meeting you, Carrie," Sakaki answered before getting out. She turns to wave goodbye to Carrie through the window, which Carrie returns before driving away.

Sakaki watches her leaving. She feels both pleased and unnerved at the same time over meeting that woman. She takes to heart what Carrie had just told her about having doubles out there. Is it possible that she might end up meeting other women who just happen to look like Yomi, Tomo, Kagura, Osaka, Kaori, or Nyamo? Or even another Chiyo-chan for that matter!? Or even . . . perhaps someone who will look just like herself?

Sakaki looks toward the Peace Towers that are of the Parliament Building. Her knowledge is rather limited about the capital of this country. But she does know something of it. The Parliament Building was built in the nineteenth century before Canada became independent. Also unlike America next door, Canada didn't demand their independence by fighting Britain for it, but instead had it given to them as responsible government on July 1, 1867.

She wanted to look around a bit more, but instead chooses to go and find a motel room first before making her next move. She asks directions to the nearest motel and is pointed to one nearby.

In the motel room, she turns on the news and surfs for a local news station. Then stops when she reads a headline stating, Multiple Vehicle Pile-Up Near Ottawa, in capital red letters at the bottom of the screen.

"To recap our top story," said the Caucasian blond-haired blue-eyed anchorwoman, "there has just been a multiple car pileup some forty kilometers east of Ottawa on Route Seventeen of the TransCanada Highway, sometime at around ten forty-five A.M. Authorities currently don't know the exact number of vehicles involved in the accident but it has been estimated that at least twenty vehicles were involved, along with a dump truck and a semi. The appearance of a sudden thick fog on a stretch of the Highway has been blamed for the accident. Authorities don't have a proper figure of fatalities just yet, but they believe that there may be over twenty people who have been killed, with dozens more injured. More on this report."

It next shows images from a helicopter of the accident, with another reporter speaking of it from off camera. Sakaki is amazed that there are any survivors at all, judging by the images she sees. She hopes none of the survivors are able to identify her. And if they do, she hopes that they might only be able to give a very vague description of her.

Sakaki continues watching the report to see if anything is mentioned about her. So far nothing once the broadcast ends.

She shuts the tv off and looks down at her own clothing. Any eyewitnesses, especially the one she rescued, are more likely to describe her clothing than her personal appearance, particularly her coat.

A change of clothes is in order and she leaves to go and buy some.

As she walks down a street, she starts noticing that she is not the only one with a long black coat on. She counts at least a dozen or so more people wearing long black coats. None of them are exactly like her own other than being long and black. And many of those who wear them have dark hair. This makes her feel slightly more at ease and she changes her mind about wanting to buy another coat of a different color.

The next thing she notices is a sign above a shop that reads, thrift store. Sakaki tilts her head slightly at that sign. She wanted to kick herself for not thinking of such a thing earlier on in her journey. A shop where second-hand clothing is sold at very cheap prices! She can probably get a good pair of pants and shirt for twenty dollars!

Sakaki goes inside and begins browsing. There are all sorts of clothing. She checks through the rows of shirts and pants, before settling on two pairs of pants, faded blue jeans and nylon slacks, and two shirts, a long-sleeved purple shirt and a grey turtleneck sweater. After paying for them, she leaves and returns to her motel room then goes out to another store to buy a couple of pairs of new underwear, brassieres, and socks. Her new underwear has pink kittens and her new socks are anklets with pink edges and small tassels. Sakaki also purchases a small knapsack, toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb and brush, and two spools of grey thread along with a package of needles. She returns to have a long hot bath before dressing in the pair of jeans and purple shirt. Later on, she has a meal.

Sakaki goes to a local library. Seeing that news bulletin about the accident makes her think about any news back in Newfoundland that must have reported her disappearance by now. She searches the Internet for any information about it.

Again, there is nothing.

Just what is going on here, she wondered with bewilderment. Didn't those people ever get curious about their disappearance and go up there!? They would have found the truck wrecked and them missing, leaving only her stuffed toy animals behind. That is unless . . . there was no sign of any crime.

That had to be it. In order for this to make the news, they would have had to find signs of a crime. Only there was none, because Don had vanished and she burned his clothing, along with everything else she couldn't take with her, save for her stuffed toy animals and that broken sword she had buried. Also, Don did leave plenty of clues that they were moving away. Although they might be hard pressed as to figure out how she and Don could have left from there with the truck smashed, courtesy of the Hunter.

As for the Hunter, he definitely would have been seen going up there. So they might have ended up thinking that he was a friend of theirs and was called up to help them move after their vehicle got wrecked. Again, they would not be able to reason out why it got wrecked in the first place, causing it to remain a local mystery. Such mysteries, however, resulted in people trying to fill the void, thus causing them to suspect foul play in the end. But regardless of their conclusion, there is no evidence of any crime having ever been committed.

Sakaki feels relieved over that conclusion. This is one concern off her mind. Now the other concern is of that accident. She needed to keep up on the news whenever she has immediate access to it. And keep moving at that.

Later that night, she turns on the tv once again for a news update. She keeps it on the channel that she had seen the previous news on. Had she missed the news, she started to wonder.

The news eventually comes on and she heightens her hearing a little to try and catch each and every word spoken.

The news anchorman, a Caucasian with light brown hair and hazel eyes, reports the accident outside of Ottawa first. There is much more information about it now, complete with pictures. Thirty-eight vehicles had been involved in the accident, with at least twenty people dead and thirty more injured. Although it is hard to gauge the true number of deaths since the fire was so hot that the pavement not only burned, but the metal on the vehicles melted, causing it to fuse into one massive metal glob. And in turn, cremate any human remains.

Although Sakaki feels horrible for the victims, she still feels a touch of relief. It means that the car is not only a melted glob, but it might be assumed that the driver had been incinerated.

Some of the victims are interviewed. This holds her attention most intently of all. There are several victims providing details of the accident and how they managed to get out. So far they don't speak of her.

Until the news reporter proclaims how somebody had managed to rescue a man and shows him on tv. That face makes Sakaki's heart skip a beat.

"Someone came running over and told me to hold on," the man said in flawless English. He is the East Indian man she had rescued, only with a bandage across his forehead now. His speaking flawless English can only mean that he too had been born here like Carrie Miyazaki.

"I was screaming that my legs were trapped and that they were broken," he continued. "He reached inside and somehow moved the steering wheel aside. I really don't remember much after that because I was just slipping in and out of consciousness. The next thing I realized was that I was on the grassy bank, but my rescuer was gone by then."

"So it was a man that rescued you?" A news reporter asked off camera.

"I guess it had to have been a man because both my legs are broken, so I had to be carried. And I weigh a hundred and eighty pounds."

"Do you remember anything about him?"

"No," he stated as he shakes his head. "I had blood in my eyes the whole time, so I couldn't see a thing. And he didn't say anything else after he ran over to me."

Sakaki feels a tremendous sense of relief. He assumed that she was a man the whole time. The other survivors are interviewed and asked if they had seen such a man. Nobody did, until. . . .

"I did see a man running away into the forest," a Caucasian girl stated. She has a very light and freckled complexion with short red crinkled hair and a blue eye since the other has a bandage over it. She has scratches and small cuts all over her face too, along with a bruise around her good eye.

"Could you describe him?" The news reporter asked.

"Nope, he was back on and I only saw him for less than a second before he disappeared into the trees. Although I do distinctively remember that he wore a black trenchcoat."

Sakaki closes her eyes as she grunts with frustration. It may not have been much of a description but it's enough to possibly trace her. She was on a road just south of the accident before Carrie picked her up. Again, Carrie might not try to piece it together since she would have been hearing that it was a man and not a woman. Yet there is the possibility that she might solve it and go to the police to tell them about her suspicions. Although Carrie will unknowingly be giving them a fake name.

The same fake name Sakaki had been giving to each place she stayed at since leaving Newfoundland, and is being used under her account.

That did it. The sooner she gets out of this city, the better. At her earliest possible convenience since she is now dead tired. After setting a wake-up call for five A.M., she sleeps atop of the bed with her clothes on. She wanted to be gone in a flash.

At five A.M. she gets up. With her being so groggy, it proves to be the perfect opportunity to try and enhance her stamina. Focusing upon it, Sakaki suddenly finds herself more alert, but she keeps ahold of it for a while as she goes about using the bathroom. She lets go of it afterwards and she still feels alert. Her breakfast is in the form of a muffin she had brought the night before, and a juice pack. Minutes later, she is at the desk and paying her bill.

Dawn is just brightening the horizon as Sakaki walks out of the motel, certain to head west. She knows that she won't be able to use the name she had registered in Newfoundland. Some other name will have to be used from now on. Don had warned her about this, only she never took it seriously. Until it now happened. For as long as she exists, she will continue giving false names. Perhaps one day she might get to use her original name. Only needing to change it once again when the time comes. And so it will go, her having to move around when time catches up with her by touching all those around her.

By the time the sun rises, she reaches the city limits. She watches a plane take off and thinks that maybe she might go to the airport and hop onto a flight to take her closer to her destination. If only within Canada.

Yet she did like traveling around in the outdoors, as hard as that was sometimes. Particularly before she encountered Aria Martel. It gave her a chance to take things into a better perspective of what she is trying to do. Perhaps she should just stick with walking all that distance to her destination.

And yet . . . and yet. It might not hurt to shave some distance off her destination.

Now she feels conflicted over what to do. Continue walking to her destination or take a bit off her distance with a short plane ride?

She needed to do something about the swords though. Don carried his around with him, as did the Hunter and Aria Martel. In order for them to do that using a plane, they had to use carrying cases, and secure ones too.

So where to find a suitable case? Don's old one was destroyed in the accident. A musical instrument case will have to do. For this, she needs to withdraw more money from the bank. She remembers passing one on her way downtown and goes to it. Once there, she withdraws three hundred dollars and thinks about where to go next. Hailing a cab to do so since she now feels pressed for time.

She is dropped off at the airport, since there is also a music store in there as she had been told by the driver. Talk about convenient. After paying her fare, she goes inside and finds the music store.

Inside, there are all sorts of instruments to be brought. But what she is looking for is something to carry her swords in. After checking with the clerk (who raises eyebrows over the swords Sakaki presents to her) she finds just such a thing. A large oboe case, only this one is a little bigger. The cost is two hundred and fifty dollars.

Naturally, she is warned that although she can take her swords with her, she won't be able to take them into the passengers' area.

Next is the flight arrangement as she looks to see what flights take off soon. None of them are even going to Winnipeg, Manitoba let alone to Manitoba's other city, Brandon, which isn't that far from Winnipeg. The closest she can get is to Thunder Bay, within Ontario. So be it then, and it's leaving in half an hour.

Sakaki walks up to a ticket counter. Already her unease over being discovered is playing on her mind.

"Excuse me," she said to the ticket clerk. A Mongoloid woman who doesn't appear Oriental. "How much is a ticket to Thunder Bay?"

"Just a moment," she said as she begins typing on the computer. Moments later, she regards Sakaki once again. "You're in luck, somebody just canceled their flight and it's a seat sale. You can get it for one hundred and fifty dollars."

"I'll be right back," Sakaki stated and she leaves to the nearest ATM machine to withdraw one hundred more dollars and returns to purchase her ticket. On the way back, she thinks carefully about her new name.

"Any luggage?" the clerk asked.

"Just this," Sakaki answered as she holds up the new case. "It contains two swords."

"Then they'll have to go into the cargo hold," the clerk stated. "Name?"

"Eiei Midoriiro." Forever green, is its meaning.

Once everything is checked out, her luggage gets tagged and placed on the conveyer belt to be sent to the airplane. With her ticket in hand, Sakaki searches for where she is to enter and waits next to it. Finally the announcement comes and she gets aboard. There is a moment when she gets a little hesitant to walk through screening as she wonders if being immortal might set off the detectors, only they don't. For being immortal means that one doesn't turn into metal.

Finally, she is aboard the plane and it soon taxes down the runway then lifts into the air, on its way to Thunder Bay.