"What do you have to be sorry about?"

Compa almost whispered those words, her cautious eyes reflecting the image of her bedroom's holographic monitor. With curtains drawn and only one lamp on, the room flickered in the light of the screen.

IF's face lie limp on the other end of the call, rubbing the back of her head. Compa could tell that whatever that was going on in Iffy's mind meant a lot to her, more than what she was letting on. And since they were best friends, IF would tell her, right? That's what friends did. Share stories and problems. They were there for each other.

At the very least, Compa was indebted to her friend for getting her out of the military- a favor made out of friendship. IF didn't have to, as Compa was fine out there, but Iffy must've felt awful when Compa got captured. Or maybe she didn't want to see her friend in danger. IF never told Compa why, and she didn't expect to know.

Upon her rescue, IF had immediately called, showing how dedicated she was to Compa's safety. Just remembering that made the cream-haired girl feel a little warm and fuzzy inside, and for some reason she wanted to give Iffy a big hug.

"..."

The hum of Iffy's hovercraft set the backdrop for the call, it's dull engine a familiar sound to the now-civilian. After looking away from the screen for a bit, IF sighed. "I don't know, Compa."

"Iffy, what do you mean, you don't know?" She leaned in towards the screen, giving IF her full attention.

"I mean that I'm confused, okay? It's been bugging me since I first got here." The former guild member did a little stretch with her shoulders, unable to sit still. "There's a lot of confidential stuff in between now and then, and a lot of stuff that the censors wouldn't approve of me telling you. So, I'd tell you if I could. But I can't."

Compa's heart tugged at those words. Nothing was worse than wanting to let your feelings out like a waterfall, only for something out of your control to dam it all inside.

"I understand." Compa gave her friend a shallow smile, sending the impression that there was still reason to be happy with so much on her mind.

And IF believed it, despite the hole gnawing in her mind. So she smiled back, and surprisingly forgot why she was sorry.

"Can you believe it?" IF exclaimed, adjusting herself in her seat. "I've been out here for… two months now? Yeah, two months."

"It's been a long time since we got ice cream, Iffy-chan!" Compa spoke with enthusiasm, her smile widening. "I miss ice cream with Iffy and Nep-Nep! Can you come back soon?"

IF couldn't hold back a smile, Seeing something so pure that it began to thaw that hole in her mind, and it was the most amazing feeling she'd ever felt.

"Compa, I was there for the parade… but I get what you mean."

"Does that mean you'll come back soon?"

"No," IF continued, half laughing. "That means it could be a while before we see each other again."

"Oh… well that's not good at all."

"Yeah, Compa." She sighed, resigned. "It's not."

There was a moment of silence, and both girls looked down. For a second, IF felt like things were just like they were before Neptune changed. But she remembered that Neptune did change, and looked around herself.

IF's personal room in the hovercraft was silent and radiated a dull purple because of the walls. The lack of furniture helped highlight how it wasn't a big room, but since no one else really had a room, IF couldn't complain.

Looking back at the screen, Compa and IF opened their mouths to speak, but no one spoke. It would've been rude to both talk over one another, right?

And after another awkward silence, Compa gathered the courage to ask something that anyone would ask a faraway friend.

"Iffy-Chan, where are you right now?"

After hearing that so innocently, IF almost replied immediately. Catching herself at the last second, she remembered that these cross-dimensional channels were monitored.

"I'm… I'm not where we were earlier. This is a whole new area, somewhere with amazing mountains, awe inspiring forests and jungles with some of the most amazing plants and animals you've ever seen. Once I woke up on the side of a mountain, in this camp. And between the grooves of these tower-like cliffs, these cliffs that were like mountain-sized pillars, this world's sun filtered through the tree canopy and I was in awe of how far you could see."

IF paused, lost in reminiscing. "And it was just… amazing… amazing how the sun would make a set of rain covered leaves sparkle, but the trees next to it would still be in the shadow of one of the mountains, and you could see such a contrast of light over the world around you."

IF sighed, and Compa placed a hand on her cheek.

"Wow… that does sound amazing. Pillar mountains… I can't imagine something like that."

"I took pictures," IF spoke quickly, encouraged by Compa's enthusiasm. "And I can't wait to show you them."

"You said you wanted to explore the whole new world, the whole thing." Compa reiterated, looking into IF's eyes.

"It's hard to believe that I'd get to be shown the whole world, even though it'll be a long while before we visit other areas. We're almost done here, saving this part of the world, but when we're done, I can't wait to keep going."

"You can't?"

IF found Compa's sudden question to be more surprising than she could ever have imagined.

She started off hating Purple Heart. How things had changed for the worse and how she didn't have a say in anything.

But now that she said something like that, to be so excited to 'save this world'... was she letting the propaganda get to her head?

The people were so much more humane, more respectable, more… human than she could ever have anticipated. It went against all the briefings and informational pamphlets. Everything she was told was wrong. Right?

But the problem was, now that she was planted in this command position, those were just words. She could say, 'the people of Earth are human', but she didn't feel it. Not anymore.

For all she knew, those words were something she made up. Those were something she said to justify hating herself when, in reality, what everyone was led to believe was founded in fact. The people of Earth were not human, as she was told, and she was not proven otherwise- all those thoughts from before might have been a lie she made up.

The Earth people she met… they were just as bad as she thought they were. There was Owen, the bastard child. Never had an ounce of humanity in him. Nothing civilized about him, or the others.

Animals who would rather die than enjoy life. They would rather die than accept the freedom and prosperity that Gamindustri would bring with them.

Real freedom was nothing like the chains of oppression that these Earth people suffered under. All the things that they were learning about their world matched what Purple Heart preached. Almost exactly. And that was all true, even if she didn't see it for herself, because everyone believed it.

So much was wrong with their society... why didn't they realize how the common people wouldn't rule themselves? A strong leader is needed.

Like Purple Heart.

Even if she disagreed with the CPU to start… she was right.

There's no reason for her government to lie. No reason for Purple Heart to lie. No reason for what she was told to not be the truth. Right?

IF sighed, telling herself she'd have to run through her mind before coming to conclusions.

And with some more idle conversation and an exchange of goodbyes, the call ended.

And the rooms were silent.

Compa got up, feeling a little lonely, and went to turn on her TV. The nursing textbooks could wait for later.

IF sat in her chair a little longer, feeling a little lonely. In her shadow ridden room, IF browsed the internet for a handful of minutes, then shut everything down.

Tomorrow would bring more fighting.

IF frowned at the very word- but that was it.

It has been... some time since the last update, and that's not so cool.

But things are happening now that summer's coming around, I'm happy to get back into writing... until I enlist...

This is a sort of mini-update to help get myself back into the thick of things, kinda as a sort of refresher for me, and I'm glad to have a ton of ideas brewing again.

Thanks for sticking along, and thanks so, so much for dropping reviews and continuing to fav and follow- it really helps to motivate! I read every single one of them, and I'm really happy to know that people are still interested, despite it being a long time since the last update.

See you in the next, full length chapter!