Yuuki snapped his eyes open to find bright blue sky, marred by the occasional fluffy cloud. He was sitting on grass. No, not just grass, on a grassy hill—Maple Tree Hill, on Maple Island. Where his adventure began. But…that wasn't…when did he…?

"Yuuki!"

He turned to face the voice.

"Sugar? Olive…Tess…Rondo…? You guys…but…bwah?"

"You idiot," Rondo huffed, "you're late for our mission."

"M-Mission?" Yuuki scratched at his head.

"Uh, duh?" Olive scoffed. "We're exploring those ruins in Perion today, remember?"

"Legend says there's a treasure hidden deep inside." Rondo rubbed his hands together. "I'm hoping for giant diamonds, personally, but gold works too."

"It's probably an artefact of some kind," Tess mused, "I can't wait!"

Yuuki blinked, and then he frowned.

"But…wait…what about Lachelein…?"

"Lacka-where?" Olive raised an eyebrow. "That some kind of new dance club or something?"

"No, it's…I mean…"

"Did you not want to go?" Sugar asked politely. "You can sit this one out if you need to…"

Yuuki knit his eyebrows as his eyes grew clouded.

"Now why would I do that?" He asked. "You guys are useless without me!"

"That's the spirit!" Tess said.

"Hurry up!" Olive shouted. "The ship's about to leave!"

Yuuki smiled as he raced his friends down the hill.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Elex asked.

Xenon snapped his eyes open, immediately registering that he was in the Resistance's underground base.

"Please, I'm the best mechanic in the Resistance!" Checky made a noise that sounded vaguely derogatory, though it was muffled by the bear suit.

"I didn't say you weren't, I asked if it was going to work."

"It'll work," the bear-man half-growled, "trust me. I've ironed out the kinks! Most of them…I think…"

Checky fiddled with the…device? Machine? Small walk-in freezer? It was difficult to say. Various pipes were connected to places that made no sense to have a pipe connected to. A tangled rope of wires dangled from above. It was vaguely cylindrical, with a pair of massive doors of the 'slide-open-in-a-semi-circle' variety.

"What is hap—" Xenon started.

"I still don't see why we're doing this." Claudine huffed. "Why go through the trouble?"

"What, are you jealous?" Belle cocked an eyebrow. "I thought you were gunning for a certain strat—"

"Finish that sentence at. Your. Own. Peril." Claudine stroking her knife in her hand like one might pet a small cuddly hamster.

Belle, wisely, shut her mouth.

"Everyone deserves a second chance." Brighton said. "That's what you said, right Xenon?"

Xenon blinked.

"That should do it!" Checky shouted. "Brighton, pull the switch!"

Brighton frowned. Checky gave an exasperated sigh.

"Just…just hit the little green button on your left."

Brighton still frowned, but did indeed hit the little green button on his left. The doors on the device hissed and blew cold steam into Xenon's face, tickling his nose. The doors peeled open.

"Beryl?"

"Hold your position!"

Hayato stumbled back, bewildered as another blade struck his. Why did he block the attack head-on? Why didn't he deflect it to his side? He would have been victorious if he had done so.

No, wait, more importantly, how did he get to Momijigaoka and when did he start dueling with Kenshin?

"Hayato!" Mouri's voice rang in the samurai's ears. "Hold your position!"

"I—" Hayato started. A sakura blossom drifted warily onto his nose. He could smell the aroma of the petal, feel its light touch on his skin.

He sneezed.

"Are you perhaps feeling unwell?" Haruaki asked. "Remember to take care of your health."

"Well, not particularly—" He shifted in his spot, the grass bent underneath his foot, he could feel the solid ground.

"Normally you are not so easily pushed back, Falcon." Kenshin huffed. "You're not holding back on me, are you?"

Hayato's brow twitched.

"Perhaps our little birdy would enjoy something more his speed?" Kenshin smirked. "I hear you played pet sitter for the princess some time ago, did you find your true calling?"

Time for death.

Hayato made a cross between a scowl and a smirk, his eyes darkening.

"We shall see if that blade of yours moves as fast as your mouth." He tightened his grip on his blade, "Prepare yourself!"

He took off with his right foot first, ready to face his opponent.

Liuva sat in a beautiful meadow, surrounded by flowers of every shape and color imaginable. Invisible birds tweeted their songs, a creek babbled its way to wherever it was going, and occasionally a small bee made its way from flower to flower.

Liuva looked at her clothes and tugged at the offending garment. A white, silky one-piece dress that frilled and fluffed at the bottom, accented by the occasional stitching of a plant Liuva couldn't recognize. And was she wearing a flower crown? Ugh…so garish.

"Yeah okay," she said, "this is definitely a dream."

"Of course it is, silly."

Liuva yanked her head around so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash.

Standing there, the sun casually drifting across her shoulders, wearing the same dress as Liuva but somehow pulling it off a lot better...

"V-Vita…?" Liuva gaped.

Vita giggled. She then turned around, plopped onto the ground, and leaned her head back on Liuva's lap.

"No…no…" Liuva twitched under the weight. "This isn't…you can't…you're not really…"

"It isn't, I can't, and I'm not really." Vita said. "Does that really matter?"

"I…I-I…" Liuva stammered.

"The truth is, Liuva, that you're selfish." Vita hummed. "You want what you're told you can't have, whether it's the last cookie in the cookie jar, or freedom for your city and its people."

Vita reached out and touched Liuva's hand.

"And the world told you that you can't have me. So, tell me, what's wrong with being just a little selfish?"

"A little selfish…" Liuva repeated as her eyes glazed over.

"Just for a little while." Vita smiled warmly.

"…a little while longer…" Liuva gave a half-dazed smile back.

Tear expected to be lying in a hammock at the beach with Kyle. That was what most of her dreams were about, anyway. Sometimes it was a beach towel instead of a hammock, and sometimes it was a meadow instead of a beach, but it usually involved something similar.

She wasn't, though. Nor was she at the Heliseum Force HQ, nor anywhere else she expected. Instead she was…

At…the…movies?

Yeah, the movie theater in Kerning City. This didn't seem like a dream, it felt too real; she could even feel the stickiness of the floor beneath her feet.

Tear scooted a half-foot to her right in disgust.

Why would she be dreaming this? This wasn't some fantasy…she didn't fantasize about standing in spilt soda, she knew that much. This was just some…normal place. She went here all the time with—

"Hey, did you get out seats yet?"

Tear spun around and stared at Kyle for a moment.

"Well?" He asked. "You picked the movie this week, you have to get the tickets."

He shuffled around the bucket of popcorn.

"Still not sure how you talked me into seeing 'Heart of Love'," he half-grumbled, "I hate these cheesy romance movies."

"Chee-roma…wha?" Tear gaped.

"But, I mean, if you want to see it…" He shifted his legs. "…I mean, I'll see it with you."

He looked at her with that face. That cute, irresistible face.

"If you want to, I mean." He said. "I'm here with you, after all."

Tear wiped her mouth to ensure she wasn't drooling. Her mouth crawled upward into a goopy smile.

"Y-yeah," she said as her eyes dulled slightly, "that'd be so awesome."

The two wandered off into the depths of the theater, chatting animatedly as the doors shut behind them.

"It's time for your training, hero."

The hero's eyes snapped open and focused on the roof above her bed. It was chilly—like Rien was in the morning, like Rien was in general—but just brisk enough that it felt pleasant to get up.

Aran sat upright and looked at the door. Lilin was giving her patented stare from the doorframe, a small smile on her lips.

"Come now," she said, "no slacking off."

Aran stared for a moment, then groaned and hefted herself off the bed.

Sitting upright, she stared at Lilin for a moment longer. She briefly stretched once, then twice, then thrice. Finally, she reached over and picked up Maha—always kept right next to her bed of course—and walked towards the door.

Smiling cheerfully, keeping her eyes shut, Aran hefted Maha above her head…and swung it down directly onto the fake Lilin.