A/N:

Surprised to see this updated? Well, so am I. Originally I did want to give a happy ending to this series, but I never wanted to change the bigger picture of my own design. So I let myself take some time and really think about how I wanted to give this story a bitter sweet relief (If I could even call it that). Whether or not this was welcomed or needed, I let you all decide that.

In fact, if you don't want to read this then just ignore this chapter and pretend you didn't see anything! But I couldn't live with myself if I didn't give them a happy ending, so…

To everyone who's reading this: Please know this is just an extra chapter to the main story! You don't have to read it!

With that said please enjoy!

Extra chapter:

Umi didn't know when it had started. It had begun one night years after the tragedy and since then she would have the same dream in random periods of her life. They were always very tamed.

It began with Umi standing in the center of an aluminum stage. The walls around her boxed Umi in as a bright light from above her head shined down on her. Everything was grey and dull. She would spend hours just standing in her box prison before waking up.

The dream never changed and now that Umi was in her final years she seemed to be dreaming about it more frequently.

That night, after Kanan had come to visit, Umi had slept early in order to be able to wake up early in the morning to watch the news coverage of Kanan's mission. From there she would get Nozomi to drive her to the space station where Kanan had promised to bring the body of her beloved.

So that night Umi once again was in the grey box like so many times before, but now she was an old woman. There were no changes, the only thing that was different was a buzzing noise that hummed all around her. Umi wondered how many hours she would spend standing there before her alarm rang or she naturally woke up, when suddenly the front wall cracked open.

The sounds of someone walking slowly to her from the other side was surprising as the door opened more widely from its bottom. The door slid upwards as the figure arrived before her. All Umi could see were a pair of legs as the door jammed right above the others waist.

"Who's there?" Umi called out. Her voice was much deeper and groggy now in her old age.

The legs stayed in place. The figure stayed silent before the sounds of the stranger clearing her voice interrupted it, "Is that you, Umi?"

All at once Umi sprung forward. Her hands touched the steel wall in panic. Umi's heart ached and she desperately searched for a way to get to her. Seeing no other way; Umi went to bend over, but found that she couldn't, "Honoka!? Is that you Honoka?!"

"Umi relax," Honoka sounded calm, "Don't over excite yourself or you might wake up."

Umi's body was trembling, "Honoka I want to see you. I need to see you."

"I want to see you too," Honoka leaned on the wall from her side, "I have never stopped wanting to see you."

"Honoka," Umi begged as if the ginger had the power to remove the wall that was separating them, "Please."

"Umi, I finally learned that you are always right," Umi didn't want to hear that, but Honoka continued, "But just this last time, can you listen to me one more time?"

Umi's silence beckoned Honoka to continue.

"When you wake up… can you bury me… with you?"

Umi scuffled, "Honoka," Umi's voice had never lost her disciplinary edge, "Do you even have to ask? I have already made those arrangements a long time ago," It was the truth.

Umi had always wanted them to share the same grave and now that Kanan was coming home with Honoka, Umi's final wish could at least come true. That's why when Kanan had left, Umi had gotten to work to place all her instructions on paper. Because she knew that once she saw Honoka's body, she would be unable to think straight, much less speak.

Honoka gave a small laugh. Umi's heart began to quiver at the ancient sound. She had already forgotten how Honoka's laughter sounded like, "Umi, why is it that I still haven't learned my lesson? My wife is truly the best in the world! No one is as smart or as cunning as my Umi!"

Umi smiled, "Honoka, can I see you now?"

"If I lift this door," Honoka's unaged hands touched the edge of the border. Umi was tempted to touch them, but held back to listen carefully. It was as if her spirit had warned her of the danger if she blindly followed her heart, "You won't be able to go back. So if you had any final words to tell Kanan or if you… have a lover… you won't be able to see them again."

"What is this?" Umi was frustrated to hear Honoka say such things. Honoka always knew how to bring this side out of her, "Kanan is all grown up. In fact, you would be so proud of her if you could see her. Our Kanan has followed in your footsteps. Our daughter is now a highly respectable space captain," Umi boasted, "And another lover? Have you gone mad with age as well? When would I ever let myself be touched by someone else! I would rather die alone than to ever betray these feelings I have for you."

"Umi," Honoka cooed from her side. Her hands gripping the frame as if she was about to burst open the last remaining barrier between them, "Ah!" she stopped herself.

"Don't stop!" Umi let her own aged hands rest upon the other's, "Let me see you again, please."

"But…"

"What are you, a baby?" Umi teased, though her hands gripped Honoka's own, "Haven't you made me wait an awfully long time just to see you again," Like re-reading a book, Umi found herself remembering all kinds of things about the ginger. Among so many memories and faces, Umi could recall Honoka's scrunched face whenever she was indecisive.

"... Can I really take you away?"

"Honoka, you want to know what my biggest regret was in this life?"

"Mm?"

"It was letting you go up in space all on your own," Umi felt wetness on her cheeks, "If I can do it all over again, I would have gone with you no matter what."

"What about Kanan?" Honoka was surprised to hear such a thing.

"I would still go," Umi knew Honoka very well even now thanks to her awakened memories, "And maybe just maybe that would have been enough to have kept you grounded right next to me," Umi knew that if she had given the ginger such an ultimatum, Honoka would have never gone into space.

Honoka gasped. Her early resolve broke like a dam bursting from a weak infrastructure, "That's not fair," her hands gripping the material lifting the wall upwards now to reveal Honoka's chest, "You didn't do anything wrong! If I had just listened, if I had just seen the bigger picture, I would have never gone!"

Umi stared in astonishment with wide eyes, her own hands falling back to her side as Honoka grunted with all her strength. The wall was thrown fully open to reveal the ginger in her prime, her eyes red with tears flowing heavily. Umi watched the ginger's gasping mouth, her nose dripping with snot as Honoka gazed upon Umi's aged face.

"Umi!" Honoka called out. Her outstretched hands, ready to receive Umi if the bluenette still wanted her.

Umi didn't say any more words. She collapsed into Honoka's strong arms finally wailing all of her frustration, her loneliness, her love. Her nails dug into Honoka's back trying to absorb the other into her, so they could never part again.

When Umi opened her eyes again, she was no longer with Honoka. Instead she was gripping at empty air as Nozomi's worried face peered from the side of her bed.

"Umi are you alright?" Nozomi was scared to see Umi in such a desperate state.

She had just arrived when she heard Umi's alarm ring from outside the front door. Fearing the worst, Nozomi invited herself in to find the other in such a frightening state.

Umi turned frantically everywhere. Seeing it was just Nozomi in her room, more tears flowed from her eyes, "Liar," she wished Honoka could listen to her, "You told me I wouldn't be able to go back," Umi closed her eyes again.

Though those were the words she had said to Nozomi it sounded as if Umi had mumbled and groaned random things. Nozomi checked Umi's forehead and finally the rest of her body to see if she could spot anything unusual.

"Umi, how do you feel?"

When Umi went to address Nozomi, she found that Nozomi wasn't the one sitting by her side. It was Honoka. The ginger looked much older, but still very young and beautiful. She wore different clothes from her memories as Honoka went to grab her hand.

"Scared?" Honoka smiled lovingly.

"With you by my side?" Umi's tears kept flowing out, "Never."

Nozomi was panicking, she had watched Umi suddenly settle down with a far away look in her eyes. She went to call Kanan, but her call didn't go through. She called multiple times before deciding she should call an ambulance, "Water! I'll get you water," Nozomi trembled as she tried to get things under control while the medical professionals arrived.

Umi had watched Nozomi's tremble out of her room. Finding it funny, Umi looked to her side to share her thoughts with Honoka, but the ginger was gone. Upset by the sudden disappearance, Umi searched the room before finding Honoka at her window.

Honoka now looked to be middle aged as she whistled at the changed street, "Everything is so different now."

Umi sighed in relief, "What do you expect? You've been gone for so many years now."

Honoka came back to her side. She looked even more bewitching with grey hairs, her smile revealing strong lines and crow's feet at the edge of her eyes, "So what's up with her?" Honoka felt a bit insecure about Nozomi taking care of Umi.

Umi slapped Honoka's arm, "You silly old thing," Honoka held Umi's hand strongly, "Nozomi was already married to someone she can never replace," Just like me, "We've been helping each other now that we're too old to help ourselves."

"Oh," Honoka felt bashful as she rubbed the back of her neck, "I'll have to thank her properly one day," Umi giggled.

Nozomi had come back and tried to give Umi water, but the bluenette was just smiling to herself as if not aware that Nozomi was right there. She squeezed Umi's shoulder and warned her to stay awake as she went to call Kanan with the lan phone. It was an emergency connection that would definitely connect to the ship's direct line.

Nozomi just hoped that this was nothing serious and that she had just overreacted, "Where is the ambulance!?" she prayed Kanan would pick up.

"Can I lay next to you?" Honoka asked, but she went along and positioned herself on the bed anyways.

Umi giggled along as she scooted over. Honoka held her in her arms, "This is nice," Umi closed her eyes enjoying the soft beating of Honoka's heart. She had missed such a sensation.

"You feel so fragile," Honoka's voice was more croaky, her features aged now to match Umi's current state, "Like I could hurt you with any amount of strength."

"You couldn't hurt me now even if you wanted to," Umi felt an overwhelming peacefulness wash over her, "Just hold me tight and never let me go ever again."

"I promise," Honoka held her close, her nose digging into Umi's hair as she welcomed everything, "When you wake up, do you want to go into space?"

"Space?" Umi rolled her eyes at the idea, "I've had enough of such a thing! I'd rather stay on Earth."

"The universe is actually very pretty," Seeing Umi grunting in disapproval, Honoka tickled Umi's head with her nose, "Alright! Where does Umi want to go?"

"I want to travel the Earth," Umi mumbled, feeling tired, "I want to walk… and take lots of pictures… maybe we could bring Kanan on one or two trips," Umi sank into Honoka's embarace, "Did you know... Mari and Dia both confessed to our daughter?"

"Did they now?"

"Yeah… Hopefully we can see our grandchildren soon."

"It doesn't have to be soon," Honoka's voice was gentle, "They can all take their time, we aren't going anywhere."

"True," Umi felt weightless. Everything around her was disappearing, but Honoka's warmth stayed, "Honoka… when I wake up… will you be there?" Umi's final tears escaped along with a crack in her voice.

"That's right, when Umi wakes up I'll be here," Honoka kissed Umi's forehead, "And when you're ready we'll plan out our trip and visit all kinds of places and take lots of pictures!"

Umi hummed in approval.

"And we'll visit Kanan every once and awhile. We'll protect her and shower her with lots of love. Of course we'll also watch over Kanan's family."

"Right."

"So rest well. Because when you wake up, I won't let you fall asleep ever again."

"Honoka," Umi smiled, taking a deep breath.

Honoka's hearty laugh was the security Umi needed to sleep soundlessly.

…

Umi would eventually wake up to find Honoka waiting for her in all her great glory.

That afterglow that would bloom in the ginger's features when they shared their first time, when they found out they were having a baby, and when they married each other was plastered on her cheery face.

Umi could tell she must have had the same expression on her face with how much her own cheeks began to hurt. Taking each other's hands, Umi could see she had also rewinded time. She was just as young as Honoka.

"To an eternity with you."

Who had said those words? Neither knew as they walked hand in hand into a world that didn't exist nor existed. Both fearless as they marched on, the way it should have always been, together.