Omori sat cross-legged on the floor, just as he always had. He'd already completed his routine of checking his laptop, doodling, and petting Mewo. His tissues were there to wipe away the sorrows that seemed to never come. He laid down onto his back and stared up at the dim gray light bulb that was flickering above him. Soon it would be time to go through the motions again, just as he always had.

Right now it was different however, right now a great white door had appeared in white space. These were always his favorite times, the times he got to see his friends. He slowly stood up, and approached the door. His hand wrapped around the cool door knob, and he slowly slid the door open. It felt heavier than he remembered.

His eyes took a moment to adjust to the difference in color he was always greeted with every time he visited this pastel place. He saw his friends gathered around a game of cards, it seemed like Hero was winning, as usual.

"Everyone! Look!"

The door slowly closed behind Omori, leaving behind the white world in exchange for the colorful room. Kel ran up to Omori as he stood in the neighbor's room, his other friends rapidly approached as well.

"Omori! You shouldn't worry us like that! You've been gone for so long!" Aubrey whined.

He stood there as his friends surrounded him, as they had a hundred times before.

"I'm just happy to see you back, Omori," Hero said, patting his shoulder.

Had it been so long? It didn't feel much longer than usual. Though, they always seemed to make a big deal about it when he came to visit, perhaps that was all it was. Regardless, he felt guilty that he had worried them. He should make a note to visit more.

Hero smiled, "Your sister's been looking for you everywhere, you know. You shouldn't worry her so much."

Of course, Mari must have been worried. Maybe that's why everyone was making such a big fuss, she must've had them searching everywhere. It wouldn't be fair to keep her waiting anymore. She was always so worried about him.

The room was the same as always, littered with toys and various nostalgic items. The unfinished card game laid in the middle of the room. It felt sad seeing the game lay there, maybe they could return later to finish it.

Omori led the way up the stairs, and out of the stump, running south to where the picnic always was.

Though, Mari wasn't there. Basil was, however.

Basil stood up from the picnic blanket and ran towards the group with tears in his eyes, "I don't know where she went, but I can't find Mari anywhere! I blinked and she was gone!"

Mari was missing? She was never missing.

"Oh no! What happened to her?" Aubrey said.

"I'm sure she's okay! We're just going to have to search, we know how to do that!," Kel said, "Like when Basil needed us to find his watering can, or when Aubrey lost her bow!"

"Both of which you hid, Kel," Hero pointed out, "Then pretended to find."

"Not the point! We can find her!"

Omori felt uneasy, Mari was never missing, she was always there, no matter what! No matter where they went, she was always one step ahead of them. It wasn't like her to go missing. He agreed with Kel, they had to find her.

"I know! Let's check my house!" Basil said, "I haven't looked there yet!"

"Good idea!" Aubrey said, "Let's go, Omori, come on!"

Before Omori could start moving again, Hero sighed and leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Don't tell anyone else, but I'm really worried about Mari. It's not like her to go missing like this!"

Omori felt the same, the disruption in routine was causing him anxiety as well, and he felt worried about Mari. He had really been looking forward to seeing her today, though he couldn't place why he wanted to more than usual today.

Omori led the way down, passing through the playground. All of his other friends were playing as always. Today it looked like a game of freeze tag. It's a good thing they hadn't come through here a little sooner, otherwise Berly surely would have roped them all into the game. Even Boss seemed to be joining in on the fun this time around. It seemed that against all odds he had successfully been reintegrated back into society after his self isolation.

Berly ran by and jumped up, touching Hero's shoulder, "Ha! Gotcha!"

Hero froze and frowned, "Oh no… I'm sorry guys, you're going to have to go on without me. It's the rules, I'll catch up, don't worry!"

"Hero! No!" Kel fell to his knees and pretended to weep, "What will we do without you!"

"Get up! He's not dead or anything, let's go get Mari! She'll know how to help him!" Aubrey said, pulling Kel up off the ground.

Now a group of four, they progressed further south, passing through the playground with only one casualty. Surely the game would be over soon and Hero would be able to reunite with them, but sometimes these games went on for a while. If that was the case, they would need Mari to deescalate the game, or convince Berly to let Hero go.

Everyone followed behind Omori as they continued the adventure, except for Basil who walked by his side.

"You know, it's nice to have you back, Omori," Basil said.

Omori kept walking, it felt like he'd just been here, but it was good to be back.

"I wonder what you were up to all that time away," Basil looked at Omori, his eyes felt like they were looking right through him, "You've never left for quite so long."

It felt like there was a hidden meaning to what Basil was saying, Omori was on edge. It was like he was being confronted for something. For what, he didn't know. He didn't have time to question it though, as they approached a flower patch.

"Oh no!" Basil darted behind Omori, grabbing his hand, "Look! A sprout mole again! I thought they'd all left my flowers alone!"

That's more like the usual Basil.

There stood the sprout mole, it almost looked like it was intentionally trying to destroy the flowers. It was jumping and stomping all around the tulips, making a big show out of it. What did the flowers ever do to it?

"Those are some of my favorites! Please, somebody do something!"

"I'll take care of it, don't worry!" Kel ran at the sprout mole, "You guys, keep looking for Mari, I can handle this one!"

Kel leaned forward and sprinted, throwing his arms behind his back, before leaping forward and tackling the sprout mole to the ground. The two rolled and skidded across the grass, keeping the flowers out of harm's way.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Basil cried.

Basil slowly came out from behind Omori, though he didn't let go of his hand.

"Ugh! Now I'm just the third wheel!" Aubrey sighed.

"Are not!" Basil objected.

They all kept walking. Luckily, it didn't seem like there were any more sprout moles to terrorize Basil and his flowers. It looked like there was a garden that wasn't here previously, this one both white tulips and sunflowers, growing alongside each other.

"Oh! Do you like my new garden, Omori? I just think tulips and sunflowers look so pretty together."

The group paused to look at the flowers for a moment, the sunflowers towered over the tulips, but what the shorter flowers lacked in height they made up for in numbers. They surrounded the stems of the sunflowers, some wrapping around multiple times. How clingy.

"Oh! Oh! Basil!" Aubrey interjected, "What flowers did you say I reminded you of again?"

Basil smiled, as the group started walking again, "Gladiolus, Aubrey! It's because of how unwavering you are in what you believe in. Like when you think Kel's being dumb, you really let him know! Here, there's some Gladioli now."

The flowers stood almost as tall as Aubrey, a wide array of colors.

"Wow… they're beautiful!" she said, "Like me, I guess!"

She went to brush a loose strand of hair out of her eyes, only to end up patting her hair, all around the top of her head, frantically with both hands.

"Oh no! My bow is missing!" she clenched her fists, "I bet Kel took it again! Ugh, I'm gonna go back and get him, you two find Mari, okay?"

With that, she turned around and sprinted back to catch Kel.

Omori and Basil continued walking to his house as a duo now, still holding hands as they were before.

"I guess it's just us now, isn't it, Omori? That doesn't happen too often," Basil leaned against him, humming softly, "I'm really happy that you're my friend."

The sky seemed to get a little dimmer as they got closer to Basil's house. An uncharacteristic red hue seemed to seep into the purple, slowly overpowering it.

"Oh, let's stop here for a moment, Omori."

Basil stopped walking in front of a garden patch of tulips, white tulips to be exact.

"You remember these, right? We saw some earlier. They've always reminded me of you. They aren't looking too good right now, though... Here! Help me out."

Basil guided Omori's hand to a nearby watering can, lifting it up with him.

"You have to be very precise with the amount of water you give them."

Basil gently tipped the watering can over the soil of one of the tulips, one hand overlapping Omori's, the other supporting it from the base of the can. Basil looked up at the other boy and smiled.

"Okay, you try alone now, Omori!"

Omori went to the next tulip and gently tipped the watering can, darkening the soil underneath the flower. He repeated the process until every tulip was watered. The effect seemed immediate, all the flowers perking up.

Basil took the watering can from him and set it down in front of the garden, before walking back to stand with Omori. Basil grabbed the other boy's hands while facing him, his face painted with a soft pink blush as he averted his gaze from Omori.

"There's something special about standing amongst the flowers, don't you think, Omori?"

He sat down on the ground, crossing his legs and pulling Omori down with him, and laid his head against Omori's shoulder.

"I wish we could stay here forever."

Basil plucked one of the tulip flowers, and gently cupped Omori's face, turning it to face him. He delicately placed the flower into Omori's hair. Omori stared back into Basil's eyes, the two were barely inches apart, and Omori's breath was small and tense. Basil smiled at him.

The two sat in the silence for what felt like an eternity, but not nearly long enough at the same time. They didn't get to share moments like this often, their other friends were almost always there. Omori couldn't recall a time he and Basil had been truly alone.

Basil's hand slowly trailed down his cheek, as if he regretted what would happen when he reached the end, before he finally let go entirely and slowly stood up.

Basil sighed, "We should get going, we're almost to my house."

He extended a hand, and Omori took it, struggling to his feet. Basil gently tugged on his arm as he now led the way to his home.

"Thank you for the help by the way, Omori. My white tulips seem to have a hard time supporting themselves, they needed a little extra help. I think it's cute, don't you? Everyone needs a little guidance every now and then."

The tulips were now far out of sight as Omori continued to follow close behind the other boy. his chest still felt tight from the experience he'd just had in the garden with Basil, he'd never felt that way before.

None of the other flowers seemed to need any watering, Basil was right about how tulips seemed to need more help. He wouldn't have minded helping Basil out with more gardening, but at least they would be finding Mari before they knew it.

"You know, your friends all miss you a lot when you're gone. You always seem to know how to get us out of trouble."

A wind blew through the trees, chilling Omori. Basil leaned against him again, as if he could sense his discomfort. His body felt warm all around where Basil touched.

"But you shouldn't worry about us anymore, Omori. We can take care of ourselves."

A cold fog rose around them, enveloping the forest. What had been a bright day had turned quite gloomy.

"Though, I appreciate you coming by to visit."

The two stood in front of Basil's house, an eerie glow seemingly coming from the door.

Basil squeezed his hand, and slowly pulled away. He looked at Omori regretfully, "The person you're looking for isn't in there, I'm sorry to say. Although, what is inside will help you find her."

Basil looked upset, nervously fidgeting with his hands, a pained expression on his face as he avoided Omori's gaze.

He sighed and looked into Omori's eyes, "There's so much more I want to say to you."

Basil began to disappear in front of him, slowly fading away. Tears were forming in his eyes, as he slowly shook his head, grabbing Omori's hands as he stared at the other boy.

"This is goodbye, I'm so sorry that it has to end like this, and I'm sorry I couldn't tell you," Omori could see through the other boy now, "I had to get you here no matter what, even though I knew what it meant for me. It was worth it to see you one last time. It has always been worth it."

Basil pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around Omori. Basil smelled of dirt and nature and the appreciation of the little things. Of flowers and an eternal summer, a dream that one would never want to wake from. Of the tragedy of the passage of time.

"Please, promise you won't forget about me, Sunny."

Basil pulled back, and stared pleadingly at the other boy, tears falling down his face.

"I promise."

And with that, the flower boy smiled one last time, and disappeared. The boy reached up to his hair to feel the tulip Basil had left, and took a deep breath, relieved it was still there.

He tried to fight back tears as he stood in front of Basil's house. He had to do this, he had to complete the adventure or it would all be for nothing.

He reached a shaky hand out to the door knob, and twisted it open, slowly entering the house.

It was dark, and the floorboards creaked as he stepped onto them. The place looked like it was falling apart, as if without Basil's presence it was already wilting away. Tears started to slip down his face as he looked around the now abandoned building. It wasn't a home anymore. In the middle of the room lay a single photograph.

The boy knelt down to lift it, remembering what Basil had told him. What he would find inside would lead him to Mari. He slowly turned the photograph to face him.

A violin.

A familiar melody played, one that he'd heard an uncountable amount of times before as he found himself back in white space.

"Sunny."

The boy turned around.

His sister stood before him, as monochrome as the world around him, but his sister nonetheless. She smiled at him, and shook her head slowly.

"You found me."

He ran to her, wrapping his arms around her as tightly as he could. She gently ruffled his hair, and grabbed his shoulders to look down at him.

"You can't be back here, Sunny. This world isn't for you anymore."

Sunny looked up at his sister, she looked just as she did the last time he saw her alive. Despite that, she carried herself with a newfound wisdom that she didn't have back then. A type of knowledge someone at her age should never be burdened to possess.

"Everyone will be okay here, you can trust Basil. You need to make room for the next dreamer. You've outgrown this place."

But he didn't want to leave, he was finally starting to feel okay. For that time he spent with his friends he felt okay. He hadn't felt that peaceful in so long, he didn't want to go back. He wanted to fight it. He wanted to go back to five minutes ago, sitting with Basil in the garden, no memory of his pain. He was happy.

He wanted Basil back. He missed him.

Mari hugged him.

"It's not going to be easy, Sunny. I know. But I want you to know that I'm so proud of you," she sighed, "I wish I could stay with you here forever, but that would be selfish of me. Your friend is worried about you, can you hear him?"

"Sunny! Sunny, please! Wake up!"

Tears came to Sunny's eyes, he couldn't abandon Basil again. He had to be there for him.

Mari squeezed him close, "You know I forgive you, don't you?"

Something broke inside of Sunny, and he cried against his sister in the way he always wanted to. The scenarios that used to lapse over and over in his mind where he confessed his pain and frustration with music, how he'd sob and she'd hold him close. It was all he ever wanted. He clung to her and cried, soaking her shirt with his tears as he sniffled, letting his emotions out for once.

Mari gently rubbed his back as he cried, this was all he had ever wanted.

"I'm sorry I didn't give this to you when you needed it the most. Can you ever forgive me for that?"

He nodded against her, the tears finally starting to slow down. He coughed, struggling to catch his breath.

"You're so much stronger than you'll ever know. I've seen what you've gone through, Sunny. "

He nodded again, taking deep breaths now and trying to blink the tears out of his eyes.

"Sunny! Can you hear me? Please, somebody do something!"

She gently pulled away from him, and smiled, "You should let the flower boy know that you're okay, my time here is almost up, Sunny."

He sniffled against her.

She nodded, "I know, Sunny. I'll always be with you, I promise. I'm so proud of you… little brother."

Mari slowly turned away, and began to walk deeper into white space, slowly fading from view. Her voice seemed to come from all around Sunny, "You know what you need to do, it's not as scary as you think. I'll see you again someday, I promise."

There was silence for a moment.

"I love you, Mari."

"I love you, Sunny."

And he was alone.

It was different this time. He could see the door still there, an eye was peering through the lock. Probably Kel. He'd want to look for Basil, or Mari, he was sure of it.

He shook his head, they weren't there anymore. They'd sacrificed themselves to save him, he realized now that they always had tried to help him. They'd always guided him to the truth. Mari was right. He couldn't stay here anymore. It was easier, but that didn't make it right. It was selfish of him.

He missed Basil. He had to go back. He had to leave for good.

He found what he had come to find, though he didn't know it when he entered.

His hand was wrapped around the cool handle of the knife in his hands, when did that get there? This was the worst part, but surely he could handle it, just one last time.

He remembered his sister's words, "It's not as scary as you think."

He felt a mutual understanding between him and Omori, having finally been granted full control of this body. For once, it felt like they were truly on the same page, truly one, as they should have always been.

He plunged the knife into his monochrome body, and collapsed to his knees. It didn't hurt like it used to, instead it felt bittersweet. Goodbyes are never easy, especially when you're leaving a part of yourself. Friends you've just barely rediscovered. He didn't know what was harder, the ones he got to say goodbye to, or the ones he didn't.

He had to trust they would be okay, just like they've trusted him.

He gave a silent thank you to Omori for everything in his head, but it was time to part with this world for good. He knew Omori would always be a part of him in some way, the way he was supposed to be.

He closed his eyes, and when he woke up again, he was in Basil's arms.