The sky to the west lit up for a brief second and then returned to it's normal blue color. The remaining occupants of the Fanelian palace stood in the courtyard and stared out in the direction of Zaibach.
"What was that?" Merle asked.
Without a word, the four Draconians summoned their wings and flew up into the sky. They returned a few minutes later, smiling.
"The shadow is gone!" Adrina exclaimed, "They did it!"
Folken turned to Gadis, the captain of the Crusade II. "Is the ship ready to go?"
"Whenever you are," Gadis answered.
Everyone hurried over to the airship and boarded quickly. Within five minutes they were sailing over the mountains and into Zaibach. Along the windows in the cabin, everyone was looking for Mecale and Kouji. It was Merle who finally spotted them.
"Look!" she exclaimed and pointed, "There they are!"
Down below, the shapes of two people could be discerned from the landscape.
"I'm taking us down," Gadis informed and the Crusade II began to descend.
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Kouji was still gently rocking Mecale when the sound of propellers cut through the quiet air. He looked up and saw the airship from Asturia, the Crusade II, descended out of the sky. Disinterested, he turned back to Mecale and continued to rock her as the ship landed.
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The second the ship hit the ground, Adrina and Folken were running towards their daughter. From the ship they had seen that she was lying on the ground and Kouji was holding her.
Please let her be alive, Adrina chanted in her mind as she ran, Please let her be alive…
As they approached, Adrina could see that the once white dress her daughter wore was stained crimson. Adrina knelt next to her daughter and touched her face. She didn't respond.
"Mecale?" Adrina called and stroked her face. No response. "Mecale, sweetheart, it's your mother, answer me." She looked up at Kouji with tears streaming down her face. "Why won't she answer me?"
Kouji stared at her blankly. He was numb inside. "She's dead."
"No!" Adrina screamed, "She can't be! You were supposed to protect her! How could you let her die?!"
Kouji didn't reply as Adrina shouted at him, then burst into hysterical sobs. Folken bent down next to her and pulled her into his arms while Kouji continued to stare down at Mecale blankly.
"She's dead," Adrina wailed as her husband tried to comfort her, "Our daughter is dead!"
"I know," Folken said calmly as his own tears fell, "I know."
By this time, everyone else had joined them. Hitomi was crying while Van tried to comfort her. Golan stood nearby, trying and failing to hold back his tears. Merle and Zane stood behind Folken and Adrina, clinging to each other and crying for the loss of their niece.
Kouji saw all of this without really seeing it. He couldn't focus on anything except the dead woman in his arms. Her mother was right. He had let her die. He didn't know how long they sat there but finally, Folken stood up, dragging Adrina with him. She was still sobbing but they were weaker than before. The King turned to Merle and Zane.
"Will you help Adrina back to the airship?"
Merle nodded and gently pried Adrina away from Folken. The Draconian woman leaned heavily on her sister and brother-in-law as they slowly led her back to the Crusade II. Folken leaned down next to Mecale and started to lift her up. Kouji pulled her away from her father quickly and glared at the older man, anger in his eyes.
Folken, surprised by Kouji's reaction, pulled his hands back quickly. "Kouji, it's time to go."
The rage faded from his eyes and the blank look once again surfaced. "I know."
"Then let's go," Folken urged.
Kouji looked down at the woman in his arms and shook his head. "No. If we leave, then you'll have to take her away from me. If we stay here, I won't have to give her up."
Folken knelt down next to Kouji and put his hand on his shoulder. "You have to let her go. There is nothing more you can do for her."
"It's my fault," Kouji murmured.
"No it isn't."
"Yes it is," Kouji insisted, "He was gonna stab me but she shoved me out of the way. It should be me laying there, not her!" Fresh tears sprang to Kouji's eyes and rolled down his dirty cheeks.
"She knew what she was doing," Folken said, "there was nothing you could've done."
Kouji shook his head but said nothing.
"Come on." Folken stood up. "We should go."
Kouji tightened his hold on Mecale and was preparing to stand when he notice the stone in Mecale's dragon necklace was glowing. He settled back onto the ground and stared at the pendant in confusion. Folken noticed Kouji was staring at Mecale and followed his gaze. He too noticed the glowing necklace and bent down next to Kouji.
"Why is it glowing like that?" Kouji inquired.
"I don't know," Folken admitted.
The necklace began to glow brighter and a gasp behind him made Folken turn around. He looked up and saw that Van's pendant was glowing as well.
"What's going on?" Hitomi questioned.
The necklace began to glow even brighter and Kouji reached out to touch it. As soon as his fingers touched the stone, a bright light erupted from it, causing him to close his eyes or risk blindness. The moment the light pulsed from the necklace, he thought he felt Mecale move. Of course, that was impossible.
When the light had subsided, Kouji opened his eyes slowly. He looked down at the necklace and saw that it wasn't glowing anymore.
"What was that?" Van asked.
Kouji barely heard him because he was staring into Mecale's now open eyes. This is impossible, he thought, Her eyes can't be open. She can't be looking at me. She's dead. She…
"Kouji?"
Her lips moved so subtly and the word was so quiet that he thought he'd imagined it. He responded anyhow. "Mecale?"
Their words had drawn the attention of Folken, Van, Golan and Hitomi and the four of them stared down at Mecale as she smiled up at Kouji.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.
Kouji stared at her in shock. "Y…yeah."
"Oh my God, it's a miracle!" Folken announced and fell to his knees beside his daughter.
"Father?" Mecale's brow furrowed in confusion. "What are you doing here?"
Folken didn't reply. He just stared at her while tears formed in his eyes. Behind her, Mecale heard her Aunt Hitomi shout, "Adrina! Come quick! She's alive!"
Mecale looked past Kouji and saw her mother, Merle and Zane standing about one hundred feet away. Suddenly her mother broke away from the two cats and ran back to her daughter. Adrina threw her arms around Mecale and hugged her tightly.
"Oh my baby!" Adrina sobbed, "You're all right!"
"Of course I am," Mecale stated, "Mother, what's going on?" Her mother continued to cry so Mecale turned to Kouji. "Kouji?"
"You were dead," he told her with shiny eyes.
"What?!"
"He stabbed you," Kouji reminded, "You pushed me out of the way and he got you instead. Don't you remember?"
Mecale was silent for a moment, then she quickly untangled herself from her mother and looked down. Her white dress was still stained with blood and was cut where the sword had pierced it. She put her fingers in the hole and felt around on her skin. There was no wound. The only thing her fingers found was a raised scar where the wound should have been. She looked back up at Kouji.
"What happened?"
"My grandmother," Mecale murmured.
"Huh?"
"My grandmother Varie," Mecale repeated, "I saw her."
"Saw her where?" Folken asked from where he knelt at her side, holding Adrina.
"I don't know where it was," Mecale informed. Van knelt down next to Folken, eager to her news of his mother. Merle and Zane had also rejoined the group and listened intently as Mecale spoke. "I remember waking up in a huge meadow. There were birds singing and a stream running through it. I got up and saw a huge castle in front of me. It must have been twenty times the size of Asturia's palace. I saw other people walking up to it so I thought maybe they could tell me where I was. I approached the castle and when I got close, a woman with long dark hair emerged from the golden gate. I thought this was odd because no one else was leaving the castle, only going in. She walked out of the gates and met me on the grassy plain. When she got closer I realized she was my grandmother Varie. She smiled and told me that I had done a wonderful thing but it wasn't my time yet. I asked her what she meant but she only smiled. She told me to close my eyes and when I opened them, I was back here."
Everyone stared at Mecale, most with tears in their eyes.
"It's okay," Mecale told them, "I'm back now. Everything is fine. The shadow is gone and we can go on living our lives just like before."
Folken smiled at his daughter. "You're right. Let's get back to Fanelia. We have many things to celebrate."
Everyone stood and made their way to the airship.
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The sun was just starting to set over the Fanelian Mountains as the group of people made their way into the forest. They walked in silence, not knowing what to say at such a time. At the front of the group, Mecale led them to the clearing.
It had been nearly a week since the battle with the shadow and most of the time had been spent celebrating. Until yesterday, Mecale thought her happiness would last forever. Now she knew that her happiness had been a short lived dream that would come crashing down in a matter of minutes.
Yesterday, her parents had called her to their parlor to talk. When she had arrived, they told her that they wanted her to talk to Kouji about going home to the Mystic Moon. At first, she had been completely against it but as her parents began to discuss it with her, she realized it would be selfish to force him to stay.
The group came to a stop as they entered the clearing. They were all silent for a moment before Folken spoke.
"I know this is hard on both of you," Folken told Mecale and Kouji, "but you are doing the right thing."
Mecale said nothing and avoided everyone's gaze. Kouji merely nodded. There was another moment of awkward silence before everyone commenced saying goodbye to the man from the Mystic Moon. Once they were done, they group turned and exited the clearing, leaving Mecale and Kouji alone to say goodbye to one another. Kouji was the first to speak.
"This really sucks."
"Yes, it does," Mecale agreed.
"You know, I could always stay here a little longer," Kouji offered.
Mecale shook her head. "No, your family and friends a probably worried sick about you."
"Then maybe you could come back with me," Kouji suggested.
Mecale smiled slightly. They had already been over this. "My place is here. Someday I will take over rule of Fanelia. I cannot run from my duties."
"I know," Kouji admitted, "I guess this is goodbye then."
Mecale nodded, unwilling to trust her voice.
"Come here." Kouji pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back, being careful not to push on the bandaged wounds in his arm and shoulder. When they pulled apart, her cheeks were wet with tears.
Mecale wiped the salty droplets away quickly. "Here." Mecale took off her dragon necklace and hooked it around Kouji's neck. "I want you to have this."
"Are you sure?" Kouji asked and touched the purple stone.
"Yes."
"Um…" Kouji looked down at him clothes, trying to find something to give her. "Aha!" He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the old gray baseball cap. He placed it backwards on her head. "There. It's not as glamorous as your necklace but it's one of my most prized possessions."
"Thank you," Mecale smiled. She leaned forward and kissed him. "I will come back for this someday." She placed her hand on the dragon pendant.
"I'm gonna miss you," he whispered.
"I'm going to miss you too."
Kouji leaned forward and kissed her again. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For everything," he answered, "Goodbye Mecale."
"Goodbye Kouji."
Kouji took a step back from her and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the pendant around Kouji's neck was glowing. She watched, in tears, as the blue light surrounded him and took him back to the Mystic Moon.
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Kouji woke up slowly and saw that it was dark all around him. At first, he was disoriented and sat up quickly. He realized he was laying in the grass on the cliff near where he had found Mecale. He was home.
Kouji got to his feet and despondently walked back to his apartment. He let himself in and went to his bedroom. He flicked on the light and took in the scene around him. Mecale's shoes were still lined up against the closet with his own. He saw her bloody tank top and pants in the laundry basket, the ones she had been wearing during the accident. He knew he would have a lot of explaining to do about it but he was too exhausted to worry about it right now.
Kouji went over to the bed and started to lay down when a piece of paper on the blankets caught his eye. He picked it up and say that it was a note from Mecale. It read:
Dear Kouji,
By the time you read this, I will be gone. I'm sorry that I didn't say goodbye but I couldn't risk it. Something terrible is happening on Gaea, I can feel it and I know if you knew I was leaving that you'd want to come with me and I can't let you. The dream I had last night was about you getting hurt. In fact, you died. I'm afraid that the dreams I've been having are connected to what's happening on Gaea. I can't risk having the dreams come true. I love you Kouji and I couldn't bear to lose you. I hope you will forgive me for my sudden departure. Perhaps we will see each other again someday.
Forever Yours, Mecale
Kouji finished the letter and sighed. He put it down on his nightstand and for the first time in his life, he felt utterly alone.
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That's it folks! All that is left now is a very short epilogue. I hope you enjoyed this!