[AN: I'm sorry for the really really short chapters in this update, but it just turned out this way. By the way, keep giving feedback, it's what keeps me writing]

XI

Subaru sat under a tree in Dun Loireag, a spot she knew very well. She had sat here many times with Tsukasa when he had been trapped… the other time he had been trapped here. Now she was wondering if they would ever sit together anywhere again. She had sent a message to Tsukasa almost half an hour ago, asking him to meet her here, yet he hadn't appeared. What if something had happened to Tsukasa in the real world? No… Bear would have told her. He had to come; he had to. He promised.

Golden rings appeared in the air, falling down to reveal a small, ivory-haired Wavemaster with a small, tired smile on his lips.

"I keep my promises"

XII

Edo walked among the forest of towering mushrooms, the colorful, vivid and real land of The World. How could anyone ever think that drab and grey city was the real world? Yes, he had to eat and drink in the other world, but what did that mean? This was his World, his fairytale land, and the banal place they called Tokyo had nothing to do against it. Yet if he was right, if he really didn't mind, why did those girl's words echo again and again in his mind? Why did he feel, somehow, that he was wrong? Maybe he would return to Tokyo for some time, and try to find answers to those questions.

Then, something caught his eye in-between the mushrooms. Something small and purple had just floated between the giant fungi. He went towards where he had seen the flash of color, curiously looking about him. Before long he was deep into the forest, far away from any paths. He would see a flash of color and try to find it again, to no avail, then, when he was about to give up, he saw it briefly again. It seemed to be taunting him, keeping right out of sight, or maybe leading him somewhere. Then, suddenly, it darted out in front of him. Floating some four feet from the ground, there was a small purple and white cat-like creature, in grey shirt and trousers, and a pointed hat. Some memory long forgotten stirred inside him, and recognition showed in Edo's eyes.

"Maha?"

The cat-like creature took of its hat and flourished an exaggerated bow. It's mouth moved, but the words he heard directly in his mind.

I see we meet again, Edo. I am glad you have kept out of trouble.

Again? Edo tried to remember any previous encounter with the being, but the all-too-familiar fog that covered his memory did not part to let him through. He wanted to ask Maha why he couldn't remember, but it looked back nervously, as if something was following it, and disappeared in thin air, leaving only Edo alone in the forest of mushrooms, even more confused than before.

XIII

"I have to find Aura," Tsukasa was saying, "she was the key the last time, and she could surely help now"

Subaru nodded, but looked concerned. "That means you'll be going to her domain… where we can't contact you"

Tsukasa nodded gravely. "I don't think I'll be able to return here every day if I am to find her, so… when we meet again it will be resolved, one way or the other."

Subaru leaned against his shoulder, yet not smiling like the first time they had sat like this here. She didn't look like the Subaru he had always known anymore, determination had been replaced by desperation, and hope by exhaustion. He became painfully aware of the fact that he could feel her, but the one truly in need of touch was she. The barrier between them was unsurpassable. They seemed to touch each other, but they were really separated by miles of distance, the distance between the real Subaru, in her wheelchair in front of her computer and the jumble of data that represented him in The World.

"You can stay a little longer, can't you?" she asked, softly.

Tsukasa nodded. He knew every second that passed drew him farther away from hope and closer to oblivion, but he would give anything to stay here with her, even a little while longer.

She smiled weakly and closed her eyes. They stayed like that for a long time, and Subaru fell asleep on his shoulder, as the blue sky above turned black and dotted with stars.

You're looking at the stars. I look at the same stars. I like doing that, I think.

Tsukasa wiped a tear from his eyes before it had a chance to fall. He would find Aura. He would be all right. He would see Subaru again.

XIV

They all sat there, in the church where, long ago, Tsukasa used to like to be, the place where the Eye of the Twilight opened. It still seemed to be an incredibly sad and lonely area to Mimiru. She wished Bear had chosen a more cheerful meeting place.

She surveyed the other people around. Bear was grim and serious, like he had been ever since he received news of what had happened to Tsukasa. Subaru seemed to be better rested and more in control today, but still looked sad. Mimiru supposed she probably didn't have a very good face herself. Crim, standing behind Subaru, looked concerned. Mimiru didn't know whether it was concern at Tsukasa or at Subaru, possibly both. BT, surprisingly, looked much like Subaru. Her face was grave and worried, she hadn't said a word since she arrived, and she had been the first to come. Mimiru had never thought Tsukasa meant that much to BT but, of course, Mimiru hadn't really got on that well with the older woman.

"Well," Bear started, "it seems we are all here…"

They talked for a long time, about a lot of things. She and Bear apologized to Subaru for not believing her, and definite proof of Tsukasa's continued existence in The World was shown. BT proposed they contact Helba and ask her help, and they all agreed. They also seemed to agree, without her consent, that it would be she that would contact Sora. She was so not looking forward to that, even if it was to help Tsukasa. They were all also in agreement about Tsukasa needing to find the small girl called Aura, wherever she could be, but that they could do little to help him with that. Finally, Mimiru told them all about the strange Wavemaster called Edo, that believed The World to be the real world. Bear seemed to think he could have something to do with Tsukasa, so she gave out copies of the screenshot she had taken of him to the others, so they would recognize him. Bear seemed to recognize the strange symbols on Edo's face, but didn't say anything definite. Finally, Bear gave Subaru the address of the hospital where they were keeping Tsukasa. After that, they all left their own way, to do their own things, but at least it seemed they were all going to take steps to help Tsukasa.

Stay alive a little longer, Tsukasa, we are here to help you.

XV

You have to find me, Tsukasa.

The small white girl pleaded silently at him, from somewhere far, far away.

You are my only hope… our only hope.

"But how?" he asked her, "how do I find you?"

Find yourself, Tsukasa, and you shall find me.

"What do you mean?" he asked, but she was not in front of her anymore. She was on the bed he had seen her floating above so many times, tied down by thorny purple vines. She wasn't white anymore, but opalescent, swirling colors traveling over her body. He knew this scene, he had seen it before. Yet, was this a memory or a premonition?

"Don't listen to her, my dear Tsukasa," said the voice in the sky, "do you really want to return to that ludicrous world?"

He looked up at the sky and shouted back in defiance. "Yes, yes I do! I want to see Subaru again!"

"My dear Tsukasa, you don't need her. You only need me. We shall live in peace here forever"

"No!" he shouted, "no! I do not want to be with you!"

The voice adopted an evil, menacing tone. "Oh, but you will, my dear little Tsukasa, you will."

The purple vines tying up the sleeping girl sprouted also from the ground beneath his feet and held him in place.

"Look, my dear Tsukasa, how easily we solve that small problem of yours"

He saw, in front of him, a blue-haired girl in a wheelchair, sitting in front of a computer. He wanted to reach out to her, to touch her, but the vines impeded any movement. The air filled with a sense of evil glee, as if the voice in the air was grinning at him, and a barbell-shaped golden creature appeared behind the girl. Suddenly a sense of dread filled him and he screamed and struggled to try to get to Subaru, to warn her, but to no avail. To his horror, he felt the vines pulling his arm up in the gesture that would command the creature to attack, and he was powerless to resist. A tentacle shot out of the creature and right through the blue-haired girl's head. It seemed to live no visible wound, but the screen of her computer blacked out, and she fell forward, her head crashing into the keyboard.

"No!" he yelled in desperation, again and again, but when the voice in the sky only cackled gleefully his screams soon turned into sobs, and then fell silent.