Same chapter as the last page. We are still in the past, 4 hours before.

They finally let go of Seta, but Haruka gave him the dirtiest one-more-word-and-you're-gonna-pay look.

"Sara, you wanted to drop-kick him right? Go for it, but don't kill him," Haruka said to her step-daughter.

"Awww, why not? Daddy's been teaching me so many new techniques!"

"NO killing moves. I have a feeling you'll have fun with it anyway. Sneak out there, and then ambush him -- I want him distracted for at least ten minutes. Seta, you just stay here...and shut up. Now go!" Haruka looked absolutely frantic.

With that, Sara bounded off happily to kick her target's ass.

Haruka turned to Motoko and Tsuruko. "You two, come with me to the back door. Wait for my signal and get to the guest house."

The three of them reached the back patio. Motoko managed to hug Haruka quickly, something she had never done before. Haruka hugged her back and whispered into her ear: "I didn't know things had become this hard for you…just keep away from him until you figure things out for yourself, okay? No matter what you do, PROMISE me you will."

"I will...I promise...," Motoko said, starting to cry into Haruka's shoulder...

"Nonsense, Motoko. I KNOW you will, and…" Still embracing Motoko, Haruka glanced over her shoulder at Tsuruko "…your sister knows it too. You keep an eye on her for me?"

"Both eyes," Tsuruko said, grinning knowingly.

"Ok, Motoko" Haruka said, pushing her gently out of the embrace. "I want you and your sister to create a smokescreen when I give you the signal, get in and out of the guest house as fast as you can. Take the exit around back and leave through the back of the property."

"Why all this protection?" Tsuruko asked. "Urashima isn't that much an accomplished fighter, in fact, I hear he's quite a novice—"

"This isn't about his fighting," Haruka said, interrupting her. "Trust me…I KNOW my cousin…he will chase Motoko to the ends of the earth to find out why she's run away…he's THAT stubborn. Just trust me, okay?"

Everything after that was a blur. Motoko remembered dashing out to the guest house, under the cover of one of her sister's awesome smokescreens, hearing something that faintly sounded like well-landed punches and kicks, and a "BWARG!", followed by "Aw come on, you can fight better than that, you LOSER!"

She and Tsuruko sloppily got their personal effects together, when Sara screamed on cue (as they had planned for this contingency): "HEY! GET BACK HERE! DON'T GO INTO THE GUEST HOUSE! THERE'S A UM…A SCARY MONSTER IN THERE!"

"Come on!" Motoko said, starting for the back door. It was in this moment, that Oneesan stood her ground near the front door, a firm look on her face at her younger sibling.

Motoko looked at her sister in shock. "No!" She whispered to Tsuruko. "No, I won't leave you behind! I can't make it without you!"

But Tsuruko smiled calmly at her. "Dear Motoko-chan…I will catch up to you. I found you in Hinata Springs; I can find my baby sister anywhere."

Motoko remembered someone beating on the door, to which followed a muffled voice saying: "Motoko! Come on, I hear you in there!"

Tsuruko backed away from her and went to the door. "Go on now, you must depart through the back door as Haruka instructed. I'll……well, I'll just make Sara's warning to him come true, won't I?" She smiled devilishly.

Motoko paused for one fleeting moment. "Oneesan…don't….don't hurt him."

"You have my word, Motoko-chan. I love you."

"I - …….I love you too, Oneesan." Motoko could stand this no longer. She ran out of the door, and out of her sister's life - again.

She barely noticed the giant turtle like apparition behind her that greeted Urashima at the door when he opened it, as well as his scream. She barely noticed the fireball that followed, the God's Cry School Ultimate Strike, knocking Keitaro into orbit. What she did notice was her tears as she ran. Why? Why was life crapping all over her now? She had only begun to make peace with Tsuruko, and enjoy her company, and catch up on so many things with her, and get to know her as a sister, and not some guardian or opponent, only to be separated from her again. This just wasn't FAIR, damnit!

And it was all Urashima's fault.

Damn him.

Present Time

The train began to speed away from the station. Motoko looked into the distance, seeing the smoke from her fireball that her sister had left in her wake. Urashima would be all right, he always was.

Come to think of it, to hell with him. This time it WAS his fault, and if they should meet again anytime soon, she would show him no quarter.

So many things were on her mind at this point. The loss of her sister from her life again. The devotion she noticed in Haruka when it came to Seta. It was so ironic, she once looked up to Haruka's independence, and now...she looked up to her in marriage and happiness.

There had to be a place where she could be safely away from Urashima.

She knew there was. But how in the hell was she going to get there with no money?

Unless…