"Whatever happened to those two elves?" asked Colette as she came down the stairs. Ryoko put her finger to her lips.

Shizuma and the Arbiter stared at each other from across the table. Neither of them blinked or moved a muscle.

"How long have they been like this?" whispered Colette in Ryoko's ear. Ryoko looked at her watch and did a little mental math.

"About an hour," she said.

"Wow," said Colette. "What's wrong with them?"

Ryoko shrugged. "Dunno," she said. "They've been like this, just looking at each other. Neither of them have said anything. No one knows why they're like that."

All of Ryoko's and Colette's friends were gathered around the table, murmuring softly, speculating as to what this could all be about. A hush fell over them as Shizuma slowly raised a finger to point at the Arbiter.

"I know this guy somehow," he said after a minute or two of pointing. "I thought you looked familiar that one time I came over here, and I'm sure I know you somehow. I just can't place my finger on it..."

The Arbiter made a strange gurgling growl. "Yes, there is something quite familiar about you, no doubt," he said. "Where could I have possibly seen you, though?"

"That's what I was wondering!" said Shizuma. "Maybe I met you in a past life or something...?" The Arbiter made a strange gesture, and Shizuma looked confused.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the Arbiter said. "I believe you do something like this?" He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, heh heh!" said Shizuma. "Yeah. I don't really believe in that, I was just...ah, nevermind. Heyyy...wait, ummm...failsafes!" Shizuma looked confused.

"Failsafes?" said the Arbiter. "Failsafes. Fail. Safes. Fail-safes. Like on a Covenant weapon...hmmmm..."

The small crowd began to murmur again. Something was happening.

"What do you know about failsafes on these weapons?" asked Shizuma excitedly, rising out of his chair slightly and leaning forward. He clenched his fists and grinned. "We're almost there!"

"Ummmm, uh, well," said the Arbiter, "the failsafes prevent Covenant weapons from being turned off. They also cause the weapon to destroy itself if an enemy tries to open or use it. There is another failsafe, also. When a specific signal is broadcasted on a certain frequency, it can turn the weapons on or off, such as in the case of...a...rebellion..." The Arbiter stopped speaking, but his mouth was still open. Shizuma stared back at him, slackjawed as well.

"What happened?" someone whispered. No one answered, for at that moment the two seated at the table suddenly began to speak again.

"Th-th-th-that!" said Shizuma.

"Was, um," said the Arbiter. "Was, uh, weird.

"So, what, yeah, okay," Shizuma mumbled. "Ohhhhkay. You sold the guns to me."

"Then I told you how to turn them off..." said the Arbiter.

"TO HELP ALL OF US!" declared Shizuma, jumping out of his seat and throwing his hands up in the air. "HA HA HA! I remember it all!" Shizuma dug his fingers into his head and groaned. "Holy crap, man! That's the weirdest thing that's ever got to have happened in the history of forever!"

"You remember?" said Ryoko. "Remember what?"

"You mean you actually remember everything that happened!" exclaimed Raine, grabbing ahold of Shizuma's arms excitedly. He clutched her arms back and nodded, eyes wide and broad smile trembling. It didn't look like he was breathing. "This is incredible!" she breathed. "It's damn well near impossible!"

"What's going on!" asked Zelos plaintively. Raine and Shizuma didn't answer. They just jumped up and down, squealing with glee. Zelos watched them, and soon it dawned on him.

"This guy," he said slowly, "he remembers what happened when we were in the place with the thing, where we flew the planes and blew up the deal?"

"Yep," said Lloyd. "Or so it seems. That's what I gathered, anyhow. Kinda funny, ain't it?"

"Funny?" said Genis.

"You know what I mean!" said Lloyd, exasperated. "Not ha-ha-ha funny. Like, weird funny. Like coincidence funny. Like that."

"You said 'like' a lot right then," said Sheena.

"Do I always?" asked Lloyd, a little too self-consciously.

Sheena shrugged. "Dunno, I guess not, since I never noticed it before," she said. Lloyd frowned and wondered.

Raine and Shizuma stopped jumping a calmed down just a little bit. "This is fantastic!" said Raine. "Do you realize what's happened? As if we hadn't broken enough laws of time and space, we just broke another! You should never have had the memory of the future! That should be impossible!"

"Yet here we are with our memories," said the Arbiter.

"What do you remember about what happened the day we destroyed the tower?" Raine half-asked, half-demanded of Shizuma and the Arbiter.

Shizuma looked at the Arbiter and shrugged. "I-I don't know," he admitted. "My memory sorta just ends. I remember talking to you guys outside of the tower, I remember watching it fall down, and then...I don't know. Nothing. You know how it is, like, you watch a video of something, and you remember in general what happens, like a building blows up, or a car crashes or sumthin', but you don't remember exactly how it happened, what went where and in exactly what sequence things happened, you know? And it's really weird, 'cause these memories, they're just sort of...there...it's like they're just...gah, I guess just in there somewhere. Like...like as if it was just a story that I picked up somewhere: I forgot where and when I learned it, but the story stuck with me. I dunno. Something like that."

"I, too, must claim similarly," said the Arbiter.

"Do I say 'like' a lot?" asked Lloyd.

"This is fascinating," said Raine, eyes bright and eager. "Ohhhhh, this boggles the mind!"

"What's 'boggle' mean?" asked Lloyd.

"Hey, maybe then it's possible to unlock Ranma and Ryoko and them's memories," suggested Genis.

"That's a good idea, Genis," said Regal.

"Why is everyone ignoring me?" asked Lloyd.

"How would we do that?" asked Kratos. "We told them the entire story but not once did anyone profess to remember anything."

"Perhaps they need a trigger," offered Botta. "Shizuma apparently found one in the Arbiter."

Sheena leaned over and whispered in Lloyd's ear, "It's because they know better than that." Lloyd looked at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, looking hurt.

Sheena just ignored him.

"So you're saying we should find triggers for the other people who were with us?" asked Shizuma.

"Well, not need," said Raine. "It would be interesting to see if we could do it, but it's by no means necessary."

Sheena half heard them. She hadn't really thought back to that lost time when they were in that dismal state of this world. Now she had, and she remembered something that bothered her, something that she thought shouldn't have happened. Unfortunately, try as she might to rack her brain, she couldn't pin it down. Lloyd noticed the struggled look on her face, and put his arm around her as he whispered in her ear.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Sheena didn't answer for a moment. Then she shook her head and sighed resignedly.

"I was just thinking," she said, "about that time...when we were stuck in that dark place, right? Well, there's something nagging me about that time...something that bothers me, and I can't really remember exactly what it was...do you remember anything that seemed...off...to you?"

Lloyd frowned and thought. "I can't really say," he admitted. "I don't know what it would be, to tell the truth. Maybe you should try remembering what happened in order."

Sheena went over everything, one event by one, and still she shook her head no. "I still don't know what it is," she said worriedly. "It's there, I just can't...grasp it." She sighed.

Lloyd frowned, then brightened. "You know," he said, "a hot bath always helps me think. Maybe it might be good to visit the bath house."

Sheena nodded slowly. "Maybe you're right," she said finally. "I guess I will. Wanna come with?" Lloyd shrugged.

"Sure, I got nothin' else to do," he said. Colette and Genis overheard them and had moved over close to them.

"Where're you guys going?" asked Genis.

"To the bath house," said Lloyd. "You guys can come, but we're gonna leave now, so you better get ready quick."

"That sounds great!" said Colette. "I'll go get ready. Be back in a minute."

"I guess I could come," Genis said. "Be right back."

The two of them bounded upstairs and into their rooms. Lloyd popped his neck while he waited. Sheena shivered.

"What?" asked Lloyd.

"That's just so..." Sheena moved her head in a circle, looking for the right word.

"Gross?" Lloyd suggested. "No it's not. It feels good! You should try it sometime."

Sheena just shuddered again. Colette and Genis returned, and they left.

Sheena eased herself into the water and sighed as the water lapped at her neck. She placed a washcloth on her head, closed her eyes, and did exactly the opposite of what her brain wanted to do: think. Or, at least, she tried. No matter how relaxing the bath might be, how soothing the heat, how therapeutic the moisture, she could not help but fret over some silly thing she couldn't remember. Her brow furrowed.

Opening her eyes and turning her head, she saw Colette smiling at her.

"Don't worry," she said. "If it's important, you'll think of it sooner or later."

Sheena smiled and closed her eyes again. "Thanks, Colette," she said. "I hope you're right, because this is really ticking me off."

"Two days' homework says she won't think of it," said Genis on the other side of the bath house.

Lloyd looked at him with one eye and said, "Huh?"

"I'll bet you," said Genis slowly, "that Sheena won't think of what she's trying to think of. If I win, you do my homework for two days. Same if I lose."

Lloyd shook his head sadly. "Genis," said Lloyd, "I am MARRIED to that hellcat, and you think I don't know her that well? Besides, this was my idea, so it's bound to work!" They both shared a laugh at that. Then Lloyd continued. "No, no, no, make it five days, and you're on."

Genis thought a moment, then raised his hand out of the water and presented it to Lloyd, who shook it. "Deal," Genis said.

Just then they both heard a shout of "THAT'S IT!" come from the women's side of the bath house, and all the men looked in that direction with a confused and startled look.

"I tried to warn you," said Lloyd.

Genis chuckled. "Not like your homework is all that hard," he said slyly.

Lloyd laughed. "Yeah, I guess it's HEY!" he said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Genis laughed harder and Lloyd splashed him playfull with water. "Dork," he said.

The women all stared at Sheena, who had suddenly risen out of the water and thrown her hands in the air. Colette looked up at her from her seat in the water. Sheena looked back down at her, and then back up at the other women. She lowered her arms and then sat back down, her cheeks red with embarrassment.

"So you thought of it!" said Colette. Sheena nodded. "Well, what is it?"

"Do you remember the time we fought those things in that crater with the mana rock?" asked Sheena. Colette nodded. "Well, do you remember how it ended?"

"Yeah, how could I forget?" said Colette. "You summoned Aska and Luna and they..." Colette cut off and her eyes grew wide. "You don't think...?" she whispered. Sheena nodded.

"I do," she said. "My Summon Spirits may be the key home, but..."

"But what?" asked Colette, shifting her weight slightly.

"But, I'm not sure how it'll work," she said. "Both the earth and our world(s) got rewound back in time, according to Botta and Raine. So wouldn't that mean that in our world I haven't made the pact yet? Or does time not apply to Summon Spirits? But how would that..." Sheena broke off and rubbed her temples. She resumed after a moment. "I don't know if it'll work. As unlikely as it was at that time, it's almost certainly more unlikely to happen now. And even if I can summon one, then what? Our world is still back in time, so what's going on? Do we exist over there or not? We don't know...we don't even know how bad we've screwed things up yet. If we've totally removed ourselves from that world, in space and in time, then our world could be in deep trouble if we're not around to stop Cruxis. And...never mind. The point is, there's too much we don't know. I think...I think the first thing I'll do is try to summon a Summon Spirit. If it works, I'll ask it what it knows and if there's anything it can do. But first things first: just to see if I can summon one."

Colette nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me," she said.

Sheena was about to answer her when a strong premonition struck her. She grabbed Colette's head and shoved her under as she too ducked beneath the water. They heard a slightly muffled thunderclap and the screams of women. Sheena and Colette resurfaced to find the bath house in pandemonium, bathers screaming and running for the exits. Sheena and Colette turned around and saw a rough, round hole punched into the wall where Sheena's head had been resting. Sheena paled.

Colette grabbed Sheena's shoulder and turned her back around. "Look!" she exclaimed, pointing. A person in a white bath robe stood in the door, a black pistol in hand. Sheena growled and leapt out of the water, Colette trailing her. The person in the robe turned to run. Sheena grabbed a towel and hastily wrapped it around herself. That done, she sprinted after the gunman, down a white corridor, leading to the men's side. The chase had not lasted more than a few seconds when an arm appeared out of nowhere and slammed into the robed person's neck. He or she flew backwards and Sheena sidestepped the toppling body as she skidded to a halt. The person twisted and landed on the floor face first, groaning. Sheena looked at the arm and saw it was attached to Lloyd, who was dripping wet with a towel around his waist held by his other hand. He looked at Sheena and lowered his arm. He came up to her, grasped her shoulder and asked if she was okay.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she whispered. She kissed him quickly and turned her attention back to the floored attacker, who was coughing and struggling to get up. Sheena scowled and walked over to the person. She grabbed the attacker's robe, pulled him or her to his or her feet and turned the person around. "Who are you!" she demanded. The robe's hood fell over the person's face. Sheena took it in her hand and threw it back. Sheena gasped. "You!"