Shulk wound a digital filament around the pressure sensors in the Monado's hilt. When he fastened the slim fibre, it first emitted its unique purple glow before the neighbouring systems responded to the new element in their midst and altered their energy output accordingly until they harmonised. The light changed from purple to a bright blue.

The Monado thanked Shulk with a healthy humming.

As he reached for a second filament sprawled on the jetty plank, Shulk did his best to avoid the eyes of both Dunban and Nene. They had stared at him for a while now, and only the clicking of Shulk's repairs as well as the water sloshing underneath the jetty dared to fill the lull in the conversation.

Shulk hadn't related every step that had led him to the Fallen Arm. The faces of two strangers continued their haunting in his head, no one else's. But Dunban and Nene now knew enough to assemble the pieces into a coherent puzzle, from the ongoing collapse of the Bionis' Shoulder, to the depletion of ether, until Shulk had finished with his parting from Melia in favour of his search for answers.

He had thought this quiet corner of the settlement's lowest terrace, an unused jetty stretching towards the four half-sunken digits, would make for as good a place as any to exchange stories. But he felt awfully exposed under the cloudless sky. Each gust sent a chill through his bones that almost messed up the precise repairs he tried to perform. Twice now a filament had slipped through his fingers. Worse, the jetty and the omnipresent taste of salt water reminded him of new Colony 9. The last place he wanted to think about.

Dunban tapped the lonely crate he leaned against with his boot. Repeatedly.

Shulk flinched. The storm was about to break.

"So, let me get this straight. Just so that I fully understand." So far, Dunban kept his tone even. So far. "You have a child. With Melia. And you decided to abandon them in favour of getting yourself killed on a fool's errand. Is that correct?"

"That's not—"

But Dunban didn't wait for Shulk to finish. "I know you have this tendency to obsess over a particular decision and follow it through until the end, and maybe that's a good mindset for an engineering project. But this isn't one of your ether weapons you can set aside in a week. How can the person who recreated the universe be so stupid? A child, in Bionis' name…"

"Are you mad that I chose to live with Melia?"

"Mad? MAD?!" Dunban smashed his fist into the crate. "Damnit, Shulk, I would have encouraged you to marry her twice if that would have made you happy!"

Shulk recoiled. He half expected the next punch to hit him instead of the crate. Any measures to defend himself didn't make it from his brain to his muscles. "But I thought—"

"You thought that I would want you to mourn Fiora for the rest of your life? Do you think that's what she wanted for you? Of course, you didn't think that far. Instead, you ran away. It's just like you to cling to something so moronic. You think you don't deserve to find happiness, that you still have to atone for Fiora's death, isn't it so?"

"I'm not running away. You were the one who disappeared without a word."

"But I didn't leave behind a child, damnit!" Dunban massaged the bridge of his nose, but the action helped little to calm him. "How old?"

"What?"

"How old is Aaron?"

Shulk averted his gaze. "Five…"

Dunban paused to count the years backwards. His expression darkened further and further as he did. "By Bionis… I thought you of all people would understand the pain of growing up without the affection and the support of a parent. And yet you subject your own son to the same horror? Your parents were dead, but if they had been given the choice you have, they would have done everything to stay by your side. Tell me you at least realise this much." Another blow against the crate. "And Melia agreed to this folly?"

"She encouraged me to go."

"Then you are both stupid."

Shulk locked his eyes onto the Monado and the spare insulator in his trembling hands. What could he reply to such a claim? Was there even a good reason Shulk could use to explain his decision? Visions he didn't understand, some vague hope of fixing the Shoulder or finding new land, this intangible and unattainable idea of a changed future, he could name all that. But maybe he had hoped to run away all this time. Maybe he had only waited for Melia to give him permission to abandon everything.

"Mister Dundun? Nene think Mister Shulk heard lecture he needed."

"I'm not so sure. If he did, we would be on his way straight back to Alcamoth by now."

Nene hopped forward and placed a pink prehensile wing on Shulk's hand. "But situation not so simple. Mister Dundun not seen floating shoulder in long time. Situation is difficult there. Situation is difficult here also. Journey not just about future of Mister Shulk's littlepon, but mission for future of all friends."

"And why does Shulk have to be the one to carry out that mission?" Dunban asked.

"Giving up own benefit for benefit of friends is nature of heropon. Nene knows."

"But no one asked Shulk to be their hero." Dunban turned towards Shulk. "And I'm not going to watch while you throw yourself into this megalomaniacal suicide mission. I have buried my sister. I won't repeat that with you. Farewell, Shulk."

Shulk scrambled to his feet. A lap-full of spare parts clattered onto the planks. "Dunban, please!"

But Dunban marched down the jetty and disappeared between the hunched metal buildings without a look back. That was the second time he had left. And Shulk remained behind as small and as lost as back then.

A lonely gear rolled over the jetty edge and plopped into the water.

"Mister Dundun not gone for long," Nene said.

Shulk stared into the middle distance. His hands were empty. Again. "How can you be so sure?"

"Mister Dundun was hero also. Is natural to help sidekicks when sidekicks need help the most."

"I hope you're right," Shulk said. "I feel like I need his guidance more now than ever before. But what about you? You have your family to return to. I still don't know what landed you here in the first place…"

"Is still long and tiring story. But Nene cannot go back. First will have to find mountain of blue, shiny machine things for machine-man. Nene still on search for sidekick who will lend wing in heroic adventure, and Mister Shulk look like perfect candidate. Good deal?"

Nene grinned and extended a wing upwards. A gesture so simple.

If the encounter with the Volffs accounted for anything, then maybe Shulk wasn't ready to do great things yet. He needed time to get into the rhythm first, to resharpen his skill until he earned the right to venture forward. Maybe the time was ripe to start with small things.

Shulk's hands stopped trembling. He took the offered wing and shook it. "I'm happy to help."

And, although it was a phrase tossed around easily, it was also the truth.

Nene didn't want to wait for Shulk to repair the Havre, so they started their quest by swimming. Ocean waves washed the cramp out of Shulk's neck, and soon his pulse fell in sync with the tide, calm and comforting. The cloudless sky promised no more than a gentle breeze to upset the waters around the four digits. The going was easy.

Underneath Shulk and Nene stretched the sunken landscapes of the palm. Shoals of Piranhax dove through the metal constructions of the Hidden Machina Village, and massive Ekidno-like creatures Shulk didn't know glid around just below the surface. How fascinating to see the local fauna adapt and make this new underwater territory their own.

Shulk's chest constricted when he recognised the landing platform where Junks had once docked, far below. But then another of the unfamiliar sea creatures swam less than an armlength away, and he marvelled. So much was there to marvel at. An entire compendium of fish, colourful Sardi shoals and quiet hunters. Forests of corals clinging to the walls of the Hidden Machina Village. And ahead, the massive digits pierced the sky in all their glory, a masterwork of mechanical engineering. Shulk could not even begin to imagine the mechanisms through which Mechonis had once closed these fingers into a fist. All these gears and tubes and conductors working in harmony… truly wonderous.

The beaches and shallow waters around the four digits housed all kinds of hidden treasures. Mostly parts from Mechonis, including the desired blue light amps. While Nene couldn't tell one "machine thing" apart from the other, she dug through the sand with methodical precision. The large area they included in their search didn't intimidate her.

Shulk meanwhile found many more parts than necessary to repair the Havre, only the core coil remained missing. But its absence failed to darken his mood while he turned over stones and combed through the dunes. If possible, he would have carried another armful of diodes and transistors with him. Only now, with Alcamoth a day's journey away, did he realise how much he had missed the simple thrill of discovering and collecting small oddities he stumbled across.

They searched until after sunset. By then, Shulk and Nene each carried around ten blue light amps; more than enough to repay the shop owner.

Nene shoved the pieces across the sand and into even piles like a banker handling gold. "Is good," she said. "Very good. Mister Shulk can help more often if not too busy."

"I wouldn't mind," Shulk said. "But wouldn't you prefer it if Kino went with you on these trips? I'm sure he would have been all too eager to help."

Nene dug through the amps, even though they had been in perfect order already. "Kino is now heropon. Always busy with big adventures and making family proud."

"But that's good, isn't it? He got what he always wanted."

"Is very good! Thought of heropon Kino always make Nene proud." She wriggled as if the next sentence embarrassed her. "But now that Kino defeated fear and is strong Nopon, has no more need for big sisterpon to watch over him. That is reason for journey to Fallen Arm. Part of long and tiring story."

"Nene, that's…" Shulk struggled to find words. Why couldn't he be more like Reyn in this regard? "I don't think Kino sees it that way. You two are still family, and even if Kino can look after himself now, that doesn't mean he wants you gone. You can continue to help him just by being there."

"But Mister Shulk left family too, even if Miss Melly like him to stay. Not so?"

Shulk swallowed. His gaze wandered across the horizon in search of Alcamoth, even though he had no hopes of catching the aquamarine glow the city lights emitted at night. "I guess that's true. I thought I had to leave. Even now there's this urge in me that pulls me farther away."

"Dadapon like to call that faraway sickness. Says this feeling is for dumb Nopon or Nopon with mountain of debt."

Shulk smiled. "Then I know under which category I fall. But the definition is missing a part that describes you. Are you sure you aren't needed back in Colony 9 anytime soon?"

"No. Nene have lots of spare time to do quests for friends in Fallen Arm settlement. Sometimes lead to fun adventure. Like today!"

"Then…" Shulk leaned forward to make sure he had Nene's full attention. He needed her to hear this. "Would you like to go on a longer adventure? One that goes beyond the Fallen Arm and everything we've seen of this world so far? Because I know that I have to keep going. But I don't know how far I can make it alone. I need help for this. Would you have my back, Nene? If you want to, that is."

Nene flapped her wings. In her boundless excitement and the way she hopped up and down, she resembled Riki more than ever. "Mister Shulk is sure?"

He chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure. If it's okay for you, I would like to have you on board."

"That a-okay for Nene. On one condition!"

"And what would that be?"

"Give big cuddle first! Nene tired from hunting machine things all day. Fur need many, many strokes."

Shulk couldn't help but laugh. "That won't be a problem."

The next step on their great adventure led them back to the settlement and into the pillows of an inn. Early the following morning, before the shop owner had a chance to display his overpriced assortment of mechanical parts on the counter, Nene presented him with a pile of blue light amps. If Machina had possessed eyebrows in the traditional sense, Shulk would have worried they would remain stuck to his upper forehead; in amazed speechlessness, he raised the amps against the light to convince himself of their flawless condition.

After they had completed that quest, Shulk used the opportunity to stock up on supplies. No one here sold core coils, so instead he allowed the smell of ripe fruit to guide him. The range of non-perishable foods left a lot to be desired, so Shulk wandered between the stalls without aim. But even as the terrace became more crowded and people dove back into their daily businesses, he delayed his purchases.

Every now and then, he scanned the mass of faces in hopes of catching Dunban in their midst. But his search came up empty every time.

The way Dunban had left yesterday continued to trouble Shulk. For so many years they hadn't seen each other. Shulk hadn't even known for sure if Dunban was still alive or if the world had swallowed him like it had Fiora. For a brief moment then, he had returned. Like he had a long time ago, he had jumped in to save Shulk, and the uplifting aura that coated him had intoxicated Shulk, had made him tipsy and, yes, optimistic.

But now? Now Shulk felt Dunban's absence all the more.

Farewell, he had said.

"Mister Shulk should stop staring before eyes fall out of head." Nene nudged Shulk out of his contemplations.

He placed the spicy papaya he had been turning around back into the basket – much to the audible annoyance of the stall owner. "You're right. Sorry."

"No need to worry about Mister Dundun. Will come to senses soon like Nene promised."

"How did you know that's what I was thinking about?"

Nene sent him a knowing grin. "Mister Shulk easier to read than picture book for littlepon. Everything going on in head, always show on face."

"Reyn used to say that too. Am I really that predictable?"

"No more or less predictable than Mister Dundun."

Shulk turned down the spicy papayas in favour of a golden tuft of beetroots – much to the audible relief of the stall owner. "I hope so."

With his bag stuffed with provisions and the Monado repaired to top condition, Shulk had run out of excuses to delay their departure. Nene hopped on ahead and signalled him to hurry. She had taken a few flights with Junks, but never with an open vessel like the Havre. The trip would challenge her fear of heights, and she planned to smack the uneasiness until her definitive triumph, she said.

Soon they passed the upper outskirts of the settlement, and the jungles of the Fallen Arm closed their rich foliage around them. Although Nene stomped through every bush in their path and caused a noise worthy of a steam engine on full capacity, the handful of creatures they passed offered little in terms of a fighting challenge. Confrontations that would have strained Shulk to his absolute limit yesterday now went by in a breeze.

Nene made for an excellent partner. As soon as the Monado broke through the defences of a belligerent Ponio, she jumped in to rob it of the rest of its balance.

And bit by bit, Shulk retrieved his battle reflexes. While his hopes for a vision remained unfulfilled, he figured out ways to better anticipate an enemy's moves. When a Ponio charged, he reacted in time to evade. When one of the salamander-like Upa emitted an electrical impulse, likened to a mini thunderbolt, Shulk knew when and how to counter. Nene had his back at all times.

It was… nice, almost.

But no number of defeated enemies and training sessions compared to what awaited Shulk at the crash site of the Havre.

Amidst the torn plant life stood Dunban. The calm confidence he exuded in his posture was almost tangible. Suited-up, his katana at his side, as if he had never left.

Dunban tossed Shulk a small, glistening object. "You will need this."

Shulk snatched the object out of the air. "A core coil… But I thought you didn't want to encourage me to continue."

"Oh, I still don't. If I had any chance of persuading you into going back, I would force a long and unpleasant conversation onto you. Unfortunately, I know the lengths of your determination all too well. You would continue on this fool's errand with or without me, I'm afraid. So, I figured I might as well accompany you. It is the best way for me to ensure you will make it back to Alcamoth in one piece."

"All as Nene prophesised."

"You give Chief Dunga a run for his money," Shulk mumbled. He still had trouble believing that Dunban had, in fact, come back.

For a moment, the three of them stood in a lose circle without one of them moving. What a strange picture they must make to an outsider, two Homs and a Nopon, and each of them waited for someone to take the lead and initiate the next phase of their operation. A multitude of critters sounded their concert. The nearby spring bubbled.

Then Dunban raised his voice. "I don't know how long repairing the ship will take because, frankly, the damages I see mean nothing to me. But perhaps we should start soon if we want to take advantage of the fair weather."

Shulk broke free of his paralysis. "Right. It won't take too long, the core coil should get rid of the majority of bugs in the system, once I've removed the damaged pieces."

He kneeled in front of the panel that covered the Havre's engine, but before he dove into the comforting world of circuits and wires, Shulk paused. "Dunban?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for coming back."

Dunban shook his head, but he couldn't hide the small smile playing about his lips. "Don't thank me yet. The difficult part of this quest still lies ahead."

"But difficult part is also most exciting one. Nene already have fuzzy tickle in belly. Adventure will make for excellent story time."

"Then let us hope we all make it back to tell that story," Dunban said.

Shulk nodded and went to work. The task flew from his hands; whether the prospect of uncharted lands or the presence of two friends increased the surety of his movements, he couldn't tell. But soon after, the Havre floated half a meter above ground, ready to depart. The ether reserves on the screen hovered at their max capacity. All systems reported perfect functionality.

Nene shuddered and clawed her wings around Shulk's arm when he pushed the altitude lever forward. But as the Havre gently climbed higher, above the canopy and soon the Fallen Arm as a whole, her curiosity overpowered her fear of heights, and she held her face into the wind.

Shulk paused and swept the horizon with his eyes. To all sides stretched the endless ocean. No one knew what secrets this ocean guarded, what people called it their home, and what mysteries waited on the other side. Where to even begin when one direction was as good as any? The manoeuvre jets waited for a command.

The engine gave off a steady buzzing, and Shulk closed his eyes. Into his head manifested the faces of two strangers, almost as detailed as those of people he had known all his life, all too tangible. He reached out. And as he did, a feeling emerged in his chest, a golden thread connecting him to that distant future. An all too familiar aura… The other end tugged at the thread as if to say hello and pulled him forward.

Shulk opened his eyes and cranked up the speed regulator. He knew where to go.

03/07/22: Nene is everyone's support pillow and stress-relief ball rolled into one, and that's a fact.

Good news is, I handed that other project I mentioned to my beta, so for the moment I don't have to worry about it. Bad news is, I have a seminar paper to write which will ruin my life for two more weeks. Meaning I still have no idea what my updating schedule will look like.