Emma's going-away party was held at a park suspended between three towers at one of the many picnic areas available for rent and took the form of a small garden. A covered pavilion, sheltered against rain and wind by wide panes of polyglas, stood at one side, while the opposite end was an open play area that could be reconfigured for different activities. Between the two was a small fountain, surrounded by tables and benches and plants. It included a grill that Ryouta and Ayane had appropriated within minutes of arriving at the picnic area.

The guests began to arrive after Ryouta and Ayane had managed to get a fire going. Alanis and Emily arrived with a pie, then began to help prepare a stack of steaks while Ryouta dealt with a sudden shipment of wine from Sayaka. Anna had ended up manning the grill while Catherine and James relaxed nearby, chatting with Ayane.

"You know, heating the meat through does make it taste better," Alanis said, flicking an ear absently as she examined a nice ribeye with a critical eye. "The implants only go so far."

"Eh, I guess," Emily said with a shrug as she rubbed a mysterious, but tasty, spice mixture into a sirloin. "It's easier to just eat it raw."

"If you have the time though," said Emma, from where she had been banished after accidentally lighting herself on fire and having to get another hoodie delivered by drone, "isn't it better?"

Emily gave her a look.

"Maybe, but you should stick to raw meat," Anna said, looking over the grill at Emma with a skeptical expression. "Just in case."

Emma pouted.

"Soul Guard though, eh new girl?" asked Emily. "Didn't think that was a thing for you."

"Well, it was that or Light Infantry school," said Emma, propping herself up on her hands as she leaned back. "LIS seemed like a… bad idea, all things considered."

Emily shrugged. "Eh, you were pretty good for a new girl. Probably could have been fine."

"It's not easy, for sure," said Alanis. Her tail swished. "I dropped out when I tried."

"Really?"

"Light Infantry is a lot harsher," said Alanis, nodding. "I wasn't prepared for it, when I was younger. Magical girls get special treatment in magical divisions, but the light infantry really doesn't care who you are."

"That sounds likes shit," said Emily.

"But if you want to do some of the more extreme stuff…"

"MSY Careers said that I had aptitude for Aerial Assault," said Emma.

"Oh, that would have been pretty cool," said Alanis, nodding approvingly. "If you can make it through the training, it's a very niche role that has a lot of responsibility. You'd definitely do well."

Emma laughed a little. "Thanks, but I think Soul Guard is probably for the best," she said, smiling ruefully. "Plenty of responsibility there already."

"Emma!" Ryouta called. "Help me out! Sayaka-san just shipped over a bunch of wine and I can't lift the crate!"

The group of magical girls snorted as Emma got up and dusted herself off.

"Alright, I guess I'm going to help move some alcohol," said Emma. "Back in a mo'."

Renee arrived later, at the same time as Mikoto and her squad, after Emma helped Ryouta haul the crate of wine over and pried off the lid.

"Ah, I have to apologize, Emma, for not keeping in contact," said Renee, taking a glass of champagne from Emma when she arrived. "We are teammates, after all."

"It's my fault as well," said Emma, handing Renee a glass of champagne. "I… had some stuff to work through, but that's no excuse."

"We all did," said Renee. She took a sip of her wine. "…Is this from Champagne?"

"Benefits of dating a Shizuki," said Emma dryly, gesturing at where Ryouta was conversing with Alanis while preparing vegetables for grilling. "Shizuki Sayaka sent a case over once she caught wind of the party."

"That was nice of her," said Renee. She took another sip. "Are you better now though?"

"Yeah," said Emma. "I got some help, started dating, joined a cult. You know, the usual."

Renee huffed a laugh. "I had forgotten your religiousness. How is that going for you?"

"I joined a knightly order too?"

Renee lowered her wine glass and gave Emma a look. "…Well I suppose you never did do anything halfway," she said eventually, rolling her eyes. "Fair enough, I suppose. I shouldn't criticize too much."

Emma rolled her eyes back at Renee. "How about you? You're redeploying with the 12th Magical Division, right? Under the same command chain you had on Samsara?"

"That is correct," said Renee. She swirled her wine absently. "I thought about applying for more training in some specialty, but I think my place is in the line, at least for now."

"I'm sure you'll do well," said Emma.

"I must admit that I am sad we will not be fighting together in the near future," said Renee, a little wistfully. "We made a good team."

Emma nodded. "We did."

"Ah well, I will have to adapt," said Renee. She grinned clapped a hand on Emma's shoulder. "Good luck Emma. I am sure you have others to talk to, so I will let you get to it."

Renee wandered off to look at the grill activities. Emma's attention shifted to Mikoto, who was poking at the controls of the play area with her squad. After a moment's confusion, the play area suddenly began to move, causing the three girls to jump in surprise as grass and a fence and two goals rose out of the rapidly shifting surface, leaving a small, but entirely serviceable football pitch behind when the ground stopped its undulation.

"Hey Emma!" Mikoto yelled. "Hey, you want to show us some moves? You played football, right?"

Emma shrugged and wandered over. "I did, yes. Did you want to play?"

"Yeah!"

Emma called an end to her side of the football match when Rebecca arrived.

"Hey," Emma said, coming to a stop in front of her friend. "I'm glad you could make it."

Rebecca took a deep breath and smiled at her. "I'm glad to be here."

"Drink?" Emma asked, offering a glass of champagne. "Courtesy of Shizuki Sayaka and the fields of France."

"Thanks," said Rebecca. She took the glass and sipped at it.

"How was your trip?" Emma asked as they began to move towards the rest of the party.

"Uneventful," said Rebecca, shrugging. "Military flight, so at least it was quick."

"That's good."

Emma found herself out of topics and unsure what to say. It was hard, much more than she had thought, to see Rebecca like this in person. The Rebecca Shu who had been bright and cheerful was lost in mourning, and Emma wasn't sure what to do about it.

"Rebecca," Ayane said, standing up as they approached and walking over. "Hey. How are you?"

"I'm fine," said Rebecca, smiling at her too. "You're doing pretty good yourself, I hear."

"There's been way too much gossip about that," Ayane said, sighing as she waved Ryouta over. "Honestly, where do people even get dirt on us?"

"Now, now, love between two girls is a pure and beautiful thing," said Rebecca, grinning slowly and evilly. "And if it happens to involve a boy in the middle…"

"I'm not sure I want to know," Ryouta said dryly as he walked up and Rebecca dodged a swat from Ayane. "You must be Rebecca then? I've heard a lot about you."

"And you're the Boy," said Rebecca, holding out a hand. "A Shizuki huh? Well, I guess that's fine."

"I'm glad I meet the minimum requirements," said Ryouta. "We must be all over the gossip columns if you know me that well."

"Only a little," said Rebecca. "It's all very overblown. You three have only been together officially for like a week?"

"Yeah, roughly."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Well, I suppose it makes sense. Matriarchies."

Ryouta sighed. "Yes."

The topic shifted to other things, and Emma watched and wondered if Rebecca was really okay, or if she was just doing a very good job of putting up a face for the party. Eventually, Ryouta and Ayane got called back to help with the food, leaving Emma and Rebecca alone.

"I know what you're thinking," Rebecca said over private telepathy.

"Did you pick up new powers?" Emma asked.

"No, but you're not exactly subtle," said Rebecca. Emma glanced at her, and for a second Rebecca seemed incredibly tired.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Emma asked.

"I'm really not," Rebecca said, looking at Emma out of the corner of her eye. "It hasn't been that long, after all."

"…I see."

"But, I can't stay on Lei Feng forever," Rebecca continued. "My counselor has been pushing me to reach out, and honestly, I don't want to be sad forever. Varsha wouldn't want me to be sad for her forever either. So, here I am."

Emma wasn't sure what to say about that, so she drank her wine.

"Thanks for inviting me," Rebecca said eventually. "It must be weird, being around me like this."

"…it is a little," Emma admitted. Rebecca smiled at that.

"Well, I'm getting better," she said. "So, here's to moving forward."

She raised her glass. Emma clinked it against her own.

"To moving forward."

Vira and Motya showed up late, just in time for dinner. It was a loud event, with lots of storytelling from Emma's childhood and her training with Ayane and Rebecca. They avoided all the depressing topics as best they could, but the mood inevitably dimmed with the lengthening shadows as night slowly fell.

"Helsinberg's gettin' a lot better," Vira said as she, Motya, and Emma sat near the edge of the play area, watching a game of badminton between Anna and Ayane on one team and Ryouta with Rebecca on the other. "It'll never be the same, but…"

"The trains were fixed, first thing," Motya said. "Once the rail lines were repaired, everything started to feel like it would be okay."

"That's good," Emma said. She sipped at a glass of soda and watched Ryouta place a shot hard into a corner that Ayane fielded with magical girl grace.

"Do you really think we won't be deployed?" Motya asked.

"It's what my mentor said, at least," said Emma, shrugging. "She might be wrong, but I don't think it makes sense. You two still need to go through proper training, right?"

Vira and Motya nodded.

"We're headed off with the next training cohort, actually," Vira said. "We got the order this morning. Me'n Motya'll be in Mitakihara for a little longer but we'll be leavin' soon."

"Good," said Emma. "Getting your training is important. We may not be deployed, but we'll probably be filling in for other girls that will be."

"Gonna be replacements," said Emily, dropping heavily into the seat next to them and clearly very drunk. "Hahaha, man. The FNG!"

Vira and Motya looked to Emma in confusion.

"Fucking new girl," Emma supplied as she rolled her eyes at Emily. "Can we help you Major?"

"Don' call me that," Emily said, frowning at Emma. "An' nah, I'm just here to give the FNGs a hard time."

Motya leaned away from Emily. "I see…"

"Realistically, though, if you're replacing anyone it'll be units on stand-down," said Alanis as she walked over to lean on Emily. "They'll only want full-strength units for whatever is coming, and everything else is going to be rotating back. You'll be on garrison for a bit and then held in reserve."

"It'll be extremely boring," Emma said, slapping both girls on the shoulder. "You'll be able to keep entertained, right?"

"Hey, as long as they maintain tradition," said Emily, grinning widely and evilly. "You two know abou' the whole tradition with new girls stuck in the rear, right?"

"Oh Goddess," Alanis groaned, smacking Emily over the head and causing her to fall out of her chair. "That's bull and you know it."

Emily whined at her from the ground while Emma, Vira, and Motya laughed.

The party eventually began to wrap up.

"Emma!" Catherine called. "We're headed out. We'll meet you back home?"

"Okay!" Emma called back, waving. "I'll see you in a bit!"

Emma's family was the last to go, leaving Emma alone with Ryouta and Ayane. Together, they lay down in the center of the play area and looked up at the sky.

"Can you guys see the stars?" Ryouta asked, sandwiched between the girls.

"Yes," Ayane said. "The satellites too, and all the ships up in orbit."

"I can't," Ryouta said with a sigh. "My implants don't work that way, I guess."

"Civilian implants wouldn't be able to, no."

"It's why I got into photography, you know," Ryouta said. "Originally, I mean. I got annoyed that I couldn't see what my mother and cousins could, so I saved up a little and bought my first camera."

"Oh, I forgot your mom is a magical girl," Emma said. "How's she doing?"

"Oh she's over the moon," Ryouta said, rolling his eyes. "Two magical girls at once! It's a miracle!"

"…none of your cousins made a contract, did they?" Ayane asked.

"No, no, this isn't a magically enforced relationship," Ryouta sighed, smiling a little at the idea. He paused, then frowned. "Wait, hmm…"

"Even if it is, would you care?" Emma asked, looking over at Ayane.

Ayane shrugged and cuddled into Ryouta's side. "I mean, not really, I guess? It's not like anything really major happened. Mostly I just found out that Ryouta is an excellent cuddler."

Ryouta chuckled. "Well that's good. It'd be annoying if we were still having that contest over Emma."

"Oh, speaking of which, I figured things out with HSIS," said Emma. "I have to send them reports and stuff at the end of every month, but I'm otherwise clear. My steward recommended reserving a chunk of dilated sim time to put everything together, then using the time for dating."

"Once a month, huh," said Ayane. "That's… probably doable?"

"Definitely, for me," said Ryouta. "Civilian life is a lot less hectic."

"Then we'll plan on it," said Emma. She sat up to look down at her boyfriend and girlfriend. The thought still made her heart flutter. "A date, at least once a month, in dilated simulation. We'll try and make it happen, and we'll do something silly and romantic and it'll be great."

Ayane smiled up at her and reached out to take Emma's right hand. "That sounds good. I'll do everything I can to make sure I can come to every one."

Ryouta took Emma's left hand. "I'll come up with some ideas and send them your way."

Emma grinned. Just a few weeks ago she'd been searching for a way out at the bottom of a glass. She hadn't known what to do with herself, or where she was going. It had been about enduring, and getting up in the mornings, and just trying to make it through the day. And now, now she'd been accepted into the Soul Guard, was a member of a knightly order, and had, somehow, ended up dating two wonderful people who seemed as interested as she was in making something work.

To think that things could change so much in so little time.

"Okay then," said Emma, looking down at Ayane and Ryouta in the light of the city and the Moon and the stars and squeezed their hands tightly. She looked at their faces and memorized the way they looked in that moment, and she thanked the Goddess for making it all possible. For protecting her, and saving her from despair.

"Okay then. It's a date."