I was glad to remember that I had slept on the floor by myself instead of on the bed with Koizumi which was a little too cramped to begin with anyway. I feel a little left out sleeping by myself on the floor. I can't describe the feeling but a part of me wanted to be on the same height as everyone else in the dark. I had little aches around my body. Maybe I should've have put down a few more blankets before going to sleep. Since I wasn't woken up by anybody, it would be safe to go back to sleep until I was. The fact that I wasn't woken was certainly permission to catch a few more hours of sleep at most. We were supposed to go to the amusement park today. I have to be well rested.

There were absolutely no noises from outside. No sounds of cars, business, people, and the next door room, nothing at all. We had spent the whole night in complete silence. I could hear the soft silent breathing of everyone around me. I could hear Koizumi's breath that came out in the shape of his smile which I was sure he had on while in his sleep. Nagato's small exhales were the least audible. Haruhi's were the loudest of all, as if they were right in front of me…

I opened my eyes, just a little. Haruhi was lying down next to me on the floor, staring at my face. She didn't notice that I was awake. She froze when I opened my eyes completely. Our faces were only inches away from each other.

"Mmm!" she tried to scream in surprise but quickly covered her mouth to keep from waking the others. She rolled across the floor away from me, under one side of Nagato's bed and out the other. She attempted to stand, failing miserably as she was wrapped in her own covers.

"Wah!" She cried falling over onto the side, fighting the tangles of cloth wrapped around her.

I slowly got up and rubbed my eyes. Not in disbelief, I was in deep sleep you know. But finding Haruhi right in my face in the morning is enough to get drowsiness out of anyone in a split moment.

"What where you doing?" I asked.

"Nothing at all!" She denied trying to untie the covers which were now knotted into a mess. "I just fell out of my bed last night and I woke up just now!"

She was a horrible liar. Oh well, I had no problems.

"Thanks for keeping me warm." I joked.

"It wasn't that at all!" she yelled turning a bright red. I think I'll skip breakfast; I'm full for the day.

"My, my, it looks like you two are starting the day off energetic. Let's hope you have enough left for our big day today." Koizumi smiled sitting up from his bed.

Nagato was up and ready as well, still looking a little drowsy. She had been looking a little tired ever since we left for this trip.

…

We all got ready to leave; Koizumi and I were locked in the bathroom while the Haruhi and Nagato got changed. It gave us a chance to wash up.

"How do you feel?" I asked Koizumi.

"It's nice to have had a good sleep for once. I feel more rested than ever." He replied.

"No not that, about the reality. How's Haruhi doing?"

"If I were to describe it as a sensation, it was her warmness that woke me up, as it always has."

"Like an alarm clock. Boy… I feel sorry for you. Imagine how early that idiot gets up." I said referring to the old Haruhi.

"I have no complaints. It was a little warmer than usual today, almost a little hot. What did you do Kyon?" He smiled.

"Nothing!"

…

We all had some breakfast delivered to us by a room service guy we had never called for. When I noticed that he forgot to give me chopsticks I went into the hallway to call him back. Little to my surprise, the hallway was empty and the guy had vanished into thin air. No problem! I already have so many offers from Haruhi and Nagato to let them feed me. This morning was all the foreshadowing I needed to figure out what to expect later today.

…

"The park is very lively today." Koizumi smiled looking towards the main gate, where hundreds of people were hanging around, purchasing tickets, eating food, etc.

The illusion was by far the best I've ever seen in this reality so far. Koizumi could probably tell too.

"Suzumiya couldn't have made such an illusion on her own." Koizumi whispered.

"She didn't do this?"

"No, she had help."

"From who?"

"Nagato of course." Koizumi replied.

Without purchasing tickets we walked right in. Nobody stopped us so I guess we were fine.

"Just how much power does Nagato have here?" I asked Koizumi. Haruhi and Nagato, being in an amusement park for the first time, of course, went ahead themselves to explore. Koizumi and I sat down on the bench nearby.

"She has less than Suzumiya." Koizumi replied.

"How can she have powers? Isn't she a remake of Nagato without any alien powers?"

"Take a moment to consider the connections that have been made so far." Koizumi pointed out.

"Wow, it's been a while since I cared. They really haven't been doing much lately." I said.

"Remember me? When I first called you on your phone?" Koizumi reminded.

"Yeah."

"I wasn't originally from this reality. I just passed over from the old world and into my new self."

"That's cause you're an Esper."

"I couldn't have taken that first step if you hadn't made connections in this world to begin with."

Then it hit me.

"Does that mean Nagato's powers are coming from the old Nagato? Is that what the connections are doing?" I asked.

"It seems so."

"Then that means that this Nagato here is the one from the old!"

"I disagree. This Nagato is the same from the moment this world was created. I sense nothing of the old Nagato in her.

Darn. It was chance wasn't it?

"That's only what I sense right now. Besides me anyone who enters this world can only stay for a short period of time. It is possible for Nagato to enter this world in the same manner as I have, if not, only for a short amount of time. At best she's only moving in and out of this reality whenever she receives an opportunity."

"There hasn't been any cases has there?"

"These changes are very miniscule. If someone replaced something of yours with an exact copy, it would be very difficult to notice. She might as well have already. The only way to know if she is the old Nagato is if she tells us herself.

"Then what about her powers? This illusion is proof that she's doing something in the background."

"That is a possibility. For the moment, this current Nagato has no control over the powers that are currently at work. It can't be proved that she's even the cause of it all."

I took a deep breath and leaned back.

"It's definitely her. That thing we saw in the sky last night was also proof. Nagato's here in this reality, somewhere."

"Even as we speak I feel the presence of 'Nagato's Powers'. I believe it's the old Nagato as well. One would like to hope."

…

The rest of the day was enjoyable. Haruhi and Nagato going around trying ride whatever had a line. After waiting in a certain line for a while to find out that it was the line to the bathroom, Haruhi and Nagato had gotten fed up of waiting. They instead cut to the very first of each line, being admitted without the slightest bit of protest from the illusions waiting patiently for their turn.

"Hey Kyon! What's this ride called?"

"It's a roller coaster…" I replied exhausted from being dragged all round. Nagato and Haruhi pulled me through the sea of people waiting in line to the very front. I was too tired to notice until we got in the car and the bars closed down.

"Wait! We're riding this?" I asked looking around frantically.

"This looks fun!" Haruhi laughed "What kind of ride is this Kyon?" She asked.

"It's when we go really high, really slowly, and go down real fast." I replied.

"Really? That sounds fun!"

Haruhi had little idea that roller coasters go a fair bit into the sky before plummeting to the ground at amazing top speeds. To her, 'high' was only as high as a two story building. 'Fast' was about an average person's running speed.

The car started forward and up the hill, slowly being lifted higher and higher. The higher we got the darker Haruhi's expression became, Nagato's eyes became wider.

"Kyon… We aren't really going to…" Haruhi whimpered turning white.

"Of course, we go down. Fast."

The rest is history. That was pretty much the highlight of today's trip. It was starting to get dark. Koizumi, who had sat on the side for every ride except the merry-go-around had to escort Haruhi to the first aid room for nausea. Just kidding, she didn't make it to the first aid room.

…

"Are you having fun Nagato?" I asked.

"Yes." She replied.

"Anything else you want to do today?"

"There's more?" She asked in disbelief.

"Sure there is. This is a big park after all." I replied. You did help in making it Nagato. There should be everything you could ever want to do here.

"You've already shown me so much today. Can we sit? I'm a little beat."

Nagato pulled me away to a darker part of the amusement park. We both sat down at a bench. We were in a narrow path that ran around the outer borders of the park. It was a dirt path, with grass and some trees. There were no people. A single street lamp lit the area.

For a few moments we sat there silently.

"Kyon."

"Yeah?"

"I had fun today."

"That's great. I'm glad you did."

I caught it out of the corner of my eye. The sky was once again, split in half. The two halves were grinding against each other much more fiercely than they did last night, rotating much faster as well.

"I don't know how I should... put this." Nagato sounded as if she was losing her breath. She sounded tired.

"I think I like you Kyon."

"I like you too." I replied in jest.

Nagato took off her glasses and looked at me with determined eyes.

"No Kyon… I like you. Much more than I think I should." Breathing heavily.

Why are you bringing this up now?

"I love you Kyon." She let out. "If there is such a word to describe how I feel." Her voice was growing faint.

"I…" You would think that hearing something like this from Nagato would've at least surprised me, but I wasn't. Had I been expecting this? Was this feeling relief? Happiness? I just didn't know. How should I answer? I said nothing and continued to stare out in to the sky. The tear was slowly closing. I was too confused to do anything else.

"Please Kyon… your answer…" she was about to pass out.

"I…" The sky was churning more violently than ever before. I was fearing that it might actually split in half.

Just then I heard somebody scream.

"KYON! STOP!"

Koizumi was running towards us from the end of the dirt path. He was for the first time I've ever seen him, in panic. I forgot what I was going to say. I forgot what I should've said. Nagato fell sideways on my lap, she was unconscious. Koizumi reached the bench and caught his breath.

"Kyon… What were you doing?" Koizumi panted.

"I… she…" I was stick tripping over my words.

"Calm down. I need you to tell me what just happened."

I took a deep breath and cleared my mind. I quickly summarized what just happened. Nagato had confessed to me and fell unconscious as she awaited an answer I just had nothing for at the moment.

"Nagato, she confessed to me." I told Koizumi.

"That wasn't the only thing she was doing. Did you see the sky?" Koizumi asked.

"Yeah it was like last night."

"Did you give her an answer?" Koizumi asked.

"No, I hadn't even thought of one."

"The tear in the sky were Suzumiya's powers trying to expel Nagato's influence from this reality. Even if it meant that the current Nagato disappeared."

"Did she? What happened?" I looked at the unconscious Nagato. "Is she dead?"

"Fortunately no. If she was, her body would be gone. The two of us would be the only ones who remember her."

Koizumi put his hand on Nagato's forehead as if he was checking her temperature.

"She'll be fine."

"Why would Haruhi try to expel Nagato?"

"Suzumiya does not wish for the current Nagato to vanish. Her powers are the culprit at work, trying to terminate anything that interferes with her current main objective."

"How was Nagato interfering with whatever objective Haruhi had in mind?"

"Kyon, you do know that had you answered Nagato's question incorrectly, you could have killed her, or destroyed this world altogether?"

A chill went down my spine. I had no idea I was making such a crucial decision.

"What's wrong with Nagato right now?" I asked touching Nagato's forehead for myself. There was nothing wrong temperature wise. I'm not an Esper so I couldn't tell whatever was wrong with her. "Why did she collapse?"

"Suzumiya's powers were putting a lot of pressure on her."

"On her or her powers?" I asked.

"On her powers, it's now proven that the old Nagato has penetrated this reality. She may be our current Nagato, or at least residing within her. Whichever one it is, the old Nagato was the target of termination. The current Nagato was just a casualty."

The way she was sleeping. It was as if she was fighting to keep consciousness just to confess. I felt angry at myself for not giving answer right away. But was I really ready to do so? Knowing what was going to happen will I even be able to say either?

"What did my answer have anything to do with the end of Nagato or this world?"

"If you had given a positive answer to Nagato's confession, Haruhi would have lost and thus the world will fall apart due to many obvious reasons. If you had answered 'no' that would have left Nagato with no purpose to continue to exist in this world. She would have been crushed under the pressure of Haruhi's rejection having nothing to hold onto in this world."

"How should I answer?" I asked.

"I can't say. You are this world's choice maker."

"What happens if I don't?"

"Nagato and Haruhi will continue to try to terminate each other. This reality will become a standstill and we will not ever be able to return to the old. You will have to give her an answer eventually. Better yet, I advise you do it quickly."

"What happens when this world falls apart?"

"I'm not sure… We might end up in the old world. Or possibly everything will simply cease to exist…"

"Do you think I can convince Haruhi to spare her?"

"I do not know. She won't know what you're talking about…"

There was just no way out of this. My legs were going numb. Nagato was breathing softly.

"What should we do? We can't just leave her here like this."

"I'll take her back to the hotel. You should stick with Suzumiya?"

"Really? Shouldn't I help?"

"No it's nothing really. This fulfills my promise I made with Haruhi. Go have fun with her."

"You expect me to have fun when Nagato was at the brink of death?"

"She needs you." Koizumi replied walking off carrying Nagato on his back. "You can try convincing her."

To Our Beloved Readers: This Chapter was deliciously longer than I had planned it to be. Which made it an even bigger hell to read over. There might be some stupid mistakes here and there.

I hope I didn't rush anything or made anything too hard to understand. If it is, I won't argue to write the whole thing over.

Thanks for Reading: LordPlagus777