Hitomi watched the clock on the wall tick the seconds away. Each one brought her closer to exams, to graduation. To leaving. She always seemed to be leaving, didn't she? And she couldn't stop it. Time, that was. It kept moving, kept going..

The air was heavy in the classroom, the summer sun pouring in through the windows next to her seat. The students around her were all in a similar state as she, leaning on their desks with heads in hand while trying to take notes on the upcoming exams, fighting the urge to fall asleep. The light even seemed to make the teacher speak slower. The heat wave lately had been intense. People had apparently been passing out in the streets from exposure. She was fortunate she never had to walk to the train station during the day. Staying late to cram had its perks. Hitomi sighed, turning her head to look out the window again.

Hitomi blinked. A girl was standing on the path by a bench, looking up at the impossibly blue sky. She had not been there moments before. She wore the uniform of a student, but she seemed a bit older. Her black hair was long, straight, and pulled over her shoulder in a ponytail. Her eyes remained fixed on the sky. Hitomi shifted in her seat, trying to see what she was looking at. All she saw was a cerulean blue that stretched on forever in a cloudless sky. She looked at the girl again. She was holding something in her hand. Finally, the girl turned her head, and looked right at her. Blue eyes. Just like the sky. Time, that enemy, seemed to slow, seemed to stop altogether as the two locked eyes with each other. Hitomi stared, unable to stop herself. She knew, somehow-

"The wish of two hearts..." The voice seemed to echo in her head, a soft whisper. "... It can take you further than the bluest sky..."

The words resonated in her chest, tightening it. "W... what?"

The bells chimed, the school anthem playing over the loudspeakers in soft tones, breaking the connection. The girl smiled. The students around Hitomi started to move, pushing back their chairs and groaning to each other. She stood quickly, leaving her things on her desk, running out of the class and through the halls. Her heart was racing even before she began to run. There was something, something so desperately important. Somehow, she had to find the girl, had to ask her, had to know..

She wanted to go back. She had to go back.

She broke through the crowd of students exiting the building, and hopped off the stairs, running full tilt around the side of the building, rounding the corner and sliding to a stop.

The path was empty. The girl was gone. Hitomi felt her eyes start to burn, the heavy feeling returning to heart as the image of the world started to waver as tears threatened. She had had hope, like there was a chance. Had she just been dreaming? Was it the combined efforts of the heat and her longing that had conjured the image and the words? Even being outside for only a few minutes, she already felt the effects of the sun, the heat bearing down on her, making her feel light headed. She let herself drop slowly to the ground, kneeling on the path, ignorant of the pebbles stabbing into her knees.

She had to let it go, but she couldn't. She had left Gaea, left Van. She thought she could live on, with him always in her heart, but... the pain sometimes was too much. The tears that fell silently to the ground started drying almost immediately.

"Please..." She shuddered, hugging her arms to herself. "... I just..." She trailed off, unable to continue.

A soft breeze, cool, comforting, stroked her cheek, played with her brown hair. So out of place in the heat was it that she looked up. There was no one else around, but for a moment, it felt like she wasn't alone. It was then that she noticed it, sitting on the bench, moving only slightly in the same breeze that had tried to console her. Disbelief washed over her. She didn't want to believe, didn't want to reach out in case it vanished with her touch. But long fingers reached out none the less, and brushed the soft texture of the feather resting on the bench. It did not disappear, did not vanish or disintegrate. It was real. Unusually long, but strong, the feather did not look like it could belong to any bird native to the area. It was cool, gentle. She realized then that it was what the girl had been holding. This feather so foreign to their world, but so familiar to her. Hitomi gripped it gently, looking at it.

"... Van..." She stood slowly, and looked at the sky. Impossibly blue, stretching on and on. For the first time in two years, she felt it. It was as though Gaea was not so far away anymore. Hope ran through her, banishing the heat of the sun.

Now, more than ever, she had to go back.

"... Van..." She closed her eyes, remembering the feel, the sounds of Gaea. The way the trees grew tall, the way the water crashed on the shore, the breeze.. "Do you want to see me again? As much as I want to see you?" She opened her eyes again, looking up. "I'm coming, Van. I'll find a way. I promise." She turned, heading back towards the entrance of the school building.

High above her, standing on the roof, the girl smiled.