Chapter 41 - One Last Goodbye

"Here we are."

The professor, Claire and Hershel were twenty-three years in the past with the hopes of returning Hershel home. Everyone else had decided to leave them to it, as after this trip backwards in time Claire would be travelling back in time to live out her cruel destiny. Emmy had decided to stay away and give them some space. But the professor was confused as to how they would be able to travel forwards in time.

"I thought that the time machine was incomplete in this time," the professor wondered as they exited the attic.

"I'm not entirely sure how we are to get back myself," Claire replied. "The channels between this time and yours are firmly established, because if they weren't we would never have gotten here in one piece."

"I see..." the professor tried his hardest not to visualise an image of himself and Claire in pieces and spread across the space-time continuum.

"Well, i suppose we'll just have to drop Hershel off and-" Claire stopped, staring at the doorway. The professor and Hershel turned to see what had disturbed her.

A large man with very little, greying hair, large round spectacles and a white lab coat stood before them. He observed the open loft and his gaze finally came to rest on Claire. He shook his head.

"It... It simply cannot be..."

"... Dad?"

"... Claire?"

The professor and Hershel looked at each other. "As if this situation wasn't crazy enough," Hershel murmured.

"What... What is the meaning of this? How did you get here? Why? Does... Does the machine work?" James stepped forward and rested his hands on Claire's shoulders. "Speak to me, girl."

"The machine does indeed work, in a sense," the professor explained. "My name is Hershel Layton, and this is my younger counterpart from this time, and this is indeed your daughter, Claire. My younger counterpart here came to the future against his own will and we are here to return him and prevent damage to the space-time continuum."

"What do you mean, 'It works in a sense'?" James asked. "Can you not travel to the future?"

"Not in the state it is," Claire explained. "We need to repair the wiring." she smiled. "You did it all wrong. We need to fix it so that Hershel and I can get back to our own time."

"So, we fix it, you go back and I fulfill my dream of creating the first successful time machine?"

"Er... No." Claire suddenly looked guilty. "I'm sorry, dad. But you can't commission this to the department of poly-dimensional physics."

James' face fell. "Why not?"

"Because if you do, the machine will not be at our disposal in the future, we will never be able to get here, Hershel will never have been brought forward in time and, basically, our world will end."

James sighed. "So what you're saying is that i have to fix it, send you two back, break it again, give up on my lifelong ambition and never speak of it again?"

"Pretty much," Hershel shrugged. The professor gave him a quick nudge to shut him up.

"You don't have to give up on your lifelong ambition, Dad," Claire pointed out. "If you team up with the research team in the department of poly-dimensional physics, you can discover another method of time travel. Everyone else on that team will be the first to discover one method, but you always will be the first to discover two."

James raised his eyebrows. "and is that what happens to me in the future.

"You know i can't answer that question," Claire retorted.

James smirked.

"But right now, we have to take Young Hershel here home."

"I'll give you a ride," James offered, grabbing his car keys.

Claire smiled sweetly. "Thank you, dad."

After a few hours of driving, the foursome finally arrived at their last destination: the Layton's small cottage in Stansbury. James' car was parked opposite the small cottage and Hershel was bracing himself for his upcoming memory-wipe.

"Right," Hershel sighed, "I'm ready." he opened the car door.

"wait!" Claire cried, dragging him back.

"Claire! What are you doing?" Hershel frowned, shutting the door.

"Look!"

They stared in the direction of Claire's finger. Someone was exiting the Layton's house. A small, familiar-looking woman with dark hair.

"Andrea."

"She has me! Look!" Hershel exclaimed.

"There's someone else there too!" Claire pointed again.

There was indeed a man there. He also had dark hair, and wore a black suit. But there was something about the man that the professor thought familiar.

"I've seen him somewhere before..."

But before the professor could get a better look, the three of them piled into a black hummer and drove off.

"They're heading for the time machine," the professor observed. "now's our chance. Quickly everyone."

They hurried inside and upstairs to Hershel's bedroom.

"On the day I travelled in time first, I came home from school sick, so I'd better go to bed, and then you can wipe my memory," Hershel explained. He got into bed.

The professor then placed the memory eraser on his younger self's head.

"By the way... Just so you know... I'm quite happy with the way things turn out for me. Even though that whole situation was so crazy... But... Just know that you're lucky to have Emmy and Claire."

The professor smiled. "I will. Thank you." And the two shared one last smile as the professor entered the amount of time he needed to wipe from Hershel's memory and hit the switch.

"Well... I suppose this is it, Dad."

The professor, Claire and James were all back in the Folley household, up in the attic and had just finished tinkering with the machine one last time. Claire smiled sadly at her father as he stepped back to admire their handiwork.

"Yes, I suppose it is," James smiled. "Time for you all to go home, back to your lives... And now it's time for me to live mine."

Claire smiled again. "Please know that this project wasn't a waste of time. I loved every moment we spent working on this."

James beamed and held out his arms. Claire hugged him, trying her hardest to suppress her tears.

"I love you, dad."

James held his daughter tighter. "I love you too, Claire."

Claire kissed her father on the cheek and they broke apart.

"We had better go," Claire said.

"Indeed you should, before your mother comes back and sees you," James smiled. "Goodbye my dear." he turned on his heel and left.

Claire wiped her eyes and turned back to the machine. She sniffed as she put the details into the machine. The professor placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He's gone now, isn't he?"

Claire nodded tearfully. The professor wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into a hug.

"We need to go," she said firmly, pressing the 'START' button sharply.

As soon as she did this, the arms began to spin. The arms started spinning, round and round, faster and faster, creating a curvature in the centre of the room. Slowly, the curvature began to open up in the middle. The professor looked into Claire's teary eyes for a moment and, taking deep breaths, walked forward. The opening in the curvature got larger and larger and began to swallow up the machine and Claire and the professor too. The speed of the spinning arms increased even further until the two time travellers were completely engorged by the curvature.

Eventually, the spinning began to cease and, after a while, the curvature was gone.

And the professor and Claire were gone with it.

Twenty-three years in the future, meanwhile, the professor and Claire arrived in the present-day, the professor's arm still wrapped around Claire's shoulders and tears still pouring down her cheeks. She looked pitifully into the professor's eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Hershel..."

The professor kissed her on the cheek. "It's alright," he murmured. "It's okay..."

"I love you."

It broke the professor's heart to see her like this. "I love you too, Claire... You know I do..." They kissed.

Claire wiped her eyes again. "I have to go now, Hershel. The longer I stay here the more I hurt you..."

"Claire, I think we ought to wipe this from your memory. It will spare you from this pain-"

"No, Hershel."

"But Claire-"

"I want to know that, whatever happens to me, you'll get through it. With Emmy." Claire reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope. "Do you remember this, Hershel?"

The professor frowned. "What is it?"

"It's that letter I wrote you. That day, when I first kissed you..." She kissed him on the cheek again and placed it in his hand. She smiled. "Read it at home. I've already told you most of what it says, but... I want you to have it anyway."

"Thank you..."

The loft door opened and Celeste and Markus entered. The professor smiled at Claire.

"I'll give you all a moment-"

"No, Hershel," Celeste said firmly. "You and Emmy are as good as family to me. Stay."

"Mum-"

"As much as I hate it, I have to say goodbye to you, Claire. I never had the chance to say what I wanted before, so I'll just come out with it and say it here and now."

Claire smiled and wrapped her arms around her mother.

"I'm so proud of what you've become. You've grown up to be so strong and independent, and i never expected anything less when you were little. I was always so proud of you, even then, because you were always such a high-achiever and so bright and brave, even after everything you went through losing your father..."

"I know, mum..." Claire sniffed. "I know, and I love you too... And you, you little smart-ass," she smiled to Markus.

Markus stepped forward and wrapped his arms around both his mother and his sister. His face read no emotion; he closed his eyes and held them there.

Celeste's eyes filled up with tears. "I... I just can't believe that this is the last time I'm every going to hold both of my children..." She broke down in tears. Claire began to cry again. Markus held them both tighter.

"it's hard," he said. "but the longer we do this the more it's going to hurt."

"he's right, mum," Claire said, letting go of her.

Celeste stroked her daughter's hair. "i know, darling. I'm just glad that we got to share this moment, one last time." she kissed her on the cheek.

Claire stepped back and smiled at the three of them. "i love you. All of you. And so long as you all feel the same, I'll never truly be gone. I'll live on in your memories... And sooner or later, we'll all be together again. I know it." she smiled sadly. "I really must go now. I have to go back and enjoy whatever time I have left. I want to make the most of every second I have with you all..." She turned back to the machine and reset the destination time.

Markus took his mother's hand and the professor's arm and lead them away.

Claire looked back at them leaving with a teary face.

"Goodbye."