[A/N] You all better get ready! It begins!

At six o'clock sharp the next morning, everybody got into their positions. Tori peaked out at the entrance to the valley from a side alley. There were four policemen guarding it, and one of them was the one that had been in Jake's apartment. She gulped.

Tori looked back at the apartment wistfully. Part of her really didn't want to be here right now…

But the other part knew that was silly. She needed to do this. If she didn't do anything, she'd never get home.

Tori steeled her nerves, and walked into the open. She could distantly hear the sound of four Super Jumps.

The cops noticed her and raised their weapons. All four had Splattershots. "Hands in the air!" one shouted.

They barely had time to grip the triggers on their weapons when Jake and his friends landed in front of her in crouched positions. They all wore gas masks, but she could tell they were smiling. The one in the front straightened, and she heard Jake's voice say two words.

"Bring it."

And the chaos began. There was ink flying everywhere, a firefight breaking out between the two parties, and Tori needed to duck out of the way quickly so she didn't get splatted. She could see Adam and Grace blocking the policemen's shots with bigger globs of ink from their weapons, while Jake and Cole took on a more offensive role, pushing the cops away with rapid shots, but they didn't move away from the grate.

One of the policemen was more persistent than the others; he ignored the ink flying around him and went straight for Tori. She tried to run away, but he cornered her.

Just when she thought all of their efforts were for nothing, Jake appeared out of nowhere and fought him away. "I don't think so!"

Tori stayed in her safe place as she watched everything unfold around her. It was nothing short of a gauntlet of ink; there was no way that she'd be able to get through it, and she was scared.

However, she noticed something; one by one, the Inklings' tentacles started to ripple and glow on their heads. She wasn't the only one who noticed; Jake looked up and saw it, too. He started barking out commands at once.

"Grace! You know what to do! Cole, Adam, get ready!"

As soon as Jake said it, Grace transformed into the Kraken. The policemen scattered at the sight of her, clearing a path toward the grate. Jake looked around at Tori and gestured for her to follow, which she did, running as fast as her legs could carry her toward the grate. When she got there, the three guys readied Inkstrikes on their backs.

"Grace! Fall back! We got 'em!"

Grace swam back to the grate as the guys set off their Inkstrikes around the entrance. When the tornadoes of ink disappeared, all five of them were gone.

{asterisks}

When they came out of the grate, Tori was delighted to see that they were back in Octo Valley. They had finally made it!

As soon as Jake came out, he tore off his gas mask and swept Tori up into a hug. "We did it!" he laughed.

When he put her down, he said "Alright, which way do you live? Those cops could be following us."

"You don't need to worry about that," Cole snickered. "I lined the passage with Ink Mines. They aren't gonna make it here anytime soon."

"Oh!" Jake said in surprise. "Then I guess we can take our time. Nice move."

Cole bowed. "Thank you, good sir."

"And you guys were awesome in there!" Jake said to the other two Inklings. "That was the best battling I've seen in my life! We gotta do that again!"

As Jake was congratulating his friends, Tori was looking at her surroundings with a sad smile. She was back, but…

"Tori?" Jake asked, snapping her back to reality. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Tori replied. "Yeah, I'm good." She looked into his face. "Jake, I-"

"So, where do you live?" he asked. "I don't really see anywhere that someone could stay- wait, were you saying something? Sorry, I'm kind of excited."

Tori shook her head. "…No, it was nothing. Forget it. And I could just Super Jump home from here."

"Okay, good," Jake said. "…You know, I'm really gonna miss you."

"You are?"

"Well, yeah. You're a great friend, and it's kinda hard to see you off. I mean, it's not like I could visit you or anything. It feels good that we finally got you home, but I… don't want to say good-bye. No matter how much I know I have to."

"Well, I can't stay in Inkopolis," Tori replied. "This is the only option. I don't like it any more than you do, but it's the way it has to be."

Jake's eyes filled with tears. "Y-yeah, you're right… Dammit, I t-told myself I wasn't gonna cry here…"

Tori laughed, even as tears began to drip down her face. "It's okay…" she replied.

"It doesn't f-feel okay," Jake said, and pulled her into a hug.

"I know," she replied, returning the hug. "Believe me, I know…"

He whispered something that she couldn't hear.

"What was that?" Tori asked, pulling away.

"…Don't go, then," he said.

Tori was astonished. "What?"

"Don't go. Stay with me. Please, please stay with me."

"Jake, I… I can't. You know I can't."

"You don't know until you try," Jake begged. "I can work something out. I'm good at that. But, please… please don't leave me."

"I'm sorry, but… I have to."

"Tori, I l-"

"Don't say it!" Tori said firmly. Jake recoiled slightly.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But please, don't say it. It'll just make things harder. I… I have to go now. I'll miss you. I'm so sorry…"

"No," Jake said. "No, you can't go! Please don't go! Tori, I-"

"I'm sorry," Tori interrupted, her voice barely a whisper. "I really am. But you know I can't stay." She lightly pressed her lips to his cheek, and slowly backed away.

"Good-bye," she said, before Super Jumping into the distance.

Jake dropped to his knees, and touched his cheek where Tori had kissed him. Tears started flowing down his face before he pulled his gas mask back on and started to walk back to the grate.

Grace approached him. "Jake? Are you okay?"

He shook her off and kept walking, slipping back through the grate and storming up to his apartment. When he got there, he slammed the door, slid onto the floor, and started sobbing.

Elsewhere, in Octo Valley, Tori finally returned to her home and dropped to the floor, miserable. Neither one got any sleep that night.