A/N:

I'm going to make people cry today. I've actually been waiting a long time to write this chapter. I've had the last scene in my head since the outlining stage, so pardon me if it's a little over dramatic for your tastes. I get a lot of family feels from this fic, and next chapter isn't gong to be any gentler about those feels either. Lastly, this chapter contains mentions of dissociation and hallucinations, so warning, because I'm not sure where triggers fall for certain readers.

Enjoy this new, long-ass upload, you beautiful potatoes.

-Reddie

Even under the dim streetlight, it was plain as day to see how exhausted they both were.

The whole situation drained them of every kind of energy, and neither wanted to strain the other any further. So with Barnaby struggling to keep his eyes open on the way back to Kaede's end of town, she suggested they perhaps should just pull over and stay the closest hotel for the night. Frankly, Barnaby was too tired to object, and he knew he could easily afford a night at any hotel on the Gold Stage in Sternbild, let alone in Century City.

So they pulled over at the closest hotel in sight, a historic-looking inn with the kind of architecture that boasted some of the past culture behind what made Century City the place it was today. No doubt, the northern city was not as populated by tourists as Sternbild, but it did garner the attention of travelers from within the state, namely those who were just passing through on the way south. Barnaby and Kaede were among them, even if they were merely bound south on a short journey towards her flat. The inn was only a stopover, a pause in the midst of a short, evanescent trip.

As she stepped out of the car, a flash of her nightmare passed through her head, suddenly and overwhelmingly finding herself incredibly unreceptive to the thought of parting with him for the night.

Barnaby reached out for a moment to set a hand on her shoulder, be a comforting weight to ground her while she was drifting away to somewhere unpleasant, but then he remembered himself and merely called her name.

"Kaede, come on. This way."

"Mm."

Honestly, Kaede barely felt like she was alive right now, her thoughts scattering about like she was floating through empty space. A number of people began crossing her mind, Yun coming back up to the forefront. Her first instinct was to check her phone, finding only one unread text from him. Out of both curiosity and concern, she checked to see exactly what he'd said, unlocking the screen with the swipe of her hand. Taking in a short breath, she then opened up the text to see what he'd said.

Kaede, sorry I didn't visit you at the hospital. I was actually headed on the way there after the incident, but… I thought about what you said, about wanting me to live my own life, wanting me to move forward. And I knew seeing you would just make it harder for me to let go. Still, it just wasn't going to feel right without saying goodbye first. So… this is goodbye, for good. And no, please don't worry about me when I say this is the end. I'm just deleting your number, and you'll never hear from me again. Honestly though, I don't think I actually could kill myself even if I tried. Too scary for a guy like me. I have too much hope for things to get better, you know? Thank you so much for caring all these years. And best wishes for you, Kaede.

"Best wishes to you too, Yun." She replied at last and for the last time ever before tucking away her phone and deleting his number as well. It left her feeling a little hollow inside, but there wasn't any use in looking back on his account anymore. It would be a useless worry gnawing at her side, something far beyond her control, and she knew that sort of thing was something neither of them wanted for Kaede to keep carrying. If Yun was going to move forward without her, Kaede would have to trust herself to do the same for him. She'd have to take his word for it. He could get over her, and she could let go of him. They wouldn't weigh each other down anymore. They could live their lives separately at last, and it was that thought that brought the peace of relief and freedom to wash over the dull ache of emptiness.

Before she knew it, she found herself in an elevator alone with Barnaby.

"Be honest." He began, leaning against a rail on the wall opposite from her, "Are you alright?"

She paused, before bringing herself to say, "I don't know. But thank you for asking, Barnaby."

As she sank out of her current reality, she suddenly found herself enveloped in orange light for a split second, and back in the hallway, alone. She looked around nervously, wondering what was going on, until a voice anchored her back down.

"Kaede!" Barnaby cried out, and when she blinked, there she was again in the elevator with Barnaby. Her pulse thudded anxiously, eyes widening at the inconsistency that had just occurred. "Whoa. What just happened there?"

"I-I don't… know… what just…" She gripped the rail behind her, needing something solid to reassure her she was still there, still standing in the elevator in real life. Then, as the doors opened up, she let go of the railing and counted her fingers. Barnaby glanced back at her in concern, but she was too fixated on making sure there were five of them on each hand, proof that this was the waking world. Didn't this happen before, back in Dr. Page's house for that split moment at the doorway? And if that was the case, then why was this happening again now?

As Barnaby swiped the keycard through their door open, he made a little gasp when he thought he figured out what was going on.

"What is it?"

"Wait. Don't be alarmed, but… I need you to power up, just in case something went wrong."

"Okay," She said as evenly as possible, illuminating herself in the blue light she'd known so well over the years. And nothing had changed. It was still the Hundred Power, as she had been half expecting. She tapped the wall gently just to be certain, resulting in a noise that she feared would've woken up the whole floor. And though it brought her relief to confirm that she indeed still held her father's power, that didn't explain what happened back in the elevator.

"Alright then, I guess I was wrong. Sorry about that."

"Don't be, it's fine."

With that, she pushed past the door, holding it open for him so he could come into the room as well. Upon entering, two queen-sized beds presented themselves to the guests. Kaede then carefully set herself down on the bed closest to the window, blearily staring back down at her blue glowing hands. The rush of the beating flashed through her head, making her dizzy and sick with all the things it entailed of her character. Without the Hundred Power, hitting Wayne with a stick wouldn't have been much use at all. But the fact that she kept going, without any bit of mercy towards him, while using the power… frightened her so much. These were hands that nearly killed a man today. Well, he was a criminal, and honestly just scum as a person but… he was indeed still a person, at least in Kaede's eyes. She could've killed him… and, in the moment, she probably wouldn't have regretted it at all.

That was truly beyond horrifying: to have that sort of evil hiding somewhere deep inside of her, waiting for an opportunity to pounce. Nothing would ever make murder right for Kaede though. Life was too fragile a thing to tamper with, and she really didn't see herself as someone with a right to take it from any individual, whether they were humans or monsters. But the moment told her that relentlessness was justice, and she certainly wished that she never actually believed that for even one second. Unfortunately, wishing didn't change the fact that she did.

"Kaede?"

She looked up, "Yeah?"

"Nothing. Just… it happened while you were zoned out, so…"

"Right." She paused for a moment, unsure of whether or not to confide her worries in Barnaby, until she at last gave a tentative exhale, "I… lost my grip back there."

"Hm?"

"When I was hitting Wayne… I-I…" Her voice quavered, "If it turns out… that Dr. Page did… then I'm not sure I could…"

Fuck, what was even coming out of her mouth? Her words were all over the place, like her head, so how the hell was Barnaby supposed to follow along?

"That certainly sounds like a problem." Barnaby shook his head lightly, sitting across from her. "But I believe in you, Kaede. Even if it does turn out for the worst, I still have faith that you'll be able to control yourself in that situation." Finally, the words in her head turned coherent, and they fell from her tongue just as clearly.

"How can you trust me…" she hung her head in shame, "when I'm not so sure I can even trust myself?"

"Because if I've learned anything about you during this case, it's that you're much stronger than you think you are."

"Pff."

"I mean it, Kaede. What you did back there took a lot of bravery."

"That was violence, not bravery." She dismissed, bitter over succumbing to her own personal demons.

"I'm not talking about the fact that you beat Wayne." Barnaby explained, Kaede looking back at him in confusion, "I'm talking about the fact that I saw fear in your eyes when I explained my plan. I'm talking about the fact that you took up your staff while shaking over the thought of possibly losing Kotetsu's power to him. The fact that you said you could handle it even though your whole expression was screaming that you weren't certain. That was bravery, Kaede. And if you could fight your fear like that, I think you have the power to rise above anything you think might be holding you back."

"Mm." She hummed disbelievingly. At that point, he didn't know what else to say to her. With a tired huff, Barnaby shucked off his jacket, before falling backwards against his bed. He closed his eyes, consciousness melting away under the spell of fatigue.

Then a grumble sliced through the silence, nudging Barnaby away from rest.

He sat up to the sight of Kaede holding her stomach in surprise. When she thought about it, neither of them had eaten dinner at all, and Kaede hadn't even had lunch either for that matter.

He chimed in, "Are you hungry?"

"Um…" And with that, he laid himself back down.

"Feel free to order from room service. I'll pay for it."

"Then I'll chip in."

"You don't have to. It's fine." He shifted a little bit, curling onto his side to grab his jacket, "I'm kind of hungry too." And as he rifled through his pockets for some unit of payment, Kotetsu's phone fell out onto the floor between the beds. Kaede blinked at the sight of it, frozen up. That's right, it was by some miracle that Barnaby picked up that phone to answer the call she thought would doom her.

"Say… where did you even find Dad's phone? I thought it got thrown out."

"…Kotetsu left me a box filled with some of his old possessions for some reason. And, well, recently, I decided to go through it and I found his phone in there…" Barnaby trailed off. She couldn't help but find that strange though. All things considered, the phone likely needed charging after years of sitting in a box unused. So it was no lucky coincidence that he happened upon the phone when she called. He had obviously been charging it, and planning to look through it, if he hadn't already. Just what was he doing that for?

Kaede pressed, genuinely curious as to how that unfolded, "Alright then… why were you on his phone when I called it?"

"There was something I needed to see." He shifted to sit up, body facing her, "Related to the investigation."

"Huh?"

"Listen, Kaede. When you said you were taking a break from the case, I thought maybe I could help by doing some research of my own. To help move things along. You did ask for my help after all and, well, I do have quite a bit of experience with digging up information."

"How exactly did that lead you to my Dad's phone then?"

"You see, in my search, I came across a number of recorded journal entries online from terminal patients under Dr. Page's care. And that led me to wonder if Kotetsu had recorded anything like that before he died." He folded his hands in lap, "I wanted to be able to reassure you that this case wasn't personal. Not because I didn't trust you, but because the possibility of Dr. Page having murdered him seemed to be weighing you down. I just… I didn't want you to worry about it next time you saw her. Because then you'd know the truth."

"So, does that mean you already…?"

"You called before I could go through the phone, so no. We can watch whatever Kotetsu put on here together, if there even is anything."

"Alright." Kaede stood up, making her way towards the TV to take up the menu propped next to it, "but first, food."

"Right." He stood up as well, making his way to the bathroom, "You take care of that. I'll be back in just a moment."

Her eyes drifted over the lines of the menu, catching on a particularly interesting item.

Barnaby looked back at his reflection, willing the ghost at his side to leave him.

Kotetsu's lips skated over his cheek, murmuring sweetly, "I could never have asked for a better partner."

"He's not here anymore." Barnaby told himself aloud, closing his eyes. "He's gone, and he's not coming back."

It was a little disheartening to have to say it out loud, as if to admit there was no such thing as the forever that Kotetsu had made him believe in. But it was something Barnaby needed to hear if the hallucinations were coming back, something to drag him back down to reality while his past played out around him.

It wasn't as though this was a foreign occurrence. During his childhood, he'd had hallucinations of his mother and father calling out to him, and he nearly would have forgotten all of that thanks to Maverick. The power of memory manipulation had once wiped those experiences clean, but now that he was older and his mind more settled, he was less susceptible to the false implantations in his head. With enough inconsistencies to disprove fallacies and the grounding strength of his emotional attachments to his real memories, he found himself able to overcome Maverick's mental tampering.

Unfortunately, he still couldn't erase the after effects, especially after having been subject to the power for years. The hallucinations came to him as a sort of way to remind him of what had actually happened, a desperate attempt of his mind to cut through the lies and reveal the truth. It did more to hurt than help, blurring the line between reality and memory. But with time, he learned how to distinguish past from present, phantom from physical. And when it happened, he could tell himself it wasn't real and fully believe that statement. But that didn't stop him from clearly feeling the sensation of those lips against his cheek, the warmth of Kotetsu's breath, the faint thump of his heartbeat against Barnaby's back as the older man embraced him.

And when Barnaby opened his eyes, it was all gone.

He gave up a sigh. Sometime soon, he'd likely have to tell Kaede about the hallucinations now that they were reappearing, but that was another conversation for another time. He looked down at his wedding ring, feeling guilty for hiding something like this from her and doing the very thing he wished Kotetsu hadn't done to him. But he understood now, why Kotetsu had done it, putting off confessions of this nature. It was all a matter of timing… and Kotetsu's timing was terrible.

Barnaby didn't quite know whether to laugh or sigh again. All that time spent at his side, and of course Kotetsu was going to leave such a deep imprint on his personality. It was like he'd found a way to become a part of Barnaby. It was almost like he'd never really left Barnaby at all. So maybe… there could be such a thing as their forever, in some sense at least.

"How can you expect me to let you go so easily? You were my first love. I can't just let the story end on that page."

Barnaby remembered curling his fist to feel his wedding ring when he'd heard that statement out of Yun's mouth. It brought back the memory of that sleepy drunken night he'd spent with Kotetsu at his side, when the older man had gone on about describing his marriage to Tomoe upon Barnaby's whim. Because, after Kotetsu had died, it really did feel like the road trip had come to an end.

"It didn't." She asserted, "Because you're alive aren't you?"

Kaede's reply reverberated through him, reminding him of the sound of his own heartbeat. That sound wasn't going to last forever either, so the fact that it was still going had to mean something. Only way to find out just exactly what it meant was to keep going. And so as long as Barnaby still had so many miles of road left ahead of him, he would keep going, for his own sake if no one else's.

"Hey, Barnaby?" Kaede called from outside, "I ordered dinner already, and it should be up in a few moments. So come out whenever you're done."

He couldn't help the smile on his face as he turned away from the mirror. Kaede was on his side in the present, for real. She existed now, and she needed his support just as much as he would admit he needed hers as well. And with no way to turn the hands of the clock backwards, there was no direction to move except forward, carrying on further down the road.

"Coming, Kaede."

He'd said it himself, that he didn't want to waste whatever was left of his time.

"So, what did you order?" Barnaby inquired, tapping the phone screen awake, carefully not to scratch his fingers along the cracks on the screen.

She only replied cheekily, "It's a surprise. And don't worry, I'm sure you'll love it!"

"Hmph. If you say so." He shrugged, the faintest smile gracing his lips.

The two of them stared down at the small screen together, coming across five unnamed video recordings. All of the thumbnails showed Kotetsu's face, the crisp white cushion of a hospital pillow against his back.

Barnaby blinked, "So he did record something after all."

"Well, let's see it," Kaede leaned carefully over his shoulder to peer down at the cracked screen.

Selecting the first entry, he hit the play button.

"Hey, Kotetsu T. Kaburagi here. The time is currently 11:33 AM EST, March 2, NC 2000," He began wearily.

"So this was recorded not too long before he died…" Barnaby murmured. Kaede watched his expression carefully, heart welling up with concern. She didn't want to see him cry over this, nor did she want him to see her cry over it either. Hopefully, Kotetsu wasn't going to start out by talking too deeply…

"So, I was asked to record these by one of my doctors for 'legal reasons'." He made a gesture of scare quotes, then going on to say, "But really, I think Page is just looking for a way to help me kill the time. Well, it's definitely better than sitting around on my ass watching television the whole day. Honestly, the boredom was gonna kill me before my heart could get the job done." Giving up a chuckle, he leaned back, "Anyhow, what am I supposed to say here? I've never recorded anything like this before. Hey! Dr. Page?"

"Yes, Kotetsu?" Dr. Page answered in the background, footsteps drawing closer.

"Is this like… a diary sort of thing?"

"For the most part. For the first recording, you should just say anything you think might be important to have on record."

"Alright, uh… I think Antonio said he was coming by to visit later? My daughter's name is Kaede Kaburagi. Her mother and my past spouse's name is Tomoe A. Kaburagi. My current spouse's name is—"

"I mean whatever isn't already obvious, Kotetsu. I'm pretty sure we have your family contact information on record should anything happen to you."

"Right, right, my bad." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, before making a face of realization, "Oh, wait! I guess this would be handy to have on record. It turns out I developed a second power!"

Barnaby and Kaede gasped, "What?"

"Really now?" Dr. Page herself was astonished at the claim. "What leads you to believe that?"

"Well, you see, I'd been having a tough time figuring that out myself, because I wasn't sure how it activated. And I thought it was dementia or something, honestly."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, it activates differently from my last power, which doesn't work anymore, by the way. You see, the way I was used to it, in order to power up, I'd have to put the mental effort into activation. I had to flip the switch on in my head before my body followed along. But this power comes from letting go of my control. It's a bit tricky to activate this one, but I think I can do it right now if I just…" Kotetsu then closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in and out deeply, each breath slower than the last until he began to glow orange.

With this, his position then shifted as though by an edited jump-cut, placing him to lie on his side, his back to the wall, where a clock in the corner gave out the time… 11:31 PM.

"No way…" Kaede covered her mouth up, disbelieving her eyes, "so does that mean I…?"

Then, after about thirty seconds or so, the video did a jump-cut back to his original position: sitting up against the back of the hospital bed.

"Huh. That was pretty neat." Dr. Page commented. "So, tell me, what exactly happened there?"

"Well, you see, I was thinking about what it meant, but I finally figured it out: what you just witnessed was a form of time travel."

"Time travel?" Dr. Page gasped, disbelieving.

"Yeah! You see, it takes me back to where I was five minutes ago, and I stay there for, what, twenty, thirty seconds before I go back to the present." He laughed, scratching his beard sheepishly, "It's kinda cool, isn't it?"

"Well, it only takes you back five minutes."

"Only five? What are you talking about, that's plenty of time!"

Dr. Page only gave a small laugh, "It's a shame you have to discover this while bound to a hospital bed."

"Agh, tell me about it. Anyway," He directed his attention back to his phone, "I shouldn't let this go on too long, so that's it for now. Until next time!"

With that, the video ended. The phone then made a beep, the picture onscreen signaling that it was now low on battery. And in a hurry to aid Kaede, Barnaby had left the phone's charger behind. Kaede stared down at her hands, astonished. She had been holding more than she thought she had all this time…

"Well… I guess that explains it." Barnaby sat up, setting the phone to the side.

"Yeah…" Kaede replied, torn between wanting to laugh and cry over the discovery. Did life really have to be that cruel, to show a man nearing the end what the beginnings of something new looked like all over again? And so, is that why fate had given her this power, so that it wouldn't have to die with him? She could carry that power and take the opportunity to learn it and use it to its fullest potential in a way her father never got the chance to. She had the gift of remaining time to do that. But it all came at a price.

And at this point, after nearly losing her own life, she wasn't so sure if the sacrifice was worth the gain: to forever give up the warmth of the present day in order to keep someone else's ghost alive within her. In continuing to carry her past like this… she gave up a big part of her future, gave up human contact with dear friends… and family.

She couldn't help but cast a look back to Barnaby, the thought crossing her mind that she would just stand there doing nothing the next time he broke down in tears, wanting so badly to embrace him and tell him he would be okay, but being too much of a coward to actually do it. And with that, she couldn't help but wonder if there was honestly any point to keeping someone who no longer existed alive in spirit if it meant that the living would have to suffer.

When the knock came at the door, Barnaby stood up to answer it, knowing full well it was room service with their food.

Kaede watched silently as he handled payment before opening up the lid on the tray. A look of pleased surprise crossed his features for just a second, before he smiled warmly at the dish Kaede ordered: cabbage rolls.

"Bring back any memories, Barnaby?" She said softly, as she remembered for herself. A long time ago, while she was still a fawning fan of the Hero who'd saved her life, she had read from an interview that cabbage rolls were one of his favorite foods. And since Anju raised a plethora of beautifully healthy and homegrown cabbages, Kaede thought it'd be a great idea to make some for their first dinner together with Barnaby Brooks-Kaburagi in Oriental Town. It didn't matter that they were sloppily wrapped or if the meat inside just a tiny bit singed as the end result. It was a gesture, a way to make the man feel more at home, let him know that he was truly and indisputably another member of the Kaburagi family. And when he said they were delicious, that was when it started for Kaede, the feeling that he wasn't just her dad's husband anymore, but someone she personally cared about, someone who was really starting to feel like family.

And that dinner was one Barnaby would certainly never forget either.

"Aw. You didn't have to go to the trouble."

"What are you talking about? It wasn't any trouble!" Kaede pointed at him, "You're a part of this family, Barnaby! Never forget that!"

That was the declaration she had made to him, and he would've cried then and there on the spot if he didn't think it would have somehow ruined the warm, happy atmosphere. To think, after all those wasted years walking around with a heart full of hatred and loneliness, that he belonged to a family again, filled him up with such joy and love that he felt like it was almost all too good to be true.

And now, here Kaede was, digging up one of the happiest moments in Barnaby's life, taking the past and making it a real part of his present, a reminder, yet another memory he would treasure to his dying day. This, too, felt like it was too good to be true. But it was now, and it was happening, and it was real.

Barnaby laughed softly, wiping unfallen tears from his eyes, "Kaede, are you trying to make an old man cry?"

"Nope. Just the opposite." She waved, "Besides, you aren't that old, are you?"

With that, they had their fill of food, Kaede sipping the bottle of shochu she'd ordered with the dinner as Barnaby headed to his bed to sleep. And when he dozed off, she watched him for a brief moment, the visible rise and fall of his chest faintly reassuring her that, in the morning, when she woke up, he would wake up too. He was alive. He was breathing. He was still here.

Kaede wasn't really one for praying, but as she settled into her own bed for the night, she found herself muttering to the moon outside her window.

"Please, don't let me lose him too… not yet, not now…"

Kaede stood there, dressed in black, as she had been for her mother's funeral, her father's funeral… and now for Barnaby's.

It took everything not to collapse there on the ground, crumbling to her knees the same way her heart felt like it was crumbling behind her ribcage. Hollow, that was the feeling inside her, and she so desperately needed someone to reach out and tell her she would never be alone.

She could turn to Muramasa, like she had when she found out about Anju's condition, but he didn't have much time left himself either. They'd grown apart over the years, unfortunately, and when he had children of his own to look after, what place did she have in demanding any time from him?

So then… was it really her fate to just end up completely alone, exactly as she'd feared?

"Death is just a part of life, sweetie."

And suddenly, Kaede was a child again, looking up at her father through teary eyes as he uttered those words, just as he did when her mother had passed. Except this time, when Kotetsu set his hand down on her shoulder, she couldn't feel its weight. At that realization, he turned into a figure of blue light right before her eyes, before beginning to disintegrate. In vain, she powered up herself and chased after him, wrapping her arms around him tightly when she finally caught up. She clung to him desperately, but he easily slipped right through her grasp, now intangible, stepping back to face her fully.

She was an adult once again, now dressed in bright, vibrant blue as she clutched hands she could no longer feel in her physical grasp.

"Don't go." She begged, tears floating away from the corners of her eyes with the world going white around the two of them.

"I'm already gone, Kaede." He explained, his voice soft and sympathetic, "Holding onto me won't bring me back."

"Listen to Papa, honey," A familiar feminine voice chimed in.

Kaede turned to the source of the words, "Mom?" The solid, tangible sight of her mother then shifted into something ephemeral as well, her body composed of golden light. Kotetsu joined his wife's side then, taking her hand into his own as they both looked back at their daughter.

"Listen to the sound of your heartbeat," The two said together, and instantly, the sound rose in her ears, the steady pulse reverberating through her. "We want you to live, Kaede. Your life belongs to you."

And for a brief second, she really felt alive.

But before she could savor the feeling, they disappeared from sight into some door to the unknown, with Barnaby, now taking shape as a vague form of pink light, tagging right along with them, one hand clasping Tomoe's and the other gripping Kotetsu's. And as the door closed behind them, she didn't feel as alive as she had a second ago. The empty white space remained around her, and her continuing heartbeat became a sickening noise, a reminder of how unfair it was that life could go on while she hurt inside like this, aching from the tremendous losses she didn't think she'd really ever recover from. Even as she lit up with the orange light, they didn't return to her. And here she was, still expected to keep moving forward with no way to turn back.

Falling to her knees, she barely managed to choke out, "But I'm scared…"

Kaede awoke, and her whole body tensed as she let out a gasp. Instantly, she twisted over onto her side to look at the other bed. Relief washed over her at the sight of Barnaby still asleep, and softly snoring at that. He wasn't actually dead. It was all just a bad dream.

With a faint sigh, she murmured, "Here's to the hope that you're having better dreams than I am so far…"

On that note, she stirred from her bed and stood up, heading out to the balcony. She closed the glass sliding door halfway behind her, not wanting to wake Barnaby with the noise, but a nighttime breeze fluttered through on the curtains as she slipped outside. Against her knowledge, the chill was just enough to rouse Barnaby from slumber. And with the same brand of concern she had held for him, just a moment ago, he turned over on his side to check on her as well.

Alarmed at her absence, he sat up and hoarsely got out, "Kaede?" Grabbing his glasses from the nightstand, he got out of bed and peered around, a blue-glowing figure meeting his sight from behind a curtain lifted by the wind. Relief eased a sigh out of his aging chest, his heartrate slowing back to a normal pace. Thank goodness… his stepdaughter was still okay.

Kaede leaned over the balcony railing, eyes closed to the sight of Century City below her. She wasn't missing any grand sight: just a few intermittent cars skirting down the main street and the plaza across it lined with the window lights of closed shops and stores. With the Hundred Power, she could hear so much around her, despite the lifelessness of the night. Crickets chirped their forecasts of tomorrow's temperature, someone honked at a drunken straggler not using the crosswalk, and careful footsteps on carpet traced their way towards her. With the knowledge that Barnaby was awake, she opened her eyes and turned towards him.

"Sorry for waking you up." She murmured, a softness edging the brows of her radiant eyes.

He dismissed, joining her side at a safe distance, "It's fine. I was having a nightmare anyhow."

"Were you?"

"Yeah." He paused, not wanting to just unload it on her.

"You can tell me…"

"…I dreamed that… my parents were killed again. I saw Maverick's face clearly this time too. That doesn't always happen."

"Oh…" Kaede looked to the empty pavement far below her. "It still weighs on you, huh?"

"Yeah… but that figures. Of course I'm not over it. It hurts less than it did years ago… but I don't think most people ever really get over the death of their parents, regardless of whether they saw it coming or not."

Kaede couldn't have heard any truer statement. Otherwise, what was she doing, standing there all powered up with no need to use it?

"Mm."

"…Did something happen? Is that why you're…" He trailed off, but Kaede could only breathe out a sigh, looking to him with weary eyes.

"I had a nightmare too."

"What… was it?"

"You died. And I saw Dad's ghost, and Mom's, and they said… to listen to my heartbeat. They said… they wanted me to live. And then… I watched them leave, out a door, and you… you followed them. Then I was all alone. And… I was scared." On that note, the Hundred Power faded away, and she struggled not to cry at the thought of her nightmare still fresh in her mind.

"Scared of what?"

"Of being left alone." She confessed, "That's why I powered up, Barnaby. Whenever I feel alone, I… power up to remind myself that this part of him will always be with me. And that's why I'm so scared to lose it. It's the only thing I have left of him… but it's just so… childish!" She stomped her foot down, and the tears couldn't help but fall at that point. "Because holding onto his Hundred Power, even that good-for-nothing time travelling power that only go back five lousy minutes, there's no point! None of it will actually bring him back!"

"Kaede…" He reached out for her, to place a hand on her shoulder, embrace her, to tell her she'd be alright… but he remembered himself at the last moment and pulled his hand away. A feeling of guilt then sank into him at the way she froze.

Finally, as her shoulders eased, she muttered, "It's fine. Just… you may as well."

"No, Kaede, I'm sorry." He exhaled, "Look, it's not… childish of you to want to hold onto your father's power. If this is the best way you have of keeping him close to your heart… then it's okay." He curled his left fist loosely to feel his wedding band, "I still have the toy robot my parents gave me for my fourth birthday, and to this day, it still sits in my apartment. So… treasure the things your parents leave you with."

"Barnaby, I…" She stepped forward, towards him, leading him to step back. But at this, she merely shook her head, and opened up her arms to him.

Hesitantly, he replied, "I won't take his place." And at that point, it didn't matter to her anymore, not when Barnaby was alive now and he was someone to be treasured too. So, taking Barnaby by surprise, she took a deep breath and rushed into him, embracing him tightly.

"You aren't," She reassured.

And he could do nothing but return the embrace with tears starting to roll down his cheeks too.