The twins felt a wave of nausea pass through them as The Velvet Room came into focus; it always felt odd whenever they entered through their dreams. Looking around the limousine, they noticed that Igor, Margaret, and Marie were nowhere to be seen. However, sitting on the couch where Yu normally sat was an ethereal image. As the twins minds began to normalize, the image became more focused, and they recognized it immediately. "Teddie!" Yu shouted, voice louder than he'd meant it to be.
The bear-boy looked up in surprise, large lens-eyes seeming to widen at the sight of the twins. "Yu-sensei? Souji-sensei? What are you guys doing here?" Teddie looked thoughtful for a moment. "Umm, actually, where is here?" Souji grinned, and the twins moved forward to embrace their friend, surprising Teddie.
Souji pulled away, looking at the youth warmly. "Well, Ted, I guess you could say you're in a dream of ours."
Teddie looked amazed, but a crestfallen look quickly overcame him. "I see...How mysterious...There are so many things I don't know about. But I did realize something..." Teddie shook his head sadly. "I've been thinking all this time...about who I really am. But I couldn't find the answer...I was "no one" from the start...Humans live in the other world, and Shadows live in this world...From the beginning...That's all there was to it. I was just a Shadow in that world..."
Yu patted the boy on the head. "Hey now, none of that kind of talk. Come on, everyone's worried."
Teddie began to tear up at Yu's words, but continued with his speech. "I figured something out...That day at the hospital, I realized that I really can't do anything. As soon as I thought that, I lost consciousness...Then when I woke up, I was inside the fog. Shadows can't stay in the human world...They aren't allowed. I walked and walked, but there was nothing all around me...Just when I started thinking that I couldn't go anywhere, I heard the noise of a car...And then I was here. I remember lots of things now...My world is a place shaped by human thoughts...One day, a Shadow living in that world awakened to human emotions. But humans and Shadows are completely different entities...So he made himself forget that he was a Shadow..."
Teddie choked a bit as he took a breath. "He wanted to forget...He wanted people to like him...And that's how he came to look like this. I really am stupid. What the other Teddie said before...In the end, it was all true. No matter how much I search for myself, I have no self. There was no me to begin with...I'm just a Shadow that took a different form so humans would like me...It would've been better if I had never remembered, but I did...I'll probably turn back to a regular Shadow soon..." Teddie broke into a quiet sob. "Oh yeah, Sensei's. One day, when you meet Nana-chan in heaven...Apologize for me...Tell her...I'm sorry I couldn't do anything...Tell her I'm really sorry..."
The twins looked at each other, hearts breaking at the bear's painful words. "Teddie…" Souji kneeled down to look at Teddie in the eyes. "Nanako's all better. You saved her, Ted. She's alive and fighting for recovery."
Teddie jerked up, trembling at the news about the young girl. "Huh...? R-Really!? Nana-chan's...Wow...That's wonderful...I'm so glad... Heehee...My heart feels so much lighter now." Teddie yawned loudly. "I'm starting to get sleepy...What a strange place. It feels so soothing...It's not like my world...Something just feels so nostalgic about this place."
Souji nodded sagely. "This place appears to be unique. I've never seen a place quite like it. Even when I disappeared."
Teddie nodded. "I don't really understand, and I don't know exactly where to go from here…"
Yu smiled widely, and he began to laugh softly. "Well, let's move on together then." The silverette tilted his head slightly. "Come back to us soon, Teddie. We need you."
The bear-boy nodded, and the room flashed as Kintoki-Douji evolved, turning into a large circular…thing. There really wasn't a good way to describe the new Persona, Souji realized. Teddie smiled, and began to fade away. The room blurred, and suddenly, the twins saw the Velvet Room's usual residents sitting in their respective thoughts. Igor smiled devilishly at the twins. "Hmm…It seems that the words in your memory weren't the only things the two of you summoned here…" He chuckled softly. "This is a room for guests who have an ego that can be nurtured...Shadows-mere fragments broken off from the ego-have no place here. The water's strength has moved a single stone that had stopped, returning it once again into the flow...Very interesting." Igor's meaningful smile didn't escape Souji's notice, and he thought back to Teddie's words, that he was a Shadow like the ones they'd been fighting.
The limousine began moving, and Souji realized he hadn't known that the vehicle had ever stopped. "You are every inch the guests I had anticipated. Now, it's time for you to return." Igor waved his hand, and the twins' vision began to blur. "I am even more intrigued now as to where this is all headed." They heard the soft voice of Margaret saying goodbye, and Yu thought he saw Marie look away sadly. He didn't get a chance to check as the room faded from their minds, and the twins drifted into blissful unconsciousness.
The team was assembled inside the T.V. The boys had shifted the exit T.V's over to the side, and Rise stood in their place, Kanzeon scanning intently for a sign of Adachi. "I sense him! Adachi's definitely in here. Hold on…"
Rise's voice tapered off, and Naoto closed her eyes in thought. "Well, that settles it. There's virtually no doubt remaining that he's the true culprit. Once we capture him, solving the mystery of this world and the rest of the case can't be far behind." The others nodded.
Chie looked worried. "Then...maybe we'll find out where Teddie came from, too. Man, where is that bear, anyway...?"
Rise shook her head. "Well...I can say for sure he's not here. And I know Adachi is here, but I can't track him down myself..." Kanzeon disappeared as Rise's frustration got the better of her. "Gee, Ted! Why aren't you here when we need you most!?"
At the Okina Hospital
Teddie opened his eyes. The blonde youth was standing in Nanako's room, right next to the ailing girl's bed. "This place…" Teddie looked downcast. "I see...I...came back. But it really doesn't matter...I'm completely useless...Nana-chan...I'm so sorry..." As Teddie began to cry, a stirring from Nanako's direction caught his attention.
"Teddie?" Nanako's voice was soft and hoarse. "It is you...Teddie...I heard...your voice...You said...hang in there...I heard...my big bro...and everyone else, too..."
Teddie's eyes widened in shock. "N-Nana-chan!? Hold on, I'll get the doctor!" The youth rushed out of the room, finding Nanako's doctor in the nearby waiting room. The two hurried back, and the Doctor bent over Nanako, examining her intently. After a few minutes, he stood back up; Nanako had fallen back to sleep. "U-Um, Nana-chan told me that she heard my voice...She heard me say, 'Hang in there'..." Teddie looked at the doctor curiously as he spoke.
The elderly gentleman nodded. "It could be that her frankly miraculous recovery was because everyone's voices reached her. Even unconscious people are capable of hearing others' voices. In any case, there are too many things we don't understand about her condition and what caused it. We're doing our best, but it's difficult when everything about her illness is a total unknown."
Teddie mumbled the last word the doctor spoke softly, thinking about himself. The doctor gave the youth a winning smile. "Well, if anything happens, please send for me..." He turned and left the room, already intent on the next patient he was to see. So many people had come complaining of fog-borne illnesses.
Teddie watched the door close, and looked back at Nanako. "If I'm an unknown being, then the way I can change is unknown too…" Teddie looked up with a determined look on his face. "So all I have to do...is make them not-unknown. Nana-chan's doing her best...Sensei and the others are probably fighting now too...I...I'm just a Shadow, but Nana-chan cheered up when she heard my voice...So what if I'm just a Shadow...!? There must be something I can do! I can't just give up thinking about things...That's why I came back here. Right, Nana-chan...?" Teddie nodded to himself. "Right, I need to get back to the others. Hang in there, Nana-chan!" Teddie rushed out of the room, heading towards the bus stop, and towards Junes.
The Investigation team sat around the usual spot wearily. Rise was leaning against Yu's shoulder, eyes closed as she tried to regain some energy from the exertion she'd put forth searching for Adachi. Yu looked at her lovingly, but concern was strong in his eyes. "If only Teddie was here" he murmured softly, stroking his girlfriend's cheek with the back of his hand. The idol purred softly, and leaned in closer. The others smiled at the innocence the two teens displayed in their affections, remembering the long day it had been when they'd saved Rise from her shadow.
Souji turned to look at Naoto, who hadn't been there, but the sleuth was smiling all the same, a longing look in her eyes. Despite having cast away her reservations upon Souji's return, Naoto had returned to her usual behaviour regarding public affection, though now she was comfortable with holding Souji's hand when they were out. Souji reached down and took her hand in his own, squeezing gently. The detective blushed slightly at the contact, but turned to give her boyfriend an appreciative smile as she returned the pressure.
Yosuke put his arm around Chie's shoulder, causing the martial artist to blush a bit as well, but leaned in close to the boy she'd come to love deeply over the past 12 months. Kanji and Yukiko smiled softly at the rest of the group, and unconsciously shifted closer together. The teens enjoyed the tender moment for a while, savouring the small measure of peace.
Rise opened her eyes, meaning to look up at Yu, but tensed as she saw a familiar shape standing behind one of the signs in the food court. She stood up hurriedly, causing the others to jump at the movement. "Teddie?! Is that you?!" The boy came out from his hiding spot, dressed in his suit. Yosuke began to stutter, fuming as he tried to ask his friend where he'd been.
"I-I'm sorry…" he began, but was quickly silenced as Rise bear-hugged the bear, sobbing loudly as she let go of her worry for the young boy.
"You idiot! Bad bear! Bad!" she cried, making Teddie blush profusely under his suit.
"Uh…Rise-chan, are you faking?" he asked, a bit bewildered.
The idol shook her head vigorously. "No, stupid!" she said, backing away from her dear friend. Kanji and Chie shifted over to allow the bear-boy to squeeze in.
"I'm sorry. I figured out a lot of things. Stuff about me...and that world. I wanted to tell you all..." The group sat in silence as they listened to Teddie's confession, about where he'd been and what he'd discovered.
As he finished, Yosuke piped up. "Wait...You say you're a Shadow, but you didn't attack us. And you kept telling us from the start that you wanted to bring peace and quiet back to that world, right?"
Teddie nodded, looking at the brunette sadly. "But in the end...I was just an ordinary Shadow. Nothing special about me at all. I did everything I could until now to try and make my world peaceful...But instead, the weird fog started seeping out into this world too...I'm sorry...I'm really sorry. If I really was special, then maybe..."
Yosuke began to laugh out loud, causing Souji and Yu to snicker quietly. "It's no big deal. I mean, we weren't expecting much from you in the first place. And about you being a Shadow, we pretty much figured you were something like that anyway."
Teddie seemed taken aback, and became frustrated as he insisted that "No normal person would think such a pretty bear could really be a Shadow!"
Kanji snorted, thinking back to his own experiences. "So what's wrong with being a shadow?" Teddie turned to look at Kanji, but couldn't find an answer.
He then turned to Naoto as she spoke up. "It's true that you may have been born that way. But you now possess the power of Persona. A Shadow is suppressed power...Once controlled by the ego, it becomes a Persona...Doesn't it follow, then, that you must have developed an ego? Whether the ego masters its Shadow, or the Shadow awakens to its ego... The only difference I see is the order in which the process occurred."
Souji nodded. "At first, we had no idea what you were. But as we explored Yukiko's and Kanji's…worlds…it wasn't hard to come to the conclusion. Like Naoto said, you have a Persona. Remember what happened when we fought Shadow Rise? Your power suddenly spiked tremendously, because you made a decision to protect something. And the reason you did so was because that something was important to you. You developed real emotions, and in so doing, you changed."
Yu nodded, and decided to speak up as well. "Your Persona is reminiscent of the story of Kintaro. Kintaro was massively powerful, and used that power to protect his friends and to help others. You're not so different, Ted. Whenever we go into the T.V, it's always you who rushes in to heal one of us if we get hurt, and even while doing that, you're obliterating shadows left and right. We've met some powerful shadows in there, but none of them had such emotions, nor did they ever care about their comrades."
Chie smiled as Yu finished. "Oh! Teddie's practically human, then."
The bear-boy could barely speak. "I-I'm...the same as humans...?"
Yosuke nodded sagely. "You keep trying to figure out who you are, just like all of us here. You can't do much on your own...You really aren't that special...See? What's so different between you and us?" He smiled as he continued. "The rest of us were pretty much a group of misfits to begin with too, right? You fit right in, man."
Naoto turned to give the brunette a nonplussed look. "I beg your pardon? Who are you calling a misfit?" Rise turned as well, teasing the boy about his own status as a misfit. The team shared a laugh, and Yosuke turned to Teddie.
"Anyways, while you were gone, we figured out who the real killer is. It's Adachi!"
Teddie looked bewildered, and couldn't help but laugh at the news. "Huh!? Adachi!? That total goofball!? Whoa...I didn't notice at all. Looks like I'm pretty blind to that sort of thing..." The youth shook his head. "Mmm...But you all know him...If you can't find someone like that, I don't think I can help you..."
Yosuke grinned. "Well, like I said, we're not expecting much from you."
Kanji nodded, giving Teddie a playful punch on his suit's shoulder. "The main thing is, it's hard to get pumped about this without someone nice 'n fuzzy around." The group agreed, laughing as Teddie tried unsuccessfully tried to hide his head.
"Alright, let's take it from the top, first thing tomorrow!" Yosuke said, and the group gave a loud cheer, ready to bring the fight to Adachi, and solve the case once and for all.