Starlit was sitting in her personal office. At her desk, she went through all the files that she had in her possession; both old and new.

While Tesla said he would give Rui back a new body in his new world… is there another way for me to ease her suffering?

She pulled out a few of her older folders, looking through all the notes, experiments and inventions she's had over the years. A photo spilled out from them, slipping towards the door… and landing at Rui's feet.

"Ah… Rui. You're awake." Starlit said, as Rui reached down and picked up the picture.

"...isn't this…?" Rui's eyes barely widened, but there was still visible surprise behind their dullness.

The photo she was holding was of a younger Starlit, still dressed in a lab coat. But the surprising part was a familiar woman with brown hair and glasses, dressed similarly.

"Ryoko Sakurai…" Rui recognized.

"Oh…" Starlit realized as she walked over. "You would recognize her. I had forgotten that she had worked with Section Two a few years ago."

"You knew her?" Rui asked.

Starlit nodded. "She actually taught me quite a bit, including that of the Symphogears and Phonic Gain."

"...then you knew…?"

"I never met anyone from FIS or Section Two personally." Starlit shook her head. "We would keep in touch as she explained her findings to me. She never told me about her involvement with either, and I only learned of it a few years ago… some time after the Kadingir rose."

"I'm sorry." Rui said, handing her the photo.

"No, it's alright." Starlit said, sadly looking at the picture. "We drifted apart, talking less and less as time went on. Eventually, we stopped talking entirely… no doubt due to Finé awakening inside her. All my information about you was from a backdoor program she kept as a backup, which was neutralized once SONG was formed from Section Two."

She put the photo in her pocket, as she neatly organized everything on her desk. Rui stared at the pocket, before looking back up at Starlit. "...what kind of person was she?"

"Ryoko?" Starlit turned around. "Well… she was rather flirtatious for one. I can't tell you how many times she tried to hit on me…"

Rui stared while Starlit smiled, reminiscing about old times.

"But when it came to science, I knew no one that worked harder than her." Starlit said. "She was always supportive of me, helping guide me as much as I could. Hearing what happened to her… it only strengthened my resolve to support Tesla further. One of my desires is to create a world where Ryoko was spared the fate of becoming Finé's host."

"...I guess we did get to know the real her, after all." Rui muttered quietly.

"Rui?" Starlit called, though the girl walked away. Starlit sighed, sitting back down and putting a hand on her pocket, feeling the photo. Ryoko… what would you have done?

Maia was lying down in her room. She held up Ame-no-Habakiri in her hand, looking at the relic that had helped her younger sister through thick and thin, a weapon that had helped her out of a few jams as well. This was the blade that Tsubasa had trusted with her life.

And only a while ago, she had used it against Rui…

Maia pulled her arm back and was about to throw it against the wall, but stopped herself. As angry as she was with Tsubasa and Rui, she wasn't about to do something moronic like this, especially not since she was now the only one that could use it thanks to Tsubasa's current condition.

"Damn it all…"

She put a hand over her eyes, trying to keep the tears from leaking out. She failed as they stained her pillow.

Shuri was standing outside her door. She wanted to go inside and talk to her, but found that she couldn't.

Even after everything Maia's done for me, I can't even go in and comfort her… She lamented as she walked away. I'm such a useless failure of a leader…

The former FIS members had gathered at the cafeteria, to discuss what Forte had yelled at them. Aiba was sitting on the table, observing them.

"If they really were my friends, they would've known! They wouldn't have abandoned me to die!"

"She… we really left Forte behind…" Maria said quietly.

"B-But, we didn't know, dess!" Kirika said.

"The Nephilim was going berserk, we couldn't have-" Shirabe tried reasoning.

"No. No excuses." Jeanne said. "I… I do remember seeing Forte, but Serena and I couldn't have stopped to help her."

"Right, so-!" Kirika said.

"But we easily could've gone back to help her after everything, but we just assumed she was one of the many casualties in the accident." Maria said.

"There's no excuses, Kirika." Jeanne said. "At the end of the day, we just left her to her fate."

"While I was not present at these events, I'm willing to believe you all did the best you could that day." Aiba said, trying to reassure them.

"We appreciate the words, Aiba, but that doesn't change what happened." Maria gently petted her on the head.

"What do we do then, dess?" Kirika asked.

"For now, I believe we should hold out hope that we can reach out to Forte." Jeanne said.

"But how should we do that?" Shirabe asked.

"La nuit porte conseil." Jeanne said.

"We should take from Hibiki's example when it comes to reaching out." Maria said. "She was the one that did the same for us. Until the opportunity comes, we should support SONG as best as we can in our current state."

Looking down at the table, Maria's thoughts went to the younger Tachibana.

Yet still… I can only hope Hibiki is doing better.

Hibiki was not doing better in the slightest.

Sitting on her bed, she had her knees to her chest. The lights were off as she kept the door locked. She left the Fourze keychain on the table, as she refused to look at it. She was prepared to start crying at any moment now, but no tears would come out.

It had been like this for the past day, ever since she found out about her sister's condition. First she thought her sister was dead, but then she returned, and all the relief disappeared when she found out her sister had been modified into a machine, now under the thumb of the enemy. She had fought her and lost. All of this happened so quickly, and she was unable to process it. She wasn't even sure if she had slept or not, all that was going through her mind was how much pain was in her heart. She had heard several knocks on the door during this time, and the voices of her friends, but she ignored them, keeping things tuned out. The others understood and gave her space, though Miku was the one she remembered the most, speaking through the door.

When she finally stopped tuning out everything, she heard there was more knocking at the door. She sat in silence, waiting for it to go away.

The knocks kept happening every few seconds or so. This kept going on for several minutes, before Hibiki finally decided to talk.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"Hey… it's me. Can you unlock the door? I want to come in to talk."

She heard Chris' voice. She knew it was Chris and not Shuri, because their voice tones were slightly different. Shuri's was much softer, while Chris had a bit of a harsher tone in her words. But right now, it sounded like she was trying to sound like her younger twin.

"...okay."

Hibiki stepped out of bed and shuffled over to the door, unlocking it and letting it slide open. Chris was standing on the other side, holding a tray of food.

"Hey uh…" Chris walked in as she put down the tray of food on the table. She wasn't sure how to exactly describe how Hibiki looked in a nice way. Frankly, the girl smelled awful because she clearly hasn't showered. She was still in her sleepwear, only haphazardly put on. There were low growls from her stomach every now and then, implying she hasn't eaten anything either, which was very concerning considering her appetite. The room itself was pretty reflective of her state, being quite the mess (although not to the same extent as Tsubasa's).

"You can say what you're thinking, Chris-chan." Hibiki said quietly as she flicked on the lights, as her messy hair, baggy eyes and pale complexion became clearer. "What did you come here for?"

"Well, I noticed you weren't coming to eat at all, so I decided to bring some food to you." Chris said. "And I guess check up on you too, Hibiki."

Hibiki blinked. She wasn't calling her "Dummy" at all, so she must've really meant it.

"Miku had to go out to do a few things, so it's just me." Chris rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry if you were expecting her, but-"

"N-No, it's okay, Chris-chan." Hibiki said, sitting down at the table and picking up the utensils. "Thank you."

Chris smiled as she sat down in the other chair. She just watched as Hibiki ate, not saying much for now. It was clear that although Hibiki was in this depressive state, she still had her usual appetite.

"Thanks for the food, Chris-chan." Hibiki smiled.

"No problem, but… I wanted to ask you some things, if that's okay with you." Chris said.

"About…?"

"If it's too much of a personal problem, I won't-"

"About Oneesan, right?" Hibiki asked.

Chris slightly tensed up, but nodded. "Again, if it's too painful, you don't have to-"

"No, I can." Hibiki said. "There's no use quietly crying over it. Maybe talking about her might make me feel better…"

"Okay." Chris nodded before taking a deep breath. "I want to know… how did she see all of us?"

Hibiki put a hand under her chin. "Well… she likes everyone, despite how she acts."

Chris listened intently as Hibiki went on.

"She always trusted Tsubasa-san, understood Maria-san, and saw Kirika-chan and Shirabe-chan as important kohai." Hibiki said. "And of course, Maia-san and Shuri-san were her two closest friends, along with Miku."

"...what about me?"

This question had been eating away at her for quite some time. She thought she'd never get the chance to ask Rui this herself. But with the current circumstances, she'd have to ask the one that was closest to her.

"Oneesan… she really liked you, Chris-chan." Hibiki said.

"Liked me…?" Chris repeated.

"Whenever we talk about you… Oneesan smiles like she used to." Hibiki said.

"Like she used to?" Chris asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, Oneesan was smiling a lot more after we met all of you, but before the concert, Oneesan… she almost never had a harsh look in her eyes." Hibiki said. "After everything… all the pain she went through for the family's sake, it hardened her. But when she's around you… I can see the old Oneesan she used to be."

Chris was silent at that. I never noticed this before… How was I this blind?

"And uh… Miku and I did remember seeing you and Oneesan in bed together." Hibiki rubbed the back of her head.

Chris had a slight blush, but didn't let the embarrassment bother her for now. "Well then if you know all this, why are you moping in your room?"

"Huh?"

"This isn't the Hibiki Tachibana I know. The one that reached out to help people." Chris said, standing up. "Unless I got the wrong person."

"Eh? I'm still me-"

"Then stand up and act like it." Chris said. "Your sister needs you, doesn't she? If anyone can bring her back, you can."

Hibiki quietly looked at her hand, seeing it was still trembling. She briefly clenched her fist and opened her palm to see it had stopped shaking. "Yeah… yeah, you're right, Chris-chan! Oneesan needs me!"

"Oh, but do yourself a favor and take a shower first, Dummy." Chris said. "And clean your room. You make Senpai's look clean in comparison."

"And back to "Dummy" again…" Hibiki sighed.

"I'll stop calling you Dummy when you stop acting like one… Dummy." Chris smirked.

"Well once I get Oneesan back, I'll start calling you Chris-neechan! How about that?!" Hibiki said with a grin.

All confidence left Chris as she started to sputter, face turning red. "Screw you!"

She walked out of the room in a huff, but Hibiki did notice her smile. She stretched her arms before sniffing her sleeve.

"Ugh, Chris-chan was right. I do need a shower."

She started cleaning up her room first, before looking at the Fourze keychain on the table. The eyes seemed to shine brighter.

I promise… I will save you, Oneesan!

"Okay! Lala thinks she got it now!"

She was stirring something on the stovetop while Starlit watched over her. Forte was sitting at the table with her head down, grumbling… in fear?

"Alright Lala, this is… your seventh attempt to make udon." Starlit said. "Did you follow all the instructions?"

"Most of it, but Lala threw in her own additions here and there." Lala said with a smile.

Starlit was still smiling, but the alarm was clear on her face. Oh no…

"I should've just said no when she asked if I could taste test her food." Starlit muttered. "But I can't say no to that face!"

Lala prepped two bowls, putting the noodles in before adding in the soup and topping with a few garnishes. "Here, Lala's special!"

Having sat down next to Forte, Starlit looked at the bowl. It looked normal enough… but there was an odd odor rising from it. It didn't necessarily smell bad, but there wasn't any normal udon smell from it either.

"Well… thanks for the food?" Starlit said, a bit unsure. Lala is smart enough to know not to make a lethal combination by accident, right?

Forte herself looked like she was praying before she picked up the chopsticks. She and Starlit each got ready, as they ate some of the noodles.

Almost immediately they tasted something wrong, but tried their absolute best to choke it down.

"W-What did you add…?" Starlit winced.

"Oh, well Lala saw the pictures that udon soup was a bit brown, and that thicker broths are better. Lala also remembered hearing that love helps food cook better, so she added something sweet." Lala grinned. "So Lala added a bit of milk chocolate to the soup! Oh, and a little bit of vanilla ice cream to make it creamier…"

"I-Is that so…?" Starlit had a nauseous expression on her face. This can't be good for my heart…

Forte had a hand over her mouth as she tried not to puke. No, no, no! I'm not letting her ruin chocolate and ice cream for me! She deserves better than that!

"What's going on?"

Rui had entered the kitchen by that point, seeing the chaos that was unfolding before her.

"Oh, Lala made udon!" Lala said. "Do you want to try?"

Rui picked up Forte's bowl (not that the girl was complaining) before having a taste. Unlike the other two, she didn't show much outward reaction. She looked at Lala dead in the eye before giving her opinion.

"This tastes like dogshit."

Both Starlit and Forte had horrified looks on their faces at Rui's blunt statement. They thought she was about to make Lala cry with how brutal her words were, but to their surprise, Lala merely sighed in disappointment.

"So another failure… Lala guesses she will never be a good cook."

"Cooking isn't something you just pick up overnight. How long have you been practicing?" Rui asked.

"...Lala thinks this is her fifth year now since she started learning." Lala said. "The first year I kept crushing everything by accident…"

Raising a brow, Rui grasped Lala's hand and observed it, as if trying to figure out how she cooked from hand movements alone. She could feel through her own mechanical hand that Lala's was the same.

Is she just like me…?

"Uhhh…" Lala stared at how Rui was holding her hand, before she let go.

Rui turned to Starlit. "How did TEC even survive for this long?"

"Tesla and I both know how to cook." Starlit said. "But with my condition, he insisted I stop doing it for the time being. And with how busy he often is, he doesn't get the chance to and we have to resort to the instant and easy to make options."

"And you?" Rui looked at Forte.

Forte huffed and looked away, clearly not wanting to talk to her.

"Erm, Forte doesn't really do cooking." Lala said. "...or cleaning, for that matter. Or anything like that."

"Hey, don't go telling her all of that!" Forte yelled, slamming her palm on the table, embarrassed.

"Sorry…"

Rui didn't smirk at what Lala said, before turning back to her. "If you want, I can help teach you how to cook."

"But Starlit's been trying to do that for so long and it didn't work… Lala follows every instruction in the book like she suggested." Lala said softly.

"Then that's still a good start. Come on." Rui encouraged, patting her on the back.

Lala's face lit up, as she followed Rui into the kitchen. Starlit smiled, watching them. "I'm glad Rui's starting to open up after all that happened…"

Forte was silent. While she was admittedly a bit jealous that Rui was spending time with Lala, something else was eating away at her.

She's weirdly calm, but still talks sorta like she normally does from the footage we've seen. Forte wondered. It's like she's speaking through a filter… is she really alright? …tch, why should I care if she's just here to replace Starlit?

"Forte?" Starlit asked. "Are you alright?"

"H-Huh?! Oh, yeah! Yeah." Forte waved her hands. "I've just been thinking."

"Really? That's a new one." Starlit teased.

"Hey, don't mess with me!" Forte snapped.

Tesla was sitting at the monitor, typing away. On the monitor he had the diagram of Rui's mechanical limbs, as well as Lala's own mechanical body. There were also several images of Carol's Château de Tiffauges along with various relics, with one of them resembling an intricate viking horn.

"I don't understand it…" Tesla said, leaning back in his chair as he tented his fingers. "What am I missing…?"

He brought up Lala's scan, to show her entire android body.

"I was able to save Rui Tachibana's soul, and the bodies I've created are fit for hosting them." He said.

He looked at his hand, concentrating as the projection disappeared to show its mechanical appearance.

"My own soul, persisting through the decades through multiple bodies." He said. "And yet… why can I not find yours, Amelia?"

He turned to a photo he had framed at his desk. It was of a young woman with green hair, dressed in a maid uniform.

"When the world refused to understand my ideas and left me to die, I had to let every one of my hired helpers go. But you… you stayed by with me. Took care of me. Gave me a reason to live."

He picked up the photo frame, looking at it with sadness.

"But then that horrible accident… they said you would never wake up." Tesla quietly uttered. "I tried everything to create a new world system to bring you back, but I wasn't able to in time…"

He put the photo back down.

"But then I found that odd relic-like tablet in a set of old ruins said to have belonged to Gods. When I touched it, it gave me all the knowledge that I needed, as if the Gods themselves spoke to me. It helped me find new miracles to finish my creations to save you. I first created Lala in order to give you a new body. It took nearly two centuries, but I was successful in bringing the body to life. And yet… nothing worked…" He said. "Lala developed her own soul, and that was something I had to accept as she had become her own person. This was something both Starlit and Forte were fine with, as we accepted Lala into our ranks. Perhaps if I realize why Starlit's body continues to deteriorate in spite of new ones, I may find the answer…"

His hand went back to normal as he tapped again to pull up the footage of the cafeteria, seeing that Starlit and Forte were chatting (or from what he gathered with the volume muted, Forte was yelling from being teased again). Lala re-entered the room with a new batch of the udon, with Rui watching over her. Both Starlit and Forte tried it, and their expressions brightened.

"Looks like she made something successful this time." Tesla smiled. "Perhaps I'll join them now and get a bite myself."

Standing up from his chair, he tapped the screen to turn things off. Walking over to the door, he glanced back at the photo of Amelia on the table.

"I will shoulder all of these sins, Amelia." Tesla told the picture. "I will create a new world. Not just for the two of us, but for TEC… and to redeem myself from the pain we caused Rui Tachibana. I told her about you as I saved her… she understood the desire to save people she couldn't. …if only you were still here…"

Turning off the light, the door closed behind him. The last bit of light shining on the photo before it was snuffed out.

Maia was sitting on top of SONG's submarine. She had decided she needed fresh air from moping in her room the whole day. She made sure to avoid everyone so she could have some alone time.

Looking up at the night sky, she saw the stars paint a beautiful image. A shooting star shot across the horizon, and she remembered how she and the others had watched something like this back when they had first stopped Finé.

That was so long ago, and she felt as powerless as she did back then; having to hope the Symphogear wielders would be able to stop the fragments of the Moon from falling onto Earth. Looking into her palm, she held Ame-no-Habakiri, which Tsubasa had used to help Hibiki and Chris save the planet.

And now… Tsubasa was out of commission, while Hibiki and Chris were no doubt hesitant to fight Rui. The others likely had similar feelings. She herself wasn't exempt from this; Rui was her best friend after all.

But being her best friend meant she had to do this.

"I guess I have to step up…" She chuckled to herself. "And here I criticized Tsubasa for being a reckless idiot…"

A/N: And thus the stage is set. Not much else to say.

I don't suppose anyone expected all those connections back to earlier seasons, hm?

Feel free to leave a review and update the TVTropes page. See you all next time.