So long (and Thanks For The Memories)

Raine was a little tense.
What if it was another illusion?
What if it's not really her?

...Well, it'll be apparent when they get there.

Kat follows along, and while she doesn't know who this Micha is, she can tell that Seth knows her very well.

"I think I'll be able to think of something. At least, while this dreamscape is still present. But yes, let's meet with your friend first. I don't think I've met her before..."

---

Medi can't help but smile even more.
For once, things really, really are looking bright for them.

"I'd...say the same thing..."

---

"I'm not much for huge parties! And besides, I've never seen someone like you before!"

The girl with the large hat takes out her pocketwatch and looks through the odd lens in the front, then promptly puts it away.

"I've seen a lot of ghosts, but there's something big about you that I can't put my finger on. And not because there's so many ghosts that look pretty similar to each other!"

Samm smiled some, then grinned. To her it was funny, because in a way, she viewed her otherself as mysterious, especially how vague she got near the end of their last bout of conversations. Mike must be..or must have been..?..(she's not sure) even more so.

And slowly, her hearing picked up what people were doing, a small crowd going to visit Micha. Guess returning there would have to be delayed...

ANd she looked back to Clear, "So....what will happen now?"

Jubilation rings through the group, some congregating on the impromptu dance party closer to the center as others hang near the edges to hug their fellows tightly. Others, wiped out by the looks of it, see fit to simply lie against trees to recuperate, while some weave through the crowd determined to find someone. Jerome finds himself in the last camp, navigating the crowd (who for their part are gracious in splitting or pausing their joyous spins to allow him easy passage) looking for someone important. Now that everything is done, now that he has no idea how much longer they'll have together and now that imminent threat isn't hanging over their heads, time is of the essence.

"Falks... Falks, where are you? Oh god, Falks..."

---

"Ma'am? Ma'am, you alright?! C'mon, I can't handle these constant near-deaths...!"

Hands clasped firmly on her shoulders shake her lightly, then a little harder, as awareness returns to her in patches. Eyes still closed she mumbles out a few incomprehensible words as her eyes creep open, to Kyana's breathless laugh.

"...Shit."

Kyana rolls her eyes and lunges forward to catch her in a tight hug, Falks scanning the crowd from her position on the ground with growing distaste even as she lifts a hand to clasp to Kyana's back.

"This is shameful... One of the last ones to come to? What kind of example am I setting for the troops?"

Kyana snickers. "I've been looking for you long enough to see most of this victory party and, I'm pretty sure I saw someone twerking earlier. So, uh, I think your troops are a lost cause. Sorry."

"Was she at least any good?"

"Who said it was a chick? And, yes."

The pair locks eyes for a few moments, stony-faced. Falks breaks first with a wide smile but Kyana's the first to laugh, both breaking out in laughter before long. And Falks shrugs as if to say 'well then', laughs fading at the sight of someone familiar a few feet away. Kyana isn't long after to pick up on it, turning her head with fading laughter before breaking out in a wide smile.

"...Falks."

"Nice timing, Jerome. But jeez... can't even wake up  before my little bro, I really am setting a poor example."

Kyana looks between the two with a grin, then down to Falks, who she's currently taking a cross-legged seat on. And dawning comprehension sets in, her face turning sheer red before she leaps back, dusting herself off and hastily offering Falks a hand. The sight's enough to bring a smile to Jerome's face, one that turns to confusion when Falks levels an unimpressed gaze on him.

"What's up Cynthia...?"

"Sure as hell ain't me, bro. You gonna stand there chuckling or you gonna help?"

"O-Oh, right, of course!"

The boy rushes over to offer his hand, Falks grinning as she takes both his and Kyana's hands and pulls herself to a stand. And shortly afterward, the both of them into a tight hug, nestling her head between their shoulders with a small smile.

"...We did you, you guys. We really did."

"It was all thanks to your flawless leadership, ma'am. You're an inspiration."

"You've... You've really grown, Falks. I know I don't have the right to be but, I'm really proud of you."

Falks pulls back to clasp her hand on Jerome's shoulder, the boy's gaze on the ground before she forces his chin upward, and he blinks. Kyana smiles a small smile before backing away, wordlessly disappearing into the crowd as Jerome's expression turns a sad kind of sour and he looks to the side.

"I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry, for the things i said and did. I wish I could say it was all that monster but... There was some truth in those words. It pulled them to the surface but it didn't fabricate them... And. My behavior was unacceptable. Cynthia, I-"

"I forgive you."

Jerome blinks, looking to her with widening eyes.

"C-Cynthia...I'm-"

A finger rises in front of his mouth, any semblance of mirth gone as she regards him with a serious look.

"No."

"No...?

She nods. "No. Not, another, word of you apologizing. I can see it in your eyes bro... I can tell how bad you feel about it. But... You're here. I lost you, and you're here. The other stuff, the conflict... I forgive you. I'd take another hundred beatings from you if it meant getting to meet you again like this."

"S-Sis..."

Falks pulls him into a tight hug, tears flowing mutually as he buries his face in her neck and returns the hug all the tighter.

"...Besides. You still hit like you're infirmed. I thought I taught you a better straight than that."

Falks sniffles, biting her lip to try and supress the growing smile on her face. And Jerome chokes out something between a sob and a laugh, shaking his head.

"I...Hahahahaha, I think. You've just gotten a lot tougher since last time, ahahaha. You're so, so much stronger than you give yourself credit for... You don't even need me, anymore."

"Strong, yeah. She’s got to be the tough-as-nails commander, so it wouldn’t do if people picked up on her having emotions outside of varying degrees of anger, even though she's way cuter when she isn't holding back~."

That voice. That voice that could only be one person, Falks whipping her head around at light-speed to zero in on... Rivers, a few feet away, who lets out an audible yelp when she's spotted. A few tense moments pass as Falks stares, expression blank, and Rivers pales, folding her hands behind her back with a nervous chuckle.

"Ah-! Ehehehehe, Cin, you're not, actually mad or anything, are you...? C-C'mon, I tease because I care!"

Falks wordlessly nods, prompting Rivers to let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in. And patting Jerome on the shoulder she spares a smile for him before turning back to Rivers with that withering glare, backing away from him to stalk toward Rivers faster than she expects and grab her roughly by the collar.

"Eep! C'mon Cin, I didn't mean anything bad by it! Honestly, I--"

Without warning she finds herself silenced. What just happened? Those are... Falks' lips, pressed against hers. Oh. That's Falks' hand holding her close by the collar, that's Falks, locking lips with her in a passionate kiss. Falks, whose eyes lid shut in the cutest way. And that's Rivers' eyes rolling up a little, Rivers who lifts one foot and stands on the tips of the toes of the other one as she melts into the kiss that seems to last an eternity, but really only lasts for some ten seconds. Same difference. When she pulls back It's Rivers' turn to be silent, Falks smiling wryly as she quirks her eyebrows.

"...You're always complaining I don't praise you enough, right? And I'm always telling you how much of a needy pain in the ass you are... But. You did good. And maaaaybe, I could stand to cut back a little more often. I'll work on it, alright...? But. No more saying I don't spoil you, alright?"

"Ooh la la~ Do the two lovebirds need a room?"

Falks smiles sweetly, glancing to Ger just a few feet away.

"Nice to see you again Ger, in good shape too. It's a miracle, after everything we just went through... so, it'd be a real shame if I had to break every bone in your body. Wouldn't it?"

Ger rolls his eyes, Jerome looking from Rivers, to him, then back, and a couple more times before looking to Falks with a tilted head. As if sensing it she throws a smile his way.

"You were thinking something like, I'm so strong I don't need you to fill in the gaps, or anyone else, right? But, that's not the case... Jerome meet two of my Lieutenants, Rivers and Ger. I don't go alone... I don't ever go alone, because there's only so much I can do on my own. But, I've got comrades who help fill in the gaps. Friends whose gaps I fill in. You got me as far as I got and they help carry me the rest of the way... So, I can be alright."

Falks smiles.

"You wanna meet the rest of them?"

And, Jerome smiles wide, nodding.

"I'd, like that. Yeah."

"Well, you heard the man you two! Lets get those asses moving!"

"Oorah."

Falks beats her chest, Ger matching the gesture with slightly less enthusiasm before following her. Jerome falls in line with a light chuckle, and Rivers...

Rivers blinks, rooted to that spot for the length of that conversation. Since the kiss she hasn't moved an inch besides blinking, and blinking often. It isn't until the group fades from view that she seems to come to with a start, mouth hanging open for a few more moments before she folds her hands.

"She... She does care! She really cares! But...-- Ooh, Cynthia come baaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!"

Rivers takes off running after the group, hearts in her eyes as she throws her hands up.

"That's not nearly enough! Spoil me some more Cin, come onnnnnnnnnn! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!!!!!!"

*Aperture walks onto the dance floor.
C:\>cd dance
C:\dance>dir /w
Volume in drive C is *Aperture
Volume Serial Number is 0EF7-6BCD
Directory of C:\dance
[.]           [..]          fabulous.EXE
              1 File(s)            592 bytes

              2 Dir(s)  13,710,635,008 bytes free
C:\dance>fabulous.EXE

"huh, I didn't know his legs could do that."

Elenor, a pekin witch of blood, watches the various groups converse and celebrate amongst themselves. How curious. She decides to take her chances and meet somebody new.
She walks into the crowd and picks an individual at random.
The rather short enigmatic duckwoman speaks up to an unknown figure in front of her.
"Hello there. Rather nice day it is, huh?"

Revres, the cheeto-horned oliveblooded troll, is quite excited, barely even caring to complain about Elenor's "weird habits" again. It doesn't even matter. He summoned "the devil" and it finally worked! Or at least that's what he likes to tell himself.
"hahahahaha! And they told me I was crazy for trying!"
He laughs to himself, honestly looking a lot weirder than Elenor.

The prospitian pizza guy has already taken to the dancefloor. not many would know this, but he used to be pretty big in the dancing scene back when he used to stay in Neo Derspit city. Needless to say, his moves are pretty top-notch, despite the delivery get-up he's wearing.

Mimi is pretty wracked with thought right now. Sure they've won, sure she's got her crew back, as well as Amanda, but what now? What awaits them? They don't exactly have a base anymore, considering that got damaged beyond repair in the storm of laserblasts that had happened much earlier. If it weren't for Micha's message that had appeared on their screens, they wouldn't have found another group of people... But, where even are they now?
"Hey, what's wrong, Mimi?"
"...nothing. a lot of things to think about."
"come on! lighten up a bit! we're safe! it isn't like you to worry so much anyways!" Amanda does a cute spin in midair, trying to cheer Mimi up a bit.
"heh, I guess. Then again things haven't been how they used to be in a while now." Mimi looks out at the crowd almost fondly.

Charlotte spots her best friend... dancing? Who knew she had moves like that!
"You go girl!" She cheers her on from the sidelines.

Chungy, the elf bard of breath, thinks about joining the dancing for a moment, but winds up bumping into... who is this exactly?

Micha suddenly finds herself surrounded by her friends. She was very happy she was alive again.

"Everyone! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

She says through joyous sobbing.

In life before... she struggled with a reason for living... and it was only near the end of her life that she considered the possibility of her finally being happy before it was rudely taken away from her. But now that shes back, she wants nothing more than to be with the people that love her. She has no words for how happy she is, so she continues to thank them over and over as she hugs them all. Every last one of them.

---

Clear glances to Niki.

"Well dear, I don't know about you but I think it's ready to get some well deserved sleep."
She giggles and closes her eyes, nestling against the tree again.

Some forest rabbits hop by and birds start to fly through the air above, chirping as they go.