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mika opens the gift. she had done everything she could up until this point. she had the support of others, she even had a version of Julie Solette to hold onto. [break][break]

now, as she opens this gift, she finds that even their ghosts are gone, the friends from before fading as light, mika returning to a place unknown. [break][break]

when their eyes open again, they are no longer in the castle, in some nebulous space with people and pokemon. instead, they're standing in front of a quiet shrine, autumn leaves crunching underfoot, the smell of agarwood incense drifting through the air. she knows this place, she thinks. she remembers. [break][break]

ecruteak city, johto. the birth place of her mother, and her mother's mother before that. a distant legacy, shrine maidens forever standing as divine silhouettes against the horizon. sunlight scattering through rust-red leaves, through the gaps of trees. [break][break]

afternoon sun threatening to bleed into evening. [break][break]

at their side, their mother's voice rings out true. do you see that, mika? look. [break][break]

the mika now nods her head, memories flooding back to her, the words slipping out of her mouth unbidden. "i see it." [break][break]

an autumn sawsbuck, standing near the stairs to the shrine. crimson-colored leaves form a canopy over its head, regal and bright. striking. mika slowly approaches the creature, gentle and knowing. [break][break]

(in truth, she'd been a young girl when this happened, visiting her mother's family in ecruteak city and paying respects at a temple. and this sawsbuck had been there, standing still. staring. as if it knew mika, as if it knew her heart.) [break][break]

in reality, the sawsbuck is dead, and mika learns its fate after its body is discovered on the stairs a night later, her mother its unfortunate witness. but here, in this dream, he is alive, and mika reaches out a hand to it, voice crackling in her throat. [break][break]

"did you know, even back then? did you know that things would turn out like this?"[break][break]

the sawsbuck doesn't answer. he merely lowers his head, and mika reaches our to touch its branches, its delicate ears and strong nose. in dreams even the dead are living; even the lost. she nods at once, understanding the silent answer. [break][break]

in any case, she thinks, it's good to see you again. [break][break]

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