Before the Final Trial
...Hey, Captain.
What will you do once this trial is over?
If it's all right with you... Do you... want to visit my hometown?
It's a bit old, but we have a pretty house, green fields, and breezy beaches...
...I'll make sure to visit.
R-really?
It's a promise!
Of course. As long as you don't forget.
Of course!
There's no way I'd forget you, Captain.
...
...I never would.
Forever and ever.
I take a deep breath.
No matter how I denied it, the place where I'd awakened was painfully familiar.
Where one world ends.
Where one more memory is laid to rest.
Only one trial left to go.
Where a single star is kindled.
...Yes. This truly is the last time.
It passed so quickly... like a dream.
All of it.
...
Captain.
Have you ever wanted to go back home?
...Home?
Yes. Your home.
A place that belongs to you, and no one else.
...Sorry.
For some reason... I can't remember it.
...
...As I thought.
My voice shook, but I forced my emotions down.
The person I wanted to protect, the person I wanted to save... was slipping away before my eyes.
...We made a promise once.
A promise to visit a pretty house, though a bit old, in a place with green fields and a beach.
A promise to visit my home. Together.
Home...
I've never forgotten that promise. Not for a moment.
I promised I wouldn't.
...No. It's all right.
It doesn't matter anymore.
There was a time I wanted us to go back to my home together... but that was long ago.
You should return to your own home, Captain.
...
Are you really okay with that?
...Yes.
Even if this was only a dream, we reached the stars in the end...
That's enough for me.
I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth, willing the pain and sadness away.
It felt as though I were back at the beginning...
But I couldn't waver anymore.
I'm glad...
I met you.
...
I'm glad I met you, too.
Captain.
That person...
She's an echo of the past.
And, once, she was me.
...I see.
I was arrogant and foolish.
I believed that if I could keep myself from hurting or crying...
I could have everything I wanted.
My wish, my promise, my salvation... Even my defiance of fate itself.
...
But now...
I won't deny myself anymore.
Go on.
I'll wait for you.
...All right.
I should be going.
...To finish the Journey.
Thank you, Captain.