"Raena, you must be careful... From now on, you will refer to yourself as 'Tear'. You must also pretend you are a boy. Always wear the sweatshirt and wig I gave you, to disguise yourself from those familiar with you."

"Raena, my dear, I love you dearly. But if this is truly something you wish to do, even if it will put you in danger, I will not stop you. Now, get going!"

"Raena, do not worry about me. Your dear old grandmother will be alright. My only wish is... that you will meet someone there who cares for you as much as I do..."

Ail

We had reached the open road, the school already far behind us. Although there were a whole bunch of cars around us, the only thing I could hear was my moped's engine running, and the sound of Raena crying.

"Tech... Mac..." She sobbed while hugging me from behind, her tears able to be felt on my back. "I-it's all my fault... Everything..."

"Enough already!" I exclaimed.

"W-wha?" Raena said in surprise.

"I'm getting sick of you blaming yourself all the time! You're completely innocent in all this, okay?"

"But, Tech and Mac... They..."

"I'm pretty sure they had their own reasons for what they did, but I think protecting you was one of them. They know you're innocent too, and wouldn't want you to berate yourself like this!"

"I... I-I'm sorry..."

"Instead, let's think of what we should be doing now..."

"Um, alright. But can I ask you something first?"

"What?"

"Where are we going, exactly?" She asked. "I've been wondering for a while..."

"Our only clue right now is that data disk Tech gave me." I explained. "So we need to find somewhere that we'll be able to read it."

"Oh..."

"It's getting dark, and I'm sure you're tired, so we should also find a place to stay." I added. "Hopefully, where we end up can conveniently help us do both of those things."

Of course, asking for things to be convenient in our current situation might be pushing it...

"But we can't go back to school now. Where can we possibly go, Ail?"

"I think I already know the answer you'll give me, but I'll ask anyway. Is it possible to pay your parents a visit right now, Raena?"

"N-no, I'm sorry..." She apologized sorrowfully. "They live in this region, but almost at the very tip of northern Neturus."

"Seriously?! That'll take us hours..."

"Even if it was closeby, the area... um... wouldn't be suitable for your moped to drive through, anyway."

What does that mean? Oh well, that's not important right now...

"I guess there's no choice, then..."

"Huh? Do you have somewhere in mind, Ail?"

"I-I do... But it's not a place I thought I'd ever go back to ever again..."

--

"... Here we are." I stated, after arriving at our destination.

"Where are we?" Raena asked.

"This is... the area where I grew up." I answered, melancholily. "The place where I was ostracized by everyone..."

"... Oh. I-I'm so sorry..."

"Don't worry about it. There..."

"Wow, I'm so glad! I've always wanted a friend over my house!"

"... There wasn't any other choice."

I parked my moped near a sidewalk on the dead silent road.

"We have to go the rest of the way on foot. Let's go..."

"Um, Ail?"

"What is it?"

"Isn't this a dead end?"

"..." I stopped for a moment, simply staring at the trees in front of me. "Going through here is faster."

We continued onward, through the forest. With the trees blocking the moonlight, it was hard to see where we were going.

"A-ah!" Raena yelped, tripping on a tree root.

"Careful!" I said, catching her before she fell. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine... But it's so dark; I'm having trouble seeing where to go."

"It's alright." I reassured her. "I've been through here many times. Even now, I could go through this place blindfolded if I wanted to. C'mon."

I led her by the hand, guiding her through the familiar woodsy area.

"I never thought about it before, but I guess walking back to my house is pretty fun! Maybe it's because I have a friend with me now..."

"..."

--

It seemed like it took forever, but we had eventually made it there. It had been so long, but nothing had changed...

The small wooden house, the well, and the entrance to the jungle... It was exactly like I remember.

"So, that's..."

"... my home." I finished. "Or, at least it was... I know it's not very impressive."

Raena didn't say anything.

I thought I would never come back here. And if I did, I figured I would be too afraid to go anywhere near that house alone.

"Dad, why?! DAD!!!"

But I'm not alone. I need to protect my friend. There's no choice...

"N-no! D-did I do something I wasn't supposed to? I didn't know! I-I'm sorry!"

Without hesitation, I went up to the door and knocked.

"P-please let me in! I'm sorry! I-I don't want to be all alone!"

I heard no response at first. Thinking that no one might be home, I became mixed with feelings of both anxiety and relief. But then as I attempted to knock again, I heard the sound of approaching footsteps, which made my heart skip a beat.

"You're an abomination. You disgust me!" "I want nothing to do with you anymore! Leave, and never come back!"

I nervously clenched my right hand, which was still holding Raena's left. She noticed this, and gave me a look of concern.

"Who could it be at this hour?!" I heard a familiar voice holler, before the door was opened from inside. "Oh... it's you."

"Y-yeah... it's me." Is all I responded with.

He looked shocked to see me, but not as much as I thought he would be. He also looked awfully... calm.

"I-I, uh..."

"... Come in." He uttered, cutting me off.

"R-really?!"

"Of course. This is your home, after all..."

--

"It hasn't changed at all..." I stated in disbelief, upon entering my room. "Everything's exactly as I left it..."

I thought he would've gotten rid of everything...

"Ail?" Raena looked at me worriedly. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah; I'm fine, don't worry." I responded. "It's getting late, so let's get some rest."

"T-there's only one bed in here."

"Of course. I'm an only child, after all."

"Only one bed for the two of us... I-it's just like the day we first met."

"Ah, you're right." I lied on the floor and put my hands behind my head. "Guess I'm sleeping on the floor again..."

"W-what?! B-but Ail..." Raena said unhappily. "This is the first time in so long you've been here... D-don't you want to sleep in your bed?"

"I've got more important things to worry about right now than that, so I don't really care." I explained. "Besides, I don't want to make you sleep on the floor."

"... Okay."

She got into bed without anymore protest. But...

"A-are you sure you're okay sleeping like that?"

"Yeah, it's fine." I reassured her, then got up to turn off the lights. "Night."

"Night..."

I lied back on the floor in the same position.

This is the second time I've had to sleep on the floor. When I did this the first time, I never thought I'd have to do it again, especially not here of all places...

In my old room...

"This is the first time I've ever invited someone over. I'm glad I can finally play games in my room with a friend!"

... The old memories I've tried to forget about won't stop popping up in my head... But I guess it's to be expecte-...

"AH!"

"W-wha?!" I got up, startled by the sudden shout. "Raena, was that you?"

"Ah... A-ah... AH!" She continued, rolling around in my bed frantically.

"Are you okay, Raena?!" I grabbed her to calm her down.

"W-whuh...?" She stopped moving, and opened her eyes slowly. "A-Ail...?"

"Are you alright?" I repeated.

"O-oh. I'm sorry, I guess I was having a nightmare..."

"So that was it. I was really worried, y'know..."

"S-sorry..." She apologized again.

"It's okay. Pleasant dreams..."

"W-wait, Ail!" Raena said suddenly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Huh? What?"

"U-um..." She hid part of her face in the covers in embarrassment. "I-it might sound kind of weird, but..."

"It's fine. What is it?"

"C-could you... Could you sleep with me?"

"E-EH!?" I exclaimed, my face turning red at the thought.

"T-the truth is, I'm really scared..."

Yeah, I can't blame her. After what happened today...

"W-when I'm in this bed by myself, I feel like I'm all alone. It's dark and when I close my eyes, I can't see you, Ail... I can't help thinking that when I wake up, you'll disappear, like everyone else..."

I sighed. "That won't happen." I got into bed next to Raena and gently held one of her hands. "I'm not going anywhere. Not without you. I promise."

"A-Ail..."

"To be honest, I'm pretty scared myself. I never would've thought of coming back here alone, because I was always afraid of what my father would say..."

"R-really? Is that why you were so uneasy when you knocked on the door?"

"Guess I didn't do a very good job at hiding my nervousness, huh? But yeah, that's right." I held her hand a bit tighter. "It's okay, though, because I'm not alone. I have you as my friend, right?"

"Yes." She gently wrapped her fingers around the hand holding her own. "Always!"

"When you're by my side Raena, I gain a lot more courage, and I feel like I do so much more than I ever thought I could." I told her. "Heh, that probably sounds pretty strange, right?"

"No, it's the same for me." She responded. "When I'm with you, I always feel a lot more safe and relaxed. There are many things I've done that I never thought I could do, before I met you..."

"Hey, Raena."

"What?"

"After we prove your innocence and settle things with the manipulator, let's leave all of the bad things behind us and do more fun things together. Sound good?"

"Y-yes, okay!" She gave me a faint smile.

We both closed our eyes, keeping our hands clasped together for a while.

"... Raena, you still awake?"

"Zzz..." She mumbled, sleeping peacefully.

"I guess that answers my question..." I said to myself quietly.

I'd like to get some sleep too, but that'll have to wait...

... There's still something important I have to take care of.

--

Good, this computer's still here, too...

As long as I can remember, my dad has always had this old computer. I rarely went on it, because I didn't know how to use it very well. When my dad got a new one for work, he moved the old desktop to my room.

Well, here goes. I hope it can read that data disk...

I turned it on, and it started to make the familiar, start-uppey noises. Luckily, Raena didn't wake up from it.

This thing's taking forever to start up! No wonder dad didn't want it anymore...

When it finally started to work, I put the disk Tech gave me in the computer.

Alright, let's finally see what on this! I hope this was worth the trouble...

My computer began to read the disk, making more stupid noises. Suddenly a video player popped up, but it showed no image. I played the video, but nothing happened.

Are you serious?! After all thi-...

"Ail..." I heard from the video. It was fuzzy, but I could tell it was Tech's voice.

"If you are the one watching this, then something must have happened to me, that prevented me from telling you this in person."

So he already figured this would happen?

"Listen carefully, as I am about to tell you something very important."

No duh...

"I told you before that Leia died because she drowned in the Lake of Death. But she didn't simply trip and fall in like you might think..."

What?

"Leia and I went to that river to do a report on the lake for a class project. But in the middle of the report, we were attacked by a monster..."

Wait, what?! B-but how is that possible? I thought the monsters only started appearing around the time me and Raena transferred...!

"The monster struck us unconscious, then someone came and took Leia away. They did something else to me, which was apparently messing with my memory. So up until recently, I had thought she had died from an accident."

... What does this...?

"They must not have wanted us to be at that lake for some reason. Fortunately, without them knowing, my laptop had still been recording, and captured everything that happened."

W-who's the person that attacked you, Tech?! Was it the manipulator?

"This may be asking much, but since I can't do this anymore, can you investigate the lake in my place? In turn, it might help prove Raena innocent."

You knew?!

"Yes, I know Tear is Raena. I eventually figured it out."

Man, that guy was smart...

"Please... save Leia if you can. I'm counting on you, Ail... ......"

No, don't go yet! Tell me who attacked you!

"... Nothing is as it seems, Ail. What you're about to see may shock you, but it is the absolute truth. We've been fooled... All of us..."

... Huh?

I could no longer hear Tech's voice. Instead a video played.

What's this?

It showed a rather pretty, chartreuse-haired girl telling facts about the lake behind her.

Is that Leia...?

While she was talking, a monster appeared behind her, and someone screamed for her to run. The screen went black and fuzzy for a second (I'm guessing whatever was used to record this was thrown to the ground), then the girl and Tech were lying on the ground. There was some brush in the way, which was probably because it landed in a bush.

This is definitely the incident he just told me about! Then that means the person that comes next should be the manipulator, right?

Someone came right on cue, and did everything Tech said the attacker would do. It wasn't exactly easy to see, considering where the laptop was, so it took me a while to recognize them.

I gasped in shock when I realized who it was. "T-that person is...!"

B-but how?! That's impossible! That means...!

... Has everything up until now all been a lie...?

--

I slept through the rest of the night rather peacefully. I felt a familiar kind of comfort, one I hadn't felt in a very long time. Obviously, this was because I had been able to sleep in my old bed again.

"Good morning, Ail." Raena said to me, when she noticed me wake up.

"Oh, morning, Raena." I said back, realizing she was still lying next to me. "You just wake up, too?"

"N-no, actually I..." She started fidgeting, blushing slightly. "I-I've been awake for a while now... I was waiting for you to wake up..."

"Really? Sorry; you could've woken me up if you wanted to."

"N-no, it's fine... It wasn't a big deal..."

"Oh, okay then." I sat up and stretched. "Alright, I think it's about time we get going."

"Get going? To where?"

"To where the manipulator is, of course." I told her, getting out of bed. "We've got to head over there as soon as possible, before even more trouble is caused."

"You know where the manipulator is?" Raena asked in surprise, sitting up herself.

"I took a look at the data disk, and it shed some light on almost everything. We have to go back there... the Lake of Death."

"T-the Lake of Death?!" She exclaimed, shaking in fear.

"Yeah, I figured you'd have that reaction. In that case, you can stay here if you want. I'll go an-..."

"N-no!" She shouted suddenly, springing out of the bed toward me. "I-I'll go! I'm going too!"

Raena tried to put on a brave face, but her legs were still wobbly.

"... Are you sure?"

"Y-yes. I..." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I-I won't run away anymore. Like you said before, I want to leave all the bad things behind me, but I know it's not that simple. Even if I don't want to, I... have to see this through to the end."

"But Raena, I don't want you to get hurt..."

"And I don't want you to get hurt either, Ail! I can't let you do this by yourself. It wouldn't be right..."

I sighed. It doesn't seem like there's any way I can talk her out of it...

"Okay. Let's do this together." I nodded. "With the both of us helping each other, we should be able to make it through whatever gets in our way!"

"Y-yeah, right!"

Man, what I said was so cheesy... Oh well.

"Hey, Ail? You wouldn't happen to have a brush and some sort of hair tie, would you?" She inquired randomly.

"Uh, let me see..." I looked through my drawers, until I found a comb and a rubber band. "Will these work?"

"Um, I guess. Thanks." Raena took them and fixed up her hair, and then tied her hair in a ponytail. "There, that feels better."

"Hm..."

"W-what's wrong? Do I look weird?"

"No, I was just thinking... You do look pretty good with long hair."

"W-wha...?!" She stammered, her face turning red.

"N-never mind! Let's go..."

--

With that, we headed out of my room, and towards the front door...

"So, you're already leaving..."

I stopped, turning around to face my father.

"Yes, that's right. There's something important I have to do."

"... I see..."

There was an uncomfortable silence between us afterward.

"Ail..." Raena said softly.

"Raena, do you mind waiting outside for a little while? I want to talk to him about something."

"... Alright." She agreed, leaving out the front door.

"So, are you helping out that girl?" He asked, after we had been left alone together.

"Yes. But she's not just a girl; she's my best friend."

"Ah... That's good. It seems you've already become a man, Ail; a much better one than I am..."

"I really want to know... Just what am I?" I stated bluntly. "Why do I have this strange... power? Surely you kno-..."

"I suppose I can't hide it from you any longer. You deserve to know the truth."

"Dad..."

"No, I..." He paused. "I'm not your real father."

"W-what? What are you talking about?!"

"I was forced to involve myself in something I didn't want to. I took you away from your parents. Your actual father must think you've passed away, just like your mother..."

I didn't say anything.

"I didn't want to have any to do with that whole mess any longer. So when your power was found out by everyone, I decided to kick you out of the house. I wanted nothing to do with you anymore..."

"..."

"I-I practically took your life away from you..." He looked down, beginning to sob. "I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry..."

He continued to apologize, but I ignored him, and walked out of the house.

"... Ail? What happened?" Raena asked me, noticing my upset expression.

"It's nothing. Let's get out of here..."

I can't believe it... What that man did to me...

"Um, Ail? Do you smell something... burning?"

"Burning?" I began to smell it too, and I realized it was coming from the house. "Why is...?"

All of a sudden, the house began to catch on fire.

"W-what's going on?!" Raena yelled in confusion.

Without a comment of my own, I ran back inside the house.

"D-don't, Ail!" She protested, but to no avail.

"Dad!" I called out, smoke blocking my vision. "DAD!!!"

"Ail, you were a wonderful son... I'm so glad I had you as a part of my life..."

When I made my way to the living room, I finally found him. But he was...

--

"Ail!" Raena exclaimed, after I came back out of the house.

I walked forward slowly, until I was standing near Raena.

"W-where's your father? Ail!?"

I dropped down to the ground on my knees, bringing her down with me.

"A-ah! Wha...?!"

I said nothing, laying my head on her shoulder, and beginning to cry.

Raena didn't say anything more either, embracing me and gently petting my head, my tears not stopping.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

End of Chapter 16...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Writer's Comments:

So, now chapter 16 is done. And I had an easier time with this one, too! Which I'm thankful for, because I was hoping this one in particular would go well. Because, to be honest...

... This chapter is a lot different than the original. And I absolutely HATE how the original turned out. It was rushed, and it was just... stupid. In fact, it's one of the reasons I decided to re-write this series in the first place. (Although there are a couple others I'm not too proud of, either...)

By the way, most of the ideas for future parts of my fictions (or just future fictions in general) I keep in my head, but sometimes I like to write them down and save them for later. That part with Tech's data disk is actually one of those I've had saved up for a while. For how long, exactly?

The date on the saved file: September 14, 2010. That was almost four years ago! (Jeez, I've really got to stop neglecting my fictions like this...)

Anyway, I don't want to make this comment part too long this time (even though it ended up being long regardless...), so I'll end it off here. So... see you next month!

- CS-Masyet