Part 106: I promise I won't ever run from reality again.

-The Dream Continues-









That was, um, a little embarrassing.
Haha...No kidding.
Oh, right!
Here, let me return this.



Oh!
Seriously, Joshua. This is your only memento of Karin, right?
You shouldn't just fob this off on others without thinking, buddy.
Yes...
It was a bit thoughtless of me, wasn't it?
I was kinda wondering. What kind of person was she?
What kind of person? Hmm.
She was friendly to everyone she met...kind almost to a fault...and she had dignity born of humility. She and Loewe--the Loewe of back then--were perfect together. I was always a little jealous of them as a child.
Friendly, kind, and dignified...
So she was kind of like Kloe, then?
Haha. It's a good comparison, thinking about it.
Karin didn't look like Kloe--she had my eyes and hair--but they were similar in spirit.
...
Estelle?
Oh, uh, nothing.
Oh, speakin' of KLOE. You realize you worried her and everyone else sick too and not just me, right? You have some serious groveling to do when we get back.
Estelle...I do--
If you say something like 'Oh, I don't have the right to go back,' I'm gonna just drag you back by your hair, 'kay? Sure, you were Weissmann's spy. But you didn't even know it, right?
Even helping the bandits get their ship back was done to try and stop the society, right?
If you tell Dad about the society's plans, that'll make it even. That's what they call a plea bargain, right?
That's...not quite how a plea bargain works...
Besides, even if you want to stop the society, you can't get back on that ship, can you? In that case, your only option is to work with us, buster!
...And if you hadn't been abducted, I could have destroyed the Glorious as I originally planned.
Urk. Uh, yeah, sorry.
Er! Wait, hold on, how can you say 'destroy the Glorious' so easily?! I know it's the society we're talking about, but were you really going to kill them all?!
It will take nothing less to stop Weissmann and Loewe.
And even then, there's a decent chance that they'd survive the destruction of the Glorious...
For the love of...
No, actually, I think it's for the best I got caught. You were going to do something completely crazy, Joshua.
Heheh...
Mmmph! You're all 'Heh, Estelle's being all cute and naive' again, aren't you?!
No, not at all. It's just that...you have matured a lot as a person while we've been apart. But, ultimately, you're still Estelle.
That...makes me happier than I thought possible.
Oh, ummm...



(C-C'mon, Estelle! Why the heck does Joshua's smile still make my heart race?!)
(It's 'cause it's been a while, isn't it...It still gets me, right there...)
Mm? Estelle?
H-Hey...You got along pretty well with that tomboy, right?
Tomboy? Oh, you mean Josette.
Well, at first we had our...differences. Even so, we came to understand each other pretty well by the end, I'd say.
Understand each.........Did you kiss her?
What?
Question. Answer. GIVE.
R-Right...Of course I didn't. Our relationship wasn't like THAT.
Oh. Um, good. Well, um, then.



Can I...request a do-over of that night?
A do-over...? Oh.
Th-Th-The first kiss is really important to a girl, you know! And, and it was all your fault that mine got wasted! So you've...you've got to take responsibility, mister!
Estelle...



(Estelle...I suppose I do.)
...















What--aw, heck, you got away too, huh?
*sigh* I was hoping you'd stay caught.
Gee, maybe I should've thrown you at them as a distraction. But I don't think they'd like grimy tomboys.
C'mon, Josette. Don't start a fight.



You won't object to a brief truce, I hope, Miss Bracer.
Yeah, well, you guys did save us back there, after all.
So...thank you. Really. We wouldn't have made it without you.
Hahaha! There's no need to thank us.
Psh, I don't remember saving YOU. So just keep your thanks to yourself, okay?
Grrr. Okay, one of you is getting dragged off to prison after all, it looks like.
That aside. Astray, what are your plans now?
Huh?



We came to ask again if you wanted to come with us, but...
I'm thinking it looks like we don't even need to ask, right?
Yes...forgive me.
I'm not really certain how things will go from here...Right now, though, I will be traveling with Estelle.
Joshua!
Heh, I see.
...
Ah, whatever. At least there's still a chance.
What?



You get tired of Miss Airhead over there, just come on back to us!
You'll always have a place on the Bobcat. Okay?
Walk over here and call me an airhead ONE MORE TIME, you greasy tomboy!
Haha. Thank you, Josette!
Don, Kyle! I owe all of you so much...
Hah, that's our line, lad!
Good luck, and stay safe! Hopefully we'll meet again someday!















You do understand that the enemies we've made are overwhelmingly powerful. You were captured primarily as bait to lure me out, I suspect.
That way, the Glorious wouldn't be destroyed in Weissmann's absence.
Oh...
And to be honest, Loewe probably could have saved the ship AFTER kicking our bodies into the sea. I'm fairly sure the reason he didn't...was out of pity. Pity at how weak I was, I mean.
...
All of the Enforcers are the same. In terms of pure power, they are all masters, far stronger than me. Even Renne. We have picked what will probably be the hardest fight of our lives.
Yeah...
But I do promise.
I promise I won't ever run from reality again. I will walk with you until the very end.
Joshua...
I promise, too! To the very end!