It was the middle of the night. Amelia had on the exact same blouse, vest, and pants she had worn for her meeting with Korath, dug out of the laundry because she had nothing else clean.

She took the very last train out of Beechhurst on the Pomonok Line. Had to walk another half-hour from Barrier University Station to reach Blankenville.

What kind of neighborhood was Blankenville? Amelia had no idea, and wandering the streets this late at night gave her no indication. Other than an open bar and people chattering outside of it, she simply could not grasp the nature of this place that she had never even heard of until tonight.

But she followed the streets towards address the note gave her. Even took a snapshot of it to fill one of her precious few memory bank slots. But it was obvious where this would eventually lead, just by looking at the buildings ahead.

The brick houses and tiny, closed businesses were cute, but the main attraction in Blankenville was the huge apartment complex right in its northwestern corner. Four buildings connected together, with a large garden in the middle, and easy access to all sorts of shops and businesses surrounding it. Signs all over boasted about the brand-new housing opening this spring—The Grand Beginning. The tag line read, “A Grand Beginning to a new stage of your life, brought to you by the North Sunwell Company.’ With apartments starting at a price so high Amelia could not have afforded it even with all the money she gave to Mino on her first day in Fleettwixt.

Her heart, or rather the soul core that replaced her heart, pulsed with such a frantic beat that she was unsure if she could handle it, or if her systems would further malfunction and leave her collapsed on the middle of the sidewalk.

Exaggeration, to be sure, but not much of one.

Amelia hopped over the “DO NOT ENTER” tape and walked through the apartment complex. There were no rooms on the first floor. Instead, it seemed that empty common spaces took up most of the area, with large openings on all four sides that led into the central garden.

That garden was, of course, not yet planted. There was nothing here but construction materials, empty pots, and—

A single, stationery golem, standing directly at the center of the garden space.

She approached it with trepidation. Activated her Combat Module, Boost Module, all just in case. But it did not appear threatening. Then she took another step—

“Agh.”

Her boot, caught in still-damp mud. She had forgotten it rained earlier today.

The golem reacted to her voice and turned to face her. It held out its hands, which had another note.

She advanced, making sure not to step in any more mud, and then slowly, carefully took the note.

As soon as it was out of its hands, the golem turned around and walked away from the apartment complex, as if Amelia had never existed in the first place.

She looked down at the note.

More encrypted code.

And this time, even without turning on a module, her system already deciphered it, as if built expressly for this purpose.

The note read:

“Stop chasing me.”

Amelia’s eye widened.

Her hand dropped. The note fell out and, carried by a breeze, floated away.

Ed... It really was from Ed.

She had come all the way out to Fleettwixt, spent months of her life looking for her, and this was what she received in return. A single line note telling her to give up. Delivered by some bog-standard golem with no mind of its own.

Her eyes went blurry. Her body shook.

She knew Ed was here. Watching her up on some balcony above, or in the shadows, or somewhere. It would never be like her to miss a moment like this.

So she raised her head up high and screamed at her:

“I sure got your attention, didn’t I?” Her voice echoed through the apartment complex, each word lasting for several seconds of reverberation. “I’m destroying North Sunwell, just like I promised you! I’m saving the continent!”

The words died.

No answer.

She stomped her foot and screamed louder, at the top of her lungs, with every single ounce of her breath:

“Why? Why must I stop the very thing I was made for?! You can’t leave me here like this...” Her voice faded. She took a painfully shallow breath. “You can’t. I won’t let it...”

She sobbed. Quietly, then louder, and louder still.

One last scream:

“I’ll find you, Ed! You’ll see! I promise you, I’ll find you!”

Still no answer.

She activated her Scan Module, turned on every filter she knew about, and still nothing out of the ordinary. No other glossals in sight. Her soul went dim, and she felt a deep pit of pain in a stomach that did not even exist in her body.

Amelia’s head sunk, and she began to leave the apartment complex, began to consider the depth of her pain, when—

Right there before her. Tears welled up in her dull gray eyes. Lip quivering.

Ed Winback.

They stood there like this for a few moments. Silent, still, sobbing.

They both took a single step forward. Allowed themselves to take long, deep looks at each other.

Amelia gazed at every single part of Ed. The same lab coat she always wore. That long, red hair down all the way to her waist. A black glove on her left hand.

Ed on the verge of breakdown, arms around herself, desperately trying to keep from bursting into tears.

Amelia took another step closer. Held out her left hand and took from Ed’s face one single tear.

She had no idea what to say. Or if she could say anything at all. She looked at the woman and—

Snap. Took another photograph with her system.

She lowered her hand, let that teardrop fall to the ground, soundlessly splashing.

And then both of them opened their mouths at the same exact time—

“You never listen,” Ed yelled. “I told you so many times, you can’t let...—”

“You disappeared!” Amelia yelled back, not even replying to Ed’s words. “Not a single word, like I was just some...—”

“I don’t matter. I’ll never matter. YOU matter! You’re the most important...—”

“Every day, my heart has burned for you. I don’t even HAVE a heart, and yet it still...—”

“You can’t do this to yourself. There’s so much out there for you to have to be such a stubborn...—”

“You see these scars? They’re new. I got them in Berryward because I saved...—”

“My Gods, I’ll be killed if they find me here. You’ll be killed. This is the worst-case...”

“You can’t be alone like this. I know you. I know what it does when you’re...—”

“I was seventeen! It was stupid, and it was wrong, and I never should have...—”

“We made a promise, Ed, a promise! Together forever. Partners in love and...—”

“I do everything for you, Amelia. I love you so much, but you can’t stay.”

“I do everything for you, Ed. I love you so much. You can’t leave me again.”

“...”

“...”

Like a mudbeast slamming into a tree, all their words reached each other’s ears at once.

They embraced. They locked lips. They cried together.

Every second of the nearly two years they had been apart came crashing into the kiss. Amelia’s soul gem trembled, considered shattering, then shook itself back into sense. She held her girlfriend in her arms. She really did. All this time. All this endless, ceaseless time. And love transcended it.

Ed pulled away from Amelia, as if to say something, but then, after a second’s reconsideration, went back in.

Her lips tasted like soft nothing. Her eyelashes, just long enough that every blink, every eye opening brought a tingle against Amelia’s face. Sweet perfume could not cover up the smell of wet stone and quorium all over her—a golemancer through and through. The small of her back, the perfect place for Amelia’s hands to rest, just like before.

The first thing to bloom in this empty garden was the two of them.

Finally, Amelia broke off the kiss, let go of Ed, and wiped away Ed’s tears that had somehow dripped onto her own cheeks. She had not had a single moment to breathe.

“Amelia.”

“I love you,” Amelia said. “I...”

She fell to her knees. Just stared up at Ed, wordlessly, taking in the woman with every passing second.

“Ed. You’re here. With me.”

Ed lent a hand and pulled Amelia back to her feet. They hugged again, Ed’s glove caressing Amelia’s back in that way she always did. Then Amelia heard a gentle, trembling whisper in her ear:

“This is goodbye.”

Amelia pulled back, looked Ed straight in the eyes, maximum intensity, and said, “Where’s your room?”

Ed gulped. Blushed. Smiled. Replied, “Third floor. Let’s go.”

Amelia picked Ed up, swept her up and kissed her on the nose. She carried her all the way to the bedroom.