“Was this because we took our time?” Adelaide asked.

“Don't be absurd,” Luce replied. “It would have happened either way.”

The noise of the room was sang by the soft, gentle breathing of Misti's unconscious body. The girl had grown taller in the year they were locked in time, but the lost of weight from being bedridden had skinned her to a frame of what she once was. Her once short hair had grown out, sprawled across the bed she laid on. Adelle had never met Misti, but according to Luce, the girl was a bubble of excitement that could ricochet from topics to fights with boundless energy. A hard image to picture given her current state.

Josh had move Misti to Port Llamba, where they benefited from the influx of ships and doctors from across the continent that used the port as a way station to Everwind. Despite the varied medical knowledge that flowed into the growing city, none had been able to cure her. Miguel had a world-renowned healer examined Misti only to determine it a neurological damage.

Luce took a seat by her sister's bedside. Taking the younger girl's hand in hers, she rubbed the creases in the knuckles. To Adelaide, she said, “You should go see them off. We'll talk more about our plans later.”

Adelaide wasn't sure how to react. Though, sensing the sombre mood, she took the chance and deduced Luce wanted some time alone.

A door out, a flight of stairs down, and a second exit later, she stepped out into a quieting twilight port scene. Stray dock workers, most on breaks and some carrying crates lingered on the waterside stretch sparsely littered the place. Half of the docks were empty, with the last ships leaving for the evening journey and no new vessels coming in till dawn. The winter Twins was rising over the horizon, half cut of their light by the raised ocean. A cold winter wind without snow blew through the place.

From northwards down the port street, The Watcher and Nadier approached, their long coats waving behind them, the latter with his hood drawn up.

The Watcher asked, “How is she?”

“Not good,” Adelaide replied. “Apparently it's some sort of brain damage. Miguel said she needs a new-row-surgeon.”

“Are there even any on Tearha?”

“No. Miguel said he considered bringing one from Earth, but wasn't sure if they'd be able to operate on half-elves,” Adelaide replied. Upon noticing the growing look of concern – and slightly worried The Watcher would drag them into another unneeded adventure with his 'solutions' – she added, “But not to worry, Luce has a plan.”

Nadier cocked a brow, an act which was almost impossible to discern under the shadow of his hood and the dark of his skin and hair. “A plan?”

“We're going south, to Citi. Their sciences are more advance. Luce thinks she can get a good doctor there.”

“Katoki?” Nadier asked, surprised. When she answered with a nod, he sighed and rubbed the migraine he must be getting. “That's not a plan. That's suicide.”

Unknowingly, she smiled. “You're the one who said I should go into their employ. Besides, we'll be fine,” she laughed off the dangerous idea. “Josh is coming too, and those two are the foremost experts on this.”

“They are the only experts on this! No one else have ever made it across alive!” Nadier exclaimed, slightly loudly and very uncharacteristically. He calmed himself before sighing, “How am I suppose to leave if you're just jumping into trouble again?”

The Watcher cut in, “You're leaving?”

Stunned, the dark elf swapped looks between a surprised Watcher and a confused Adelle, unsure of which track of conversation to continue. Finally, he replied, “Yeah. I'm planning on going north.”

She asked, “To where? Devara?”

“Alavia,” Nadier corrected.

“You can't scold me for a suicide mission if you're going on one yourself,” she berated with a grin.

The Watcher simply looked on with confusion before saying, “I don't have a single clue what the two of you are talking about.”

Nadier, now used to the lessons in lore, explained, “The south is a burning, tainted war zone and the north is an eternally dark, frozen wasteland. They are both mostly uninhabitable.”

“Eternal darkness?” The Watcher questioned. “Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?”

“Probably. If there was any chance of dark elves surviving, it would have to be in places of perpetual darkness. The only geographical area I can think of aside from underground is The Frozen North. It makes sense my people would go there, since daylight never reaches.”

The Watcher smiled, “Looks like you two don't need me to get you into trouble. Perfectly fine doing that yourselves.”

The elves looked at him quizzically. Adelaide noted, “Sounds like you're not coming with either of us, which is odd. You look like the kind of man who'd run into danger with a smile.”

“Hah!” The Watcher grinned. “On most days, you'd be right. But I've been told the Clovers want to meet with me. Something about having unlimited power over time and space or something. Don't look so disappointed, you two.” Despite what he said, the trio wore satisfied grins. “I'm sure we'll see each other again.”

Nadier nodded. “When are you leaving?”

“I've already left.” He nudged his head to the direction of a ship travelling out towards the light rise. “I'm not really good with goodbyes, so I have to force myself somehow.”

“How...?”

“Time travel. Came forward a little to say my farewells.”

“Heh. So we're all landing on our feet?”

Adelaide replied, “Seems like it.”

Their shadows stretched along the street and up the wall. A dock worker carrying a long crate huffed past them. Nadier deftly moved his head away as the box made a swipe for his noggin while the worker turned the corner. A long silence dragged between the three and a ship blew its horn loud into the atmosphere. Above them, a slow moving balloon had floated into view.

“We're not very good at this,” The Watcher finally said. “The whole 'being friends' thing.”

The two elves groaned. Adelaide thought there had been a silent agreement between them that while they considered each other as friends, none of them would ever say it. It was just not in their nature. Nadier had said it best when he pointed out the lonely existence the three shared prior to meeting each other. Letting out a moan of a laugh, the dark elf turned and walked away. With a wave of a hand, The Wanderer began his journey north, following the shore forward.

The Watcher asked, “Is that how he says goodbye? Without a word.”

“No,” she corrected. “That's how he says 'see you later'.”

The Watcher laughed loudly, voice echoing to the emptying docks. Turning away from her, he walked down the nearest pier and out towards the western light. The gleaming Twins' light curved in a crescent twilight.

“Beautiful,” his voice rang back clear in the quiet. He stopped at a invisible line drawn between the end of two boats. “A crescent sunrise over a sparkling ocean. Never thought I'd live to see something like this.”

She blinked and the man disappeared from her vision, gone back to the point of time he came from. To her right, Nadier had grown to a black thumb in the distant. She could feel her cheeks stretching in a smile. She stepped onto the wooden plank of the pier where The Watcher left and began walking towards the end. Behind, she heard the door of the room Luce had rented close and a following of footsteps after. At the edge of the water, Adelaide watched the boat carrying future-past Watcher hoisted away by winds on its sails. A visible hand waved at her from the deck and she waved back. The dock workers began singing Last Goodbyes to end their day. The voices hummed in from all directions as they started the tune of the song in gruff and uneven tones.

Mothers and fathers cry for them, far away they'll go.

Ladies waves and husbands bawls, far away they'll be.

Luce came up beside her and said, “Josh will take care of Misti here for now. We'll have someone come from The Yard to be her guardian on our journey.”

She stopped her send-off of the time traveller, lowering her hand to her side. “What do I do now?”

Luce explained, “We're going to train you as a Titan Ranger first. Given your skills, we should be ready to begin our journey south when the first days of sear rolls around.”

With the setting of the light, you will leave your past behind.

When it comes time to stand and fight, know your sailors did.

Adelaide thought back on their journey. From the day she met The Watcher when he was thrown into the same cell. And even before that, her quiet life in the trees with occasional visit from Nads and treasure seeking hunters. They had just prevented the extinction of life on a planet in another universe, and stopped two wars from happening in theirs. Yet, the world seemingly rolled on without a blink.

Despite she no longer having a place to call home; for Nadier, not having people to call family; and even The Watcher, who had no present rooted in a history; she was certain none of them had ever felt alone together. She felt home is where you want. Family is what you have. Friends are what you make. Something mushy and awkward along that line.

And when your feet steps on waving decks, you will say your last goodbyes.

At the end of your long lives, say it one more time.