(Notes: Here it is.. the final chapter. And it's mostly from Erika's perspective.

I tried to make it more obvious when Erika was telling her story for a while by using bold.

Since this is the last chapter for now, there will be more notes at the end. Thank you so much for reading this far!)

x

"Where to begin? Let's start at the very beginning then."

'I was born in Celadon City to a wealthy and respected family. I was a healthy baby girl who immediately found an affinity with things like flowers and cute animals...

Okay you know those faint, lingering memories you have of your earliest years? Nostalgic associations with sights and scents? The earliest thing I can recall is a smell... a flower? Perfume? I'm still not sure what exactly it was.

My family owns a perfume business as I'm sure you already know, so unfortunately I simply can't place whether my memory of that smell came from a perfume or the flower the perfume was made with.

There used to be so, so many flowers in Celadon, did you know that? Near my family mansion there was a field of them... but throughout my childhood I saw the flowers and plant-life around the mansion and the rest of the city slowly shrivel away and die.

Ahem, anyway.

My first word was-'

"Maybe... maybe we don't need to go that far back." Sabrina playfully poked at my hairband by lifting her teaspoon with her telekinesis. Adorable. She was leaning on my table, her chin in her palm, her deep magenta eyes staring dotingly into mine.

I was still anxious and on-edge from earlier and my heart was throbbing in what felt like the pits of my stomach. I was still biting my dried and chapped lips. I subconsciously reached for my fan, but it wasn't there. Sabrina had convinced me to put it away for now. Instead I fidgeted with my teacup and struggled to maintain contact with her gorgeous eyes.

I think the only thing helping me keep it together at that point was Sabrina's protective presence. I couldn't remember the last time I felt so socially vulnerable and weak.

A lock of her cool, steel-blue hair slipped down in front of her face and she subconsciously puffed it away. That's another habit of hers' I've always found so... cool. It's like she doesn't even know she's doing it, but it makes her look like an action movie star.

I giggled gently but slightly awkwardly. "Don't worry, don't worry... I was kidding. I wondered how long it would take you to notice."

"The anecdote about the smell of flowers was really interesting..." she mused dreamily, reassuring me, "I just love it when you get all lost in thought about nature and stuff, so I wanted to hear more."

When she said things like that I found it much easier to believe she cared, though I admittedly still struggled to understand why.

I took in a deep breath, grasping my cup of hot tea tightly in my hands to calm myself. I stared her back in her beautiful, protective eyes. Eyes that placed a trust in me I didn't feel like I deserved. I allowed myself to trust her in return before I continued.

"So... school. We first met in Trainer School. I was in the year above you, so we didn't share any classes. But I remember the first time I saw you pretty well... b-because. Ah..."

"I-it's okay." Sabrina fumbled, twirling a teaspoon in her hand. She went slightly pink. "I knew this was coming, but you know more about my 'incidents' than anyone else and that's probably how it should be, considering our relationship. It's really okay, I promise."

"R-right..." I sighed and continued.

'The other kids and teachers all said that it was your powers that broke the windows that day. Some of them were really quite rude about it too..

I was simply walking through with some of my classmates when it happened, but the noise was loud and I was admittedly really shocked...

I thought a young Pokémon had accidentally let off a powerful attack nearby, because when I noticed you there with your hair stood up and your hands covering your face, you looked more scared than anyone else in that room.'

"A young Pokémon losing control would have been much cuter. That's so like you." Sabrina beamed. I felt my uneasy stomach warm a little at her expression. "Never doubt your own cuteness while I'm around." I grinned meekly back.

Sabrina leant her mouth into her palm and blushed before getting her own back on me. "Anyway, did you know that my powers became overwhelmed because I was so shocked by how beautiful you were?"

I felt my face go bright red and I stared down at my teacup. "Y-you're k-kidding... please don't joke about that kind of thing sweetie..."

Sabrina's hand grasped mine reassuringly from across the table. She ran a thumb against my hand, beckoning me to look back at her.

"I'm not kidding. I thought you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and mentally I didn't handle it so well, because suddenly life seemed more complicated to me than it had ever been before."

"L-like... love at first sight?" I blinked, wide-eyed, my face becoming even redder and my head feeling increasingly hot as I ran over the possibility that the coolest girl I had ever met immediately thought that I, of all people, was that beautiful to her.

Sabrina smirked and sighed coolly "Not quite... it was more like inspiration. Your healthy and bright aura alone convinced me that there was this whole other side to life, besides studying and talent. It made me seriously think about things like friendship and cherishing for the first time."

"Aura? Like the way a Lucario supposedly sees a person's aura?"

"I dunno... Maybe? I think being a psychic does mean I can easily read the vibes other people give off, yours was just... overwhelmingly kind and bright. I tried to ignore it, but long story short I couldn't. Anyway, go on!" she nodded enthusiastically.

I gently tried to shake off some of the flattery and continued, despite my racing heart.

'S-so yeah... that first time I saw you was really memorable to say the least. To be honest I had been hoping to see you again just to make sure you were okay, no matter what other people said about you. I couldn't stop worrying about if you were hurt or scared.

The next time I saw you though, you seemed like a different person. You were surrounded by kids, older than you, younger than you, all buzzing excitedly. I could barely get a look in! But Arceus you appeared to handle it all so calmly, signing autographs and answering all those questions like they didn't bug you...

I know now that they did bug you, but back then I had no idea and I didn't know you were so lonely, either... All I knew was that you stood out unlike anyone I had ever seen. You really were pretty too, your hair and eyes were like... otherworldly. The way you always locked eyes with me was captivating, mystifying... and... w-well.'

I suddenly became self-conscious of Sabrina's deep gaze. She continued to stare into me, unblinking, while I blinked a bunch and struggled to maintain eye-contact. "..So did you... notice me, staring back at you?"

"Of course I did." Sabrina giggled "I-I uh... didn't exactly try very hard to hide my staring in the end, sorry."

I shook my head and beamed at her "No, it's fine! I kind of figured... at first I thought it was rude to stare back but you made me feel so... special? And on top of the fascination I felt towards you, I felt like I was happy to return your invitation."

She smiled warmly back at me, squeezing my hand again. "That's a relief. I had always hoped it was something like that to be honest. Sorry... I always really wanted to talk to you, to do anything but stare, but my social skills sucked. We were awkward kids." she laughed a little meekly.

I giggled and squeezed her hand back. I wiped a loose tear from my eye. "We were! And I really struggled to act like I did around most of my classmates or friends because I had like, the biggest crush on you?"

I felt Sabrina's hands go a little clammy and her face went red. So cute...

"R-really? Even back then, when I was a wimpy little kid?"

"Yes! Actually, a lot of the kids had celebrity crushes on you, myself included, because you always seemed really cool and scary, and never wimpy. Once I felt like you were giving me attention though... Arceus, it was really difficult to keep you out of my mind.

I would lie awake at night daydreaming about doing things like holding hands with you, being carried by you, going to the school dance with you and sharing my first kiss with you... and... other things."

I felt like I could see steam tumbling out of Sabrina's red ears, her mouth hung open and her eyes glazed over. I couldn't help but grin with glee, and gave her hand a small tug. "C'mere." I leaned over the table and gave her a quick peck on the lips, stroking her hair reassuringly.

She kissed me back and shot me a wobbly melted smile, before awkwardly taking a sip of her tea.

"We... we already did most of those things but hearing you say that is..." her fringe covered her flustered face and she squeaked quietly. "I'm uh... I'm sorry we couldn't do the school dance though."

I smiled sheepishly and tilted my head. "It's all right, we were probably too awkward to start dating even if our families didn't remove us from school..."

I saw Sabrina pout and sigh as she leant on her hand again. "Actually I uhm... I've always wanted to know how you reacted to me being taken out of school. I felt like we had like... a schedule of some kind or something, and I was taken away from it." she slumped into her arms and hid her face. "I... always wondered if it hurt. And thinking about that hurt me too."

I gave Sabrina's arm a gentle rub and squeezed it. "It sucked. It really, really sucked. I was already having a really bad week because I knew my family intended to withdraw me soon too... but I definitely remember bawling my eyes out wondering if I'd ever see you again.

I imagine it felt a little like how being dumped would feel? But I was admittedly relieved that you were taken from me, and not the other way around."

Sabrina pouted, resting her adorable pretty head on her arm on the table and staring at me, a few tears gathering in her eyes. "Why... do you say that?"

"Why do you think?" I giggled awkwardly. "Because it sucked, and I would rather feel like that myself than have you go through it."

"Erika..." Sabrina frowned, her lip quivering a little "That doesn't seem fair on yourself."

"You'd think the same thing in my situation though, wouldn't you? That's just how it is with love sometimes."

I noticed Sabrina bite her lip and avert her gaze from me briefly. Her face turned a few shades pinker. "W-well I... I at least hope neither of us ever finds out what getting dumped actually feels like."

I gripped my teacup in my hands as my heart skipped a beat, the heat rushing from my cup up through my arms and to my flustered head. I beamed affectionately at her. "Y-yeah.. I really hope not either."

A kind of intoxicatingly sweet and fluffy mood briefly filled the air after that, as her words moved in and settled at home in my head. The thought that she still wanted to be with me for as long as possible despite what I did made me feel like the future could be wonderful if I didn't somehow ruin it. The mere hint that I could spend the rest of my life with her was...

That mushy high faded after a few minutes, and we both giggled awkwardly. I decided to break the silence by asking something I was curious about.

"So uh... wh-while we're on the subject of childhood crushes, when did you realise you liked me?" I nervously averted my gaze again, looking at my almost empty teacup and distracting myself by refilling it from the pot.

Still pink, Sabrina tapped her finger on the table. "Don't laugh."

"I wouldn't dare, but I can't promise I won't find it cute."

She smiled meekly "Ahh fine..." and paused. "I-I uh... to tell the truth, I didn't fully comprehend my feelings towards you until you kissed me."

I blinked wide-eyed, trying not to choke on my hot tea. My face reddened again, the room really did feel extremely hot. I felt a twinge of guilt. "R-really? Goodness Sabrina, I'm so sorry if it seemed like I pressured you into that with how assertive I was being. I took all the signals of our intimacy and-..."

Sabrina shook her head and waved her hands. "No no, shh." she giggled, relaxing a little. "No, without your assertive friendship and you declaring we were dating none of this would have happened. I may never have realised."

She tilted her head and stared at the ceiling, lost in thought as my mouth hung open in embarrassment. She then continued her thought. "You kissing me and me realising that my feelings for you were romantic, was one of the most emotionally enriching and happiest moments of my whole life... and I'm pretty sure you asked me if I was comfortable and I told you I wanted to be closer to you anyway." she smiled at me sheepishly "I mean... we're both awkward young adults, right? We worked with the messy signals we had... please don't feel bad, I really did need you to kiss me that day."

I held my hand over my chest and breathed a small sigh of relief, though I was still embarrassed. "In that case... that is really cute."

Sabrina rubbed the back of her head, going a little pink again. "I mean like... It felt like something I had always wanted, but I'm afraid I can't pinpoint when exactly my feelings of admiration for you became romantic."

"That's okay!" I beamed at her "It's not really important, I was just curious! I'm still surprised you weren't put off of me by some of the things I've done." I pouted, gripping my cup tightly again as my stomach tied itself in knots and I remembered what we were really here to talk about.

Sabrina huffed a gentle smile at me, helping me to feel at ease in her presence again. "Take your time. No matter what happened in the past, I've fallen in love with you in the present."

"Ahh g-geez..." I went bright red again, fighting back the urge to hide my awkward, ugly mouth with my fan. I composed myself with a sip of tea. "A-all right, let's see..."

'After we left school, I didn't see you again for years... and after a few years of home schooling and behavioural lessons I was able to swiftly succeed as the new Gym Leader of Celadon City Gym.

With my knowledge of Grass Type Pokémon and plants it wasn't at all difficult - what was truly intimidating was my self-set challenge of trying to restore Celadon City's natural side after years of intensifying pollution. In the years since I became this city's Gym Leader I've felt like I'm engulfed in a war between industrialisation and the fading cries of nature.

You... already know about all that, but even being able to begin my own projects was difficult without any personal freedom.

I established the rule that Celadon Gym Trainers should be women, because I hoped for young women to be able to come to my Gym or myself for solace and guidance - and also because I wanted to prove to my family that I was a responsible and reliable role-model in my independence.

You may not remember this, but I used to be followed everywhere by family maids and servants. I scarcely had room to breathe, act or think independently. In fact it's because of this that so many people saw me as a 'princess'. My Gym Leader title, 'The Nature-Loving Princess', came from my family's urgency to have an overprotective entourage shadowing me at all times.

I could not shake this chafing security until I promised my family that I could be responsible and 'ladylike' enough without them.

I spent most of my home-schooled years striving desperately for independence by tirelessly practising my public persona. That's where the uh... that's where the fan comes from. A fail-safe mask to prevent me from showing any signs of faltering demeanour in public or social situations. I had to be proper, you know? It helped me to feel secure and in control.

I never really did feel truly free or independent though.. once I had escaped from my family's surveillance I was instead trapped by the way my own personality had developed. I drew a strict line for myself, valuing responsibility and reliability over things like emotional connections.

So I made myself reliable to other Gym Leaders and my Gym Trainers, I encouraged healthy networking and social activities, but scarcely let myself really open up or cause them any inconveniences. I seem close to Jasmine and she is a wonderful girl, but I wouldn't say we truly are close.

I thought I had mostly gotten over you at this point but I didn't develop lasting feelings for anyone else either, maybe because of my distant 'perfection' act or my fear of my real self being too dull or improper for anyone to like.

That's one of the reasons I was so thrown for a loop when you re-entered my life.

You reminded me of how simple things felt at school, and the sheer power of your Pokémon was awe-inspiring. While I was able to maintain my composure around you at first, your power and coolness factor had grown considerably since school and it became really, really hard for me to keep you out of my head again.

It made me think that I really missed seeing you, and at first I was overjoyed that you were visiting me! For a while, you being near me was the most emotionally satisfying thing I had experienced since my family congratulated me for my progress on running the Gym. Finally actually having conversations with you... I'll never forget how happy that made me feel.'

"Mm! Me too!" Sabrina nodded happily. "I still remember how even though I didn't say much at first, you would still talk passionately to me about Grass Pokémon or plants you loved and I always did love to hear you talking about nature. Did you ever get a Bulbasaur?"

I blinked for a moment as I remembered telling Sabrina that Bulbasaur was my favourite Pokémon "I can't believe you remember that!" and I giggled.

"But no, no I didn't... and you know, I think my favourite Pokémon species is Victreebel now anyway. I have such a strong attachment to mine, I've been with her since she was a little Bellsprout, she's really like the backbone of my party and my career as a Trainer." I beamed proudly at Victreebel, who was basking in the dimming sunlight.

"What about you? Is your favourite still Alakazam?"

Sabrina giggled back and scratched her face a little. "Y-yeah..." she grinned "But maybe saying that is cheating... my Alakazam has been one of my most trustworthy and insightful friends and companions for years now."

I nodded at her warmly, taking another deep breath to try and keep composed before continuing.

"I think it was because being around you and talking to you more made me so happy.. that I eventually worried I could lose sight of what I was supposed to be, or could lose everything I had worked so hard for.

Being near you was making it really difficult to keep up my perfection act, because you made me feel inappropriate things like attraction and frustration. During work-hours nonetheless! You made me laugh, and I hate my laugh. It's so..."

"Your laugh is adorable!" Sabrina pouted, staring at me. I shut my eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to stop my face from heating up again. "Your laugh is my favourite laugh on Earth. I'm smitten with your laugh and I'm always a little disappointed when you try to hide it..."

Ahh, too late, my head felt like it was about to explode again. I can't believe my girlfriend loves my dumb annoying snorty laughter. What the hell...

She fiddled with my hand and smiled awkwardly. "A-and I uh... because I know it's coming, I want to apologise for handling my jealousy and clinginess so badly back then.

For reasons I didn't even understand, I couldn't stand the possibility that you were closer to one of your Gym Trainers than me, even though they were such wonderful people and I barely knew you."

I gave her hand a little squeeze back and heaved anxiously. "I-I know... but I enabled it at first because your possessiveness over me actually made me feel really good. I shouldn't have, I know... before we knew it, things escalated in a really unhealthy way."

We both kind of frowned at each other for a few moments, our hands becoming clammy, but we didn't want to let go of one another anyway.

The mood was becoming heavier. With difficulty, I made myself continue.

'You can probably put things together for yourself by this point, but basically yeah. I became increasingly self-conscious about how you coming to the Gym was making me look, publically.

I was too scared to be honest to you about this, I didn't want you to leave so I told white-lies and half-truths to try and distance us from each other... but that was childish.

I should have told you my issues and priorities about my public persona outright, but I refused to place that much trust in you, right up until today. I-instead, things just escalated until...'

Then I stopped. I couldn't keep going.

The words got caught in my throat. I bit my lip, hard, again as I struggled to put into words what happened next.

"I hate that stupid old man." Sabrina rolled her eyes and pouted again, trying to lighten the mood a little. "We both exploded... I literally exploded, and you... had had enough."

Sabrina's attempt at humour went right over my head though. Instead, my head was rapidly reminded about the disgusting mistakes I had made. The ones I had been trying to ignore for years.

"D-don't say that about yourself... please..." I mumbled, my lips quivering again as I could only remember how I shouted at her when she caused the Gym windows to shatter. "I'll... be ashamed of how I treated you that day for the rest of my life. You wanted help and comfort but I just pushed you away.

At first I just wanted you to take a step back, b-but you..." my eyes started watering again "y-you left. You left for good, I scared you away from me." I choked the words as they left my throat and I held my sleeves to my eyes, dabbing the building tears. I breathed in sharply.

She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Why would she try to make excuses for me anyway? She was the one I hurt so much! All I did was hurt her, and I refused to take responsibility for that!

"The days and weeks following I thought, surely she'll come back. But you didn't. Of course you didn't after what I did.

I didn't want to call you, I was too proud. Or maybe I was too scared of what you'd say. I was being a stupid, irresponsible and cruel child. Once again, I spent many nights crying as I realised that I had forfeit the right to even try being your friend, let alone confessing my feelings to you."

Sabrina gently put her hand on mine and gazed at me lovingly, but I pulled my hand back reactively. I felt the shame well up inside me, not wanting to desecrate her with my revolting and unworthy touch.

"I don't d-deserve you... I've done nothing to deserve you... Even after we reconnected, I just pretended like the past didn't even happen. I brushed that day under the rug like I do all my other problems. I kept up this facade and dragged you along for almost two years pretending that everything was okay!"

I breathed in sharply again as tears trailed from my eyes. I clutched my knee under the table and rubbed my face in my kimono sleeve with my other arm. I couldn't even look at her.

I thought I was supposed to be a good, caring and nurturing person, but everything I had done to her from back then to now suddenly fell into perspective. All I could think was how could she ever be able to truly trust me.

"A-and today I did the same thing again. H-huh." I laughed meekly in between sobs "Even though I'm supposed to be an adult now, we're supposed to have grown, I treated one of your most personal issues so carelessly and with such resentment instead of trying to understand you or giving you any way to understand me b-back...!"

"E-Erika... it's okay..."

"It's not! I mistreated you time and time again and you still treated me with such undeserved k-kindness and adoration all this time...!? S-Sabrina I-I..."

I clenched my fist and bit my lip until it bled as tears streamed down my cheeks. Words no longer worked, I was increasingly only able to coax out pathetic sobs and squeaks. It felt like I was barely able to get air to my lungs in between my exhausted choked breaths. I covered my face in my hands and keeled over the table. Crying escalated into wailing over my arms as regret washed over me and I mourned for the love of my life I was convinced I deserved to lose.

Why did I ever think talking about it would help? All it had done was make me realise that I had repeatedly been ungrateful and unreasonable and secretive to the loneliest and most beautiful friend I've ever had, just because I was so scared about how the world perceived me. Just because I felt like I had to make up for my dullness, my lack of freedom, my urge to have people rely on me, by being some fake 'perfect' person.

But.. I guess it was an important realisation. Maybe I wouldn't make this mistake again, if I were ever lucky enough to become this close to someone else again.

Just as I was convincing myself that I would be alone again, I felt warm arms wrap around me from behind and lift me off the table. I felt her lips on my hair.

She squeezed me with assurance, but my mind rejected her company and continued to bawl.

I turned towards her and tried to push her away so I could return to solitude, gently balling my fists against her shoulders though terrified to cause her more pain than I had. But she held on to me. She refused to let go.

I ran out of strength and collapsed into her embrace, my tear-soaked face staining her shoulder and chest.

"It's okay... I love you."

'It's not' I wanted to shout, but I couldn't. Or maybe I didn't want to. Maybe I wanted to hold her while I still could.

I gripped her clothes like my life depended on it, and I screamed.

Years of clinging to a strong facade in spite of the piled up responsibilities, stresses and regrets bubbled up and exploded from my head like ugly weeds onto the only person I had ever met who still saw me through them.

"I love you, Erika." She repeated, she stroked my hair and grasped me in her strong, protective arms. I finally allowed myself to sink into her embrace, partially through exhaustion, partially because I never wanted her to leave again.

And I... believed her. I was so tired of not believing her.

Now that she had me and I had her, all I could think about was that I was a fool to take her for granted, when I may never meet anyone else who accepted and loved the real me like this. She didn't even really need to say anything. Her feelings were conveyed through her actions.

The me I had trapped behind a mask for so long was finally given the space to cry my soul out into someone I had always seen as a kindred spirit, and she cried back into me. She held all of me with such passion and care, even the ugly imperfections and flaws.

Somehow, I began to feel like she understood me. Something clicked, and I felt like I understood her more than I ever had before, too.

What a fulfilling feeling it was.

"Drink something." I pleaded Erika, pouring her a fresh cup of tea and setting aside a glass of water for her just in case she needed it. "I thought I could cry a lot, but you surprised me."

Erika giggled meekly and wiped a few remaining tears from her red eyes. "I've always been a crier, actually... I cried a lot every time you left my life in the past. I'm a naturally emotional person, so bottling up all the time like I do is really bad for me..."

We were sat on the Gym's grass lawn now, as holding my crying girlfriend over a table and chairs was a little awkward. In my panic I had found a spare kimono to cover both of us like a blanket. I apologised for misusing it like that, but Erika thought it was cute.

Erika took a few swigs of tea and sighed. I held her free hand tightly under the kimono and rubbed her palm with my thumb reassuringly.

"I think I know the answer already, but what made you decide to contact me again after all that time?" I asked Erika as I leaned into her warmth.

"The Champion." she grinned.

"Yeah." I nodded and smiled gently. "That's what I thought."

The Champion had inspired both of us. Despite their young age, something about the way they battled and communicated with their Pokémon made us both feel like we weren't living our best lives.

Erika calling me back then caught me by surprise and even scared me a little, but once I battled The Champion my hesitance to see her vanished. I knew that I had to, I had to start really living.

"I love you. I love you Sabrina." Erika chimed, leaning her head on my shoulder and sighing deeply into me. She was smiling, her expression was light and relieved.

Red and tear-dampened face or not, she had never appeared more beautiful to me than she was right now.

I think it was because finally, after all these years, I knew who Erika was.

"I love you too, Erika." I turned to kiss her cheek and lean my head against hers'.

"That's not fair, you said 'I love you' twice while I was crying so I had to say it twice just now to make up for that." she pouted.

"It's a good thing there's no one else around to see how unbearably mushy you're being right now." I smirked, burying my nose in her cheek.

"Ahh whatever. Anyway, I love you. If you're not quick you'll miss your last chance to dump me."

"Enough!" I laughed "It's not going to happen, I'm more glad than ever that you're my girlfriend so you're stuck with me, hopefully forever."

"Hopefully." she quickly flung her arms around me under the blanket and gave me a possessive squeeze.

A few moments later, she yawned. Then I yawned.

What an exhausting day, it felt like it had been days or even weeks. Probably because things had been building up to this for so long.

But I was smitten. I could scarcely comprehend how much I loved her and how loved I felt. I felt so light and confident about my feelings for the first time, like we had both done so much growing up in just one day.

"Hey, Erika?" I looked at the ground, poking my fingers together meekly.

"Yeah babe." she responded lazily, seeming like she was going to fall asleep on me.

"If you want to be free... I think you should move out of Celadon City. Move in with me, in Saffron."

As I expected, Erika pouted, falling quiet into thought.

"I know better than anyone how much Celadon means to you and you know I would be more than happy to move to Celadon instead... but..."

"Yeah." I felt her nod gently against my head. "I know what you mean. Maybe living in my passion project hasn't been healthy for me.

I don't know. I'll think about it."

"That's a good answer." I grinned. "No matter how we go about it though, I'm looking forward to living with you."

Erika beamed back. She dotingly raised her hand to stroke my face, staring into my soul and my heart with perhaps the brightest and warmest glow her eyes had ever blessed me with.

"Me too, I absolutely can't wait."

x

(Final Notes: I hope the changes in perspective weren't too confusing!

T_T

Ahh wow. Whenever I re-read this I'm reminded of how attached I am to these two and how indulgent this was to work on. I definitely got emotional writing this chapter, I got to revisit a lot of major points of the story from Erika's PoV which was so so so fun to write.

For now, this story is finished. I know I originally intended to go until Gen2, but I think I'm going to make that a sequel story instead. This is a wonderful place to end it, but I really love writing these two and am looking forward to starting the sequel maybe later this year.

If you read this far, I can't thank you enough. I hope you'll join me again for more of these two!)

What's Next:

(From next week on, I'll be uploading the Touhou fanfic I've been working on lately. It's about Yukari and it's very angsty. Look forward to it!)