Sooo sorry for the delay, folks! Life has been crazy! But finally, a new chapter! Hope it was worth the wait! More will come soon, I promise.

"You'll text me once everyone's there, right?"

She's fidgeting with the edge of the plaid tablecloth, a nervous habit he never realized she had. Did she even get nervous before? They ended up having her wait at some burger place near the park while Shinji met the rest of the group. She's got on the summer outfit she wore back when they were still in school. He found out that she had that on when she first came back. It hangs loosely on her now and had insisted that this is what she wanted to wear, even when he advised her otherwise. She may have lost some weight and developed some nervous tendencies, but damn she's just as headstrong as he remembers when she sets her mind on something.

"Yeah, 'course. You gonna be ok? We don't have to do this yet—"

Her hand is warm and a bit sweaty when she places it on top of his.

"It's ok, Shinji. I've got this. Now go, doesn't look good for the host to be late."

"Yeah, yeah…"

He grabs a few large bags from under the table as he rises. She's all smiles as he walks away. She may wear the face well but he can see past it, he always could. She knows that he'll never push her to ask her the questions she doesn't know the answers to — Why is she back? How? He never forces the issue, just listens when she wants to talk. But the others? They could easily ask her all the questions she doesn't have the answers to. She's always been the leader, the one leading the way no matter what was going on. But whatever happened to her has left her more shaken, more vulnerable than before. In a rare moment of self doubt, she told him that maybe that was the price of rebirth. That nothing good is free, that she needed to give up some of her to be back in this world. Maybe.

He finds his way to a set of picnic tables near the center of the park, rummaging through the bags for the table cloth he's borrowing from the restaurant. He made a modest lunch for everyone at least according to him. Minako seemed to think he went overboard but he's rather have too much than not enough. He even grabbed a few carry out boxes just in case. He doesn't believe any of those idiots are eating properly.

The sun is already beating down on him by the time the table is set. Another cloudless, hot day. He can feel his hair starting to stick to the back of his neck. He grabs a hair tie from his pocket, pulling it back in the same bun style he wears when he's in the kitchen. Aki will give him shit for it later, but to hell with it. He'd rather deal with Aki telling him to chop it off instead of overheating. It's much easier to punch Akihiko than the sun — and way more rewarding.

Mitsuru was the first one to arrive. She has been splitting her time between running the Kirijo Group and attending a prestigious school in Europe. She just happened to be in Tokyo for a conference and insisted she could only stay for a short time before she had to be back in the city to take a red-eye flight back west. She took the seat opposite of him, a small smile adorned her face.

"It's good to see you again, Shinjiro. It's been too long."

"Yeah, yeah it's been too long. How's everything?"

She pushes her hair from her face. It's longer than he remembers yet curled the same.

"Extremely busy. Between courses, student associations, and work with the Group I hardly have any free time. We've also identified some recent Shadow activity, but haven't been able to determine the scale or exactly where."

He wasn't expecting that.

"Wait, what? Thought we took care of all that."

"Yes, well this seems to be something a bit different. This project is just in it's infancy. I assure you, as soon as I know more I will inform you and the rest of the group."

"Hmmm…"

Before he can formulate a real thought on that situation, he catches Akihiko and Junpei waving at them. He can practical feel Junpei's energy from across the park. He may have taken on some responsibility by being a coach for a little league team but he's just as care-free as always. And Aki…well some things don't change.

"Heeeeyyy Mitsuru, Shinji."

Junpei slides in next to Mitsuru and starts poking through the food laid out on the table. He must sense Shinji's glare, his hand slowly retreats off the food and into his lap. Akihiko takes a seat to Shinji's left and shoves half a sandwich in his mouth before Shinji has a chance to slap it out of his hand.

"Didn't you bring Aegis?"

Junpei is shooting him death glares across the table, not even facing the person he should be asking the question to.

"I wanted to. She is assisting with a sensitive situation within the Kirijo Group. She sends her regards."

"Guess that makes two missing. Got a text from Ken this morning, said he couldn't make it due to some school project or somethin'." Shinjiro says as he manages to snatch the other half of the sandwich before Aki inhales it. He catches Junpei staring down at the table, his brow furrowed.

"That's not all who's missing…"

The words hang heavy in the air.

"Well that's not—"

He punches Aki in the thigh before he can finish that thought. Damn guy can't keep his mouth shut.

"An-anywho, the girls should be here shortly."

Sure enough, the girls were heading over towards them with Koromaru in tow. He has been staying with Fuuka in her dorm which somehow didn't care that she had a dog. It was some progressive tech school modeled after the environment of the top software companies. Yukari was also in college and working part time as a model. Supposedly her and Mitsuru have stayed close, Aki had told him that whenever Mitsuru had free time she was generally with Yukari.

Yukari takes the open seat next to Mitsuru, giving her a slight bump of the shoulder and a smile as she sits down. Fuuka slides a small box on the table before taking a seat next to Akihiko.

Junpei leans across the time, that typical goofy-ass grin on his face.

"Lookin' good, Yukari-chan!"

"Yeah, yeah. Good to see you too Stupei. And it's good to see you guys too. It's been too long."

"Yeah it has. Thought it'd be good to see everyone again. Uh, there's food. Eat up. Yes Junpei, you can eat now."

He practically beams at Shinji at those words and is instead rummaging through the food. Everyone becomes preoccupied with the food, with small talk. Fuuka chimes in that her box contains cookies and ensures that they are edible. Shinjiro sets a small bowl of food he made for Koromaru on the ground next to him, no way he'd leave him out. He feels his phone buzz in his pocket. Has to be her.

"Hey evryone there?"

"Yeah. You ready?"

"Uh huh. Picnic tables right?"

"Right. See you soon."

He looks up from his phone, no one seemed to notice his lack of involvement in the conversations. He quickly taps out another message.

"You've got this."

It seems like ages between the time he sent the text and he saw her walking up. Akihiko takes notice as well, jabbing him in the ribs like he had no idea she'd be coming. No one else seems to notice her presence — Fuuka is petting Koromaru and Junpei, Yukari, and Mitsuru are in some debate in regards to baseball pants and practicality outside of the game. She's just a few steps away from the table, standing behind Mitsuru. He watches as she closes her eyes, takes in a big breath and exhales.

"Hey guys."

The voice seemed to pull them all away from their distractions. Everyone is so still, like the world had come to crawl. It's Koromaru who makes the first move, running over to her and nuzzling her leg affectionately.

He meekly hears Fuuka saying Minako before everyone gets up and makes their way to her. He can see the tears in her eyes, as her friends hug her one by one. There will be time to discuss the past year. To learn about what happened and what comes next. For now though, all that matters is that a dearest friend is back, alive and whole. The past and the future can wait.

Ah, the moment we've been waiting for. The (almost) full reunion for our P3 besties. As always, I appreciate all the likes, favs, and follows!
P.S. - I plan on writing more in spurts, maybe not a full chapter in one sitting. I'll try and post blurbs or headcanon on my tumblr, so if you're curious or wanna see what's floating around in my noggin', that's the place to go!