"A farewell worthy of Akiya Tanabe and everything she built"
Ten years had passed since the light consumed the sky.
The world that rose from the ashes of the fracture had become something extraordinary, a union of nature and code, of memory and matter. The rivers shimmered with living data, flowing beside forests of glass trees that sang when the wind moved through their leaves. Cities floated above the clouds, tethered by streams of pure energy. The people called it the Era of the Merge, the first age of true harmony.
Kael stood at the edge of one of those cities, a massive platform suspended over the glowing plains of what was once the City of Glass. His armor was gone now, replaced with simple woven robes marked with blue lines of light. A faint scar ran down his cheek, a reminder of battles long past.
He was older, calmer. But the weight in his eyes never truly faded.
Below him, children ran through the courtyards, chasing each other as mechanical birds soared above. Their laughter rose into the wind a melody that still felt impossible, fragile, precious.
"Kael," a voice called behind him.
He turned to see Akari walking up the marble steps. Her hair had grown longer, streaked with silver light. She carried a staff made from living crystal, its tip blooming with soft petals of energy.
"You're late," he said, smiling faintly.
"I was speaking with the council," she replied, her voice warm. "They're sending another expedition to the northern lands. The riftfields are stabilizing, but they still hum at night."
Kael nodded. "The echoes of what she left behind."
Akari's expression softened. "You still talk to her, don't you?"
"Every day," he said simply. "Not out loud, but she's there. In the hum of the wind, in the light that touches the rivers. Sometimes I feel her heartbeat when I close my eyes."
Akari smiled sadly. "You loved her."
"I still do," he admitted. "But it's not the same kind of love anymore. It's like… loving the dawn. You can't hold it, but it changes everything it touches."
For a long while, they stood together in silence, watching the horizon. The sun was beginning to rise an enormous, glowing sphere that cast gold across the world below.
Then, without warning, the air shimmered.
A faint light appeared above the city, spiraling downward like a falling star. The people below stopped and looked up, pointing, whispering. The light descended until it hovered just before Kael and Akari, pulsating softly.
Akari took a step back, her eyes wide. "It's her."
Kael's breath caught. The light expanded, shaping itself into a figure faint, translucent, but unmistakable. Akiya Tanabe.
Her hair flowed like strands of starlight, her eyes glowing with the calm of eternity. The city itself seemed to pause in reverence.
"Kael," she said, her voice as soft as memory. "Akari. You've done well."
Tears blurred Kael's vision. "I never thought I'd see you again."
"You never stopped seeing me," she replied. "You've both built the world I dreamed of. One where all life, all matter, all consciousness can coexist without walls."
Akari stepped forward, tears slipping down her cheeks. "But the riftfields they're still unstable. The world isn't finished."
Akiya smiled gently. "Nothing living ever is. That is the beauty of it."
The air shimmered with her words. The city lights responded, flickering in harmony with her voice.
Kael's hand trembled. "You could come back, couldn't you? Rebuild yourself from the system. You could live again."
Her gaze softened. "If I returned in body, the balance would collapse. The world no longer needs a creator. It needs caretakers."
He looked down, fighting the ache in his chest. "It still feels empty without you."
Akiya reached forward, her hand made of light, and touched his heart. He gasped warmth flooded through him, ancient and familiar.
"You were never empty," she whispered. "You carried me here, in this place. In every kindness, every choice, every act of faith."
The light spread through his chest, glowing faintly beneath his skin. When she withdrew her hand, he could still feel it a heartbeat within a heartbeat.
Akari knelt, overcome with emotion. "Akiya… thank you. For everything."
Akiya looked at her and smiled. "You were always meant to be the bridge between hearts and systems. You brought humanity back to what it had forgotten the courage to care."
The wind rose, carrying the scent of rain and blooming glass flowers. Akiya's form began to flicker, her light breaking apart into tiny motes that danced across the air.
Kael's voice broke. "Wait! Don't go. Just a little longer."
She looked at him with eyes full of warmth and eternity. "The stars will remember us, Kael. They will remember what we built, what we loved, what we dared to hope for."
He shook his head, tears spilling freely. "I'm not ready."
She smiled faintly. "You never have to be. Just keep walking forward."
The light drifted around them, spiraling upward toward the open sky. As it rose, it scattered into a thousand fragments, each one glowing like a new star being born.
The people of the city looked up and gasped. The heavens were alive with light, each star pulsing in rhythm as if the universe itself were breathing.
Kael stood silently, tears on his face, watching her fade into infinity.
Then, slowly, he whispered into the wind, "Sayonara, Akiya."
The stars shimmered once, brighter than ever.
Akari reached for his hand, squeezing it gently. "She's home now."
Kael smiled through the grief, his voice trembling. "No. She is home. She always was."
They stood together as dawn broke fully, bathing the world in radiant gold. The people below sang quietly, a song without words, born of gratitude and loss. The melody carried across the plains, through the forests, over the rivers of light, until it reached the very edge of the horizon.
There, in the quiet space between one breath and the next, the voice of Akiya Tanabe echoed one last time.
"Live beautifully. Remember me kindly. And let the world keep dreaming."
The wind carried her farewell into the light.
And as the sun rose higher, Kael and Akari turned toward the new day, their hearts full not of sorrow, but of something greater.
Hope.
Because even when the stars forget, love remembers.
ARC I....ENDING
...To be continued.,...