Epilogue – 8 Months Later

They visit Japan again in mid-October; eight months after they'd left it.

Yukari stays at her old house, and cries when she sees Ai again after being apart for so long.

Ppoiyo stays in a local inn, reluctant to visit the deserted house that belonged to his never-there parents. The whole reason why he and Yukari were able to leave for New York so abruptly was because his parents were in Paris working, and most likely wouldn't care – they never cared. Being able to move halfway around the world with no reservations was one of the few perks of being a practically-abandoned child.

Ppoiyo meets up with them again, his old friends, the UTAU Army, all of whom are pleased to see him. His sudden disappearance had come as quite a shock to them.

They had pieced everything together of course. They give him knowing looks as he tells them of his new life in the states.

Ppoiyo and Piko go out once, drinking at a bar (or just Piko, really. Ppoiyo can't stand the heavy taste of alcohol). The first words Piko says to him are, "I can't believe you took my ticket. And my girlfriend."

Ppoiyo's ticket to New York had actually been meant for Piko, whom Yukari had given the ticket to after that lunch he'd stumbled upon at Miyakoshiya's. It had been returned that rainy evening Yukari and Piko had broken up.

He and Piko part on amicable terms, but Ppoiyo can sense that something has changed between them. He and Piko are no longer friends. Somehow, he doesn't find himself caring all that much. But maybe that was just the bourbon-laced blueberry soda clouding his mind (damned two faced son of a . . .).

•••••

Yukari and Ppoiyo leave at the end of October, plenty of time before winter really starts to settle in.

It is not that Yukari is afraid of what memories the falling snow would inevitably bring back. When she thinks back to that last winter they'd spent in England, she can still remember the way Ppoiyo's damp eyelashes had brushed at her cheeks, and how he had tucked that one white wildflower so carefully behind her ear.

But as the weather cools down, she packs her bags to leave again. Although not before making one last visit.

A visit to Piko.

They go out for dinner in a newly-opened restaurant, Piko dressed impeccably in a dress shirt and trousers and her in a stunning, oyster-coloured dress. Even after all this time, she still doesn't miss the way he gulps slightly when she takes off her coat. She supposes there will always be an attraction.

The air between them is different once again. Yukari is more composed than she's ever been around him, answering his questions about life in New York coolly. She is careful not to make her manner seem cold, however. She doesn't want to leave Piko on bad terms.

At the end of the night, instead of walking her home as he used to do, Piko flags a cab and they ride in silence together to her house. He walks her to her front door before turning her towards him, a resigned look on his face. Gently, Yukari leans forward and kisses him softly on the lips.

A last kiss. A kiss that signaled an end of whatever they'd had together.

She lets her lips linger against his for a few seconds before pulling away. Her fingers brush a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Bye, Yukari." Piko turns to leave, his eyes staying on her face for as long as possible before he goes to get in the cab. Wordlessly, she waves to him, another tear sliding down her cheek before she enters her house.

She will not see him again for another seven years, but this she does not know yet. All she does know is that she has finally moved on, and the wildflower that she's tucked behind her ear is proof of that.

Author's Notes:

And it is finito. I don't think I'll be making another multi-chapter fic any time soon. orz