Their reunion had been a teary one. Both sides had cried a lot and had been showering each other with heartfelt words trying to capture this fleeting moment of bliss.

Pania and Mike had moved overseas sometime after Nii had left, and they had stayed there with the changing of many seasons along with the changing of their jobs, dabbling in this and that. And they hadn't stayed alone for very long. But no, it hadn't been a child they had been blessed with. An old friend of Pania had moved into the area at some point, and being as incapable of self-supporting herself as always, the two had started to keep her.

'As a pet'. Or at least that was how it seemed to Nii.

The three of them lived in a square identical to that of Kazuya, though they had to climb many more stairs and pass through many more passages, deeper and ever deeper into the belly of the beast.

"It's soooooo good to see you!" Nii had a much less teary and definitely much less heartfelt reunion with Leonie, the pet. Having returned to her stone-faced state, neither the feeling of discomfort nor disgust found its way to the surface, though she still stumbled for a proper answer. She hadn't interacted with Leonie's type for a long, long time. Nii didn't hate her; she just didn't love her either.

But in contrast to Nii's first reluctance and despite the passing of the years that lay between them, the three welcomed her into her tiny abode with open arms. Though, no mention of the passing of the years or the past was ever to be made.

♫

"You want to go home?" Pania seemed surprised, or rather, worried.

"But how do you suppose to get there?"

Following the initial hubbub over their surprise visitor, things began to settle down again.

Apparently, Pania had gone to the market every day during Nii's stakeout. They simply seemed to have passed by each other.

But now, as they were sharing Nii's tobacco, evidently with more reluctance, sitting on the window sill of that high-rise building, staring into the distance, they had clearly found each other.

"I figured we'd found a group, others who'd want to travel in the same direction, like a caravan, just smaller. We'd have to travel a good distance, but in a large group, we should be able to travel safely. By train, we should be able to reach the ocean no trouble. And there's always enough ship travel and a need for helping hands to head out to sea."

Nii moved away from the window and rummaged through her worn-out linen bag until she found what she had been looking for.

"Is that?! You've been carrying something like this with you all the way here?" Pania started at the map incredulously. It was a worn-out dust-stained map, just as everything else was. But it was a very accurate map, noting the geological characteristics and travel routes, heaped with comments from others who had gone before them for the safest passage across land and sea.

"Where did you get that?"

"This was kind of the impetus for this journey," Nii explained. "I've been travelling around for a few years now, though I've never gotten very far and could never just up and leave completely for fear of losing contact with home or you. But when I found this map on one of my journeys and after exchanging notes with other travellers, real travellers, people who have crossed the oceans, people without any money, just like us, the idea started growing within me. This is why I've shown up after all this time," the last part she had added softly, nothing more than a whisper, one that shouldn't have reached her friend's ears.

"I get the idea, and it's not like I never thought about wanting to go home and seeing my family again, but there'd be a lot of preparations necessary for that," Pania said absentmindedly. She didn't seem adverse to the idea. And perhaps, she, too, had just been waiting for an excuse, an impetus, an impulse from outside that would start her on her journey home. Perhaps we all are. We, who wander this world, perhaps we're all the same.

♫

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After their conversation, they started making plans. Mike had, naturally, no objection to the matter, being one with his girlfriend in mind and body, while Leonie had never had a strong opinion of her own, to begin with. They had started to recruit fellow companions as well as acquire provisions. It would be a long and arduous journey.

At the same time, life went on. The lovers continued to be very much in love, just as they had been when they first met, and Leonie and Nii each tried to give them as much space as possible. It was theirs, after all, though the lovebirds didn't mind their presence very much during night or day.

The adaptability of humankind is truly marvellous. Living alone, we manage to take over the whole space and colour it to our liking and do not permit any other to change this colour. However, should we start living together with others, with much difficulty at first, perhaps, mixing these colours becomes surprisingly easy, especially during times and in places where huddling together is the natural state of human life. And we soon become much more accepting of each other's peculiarities. But, at the same time, everyone gives up a part of their individuality for the minds to mix into one large pot of mashed potatoes.

In other words, living together in a closed space worked surprisingly well, and taking notice of others' sexual and biological activities might not be as annoying as Nii initially thought. But for one's independence as an individual, having some time for herself was, indeed, intrinsical. So naturally, since the two women did not share any love for each other, or Nii at least shared none for Leonie, she would often traverse this labyrinth of apartments on her own, considering their future undertaking, the state of the world as well as her own state.

On one of these walks, she came across someone she hadn't met in a long time.

"So, how was your reunion?" Kazuya casually asked as if it hadn't been weeks but only a couple of days.

Nii tried herself at a soft smile, befitting the occasion, but soon gave up. Her facial muscles simply wouldn't move anymore the way they once did.

"Thought you might've already left."

At this, Nii's facial muscles did contort.

"You know, for your way home?" Kazuya looked at her just as surprised.

This was a thought that had never even crossed her mind!

'After all…'

"But then again, I guess you couldn't just leave for the other side of the globe just like that," he snapped his fingers.

"You okay?" He now sounded worried.

While Nii might not have been much of a talker and clearly had trouble showing emotion, this was still one of her all-time lows.

'I can't keep doing this.'

"Would you like to come with us?" she blurted out in one breath to ensure she wouldn't swallow part of what she wanted to say, as she usually did.

This time, it was Kazuya's turn to truly be surprised, evidence that this was, in turn, a thought he had never had.

"I… It sounded like I thought you might also want to go home."

"Am I wrong? Was that too presumptuous of me?"

And like the passing of the clouds, a smile returned to Kazuya's face.

"That doesn't sound all too bad," he smirked.

♫

"What should I pack? Should I take this with me? Or that?" Holding up all kinds of gadgets whose former use Nii couldn't even begin to guess, Kazuya's room slowly but surely turned into an abode of utter chaos, a state of things Nii naturally felt at ease with and wasn't all too hasty to change.

Since it had been decided for Kazuya to join them and their group had now officially grown to the proud number of nine, a number Nii was indeed very pleased with, she had started to visit him more often. Or rather, she had begun to spend most of her time at his place whenever there was no business to take care of or simply to outrun the love vibes still echoing within her head.

Preparations were within their final phase. Provisions had been taken care of, safely stowed away in their bag packs. They had to do with what they could carry, relying on future possibilities to refurbish these provisions. While the bare necessities had already been packed, Kazuya seemed to find it difficult to separate himself from trinkets with emotional value. She, too, had once been like that. But as soon as she lost her first thing of immeasurable value, loss became easier until she became indifferent.

'We're all the same.'

In the end, the only thing of emotional value that neither of the two could leave without was his guitar.

♫

Pania's packing went in a much more orderly fashion. They had already sold all their belongings that would be of no practical use for their journey. They even made promissory notes for their bedding and living space to be handed over to the buyers as soon as they had left.

It was very much like Pania to think of every possibility and prepare accordingly. She had always been a capable woman. Maybe that had been the reason why it had always been incompetent men, leeches living off of her success, that had flocked to her.

Pania's parents had been strict in their upbringing. Their main agenda had been raising her so she could take on the whole world. They had endeavoured to open every door for her. They had raised her to be proud, self-assured and always looking towards the future, even if that meant trampling on the past, trampling on tradition and culture and even on them.

People might have called them foolish to sacrifice everything for an ungrateful haughty girl, but are not all parents like that? Do they not all wish the very best for their children? And is it not true that all children are ungrateful until they grow old enough to realise the gifts they have been given?

'We're all the same.'

♫