Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Once upon a time, the world ended. It didn’t burn down in fire, nor did the oceans rise and swallow the earth whole. The end of the world was quiet. Dark. Cold. Buildings were slowly overtaken by nature- whatever was left of nature, that is. Cities became ghost towns. 

In such ghost towns, it was unlikely that things changed rapidly- if they changed at all. Objects remained where they were. But sometimes there were structures that were unstable. And sometimes that made the difference between life and death. 

A plumbing pipe, long since rusted, snapped in half. As it fell, it hit a large green cocoon. The pipe impaled the membrane surface, slowly splitting it in half. The pipe fell onto the flow, blissfully unaware of what process it had just begun. 

Hyuuga Saki was not a complicated person. She had things she liked, things she didn’t. She did her best to be a good person every day. She hated waking up early, but would if it meant she got to see her girlfriend. 

Complicated things did have a tendency to happen to Saki.  It was unfair, truly. Magical foes, creatures from other worlds- and now this. 

When Saki opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was all the green goo. It had a gelatinous texture and was leaking onto the floor. As Saki blinked her eyes, trying to get her eyes used to the… lack of light in the building. That was the next thing she noticed: how dark it was. She could barely make out the room in front of her. She lifted her hand to rub her eyes, but quickly stopped as she realized the green goo was all over her too. 

“What the heck is going on?” Saki asked. She was shocked at how her voice sounded. It was quiet, raspy. Like she hadn’t used it in years. 

She took a step forward and nearly fell over. Saki turned around to see where the green goo was coming from and saw a giant green cocoon. A human sized cocoon. With a her sized hole in it now. 

Saki sat down and started pulling the goo off. Think, Saki, think. What was the last thing you remember? 

Saki… had been on a date with Mai. They had gone to an art museum. Saki hadn’t understood a thing, but Mai was so happy. Then…

Then they were attacked by something. No- multiple someONEs. They had shot at Mai, and Saki had jumped in front of her. 

And then it went black. 

And now she was here. 

Okay. Multiple questions. Where was here? Where was Mai? Was Mai okay? How long had she been here? It was midday when she and Mai got attacked, and now it was clearly night. 

As she peeled the last off the goo off herself, she raised her hand to get started on her hair… which she found to be much longer than it had ever been. Saki ran her fingers through her hair, trying to figure out how long it was (and how much goo was in it). It seemed to end in the middle of her back. 

So. Maybe she’d been in that cocoon for longer than a day then. 

Saki took a deep breath and stood up. Her legs wobbled, but she didn’t fall again. 

She had to find Mai. 

Finding Mai was harder than she thought. First, she could barely see what was in front of her, even as her eyes adjusted to the minimal lighting in this abandoned building. Second, the building itself seemed to hate her? Everywhere she stepped she had to jump out of the way to avoid an exposed nail, or glass or whatever. The point was: the building hated her. Third, her voice wasn’t working. Her legs were still jelly-adjacent, but they were functioning enough! Her voice, however, had yet to get the memo. She couldn’t exactly shout for Mai when she couldn’t say basically anything!!  

She couldn’t give up though. She was going to find Mai. She could feel Mai, in her heart, in her soul. They were partners bonded by magic and she could feel that bond. She knew Mai was alive. 

Despite herself, Saki sighed. She wasn’t getting anywhere in this stupid ghost tower. She headed to a window (or, what was left of a window) and tried to get a lay of the land outside. 

What she saw… confused her.

There were no city lights, despite her clearly being in the city. Huge apartment complexes, layers up layers of infrastructure, but not a single sign of a human life. No cars, no street lamps, no nothing. As she looked closely, she could tell that many of those buildings were covered in… some kind of plant, but for the life of her she wouldn’t be able to identify it. It just looked… wrong. 

As weird as it was, Mai was most likely out there. She just had to get out there. 

Hastily heading to the stairs on her wobbly legs, Saki realized that a huge chunk of the wall had been ripped out. The stairs lead down to what once was a courtyard, and then to nowhere at all. 

“Are you kidding me?” She said to herself, mostly out of frustration. This stupid freaking building… 

She didn’t have much time to curse the building however, as she heard an odd creaking noise from behind her. 

She turned and saw a monster. 

It had a long snout with rows of razor sharp teeth. Its body was more like a fish, except for the fact that it was using its fins to swim through the air. As it realized she was there, its large golden eye widened. It wasted no time in lunging. 

Saki ran. 

She couldn’t get very far with her legs the way they were, but if she made it back into the center of the building, the concrete would provide some shelter. 

Unfortunately, the world was against her. Her legs crumbled beneath her before she could make it through the courtyard. 

Saki closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. 

She heard something collide with the freaky fish- and loud THWAP followed by the sound of rushing wind. Saki cautiously opened her eyes. The fish was no longer in front of her. It had indeed been thrown to the other side of the courtyard. Standing where the fish once was was a woman. 

The woman was tall- taller than Saki, at the very least. She wore a dark leather jacket and combat boots. Her dark gray green pants had enough pockets to sneak at least a whole rotisserie chicken into a movie theatre. 

Dang. Now Saki wanted chicken. Anyway. 

The most noticeable thing by far about this woman was her hair. This woman’s hair was a vibrant orange (possibly the most vibrant thing Saki had seen since that green ooze) and it was glowing. Saki had to squint, trying to adjust to the whole new level of light in her field of vision. Was this woman’s hair made of fire or something? 

Before Saki could ask any of her (very critical) questions about this woman’s magic hair, the fish began its counter attack. 

“Look out!” Saki cried. The woman didn’t move. She waited as the fish charged up and sped towards her. Once the fish was almost at its target, the woman jumped up, grabbed by its snout, and flipped it on its back. 

Saki was almost too stunned to speak. This woman didn’t look like a Precure, but clearly she had some access to magic. A regular human could never have done that! 

As the fish floundered (ha!) Saki carefully walked up to the mystery woman. 

“Excuse me?” Saki asked. “Look I’m- I’m really lost and could use some directions. And it seems like you kinda know your way around this place…”
Saki trailed off as the woman turned to face her. The woman’s brow furrowed. 

“You- that’s not possible. Saki-san?” 

Saki blinked. “How did you know my name?”

“That’s you? You’re Hyuuga Saki?” 

“As far as I’m aware!” Saki tried to smile. “What’s going on? Who are you?” 

The woman’s face broke out into a huge grin. She pulled Saki into a huge hug. Saki was struck, suddenly, by warmth. She hadn’t realized how cold she was. 

“Oh, Saki-san, you have no idea how great it is to see you!” She said, still smiling. “Oh, um, I am aware this is probably a lot to take in, but it’s me! Hino Akane!”

Saki stared. 

Hino Akane? Hino Akane was a hot tempered but well meaning bundle of energy- not a hyper-competent warrior! 

Although, as Saki looked at her, the similarities were there… Her face resembled Akane’s, that was for sure. 

“Akane-san did not have glowing orange hair.” Saki managed to say. Akane (?) paused. 

“Yeah, well. I do now. It’s just one of the many changes you’re going to have to get used to.” She said, her voice suddenly much quieter. 

Akane released Saki from the hug. Saki regretted questioning her immediately. Now she was super cold.  

“Listen, Akane-san..” Saki began. “Where am I? How did I get here? Where’s Mai?” 

“One question at a time, please!” Akane plastered a smile on her face again. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say you just got let out of a gross green cocoon?”
“Yes! How on earth did you know?” 

“Not my first rodeo.” Akane replied. “Can you show me where it was? Those things hold a lot of important stuff.” 

Saki nodded. She began leading Akane through the ruins of the building. Akane stayed close, which was great, because her new magic hair was both a light source and a heat source! Two for one baby! 

At some point, Akane realized Saki’s legs weren’t working like they should, and she forced Saki to lean on her for support. Saki got extra warm! 

Once they returned to the cocoon, Akane had Saki sit down. From one of her pockets she pulled out a folded up bag, and another a large knife. 

“What are you doing with those?” Saki asked. Akane didn’t answer right away. She began slicing thin layers of the ooze. 

“This stuff is super nutrient rich.” Akane explained. “It’s what’s been keeping you alive, but it also makes for great fertilizer! Which is hard to come by right now.” 

“It’s been what?!” Saki said. “How long was I in that cocoon??!!” 

Akane hesitated. 

“I don’t know if you want to hear that from me.” 

“Well who else is here??” Saki asked. “What is going on?? Why are you harvesting that thing???” 

Akane put down her knife and her bag. She walked over to Saki and grabbed her hands. 

“Saki-san.” She said quietly. “The last time anyone saw you was eight years ago. We all thought you were dead.” 

Eight years? That wasn’t possible. That was so close to ten years! She wasn’t 25! She had just been 15 a few minutes ago!

Eight years- did Mai think she was dead? Her parents? Her sister? Karou and Micharu??? 

How had she ended up in that cocoon? 

EIGHT YEARS? 

Saki ripped her hands away from Akane and ran to the nearest ledge. She proceeded to empty whatever was in her stomach. Akane came behind and started rubbing her back. 

“How old am I?” Saki whispered. 

“23.” Akane said. “I think. Your birthday was in August, right?” 

Saki nodded. 

“What about everyone else? My family? Mai?” 

Akane winced. 

“Are they okay, Akane-san? What happened to them?” 

“Let’s sit back down.” Akane said, dodging the question. Saki tried to protest, but Akane grabbed her like she weighed nothing and placed her down on a rock. 

“Akane-san. Answer me.” 

“... Eight years is a long time.” Akane said, like Saki didn’t already know. Like she hadn’t just had the rest of her adolescent stolen from her. Akane continued. “Um, these cocoons… they were built by fairies native to Earth. You know how all the Precure fairies come from other worlds? Well, Earth has some too and hooo boy.”

“Earth fairies?” Saki asked. Ok. Sure. Whatever. “Why would they attack a Precure? We’re allies with fairies.” 

“Not eight years ago we weren’t.” Akane sighed. “They were… a little power hungry, let’s say? And they came up with a plan to defeat the Precure by splitting us up. Many Precure, like you, were trapped in these cocoons that kept you alive but out of commission while they attacked.” 

Saki looked outside. At the world overrun with nature. 

“Did they win?” She asked, her voice small. Akane shook her head. 

“Nah, we kicked their asses! Also there was some lovers drama that led to a dramatic betrayal. Honestly a classic Precure adventure.” Akane smiled, remembering these events. Her face fell as she continued. “But it was a trap for all of us. While we were fighting each other, a dark force lurked in the background, waiting to make his move.”

Saki held her breath. 

“The One King, he called himself. Once he knew that the fairies were defeated and we were weakened, he pounced. We didn’t have the numbers to fight against him, and he knew that. We didn’t have the time to find everyone, and he made sure we didn’t have any. And so, he reached out into the heavens and stole the sun and the moon.” 

Akane paused. Saki looked at her. 

“I”m sorry, he stole the sun??” 

“Yep.” Akane said. 

“How?” 

“I have no clue.” Akane admitted. “But he has control over where the sun shines. The whole world is in the dark- except for where he allows the light. Obviously the governments freaked out. Turns out the sun is kinda critical to our survival, y’know? So some people made deals with him. To make sure they had even a taste of sunlight.” 

“What about the Precure? Couldn’t we rally? Fight back?” Saki asked.

“We tried. We lost.” Akane said, her voice resolute. “Now we try to help other people survive.” 

Saki’s head was spinning. The sun and moon, gone? 

“... And my family? Mai?”

“I don’t know.” Akane told her, face hung in shame. “We kinda… lost contact with a lot of the other Precure. And your family… I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Those first few years… a lot of people died.”
Saki felt her heart stop. 

That- that couldn't’ be true. Despite everything that happened, despite the sun literally no longer shining, that couldn’t be true. 

Her sister was just a kid. 

“Deep breaths, Saki-san. Deep breaths.” Akane said. 

Saki tried to follow Akane’s advice. In, out. In, out. Focus on what you can feel. 

Mai. Mai was still alive. She could feel her. 

“Mai’s still out there.” Saki eventually said. “I have to find her.” 

Saki didn’t know what else was left. 

Chapter Text

Akane remembered when the world ended. She was there when the sky went dark and people began to panic. She was there when it became clear there was nothing to be done. She was there when people began to die, one by one. 

But at least she was there. She didn’t have to have the whole thing recounted to her after missing eight years. She knew who was alive or dead. She knew who she could look for and who was in the ground. Saki didn’t have that luxury. 

So when Saki starts talking about how she could ‘feel Mai’ and about how ‘Mai was still out there’, Akane didn’t immediately shut her down. Saki needed something to hope for. Akane couldn’t crush that just yet. 

Besides, as Saki kept talking about Mai, Akane could tell Saki was about to pass out. The cocoon life wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, and Saki needed time to recover. Once she was out, Akane would finish gathering this goo, and carry her back to the base. 

Right on cue, Saki began to sway, and Akane grabbed her shoulders to make sure she didn’t hit her head. She layed Saki down and grabbed her knife. 

She only had a small window before Saki woke up and began asking questions again. Akane was just thankful Saki wiped out before she could start questioning Akane’s hair. 

Thankfully, Saki stayed asleep the whole trip back to the base. Akane made note of her physical well being- Saki had lost weight, but thankfully nothing too bad. Saki had been favoring her right leg, and her voice had been… off. That was unclear if that was from disuse or injury, but they’d know for sure once they got to the med-bay. Her right eye had also been a bright, unnatural green, but Akane suspected that was just a result of too much cocoon time. Hopefully it would fade.

She suspected Saki was also vitamin d deficient, but so was most of the world, so. Not much to do when the sun was being controlled by a maniac. 

Saki stirred and Akane stopped, readjusting Saki in her arms so they were both more comfortable. Saki curled back into herself and kept sleeping. 

The truth was: Akane knew where Mai was. Or where she had been. Mai was with the rest of what was left of the Precure resistance in the north. If she hadn’t been killed yet.

Back when the apocalypse had first started, they were much more unified. They had sent groups to look for the girls who were still in cocoons for years . Mai was the only one who hadn’t given up on Saki. But as they faced loss after loss, it became too hard to spend resources to look for one Precure. 

Frankly, Akane was shocked to see Saki alive. They had found other Precure before Saki who had died in these green cages, the resources ran dry. Whole teams stuffed into one cocoon, pilling out as barely more than skeletons.

Akane won’t forget when they found the Happiness Charge team. 

Saki might have been saved because she was by herself. No one else to share the goop’s food supply with. 

Akane just hoped she could keep Saki alive outside the cocoon as well. 

Luckily, they made it back to the base without too much fuss. Akane signaled to be let into the building. She paused, before signing that she would need Rikka out here.

The signals and signs were Rikka’s idea- a remnant of when they were part of a larger threatening force and they needed to make sure people were truly who they said they were. Akane followed them out of habit, mostly. Rikka was much more enthusiastic. 

They met in the middle. Akane was carrying Saki inside, heading to the med-bay when Rikka came running.

Hishikawa Rikka had been transformed by the end of the world. She had been stuck in a cocoon for three years before she was found- but had to spend nearly a year in recovery because her leg had been broken inside the cocoon. It had taken her months to walk again, and even to this day she favored her left. Her hair had been cut short, and her glasses had been cracked years ago, but they hadn’t managed to find anything that matched her prescription since. The biggest change came in her hands, now tainted blue at the fingertips, as if she was constantly in a state of frostbite. If you looked closely, you could see trances of that blue everyone. At the corners of her eyes, her joints, the cool undertones of her lips. 

A side effect of the magic that was keeping them alive. 

“What happened?” Rikka asked. 

“Hyuuga Saki.” Akane lifted Saki up to prove her point. “She’s alive. She’s been alive the whole time.” 

“What? That’s not possible.” Rikka said. “That- eight years. She would have to have been in that cage for eight years.” 

“Yep.” Akane said. “You gonna help me patch her up?”

Rikka looked at Saki and inhaled quickly. They headed to the med bay and Rikka pulled out a cot. 

“Tell me everything. Where did you find her? Was she awake?” 

“Found her just south of the Cat’s Claw. She was- walking and talking and everything. She… wanted to find Mai. She didn’t about the Fae War, or the One King.” 

“That’s to be expected.” Rikka gestured for Akane to lay Saki down. She complied. 

Rikka grabbed a stethoscope and a blood pressure monitor. As she checked Saki’s vitals, Akane went to grab some vitamins from their medicine cabinet. 

“The fact that she could walk and talk is a good sign.” Rikka told her. “Vitals are good. Honestly, she’s probably the healthiest person I’ve seen in years.”
“So we don’t need to worry about scurvy?”
“I said she was the healthiest person I’ve seen, not that she was healthy. Scurvy isn’t our main concern, but I want to make a meal plan for her.” 

Akane nodded. “I’ll go let everyone know we have a new mouth to feed. One upside though: I got some new fertilizer!” 

Akane held up her bag of goop. Rikka rolled her eyes but smiled. 

“We shall feast like kings.” Rikka said before turning back to Saki. Akane grabbed Rikka’s shoulder and squeezed it. Rikka laid her hand on top of Akane’s. 

“You got this.” Akane whispered. 

“Thank you.” Rikka whispered back. Akane slipped out of Rikka’s hold and left the med-bay.

Honestly, they were lucky. Thanks to Rikka’s ice powers and Akane’s connection to the sun, their home base was basically a paradise. They could grow food, make sure people had light, and overall keep a sense of normalcy. Akane and Rikka had bonded over a desire to rescue people who had lost everything when the world ended, and they achieved that goal. 

People were raising their families here. People got to live here. That’s all she could ask for. 

She didn’t have anything else left. 

Chapter Text

Saki woke up with a massive headache. She sat up, feeling around to find her nightstand, only for it to come rushing back to her. 

This wasn’t her room. She hadn’t been home in eight years. 

Her head was still pounding, but she forced her eyes open. She was in a small room- no windows and one door. It was better light than the building she was in before- and her eyes strained from disuse. Didn’t help with the headache. 

“Oh, Saki-san, you’re awake!” A voice called from behind her. She turned and saw… Hishikawa Rikka? Or at least someone who looked similar. 

“Rikka-san?” Saki asked. Her voice was still sore. Rikka’s eyes brightened. 

“Okay, your voice isn’t damaged, just hasn’t been used in eight years. Take your time, don’t strain yourself, but you should be able to talk again soon!” 

As she talked, Saki took in how much Rikka had changed. Just like Akane, although Akane was almost unrecognizable. Rikka didn’t have glowing hair, but her hands were painted in blue. 

“Rikka-san… what happened to your hands?” Saki asked. Rikka paused. 

“Akane didn’t tell you?” She asked. Saki shook her head. Rikka pulled out a seat and sat next to Saki’s bed. 

“Well.” Rikka began. “How much did Akane tell you?” 

“She told me that some crazy guy stole the sun? After we got into a fight with earth fairies?” Saki said. Rikka hummed. 

“That is what I heard too. I missed the beginning of the apocalypse. I was stuck in one of those cocoons too, so I don’t know much about those early days. But as for my hands… We tried to fight back, as I’m sure Akane told you. We even learned that Precure who drew from their power from the sun and the moon could defeat the monsters created by the new darkness- like that fish I heard you got attacked by. But at some point we learned that if we… fused with the sources of our power, we could have an actual chance.” 

“You fused with what?” 

“It’s a little complicated, I admit.” Rikka laughed. “But you basically have to push past your limits as a Precure and connect with the core of your magic. There’s some weird side effects, ie, my hands. But I can create ice wherever, whenever and however I want. It means we have a constant supply of water. Speaking of which..” 

Rikka got up and got Saki a glass of water. She downed it immediately. 

“Sorry, I didn’t realize how thirsty I was.” Saki admitted. “So Akane fused with her magic too? That’s why her hair glows?”
“Yes, exactly. Akane is the only person who can actually call forth the power of the sun- that’s how we can survive out here. She provides the light, I provide the water. We get to be independent.”
“That’s… amazing.” Saki said. “What about the other Precure? Did they fuse as well?”
Rikka’s face did something funny. 

“Some of them.” She said. “Want another glass of water?”
“Yes please.” 

Saki was not allowed to leave the med-bay for a full week. Akane and Rikka both came to visit, which was great and fun and FINE, but she still was not allowed to leave. 

Rikka explained this was because she needed to monitor Saki’s recovery from being the ~cocoon~ but what was Saki doing for the past eight years?? Laying around in THAT DAMN COCOON. She was fine! 

She was ready to go and try to find Mai. 

“You’re still unsteady on your legs.” Rikka pointed out when Saki brought up her extremely valid criticisms. “How would you get there?”

“I’d figure it out!” Saki said. 

“Right.” Rikka said nonchalantly. “Just like you figured out how to get out of the building you were trapped in?”
Saki glared at her.  

Still, even as she was kept in one location, Saki began to learn more and more about the world she now found herself in.

The base Akane and Rikka had made their home was once an old mall. Most of the first floor had been converted to agriculture, which was tended to by a growing group of civilians that Akane and Rikka had taken in. So far they had all avoided Saki, most likely so as not to crowd her. Also most likely on Rikka’s orders. 

Saki hated to admit it, but Rikka was probably right on that call. Everything was overwhelming. Saki had one escape attempt where she wandered the halls of the old mall and had a panic attack so bad Akane had to carry her back to the med-bay. 

So, yes. Rikka was probably right to keep people away. 

But even if she couldn’t see them, Saki could hear them. Children laughing, old women gossiping, a pair of lovers sneaking off while they were supposed to be cleaning. It was all very… mundane. 

Saki further learned that Rikka and Akane were the only two Precure here. They refused to explain why. Rikka would freeze up whenever Saki asked and Akane had apparently learned the art of deflection when the world ended, so she was stuck trying to figure out why on her own. 

It just didn’t make sense that the Precure would be so separated. Procure stuck together, especially in times of crisis. It’s what gave them strength. The only thing that would make sense would be they had been forcibly separated by some villain, but if that was the case, why were Rikka and Akane being so cagey about it? 

Saki was going to have to ask one of the civilians what was happening at this point. 

The other thing she learned (well. Eavesdropped a conversation that she was not supposed to hear) was that technically, this mall commune was against the law. 

She had gone to grab a glass of water, when she heard Akane and Rikka speaking in hushed voices. Naturally, she leaned her ear to the door and tried to hear what was being said. 

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea right now.” Akane said shortly. “I already made a big enough scene when I fought that Bluegrass Fish. We don’t need any more eyes on us.” 

“I understand that.” Rikka replied. “But we need to take Saki to see Her Highness sooner rather than later. She’s struggling pretty bad. I want to give her something to motivate her.” 

“Besides Mai?” Akane said and- Saki didn’t like how she said it. Like a joke. Like Mai wasn’t something to fight for. 

“If Saki thinks Mai’s alive, then I believe her.” Rikka said. “But in case she isn’t, we just need something. Eight years is a long time. She deserves compensation more than anyone.” 

“I agree, I’m not saying I don’t.” Akane paused. “But I wouldn’t be able to take her.”
“So? You can’t enter any Sun City, that’s why we stop by Green Grove-”

“I can’t go to Green Grove, Rikka. There’s been an uptick of monsters since Saki woke up. He’s looking for me. If I even go to Rin’s I’ll be turned in.” 

“... Fuck.” Rikka said quietly. “You’re right. Okay, when do you think it’ll calm down?” 

“I don’t know.” Akane paused again, and then Saki heard her nudge Rikka’s shoulder. 

“Hey, when you were 15, did you think you’d end up running an illegal commune with me?” 

“Obviously not.” Rikka said. “I thought I would be running it with Mana.”
Akane laughed. 

“Damn, it’s late. Should we head in for the night?” 

“You go on. I need to check on Saki-san, and then I’ll join you.” 

Saki froze. As carefully and quickly as she could she headed back to her cot. Rikka entered not long after. 

“Saki-san? How are you feeling?” 

“Good!” Saki squeaked. “Just thirsty.”

“Alright, I’ll get you a glass of water.” Rikka moved away from the cot. Saki spoke before she could even think. 

“Rikka-san? What’s… what’s Akane-san to you?” 

Rikka hummed. 

“Akane… she’s the light at the end of my tunnel. I never would have made it without her.” Rikka turned back to Saki, her face sad. “We’re truly the most wonderful of friends.” 

…

So. The other thing Saki couldn’t figure out was Akane and Rikka themselves. Were they friends? Lovers? A secret third thing?? 

Just another thing Saki had to talk to the civilians about. Once she was free from the stupid med-bay. 

Chapter Text

Rikka was waiting for an escape attempt. Saki had taken her instructions well so far, but Rikka had been in charge of medical care long before the Precure split up, so she knew better than to trust a Precure to sit still and heal for once. 

Saki wasn’t the worst patient she’d ever had. That title went to Tsukikage Yuri. Rikka was always concerned that Yuri was going to collapse from blood loss from how little time she spent recovering. Just getting Yuri in the med-bay was an achievement. Yuri had been laser focused on defeating the One King and bringing the sun and moon back, and therefore considered long term medical care a hindrance. 

Not that it mattered. She died anyway. 

Rikka shook her head, forcing herself back to the present. Saki was here. Saki was real, Saki was alive. Saki could still be saved. 

So when she found Saki crawling down to the gardens, she wasn’t as mad as she could’ve been. 

“Hyuuga Saki-san. You better not be doing what I think you’re doing.” 

That didn’t mean she wasn’t mad. 

“I’m… I got lost?” Saki said meekly. 

“You got lost. From the medical bay you aren’t supposed to leave.”

“... Yes?”

Rikka pinched the bridge of her nose. Saki was desperate to leave, to find Mai. Rikka got it. She’d spent years trying to find her family after she got out of her cocoon. It was something to latch onto in an unfamiliar world. 

HOWEVER. 

“You aren’t cleared to walk around by yourself yet.” Rikka said sternly. “The physical therapy we’ve been doing has a point, you know.”
“My legs feel fine!” Saki protested. “Plus, I was walking fine even when I got out of that stupid cocoon. Ask Akane!”

“I’m well aware that’s what you think. However, your leg muscles were out of commission for eight years. We need to spend time building them up again before you do shit like this!” 

“Oooh, is there a fight happening out here?” Akane’s voice called out from behind her. “Saki-san, did you try to escape again?”

“Again?!” 

Saki looked to the ground. 

Akane walked up in between the two of them, two children hanging off her arms. Rikka smiled despite herself. Akane was a favorite of the children, her glowing hair, supernatural warmth and the fact she was willing to be a human jungle gym made for the perfect storm. 

“Hello Yuuko. Hello Eji.” Rikka said. 

“Heeyy Rikka-san!!!” The children said in unison. 

“I wasn’t trying to escape!” Saki countered. “I just wanted to see the gardens.”
A likely story. Rikka felt herself prepare for another spat, but Akane placed her hand on her shoulder. 

“I’ve been thinking.” Akane said. “Saki-san has yet to see Green Grove, right?” 

Rikka frowned. Where was she going with this? They both agreed Akane had to lay low for a while, so there was no way Akane could take Saki to Green Grove. 

“What’s Green Grove?” Saki asked. Yuuko gasped. 

“You don’t know what Green Grove is?? It’s only the prettiest place on Earth!” 

“Yuuko.” Akane admonished softly. “Remember what we said about Saki-san?”

Eji spoke up, “That she doesn’t know anything because she was stuck in a cocoon?” 

“Some things. I said she doesn’t know some things. I can’t take you two anywhere, can I?” Akane shook her head. “Anyway, Rikka, I think you should take Saki to Green Grove.” 

Rikka blinked. “Me?” 

“Yep! C’mon, Rikka, you could use a vacation.”

“I won’t find any relaxation at Green Grove.” Rikka spat. “Are you kidding me? You know I hate it there!” 

“Well I can’t take her.” Akane countered. “Plus, maybe Anna knows something about where Mai is.”  

Rikka pursed her lips. It was true, Green Grove was the center of a lot of trade… and information. Anna was bearable but her wife… 

“But I hate it there.” Rikka said fully aware she was whining. Akane let out a little laugh and brushed a piece of hair out of her face. 

“Just for the day,” Akane said. “And then you can get those sugar candies as a reward.” 

“... Fine.” Rikka relented. It would be a good test of Saki’s PT. 

She turned to Saki, who was staring at them with a baffled expression. 

“You ready to go to the Red Light District of the apocalypse?” 

Saki gaped. “The what?” 

Green Grove was a city on the outskirts. It had been founded eight years ago, when a subsection of the Fae population defected from the Fae kingdom and joined the Precure. Rikka wasn’t there for that part, so she had no idea what it looked like at the beginning. 

As the world ended, Green Grove became something else. A safe haven for travelers. The Fae were creatures of nature, so they had more luck that others with growing food. As the city grew, resources became more scarce, but thanks to Lady Anna DuPaul’s wife, that problem was soon solved. 

Rikka shuttered just thinking about Anna’s wife. 

The city was lit entirely in lanterns, giving it’s titular red light appearance. Like Rikka’s commune, it technically was against the law. Cities were signifiers of connection to the One King, and therefore got to bask in his sun… for a price. Green Grove existed outside the main hierarchy because of one simple fact:

Green Grove was probably the last place on earth you could get good booze. 

Rikka explained all of this to Saki as they traveled to Green Grove. Surprising (or maybe not, considering the whole... cocoon thing.) Saki listened with rapt attention. 

Once they entered the city, Saki was much harder to tie down. Rikka understood, of course. Green Grove was gorgeous, illuminated by floating lanterns and candles. It was bursting at the seams with colors- firecrackers, graffiti, everything was celebrating color. 

There was, of course, the other side of Green Grove. People drinking themselves into a stupor. Rikka had to gently guide Saki away from an ally where she was 98% sure a couple was having sex. 

Green Grove was about celebrating the pleasures of life, in many ways. Rikka didn’t have to like all of them. 

Once they made it to Anna’s house, Rikka braced herself. It had been a while since she’d come here by herself. 

“What is your business here?” The guard asked. Rikka sighed.

“I’m Hishikawa Rikka. I’m here to see the Lady of the House.” 

“Hishikawa? Where’s your other half?” The guard joked. 

Rikka rolled her eyes as Saki mouthed the words ‘other half’. 

“Henri, we both know you know who I am. Let me in.” 

“This is a good bit!” Henri countered. “Akane loves it!” 

Akane had a broken sense of humor. Rikka did not say this. Regardless, Henri let Rikka and Saki in. 

“You know him?” Saki asked.

“Of course!” Rikka said. “We grow some of our crops to be sold here, bring them to the Ladies, and then get medical supplies or something similar. We’re not fully self-sufficient. Normally Akane travels here, though.” 

“I gathered.” Saki said. “Your… other half?”

“Why are you saying it like that?” 

Saki did not have a chance to answer as they entered the main hall. Rikka saw who was at the front and swore. 

Saki squinted. “Who’s that?”
“The wife.” Rikka said darkly. 

“Who is it?” The wife asked, not looking up from her papers. 

“Hishikawa Rikka.” Rikka replied. “And I bring a guest.”

“Ah, Hishikawa-san.” The wife turned. “You aren’t even going to introduce me?” 

“Oh motherfuc- Natsuki-san, it’s Saki-san!” 

“Natsuki-san…” Saki muttered. “Are you- RIN-SAN???”

“Saki? As in Hyuuga Saki?” Natsuki broke into a smile. “We thought you were dead!” 

Natsuki set down her paper and headed towards them. Rikka moved out of the way as Natsuki wrapped Saki in a huge hug. 

“Rin-san- what happened to you??!” Saki exclaimed. Rikka snorted. Out of all the Precure who fused with their magic source, Natsuki Rin was the most… flamboyant. 

Natsuki’s hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the very ends of which had transformed into flame. As if that wasn’t enough, Her whole left arm was a cacophony of fire, light and heat in the shame of an arm. Rikka preferred Akane’s glowing hair stick to this copycat. 

“What, has Hishikawa-san not explained fusion to you yet? For shame Hishikawa-san! For shame!” Natsuki said, never quite letting go of Saki. Saki gaped. 

“I mean, she has, but you- how- fire arm??” Saki said eloquently. Natsuki nodded in understanding. 

“Yes, yes, it is a lot to take in.” Natsuki said. “How long has it been since you woke up?”
“About two weeks.” Rikka reported. “She’s been recovering well.” 

Natsuki frowned and took Saki’s face in her hands. Rikka rolled her eyes. Trust Natsuki to doubt her medical expertise. 

“What’s wrong with her eye?” Natsuki asked. Saki flinched. 

“Nothing, except for its coloration.” Rikka told her. Natsuki narrowed her eyes. 

“I think we should get a faery’s opinion on that.” Natsuki turned to her guards. “Can you summon my wife?”

“Okay, um, gotta ask this- how did you get married to a faery???” Saki asked. “The ones we were apparently at war with too??” 

Natuski smiled at Saki. “Well, it is a very long story. But the short version is: she was sent to defeat me in battle, but I stole her heart. She defected and together we fought against the Fae King and won! All of this before the One King showed up, mind you. Once the world ended, it made no sense not to have our love be solidified in matrimony.”
“Right.” Saki said. “Cool. I definitely don’t have any follow up questions.” 

Saki did not get the chance to ask any of her follow up questions, however, as the Lady of the Swans, Anna DuPaul herself, had finally arrived. 

Anna DuPaul was deceptively beautiful, as many fae were. Her hair was silky smooth and almost iridescent, changing in between hues of purple, blue and pink as light hit it. She had embraced the night, wearing an evening gown with stars embroidered at the bottom. Her eyes, more than anything, marked her as fae. Her sclera was dark, near black, and her irises were a vibrant purple. 

She glided across the room to Natsuki, and the two shared a passionate embrace.
“What is it, mon coeur?” Anna asked. Natsuki relaxed slightly in her arms. 

“A friend of mine has just woken up from a terrible dream.” Natsuki said. “I want to make sure she’s okay.” 

“What?” Saki asked, her voice a whisper. 

“Just. Let them have this.” Rikka said, too tired to explain these weird ass flirting rituals. 

Anna turned her attention to Saki.   

“Hmm.” Anna walked up to Saki and stared. Saki, to her credit, only flinched a little. 

“You can still see out of this eye?” Anna asked. 

“Um. Yep.” Saki said. 

“I do believe it is superficial.” Anna said. Rikka glared at Natsuki. See? Rikka knew what she was talking about. 

“However,” Anna continued, “I can’t say for sure it will remain that way. I think we should take her to see Her Highness.” 

“We were going to do that anyway.” Rikka countered. “But she’s not ready to make that trip.”
“She is also right here!” Saki said. “And she would like someone to tell her what’s happening!”

Everyone paused. Rikka wished, once again, that it was Akane who was here and not her. 

“I’m sorry, Saki-san.” Rikka said. “You’re right. We shouldn’t have talked over you.”

Saki crossed her arms but spoke. “Who even is Her Highness and why are we going to go see her?” 

Rikka opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. Her Highness was a loaded topic. 

“Her Highness, the Fae Queen.” Anna eventually said. “She’s also the acting regent until the Princess comes of age.”

“What happened to the other guy- the Fae King? And why is she just the regent?” Saki asked. 

“The Fae King died a few years ago. The Fae Queen couldn’t claim the full title because she wasn’t born a faery. She’s human.” Anna explained. 

“Oh. Wow. And the reason I need to see her?” 

“When Her Highness married the Fae King, she had some… conditions.” Anna said. “The Precure who had been trapped in cocoons, when they were found and if they were still alive, deserved to have compensation for what happened to them. Money, food, magic items, almost anything as an apology for the time they lost.” 

Saki blinked. “That’s… insane. And he agreed?”

“Yep.” Rikka joined in. “Where do you think I got all my good medical supplies?” 

“Scrounged? I don’t know?” Saki hesitated before she spoke again. “Why did Her Highness care that much about the Precure?”
“Because she was one.” Natsuki said, her face carefully neutral. 

“Who?”

“Can’t say.” Natsuki said. 

“What?”
“No, I mean I literally can’t say her name.” Natsuki said. “She gave it up when she got married.”

“That’s… awful.” Saki said. 

“A lot of people had to make a lot of awful choices.” Rikka told her. “That’s been life for the past eight years. We just have to keep moving forward.” 

Saki looked distraught. Rikka felt terrible. They were trying to let her  into the loop slowly, so as to not overwhelm her. Eight years where so much had happened- Rikka had felt completely lost with just three years gone. But she had forgotten what it was like to be in Saki’s position: people you knew had changed in ways you didn’t- couldn’t understand and there was no way to get that time back. 

Rikka couldn’t deny wanting to shield Saki from some of the harsher truths. She didn’t want to tell her about the end of the Precure Resistance. She didn’t want to tell her about Hikari, or the Happiness Charge team, or god, the Strike Team. The Daylight Massacre. 

How that day changed everything. 

Saki would need to know. She deserved to know. But maybe Rikka was being selfish. Maybe Rikka didn’t want to be the one to tell Saki these things- force herself to relive some of the worst moments of her life. And she didn’t want Akane to have to tell her either. 

Akane, who had been at the forefront of every disaster. Akane, who held more grief in her chest than air. Akane, forced to be the sun in a world without one. 

And so Rikka closed her mouth and let Saki sit in the silence.

Chapter Text

They stayed in Green Grove for the rest of the day. Saki was hesitant to push anyone to talk about the past anymore- they seemed genuinely upset just talking about Her Highness. Saki understood, Her Highness (whoever she might be, although Saki had a few theories), seemed to have lived a super tragic life just to make sure the Precure were treated fairly. 

Still, though. Saki was filled to the brim with questions.

Rin took them to some of the shops in town (including the one that sold the sugar candy Rikka apparently loved so much), all the while chatting up a storm. 

In another life, it would’ve been great. 

But. 

But all Saki could focus on was how much she was lost. 

Seeing Rin again was a wonderful surprise. She and Mai had been super close to the Yes Precure team, as well as Honoka and Nagisa. She’d hung out with Rin one on one more times than almost anyone else outside of her own team. Seeing Rin not only surviving the apocalypse but thriving in it? It gave her hope. 

But it didn’t fix the pit in her stomach. 

Rin was happy- or as happy as one could be in a world with no sun. Rin had gotten married. Rin was in charge of a whole town. 

Rin hadn’t mentioned Nozomi once. 

Saki didn’t want to press- she’d seen the pained expressions Rin and Rikka had when talking about Her Highness. Even if Nozomi wasn’t Her Highness, something had clearly happened if Rin wasn’t talking about her. 

But it’s not like anyone was going to tell her anything without her pressing for it!! Someone was going to be uncomfortable!!

Saki was just… so tired of having to piece information together with scrapes. 

As Rin led Rikka to the store with the candy, Saki elected to stay outside. She had no desire to figure out how different candy was- or if she could even still count it as candy. 

Rikka entered the store, but Rin stayed back. 

“You doing okay?” Rin asked. 

“I’m fine.” Saki said. “It’s just… a lot. And I don’t know if I’ll ever catch up.”

Rin nodded. “A lot of your life was stolen from you. Frankly, you’re handling it way better than I would’ve.” 

“I don’t feel like I’m handling it well.” Saki admitted. “I’m so angry all the time.”
“You have a right to be angry.” Rin said. “We’re all angry at something, right now. But that doesn’t mean you should grieve what you’ve lost, or be furious at the injustice.”
“How are you so well adjusted in the apocalypse?” Saki asked. “Last time I saw you, I asked if you were mad at your team, and you said no, and then punched a tree so hard it broke a branch!”

Rin laughed. 

“Well, I’ve had eight years to grow.” Rin reminded her. “And Anna has been a huge factor in why I’m so… not angry. We remind each other what’s important.”

Rin paused, staring out to the market in front of them. 

“Plus,” Rin began, “I’ve been angry for a long time. And then this all happened and I was even more angry. The One King pissed me off more than anything- how dare he steal our future like this? But then I realized that there’s some things he can’t take away from me, no matter how hard he tries. He can’t take away my joy, my hope. I wouldn’t let him. I’d carve out a corner of the world where people could feel joy again, something he couldn’t take away no matter how hard he tried.” 

It was so different from the answer the Rin Saki knew would’ve given, but it was still Rin. Stubborn to her core, refusing to lose. 

“What… happened between you and Rikka?” Saki asked. It hadn’t gone unnoticed that the two of them were on a last name basis. Rikka even called Rin ‘the wife’ instead of her name.

Rin laughed. “Oh, Rikka thinks I’m a sell-out. That I gave up on the cause.” 

Saki blinked. From her point of view, all of them had given up. 

“But none of you are fighting back any more?” Saki pointed out. “How can she hold that against you?” 

“There’s more to resistance than fighting, Saki.” Rin said quietly. “Sometimes living is enough. But Rikka never got the chance to fight, so I won’t hold it against her to be mad at me that I stopped.” 

Saki thought Rikka was being super hypocritical , considering she was fine with Akane not fighting. More than fine with it, actually. But whatever. 

Rin spoke up again. “How much do you know, exactly, about us fighting back?” 

“Basically nothing. Akane told me we lost.” Saki said. Rin closed her eyes and sighed. 

“Right. We did.” Rin looked to the ground in quiet contemplation. 

“If there’s anything you want to ask me, go ahead. I’ll tell you whatever information you need.” Rin said. 

Saki blinked. Open and honest communication? FROM RIN? The world really had ended. 

“Do you know where Mai is?” Saki asked, the words forming before she even had a chance to speak. 

“I- not specifically. Last I heard, she was in the North with the rest of the remaining Precure.” Rin said. “Her Highness might have more information.” 

Another reason to meet Her Highness. But wait- what else did Rin say?
“The remaining Precure are in the North?” Saki questioned. Rin winced. 

“Right, so this is more complicated than it looks.” Rin said. “The Precure resistance had been fighting a war against the One King and losing for a long time. Once Akane fused with her magic- things changed. Priorities changed. Coco and Honoka and all the other leaders became convinced that fusion was the way to end the war. And from your end I suspect it looks glamorous and fun, but there’s a reason it took the sun being stolen to cause us to consider it. It’s dangerous, difficult, and can go wrong very easily. Around four years ago, something went incredibly wrong during one of these attempts, and it caused a massive storm to split the country into two pieces. Crossing it is high risk with limited reward, so communication is limited. Organization is limited. And it just solidified separation that was already happening. Anna and I had already taken over Green Grove, Her Highness had left years before, and Akane…” 

Rin trailed off. Saki decided to probe at the question that she knew wasn’t going to get answered by anyone else. 

“What about Akane?” Saki asked.

Rin looked at her sadly. “Akane lost a lot fighting the One King.” 

Saki waited for Rin to continue. Rin shifted uncomfortably. 

“When Akane showed us that fusion was possible and powerful, for many people it was like a spark of hope. A new chance. For Akane it was the nail in the coffin.” Rin eventually said. “Akane had been part of a Strike team, made up of all the Sun and Moon cures, because we learned their magic was most effective against the forces of the One King. They’d been at the front for a while, and one day leadership decided they were going to ambush one of the King’s Generals. I don’t know all the details- I wasn’t there. But what they told us- before anyone got back, was that during the battle, the sun shone. They had regained control of the sun- for a limited time, something like fifteen minutes. But it was something, and it was wonderful. And then only Akane came back.” 

Saki inhaled sharply. It was one thing to know that people were dead in an abstract sense. This was concrete.

Tsukikage Yuri. Myoudouin Itsuki. Kaguya Madoka. Amamiya Elena. All of them were dead. 

“Oh God.” Saki said. 

“They called it the Daylight Massacre.” Rin said. “And Akane kinda… stopped listening to the leadership after that. She did whatever she wanted. Mostly that involved saving civilians, starting that commune. But, yeah. Sorry Saki, your cocoon just happened to be on the side of Japan where all the defectors are.” 

Rin’s tone was joking, but her words weren’t. Saki was surrounded by people who’d been broken down and beaten, and had decided they couldn’t fight anymore. 

On one hand, Saki couldn’t blame them. On the other hand, Saki didn’t know what else she could do. Saki needed to fight, needed to find Mai and make the world right again. 

Whether the people around her joined her in that quest was up to them. 

Chapter Text

Her Highness woke up like any other day. The sky split open, and sunlight began to spill onto the city. It had been strange, getting used to a world with sunlight but no sunrise. She figured it was just another one of the One King’s reminders of his power. He gave them the sun, and could take it away. 

The palace, placed at the very center of the city, was the first to see the sun. Her Highness always woke up to see it. She had spent nearly two years in total darkness. She wanted to appreciate it when she had it. 

She wasn’t the only one who liked seeing the sun bath the city in light.

She heard the little feet before she saw them. 

“MAMA!!!” Tamiko screeched, diving into her bed. “THE SUN!!!!”

Her Highness pretended to roll over. This was her favorite part of the day. 

Tamiko climbed over her. “Mama! Mama wake up!”
Her Highness waited. Tamiko was too easy to trick. Tamiko pushed and prodded, but eventually seemed to consider that her mother wasn’t waking up. As soon as she felt Tamiko’s weight start to shift, scooting down the bed, she pounced. 

“What’s this I have here? A little princess, away from home?” Her Highness trapped Tamiko in a huge hug, Tamiko squealed, but melted into the embrace. 

As Tamiko calmed down, Her Highness took a moment to look at her daughter. Soon, they would both have to get up. Tamiko would have to go with her tutors, and she would have to go to meetings with advisors, trying to manage a kingdom that did not belong to her. 

Before her husband died, she had more time with Tamiko. Her job was ensuring the survival of the heir, not running the kingdom. She and Tamiko both had to adjust with the new arrangement. 

She hoisted Tamiko onto her hip and headed out to the balcony. 

“The sun, Mama.” Tamiko said, just as in awe as the day before. 

“I know.” Her Highness said. “Isn’t it wonderful?” 

The rest of the day progressed normally. Or, well, as normally as it could. She met with her advisors to talk about the increased demand for food in their ever growing city. They didn’t have enough to feed everyone, and what they imported from other cities never lasted very long.

Her Highness stared at maps for hours, trying to find a spot of land she could convince the One King they needed. If she had a place outside the city where she could grow food that could help make up some of their losses. 

Her people were starving. And she couldn’t do anything. 

The problem was, ultimately, that the city was overcrowded. This was a problem for every Sun City in the whole world. People flocked to them once the One King established only cities he sanctioned would have access to the sun. As far as she was aware, the only cities that existed outside of the One King’s rule were one’s like Green Grove, and the only reason the One King’s army hadn’t conquered it was because Green Grove was one of the few places on Earth that still created alcohol. 

Trade was also limited, due the moon being lost as well. The ocean transformed overnight and those who were once confident enough to brave the waters soon got lost, one by one. If you wanted anything from another continent, you had to be in the One King’s good graces. 

As stressful as this was, these were her normal problems now. She had to figure out how to remain in the One King’s favor, despite the fact that all she really wanted to do was spit in his face. 

She was not meant for the political life. Curse her stupid husband. Curse the fact that he got himself killed. 

Right after lunch, however, something changed. 

Her head of guard came up to her, explaining that the Lady of the Swans and her wife had requested an audience. Strange. Usually Anna and Rin requested meetings weeks in advance. It must’ve been something important. 

Her Highness canceled her next meeting and headed to the throne room. 

There were three people waiting for her. Two, she recognized immediately. Anna and Rin were frequent faces in court- they were the only trading partner who wasn’t technically under the jurisdiction of the One King. Rin in particular was incredibly popular (she was, by fae standards, an incredible catch. Anna had done some hard work to keep people away from flirting with her wife). 

The third, though. The third made her pause. She was young, in a way that Her Highness hadn’t seen in years. Young in spirit. Energetic, boundless. It reminded her of Tamiko. 

Moreover she looked familiar. Someone Her Highness had known before…

She locked eyes with the newcomer and it clicked. 

Saki . 

Saki seemed to recognize her too, if the way her mouth was agape was to be trusted. 

Saki attempted to speak. 

“N- na- m- why can’t I say your name?” Saki finally asked. 

Her Highness smiled. 

“Hello Saki. It’s wonderful to see you.” 

“When did YOU get so formal? Give me a hug!” Saki claimed. Her Highness felt something in herself snap, and she rushed into Saki’s embrace. 

It was exactly as she remembered. 

Her Highness remembered when Saki disappeared. She was a different person, then. Had a different name. Her Highness remembers spending weeks looking for Saki, only to be disappointed. 

She remembered when Mai was the only one convinced that Saki was still alive. 

“How are you alive?” Her Highness said through her shock. Saki shrugged. 

“We think it’s because she was in a single cocoon, by herself.” Anna said. “She wasn’t sharing the nutrients with anyone, and it allowed her to stay alive longer.”
As she’s looking at Saki, she can see the side effects of being trapped in that cocoon evident on Saki’s face. One of her eyes is a bright, violent green. As Her Highness looks at it, she can tell no magic she knows of is going to be able to change her eye back to normal. A permanent reminder of the time Saki had lost. 

“But!” Saki said, still smiling. “I’m back, baby! And I’m ready for… recompensation?” 

She turned to Rin as she said the last part, and Rin nodded. Her Highness understood. 

“Of course.” Her Highness gestured for the guards to give them space. “Walk with me Saki?” 

She and Saki began walking through the halls of the palace. Her Highness gave the spiel that all the other imprisoned Precure had received, years ago.
“We acknowledge that we lost the war against you all. We recognize that you have lost  something no one can truly give back. Whatever you desire, we will give it to you, if it is in our power.”

“That sounded… super scripted.” Saki said. Her Highness laughed. 

“It was! But it’s also binding. Whatever you want, you get. That’s the terms I made when I married in.”
“Was it a fun wedding?” Saki asked. Her Highness sighed.

“Not really. I didn’t know anyone or what I was getting into.” She lead Saki down to the weapons room. “Now, I know you are used to fighting as a Precure, but until you can find Mai, I suspect you would like some form of defense?”

“Oh my gosh.” Saki squealed. “Magic weapons?”

“Yep.”
“This is amazing. I have hated having to rely on Ak- I mean. Other people’s help.”
Her Highness caught the slip. Luckily, someone seemed to have told Saki that it was important not to mention Akane in her presence. 

If Her Highness knew anything about Akane, or even that people knew Akane, she’d have to report them to the One King.  

She really hated politics. 

Saki weaved her way through all the weapons, picking some up to test, and leaving others where they sat. Saki’s eye rested on a battle axe. 

“Na- gah.” Saki coughed. “Tried to say your name again. This sucks.” 

Her Highness agreed. 

Saki continued, “All these weapons are great, and I’m definitely taking one! But I also have some other requests.” 

“Of course.” Her Highness smiled. “What do you need?” 

“Mai. I need to know where Mai is.” Saki said, resolute, hand curling around the battle axe. “Please.” 

“Right. Anything else?”

“Um, maybe, how do I get to her once I know where she is? Or maybe tell me how to fuse with my magic so I can- I don’t know, be able to strengthen our connection?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, I can tell Mai’s alive- I can feel it, y’know, like a string pulling on my chest- but that's about it. I can’t tell where she is, or how I can find her. You know what I’m talking about, right? You and Honoka- I could’ve sworn you had the same thing.”

“I do.” Her Highness said, her voice quiet. She remembered exactly the feeling Saki was talking about. She remembered honing it, so that no matter where they were on the battlefield, she and Honoka could find each other. That constant pull, reminding her that no matter what, she wasn’t alone. 

But she gave that up with her name. 

“I can tell you where Mai is.” Her Highness finally said. “Take your pick of a weapon, and I’ll show you where she is.”

Saki brightened. She grabbed the battle axe with both hands and headed toward the door. Her Highness let out a breathy laugh. 

She led Saki to her chambers, where she kept the Orb. It was a wedding gift from her husband, a consolation prize. Or perhaps a cruel joke. Either way, it provided her the ability to check up on the people she loved. 

She guided Saki to her side and began picturing Mai in her head. It had been years since she’d seen Mai, so the image was a little foggy. But it would do.

Saki sat, fully attentive to what she could see in the orb. Her Highness took notice of what she could. 

Mai was dressed in all black and dark blues. In the dim light of her surroundings, it made her blend into the environment. She was carrying a large bag, and was in the middle of an argument. 

Saki gasped. 

“Mai.” She said, her voice breaking. Her Highness did not comment. 

Instead, she zoomed out. It was one thing to see Mai, prove that she was alive. It was another to find her exact location. Her Highness closed her eyes and saw the map appear. 

Quickly, she grabbed a piece of paper and sketched out what she had seen. 

“Here.” She said. “This should lead you to Mai.”

Saki nodded. “What about the giant storm? I love my new magic axe, but I don’t think that’s going to be good enough to get through that.” 

Her Highness paused. There were two obstacles embedded into crossing the storm. First, the creature causing it. Second, the guardian.  

“You’ll have to rely on others.” Her Highness said, hoping Saki would understand. Saki’s eyes widened and she nodded again.  

If Saki could convince Akane to cross the barrier, this could be the catalyst for something much bigger than a reunion. Akane had been avoiding conflict with the One King, and understandably so, but if Saki could push her out of hiding then… 

Her Highness remembered the Daylight Massacre. She remembered the soul crushing grief, remembered where the bodies were buried, remembered how she became obsessed with checking in with the Orb for weeks, paranoid that the same fate would befall anyone else. Befall Honoka. 

But before all that, before anyone knew the cost, she remembered sunlight . Uncontrolled, unfiltered sunlight, covering the world in warmth for the first time in years. She remembered her husband turning to her and saying, 

“That son of a bitch does have a weakness.” 

And goddamn, if she wasn’t going to whatever she could to exploit that. 

When Saki went to leave, Her Highness pulled Anna aside privately. 

“If Saki goes to the Storm Wall, I think you and Rin should help escort her. And if she and any of her companions make it through, you come back right away and let me know.”
“You have a plan?” Anna asked. 

“I have something. But most importantly, I have hope.” Her Highness felt herself grin despite herself. “And the promises of an Oracle.” 

Anna smirked. 

“Alright, Your Highness. I trust you.” 

Her Highness couldn’t ask for anything else. 

Chapter Text

Akane was waiting for them when they got back. 

Honestly, the whole day had felt like a convoluted drop-off, pick-up for Saki. Rikka took her to Green Grove. Rin took her to Her Highness. Rin brought her back to Green Grove. Rikka brought her back to the commune. 

Saki ached for the times where the people she cared about weren’t so far apart. When she didn’t have to go through hoops to find an old friend. 

Seeing Her Highness hurt more than she thought it would. Not being able to say her name got under Saki’s skin in a way she hadn’t predicted. It was all worth it, though. Knowing Her Highness was alive was great- knowing where Mai was was just the cherry on top. 

So Saki forced all those uncomfortable feelings down and focused on the positives. She knew where Mai was. She just had to convince Akane to take her. 

And, as luck would have it, Akane was already waiting for them. 

“You were out for a while.” Akane said, taking Rikka into her arms. “How’s your leg?”
“Fine.” Rikka said. “You don’t need to carry me, Akane.”
“Hmm.” Akane said, but didn’t put Rikka down. “Saki-san? How are you doing?”
“I’m great!” Saki said, forcing her face into a smile. “Rin took me to see n-hgdg- Her Highness!” 

Akane paused. 

“That’s a lot of traveling for one day.” Akane eventually said. 

“They wanted her to check out Saki-san’s eye.” Rikka said. “She’s fine, by the way. Like I said in the beginning.”
Akane rolled her eyes fondly. 

“So you finally meet Her Highness?” Akane turned to Saki. Saki nodded. 

Akane set Rikka down on a cot. 

“Stay.” She said sternly. Rikka waved her off. Akane sighed and then continued. 

“Saki-san, come with me.”

Saki followed her, confused. Akane in general confused her. Talking to Rin had cleared some stuff up, but not everything. 

In her memory, Akane was never so… passive. Admittedly, Saki wasn’t that close to Akane. Maybe this quiet part of Akane was something she shared with the people she was close to. 

For the billionth time today, Saki wished the other Precure were here to help her. Maybe if the Smile Precure team was complete, Akane would still be fighting. Wouldn’t be so resigned. 

Saki was a little too scared to ask what happened to them. 

Akane took her to a part of the mall that used to be full of small businesses. Akane entered a former shoe store, and Saki followed her. 

Akane went behind the counter and opened up the cash register. She handed a small piece of paper to Saki. 

“When she got married, Anna warned us that we would lose her name.” Akane said, her voice soft. “She told us to write it down.” 

Saki looked down at the paper, and saw Misumi Nagisa written in messy handwriting. 

Akane continued. “When you’re looking at that, you can think of it. Say it. But only when you’re looking at it.” 

Saki forced herself to memorize the characters of Nagisa’s name, trying to preserve the lines in her memory. 

Oh, Nagisa. She had given up all of herself, and for why? 

“Nagisa. Misumi Nagisa.” Saki said out loud, just to see if she could. Akane leaned back against the wall, and let Saki continue to yell Nagisa’s name out to the void. 

“Nagisa you fucking IDOIT!” Saki screeched. “How is a magic axe worth anything? What about you?! How is this fair?!” 

The emotions bubbled up through her throat and she found herself choking on sobs, clenching the piece of paper close to her chest. 

Akane walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“I’m sorry.” Akane said. “She isn’t dead, but we lost her still. It sucks. You’re allowed to be upset.”

“Lost her? She gave herself up! And Rin is selling booze to the fucker who stole the sun! And you- you and Rikka are just sitting here doing NOTHING! Who would’ve thought- Hino Akane, the girl who smiles like the sun- rolled over and let the world die!” 

Saki knew the worlds were too cruel even as she said them. But- but how dare they? They had the chance to fight- the sheer power- and look at them! Akane had the power of the sun flowing through her veins and she chose to what? Hide out in an abandoned mall?

Saki tried to yell some more, but as the sobs racked her body, she could only swat at Akane in protest. Akane didn’t move, didn’t yell back, even as Saki punched her in the chest in anger. Akane wrapped her arms around Saki, even as Saki struggled. Akane was much stronger than her, and held her without so much as a flinch.

Akane’s arms were warm and steady. Saki found herself relaxing despite herself. She dropped her arms down, and just sobbed into Akane’s embrace. 

“Why did you just give up?” Saki asked, once she’d recovered her voice. “Why is everything so broken?”

Akane didn’t say anything. 

“You still aren’t going to tell me anything? Her Highness was more willing to talk to me, and she literally couldn’t tell me her name! Rin would answer my questions too, not just vague brushoffs! Thanks to them, I actually know where Mai is!” 

This got Akane’s attention.

“Seriously?”
“Her Highness even drew up a map for me!” Saki dug around in her pockets and pulled out the map. Akane observed it quietly. 

“Mai’s across the barrier.” Akane said, her voice pitiful. “How do you plan on getting across?” 

“With your help.” Saki said. 

Akane froze. 

“I can’t do that.” 

“Why not? What else are you doing?” 

“Saki. Seriously. You don’t want me to go with you.”
“Actually, I 100% do, because it seems like you’re the most powerful person I know right now. Her Highness even agreed with me!”
“You talked to her about me?” Akane sounded panicked. Saki remembered the lecture Rin had given her before she met Her Highness. 

“Not explicitly! But we both knew who we were talking about.”
Akane relaxed slightly. 

“What’s all this yelling about?” Rikka’s voice cut through the room. 

“Rikka.” Akane jumped up and ran to her. “You should be resting.” 

“I know my limits.” Rikka replied. “What is this all about?” 

“Her Highness told me where to find Mai.” Saki said. “And I need Akane’s help to cross the storm wall and find her.”
Rikka’s eyes widened. She looked at Akane. 

“I can’t, Rikka.” Akane said, her voice broken. 

“You can. You have to.” Rikka said. “Akane, think about it. Saki and Mai are the only duo left. This could be our chance to have a pair of fusion-”
“Oh, because that went so well last time?” Akane shot back. 

“Akane. Listen to me.” Rikka grabbed Akane’s shoulders. “Saki and Mai are not Hibiki and Kanade. They’ve always been the most in-sync. Akane. We could get the sun back.”

“It’s too risky.” Akane told her. 

“Then go to the Oracle.” Rikka said. “Be extra prepared.”
“If I die-” Akane paused, the words stuck in her throat. “If I die, you all can’t live here anymore.”
“If you don’t try, we’ll die here.” Rikka said. 

“Akane, please.” Saki begged. “We can even ask Rin-san for help!”

The dual power of Saki and Rikka’s arguments made an impact. Akane deflated, resigned. 

“Alright. But we’ll go to the Oracle first. And we’ll ask Rin for help.” Akane told them. Rikka smiled, her entire face lighting up. Saki felt her legs give out beneath her.

They were going to find Mai. 

Rikka went to contact Rin, while Akane took Saki to this “Oracle”. 

Saki had been so caught up in trying to convince Akane to act that she hadn’t even stopped to question who that was. 

Akane was content to walk there in silence, and frankly Saki was willing to let her. She was still kinda pissed at Akane. 

Akane took them to a nook in the woods. As Akane brushed past some of the foliage, Saki found her voice. 

“Who’s this Oracle person?” Saki asked. 

“What’s left of Hikari Kujo.” Akane replied, her voice ice cold. Saki froze. 

“What?” 

Akane didn’t answer, just pulled back the rest of the leaves to reveal Hikari. 

Hikari was floating, her eyes closed. Her hands by her sides, unnaturally still. Hikari had never been a hyper person, but she had her nervous ticks. Saki had never seen Hikari that still before. 

“Hikari?” Saki whispered. Akane walked in front of her, stopping just before Hikari. 

“Oh heavenly Oracle,” Akane said, “could you gift us lowly travelers some information to aid us in our journey?” 

Hikari’s eyes shot open. Suddenly, she had not one head, but three. They spoke in unison. 

“ LONE STAR. YOUR MOVEMENT ACROSS THE SKY CAN CHANGE A NAVIGATOR’S COURSE.” 

“She says this to me almost every time I come.” Akane said to Saki. “You go. You have to start with, ‘oh heavenly oracle’. She doesn’t respond to anything else.”

Saki nodded. 

“Oh heavenly Oracle, could I… get some help? Learn if I can see Mai again? Save the world? All that good stuff.” 

“LOST LITTLE MOONBEAM. YOU DESIRE TO CONTROL THE TIDES, BUT HAVE NO POWER OF YOUR OWN. CROSS THE STORM. FACE THE DARKNESS AND EMBRACE THE TRUTH BURIED IN YOUR TONGUE.” 

“What?” Saki asked. Akane placed her hand on Saki’s shoulder. 

“You’re not gonna get much else outta her, Saki.” Akane told her. 

Akane led Saki out of the nook and back to the mall. 

“What happened to her?” Saki asked. 

“That’s what can happen when fusion goes wrong.” Akane replied. “But she told you to cross the storm. That means there’s something important that happens if you go.” 

“So we should go? Right now?” Saki pushed. Akane sighed. 

“When Rin responds.” 

Rin responded quickly. She and Anna would help them cross the storm. 

Rikka packed a bag for both Saki and Akane. Rikka would be staying back, to make sure the commune kept running. 

Before they left, Saki had to watch Akane and Rikka say goodbye. They held each other and took a while to pull away. 

“What are they?” Saki muttered under her breath.

“Co-dependent.” An older woman said. Saki jumped in surprise, but soon found herself sharing a look with this woman.

Rin and Anna arrived soon after and they were off. 

Traveling with Rin, Anna, and Akane was… interesting. Rin and Anna were incredibly sappy. Akane was reserved, but polite. Saki was just confused, although that wasn’t new. 

Rin and Akane seemed to get along well enough. Much better than Rikka and Rin anyway. 

Anna… was a wildcard that Saki couldn’t quite understand. She and Akane shared a sense of humor, which was surprising, but Saki had no idea what to expect with Anna. And maybe that was better. To have no past version of someone to compare them too. 

Eventually, though, they made it to the storm barrier.

“Everyone, be careful.” Akane said. “The storm itself is only part of the problem.” 

The storm was beautiful, in a way. The way the light shifted inside the clouds was mesmerizing and Saki found herself lost in it. 

So she was shocked when a gunshot echoed through the forest. 

“Fuck.” Rin said. “She’s here.” 

Saki was about to ask who ‘she’ was, when a figure stepped out of the storm. A woman, tall, lean, and with multiple guns on her person. 

“My eyes better be going.” The figure spoke. “Because that better not be Hino fucking Akane trying to enter my territory.” 

Saki recognized the voice, but couldn’t place it. The figure lifted her head, and Saki’s heart dropped. The storm shifted again, revealing a giant face screaming. Multiple limbs flailed around and Saki abruptly realized that this storm was being caused by that- that thing. 

But more importantly. 

“Kanade-san?” Saki whispered. The woman (Kanade???) appeared to be reloading her gun. 

“Yep.” Rin confirmed. “And that is all that remains of the woman who used to be known as Hibiki Hojo.” 

The creature- Hibiki- roared. Kanade held up her gun again. 

“I’ll say this again.” Kanade shouted. “That better not be Hino fucking Akane !” 

Chapter Text

FOUR YEARS AGO

The Strike Team had been gone for a while. Kanade was getting anxious. 

“Calm down.” Hibiki said, dropping down next to her. “When have they ever failed on a mission? Yuri wouldn’t lead them wrong.” 

“Of course.” Kanade said. “It’s just- normally they’d be back by now.”

Hibiki paused, because she knew that Kanade was right. The Strike Team was called that for a reason- they struck fast and hard. They didn’t stay away from the base for longer than necessary. 

And this mission was important. They were targeting one of the One King’s generals. This could change the course of the war. 

Unfortunately, that meant the rest of the Precure were stuck at the base. Doing small recon missions, training. Waiting for Coco or Honoka to put them on the battlefield. 

They weren’t as effective as the Strike team, and everyone knew it. Their magic didn’t impact the monsters as well, they needed more people to purify the earth, all kinds of stuff. And now, simply, the Strike Team had more experience. They outclassed almost everyone- except maybe Honoka and her old partner. Y’know. Before that partner left. 

So Kanade was stuck waiting. 

“Are they back yet?” Rikka asked as she entered the room. Kanade shook her head. 

“What, miss them already?” 

Rikka rolled her eyes. “Erika came back from her last mission with a bad sprain. I wanted to inform Yuri and Itsuki.”
“Is she gonna be okay?”
“She’ll be fine. As long as she doesn't overuse it.” Rikka plopped down next to Kanade. “Did you guys find any more medicine on your last run?”
Hibiki shook her head, apologetic. 

“I think Rin said her girlfriend was working on making some?” She offered. Rikka scoffed. 

“Rin’s girlfriend can grow plants. Does she know how to make penicillin? No.” 

Kanade hummed in agreement. 

Before the conversation could continue, Nozomi came running into the room. 

“Girls!” She screamed. “Come outside!” 

Confused, they all got up and followed Nozomi. 

When they made it outside, Kanade was immediately blinded. It was bright, brighter than it had been in four years. 

“Oh my god.” Hibiki breathed out. Kanade couldn’t even say anything. 

She could hear other Precure making it outside- Rikka had even gone to the medbay and had someone carry Erika outside- but she wasn’t focused on them. 

The sun. Light, warmth. Life. 

The Strike Team had won. 

Kanade felt joy bubbling up through her chest, an emotion she hadn’t felt in years. 

“FUCK YEAH!” She screeched. The other Precure began to joy in. A cacophony of screams of joy, of sobs, of laughter echoed through the base. 

Then 15 minutes after the sun reappeared, it was gone again. 

It was hard to describe the devastation that Kanade felt when she was forced back into that darkness. It was overwhelming, and only something Honoka said kept her from collapsing right then and there. 

“He lost control of the sun.” Honoka said. “Maybe he got it back- but he lost it. And he can lose it again.” 

So the Precure picked themselves up and made it back inside with a renewed hope. 

And Kanade began to wait again. She needed to know what the Strike Team did, how they wrestled control away from the One King. 

Rin and her girlfriend rushed over to the base. Rin had been spending more time over at Anna’s place, Green Grove, and boy was it causing tension within the Yes Precure team. But today, even Karen welcomed Rin with open arms. Everyone’s spirits were high.

“You should really go back to the medbay.” Rikka told Erika. Erika laughed. 

“And miss the Strike Team’s homecoming? Are you crazy?” 

For the first time in four years, the Precure sat in a room and chatted about hope- about what they would do when they got their lives back. Kanade had a smile on her face she couldn’t get rid of, nor would she try. 

Miyuki was practically bouncing off the walls. Sora and Mashiro were in a corner, whispering sweet nothings to each other. And Mai… 

Well, Mai was in a corner by herself. 

“You doing okay?” Kanade asked. Mai nodded. 

“Yep. Just missing Saki.” 

Kanade nodded in understanding. She held her arms out for a hug and Mai took it. 

Today, Kanade thought, was a good day. 

Then someone knocked on the door. It was the secret knock, to make sure only people who could be trusted could enter the base. 

“It’s them!” Komochi screeched with joy. That’s how you knew it was good, even Komochi was yelling! 

Erika insisted on answering the door. Reika and Saaya followed Rikka’s instructions as they helped Erika over to the door. 

“Welcome back heroes!” Erika said, swinging the door open. 

Kanade shoved herself forward. She needed to see-

There was one person in the doorway. And she was covered in blood. 

Hino Akane. 

Erika froze. Akane pushed forward. 

Kanade got a better look at her. Akane was just covered in blood- she was glowing. Her hair was emitting light and heat in equal measure, and the parts of her body not covered in blow were shining as well. Down to her- well, not her fingertips. Her hands were completely covered in blood, and it looked like her hands had been torn up terribly. 

“Akane-chan.” Miyuki said quietly. 

“Akane, I think you should head to the med-bay-” Rikka said. Akane began to laugh. 

“What’s med-bay going to do for me, Rikka?” Akane said, voice horse. “What’s it going to do for any of us?”

“Akane.” Hikaru spoke up. “Where are the others?” 

Akane began to sob. 

Rikka took Akane to the med-bay. Before she passed out, she told them that everyone else was dead. She said something about burying them, about avenging them, but it wasn’t coherent enough to gain any solid information. 

Kanade was back to waiting. Waiting for Akane to wake up, and tell them what happened. Waiting to find out why she was still glowing. 

Luckily, she didn’t need to wait for Akane to wake up to learn the answer to that last question.

Coco and Blue had run some diagnostics. They retreated to a meeting with all the other Precure fairies, speaking in hushed tones about what had happened to Akane. 

When they returned, Blue had a determined look on his face. He summed all the Precure, and began to explain what happened. 

“As Precure, there’s a certain limit of magic you can use.” He began. “That’s why we often have you work in teams, so you as a group can control more magic than any one person. Humans are not naturally in tune with magic, so filtering and limiting it like this allows you to use it without it killing you. Today, Akane blew past that limit. It’s similar to that idea of hysterical strength- Akane’s emotions were running so high that her body ignored all signs of distress and pushed forward.”
“Is she going to die?” Miyuki asked, her voice quiet. Blue shook his head. 

“No, she’s not. I don’t know how, but by exceeding her limit Akane- connected with the source of her magic somehow. She’s fused with it. The power of the sun gifted to her by being a Precure is now a part of her. She controls part of the sun.”
“That’s how the One King lost control.” Honoka realized. “This- this changes everything.”
Blue nodded. 

“And we think anyone can do it.” Blue continued. “If you are a Precure, you have the ability to fuse with your magic. If we have enough warriors with that kind of power, we could storm the One King’s stronghold and win.” 

The room fell silent, the weight of Blue’s words rushing over them. Blue had not spoken this much since the Happiness Charge team was found dead in their cocoon. 

Hibiki grabbed Kanade’s hand. Kanade squeezed it. 

“How do we do it?” Hibiki asked. 

Before Blue could respond, another voice spoke up. 

“Are you sure that it is safe?” Anna said. “Humans are not meant to hold that much magic. Yes, Akane survived, but that does not mean others will.” 

Kanade felt herself tense up. Anna wasn’t a Precure, wasn’t even one of the Precure fairies. But Anna was magic, knew magic better than anyone, and Rin trusted her. 

“Under better circumstances I would say you are right.” Blue said. “However, right now, we can’t afford to be careful. We’ve lost so many people as it is.” 

Blue wasn’t wrong, although Kanade still felt uneasy. They still had no idea how Akane had managed to fuse with her magic, after all. 

When Akane woke up, she was bombarded with questions. Kanade wasn’t there, but she heard Rikka’s rant about it. 

“And then Honoka had the audacity to suggest that Akane should go back to the front lines! Her hands are still covered in open wounds! Does she want Akane to get an infection? Does she want me to have to amputate her hands? I understand wanting to know what happened, but she just woke up! They’re taking it too far.” 

Kanade just nodded and made noises of agreement when needed. Rikka just needed to rant. 

After Akane woke up, something shifted. Suddenly everyone was focused on fusing with their magic. Akane wouldn’t- or couldn’t- tell them exactly how she’d managed it, but it was all anyone was talking about. 

One day, Coco called Kanade and Hibiki into the war room. 

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it.” Coco said, his voice harsh. It had been harsh since the day Nutts had disappeared. “We can’t beat the One King as it stands right now.”
Hibiki winced, but Kanade knew Coco was building up to something. 

He continued, “Fusion is our only option. And, as you two are aware, duos are more powerful than solo Precure.” 

“So we’ll have to fuse together.” Kanade realized. Coco nodded. 

“We’re going to try to have other people fuse first, just to make sure we know how to do it properly. But as soon as possible, we’ll need you two to fuse.” 

“What if we find Saki?” Hibiki asked. 

Coco looked at her blankly. 

“If Saki’s alive, then yes, we’ll have her and Mai fuse with their magic too. But you two are the only duo left.” 

And that was that. 

In the end, Rikka figured out fusion first. It made sense. She was the one tending to Akane, the one who interacted with her the most. Akane seemed to trust Rikka implicitly, even more so than her own team. Kanade was not there when Rikka exploded in light, the air freezing around her. She was there for the aftermath. 

Almost immediately, she and Akane were sent out on missions. Akane was barely healed, and Rikka hadn’t seen combat in years, but that didn’t matter. The sheer power they radiated was enough for the fairies to decide to send them out alone. 

Kanade attempted to talk to Honoka about this. Honoka shut her down. 

“It is what’s best for all of us.” She said. 

The first mission was a huge success. Entail gained, supplies found. But almost immediately after that, Akane started to disobey orders. 

She started to bring back civilians. 

“We can’t keep civilians here!” Coco had hissed at her. Akane glared at him.

“So you would rather me leave them to starve?”

Rikka too, began to act independently. She would sneak out without permission, experiment with her and Akane’s abilities, and even began repurposing an old mall to help house all the civilians Akane was bringing back. 

From Kanade’s perspective, it seemed a little bit like arrogance. Not that she’d say that, of course. But they had the power of gods in their hands. Who wouldn’t get a little cocky? 

Then. Then one day Hikari fused.  And when she came out the other side she was wrong. 

Honoka had been pushing her hard. She’d been pushing everyone hard. Hikari was trying more than anyone to- well. Kanade suspected she just wanted to see Honoka smile again. 

But when Hikari opened her eyes, they weren’t hers anymore. 

Akane was out when Hikari fused. When she returned, saw what Hikari had become, she and Honoka entered a screaming match that seemed to shake the foundations of their base. 

Kanade overheard some of it. 

“If you were here- if you were helping us understand how fusion works, we wouldn’t be in this mess!” Honoka screamed.

“She wasn’t ready and you knew that! This isn’t a cure-all! And I’m trying to save people! Y’know, the whole point of being a Precure?” Akane shot back. 

“So are we! By defeating the One King!” Honoka yelled. “Yuri would’ve understood.”
“YURI’S DEAD!” Akane shouted. “SHE’S DEAD BECAUSE YOU COULDN’T UNDERSTAND THAT WE’VE ALREADY LOST!” 

Kanade left after that. 

Despite what happened to Hikari, the push for fusion continued. Coco, Blue, the other fairies, and even Honoka were insistent this was the only way forward. Akane refused to speak to Honoka after their fight, and grew increasingly resistant to the orders of leadership. 

Kanade couldn’t help but think that if Akane just did what leadership wanted, they’d leave the rest of them alone. They’d have a new Strike Team who could do all the dirty work, all the hard missions. And the rest of them could continue waiting for something to happen. 

Maybe Kanade was selfish. She didn’t want to fight in this war anymore- not in the way Akane had. Maybe she was just scared. 

Ellen and Ako were gone. They had gone to Major Land to seek help and had not been seen since. Kanade wasn’t stupid. She knew what that meant. 

She couldn’t lose Hibiki too. 

Kanade didn’t know how Akane survived it, that ever present grief that tainted every moment. Kanade felt she was slowly being crushed under the weight of it. 

But she also knew she had a duty. So when Honoka summoned her and Hibiki to the war room once again, Kanade pushed down all her doubts and prepared to fuse with the source of her magic. 

Coco had figured out a way to increase the amount of magic they used. After that, it was just a matter of luck. 

Honoka nodded at them and they grabbed each other's hands. Kanade felt the familiar rush of transforming. Slowly Coco began to increase the magical output. 

It didn’t hurt at first. Then it brought Kanade down to her knees. Underneath the pain, though, there was something else. If Kanade could reach out-

Suddenly, Hibiki began to seize up. Honoka shouted at Coco to stop, but it was too late. Kanade turned her attention to Hibiki, trying to calm her down. 

Hibiki locked eyes with Kanade. 

“Help me.” She whispered. 

Before Kanade could respond, Hibiki’s arm snapped, ripping their hands apart. It cracked in half, bone exposed, before splitting into multiple pieces. 

Kanade could only watch in horror as Hibiki transformed into a monster. 

“We need to evacuate.” Honoka said, but Kanade was only half listening. 

“Hibiki!” She screeched. She tried to reach out, but Hibiki’s arms were mutilated, flailing around with no direction. Honoka grabbed her and ran. 

Hibiki began to grow in size, spikes growing from her spine that destroyed the ceiling. There were shouts of fear. 

“Hibiki!” Kanade shouted, desperate. 

Hibiki turned to look at her, but her face was no longer her own. Her eyes widened and began to glow, her mouth filling with rows of sharp teeth. Storm clouds formed around her. 

Honoka eventually dropped Kanade, as she shouted at everyone to evacuate. Kanade kept her eyes on Hibiki, who was destroying more of the base every time she moved. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an orange blur move past.

Kanade had a full view of Akane tackling Hibiki, pinning her down like- like she was one of the One King’s creations. 

“NO!” She shouted. “Don’t hurt her! Hibiki!” 

Akane heard her and turned to her with a shocked expression. Kanade felt rage course through her veins. How dare she look so shocked. How dare she not realize what was going on. She was the one who started this!

“We need to go, now!” Honoka said, but Kanade didn’t care what she said. Kanade picked herself off the ground and began to run towards Hibiki, shouting her name the whole way. 

By the time she made it to Hibiki, the storm had expanded, separating her from the Precure who were evacuating. 

But not Akane. 

“That’s Hibiki?” Akane said, still holding her down. 

“Of course that’s Hibiki!” Kanade shouted at her. “Let her go.”
“... Kanade, are you sure that’s a good idea.” Akane asked. Kanade furry boiled to the surface. 

“Hibiki would never hurt me. Get. The Fuck. Away from her.”

“Kanade, can you tell me what happened?” 

“Weren’t you listening?” Kanade grabbed a shard of glass and held it in front of Akane. Trying not to shake, she continued. “She fused with her magic. Now get away from her.” 

Akane released Hibiki and began to walk away. 

“Kanade-”

“GO!” She shouted. “Before you make anything else worse!” 

Akane stared at her for a second before disappearing into the woods. Kanade collapsed next to Hibiki, who was making sounds Kanade could only assume were sobs. 

Kanade turned to look Hibiki in her eyes. Hibiki opened her mouth and only a groan came out. Kanade leaned her head onto Hibiki’s forehead. Hibiki relaxed into the touch. 

“I am going to figure out who to fix this.” Kanade swore. “And I am going to destroy anyone who did this to you.”

Starting with Hino fucking Akane. 

Chapter Text

Saki shouldn’t have been surprised. Everyone she had been reunited with had been transformed by the apocalypse. Still, seeing Kanade, sweet, loving, Kanade, holding a gun at them was not something she expected. 

“Kanade, we’re just trying to pass through.” Akane spoke up. Bad choice. Kanade immediately shot at her again. 

“Told you you didn’t want me here.” Akane muttered just loud enough for Saki to hear. “I’ll deal with Kanade, you guys try to get past Hibiki, okay?”
Rin and Anna nodded, but Saki hung back. 

“You too, Saki.”
“Me? I have a magic axe I can barely use!”

“Okay, your choice. Use it to attack the girl with tons of guns or the giant glowing target.” 

“... Fine.” 

Saki followed Rin and Anna. 

Hibiki- or at least, the monster with her name- charged. One of her arms pinned Rin down immediately, and Saki abruptly realized she should have practiced with her magic axe before strong-arming Akane into taking her on this cursed road trip. 

She swung the axe instinctively. The blade of the axe detached, leading Saki’s head to sink. 

“Oh no.” She said, as Hibiki’s gaze turned to her. 

The axe then began to glow, and it yanked Saki away as Hibiki tried to grab her. 

“Ah, I see you picked the grappling axe!” Anna yelled. “Good choice!”

Saki took a better look at her axe and saw the blade was still connected to the handle through a collection of glowing, yellow chains. They were warm to the touch. 

Hibiki roared and went to swat at her again. Anna grabbed Hibiki’s arm with a collection of vines. 

Saki used that distraction to send her blade into a tree, trying to get a better view of the land. The chains contracted, pulling her up. 

Saki saw Rin, still pinned down. 

“I’ll get you Rin!” She cried, but Rin waved her off. Rin closed her eyes, focused. Just then, small red fires (similar to the lanterns in Green Grove) appeared all around Hibiki. Hibiki, still wrestling with Anna, did not seem to notice. Saki watched as Rin disappeared from Hibiki’s grip and appeared where one of the fires was. 

“I’ll distract her, you hold her down!” Rin yelled to Anna. 

“Got it!” Anna shouted back. Hibiki was breaking free of the vines. 

Saki had an idea- a crazy idea, but an idea. 

She summoned her chains, and threw her blade to one side of Hibiki’s legs. With as much courage as she could muster, she jumped off the tree to the other side of Hibiki’s legs. As Rin distracted her, Saki ran around Hibiki, wrapping her legs in the chains. Once she got to the other side, she grabbed her blade and pulled, tightening the chains. 

Hibiki let out a screech, and fell to the floor. Anna took this opportunity to wrap Hibiki in vines, holding her down just a little. 

Saki caught a glance of Kanade and Akane’s fight. Akane was jumping around, dodging Kanade’s bullets with ease, but Kanade wasn’t slowing down. 

Then, Kanade turned and saw Hibiki. 

“Hibiki!” She screamed. She shot a bullet through Anna’s vines, freeing Hibiki. Saki tried to tighten the chains again, but now Hibiki’s ire was on her. She felt frozen. 

Rin fire-teleported next to her, grabbing her before Hibiki could crush her. Saki clutched her axe close, and the chains disappeared, turning the axe back to its normal state. Rin tossed Saki into a tree before going back to help Anna. 

Kanade rammed into Rin before she could get very far. 

“Kanade-san!” Saki screamed. “Stop!” 

Kanade turned to see Saki. 

“Saki-san?” She asked. Her eyes narrowed. “You’re taking her to Mai. You’re taking her to fuse with Mai.” 

“Kanade-” Rin said. Kanade hit her in the face with the back of her gun. 

“Shut the fuck up. Don’t defend yourself.” Kanade growled. “You goddamn, worthless, piece of shit, sell out. I didn’t know you could stoop any lower.” 

Kanade pointed her gun at Rin. Rin’s eyes widened.

“Kanade, DON’T-” Saki shouted. Kanade pulled the trigger. 

Anna screamed- a sound echoed in Saki’s heart. She blinked, tears in her eyes, and saw Akane, standing in front of Rin. Rin was breathing frantically, but was alive. 

“Oh, fuck you Hino Akane.” Kanade said. She shot at Akane again. Akane didn’t move. Saki gasped, and she and Kanade had the same realization.

“She’s melting the bullets.” Saki whispered. “Kanade, c’mon, this isn’t a fight you can win!” 

“Saki-san, you don’t have a damn clue what’s going on!” Kanade responded. “Now move out of the way, Akane, I’m killing you last.” 

Kanade held up her gun again, but this time Akane didn’t give the opportunity to shoot. In the blink of an eye, Akane grabbed Kanade’s gun and bent it out of shape. Kanade dropped it and tried to reach for another one, but Akane grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground. 

“Kanade.” She said, her voice cold. “I understand why you hate me, and I don’t blame you. But don’t you ever forget that the reason you live is because I let you.” 

She threw Kanade onto the ground. She walked past Rin, who was still in shock, and right to Hibiki, who was still chasing Anna around. 

It became clear to Saki, then, that she had no idea how powerful Akane truly was. 

Akane jumped up and grabbed Hibiki by the neck. Hibiki yelled out in pain, but every time one of her many limbs tried to rip Akane off of her, she flinched back, as if she’d been burned. Akane then forced Hibiki’s head to the ground. 

The impact knocked Saki from the tree.

She managed to catch herself by using her grappling axe. When the dust cleared, Hibiki was down. 

Kanade managed to force herself up and run to Hibiki. 

“I didn’t kill her.” Akane said as Kanade glared at her. “She’ll be out for a while, though.” 

Anna jumped down to Rin and picked her up. 

“I think that’s as far as we can go.” Anna said. “We still have a town to look after.” 

“Thanks for bringing us this far.” Akane said. “Saki?” 

“I-” Saki didn’t know how to respond. She felt shaken to her very core. 

“Don’t trust her Saki, she’s a piece of shit.” Kanade said, still holding onto Hibiki. “And fusion isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” 

“We can still go back, Saki.” Akane said, her voice soft. Saki felt her resolve hardened. 

“No. Fusion or not, I need to see Mai.” She turned to Kanade. “I’m sorry for what happened to Hibiki.”
Kanade scoffed. 

As Hibiki was asleep, the storm had calmed down, making it easier to cross. As the forms of Hibiki and Kanade faded into the distance, Saki asked her question. 

“What … did happen to Hibiki?” 

“That’s what happens when a duo fusion goes wrong.” Akane replied. 

“If Mai and I… if we need to fuse… will that happen to us?” 

“Hard to say.” Akane told her. “Fusion’s kind of unpredictable.” 

Saki shuttered. The idea of herself turning into a monster was one thing, but Mai? Unimaginable. 

“Why does Kanade blame you?” Saki asked.

“Because I unlocked fusion first.” Akane said. “Because I brought the sun back for fifteen minutes but not forever. Because I couldn’t fight anymore. All sorts of reasons.”
“Why couldn’t you fight anymore? You bodied Hibiki in one move, and it was taking three of us to just hold her down!” 

Akane paused. 

Saki was afraid she’d overstepped. 

Eventually, Akane did respond. 

“The day I fused with my magic was the worst day of my life.” She said. “And the joke is? It wasn’t a mission that was necessary. In fact it was going to hurt us in the long run. And- and Yuri knew that. But she didn’t want to fight with leadership, y’know? Internal conflict at a time like this would just create more problems. It didn’t matter what I said, or Itsuki or Madoka or Elena. We had orders. Even if the mission was pointless or stupid- we would fulfill it. Yuri would make sure of that.” 

Saki waited. If she pushed Akane might not say any more. 

“Yuri died last.” Akane told her. “She was fighting for the cause until the moment she died. She never got to see the sun again. So forgive me, Saki, if I decided this cause wasn’t worth any more of the people I loved dying.” 

“But they’re still dying.” Saki said. Akane sighed. 

“That’s true. Maybe I just can’t watch it anymore.” 

They walked in silence for the rest of the day. 

Chapter Text

Rikka hadn’t seen the person they now called Her Highness in eight years. She’d left to marry the Fae King before Rikka got released from her cocoon. The Fae King was still alive when Rikka went to be compensated, so there was no reason for Rikka to meet Her Highness. 

She’d heard stories from others, of course. Often whispered to her in hushed tones, no one wanting to talk about Her Highness in front of Honoka. Rikka wasn’t there, of course, but she’d heard that Her Highness leaving broke Honoka. The Honoka they had left was held together by anger, spite, and pieces of a broken heart. 

But the one story that stuck in her mind came from the lips of Akane. 

Before the Daylight Massacre, Rikka was the closest thing the Precure had to a trained doctor. She was, therefore, always the first to see the damage the Strike Team had accumulated over the course of their many missions. 

On this day, only Akane came to check in after they returned. They had been gone for a while- almost a full week- and it was almost inconceivable that none of them would be injured. 

“Lie down.” Rikka had said, not unkindly. Akane had smiled back at her.

“Yes ma’am.” She had replied. Rikka remembered rolling her eyes. 

“Where’s the rest of you? I refuse to believe only you got hurt out there.” Rikka had told her. Akane had laughed, a loud, forceful thing. Akane never laughed like that anymore. 

“Rikka, can you keep a secret?” She had asked. Rikka had sat down on Akane’s cot and grabbed her hand. 

“For you? Anything.” And it was true. Akane had been the one to pull Rikka out of that cocoon, had carried her to safety. Rikka owed her a debt she could never repay. 

“We went to see Honoka’s partner.” Akane had whispered. “Old partner? You know who I’m talking about. Hold on.” 

Akane had pulled out a piece of paper with a name written on it. 

“Nagisa.” She murmured. “We saw Nagisa.”

Rikka had to stifle a gasp. 

“And?” Rikka remembered having so many questions. Was she okay? Was her sacrifice too great? Was it worth it?

“She had a baby. A little girl.” Akane had told her. 

Rikka hadn’t known what to say. 

“Is she… okay?” Rikka couldn’t imagine having a child at her age, let alone in an apocalypse, without modern medicine. 

“It took a lot out of her.” Akane had admitted. “Also that baby was weird as fuck.” 

Rikka had laughed despite herself. 

“Like, I think it’s because the baby had so much magic, but I swear to God, I looked in that baby’s eyes and saw my death. Yuri smacked me for saying that, but Nagisa just laughed. That’s why the Fae King wanted to marry her, she said. Her or Honoka- because of their connection to the power of creation. That baby was destined to be crazy powerful.”

“Her… or Honoka?” Rikka had said, voice quiet. Akane had nodded. 

“We can never tell her.” Akane had whispered. 

“No. No we can’t.” Rikka had agreed. They had gotten quiet, before Rikka dared to ask one more question. 

“Well, how did the baby say you’d die?” 

“I go down fighting.” Akane had replied. 

Rikka never did tell Honoka anything she learned that day. 

Still, it’s thanks to Akane’s stories that Rikka recognized the woman in front of her. 

“Your Highness.” Rikka said, voice tight. Her Highness, in front of their commune? They were getting arrested. 

“Rikka-san.” Her Highness was flanked by Natsuki and Anna- so like. They were definitely getting arrested. 

“How can I help you?” Rikka asked. Her Highness smiled. 

“I’ve come to tell you- Akane-san has crossed the barrier. She and Saki-san are on their way to meet up with Mai-san.”
“Really?” Rikka struggled to contain her excitement. “That’s- why do you need to tell me that?”

“Their path is going to lead them to the site of the Daylight Massacre.” Her Highness said. “As soon as they cross that land, the One King is going to know where they are.” 

Rikka’s face fell. “What?” 

“He’s been monitoring that place like a paranoid maniac for four years.” Her Highness continued. “He will leave his stronghold to find Akane. This will leave his city weakened. This is our chance to attack.” 

Rikka blinked, struggling to understand. 

“You- you sent Saki to Mai as a distraction?” 

“It was a convenient excuse.” Her Highness admitted. “The real distraction is Akane.”

“She- she’s going to die. You’ve sent her to her death.” Rikka hissed. 

“We don’t know that.” Her Highness said. “She’s quite powerful.”

“Yeah, but even she can’t defeat the motherfucker WHO STOLE THE SUN!” Rikka screamed. “Does she know, or did you send her in blindly too?” 

“Akane’s always known this would happen if she crosses the barrier.” Her Highness said, resigned. 

“She was going to go down fighting.” Rikka realized. “Well, if this was the distraction you so desperately needed, why wait?”

“If Saki and Mai can reunite, then they would be able to help Akane deal with the One King.” Her Highness explained. “But Akane needed a push as well, and Saki provided that.” 

“Why did she wait?” Rikka asked, more to herself than anything. If Akane had known her presence would be all it took to distract the One King- Akane was many things, but never a coward. Akane had faced death more times than almost anyone, and it had never phased her. In many ways, for Akane, survival was more terrifying than dying. 

 Her Highness sighed.

“Isn’t it obvious? She stayed for you.”

Kanade was monitoring Hibiki when Rin appeared. 

“I’m not here to fight.” Rin said. Kanade scoffed. 

“Well then, why are you here?” Kanade asked. Rin stepped out of the way to reveal Anna, Rikka, and … Her Highness. 

“What?” Kanade breathed. If Her Highness was here-

“Kanade. We need your help.” Her Highness said. 

“With what? And why would I help you?” Kanade grabbed one of her shotguns. Her Highness gently grabbed Kanade’s hand. 

“Kanade, you’re angry. I understand. But you’ve been directing your anger at the wrong people. How would you like to storm the One King’s castle?” 

That… did sound appealing. 

“...How?” Kanande asked. Her Highness smiled. 

“The One King is going to be distracted by Akane and Saki. My army will secure the city, but you four will need to be in charge of taking his castle. That’s where he holds the sun and moon. Moreover, Kanade, we need to call on all our allies, from all worlds. This is our final stand.” 

Kanade took a sharp breath. 

When the world first ended, the portals to fairies homeworlds had remained open. They were soon overflowing with refugees and the next thing they knew, the connection had been cut off, leaving them alone. Families were separated, and any Precure who were on the other side of those portals couldn’t make their way back. There was one last lifeline a Precure could use, to call upon their allies from these worlds and open the portals up again. But they could only use it once. 

And Kanade was the only remaining Precure on this side of the island who hadn’t fused with their magic and become unrecognizable. 

“Well. I can’t wait to find how many Precure got stuck and how many are cowards who chose to remain.” Kanade smiled, ferally. 

“Glad that’s what you got out of the plan.” Rikka muttered. Kanade glared at her. 

“Girls.” Her Highness said sternly. “We work together, or we all fail.”
“She’s right.” Rin said. “Kanade, we’ll settle our grievances later. We need to move now.” 

“Once we enter the city, you make the call.” Her Highness said to Kanade as they headed out. “Rin and Rikka, you two will have to work together to free the Sun and the Moon. Kanade, Anna, you two will have to cover them. I’ll provide backup, but the One King has many guards. This won’t be an easy fight.” 

Kanade nodded, her hand resting on her cure module. She’d be prepared to summon her fellows from other worlds. She’d be- well. She wouldn’t be prepared to die. She had to live. To make sure Hibiki survived. To make sure they could cure her. 

“Whatever you say, Your Highness. We’ll follow your lead.” Kanade said. As if any of them could do anything else. 

It was humorous in a way, how some things remained exactly the same. No matter what happened, no matter the names they went by, no matter the people they had become… 

The Precure would always follow the leadership of Cure Black. 

Chapter Text

It was quiet. Unnaturally quiet. Saki hadn’t realized how much white noise the storm made. Without it, Saki was stuck in the unnatural silence of a dead world. 

She and Akane had come to an understanding, but unfortunately for Saki, it was a silent understanding. 

Akane was tense- more tense than normal. Saki could sense it. Also she could see it- Akane’s jaw was clenched so tight Saki could swear she saw some teeth cracking. 

“Everything okay?” Saki asked. 

“Everything’s fine.” Akane replied, her voice tight. 

“Right…” Saki said. “So you aren’t attempting to see how many teeth you can crack with one jaw clench?”

Akane immediately dropped open her jaw. She glared at Saki, who smiled. 

“Sorry. It was getting a little worrying.” 

Akane turned away from her. 

Saki sighed. Back to silence. 

Akane only seemed to get more tense as they trekked on, each step almost causing her physical pain. 

Saki watched on, concerned. She fell in step behind Akane, not wanting to push her any more.

At some point, Akane stopped. Saki ran into Akane’s back. 

“Sorry!” Saki said. Akane didn’t respond, and her breathing quickened. 

Saki frowned in concern. “Akane?” 

Akane breathing became frantic, as her hands began to shake and tear began streaming down her face. 

Oh shit, Akane was having a panic attack. 

Saki racked her brain to remember how to call someone down from a panic attack- Mai had taught her once, a long time ago. 

“Um, Akane, can you- uh, can you hear me? That was stupid, of course you can. Can you follow my breathing? In for four, that’s it, good job, hold for four, right, good, and then out for four, that’s it.” 

Saki repeated the breath cycle a couple more times and Akane steadied her breathing and slowly stopped shaking. 

“You okay?” Saki asked. Akane nodded.
“I just- this is where they died.” Akane admitted. Saki took a sharp breath. 

“The Strike Team?” 

“This is where they’re buried.” Akane said, her voice quieter. Saki looked at the landscape in front of them. There was a gap in the forest Saki had assumed was a meadow or a grove of some kind, but it actually was a dead zone. Trees broken down, grass dead. Dirt that had been dug up and repurposed. 

“We can take a break.” Saki suggested. “Or go around!” 

“Let me see the map again.” Akane said. Saki handed it over. Akane swore.

“The closest way to Mai is through, not around.” Akane said. “We can push through.” 

Akane’s voice sounded resigned, a little hopeless. Saki took the map back and forced a smile.

“Well, the sooner we get to Mai, the sooner we can fuse with our magic!” Saki said. “And the sooner we can take on the One King.” 

Akane looked at her, her cheeks still wet with tears. 

“Alright. When you’re ready.” She said. 

Saki grabbed Akane’s hand and squeezed. 

“I’ll go when you go.” 

Akane took a deep breath. She and Saki took one step, and then another. Eventually, Saki felt confident enough to let go of Akane’s hand. 

She felt the familiar pull of Mai in her chest, the invisible string tying them together getting shorter and shorter. She was so close to seeing Mai again. It was within her reach. 

In the middle of the dead zone (graveyard??) Akane held up her arm to stop Saki from moving forward. She looked around, as if she was waiting for something to strike. 

“You hear something?”

“I think so.” Akane said. She looked up. Akane paled, grabbed Saki, and threw her out of the way. 

Saki landed almost at the other side. When she got her bearings, she looked for Akane. In the middle of this graveyard, a man had appeared from the sky and had landed in front of Akane. 

He was middle aged, but he felt older. His smile did not quite reach his eyes. He was wearing an expensive suit with fur lining. When he spoke, his voice echoed all around them. 

“Hino Akane!” He said. “We finally meet!” 

“Your Majesty.” Akane said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. 

The One King grinned, baring his teeth. 

What then happened was hard to describe. 

Saki took in the battle as best she could, but both parties were moving faster than she could see. The only moments she could tell what was happening were when one opponent was pinned or temporarily stunned. Akane picked the One King  up and threw him to the ground, forcing him to pause. He punched her into a large rock, causing her to take a knee. 

But even though she could not see every choice, every motion, that does not mean she did not feel them. 

The sheer force of the battle reverberating through the forest ripped off branches and sent rocks flying. Saki weaved throughout the rubble, dodging what she could and using the grappling axe to do the rest. 

She grabbed onto some of the flying debris, which sent her flying through the air. 

“Saki!” Akane screamed. She jumped up and grabbed Saki, just barely dodging the One King’s attack. 

“You need to get out of here.” Akane told her. “Run. Find Mai.” 

“And leave you here?” Saki asked. 

Seeing Akane close up was even worse, bruises were forming all over her body, her lip was bleeding, and Saki suspected one shoulder was dislocated. This was not a fight she could win. 

“I was supposed to die here anyway.” Akane said, like that helped. “Go.” 

Akane shoved Saki back to the edge of the graveyard. She turned back to face the One King, who still had that manic smile on his face. 

Saki held onto her grappling axe and thought. A half baked plan formed in the back of her head. She tightened her grip and steadied her resolve. 

She was not going to let anyone else die and the hands of this one man. 

As the One King lifted his hands to attack Akane again, Saki sent her grappling axe to twist around his leg. She pulled and he lost his balance, allowing Akane to knee him in the jaw. 

He locked eyes with Saki. 

As he stared at her, Saki became uncomfortably aware that this man was supposed to be dead. He’d been living off of stolen time, and he didn’t care. He’d never understand the loss he’d created, not in any meaningful way. He relished in his own cruelty. 

The One King smiled at her. 

“Hello, lost little moon.” 

He grabbed Akane by the hair and threw her down to the ground. He picked up the chains from the grappling axe, and sent them flying back to Saki. 

They wrapped around her, tightening as she struggled. 

“Don’t worry little moon, I’ll kill you next.” He said, his voice having a sing-song like quality. “But first..” 

He turned his attention towards Akane, hitting her over and over again until the ground was stained with her blood. 

“Isn’t it fitting,” He said, “that this final fight should happen at the site of our greatest failure?” 

Akane screamed. 

“Akane!” Saki shouted, trying desperately to escape. Tears streamed down her eyes, and her vision blurred. 

As she writhed, the forms she could see shifted. Voices began to cry out with her, as if the earth itself was protesting the acts of the One King.

Then, the voices began to speak her name. 

“Saki-san!”

“Saki-san!” 

“We’re with you, Saki-san!” 

“Saki-san, do you know what it means to be the moon?”

“Saki-san, would you like to know how Hino Akane became the sun?”

“How does that matter? Akane’s going to die if I don’t break out of here!” 

“I know, I know. But how can you help with the way you are?”

“I need… to find Mai. Fuse with my magic.” 

“Do you think you need Mai to fuse with your magic?”

“... Yes?”

“That’s not how it works! Saki-san, let us show you how Akane became the sun. ”

“Patience. You’ll overwhelm her.” 

“I… don’t need Mai? I can fuse by myself? How?” 

“You have to figure it out by yourself! What does it mean to be the moon?” 

“I don’t know! I’m barely a moon cure!” 

“Saki-san, you're more like the moon than you think.” 

“We can show you how Akane became the sun. How she learned what it meant to be the sun. That might help you. After all…” 

“A moon can only exist after the sun!” 

“I- will this help me save Akane?” 

“Of course!”

“How… do you know, how she became the sun?” 

“Oh, Saki-san. It’s because we were there.” 

Chapter Text

Alright, Saki, this might seem a little jumbled. Watch closely. 

Yuri went into the meeting with leadership already not in a good mood. She and her team had been worked to the bone for the last three weeks, and their last break day had lasted six hours. It had been her idea to start the Strike Team, but if she had known they would become the only strike team she might’ve reconsidered. Sometimes it felt like they were the only ones on the front lines. 

It was an unfair thought, Yuri knew the other Precure were also sent out for missions and also fought. But the Strike Team got the most dangerous, the longest, and the hardest ones consistently. And the fewest breaks. Yuri understood the logic. They were the most useful. The most effective. 

Still, when she heard the mission she almost blue-screened. 

“I’m sorry, you want us to do what?” Yuri asked. 

“The Third General is going to be vulnerable.” Blue continued, as if he hadn’t just asked Yuri to prepare her team to fight one of the One King’s right hands. “If we stage an ambush, we can eliminate him.” 

Yuri held back her tongue. 

“We’ll send you the coordinates.” Honoka added. “Plan to leave by tomorrow.” 

“Of course.” Yuri said. “I’ll tell the girls.” 

Eliminating one of the One King’s generals would be for the best in the long run, Yuri knew. This was all apart of the plan to slowly work their way through the One King’s entourage before eliminating him. It was a solid strategy to weaken him. However…

“I’m sorry, we’re going to do what?” Akane said, her face mimicking the expression on Yuri’s. 

“Yep.” Yuri said. 

“But the Third General is the one who creates the monsters.” Akane said, as if Yuri didn’t know this. 

“He is.” 

“Do Honoka and the others not know where all our meat comes from?” Akane asked. “This is literally, like, the stupidest General they could have us kill.” 

“I am aware.” Yuri replied. “However, orders are orders. Be prepared to leave by tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow?” Akane groaned. Itsuki patted her back sympathetically. 

“How long was our break this week?” Elena asked. 

“A whole eight hours!” Madoka replied. 

“Is leadership trying to kill us?” Akane whined. “And to think, I thought they appreciated all our hard work!” 

Little shit. Yuri thought fondly. 

As everyone else left to go pack their things, Akane hung back. 

“This is a stupid mission.” Akane told her.
“Yep.” Yuri agreed. 

“You’re not going to stand up to leadership?” Akane probed. “You’re just going to let us go out there, endanger ourselves, for a mission that will actively harm us in the long run?”

“Akane. Once we start infighting, the One King will have won.” Yuri said. “We have to stick together. We’re all the world has left.” 

Akane furrowed her brow, clearly still angry. But she left all the same. 

Elena had long since gotten used to long days and nights on the road. Sometimes they would be off for weeks at a time, looking for Precure still trapped in cocoons, fighting monsters, saving civilians, trying to form alliances. But still, every time they left the base, Elena couldn’t deny the sense of foreboding dread that flooded her senses. 

The unnatural darkness of the outside world was haunting. 

“You ready?” Madoka asked. 

“As I’ll ever be.”

Elena joined the rest of the Strike Team as they transformed and headed out.

Over the course of their time on the Strike Team, their transformations had changed. Coco had theorized that it was because of how they were using their magic, and who they were using it with. But that didn’t explain all the changes. 

For one, all of them had armour built into their outfits now. Some more simple, Madoka had a chest plate and Itsuki had chainmail covering her midriff. Others were more complicated, like Yuri, who’s entire right arm was covered in armour, armour that she could change and control as weapons if she needed. 

Elena pondered a lot, about how much they’d all changed. How much of them had been lost because of this war. 

Akane came up to her.

“Still got that sense of dread?”
“You know it.” 

“Well, it might be fitting this time. If we succeed, we’re going to have to go back to a diet of exclusively plants grown by the flower cures.”
Elena laughed.

“Too true! Maybe we can convince Yuri to let us sneak into a Sun City again.” 

“One time we did that.” Yuri muttered under her breath. “One time and you never let it go.”

Itsuki patted Yuri’s shoulder sympathetically. 

“It would be a better use of our time!” Akane pointed out. 

“And it would immediately be obvious we hadn’t done our mission.” Yuri shot back. “This isn’t a discussion, Akane.”

Akane huffed, her face shifting into a frown. It had been doing that more and more often these days. 

Elena remembered meeting Akane for the first time, before the world ended. Akane had a permanent smile plastered on her face, as if nothing could get her down. Akane had maintained that joy for years, even as it became less and less certain this was a war they could win. But no supply of joy was endless, especially not when there wasn’t a lot to find joy in anymore. 

So Elena plastered a smile on her face and captured Akane in a headlock. 

“Akane’s just concerned she’s going to lose face.” Elena teased. “When the rest of us kick the Third General’s ass and you have to tell Rikka that all you did was whine on the sidelines.” 

“Oh, fuck off.” Akane said, but her voice was lighter. A smile reappeared on her face. 

“You two have been getting offly close…” Madoka said. Elena grinned. Her wonderful partner in crime.

“She needs help in the med-bay!”

“Which she has, from Karen and Saaya.” Itsuki pointed out. “You visit her after every mission, don’t you? Just in case?” 

“We do a lot of fighting! I need my doctor to be up to date!”

“Hmm, of course.” Elena said. 

“Didn’t you go to the med-bay this time because of an untreated hangnail?” Yuri pointed out. The ice now firmly broken, Akane let out a full body laugh. With Akane laughing, it was only a matter of time before the rest of them joined in. 

Elena felt her chest swell with affection for these girls. As long as they were together, it would all be okay. 

Madoka knew something was off as soon as she entered position. 

As the team’s only long range fighter, Madoka always split off to get a lay of the land, and then, as Yuri’s instruction, set up in a location that allowed her to have a clear view of the enemy. 

Madoka realized, fairly quickly, that there were way too many blind spots. Not for her, but for the General. No General working for the One King would be so stupid as to walk into this location unguarded. Something was wrong. 

Still, when the Third General walked into the meadow, head held high, she got ready to fire. 

On Yuri’s signal she let loose her arrow. 

The Third General caught the arrow as it was about to go through his right eye. He looked up and made eye contact with Madoka.  

Oh no. 

She began trying to leave her position. 

He threw her arrow back to her. It landed in her shoulder, but didn’t go all the way through. She let out a gasp of pain. 

It’s only going to get worse from here, Saki-san. Are you sure you're ready to see? 

Alright. 

Madoka made her way down the tree as fast as she could. Her left arm was limb by her side, and she was clutching her wound with her right. 

“It’s an ambush!” She shouted. “They knew we were coming!”

Yuri turned to her and her face paled. 

“We need to retreat.” Yuri said. 

Elena and Akane began heading back through the woods, but were stopped by the Third General’s entourage. Stupid. They should’ve known he wouldn’t be by himself. 

Itsuki moved to their front, shielding them from the next attack. 

They followed Yuri and Itsuki, as Yuri led them through the soldiers, slicing through people with little remorse. Itsuki kept them covered, and allowed Akane and Elena to stage a frontal assault. 

Madoka felt her legs wobble. She had lost a lot of blood. 

She tripped.

Try as she might, she could not make her limbs move. 

She looked up to see the Third General smiling at her. He lifted his foot and-

Itsuki saw Madoka die and couldn’t do anything. She sent a shield out, desperate to stop the Third General, but she was already at her limit. The Third General crushed Madoka's skull without a second thought. 

“MADOKA!” Elena screeched. She leapt forward, ignoring Yuri’s calls to fall back. She threw herself at the Third General, kicking and punching, but never landing a hit. Eventually, he got bored, and punched her square in the stomach. 

She was sent flying back. She landed on a large rock, and let out a horrible wet gasp. Akane ran over to her, turning Elena on her side, and allowing the blood to flow freely. 

“I’m gonna- I’m gonna have to cauterize the wound.” Akane said. Itsuki paled. Akane had cauterized wounds before, many times. Itsuki’s leg still bared some of the scars. But it took time, and focus, neither of those things they had in abundance. They were vulnerable. 

One look to Yuri told her she was thinking the same thing. Itsuki leapt back and focused her shields in one place, with one goal. Protect Akane and Elena. 

As Yuri held back the Third General’s forces, Itsuki held back blow by blow of the man himself, and Akane desperately tried to save Elena. 

The Third General leaned back and grinned. He picked up a spear from one of his fallen comrades. He threw it at Itsuki with all the force he had.

She braced for impact. 

Part of the shield shattered and-

Akane watched Itsuki get blown back by the power of her own shield. Pieces broke off and cemented themselves in Itsuki’s face and Akane knew she was gone. 

“Itsuki?” Elena asked.
“Shh, shh. Don’t talk.” Akane said, in her best imitation of Rikka. “I’ll get you outta here. I’m your sun-senpai, got that?”

Yuri was holding back the troops, if Akane could take Elena and sneak past, they could make it out. 

The Third General turned his attention toward Yuri. He grabbed her by her hair and threw her to the ground. 

“Pathetic.” He said. “This is the best the Precure can do?”

“Sir.” One of his soldiers said. “What about that one?”
He pointed to Akane. Akane froze. 

“I’ll deal with that one later. She doesn’t even have a partner with the moon.” The Third General rolled his eyes. It couldn’t be more clear. He didn’t see her as a threat. 

“Akane?” Elena asked, her voice getting quieter. “I- I can’t feel..”

“C’mon, Elena stay with me.” Akane said, as quiet as she could. 

“You’ll never win.” Yuri spat at the Third General.

“Sure.” He replied. He grabbed a blade and shoved it in her stomach. It went through her entire body. Yuri slumped to the ground. Akane’s vision went dark. 

Only Elena’s whimpers brought her back.
“I miss my family.” She said. “I miss-”

Elena didn’t say anything after that. 

Akane felt tears stream down her face. She held Elena’s body closer, as if she just held her long enough, everything would be alright. 

“What a waste of time.” The Third General said. “None of these girls were worth anything anyway.”

What does it mean to be the sun? 

For Akane, the sun had always meant warmth. The lifegiver. Light. Hope. And the sun was all of those things. But the sun was also an inferno, a being that destroyed as well as created. 

And Akane, filled with a fury she had never felt before, finally understood. 

Her smile pact broke in half. 

She saw the sun lighting up the sky. 

And she swallowed it. 

In the end, it only took fifteen minutes to kill everyone there. She saved the Third General for last, slowly beating him till he died. She’d like to say she took no pleasure in his pain. She’d be lying. 

Then, her own power overtook her, and she passed out. 

When she came to, the sky had returned to its unnatural darkness. She looked around and saw the bodies of her loved ones strewn around the ground. Try as she might, she could not carry them all. The strength that she had just a moment ago had faded. 

So she made a decision. She would not let their bodies rot out in the open. 

Digging four graves with just her bare hands was challenging. Her hands began to bleed, but she didn’t care. She had to make sure they could rest in peace. 

As she lowered their bodies down, she began to cry. She did not stop until her body made her, no longer able to supply the liquid her tears needed to form. 

She pilled the dirt back, covering the corpses. She left the Third General’s forces alone, content to let them fester. 

And then Akane went back to the base, Saki-san. And they learned about fusion, and they got too excited. But Akane never really left this place, not really. And so neither did we. 

Chapter Text

Hyuuga Saki opened her eyes and saw two battles play out simultaneously. The first, the one in the present. Akane and the One King. The second, the one in the past. Yuri, Itsuki, Madoka, and Elena. Knowledge she was gifted by those who were long dead. 

She’d never truly understand what happened while she was gone, she realized. Hyuuga Saki was a remnant of a time long gone, a reflection of light that no longer existed. In turn, they’d never truly understand her. The time lost, the friends changed. Reality that did not feel real. 

She looked to Akane and understood, then, why Akane could become the sun. Akane understood intuitively the contradictions the sun possessed- the power, the warmth, the terror. 

Saki further understood then, what she had to do. 

Calling upon all her anger, grief, and fear, she summoned the magic within herself, the magic connecting her and Mai to each other. There, a single string connecting the two of them. 

Do you know what it means to be the moon? 

Yes, Saki did. It was being a light in the darkness. It was having no light of your own. It was knowledge and knowing, and also mystery. Never being fully seen. It was time and the tides, and the fact that the Earth could never stop spinning, not truly, as long as the moon was there. 

And it also meant being alone. 

She severed the string tying her to Mai. It ricocheted back and the force of it shattered her chains. Saki could feel the magic coursing through her veins. It hurt, she realized. This power wasn’t meant for humans, and it burned. It burned through her blood, through her flesh, through her very soul.

Once it was over though, Saki felt a wave of calm wash over her. She opened her eyes and saw the moon staring back at her. 

There you are. She thought. Where you’re supposed to be. 

She looked down, to see the face of the One King. He was shocked, his grip loosening on Akane. 

Akane was staring at her, jaw slack. Saki finally looked at herself, taking in her new form.

Her hands had been stained black, the color fading as it went up her arms. Some of her hair had been turned white by the experience. 

Most significantly, her feet were no longer touching the ground. 

Of course, she thought, the moon had no reason to leave the sky. 

Saki took a deep breath and pushed off. She shoved into the One King, forcing him to the other side of the graveyard and away from Akane. 

“Are you okay?” She asked. Akane blinked. Akane looked worse for wear, but she still smiled.

“I’m alright.” Akane said. Saki lent a hand to help Akane get up. 

Once their hands touched, Saki’s eyes really opened. 

The sun and the moon were partners, after all. Two halves of the same cycle. 

Saki saw Akane’s wound begin to heal, and she herself felt a rush of energy course through her veins. 

The One King stood up and growled. 

“You think that-” 

Akane set off and socked him in the jaw. 

“I think,” Akane said, “You’ve talked enough.” 

Saki grinned and joined Akane. 

It was incredible. 

It was like fighting with Mai for the first time, the new power shocking both of them at every term. Saki flew faster than expected, and Akane managed to catch her and throw her back to the One King, knocking him off his feet. 

They were both in sync- a side effect Saki could only assume of their new partnership. Saki moved and Akane knew exactly where to be. 

The One King was overwhelmed, but not defeated. He grabbed Saki’s leg and threw her to the ground. Before she could get up, he yanked her away and threw into Akane. 

Akane caught her bearings first, stabilizing their movement and ground them. She set Saki down and smiled. 

“How are you feeling?” Akane asked. 

“Like the whole world is in the palm of my hands.” She replied. The One King paled. 

Under the moonlight, it was even more clear that he wasn’t supposed to be alive. Maybe that’s why he had to get rid of it. 

They launched their second assault, Saki from the front and Akane from the back. When the One King dodged one of their hits, the other one landed. 

Eventually, Saki got a good grip on the One King’s right arm and twisted. She heard the bone snap and the One King fell to his knees. 

Saki’s power was increasing, and she could tell it needed a release soon. She headed up to the sky, Akane following her soon after. 

Akane reached out her hand and Saki took it. 

Saki… couldn’t describe the feeling of that attack. They both aimed at the One King and let loose all of their power. 

The first time she had attacked with Mai, it had been filled with confusion and slight terror- her body moving in ways she didn’t understand and without her telling it to. This time, however, it felt natural. Like this was the way her body was supposed to move all along. 

When they made it  back down to the ground, Saki felt her legs give out. She was held upright solely by Akane holding onto her arm. 

“It’s a lot, isn’t it?” Akane said. “You’re going to get tired more quickly now. Your body needs time to adjust.”

Saki nodded. 

“Is it- is it over?” Saki asked, her voice weak. 

Akane didn’t respond right away. 

Saki forced herself to look up and she saw what Akane was staring at. 

There, on the horizon, the sun was rising. 

Akane collapsed, no longer able to hold both their weight. Saki managed to sit up, and she wrapped her arms around Akane, who was letting herself sob- tears of joy, of grief, of bone crushing exhaustion that she had been holding in for eight years. 

Saki let herself join in. Let herself cry for all the years that she lost, for the people she barely had time to grieve for. For the world she had. For Mai and their connection she had to sacrifice. 

For the first time since she woke up out of that cocoon, Saki allowed herself to wallow in what she’d lost. 

But as she looked to the sunrise, she was able to remember that there was still more to gain. 

Chapter Text

Rikka resented working with Natsuki, but she was willing to collaborate for the mission. 

Her Highness had gotten them into the castle, and how their job was to find the captured sun and moon and release them. Kanade and Anna were covering them from behind. 

Kanade was screaming and shouting, working on summoning their allies from other worlds. She snapped at Anna, even when Anna was trying to help her.

Rikka hated how much she saw herself in Kanade, sometimes. 

“You got it?” Natsuki asked, as she sent a blast of fire onto an attacking soldier. 

“I’ve got it!” Rikka shouted back. 

In truth, she hadn’t got it. She was used to creating ice for survival, to keep food cold and maintain hydration. She wasn’t used to fighting. In this city, where the sun never set, she was taking her first and last steps into combat.

She was stumbling around blind and she knew it. 

Natsuki joined a corner, and Rikka followed her. 

“Piss off!” She heard Kanade yell behind her. 

Rikka clenched her fist and let out her breath. 

“We found it!” Natsuki said. 

The cage was huge, but the towering figure inside still made it look small. Looking at it was painful, but Rikka forced herself to examine the chains wrapped around its body. 

“I’m going to freeze the chains first.” Rikka said. “Then you blast them with heat. It should damage them enough to break them off.” 

Natsuki nodded. 

Kanade and Anna’s voice became louder as they were pushed back. They had to move fast. 

Anna was thrown back into the wall next to them. Natsuki looked back in a panic. 

“Rin!” Rikka said. “We’ve got to stay focused!”

Natsuki looked back at her, shocked, and nodded. 

Her Highness felt the change before she could see it. The One King’s magic weakened to the point of almost nothingness, and suddenly her troops were able to break through the walls of the castle.

It was like a dam had collapsed, leaving the water to flood the surrounding areas. 

Her Highness knew then, that the One King was dead. 

Then, like a divine strike, the Ultimate Sun City grew dark. 

People began to scream and wail. What else could they do? This was the one city in the world where the sun always shone, the one place they could be sure they and their children were safe. 

In their fear, they could not see what was right in front of them. 

Her Highness began climbing the broken walls, allowing herself full view of the city. 

People began to lash out, attacking her soldiers and pushing back against the force. 

“Everyone!” She shouted, amplifying her voice. “The sun has set- but that doesn’t mean it’s gone! Look to the east!” 

She lifted her sword and pointed in front of her. Slowly, people began to turn and they all saw what she saw. 

The moon, bright and beautiful in the sky. 

Soon, everyone began to fall to their knees. 

The fight was over. 

They won. 

Her Highness smiled, and wondered where Honoka was. 

Mai had separated from Honoka a few days ago. Honoka had taken charge of the remaining Precure, but one by one they were being picked off. Either by fusion or the One King’s forces. 

Mai knew, however, that she couldn’t die. She had to wait. 

She had talked to Hikari, once, years ago. Before Hibiki. When they first learned Hikari was an Oracle. Hikari had told her Saki was still alive. Mai had known, could feel it in her heart, their connection still burning bright. But it was wonderful to hear it said aloud by someone else. 

Hikari further told her that Saki was going to save the world. In order to do that, Mai needed to be at the right place at the right time. Mai needed to make sure Saki took the right path.

Then Hikari told her that she couldn’t be with Saki while Saki took this journey. 

Mai resisted, at first. She wanted to find Saki as soon as possible, hold her in her arms and never let go. 

But some things aren’t meant to be. 

And so, when Mai heard rumors that the One King was making moves to find Akane again… she knew it was time. Saki would've pushed Akane into the light. Now Mai had to help Saki the rest of the way. 

Mai left the group against Honoka’s wishes. Honoka still thought the Precure resistance stood a chance. Mai wanted to believe her, wanted her to be right.
But she believed in Saki more. 

Looking up at the moon, filling the night sky with light once more, Mai can’t say she regrets any of her choices. She’ll regroup with Honoka eventually. 

But first, she has to find Saki. 

Their connection was broken, another thing Hikari warned her about, but it doesn’t matter. Mai knew where Saki was. 

It was where she was always meant to be. 

Mai smiled to herself and began the trek to the sight of the Daylight Massacre. 

When Akane was fifteen, the world ended. It didn’t go down in a blaze of fire, nor massive floods, nor even a slow decay. It began with one person reaching their hand out and stealing all the light from the sky. 

Akane never quite understood how that happened, nor did she need to. All she needed to know was that the sun and the moon were gone, and she had to get them back. 

Akane stood, watching the sunrise with Saki, on the first new day of the saved world, when she saw them. A man and a woman- both of them shining brighter than anything around them. 

They were larger than life, towering over even the trees. 

“Hello, girls.” The man said, his voice soft. “We’re here to thank you.” 

“You’ve done so much to give us our freedom back.” The woman continued. “I’m sorry you lost so much in the process.” 

Akane bowed her head, too stunned to speak. Saki, next to her, did the same. 

“Well, we best be off then.” The man said. 

“But you two understand who you are- what you are.” The woman told them. “So don’t think for a second you can’t see us again.”

Akane smiled at them, the tension releasing from her body. Somehow, she knew she could trust them. They disappeared. 

“Oh shit.” Saki said. “Was that the sun and moon?”

“I think so.” Akane said. “God damn. I think I’m going to sleep for 8,000 years.” 

“Wouldn’t recommend that.” Saki said quietly, still stunned. “I only slept for eight years and look what happened.” 

Akane laughed. “I guess you're right. What are we gonna do, then?”

Saki paused.

“Live, I guess.” 

Once upon a time, a girl went to sleep. When she woke up, the world had ended. She saw how her old friends had changed, and had to take it upon herself to find pieces of her life that still remained. 

But in the end, she was able to live. 

Saki heard someone running, first. It was frantic, fast. This person was in a hurry. 

Then she heard the voice. 

“SAKI!” 

Eight years had gone by, and Mai still sounded the same. 

Saki turned around just in time to see Mai jump into her arms. The weight caught her off balance and she fell over. 

“Mai!” She cried, holding her tighter. Mai began to sob. 

“You did it! You did it!” Mai said. 

Saki couldn’t bring herself to speak. She just held Mai as close to her as she could. 

She had done it. 

Chapter Text

Six months later.

Saki found that life worked in mysterious ways. For example, Nagisa (who had recently regained control of her name thanks to some help from Anna), wanted nothing more than to retire and spend the rest of her day doting on her young daughter (and possibly making out with Honoka, but they were still working on that). However, she had found herself nominated and then elected president of the New Republic of the Free World. The funniest part? She was great at it. 

Everyone else was also adjusting to life without the One King. Saki herself had, in many ways, the easiest transition. All she had to do was remind people how they used to live- but also how the past was just as flawed. She didn’t want anyone to start idealizing martial law or anything. 

One thing that had surprised her (well. Besides the everything) was how many Precure had remained in the fairies worlds- some by choice, even. 

Saki wasn’t there when the Doki Doki team returned, having left to Trump Kingdom when they thought Rikka was dead. Mana and Rikka, once a duo unbroken, were now barely talking. 

Part of that, Saki thought, was because of Akane. Mana couldn’t quite reconcile how close Akane and Rikka had become. Saki suspected that once Akane and Rikka figured out what they were, Mana would feel more confident in trying to become Rikka’s best friend again. 

However, as wonderful as it was to see so many friends again- she was equally distraught to learn just how many had died. 

Her parents hadn’t made it. Mai told her, in hushed tones not long after they reunited, that she managed to get Minori through the portal to the Land of the Fountains, but not anyone else. It hurt then, and hurt now. Saki didn’t think it would ever stop hurting. 

From the Smile team, only Miyuki and Reika were left. Nao had died on a mission a year ago and Yayoi had attempted fusion. Many Cures were lost to fusion. 

Still, hope wasn’t lost. Nagisa and Akane both believed there might be a way to reverse fusion, give the Cures their lives back. Kanade, however, remained cautious. She didn’t want Hibiki to go through any more pain. 

Reconstruction wasn’t easy- the land had been overtaken by so many magical plants created by the One King there was hardly any room from anything else. Still, in the past six months, the Earth began to look like herself again. 

Saki, her sister, and Mai had taken up residence in Akane and Rikka’s commune. More and more people moved into it everyday, and thanks to everyone’s farming knowledge they gained from the years without sun, food, while not plentiful, was sufficient. Things were getting better. 

Saki, forever connected to the moon, found herself sitting on the roof more and more, staring at the sky. Sometimes Akane joined her. 

“Hey.” Akane said, sitting next to her. Saki smiled. The sun was setting and the moon was rising. 

“Hey. Good day?” 

“Pretty good. We found Yayoi, brought her to the rehabilitation center.” Akane said. “You?”

“Alright. Mai and I visited Nagisa. She still doesn’t know Honoka’s trying to court her.” 

Akane laughed. “Of course not.” 

Saki paused, taking in the changing colors of the sky.

“Do you think… do you think it will ever stop feeling like a dream?” Saki asked. 

Akane hummed. 

“Well. I hope so.” Akane turned to look at Saki. “But I still keep waiting to wake up.” 

Saki kept her eyes on the sun disappearing on the horizon. Reminded herself that it would rise again the next day. 

Maybe it would take every day for the rest of her life to finally feel like she was right in her own skin. To not feel fear whenever it was the new moon, or the sun set. To just be. But she had hope she’d get there. In time. 

Now, it was just Hyuuga Saki and Hino Akane, the moon and the sun, sitting on the roof of a mall turned into a home, watching the sun set. And that was enough.