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I was helping to sort out the Reception Room visitor files over the next two days, and I still need to write those few book reviews I promised Heidi...

And Rhodes Island's curriculum does demand. There may be no exams, but we won't get away with any less than a good grasp of the knowledge.

And further, didn't we agree that Instructor Dobermann would take us through mission drills next week? The USSG still has plenty on its roadmap for the next six months of operator training, and I imagine...

Yeah, is this about Lada?

If it is, you really don't gotta bother.

Lada's... always wanted to see her parents, but we've never found them, and now I've found mine before she...

The hell does it matter that you found yours first? You don't wanna see 'em?

...Of course I do. But—coming to Rhodes Island marked the point where I accepted we could never go back to our old lives.

What we should do in the now, where we should go in the future; those have been the persistent factors in my head...

And going back, becoming the apple of my mother's and father's eyes again, the secondary school student—it never crossed my mind.

In fact, how could it?

Knowing they're alive, and doing well, that's enough for me. That's enough to keep me happy for a very long time.

I can maintain a mail correspondence with them for now. We can show each other how we're doing through photographs... and then come vacation, I'll go and see them.

...Anna.

I'm gonna be honest, I've never seen you this confused and screwed up worrying. Not even in Peterheim.

I mean, look at yourself. Who'd guess you just got the biggest, best news of your life?

Doesn't matter what you pick in the end—parents, education, work, our future... All of them matter.

But you've gotta figure out, <i>to you</i>, what's most important of all, <i>right now.</i>

And you don't have to worry about us like that. We're all doing fine on Rhodes.

Look at Lada. She holed up in her room for days, but today, she's gone to the kitchen to tinker out new veggie bakes with Hibiscus.

I passed by the cafeteria just now, and they were laughing the roof off! Lucky I could sprint away...

Pfft.

What's so funny? You wanna try their thing? Green pepper and horned melon in molten piroshki? That sound good to you?

No, something just strikes me different about you today, Sonya. It's like... you're much more talkative, perhaps?

The Sonya I used to know would've torn up my letter and dragged me off in a rush... with probably nothing to add but a 'quit overthinking, it's a pain in the ass.'

You've learned how to comfort people.

...Goddammit.

Wait... the hell? What are you tearing it up yourself for?

I'm taking your advice.

I'm considering, first and foremost, what's most important to me.

Hey, hey, no backsies! We agreed this was the last round, right? And I dunno if you saw, but I clearly won!

Hah, hahahhh *belch*... Sonya, just drink, yeah? That glass, that you just drank before, iiiit doesn't count!

Cause now, now you, haven't drunk this one... so now you, gotta drink it! Urp... *belch*!

Rosalind!

I'm freaking done here, this is gonna go on forever! Next time, don't care what she says, we don't let her buy that much honey...

Natalya, you drink with her.

Me...? Well, I'm not too fond of honey, you see... I don't even add any to my tea.

Huh? Whaaat, don't tell me you've NEVER tried chugging honey before?

C'mere—

W—Wait a seconnmmphh...

(Somehow, I feel like this 'farewell party' for me was just a pretense for them to make a ruckus.)

(Still... this isn't too bad, is it?)

Istina... here, these are for you!

Eh? For me?

Weren't you going to give these molds to your Mama and Papa?

Oh, umm... I don't get to see them now, do I...? So giving them to you works!

But... won't you have nothing to give the next time you hear about them?

Hehe! I can make new ones then, it won't take that long!

Look!

It's carrying a frying pan... is this you, Lada?

Mmhm! I made it brand-new! Now there's molds for all five of us.

When you go home, you can take Gummy and Zima and everyone else with you!

Lada...

Thank you. Once I'm back, I'll have a little present for you too.

Wait... Anna, you're coming back?

Erm... I am.

I'm staying with my parents for a while, and then I'll return.

Huh? Hey, you found your family, go start a new life with them, what are you coming back to... urp—*hic*.

Rosalind, it's not that simple...

Is returning to their side going to begin life anew, just like that?

Is it not?

You can't all think that me leaving Rhodes Island is the better option?

(Nod)

Not necessarily the better option, but it is at least an additional one.

Rhodes Island is a fine place, and gave us shelter. But it's because we had nowhere else to go that it became our best option.

But, Anna, things are now different for you.

And besides, wouldn't you imagine that we've all since steeled ourselves for someone to inevitably leave?

Even if we do have to say goodbye someday, I'll still be protecting us, down to the last girl.

...Anna.

I guess you might still be worrying about our feelings. But honestly, you finding your family makes us all pretty happy.

Yeah! You got to find your Mama and Papa, so Gummy's gonna find hers one day too!

And I think it's gonna be even better for you if you leave Rhodes Island!

Umm, it's like...

Well... if I stay here, then I can probably become an amazing cook, and Zima and Leto and Rosa can all be generals in the field...

But you'd probably wanna go back to your Mama and Papa, so you can go back to school and study, right?

I bet your parents are gonna have your acceptance stuff all filed by the time you hit Leithanien. All you gotta do is put on your backpack and head to school, just like back in Chernobog.

And you can live like none of that crap ever happened.

How can I possibly pretend that...?

Sonya. Does starting over really become the best choice in your eyes, the moment you get the opportunity?

...Ugh.

Well, not for me.

Then all the same, it isn't for me, either.

My decision is made. I'll go there, I'll see how my parents are doing, I'll see if age has taken its toll.

And... I'll likely tell them how dark it was for me in Peterheim, and how I and a group of dependable friends pulled ourselves through it.

And of course, I'll tell them about Rhodes Island. Lada and I have taken countless photos, enough to let them picture our lives here.

And then... I want to ask them and find out, after however they escaped Chernobog, however they reached Leithanien... after all this time, did they ever try searching for me?

Anna, this'll take up so much of the time <i>you</i> have.

You can stay with your parents in your new home, and work out your questions as things come. Nothing's asking you to rush back so quickly.

Mm. All of this can be solved as it comes. But none of it is the crux of what I'm going back for.

(Deep breath)

What's most important—is that I convince them, talk them into letting me back to Rhodes Island, letting me stay with my comrades.

So... we looked over that old lady's credentials, and noticed she had the surname Morozova, AND she came in from Chernobog!

And searching for someone in Leithanien who's from Chernobog, that's a back-breaker.

Luckily, or maybe it was just our dang luck, they were living around the Rhodes Island branch office and came right in to see us that day, because Mrs. Morozova had a bit of a toothache, and they thought our office was a dentist...

...and then we learned. Most everyone else treated the events at Peterheim Middle School as... a lost cause.

But your mom and dad, they never gave up on searching for you.

...*exhale*.

So, are they doing well...? What is the place they're living like? Do they have new jobs?

Mmm, they're good enough. The office's doc has sharp skills, so your mom's tooth won't be aching for the time being at least.

Once you're there, you can find out the rest for yourself. Take your time.