A/N You all should know why I'm back... 

"So how's Katelyn?"

I walked out of the treehouse and bumped into Laurence. I sighed, shrugging.

"Well she woke up... But now Travis is there." I explained.

"You know, I kinda feel bad for Ales." Laurence said.

It had been a week since I got Ales and Sam back from the forest and restored their memories. I tracked them down with the stones we got from the other dimension, and got them to come back with us. The reason I had to do it was so Sam could help us get Zane back and make sure he didn't do anything stupid, and Ales' abilities with potions would be incredibly helpful.

"Why?" I asked curiously.

Then I remembered Ales' crush on Travis.

"Oh yeah..." I said, biting my lip.

Just then, Ales walked up to us, smiling the normal kind smile. "Hey guys."

Something was different about her, though. Her normal hopeful demeanor was gone, and she seemed to be struggling with something.

I sighed. "Still haven't found Sam yet?" 

"No." Ales said, her shoulders slumping down. "Aaron's still missing too."

My blood boiled at the sound of his name. Aaron was the reason we had less of a chance to find my brother. He didn't want him back, and I knew why.

I also knew how selfish that was.

"Right... Aaron..." I mumbled.

Laurence sensed my uneasiness and looked at Ales. "Well, I'm sure we will find Sam soon. The time will co—"

At that moment, a loud explosion was heard throughout the entire village. We all looked up at the direction it came from.

The Tu'La refugees.

Aphmau came running down, sprinting towards the explosion. I followed her, and Ales was hot on my trails.

We arrived at the clearing in the forest... Or what was left of it. A huge crater was there, with fire and smoke coming from around it.

But I wasn't paying attention to that. Nor the fact that Sam was sitting down in sadness.

I was staring at my reflection right in front of me.

"G-GARROTH!" Aphmau cried, rushing towards him. He caught her in a hug, and I sensed her crying tears of joy.

Ales saw Sam and grinned, running towards her and tackling her into a hug.

I simply stood there shocked. Garroth let go of Aphmau and looked up at me, a smirk on his face. "Hi Mel."

Tears were felt streaming down my face, and I couldn't control myself. I ran towards him, pulling him into an embrace that I had wanted to give him since he got stuck in that horrid place.

"Don't scare me like that again, or I'll kill you."

Sadly, the happy atmosphere was not to last.

As I pulled away from Garroth, I saw Aphmau pointing into something in his hand. "Wait... That bandana..."

Garroth's face paled. He looked down at the cloth and I was reminded of Aaron.

How I never really liked him.

How I despised him being so selfish as to not want Garroth back.

How I never wanted to hear his name again after he stole the fragment from Aphmau.

All of a sudden the pieces began to fit together. I looked out at the crater while Aphmau grabbed the bandana in Garroth's hand.

I heard her gasp in disbelief while Garroth looked down. "I'm... I'm sorry, Aphmau..."

He sacrificed himself for Aphmau. Aaron wasn't selfish... He was worried. In my eyes, he had redeemed himself. If anything, now I felt sorrow over his loss.

The next sound I heard was most likely the most heart wrenching sound anyone could ever hear.

It was the sound of Aphmau's scream of mourning.

Sam's POV

When Ales tackled into me, I didn't hug her back. She held her arms around my shoulders, but all I did was stare at the ground. She let go of me and looked me in the eye.

"S-Sam?" 

As soon as I heard Aphmau's scream, it confirmed the news.

Aaron was dead.

And so was Zane.

<|Memory|>

I walked out of the forest, holding a flower Ales needed for one of her potions. It must've been very early, because no one was awake. The sky was a pitch black, my favorite color, which made it easier for me to find the flower.

As I began to walk towards the house Ales and I were staying in, I heard the sound of a door closing behind me. I swung around, raising an eyebrow when I saw Aaron walking outside.

Holding the Irene fragment.

"What are you doing?" I whispered harshly.

I knew that was the last chance of getting Melanie's brothers back, one of whom was Zane.

Aaron noticed me and quickly ran away, but I followed. After a few seconds I managed to tackle him with my sword. "What. Are. You. Doing?" I asked a bit more harsh this time.

"What's right." He responded.

"You cannot destroy that. Aphmau will hate you, and I bet you wouldn't like that, now would you?"

"Who said anything about destroying it?"

Then it dawned on me. He was going to open the portal himself.

"You know what the price is for that." I warned. "Are you really going to do it?"

"Yes."

I began to think for a bit. "Then I'm coming with you."

"Are you insane?!"

"Probably, considering I live with Ales!" I whispered harshly. "Look, it doesn't matter. I'm coming. You're going to need help with Zane."

Aaron sighed roughly. "Fine, you can come."

I could tell he wasn't giving me the full version of his plan, but I didn't pay it any attention.

We began to make our way towards Phoenix Drop, entering the portal that made me want to throw up, running quietly through their old town gate, and ending up at the clearing.

Aaron held the fragment in his hand, along with something else. I stood next to him, awaiting to be thrown back in there.

As soon as the flash of light came, we were in the Irene Dimension. I looked inside the church and widened my eyes at the sight. Aaron quickly sprinted in that direction, and I followed him.

Someone was sitting on the floor, Zane's black sword pointed at his neck. "So long... Big brother." Zane said with a smirk.

As he lifted his sword, Aaron stopped it with his own purple broadsword. I helped the man up, and noticed his features. He looked identical to Melanie, and in my mind I began to remember his name.

"Garroth." I said.

"HA! Come to get revenge, have you?"

I turned to see Zane dangerously close to hurting Aaron, so I did what I had to. I pushed him off Aaron and to the ground.

The fragment in Aaron's hand made a large cracking sound, and as I looked around I realized that the entire dimension seemed to be falling apart.

"S-SAM?!"

I had forgotten that Zane was there. I couldn't see his face clearly as he was in his Jury of Nine form, but I knew he was there.

A loud sound was heard, and we all flew backwards. I opened my eyes and saw that we were back in the forest, the portal was broken, and everyone was laying on the floor.

Except for Aaron.

He quickly ran to Zane, pulling him up to his feet, and holding onto the Irene fragment.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU'LL KILL US BOTH!"

Then Aaron seemed to smirk. "Good."

I started running towards them. Zane did many bad things in his life, but he was not about to die.

Garroth grabbed me from behind, pulling me away as fast as he could.

"NO! LET ME GO!" I yelled. Then I looked back frantically at Zane. "ZANE!"

"SAM!" He yelled.

Garroth seemed to have more trouble then he thought, because he lifted me off the ground and ran away.

The explosion threw us both back, and we landed on our backs. I looked back at the clearing, or what was left of it.

A huge crater was there.

Zane and Aaron were not.

I didn't cry. I don't cry. Instead I sat down, no emotion displayed on my face. I realized that the sentence I was about to let out was repeated twice over the same person.

Once in O'Khasis when I left... And once now.

"... I never even got to say goodbye..."