BRIGHT, GLOWING WISPS OF LIGHT ROSE OUT OF THE GROUND as Lady Mania let go of the small girl. She took a few steps back as tears slowly began to well up in her eyes.

“Abraham,” Mania couldn’t believe what she saw. “It’s time.”

The old man looked up from the ground and walked up to the two rabbits. He lowered himself onto one knee to speak on the same eye level as them. “Remember when I told you that Oasia was alive? When you were happily eating the stew I made?”

Kou nodded with a warm smile.

Abraham chuckled. “Back then,” he held out an open hand to both rabbits as they held on. “Oasia, this world,” he looked around then back at them. “It didn’t want either of you here because she was afraid and in pain. Now” —he glanced at the wondrous, blue sky— “Look around and you’ll see all that pain is gone. Thanks to both of you, Oasia has the chance to start anew.”

Both Kou and Tsukiko hugged him and let go after he patted their backs.

“Thank you, both of you, for restoring Oasia’s light.” Abraham stood up and returned to Mania’s side.

“Go on, little ones,” Mania gently pushed the Elkhi siblings up to the twins. “It’s time to say your farewells.”

Ehno and Fia couldn’t contain it any longer as they immediately began sobbing. Ehno clung to Kou as Fia was picked up by Tsukiko and carried like a newborn.

“Glowy ones!” The Elkhi siblings said in unison as they both looked up at them.

“Will we ever play together again?” Ehno asked, choking on his own tears.

The two rabbits glanced at each other and smiled. Kou hugged the small blue Elkhi and nodded.

“P-pwomwise?” Fia couldn’t help but slur her words behind the tears as she looked up at Tsukiko.

The Black Rabbit cuddled the tiny pink Elkhi as both pairs of siblings held onto one another for their farewells with one another.

Kou and Tsukiko let go of the two Elkhi but they both hugged the twin rabbits one last time before they returned to Lady Mania’s side and wiped their tears away, trying to look stronger than they appear.

A small tap on Kou’s shoes caused both rabbits to look down at once, only to see the tiny, regrown plant of Sentiana waving up at them from below. No longer connected to the clay pot like before, Kou glanced between the tiny plant and the massive iridescent tree in the distance.

The White Rabbit kneeled and held out their hand to Oasia’s Guardian.

The small Sentiana hugged Kou’s hand with both of her leaves. She looked up at the twins as Tsukiko kneeled next to them.

“You both did it,” Sentiana’s voice echoed around them, causing them to look at each other. “You really saved everyone. I can’t thank either of you enough.”

A swirl of the forest’s iridescent leaves floated around them as a transparent, older Sentiana took shape behind her mini self. The two rabbits looked back and forth between her spirit and miniature body.

“Now, I have one final favor to ask of you. Both of you.” For the first time, Sentiana smiled. She was happy. “Send my best wishes to everyone back home.”

Kou and Tsukiko returned a reassuring smile and nodded as Sentiana’s spirit vanished from sight. The tiny plant held up one leaf and stared up at Kou as if it expected a high five. Instead, Kou poked the leaf and it responded with its usual happy swaying. Sentiana’s tiny self sank into the ground and popped up between the Elkhi siblings, accidentally scaring them.

Lady Mania took gentle footsteps as the grass slowly rose out of the ground of Forestria Synesthesia. She kneeled in front of both rabbits and hugged them like a mother would. “You two are wondrous miracles to Oasia,” she let go as the tone in her voice grew heavy. “But even the time you spend here cannot be forever,” she said with saddened eyes. “Listen carefully, you two.” The Harpy took a deep sigh. “You were brought here to free this world from all the pain and sorrow it endured beneath an everlasting night. You’ve done it and now your time is up.”

Tears welled up even more so in the eyes of Kou and Tsukiko. They’ll miss everyone.

“Children of Light,” Mania held each of their hands. “You have a family out there and you must return to them. Wherever your father and mother are, I’m positive they are worried sick for the safety and whereabouts of their beloved children” She looked into the eyes of the two rabbits and saw their light dim with sadness. She pulled them in for one more hug. “No matter how much you grow, I ask that you both never forget what you’ve done to allow everyone on Oasia to begin their lives anew. Even if it feels like a dream of yesterday, it’s time for both of you to return home safe and sound.”

The two rabbits silently cried with their tears flowing down their cheeks as they hugged Lady Mania. If they had their voices, there’s no doubt they’d cry at the top of their lungs.

The Elkhi siblings continued to let their emotions flow endlessly as a single tear welled up in the old fisherman’s eyes. Everyone played a part in each other’s lives and the festival of emotions seemed as though it’d never end.

Lady Mania let go of the two rabbits and she wiped away their tears as her final, motherly act towards them. She took several steps back as the glowing wisps swirled around the twins of night and day.

Even the luminescent butterflies and fireflies left the safety of their shelters and sat among the branches of the trees, watching the departure of the Child of Light.

The glowing wisps swirled faster and faster around them as their friends said their final farewells.

“Take care now!” shouted Abraham.

“Don’t forget to play with us again!” Ehno and Fia yelled simultaneously.

“Stay safe and treasure every moment together!” Lady Mania yelled with her hands cupped around her mouth as the tiny Sentiana waved frantically.

Kou and Tsukiko smiled and held each other’s hand. They waved at their friends as the wisps spun rapidly and shot out a pillar of light upward into the sky, taking the two rabbits with it.

When the light faded, Kou and Tsukiko were no longer on the strange, now familiar world of Oasia.

                                      ***

Enveloped by the warm light, Kou slowly opened their daylight eyes. They looked around and saw nothing but stars beyond the thin wall of light that surrounded them and their sleeping sibling.

They couldn’t help but wonder what this strange feeling was. It poked at them as though they almost forgot something too important to ever miss. The small child shook their sister awake, causing her to slowly open her moonlit eyes and yawn.

Neither of them knew how much time has passed since their departure not did they know where they were now besides on their way home.

Kou tried to tell Tsukiko what bothered them by flailing their arms similar to what Sentiana did but nonetheless, she was only left more confused than before.

The small child gave up trying to tell their sibling, but they knew they couldn’t have left anything important behind as though everything went the way it needed to. They knew the planted the seed for Sentiana to regrow and brought back the light to Oasia but what else could there be?

Soon enough, the small child snapped their fingers and realized there was one more thing they haven’t done yet as the light around them both brightened until the stars could no longer been. Instead, it was like an endless white void.

Kou closed their eyes and thought, hoping for a miracle just once for them and so it happened. Just to thank their guardian angel all this time.

Beyond what could be the screen of a monitor or even the pages of a book, the small child that brought back the day and ended an eternal night saw past what could’ve been a world like a place they could call home.

Two words with a hope-filled voice were all that came out of the mouth of the Child of Light.