A Fond Farewell

The others waited for Jun and Kaida's return. They all were filled with joy to see their friends land on the beach. Rei and Kei ran up and gave Kaida the biggest hug, causing her to drop the chest. "Hey careful!" Kaida exclaimed.

"Oops sorry," Kei said. "It's just that we're so glad you are all ok."

"Same goes to you all." Kaida looked at their Australian companions. "I see Charlie and the others met up with you. Did you guys have a hard time?"

"Oh, nothing we couldn't handle," Rei said.

Yun, Charlie, and everyone else gathered around Kaida. Isla was the first to speak. "So what's in the chest Kaida?"

"Yeah, open it!" Olivia added.

Kaida took a deep breath before placing her hands on the chest. She pried it open to reveal five gold medals. "Oh wow!" Everyone gawked.

"One for every person," Yun commented as he took one of the medals.

There was a sudden siren-like sound, then a pixie showed up out of nowhere carrying a camera and a speaker where the voice of James D. Adams spoke out to them. "Hello to all contestants! The treasure has been found. The winner of this Final Fantasy League is none other than your host for this competition, Japan! All teams please return to the stadium for the closing ceremony."

"Congratulations," Charlie said to the team. "Ya did good."

"We owe a lot of our victory to you guys," Yun said.

"Yeah, Kaida and I would have been sunk without you," Jun added.

Kaida looked at the medals and got an idea. She ran over to Amelia and pulled her close before putting the medal over both of their heads. "See, we can all be winners," Kaida said.

Rei and the others laughed and each picked a different person from the Australia team to share medals with. The teens all laughed and had fun on the beach together while they still could. Kaida felt overjoyed knowing that she and her friends had won the competition. But what made her happier than that was knowing she could share that victory with her new friends.

All the teams returned to the stadium and sat through the closing ceremony. Many of the players were sad about losing but most were good sports and congratulated the Japan team. Kaida couldn't remember a time where they had to shake so many hands. She was even congratulated by the French boy with the mermaid.

It was difficult saying goodbye to Charlie and the others but Kaida had a feeling that they would see each other again in the future. When they returned to the hotel, the team was provided a feast by Ando and Mina, and bombarded with questions by Yui. It took answering a few for Rei to ask a question of her own.

"So whose team did you and Tsuda sensei have to deal with?" Rei asked before shoving her mouth with rice.

"Oh we had the team from Canada," Yui replied. "But they couldn't make it past sensei's test."

"What test?" Yun inquired.

Tsuda gave a hefty laugh before replying. "Those poor saps. They had to defeat Tani at an archery contest."

Yui shook her head. "It wan't even a competition." She quickly switched topics. "So tell me more about this Charlie guy! And what kind of test did you all have to take? Oh I can't wait to hear all about it!"

Kaida laughed at her enthusiasm. "Don't worry Yui. We'll be sure to tell you everything."

Ten years had passed since that time, yet Kaida still remembered it like it was yesterday. After returning to Ashikaga and finishing high school, everyone worked hard to use the fame and fortune of winning the Fantasy Life League to better their community and pursue their dreams.

Tsuda got married, moved to Akita, and had three children. He and Tani often sent postcards and family photos to the team. Kaida always looked forward to receiving one in the mail, especially at Christmas.

Both Yui and Kei went to school for Music and became an idol duo together, and the two of them would often go and perform live for different charities. When Charlie and the girls came back to Japan for a visit, Yui fell head over heels, and the two got married. Now, Charlie was a pilot and flew the plane for whenever the two had to go on tour. Kei was currently engaged to a producer she met from Tokyo, and was busy getting ready for the wedding.

Rei and Yun married, and recently had a little girl. Rei became a kendo instructor at Ashikaga High School. She used some of her funds to acquire better equipment and brought in more students. Yun pursued a career in law and was employed as an investigator in the next town over. Alba and Asa busied themselves with taking care of the house and watching the child while both Rei and Yun were at work.

Jun also persuaded a path in law and became an attorney at a firm just outside Tokyo. Jun would make frequent trips down to Suruga Bay to visit Des as promised, then he decided to create a team that could go under and repair the old buildings that were destroyed in the fight with the nokk so Des and the other wild creatures had a place to live.

Kaida was pleased to continue to see her friends. However, it had been a while since she saw them all together. That was until her wedding day. The night before her wedding, Kaida had just graduated from medical school. She was happy to be moving on with her life, but was also excited to finally fulfill her dream.

The day of her wedding came and went. The following morning, she and her newly wed husband boarded a plane to The Netherlands where he took her to the field of tulips. How is this for a honeymoon?" Jun asked.

The array of the different colored flowers left Kaida in awe. She had never seen anything more beautiful in her life. "It's beautiful," she cried.

Having brought back some tulip bulbs from The Netherlands, Kaida created a bouquet to take to Himari's grave. Chiyo and Yami always went with her to the grave to help tend to the tombstone. Chiyo hadn't used her magic since bringing her and her friends back to the present, and Kaida often wondered if Chiyo wanted to go back. This bouquet for Himari was extra special, made from the flowers that Kaida had dreamt about seeing, and there was one from each of her friends from the Fantasy Life League.