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It was a perfectly average afternoon on the S.S. Tetra when Tee found himself suddenly somewhere very different, but very familiar. A loud shriek came from in front of him, but he was still too baffled to begin processing that. Thankfully, it didn't exactly take him much time to get up to speed in his mind, realizing that the girl in front of him was not a stranger, but none other than Ringo Ando.
"You know, you've got to stop dropping in like this."
Tee couldn't agree more. It wasn't exactly fun to constantly end up in merged dimensions, especially as every time they had to go through a brief period of re-remembering everything. Still, he couldn't deny it was good to see Ringo again — now that he knew who she was.
He'd somehow found himself in Suzuran, this time no Ex in sight. Or any clue why or how he'd ended up there in the first place. For some reason, he got the distinct impression Ex was laughing at him from his post. In fact, Tee was pretty sure he'd been asleep, but no matter. In Suzuran, it was midday, and he'd been lucky to catch Ringo on her way to… somewhere. Maybe home, if he had to guess. He thought he remembered her saying she lived in the shopping district the last time they'd met.
"I'm sorry…?" He finally said after a moment, not feeling very sorry at all. "I don't think there's really a better way to drop in, unless you have some ideas."
Ringo gave him an exasperated look. "You know what I mean!" He most certainly did. "But, lucky for you, Mr. Tetris King, I didn't have any plans today."
At least his luck wasn't all terrible. He even would politely ignore the somewhat mocking nickname in a show of generosity. "Seeing as I have no idea why I'm here," he said, because he really didn't, "I suppose I should go along with whatever you have in mind."
His possibly bad choice was instantly rewarded with one of Ringo's bright smiles, and Tee felt his face flush.
"Well, I was going to get a head start on this project I've been thinking about…"
It was a rarity for Tee to get to spend such mundane time in Ringo's company. Almost every time they'd been together since they'd met, it had been in complete chaos. To be honest, he thought it was just a side effect of merging two completely different universes, though Ringo had explained to him many a time that she was used to that from Arle and Amitie. He found he rather liked just relaxing like this, sitting on her floor while he watched her scribble notes down furiously.
This week's study, apparently, was on a new blend of the tea she'd been selling out of the family store. While it was popular, she told him, she thought she was smarter now than she'd been last year, and therefore could do a better job. That was something Tee could get behind.
It was also the first time that he'd ever been inside of her home. Tee knew that she'd lived in the shopping district, and that her grandmother and her were quite close, but he had never seen the store they owned and operated. The life that she had in Suzuran was so incredibly different from his own, it surprised him every time.
More so than that, Ringo was very nice to watch as she worked. He'd always known her to be bright and grounded — more so than the majority of her friends, which he supposed wasn't saying much in the grand scheme of things — and the amount of focus she could give to something as simple as trying to make a new tea blend was… nice, really. Her passion was something he—
"Ah, Tee," Ringo said suddenly, breaking him out of his reverie, "I was wondering something. If you don't know why you're here this time, do you know how long you'll be here?"
It was a pretty reasonable question, but Tee had no answer for her. There had been once upon a time he might've been able to understand things, had he ended up as the Keeper of Dimensions, but that time had long since passed.
Honestly, he didn't really want to know the answer. Setting a deadline on the time they had together, for some reason, made his heart clench painfully in his chest. He told her as much — without the last part, of course.
The smile she gave him was kind. "You're right," she agreed, surprising him. "If we don't know exactly when you're going, then we can't say goodbye."
When they'd parted for the first time, he'd told her goodbyes were hard. The only people he'd ever been close to before intersecting with the world of Puyo was everyone on the S.S. Tetra. Ringo, somehow, had wormed her way into his heart and now he couldn't get rid of her. Even when he was away from her, and had no memories, he always felt like something was off. Missing.
He wondered, briefly, how she'd take something like that. Would she understand the implications? Would he have to spell it out for her?
Without thinking, he ended up blurting, "I still hate saying goodbye to you, Ringo. I really love—"
Tee snapped his mouth shut as his brain caught up with his words. He was just about to tell her…!
Maybe, he thought, she wouldn't notice the awkward cut-off. Maybe she'd think he was just going to say that he loved spending time with all the friends he'd made in this world.
But he never saw anyone else unless something was actually happening, and he somehow ended up always teleporting in next to Ringo, no matter where she was. It wasn't as if he had any say in it, but he wasn't in so much denial that he didn't think that was without meaning, especially if Ex was somehow involved.
Ringo, however, was smart. "I know you do," she said, smile widening. "You don't have to say it if you're not ready to. I know all the same!"
He knew, too. Both her feelings and his own. Admitting it was hard — being that openly honest with anyone was hard, but especially about something like love. It wasn't as if he had any prior experience in the subject.
The apples and spices she'd been testing were quickly pushed to the side, and Tee found himself getting pulled into Ringo's arms. She was warm, but it wasn't bad despite the weather. It felt… nice, to be held sometimes. It wasn't something he let others do. It wasn't something he ever initiated himself. But with Ringo, he thought, it was okay.
He sighed in contentment, closing his eyes and resting his head on her shoulder. He'd missed her, even if his brain hadn't remembered to. How do you love someone you forget about when you are not with them? How do you keep falling in love with them every time you are?
Apparently, Tee had realized, it was actually very, very simple.