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It was the day.
Kronii had dreaded it for a year.
She woke up with tear stains and bags under her eyes.
Her covers were too warm, it would have been a crime to leave her bed and Kronii didn't want to have that on her record.
So she rolled over and checked the time on her phone.
She frowned. It was later than she had expected, was she getting rusty?
She shook her head and checked her notifications. She was met by a wall of 'Are you Okay' and 'You can talk to me if you want.' she scoffed.
None of them understood.
She had known her longer than anyone.
Sure Fauna was there before her, but her realm and Sana's realm are two completely different areas and with the council not having been established there was very little contact between the two. Kronii however, her realm is wherever time itself exists meaning she could go anywhere. That was where she had first met Sana, at the death of a primordial star, it didn't take long for her to think back on that first meeting.
The star exploded, sending shockwaves that would go for light years and create something that the Warden wouldn't understand for millennia. It was there in that moment of interest and confusion that she felt a presence behind her.
"Who might you be?"
Time turned to face space and attempted to sound nice, after all, she had no body to give body language, "My name is Ouro Kronii, I'm the Warden of Time."
"Time?" The Speaker sounded confused.
"Yes," The Warden confirmed, "The passage of time is what lets the universe move on and change, I'm here to make sure it isn't tempered with."
"Ah, that makes sense," Space responded, there was a hint of competition in her voice, "But what does time have in comparison to the building blocks of reality?"
"Don't get too high and mighty now!" Kronii growled, "There are plenty of reasons why Time is better than space!"
A notification pulled her from the memory that started the battles between her and Sana, it was a warm one, one she remembered fondly. Kronii glanced at the screen and saw a message from the biggest problem this side of the timeline, Amelia Watson.
A.W. - hey kronster, if what you said is true and she'll be here you wouldn't want to disappoint her, so please, get out of bed. I promise it's gonna be worth it.
Kronii raised an eyebrow at the blonde's message but sighed.
No use in being confrontational, if Amelia had peaked into the future and said it was worth it, who is she to think she's lying. Kronii sighed, "Old habits die hard."
She crawled out of bed and put on her Kimono, and glanced at herself in the mirror, memories from a few years prior rushed back to her.
It was a day in the office, rewinding the damage done to the Cover Offices after the umpteenth time it had been burnt to the ground by some Antics from their Senpai. Sana had elected to join her in her work, she was interested in what went into it.
She was nearly done putting the finishing touches when Sana cleared her throat.
"Yes?" Kronii replied, shifting some of her focus from the building to her friend.
"So, Kronini," Her voice was devoid of the happiness it usually was, "You remember how you had said all those years ago that Time is what allowed the universe to change and grow?"
Kronii's arms froze midair, and her magic stalled while she turned the whole of her attention to her friend, "Yes I do, why?"
"Because, Uh," Sana was hesitant, "It's uh time for me to move on."
Kronii tilted her head, "Like from Earth?"
"From council," Sana explained.
Kronii looked back at the building and looked as if she went back to work, but the lack of rewinding told a different story, "Oh."
"Space has been expanding faster than we thought it would and, well, the universe had asked me to help watch over the frontier," Sana explained, "Thanks to the distance I won't be able to go to any meetings, but I can send letters with Yatagarasu, so it's not like we'll be completely out of contact."
Kronii was still frozen with thought.
"I, uh," Kronii took a moment to collect herself, "Did you tell the others?"
"I'll be telling them later at the lake Ina and Reine normally fish at," Sana smiled, "That way when I come to visit you'll be able to see me where it's not too crowded and the light pollution isn't bad."
"That makes sense," Kronii smiled at Kronii, "I'll be there to see you off, I just, uh, need some time."
Sana hugged Kronii, "I understand."
That had been a long night.
She grabbed her purse and made her way to the lake, where she was met by the rest of Myth and Council as well as IRyS, it wasn't long before the shooting stars began to arrive.
When they did Kronii turned her gaze at the dirt beneath her feet, while the light from the sky above her painted it in hues of blue and gold, splashes of purple made their way up her shoes.
She wanted to say something, anything to Sana, "I…"
Her voice was choked.
The beautiful menagerie of colors continued to swell, now orange and red painted the sky. She closed her eyes, it was too much for her to see.
She couldn't do this.
"Remember, I'll always be up there."
Her voice pulled her gaze slightly upwards.
"I may not be here, but I'll never be gone for good!" Her voice was so cheerful despite the topic of conversation.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
"Are you sure you have to go?" The nearby owl croaked.
This made the taller woman's smile crack slightly, "I'm sure Mumei, my duties will take me away, but I'm sure you'll remember me!"
Kronii wiped a traitorous tear off her cheek.
"But what if I don't?"
The woman broke her gaze from Mumei and looked up at the other members of Myth and Council around her, "I've made so many great friends with my time on Earth, made so many experiences I'll never forget, and will have enough memories to last me a lifetime!"
Behind her, the warden heard the choked sobs of the resident Rat of Council, she was quickly hugged by IRyS.
Meanwhile, the Warden heard Amelia sniffle and both Ina and Gura come to her aid.
"These memories are like gold to me," Sana smiled, at everyone, a faint hint of sorrow snuck through her voice, "I'll never forget them!"
She then looked down to see Mumei's tearful eyes again. She leaned down slightly and wiped the tears off her face, "So when I next see you, don't worry if you forget, I'll just remind you all over again!"
Mumei's sorrow fled for a fleeting moment and she hugged the speaker, "I love you, Sana!"
"I love you too Memei!" The Speaker could only manage a whisper.
"Fauna," Sana began, "You were always the most caring person I know, I'm sorry I and Kronii caused you so many issues in the past."
The Kirin chuckled through the tears, "Don't worry about it, I'm just happy to have met you."
This broke the Kirin, tears began flowing like a dam had been broken. She was quickly hugged by both Calli and Kiara, who handed the Keeper a handkerchief.
She then turned to Kronii, who was standing alone and whose mask of contentment had yet to break "I know how you are Kronii, you'll always think about the past and be sad, you'll blame yourself" She walked up towards her and took the Warden's hands in her own, "But remember to look up and gain a different perspective, you didn't do anything wrong, you're just doing what the timeline demanded and I don't love you any less."
With that, she let go and began to fly up into the sky.
Kronii sniffled and blew her nose and slowly but surely turned her head up to the sky.
Her frown was immediately washed away and her eyes danced around in a vain attempt to take in the whole thing.
A bright golden comet, with a tail almost every color of the rainbow, was sailing past the Earth. The blues and gold swirled around the orange and read in a delightful dance and though many could not see it, Kronii could.
She knew she was there.
Happily waving down to them from her spot in the heavens, her giddy happiness shining brighter than the brightest star. Her endless optimism reaches farther than the entire universe itself.
And warming the place she had left in Kronii's heart.
Sana had said it all along.
She may have left Earth, but she would never leave them.
Kronii smiled.
She waved.
And a tear fell down her cheek.