Epilogue

So months passed, and Treasure Town returned to its cheerful routine. The scars from the planet's injuries slowly healed. And life gradually returned to normal.

It was a beautiful evening. The torches in front of Daniel's Guild glowed softly in the orange sunset. Alana emerged from the guild entrance. She paused to stretch before she continued on her walk. She passed Josh as she walked down the steps.

"Hi, Alana," Josh greeted her as they passed. "Going out?"

"Yes," replied Alana. "Out for a walk."

"Sounds nice," Josh said. "It'll be dinner soon, though. You don't want to be late for that."

"Okay," Alana answered before nodding a goodbye and continuing her walk.

The children of Treasure Town were out blowing bubbles on the beach, as they often did on summer evenings. The glint of the waves caught off the bubbles making them literally sparkle in the sunset. Alana walked out on the sand, gingerly removing her flip flops before settling down in the sand and dunking her feet in the waves.

"Oh, wow," she beamed. "This is beautiful! I haven't seen this for a long time. It's just as gorgeous as I remember. I've just been too busy to come and see it. I've missed this."

She stopped and gazed at a particularly large bubble as it floated up into the sunset and popped into a fantastic explosion of foam and glittering drops of water.

"I wonder when it was when I last saw this," Alana said absentmindedly. "The last time was…" she stopped to think. "Oh," she finally said sadly. "The last time I saw this was when I met Sydney."

She flashed back to when she first met that goofy freckle-faced girl with the big hair lying on the beach. Alana didn't know about her at first, but Sydney quickly grew on her. It made her shoulders hunch with grief to think that she would never see her again.

"The view was like this that time too," Alana said.

She walked down the beach to find the exact spot where the two first met.

"That was when our adventure began."

Flashbacks of their best times together played through Alana's mind like a movie. There was the time Alana asked Sydney to join an exploration team. She also imagined the two joking around in the guild. There was also their first exploration at the waterfall. She remembered the two of them facing off against Magma at Fogbound Lake and gazing at the beautiful view. She could almost feel the pain when they were captured by Connor and slashed at by the Sabyrs. She revisited the fear that she felt when they were stuck in the future. There was also the time when they were searching for Time Gears in the Northern Desert. The Crystal Lake where they met Willpower was there too. She felt a heavy sadness renewed when they lost Steven in the Hidden Land.

"I remember it all so fondly," Alana said. "All those memories of my time with Sydney… Memories of Sydney..."

Alana sat down, so overwhelmed by sadness that she found it impossible to remain standing.

"But now, Sydney is gone."

At around this time, Josh came strolling down the beach looking for Alana. He found her sobbing on the sand and clutching it tightly in her fists.

"Alana!" exclaimed Josh. He rushed to her side to comfort her. "You've been gone so long. I started worrying about you. What's the matter?"

Alana got up and turned around.

"Josh!" she wept and flung her arms around him.

"Wah?!" Josh yelped in surprise. "What's the matter?!"

Meanwhile, millions of miles away, in a gap in time, Father Time watched over Alana through his scepter. He felt her sadness as severely as if it was his own.

"Alana," Father Time sighed. "When you bid farewell to this place from the Rainbow Stoneship; your sorrow, I felt its intensity even here. And if that is how you feel even now, and if Sydney were to share those feelings, I will grant your wish. The world needs you both. That is why, I will entrust you with a gift."

Father Time cocked his head back and lifted his scepter before shouting six choice words.

"I LEAVE TO YOU THE FUTURE!"

Father Time strode up the stairs where the Time Gears still sat, to this day. He turned to face the evening sky and raised his scepter to the clouds.

"THIS IS MY THANKS! PLEASE ACCEPT IT!"

Father Time slammed his scepter down and a single bright yellow light flew from it.

Back at the beach by Treasure Town, Alana held onto Josh for support as she struggled to stand upright. The yellow light flew from across the sea to the spot where Alana and Josh were. Neither of them noticed it until it stopped and the brightness of the light reached its peak of intensity. After it had faded, Sydney stood on the sand, looking rather confused. Josh jumped up and down in excitement and disbelief.

"It's Sydney!" he shouted.

Sydney looked over and gave a huge smile of recognition. Alana, turning and noticing her for the first time, saw her best friend standing on the beach, unchanged from the day she had disappeared.

The two ran across the sand and hugged, weeping tears of joy. Neither said a word, for nothing needed to be said after all they had been through.