“The letters on it are from your world, right?”
Her question made me take notice: the brand name and the functions of the buttons were all written in the English alphabet.
“I got a strange feeling when I saw them, like I’d seen them somewhere before. Your tent, camping stuff, and rucksack had the same kind of letters as well.”
All of my things had brands and logos. She’d noticed those and realized they were written in the same alphabet as the signature in her notebook.
“I finally know why she kept it a secret. My real dad was an otherworlder.”
She paused for a moment, her gaze drifting down to the signature.
“Albert,” she said, looking steadily at it and then smiling. “That’s my dad’s name then. Thank you. I finally know because of you.”
“I didn’t do any—”
She shook her head.
“I could never believe her stories. After all, she wouldn’t tell me about my dad. The paintings weren’t by her, but by my real dad. I just didn’t know what to believe.”
Her expression slowly morphed. Her lips curved down into a fainter smile, her eyes drifted slightly closed, and her cheeks flushed red.
“It made sense when Olympia told me the Golden Sea didn’t exist. But she wasn’t a real witch, so it actually might.”
“So you’re back to not knowing what to believe?” I asked hesitantly.
“No,” she answered firmly. “She said that people believe what they want to believe. I’ve decided to do exactly that.”
Her eyes shone into mine, taking my breath away.
“I’ll believe that it exists. After all, if it does, I can keep searching for it. I can be with you, visiting lots of places, eating lots of delicious meals, and painting lots of pictures.”
Her gaze had drifted as she spoke, landing somewhere off to the side. The smile on her face was the first one I’d seen that fit her age—soft, and with nothing hidden behind it.
“That’s a great answer,” I managed through the bright emotions making my throat tighten and my chest feel full.
She looked back up at me.
“Besides, we have a deal. I’ll be with you, so you’re not allowed to die.”
Urk.
“I have no idea what you’re on about. That’s ridiculous,” I answered with a snort.
I didn’t have a clue as to when she’d noticed. Her smile strained, taking on a more mature tinge as she looked at me.
“We fired the signal rounds at that station to call Vandyke.”
“And...?”
“When you got it out, you already had live rounds in it.”
“Well spotted,” I said, only just realizing how suspicious that would have been. “I mean, it’s dangerous out there. They were for self-defense.”
“I asked if we should get out the gun when we heard Ned’s distress signal. You said no. That seems like odd behavior for someone using live rounds for self-defense. When we met them, you didn’t even get out. You just stayed in the car, ready to drive off.”
I fell silent.
“You kept the live rounds in the gun but left it in its case. If it wasn’t for self-defense, there’s only one use I could think of.”
Her conclusion was completely logical, and though I tried to think of some excuse, I knew it was hopeless. I raised my hands in surrender and could only offer a rueful smile.
“I!” Nito suddenly shouted, making my eyes shoot wide open.
She was looking down, her hands gone paper white from how tightly she was holding them together.
“I just read books my whole life. I’d never been outside really, I couldn’t camp as well as those characters, I can’t cook, and I’m not good at talking with people. Also, um, I’ve got no sense of direction, I’m scared of thunder, and I had no idea Olympia was lying! So...”
She raised her gaze. Her eyes shimmered like ice holding the blue summer sky within it—a color that reminded me of home.
“So if you don’t look after me, I’ll end up dead at the side of the road! Got it?!”
“Huh?”
It took me a while to understand exactly what she was trying to say. When I finally did, laughter bubbled up from my stomach. It started small but was soon bursting from my throat in great guffaws, turning into laughter that even I was enjoying listening to.
“W-Why are you laughing?!” she spluttered.
“I just... Does that even count as a threat?”
I couldn’t help it, couldn’t hold it in. What a thing. How could I find it so funny? Why was I tearing up? How had all the things I’d been worried about just faded away like that?
By the time I got myself under control, Nito was sulking. Her cheeks were puffed up and she was pouting, a sharp crease between her eyebrows as she frowned up at me.
“I’m sorry, all right?” I said.
“You’re not forgiven,” she answered after a moment.
“I promise I won’t try to die anymore.”
“Really?”
“I mean it.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Come on. I still owe you for fixing the Kettle, don’t I?”
“That’s right, and I won’t take money you steal from the town. You need to earn it yourself. Vandyke had it right: money that you earn from working has value.”
“Yup, that’s right, so I guess I’ll earn my money as a peddler.”
A beat of silence stretched between us.
“A peddler?” she asked eventually.
“There are probably people around this place. They might have things they want, like we wanted meat and clothes. I’ll bring things to them, and earn money for it. Then I can use that to pay you back. What do you think?”
“That...doesn’t sound bad.”
“Plus, while we’re going all over the place, we can search too. We can look for the Golden Sea, the other places in your mom’s notebook, and even that man in black while we’re at it.”
“That sounds brilliant,” she answered with a nod.
I smiled again at her firm nod. Then, I stood up and pulled out that particular case from the mound of boxes we’d taken out of the Kettle. I unlocked it and saw within it that mass of metal that had grown so familiar in my hand. I took the gun out of the case and broke the body open, taking the rounds out and holding them out to her in my fist.
“Can you look after these?”
She looked at my fist, looked at my face, and then held her hands out hesitantly, cupped with her little fingers all pressed together. I opened my hand and dropped the two bullets into hers. They bounced slightly in her palms and she let out a panicked noise before closing her fingers around them.
“I won’t give them back, you know?”
“Call them a present, then,” I told her.
“I don’t particularly want these to be my first present from a guy,” she told me.
I grinned back in agreement.
“I look forward to traveling with you some more,” I told her.
“Right.”
✦ ✦ ✦
The world was indeed in ruins, and there were few people left. The people that were left had all lost something, Nito and I included. Yet we shifted our attention to what we still had and treasured each day. I was sure all the people we’d met, and even more besides, were living out their days like that as well.
The world itself was shrouded in night, without any hint of brightness from either hope or the waiting future. Whether tomorrow would ever come to this world was uncertain, but there were people out there who held on to faith that dawn would break as they traveled through this world, and I respected how they lived. I’d been cast into the darkness alone, and had thought of death without the dawn. Yet at some point, one had become two with this girl as we’d traveled and laughed together.
I looked around at the mountain of things in front of me. I had my backpack with my camping gear, the recipe book, the wine, and the blow poke. Now, I had the cigarette case as well. There were still things in the auto-trike too. We’d have to move those to the Kettle with the rest, and then we’d set out again. This time, in search of the places in Nito’s notebook as I peddled my wares.
Huh, haven’t I got a lot of plans now?
Laughter filled my heart once again as I looked up at the sky. The indigo carpet of the night sky was bursting with countless sparkling stars. Nito looked suspiciously at me as I suppressed my laughter, but that didn’t bother me. I didn’t know when it had happened, but I’d started simply believing in tomorrow. I finally knew why the words Jack had left with felt so nostalgic to me.
“Hey, Nito,” I said. “See you tomorrow.”
She tilted her head, the silver threads of her hair sparkling as they flowed and shifted with the motion.
“Right, see you tomorrow,” she said with a smile.
I’d found someone I could be with and believe in that uncertain tomorrow with, laughing and smiling as we ate. It was such a joy to have that, and it meant I was truly living.
The notebook was laying open where I’d set it down. The page shimmering in the lantern light was filled with the Golden Sea, its brilliant amber a sign of the most beautiful dawn in the world.
Fin.