They met at the harbor; rather, he saw her at the harbor, sitting on one of the poles where ships and yachts roped and docked, still in her uniform and her back to him as she stared into the sea with a book in her hand. Propped at her side was her satchel, and he was amused to find that instead of the popular cartoon character hanging from the handle, there was a keychain that proudly bore the name Tobita Club in mixed katakana and romaji.

He debated whether he should push her into the sea and laugh loudly, but quickly discarded the idea. So Alex Borg decided that he should just walk up next to her and tap her shoulders.

Lilika Tobita was surprised to see him, and from the smile, he could see that she was pleased. "Alex," she said, and was surprised to find himself happy that she had said his name. "It's been a long time!"

"Yeah," he said, grinning, pulling up a barrel to sit next to her. He deposited his backpack next to his seat before turning to her. "Had some unfinished business."

She was amused. "I suppose you do. You might want to congratulate Kouya-kun and the rest for winning the World Cup."

"I didn't doubt that those kids will manage to bag it," he told her.

She eyed the enormous backpack and asked, "Where are you staying?"

"I haven't thought about it yet," he said, blinking at the realization. "I just came from the airport. I just hopped on the plane without thinking."

"You were always so irrational." But she was smiling again. "If you had called a few days earlier, I could have arranged something."

"I'm sure Jirou will let me stay with them," he replied dismissively. "I went to the Tobita Club earlier but I saw the post that you're having a holiday so I thought I'd wander around for a while and look for you."

"You might have looked for a hotel first."

Alex scratched his head. "That never came to mind," he said truthfully, and she laughed.

"You've never changed," she told him.

The statement made him a little sad; he had never thought of himself as unchanging. He had always wanted to be flexible, and with this thought, he said, "Actually, I think I'm changing."

"Oh?" Lilika cocked her head slightly.

He liked the way she somehow knew that he was speaking seriously. "I came here for a reason�"

She did not speak as his voice trailed off, waiting. He appreciated it, because he knew that the words he was about to speak were not easy for him to say, and it always took him time to formulate them in sentences that actually made sense to others.

"I wanted to�to apologize." Again, she did not speak, and he was grateful. "To�to Takeshi-kun."

"I see." Her voice was quiet and held no expression.

He risked a glance at her face and almost sighed in relief when he saw only concern in her face, as if she truly cared for what he was about to say. He hoped it was not just an appearance, and thought that was a terrible idea because he knew Lilika was always kind to everyone.

But, came a whisper in his mind, he did not want to be just 'everyone'.

"When I saw him�during that fight against Kouya-kun, I thought it must have been terrible for him, that time Yuuya died." Years had made it a little easier for him to connect Yuuya's name with the word 'death'. "I think we were too hard on him, and when I saw him�that time against Kouya-kun, I kept thinking that we weren't the only ones who suffered, and we were selfish to think that Yuuya's memories are only ours�"

When he stopped, he could not look at her face, afraid of what he might see. Anger? Sorrow? Pity?

"Alex."

"Takeshi had a right to his own memories of Yuuya," he said softly. "At that time, I forgot all about it."

"Alex."

When he looked up, he was surprised to see that the only emotion on Lilika's face was of understanding. "You were suffering. We all were," she said quietly. "That time was terrible: the waiting, the end�and everything after." She held out an arm and, with her small fingers, touched his cheek and smiled sadly. "You were Yuuya's best friend. You, too, are entitled to your own memories of Yuuya. No one, not I, nor Takeshi, nor Kouya-kun, can take that away. How you choose to remember him is not something we can dispute with."

"If I had asked Takeshi that time�" he began but Lilika shook her head.

"It's no use blaming yourself or anyone else. Takeshi-kun chose his own path himself. You, too, chose your own path. We may regret a lot of things, but we can only live forward."

And here Alex saw the sadness in her eyes and sputtered, "Do you�also�?"

"�blame myself for Takeshi?" She smiled, but it was a sad smile. "Of course. But we can't always live with regret, can we, Alex?"

His admiration for her grew and suddenly, the touch of her palm against his cheek was more than comforting. He smiled and took her hand, noticing how small they were�or were his own hands only massive?

"You keep all of us grounded, Lilika," he said, "as always."

"Someone has to," she told him. The smile on her face lost its sorrow. "If you want to apologize to Takeshi-kun, it's your own right. It may change everything, or may change nothing, but Kouya-kun turned out well, don't you think?"

Blinking, he stared at her before nodding. The choices they made, the paths they took, had shaped something that was bigger than Crush Gear, bigger than the World Cup. It had built bonds of friendship that surpassed distance, language, and background.

That alone, he felt, was reason enough to stop regretting.

For some time, the sounds of waves and nearby traffic were the only sounds that surrounded them, until Lilika turned to him and commented, "You have changed."

"You think so?" He did not know if he should be pleased or confused. "How so?"

She thought about it for a while before smiling again. "You've become more responsible, I think. And aware. You used to be like Kyousuke Jin."

"Eh?!" Alex had never thought of himself as someone like the young Gear Master who had always been a social-introvert. "Lilika!"

"Not exactly," she amended. "But you used to be so picky about the people you'll show your real side to. Kyousuke-kun hides behind shadows. You hide behind your smile."

He blinked.

"I'm glad you changed a bit," she went on. "But, actually, I'm also glad you didn't change so much. I can count on you, too�to keep things the same when everything is changing so fast."

Alex felt something warm settle in his chest and he smiled. He did not know how to respond to that for now, so he kept silent, thinking that it felt nice for her to think that. For a while, they stared off together into the horizon, silently watching as the sun let out its last burst of rays and sank behind red clouds and water. Then, when it was almost gone, Lilika stood and took her satchel from the ground. A bit disappointed that the moment was over, Alex followed suit by taking his pack and settling it on his back.

"Stay at my house," Lilika said suddenly.

"Huh?" Lilika, he thought, was probably the only girl who could throw him off three times in less than half an hour.

The Tobita Club head tucked some stray hair behind her ear. "Jirou-san went back to Nagoya for a second check-up. My father hasn't returned yet, so it's just mother and me."

"I see." He didn't really expect anything else. What else was he waiting for, then?

"I could use some company, too." She grabbed his hand and squeezed, smiling.

Her hand enclosing around his, callused with all the times he had held different machineries and gadgets, struck something in his heart. It was warm and cold at the same time, and whatever was clouding his brain suddenly cleared. At that exact moment, he realized that he never ever wanted to let go of her hand.

"Marry me," he blurted out just as she turned away.

For a while, she did not look at him and he was afraid that she thought he was only pretending, like the countless times he had joked around that he had asked for her hand, or when he bragged to everyone that he had gone thousands of miles across the world to visit only her. But that was good, wasn't it? He had something to fall back on, pretend it was just a joke, pretend that his stupid mouth had not run away with him, pretend that he had not meant it, so his heart would not shatter into a million pieces right after he had just realized he loved her.

She was silent for a long time, and he was about to tell her not to take it seriously when Lilika turned to him and grinned. "Ask me again in six years."

"I'm serious!" he protested, forgetting his earlier plan.

Lilika looked into his eyes, stepping back a bit. "So am I," she replied.

He looked down at her and realized she was right. He did not know if he should be apprehensive or assured. "Are you?"

"Yes."

"Will you give a different answer then?" When she was about to respond, he rushed on, "A definite answer?"

She thought for a while, then smiled. "Yes. A definite answer."

"Really?"

She nodded. "I promise."

He squeezed her hand lightly, feeling a heavy burden lift from his chest, only to be replaced by a new one. Six years was a long time, and should he prepare himself for rejection?

Six years was a long time, he thought to himself, and people could change in six years. He could change. Lilika could change. Feelings could change, too.

But he thought that love, if it was anything like he was feeling now, would not change much. Just mix some other feelings, some situation, and it might grow. This moment would become a reason for another path to take open up.

Alex thought that love, too, was a big reason for not regretting anything.

"Okay," he said, nodding slowly. "I'll ask again in six years."

Something in her eyes changed, and Alex recognized it as something like apprehension. Lilika, too, wasn't the only one having doubts.

But she had not let go of his hand.

And he had not let go as well.

"You're mom won't deck me for staying in your house, will she?" he asked suddenly.

She laughed. "If there's anyone she'd deck, it'd be me for bringing home a stranger. But you're no stranger, Alex."

"You know," he went on thoughtfully, "since you have no school tomorrow, we can go to the zoo or something. To see the cheetahs?"

"Cheetahs again," she mentioned, rolling her eyes. "Always with that cat."

"They're fast and strong�like a really good gear! Besides, there're pandas and lions."

He squeezed her hand again and she responded with a smile. Hand-in-hand, they made their way out of the harbor and back to the road, talking and laughing about other things, tucking that moment at the back of their minds, one more event that would pave another uncertain path.

Lilika was right, Alex thought. There should be no room for regrets.

Because right now she was walking next to him, holding his hand, and there was nowhere else to go but forward.