Pressing her lips together, Sirin, with red eyes, apologized to the audience. Naturally, the audience understood, as she wasn't the only one looking like this.
The scene restarted. John pointed at the stars in the sky.
"So, what do you think those stars really are?"
"I've never told anyone... I've always thought they were lighthouses."
River looked at the sky. At this moment, as if she had become an ordinary person because of John, she naturally expressed her inner feelings.
"Wow, it must be very lively up there!"
"No."
River shook her head, a hint of sadness in her eyes: "They can see other lighthouses, and they want to talk and communicate with each other."
"But they can't. They are too far apart, so far that they can't hear each other's voices at all."
"All they can do is try their best to shine brightly, and they do. They shine on other lighthouses, and they shine on me."
"Why include you?"
"Because one day, I will become friends with him."
Stars, lighthouses... Sirin felt her vision blurring again.
It seemed like River was talking about stars, about lighthouses. But actually, what River wanted to talk about was always herself.
Suffering from illness, she was like a lighthouse by the sea, standing quietly there, looking at other lighthouses from afar, longing, yet unable to connect.
Until, one lighthouse shone its light towards her with effort. This beam of light illuminated her, warmed her, allowing her to receive an embrace.
But this beam of light, due to an accident, became very dim.
River, not wanting to lose this warmth, could only burn herself with all her might, sparing no effort to increase her brightness, trying to reconnect with that beam of light.
She succeeded, and she failed.
She did connect with that beam of light, but she could no longer find the warmth that once touched her heart.
So, it wasn't that she saw Anya as a child, but rather saw Anya as herself.
Even if she left, even if she was gone, she could transform into Anya, burn her last embers, and quietly shine and warm the person she loved.
Sirin felt like she was already holding back, but tears still uncontrollably overflowed little by little.
They originally thought John had been taking care of River, but then realized that the one who suddenly got lost and needed care was actually John all along. This love was too long, so long that they could only understand it when the game was almost over.
"That bag... what's inside?"
River in the picture asked.
"Oh, it's a prize I won from whack-a-mole."
"Have you ever played whack-a-mole?"
"No, I've always been clumsy..."
Hearing this, John jumped off the tree trunk, picked up his schoolbag, and opened it.
"I got something... but I don't know what it is."
Then, a platypus doll appeared before their eyes.
"It's a strange kind of duck... or a beaver?"
John was a bit confused, but he picked up the platypus and handed it to River.
River took the platypus doll and held it in her arms, looking at it with some novelty and saying, "It looks really strange, but I really hope I can win one myself someday."
"John!!!"
At this moment, John's mother's shout came from the foot of the mountain.
"It's Mom, I should go."
"...Here."
River suddenly became a bit silent. She handed the platypus back to John, but John pushed it back to her.
"Hmm... keep it. It's yours now."
"Mine?"
"Yeah, I can definitely win another one!"
River didn't speak, but her clasped hands showed her response.
The moment the platypus first appeared, Sirin actually couldn't hold back anymore.
River treasured the gift she received as a child like a precious treasure.
Whether in high school, growing up, getting married, maturing, or getting old, this platypus was by her side at all times. It contained her most cherished childhood wish and was the only direction for her to feel that warmth.
The rabbit constellation they drew together under the starry sky as if by telepathy, the wonderful imagination about lighthouses among the stars, all converged in this small, ugly platypus, making her not want to be separated from it for a moment.
"Will you come here again next year?"
River called out to John, who was about to leave, and asked nervously.
"Of course. What about you?"
"Yes."
"Same place, same time?"
"Yes."
Having made the promise to meet again, just as John was happily walking quickly away to find his mother, River, feeling a bit uneasy, chased after him holding the platypus doll.
Under the gentle piano music, the moonlight shone on the two who had just made a promise. River gathered her courage and asked John again, "What if you forget... or get lost?"
John stopped, turned around, and looked at the slightly nervous River. He suddenly smiled.
The breeze carried the moonlight, taking this vow to the distance.
"Then we'll always meet on the Moon, silly!"
"Right on the little rabbit's belly!"
At this moment, Sirin could no longer hold back. She lay on the table, and even though she was trying to suppress it, her obvious sobs could be heard.
Everyone at this moment recalled the beginning of the game, Old John looking at them with that confused yet serious voice: "I just... have to go!"
If the previous plot was about River's deep, unreserved love for John, this short sentence that followed directly revealed Old John's heart.
He had to go!!!
River was still waiting for him there!!!
Even if the blocker made him forget his memories, even if time had buried the past, even if he lived like another person.
But, the promise made under the starry sky was carried to his ears by the past breeze, deeply engraving it into his heart.
No matter how the world moved forward, no matter how they changed, John always remembered that promise, the promise he made to River.
Time and memory can block almost everything, except love.
At this point, from the beginning of the game until now, all the mist was cleared, and the truth, touching enough to bring tears to their eyes, was laid bare before them.
"Wuwuwuwuwu...."
By now, Aili had cried so much she was almost unrecognizable, causing Eden to helplessly hold her and gently pat her back.
Looking at the two children on the screen who believed they would meet again in the same place next year, Eden silently sighed. Looking closely, even her eyes were slightly red.
She lowered her head and heard Aili muttering through her sobs.
"Wu..... Ori, originally, what John wanted to go to was never the Moon."
"He, what he always wanted to go to, was the place where River was...."