The climb toward the Sky Vault continued.
Clouds drifted between the mountain peaks.
The air was colder now.
Cleaner.
Every breath felt fresh.
Belial hated it.
"I miss the desert."
Haruto looked at him.
"The desert tried to kill us."
"It was warm."
"The mountains are not trying to kill us."
Belial pointed toward a cliff edge.
"Yet."
Fair.
The two continued along the winding road.
Travelers occasionally passed.
Pilgrims heading toward the Sky Vault.
Historians carrying stacks of notes.
Mapmakers discussing routes.
Far too many scholars for Haruto's comfort.
The artist felt increasingly outnumbered.
By midday they stopped beside a resting platform overlooking the valleys below.
Haruto sat on a stone boulder.
It had trases of other travellers taking refuge under the tree.
Belial immediately claimed the best spot.
Naturally.
Haruto didn't mind it and sat down and leaned against the tree.
As Haruto reached into his bag for water, something slipped free.
A bookmark.
The one the bookseller from Brighthollow had given him.
It fluttered onto his lap.
A simple thing.
Handmade.
Pressed flowers preserved between thin sheets of paper.
Nothing special.
Yet the sight of it brought a smile to his face.
Because suddenly—
he remembered another bookmark.
---
Another lifetime ago.
Back when rainy evenings meant staying home instead of crossing continents.
Sakura sat curled up on the couch.
Reading.
As usual.
Haruto sat beside her sketching.
As usual.
The apartment was quiet.
Comfortable.
The kind of silence only existed between people who enjoyed each other's company.
Eventually Haruto noticed something sticking out of Sakura's book.
A folded receipt.
He stared.
Then stared harder.
"Sakura."
No response.
"Sakura."
Still reading.
"Sakura."
Finally..
"Hm?"
"Is that a receipt?"
She looked down.
Then at the page.
Then back at him.
"...maybe."
Haruto looked horrified.
"You used a receipt as a bookmark."
"It works."
"It is literally a grocery receipt."
"It still works."
Haruto laughed.
The woman reading three hundred-page novels apparently had no standards when it came to bookmarks.
Several days later, Sakura came home from work.
A small package waited on the table.
Inside sat a collection of beautiful handmade bookmarks.
Wooden ones.
Leather ones.
Painted ones.
Elegant ones.
Ridiculously expensive ones.
Sakura stared.
Then looked at Haruto.
"Why?"
"Because you're a librarian."
"And?"
"You deserve better than receipts."
"..."
"Did you make this?"
"What if I say I did?"
She went silent for a moment.
"Ahem...Thank you"
Her hands covered her apple red blushes.
"Anything for my girlfriend."
She smiles.
The next day Haruto discovered Sakura using one of the expensive bookmarks.
Alongside the receipt.
When questioned, her response was immediate.
"...I like it."
He laughed.
---
The mountain wind returned.
Belial watched him carefully.
"You remembered something."
Haruto nodded.
"A bookmark."
The creature waited.
"...that's it?"
"That's it."
Belial looked offended.
"You humans are weird."
Probably.
The road stretched onward.
The Sky Vault loomed larger ahead.
Its white towers visible between drifting clouds.
Closer now.
Much closer.
Haruto slipped the bookmark back into his bag.
Not because it was important.
Not because it was magical.
Because it reminded him of something.
The memories he missed most weren't grand moments.
Not weddings.
Not confessions.
Not dramatic promises.
They were ordinary things.
Receipts pretending to be bookmarks.
Shared laughter.
Small habits.
Tiny pieces of everyday life.
The sort of moments that quietly became priceless.
Belial jumped over Haruto's head while he was still leaning against the tree.
"Let's go."
Haruto stood.
The bells of the Sky Vault echoed across the mountains.
Soft.
Distant.
Welcoming.
And together, artist and creature continued climbing above the clouds.
Toward answers.
Toward the future.
Toward a reunion that was no longer just a dream.