Sora's life was at one, but he left himself plenty of protection. Rui's deck was weak in terms of raw attacking power; she couldn't just break through. If she tried it, she'd leave herself open to an assault and lose her the game. Unfortunately for Sora, however, Rui didn't need to go for a frontal attack to win.

Sora said something to her before she could begin her turn. [color=cornflowerblue]"Seeing how you play, I have no doubt that you will be able to fulfil your wish soon, whatever your wish is."[/color]

Rui shook her head. She said [color=#ffbae8]"It's not just me... you're going to have to win too, Sora."[/color]

Rui's turn went by in a flash. In order to win that turn, she used every little advantage she'd built up over the course of the game. She took Sora's final life card with an incantation, made him discard that card with a trap and evolved her avatar as soon as she did so. That last part sealed Sora's fate; the avatar Rui used in this game took a life card upon its evolution, and since Sora had none to spare, he lost then and there. Rui looked up, gave Sora an apologetic smile and giggled. [color=#ffbae8]"Sorry, I have trouble going easy, heheh..."[/color] She started to gather her cards together for the clean-up. It was a lot of fun to teach Sora. And even though he didn't understand the rules very well right now, she believed in him. He [i]would[/i] win. Nobody thought higher of her brother than Rui herself.

[color=cornflowerblue]"Euhm... Look... I know you are wasting time with me that you would rather have spent studying instead... And maybe you're going to study extra hard tomorrow... But... Maybe we can go to the zoo tomorrow. You know, just like we used to?"[/color]

...

[color=#ffbae8][i]'Like...'[/i][/color]
[color=#ffbae8][i]'Like we used to?'[/i][/color]

Rui's movements stopped, her hand hovering over a card she'd been about to pick up. She didn't remember ever going out with him. She didn't even remember there being a [i]zoo[/i] in this town, or any neighbouring ones for that matter. Rui felt an ache in her heart. [color=#ffbae8][i]'I really forgot all about you, huh?'[/i][/color] she melancholically thought to herself, but despite her inner turmoil, raised her head to meet Sora's nervous yet expectant gaze.

[color=#ffbae8]"Aww, it's cheating if you ask so bashfully..."[/color] she teased him. [color=#ffbae8]"Buuuut I'm still a little unconvinced... you know I'm always busy. If you really want me to go, maybe you could try asking your [i]onee-chan[/i] a little more nicely~?"[/color]

Even if he didn't, Rui would still go. Despite the heartache, there was a warmth to counteract it. Even if Rui couldn't remember, even if she had to fight and claw back what she held dear, Sora was still Sora. For all the memories she lost, she could make new ones. And ever since meeting Lumia, ever since Sora's loss to Haruto, it felt like the distance between them was closing just a little bit at a time. The memory of them ever being distant was the one memory she'd wished to forget, yet [i]that[/i] wasn't stolen like the rest of them.

The cards Sora bought for her brought them together. The battles she still had to face- as long as Rui kept winning... then maybe all this wasn't such a bad thing to happen. If she could just get her memories back, then all of this would just be a bad dream. And if she could just make Lumia grant her wish, then her and Sora... they'd have hope again.

But Lumia thought differently. Seeing Rui smile like that made the avatar want to curl up. She pulled her scarf over her mouth, her ears drooped down and she said one last thing:

[color=#FFF83B]"We're going to grant their wishes, Wolf. Both of them. So let's make sure... let's make sure we don't regret that."[/color]