//------------------------------//
// Saying Goodbye 
// Story: Saying Goodbye 
// by TheTrueDragoon 
//------------------------------//

	Sunset leaned back and stared up at the open sky and warm sun once more as a smile seemed permanently plastered across her face.  The grass and flowers of the meadow gently swayed in the breeze, leaving the colors to shift and change all around.  To paint and repaint the meadow.  Here, in the middle of the natural canvas, was truly the best spot.
Next to her sat Pooh and Piglet on either side.  Each were silent as they enjoyed the sights of the world with her.  Occasionally, Tigger would bounce his way into the clearing, circle the three, and return to the meadow to play.  In front sat two simple presents, a jar and an uninflated red balloon, from Pooh and Piglet respectively.  The presents were a little something that Pooh thought of.  A way to officially welcome their new friend and thank her for helping them all.
In just a short time from now, the other friends would be arriving with their own contributions to the picnic as well as something else that Rabbit had thought of to thank Sunset as well.  For Sunset, she wished she could give something to them in return.  To thank them for helping her as much as she helped them.  Perhaps more so.
Rabbit arrived first, as seemed expected of him, with Kanga and Roo and Owl following shortly after.  Eeyore was last, slowly making his way through the grass that was nearly as tall as he was and grumbling the entire time.  With everyone gathered, Kanga set about to bring Tigger in from his playing.
To see all of the friends together, Sunset was overjoyed.
They began by setting out a red and white checkered blanket that Kanga had brought then set about unloading the basket brought by Rabbit.  Owl was tasked with attending to the special gift carried in by Kanga, keeping it off to the side for now until later.  And all the while, Eeyore occasionally looked to the sky or around and mumbled about some new thing that bothered him or voiced his predictions of some inevitable bad thing soon to occur.
A look at all of the friends around her left Sunset feeling happier than she had been in a long time.  Yet, a tinge of regret tugged at her.  If only her other friends could be here as well.  To share in this.
Perhaps another time.
With the final preparations complete, it was time to eat.  There was a variety of food spread about, though each friend seemed to prefer certain kinds.  Sunset found herself stifling a giggle at Pooh happily lapping up pawful after sticky pawful of honey from a pot.  And to her was given another meal of sandwiches, which she did not mind.
Each friend ate in their own way.  Rabbit and Owl were very neat and tidy.  Kanga as well, though Roo proved the messy one.  Eeyore was slow, munching with deliberate or perhaps cautious bites.  Tigger seemed to eat and stare about at whatever caught his eye, having to be reminded of the meal several times by Kanga.  Piglet was rather normal.  Not fast or slow, nor clean or messy.  And Pooh…was Pooh.
All the while, Sunset was sure her smile would never fade.
As they each finished their meal, the friends sat and talked amongst each other as they waited for all to finish.  Sunset found it a bit difficult to make conversation still and simply spoke whenever a friend spoke to her.  Still, it was lovely to be with each of them together.  Feeling more than a group of friends and more like a family.
Although, it was hard to make the comparison to a family.  It had been so long since she had felt a true family bond.  Another dreadful reminder of the many mistakes she had made in her life.
Finally, Rabbit stood, easily catching Tigger’s attention, and cleared his throat to get everyone else’s attention.  The call to attention helped move Sunset’s mind away from her most recent depressing thoughts. With everyone quiet, he made his way over to Sunset, making a few short hops which seemed rather adorable to her.
“Sunset Shimmer,” he said, “we all wanted to thank you for helping us and bringing us back together.”  He turned to Owl who allowed Kanga and Eeyore to carry the special gift into the center of the picnic blanket.  “This is for you.”
The gift itself was a simple white box, not entirely large but not rather small either.  And when Rabbit opened the box, he revealed a simple but lovely cake within.  One frosted with white frosting and laced with red.
Though she was happy, even overjoyed a bit, to see such a thoughtful gift, she felt rather saddened once more.  She did not feel as though she had helped them as much as they had helped her.  And here they were presenting a wonderful cake and she had nothing to give in return.
“I…” she began.  “I don’t know what to say.  This is very lovely but…”  She struggled to find the right words or politely decline if she could.  She looked around at them all, managing to smile.  “I don’t know how much I’ve managed to help you but you’ve all done so much for me.  You could say you’ve changed me.  You helped me to become something better than I was before.  I should be thanking you and giving all of you something.”
She felt something touch her arm and saw Pooh’s paw resting upon it.  “You’ve already given us something Sunset Shimmer.  A new friend.”
Sunset looked about at all of the friends who each nodded in agreement.  Even Eeyore, who still seemed rather glum, smiled and met the round of approval.  She looked back at Pooh and put her arms around him in a hug, feeling him return it in kind.
“Thank you.”
Rabbit turned back to the basket and drew out a shiny knife.  A seemingly odd item for such a peaceful place.  But, of course, the knife was rounded at the tip and only sharp enough to cut the cake.  Still, Sunset found herself sighing in relief at yet another moment when she feared the world to shift to a nightmare.
Perhaps Eeyore had started to get to her.
Rabbit carefully brought the knife over to her, ensuring to keep it away from Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Roo.  With Kanga’s help of course.  He presented it to her and she used it to cut the cake into the best even slices she could.  One for each of the friends.  Though Kanga only accepted one on behalf of her and Roo, sharing the slice between the two.  While Sunset cut, Rabbit passed out plates and forks.
When Sunset took her first bite, it was as though pure joy simply melted in her mouth and filled her body.  As with her first chance to taste Pooh’s honey, she quickly dug in and devoured her slice.  And as with her time with the honey, she stopped and stared at the friends in embarrassment, realizing she was licking the remaining crumbs and frosting off the plate.  She slowly lowered the plate and tried to smile and hide her shame.  But, as before, no one said anything.  Save for Roo who tried to imitate her, resulting in Kanga softly telling him to not be messy.
No one said anything.  But Pooh smiled.
After finishing her cake, Sunset politely waited for the others to finish theirs.  Tigger was the next to finish, though it seemed more was left on his face rather than eaten.  This was of course quickly remedied by Kanga who followed up by cleaning up Roo.  One by one, the others finished, with Eeyore being last to finish.  With the cake eaten, they spent another moment relaxing and talking and letting their meal settle.
Finally, it was time to gather up the picnic.  The sun was beginning to set and it was quickly growing time to finish the day.  So much time had passed with such good company, but it seemed only a short while.  But as they gathered their plates and silverware and honey pots to end the lovely picnic, Pooh offered a final suggestion to Sunset.
“Sunset?”
“Yes Pooh.”
“Could we watch the stars come out?  All of us?”
Sunset thought for a moment.  To watch the stars blink into the night sky would be a wonderful end to the day.  “Of course we can.”
With everyone working together, the cleanup was as quick as the setup.  Each friend gathered up what they had brought and Sunset gathered the gifts from Pooh and Piglet.  As they began to make their way out of the meadow, Sunset told the others about Pooh’s idea to see the stars come out.
“That would be a wonderful idea my dear,” Owl said.  “As we watch them, I could tell you about the different stories associated with each of the various constellations.  They are such riveting tales.”
“Yes,” said Rabbit, “that does sound quite nice.”
“Well,” Kanga said, a bit hesitantly, “it would be a bit late for little Roo.  But I guess we could have just one late night.”
“Yay!” squeaked Roo.
“I suppose if everyone else wants to,” Eeyore said, just as glum as ever.
Tigger really did not say much.  Or perhaps he did.  He did charge around the group in several circles, as excited as ever.
Piglet was quiet but looked at Pooh then Susnet.  “I would like that.”
As for Pooh, he simply smiled as always.
“Well then,” Rabbit said.  “We shall return our picnic items to our homes and return afterwards.”
All agreed and parted ways for the time to their respective homes.  All except for Pooh and Sunset.  The two had very little and opted to stay for a while longer.  They returned back to the center of the meadow and set down Sunset’s presents and Pooh’s leftover honey pot and prepared to simply sit and wait.  It hardly mattered how long, so long as they were together.
But as they were just about to sit down, a small voice caught Sunset’s attention.  A laugh, as it sounded like.  Sunset found herself stuck in a half squat, quietly listening to the giggle that seemed to move about the meadow.  She stood and listened, trying to see who might still be around, let alone laughing.  But this voice did not belong to any of the friends.
At least, none that she had met.
Sunset turned to Pooh.  “Wait here a second.  I’m going to be right back.”
She did not know why she had Pooh wait, but he did, or seemed to.  Sunset made her way into the taller parts of the meadow while looking all around for whoever was laughing.  The laugh seemed to echo all around and some of the grass seemed to move as something passed through.  Sunset moved further out, following the laughter and trying to catch up to whoever it was.
She ended up out of the meadow and back into the woods, which were slowly growing darker by the second.  She peered around and strained her ears.  Finally, she saw something.  A shadow behind a tree.  Then, she heard the laughter again.  Clearer this time.
It was a child.
Before she could clearly make out what she had seen, the child turned and ran off again still laughing playfully.  She ran after, finding it strangely difficult to keep up.  She ran around twists and turns in the woods, over fallen logs and through bushes.  She pushed her legs harder but could gain no ground.
Finally, she realized what was around her as she ran.  She recognized the different places they passed by and saw the homes of the different friends.  She saw a few places that she and Pooh had been to on her short journey through the woods.  Everywhere she had been, and the memories of her time here.  The last place caused her to stop.  Before her was the special circle of trees.
And hiding just behind one tree was the child.
“Wait!” Sunset called out as the child giggled once more and turned and ran into the center of the trees.  She ran up and passed into the circle, panting now from exhaustion.  She was forced to stop and catch her breath but looked up to see where the child had gone.  But there before her, in the very center, was the child, staring up at the sky as it shifted into a soft orange glow of the evening.
The child turned around and smiled at her.  “Hallo.”
The child appeared to be a young boy with yellow hair.  He wore a simple green short-sleeve shirt that seemed a tad large and a pair of brown shorts.  His feet were bare and bore numerous smudges of dirt.  Even his clothes had several spots of dirt covering them.
“Hello,” Sunset finally managed to say with a soft smile, seeing that the child had ended his playful running.  “My name is Sunset Shimmer.  Who are you?”
The child placed his hand behind him and rocked on his heels as he answered.  “My name is Christopher Robin.”
“That’s a lovely name,” Sunset said and was about to say more when a thought crossed her mind.  “Say, do you know a small bear named Winnie-the-Pooh?”
Christopher Robin smile grew a bit and he tilted his head slightly as he answered.  “Of course.  He’s my friend.”
“Oh!” Sunset exclaimed.  “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”  She turned around for but a single moment, excitement beginning to overtake her.  “I’m sure Pooh would love to…” her voice trailed off and grew quiet when she turned back.  Her smile faded and worry began to take over.
Before her now, the young boy had been replaced by an older boy.  One not too far younger than herself.  His yellow hair was slightly darker and he wore a simple brown suit with a simple black string tie.  He stood upright and held an air of discipline about him.
Yet, he still wore the same smile as the younger boy and felt…similar.
“It has been so long since I saw that silly bear.  I hope he hasn’t missed me too terribly.”
Sunset stared in shock and confusion.  Once more, the world seemed to tease her that it would shift into a nightmare.  “Christopher Robin?”
The boy looked straight at her, still smiling.  “How is he doing, I wonder.”
The sky above continued its shift into night as the orange hue slowly gave way to darkening blue.  A gentle breeze blew by and caused Sunset to look up at the fading bits of daylight.  When she looked back at the boy, he had been replaced by a grown man.
Sunset stared in shock and awe at the man who bore brown hair and a fine brown suit.  She took a moment to rub her eyes to make sure she was not seeing an illusion of some sort made by the world.  But as she pulled her hands away, the man was now elderly.  His fine suit was replaced by a worn grey one and his hair was slowly receding and white.  He bore himself by a simple cane.  But still, he wore the same warm and kind smile.
“Who…Who are you?” Sunset asked, now worried to take her eyes off the man.  “What’s going on here?”
The man simply smiled more as he answered.  “Child, I think you know the answer to that.  Don’t you?”
Sunset clenched her hands tightly into fists, more worried or afraid rather than angry.  “Would you…tell me anyways?”
The man was silent a moment, doing no more than smiling the way he had been.  He looked up at the sky and the glowing edge of the fading sun’s light.  Sunset kept her eyes on him, worried what would happen should her gaze ever falter.
“It’s a wonderful place with wonderful friends, is it not?” the man said.  He cast his gaze back at Sunset, his smile fading only slightly.  “But we know that some things don’t last forever.  Many things in fact.”  Sunset remained quiet as the man took a few slow steps forward.  “Tell me, child, where are your friends right now?”
Sunset thought a moment, thinking about the homes of the forest friends.  Then she thought about where her other friends lived.  “Well…I…”
She stopped as the man reached her and placed a hand on her chest.  “Right here is where they should be.”
Sunset looked at the hand than back at the man’s warm smile.  “I don’t understand.”
“You’ve been so alone lately, haven’t you?  But you never should be.  True friends are friends you can hold in your heart.  And so long as your friends are there, you are never alone.”
Sunset thought to her friends.  Thought to all of the kindness they had shown her.  And for a moment, she wondered.  Was she in their hearts?
Then she thought to Pooh and the others.
“What if…you have to say goodbye?”
The man’s smile grew warmer as he held one of her hands and placed it over her heart.  “As I said.  So long as your friends are kept in your heart, they are always there for you.”
Sunset looked down at the hand that held hers and placed her other hand over it.  A silent tear slid down her face and gently dripped on her hand.  She felt her face tighten as she fought back more.  “I don’t want to say goodbye.”  She quickly reached around the old man and held him in a hug as a scared child holds a parent.  “Not to any of them.”
She felt the old man return the hug, gently calming her.  “With friends held so closely, do you truly part from them?  They will always be with you.”  Sunset held tightly, wanting the old man to stay.  “Goodbye,” he said.
“Sunset Shimmer?”
Sunset opened her eyes to find herself holding herself tight.  She looked around to find herself alone within the circle of trees then looked back to see Pooh standing behind her.  She rubbed her face and brushed away the tears that had streamed down her cheeks.  “Yes, Pooh?” she said through her hands.
“Who were you talking to?” Pooh asked.
Sunset finished wiping her face then looked back into the center of the trees.  She was greeted by silence and emptiness.  And yet, she smiled.  “Just an old friend.”
“Oh,” said Pooh.  “It’s always nice to see old friends.”
Sunset turned back to Pooh who stepped forward and held out a paw.  She took hold and the two made their way from the circle of trees and back through the woods to the meadow.  Left behind, was Sunset’s presents from Pooh and Piglet.  Each left with the other empty honey pots still sitting together next to one tree.  
It was not as long a walk back to the meadow as it had been from.  But it hardly mattered.  When they arrived, the others were waiting.  Each wore a pleasant smile and waited patiently for Sunset and Pooh to reach their spot, saved by Piglet.
With everyone gathered, they peered up at the now dark blue sky and watched as a small light blinked into existence.  It was soon joined by another, then several more, then many more.  Soon, the sky was filled with an enchanting swath of shimmering lights.
Roo jumped about with excitement, as did Tigger. Kanga simply smiled at the two, allowing the moment of jubilation.  Owl carried on with a tale about an uncle, or perhaps a cousin, who had once tried to fly to a star, or perhaps it was the moon.  Eeyore was less glum as usual and smiled at the sight of the sight of the twinkling stars.  Rabbit was quiet but did try to hide his awe.  Rather poorly that is.
As for Pooh and Piglet, they simply sat next to Sunset, enjoying the sight as much as she.
With night officially arrived, Kanga was first to bid farewell.  She gathered up a now sleeping Roo and gently placed him in her pouch.  She called for Tigger who followed her out of the meadow and on their way home.  Eeyore was next, followed closely by Rabbit and Owl.  Each gave their farewell and went their separate ways to their separate homes.
Sunset remained a moment longer with Pooh and Piglet before Piglet was ready to return home himself.  Sunset and Pooh both walked with him home and there bid their farewells.  Afterwards, the two wandered alone for a while longer.
They wandered here and there.  Going this way and that.  But this time, they had a direction.
Eventually, they reached the hill with the special tree home.  It was different as it was now brightly lit up inside, though not much could be made out still.  They walked up silently and stood at the door a moment.
Without a word, Sunset bent down and gave Pooh a hug, who hugged her in kind.  Without a word, she walked up to the door and took hold of the handle.  There would be only one word as she opened the door.  Only one word that she said before her world returned to white.  And this time, there was no pain to be felt.  No hurt to Pooh, the world, or her.
And Pooh, being Pooh, simply smiled and nodded.
“Goodbye.”