Naru's screams couldn't escape Sora's head no matter what she did to get her kind off of what happened. She kept wondering what would've happened if she didn't end up using her powers in that moment. How could've it gone differently? Sora felt so guilty, but she even felt guilty about being guilty. Sora tried to hide how upset she was but she wasn't good at hiding feelings, a lot of people instantly wondered what was going on.

"Hey hey, Sora? What's wrong? I've never seen you look this sad before." Izumi asked during their lunch.

"Yeah, you've been kind of down for the last day or two." Miyuki said. "Is it because Suzuko wasn't in class? I've noticed she's been missing, I hope she's okay."

Emiri knew exactly why Sora was upset but she knew that Sora couldn't tell Izumi and Miyuki the truth, they wouldn't fully understand. Now what Emiri was thinking about more was how strange it was that Suzuko wasn't at school. If she really was Naru, did the incident prevent her from being able to return to school? It made sense to her but she didn't want to make any assumptions just yet.

"Yeah, it's because Suzuko is gone. I really miss her too...  I wonder where she's been." Sora said, finally breaking her silence.

"Maybe we should go searching for her later, that might be a good idea!" Izumi suggested.

"We could but we know hardly anything about her. Like, has anyone seen where she lives? She doesn't talk about herself at all now that I think about it." Miyuki replied, shooting down her sister's suggestion.

"Listen, I know we're all worried about Suzuko, but I'm sure she'll show up as if nothing was wrong tomorrow. Anyway, can I tell you all about something?" Emiri said, trying to change the subject.

"Ooh what is it?" Sora asked. She looked a little bit happier than before.

"Well," Emiri explained, pointing her fingers together, "I may have entered to compete in the town's flower arrangement competition and I wanted you three to be there for me. I know it's not incredibly exciting but hopefully you'll be willing to support me?"

The trio looked a bit confused at first but they were also intrigued. Sora's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Are you kidding? Of course I'll go, I'm always here to support you Emiri! Just like how you always come to my soccer games." Sora smiled.

"Yeah! We can come too!" Izumi said as Miyuki nodded in agreement.

"Really? Oh, you guys are the best!" Emiri said, wiping away a couple happy tears. "If we run into Suzuko, I'll definitely ask her too!"

"Yay~!" Sora cheered, jumping into the air. She finally had something that could keep her mind off of the whole Naru situation and she just couldn't wait to cheer Emiri on.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

After spending the last couple days in the small Pollution infirmary, Naru was finally able to leave. She walked out with Tsunami who seemed very relieved that his sister was okay.

"Man, I'm so glad that your injury was nothing serious!"

"You and me both, it could've been way worse..." Naru said.

"Yeah it could've been. I think you're lucky that her lightning hit your right eye instead of your left eye, especially since your right was already-"

"Shhh, please! Remember that not very many people know about what really happened when I fought Cure Nature, and I'd prefer to keep it that way." Naru said, cutting her brother off. Before he could say another word, Hurricane arrived, and he didn't look pleased to see the duo at all.

"Ah, I see you've recovered from your injuries Naru." Hurricane said before turning to Tsunami. "Now Tsunami, his majesty has requested to see you."

Tsunami's heart started to pound. He knew where this was going, it happened to every other Pollution member who ended up being executed. First Tornado, and then Quake. The fact that Tsunami already knew what to expect during his meeting with the king made him sick to his stomach. But he knew he couldn't just disobey an order this important. He reluctantly followed Hurricane to the throne room.

Naru also knew where her brother was going. She wasn't supposed to go with him, but did that stop her? Not at all. She secretly followed Tsunami and Hurricane and listened to the conversation through the walls. Her heart sank listening to every moment of it, despite not being able to hear every word clearly. After a few more minutes of listening, Tsunami exited the room. And he looked absolutely furious.

"Why does it have to be this way?! I only have one final chance to prove myself?! This isn't fair!" He yelled, turning to see Naru standing there. "Let me guess, you heard everything."

Naru nodded. "For the most part... I don't understand why they're only threatening you. Don't I only deserve one more chance too?"

"Please don't say that! If I don't make it out of this alive, I need you to stay so at least one of us gets to eventually be free from this horrible nightmare." Tsunami hugged Naru. "I'll do whatever it takes for us to get out of here, don't forget that."

Naru managed to smile just a little bit. "Thanks. Now, what do you think we should do this time around?"

"What do you mean? I think I should fight this one alone." Tsunami replied.

"What?! No! You can't! We're supposed to fight together!" Naru said, shocked by her brother's decision.

"I know but I think this could be the only way for me to succeed and escape my fate. Death is literally sitting on my shoulders and whether I survive or not, I think it'll be nice to finally move on from all the years of torture and abuse we've faced." Tsunami explained. He looked rather sad admitting that he could possibly die and not being able to keep his promise to Naru if he did. He then turned to face his sister again. "The least I could have you do is be there as backup should anything happen. And plus, I think you have some "friends" wondering where you are. Go check on them, don't worry about me."

"If that's all I can possibly do, I'll do it. I just want to see both of us breaking free together in the end." Naru said.

"Yeah, me too." Tsunami said, shortly before disappearing. Naru then followed her brother and returned to Shizen Town.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

Sora met up with both Izumi and Miyuki on the way to attend Emiri's competition. For the most part, Sora was happy but she still couldn't help worrying about Suzuko. She never even had the chance to invite her. All she could do was hope that Suzuko would show up.

"Still worried about Suzuko?" Izumi asked, looking over at Sora.

"A little bit. It's not like her to miss this much school, you know?" Sora said.

"You're right, and Emiri even said she probably would come back after one day like nothing was wrong. She was obviously wrong since it's been like several days..." Miyuki complained.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that she said that!" Sora yelled. "Gahhhhh!" She scratched her head in frustration, silently punishing herself for her forgetfulness.

"Don't worry about it Sora, that was a couple days ago. Miyuki and I both know how you tend to forget things." Izumi teased.

"Awww shut up!" Sora whined while Izumi and Miyuki laughed.

After a couple more minutes of chatting, the girls arrived at the park and saw Emiri preparing herself for the contest. She seemed really focused while looking around at the different flowers that were going to be used.

"Heeeeeey! Emiri!" Sora called, getting her attention. Sora walked up to Emiri and smiled at her.

"Sora! You and the others made it! That's great!" Emiri said. "Still no sign of Suzuko I'm guessing?"

Sora shook her head, "nope. Maybe we'll see her today? At least that's what I'm hoping."

"Guess we'll find out soon. Anyways, I think it's starting soon so you might need to go find a place to watch." Emiri suggested. Sora turned around and noticed that Izumi and Miyuki already found a spot and they were waving Sora over.

"Good point! Oh! And Good luck!!" Sora said, hugging Emiri before running over to her friends. Emiri blushed for a moment before recollecting herself just in time for the competition.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

The competition had begun and the contestants soon became laser focused on arranging flowers. Sora tried her hardest to pay attention for Emiri's sake but something, or rather someone else, caught her attention. A very familiar brown haired girl walked past a nearby tree.

"Suzuko?" Sora gasped. She got up and snuck over to where she thought she saw Suzuko. And to her surprise, she was correct.

"Suzuko! You're okay! I was so worried about you!!" Sora said, running up and hugging her.

"Whoa hey!" Suzuko panicked for a moment but then turned around, noticing Sora. "Sora? What are you doing here?"

"Watching the flower arranging competition! What about you? Why haven't you been at school?" Sora started barraging Suzuko with questions, making her feel slightly overwhelmed.

"Well, I'm looking for my brother... and I haven't been at school because I had a cold." Suzuko lied. "I'm sorry if I worried you..."

"Oh you got a cold? Man, I'm sorry! I wish I knew, I would've helped you!" Sora said.

"No, it's okay. I managed to take care of myself just fine." Suzuko said. "It just took me longer than normal to recover and I'm not sure why."

"It happens doesn't it? I know there's been times where it took me a while to feel better after getting sick. It's totally normal." Sora said.

"If you say so..." Suzuko sighed.

"Hehe... oh yeah, do you want to join me and the others? Emiri is in the flower arranging competition! I was going to invite you but you weren't at school so I couldn't ask..." Sora offered.

Suzuko looked at Sora, unsure of what to say. She knew she wasn't supposed to get in the way of her brother's plan but she couldn't help but worry. But at the same time, getting involved with whatever Sora and Emiri were doing could mean messing with their plans. What was she going to do this time? She soon got stuck in a train of thought.

"Don't think about this too much. Tsunami is smart, he'll figure out how to execute his plan. I just have to trust him..."

"I think my brother will be fine on his own, I can join you guys, I guess." Suzuko managed to fake a smile as she talked to Sora.

"Really?? Yaaaaay!!" Sora hugged Suzuko again and then took her hand. "Come on, let's hurry back!" The duo quickly ran back to the site and joined Izumi and Miyuki who were both shocked to see Suzuko.

"Wow Suzuko! It's been a long time!" Izumi said.

"Where've you been?" Miyuki asked.

"I'll explain later, we should focus on Emiri for now." Suzuko replied. Everyone quietly agreed and then continued to watch the competition.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

Tsunami watched from a nearby bush, he wondered when he should finally make his move. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crystal given to him during his last meeting with Pollution's higher ups. Supposedly this crystal made whoever used it more powerful. No one in Pollution had proof but it was believed both Tornado and Quake used those crystals before they eventually met their ends.

"I can't believe it had to come to this..." he sighed, looking at the surrounding area. He was about to finally use the crystal, but he noticed someone. Someone who promised not to be here. Suzuko.

"Sis?! No... no, get out of here, you told me you wouldn't get involved..." he quietly panicked to himself. Should he use it now? He could potentially hurt his sister, the one person who kept him sane during his many years spent in Pollution.

After a few minutes of contemplating what to do, Tsunami used the crystal and created a KuzuBug. What he heard about the crystal was true, he felt more powerful than ever! He created an enormous wave that was hopefully going to sweep away everything nearby, including the Precure. Now he could finally prove himself. He could save his and his sister's lives.

Slowly but surely, people began noticing something was off. It sounded like there was rushing water nearby, but there wasn't a single river in the park. How was that possible? A woman then noticed a giant wave from a distance.

"TSUNAMI!" She screamed.

Numerous people were confused. "A tsunami? But we don't live anywhere near the ocean..."

"No! Look!! We need to get out of here!"

The crowd started to panic and run away. Sora and Emiri knew what was going on. Emiri ran away from the arrangements and straight to Sora.

Suzuko also knew what was going on. She didn't like what was probably going to happen but she promised that she wouldn't fight back this time.

"I'll get other people out of here! Sora and Emiri, stay here!" She ran off with a group of people, leaving the duo to battle on their own.

They soon caught sight of Tsunami, who came riding in on a KuzuBug in the shape of a boat. He didn't seem super confident coming in to fight. Instead, he looked angry and lost.

Even if he seemed lost, that wasn't stopping Sora and Emiri from having to fight. The girls pulled out their Communes and then transformed.

"Precure Nature Flash!"

"Striking in the Great Forces of Nature! Cure Lightning!"

"Bringing Nature's Sweet Scent! Cure Ginger!"

"Guardians of nature, protecting the earth! Sweet Nature Precure!"

The Cures landed on the boat KuzuBug which seemed to become more agitated now that the Precure were here. The boat started to rock back and forth as water splashed Lightning and Ginger.

"How are we supposed to fight this thing?!" Lightning yelled.

"I don't know!" Ginger yelled back.

"Well, we're gonna have to think of something! And fast!" Lightning yelled, sounding rather nervous.

A large wave formed and soon splashed the girls, leaving them completely soaked.

"Nice thinking..." Ginger said sarcastically, glaring at Lightning.

"I wasn't expecting that okay?! It's not like I could tell the future!" Lightning argued. She pouted as yet another wave came down and splashed them.

Tsunami quietly celebrated having the upper hand in what could possibly be his final face off against the Precure. But there was also a part of him that wondered if this was really right. He had questioned it for a while but he wasn't as open about it as his sister was. He was convinced that trying to defeat the Precure no matter what was the right thing to do. But seeing everyone, including Suzuko run for cover to save themselves from the destruction he caused made him question his loyalty to Pollution. Maybe fighting for his eventual freedom wasn't going to happen, maybe they lied to him his entire life.

Now that he started thinking about his actions, Tsunami contemplated what to do. Should he surrender his key? Or fight until the bitter end? As he thought about what to do, he wasn't able to keep control of his powers. The boat started rocking back and forth, filling it with more water and causing it to start sinking.

"Uh oh... not good!!" Lightning shouted, noticing that they were starting to sink.

"Hold on!" Ginger yelled. She started using her powers to form small floating saucers that she and Lightning could stand on. She grabbed Lightning's hand and helped her hop onto one.

"As expected of Cure Ginger!" Lightning said with a smile. "Always thinking of the best solutions! Now let's get this over with!"

Lightning let the electricity take over her body, hoping to weaken the KuzuBug with one major shock. Once the power flowed throughout her, Lightning channeled all of it into one powerful drop kick. As expected, the monster became significantly weaker and the boat slowly stopped sinking.

Tsunami started to snap out of his thoughts and realized what was going on.

"How? How did you manage to stop it like that?! That was so powerful!" Tsunami said, still in shock. After that amazing display of power, Tsunami knew deep down that he was going to lose this fight. He figured he should just accept his fate and also surrender his key to the Cures. "Well whatever, go ahead. Defeat me. You've won..." he put his hands up, wondering what was about to happen to him.

"What do you mean? I'm not just going to defeat you like that. I've never seen anyone just admit defeat like that." Lightning stated.

Tsunami looked absolutely shocked by her words. He had no idea what to say, so he figured just giving them his key and letting them finish off the KuzuBug would maybe be enough of an explanation for them.

"Please... take this. I know what I face when I return. And I promised someone that she'd get her chance to be free again, whether I'm with her or not. I'll figure out what to do before my fate is sealed." Tsunami said, handing over his key to Lightning.

"Free? Free from what?" Ginger asked.

"Free from pain and suffering! For years, me and my sister have suffered at the hands of Pollution. I thought defeating you was the way to earn my freedom, but I was wrong. There was no way for me to stop you. So instead, I'm helping you in hopes of trying to escape." Tsunami explained.

Lightning and Ginger were shocked. Neither of them knew what really happened at Pollution and hearing that people had to suffer for who knows what reason was horrific.

"I don't believe this... I'll accept the key but please... I hope you and your sister can find your freedom, Tsunami" Lightning said, clutching the key in her hand.

Tsunami was absolutely speechless. He then watched as the duo performed their final attack, finishing off the KuzuBug and putting an end to the flooding. Without another word, he disappeared.

The surrounding area returned to normal, and crowds began returning. Lightning and Ginger had to hurry and insert the key into the chest. Skyla had appeared with the chest.

"Put it in ~Sky!"

Lightning inserted the key into the chest, causing it to glow.

"Wow!! You only have 2 keys left ~Sky! That's amazing ~Sky!"

"What really?" Lightning asked.

Skyla nodded. "Yep ~Sky! Nature Kingdom will be saved in no time, thanks to you guys ~Sky! Speaking of Precure... I have a feeling that it's time we add a third member ~Sky!"

"A third member?? Interesting, but who is it?" Ginger asked, "any ideas?"

"Hmmm... not yet ~Sky! But we'll all know when the time comes ~Sky!" Skyla replied. "Oh no, there's people coming, I gotta go!" She took the chest and then left the scene.

"Oh if there's people coming back... we should probably return to normal." Lightning said, detransforming back to Sora.

"Yeah. Now I have a flower arrangement contest to finish!" Emiri said.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

Now that the crowd was settled once again, the flower arranging could continue. Emiri stayed focused on her arrangement until the very last minute. As she waited for the results, her heart pounded like crazy. Did she do well enough? Was it worse than she thought? She couldn't help but worry.

After a while, the judges were finally finished discussing the awards. The announcer got ready to announce the top 3. He announced the 3rd place winner, and the 2nd place winner. Emiri became more anxious with every winner mentioned.

"And the first place award goes to... Tomoe Emiri!"

Emiri was absolutely shocked, she couldn't believe it. She won! After all the interruptions that the event faced, and the stress she felt, she was happy to win the competition.

Sora ran up to Emiri and hugged her. Her other friends were close behind.

"Congrats Emiri!! I knew you could do it!" Sora said.

"That was amazing Emiri-chi!" Izumi said.

"Totally! I wish I could arrange flowers like that!" Miyuki agreed.

"Yeah, you did great. I'm proud of you~" Suzuko said, smiling.

Emiri gasped.

"Suzuko?! You're here? I've been worried about you!" Emiri ran up to Suzuko, hoping to hug her.

"I'm sorry for worrying you so much, I meant to return to school sooner but it didn't happen." Suzuko said.

"No, don't worry about it. I'm just happy to see you." Emiri smiled.

"Same here." Suzuko smiled back. She accepted Emiri's hug and the two embraced for only a few seconds before Suzuko's face turned pale white and she soon looked incredibly panicked.

"Suzuko, are you okay? What happened?" Emiri asked, starting to panic.

"I'm sorry... I have to go. Somethings wrong, I need to get home as soon as possible!" Suzuko said. She ran off from the group and left the park.

"What was that about?" Sora asked.

"I don't know... I just hope everything will be okay..." Emiri responded.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

Suzuko returned to Pollution the moment she was out of the sight of civilians. She knew exactly what was about to happen. She ran around, looking for Tsunami but with no luck.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" She screamed. Naru was terrified, she didn't know where her brother was and for all she knew, it was too late. She was about to drop to her knees when someone walked by and got her attention.

"Ah, there you are. Come. It's Tsunami."

Naru's heart sank. It was actually happening. The moment she feared more than anything. She had to go say her goodbyes before there was no other chance.

She walked into the throne room where most other executions were held. There, she saw Tsunami being restrained by other soldiers as he tried to fight back.

"No! Let go of me!!! Please! At least let me talk to my sister!!" He yelled. The guards decided to let him talk to Naru but they escorted him over to her.

"Onii-chan... no. Isn't there any way to get out of this! TELL ME THERE IS!! I CAN'T LOSE YOU!" Naru asked, trying to fight her tears.

"I'm afraid I've done everything I can. But please, promise me something." Tsunami held Naru's hands. "Promise me you'll get out of here, for my sake. I'll see you again someday, I'm sure of it." Tsunami then winked at Naru before he was dragged away.

He was then escorted over to a chair and held down while someone handed him a cup with some strange liquid in it.  They then forced him to drink it and before he could even say or do anything else, Tsunami's body went limp.

The air was deadly silent. The only thing that managed to break the silence was Naru's agonizing and painful screams as she watched her brother die right in front of her. The light had left her eyes, and nothing could stop her from crying. Not even the thought of trying to keep her brother's promise. Naru was certain that this was the most she ever cried in her entire life, a life of pain and suffering to be exact. But who could blame her? The most important person to her, the only one who treated her fairly... was gone.

To be continued...

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

Authors note: this episode is by far the saddest one so far and also what I consider to be a bit turning point in the show, especially in regards to Naru's character. I'll try and update as soon as I can, I feel bad since I wanted to get better at updating but it's just a bit hard to be consistent. Anyways I hope you enjoyed and I'm sorry if I made you guys sad, this episode made me sad too ;-;