I've been home with a summer cold, which is a drag, but it gave me time to finish the last two volumes, which I read one after the other. This definitely wasn't the ending I expected, but I think it's the only ending that would have made sense in terms of the story Takaya was trying to tell, because the series was really about people who had been hurt by the world and its expectations or lack thereof - Sakuya's verbally abusive stepmother, Kanade's mental breakdown brought on by the pressure he had to get into a good college, Chihiro dealing with Sakura's attempted suicide, and of course, Sakura herself, dealing with her depression - and learning to live again, learning how to deal with every day life. In the end, it was all about love. Sakuya's friendship with Hijiri and Yuuri helped her learn to love herself, and in turn, let her be able to love Chihiro enough to break down his walls and show him what a wonderful place the world could be. And even though it resulted in them being separated for many years, the love she showed Chihiro gave him the strength and desire to in turn show Sakura what a wonderful world it can be, even though, as we find out at the very end, he was in love with Sakuya and not with Sakura anymore. And it was that love that let Sakura eventually set Chihiro on his way to be reunited with Sakuya, once she realized they were still in love with each other. What a wonderful series.