Chihiro's heart practically pounded out of her chest as she gazed at the scene before her. She, no, they all came so far, and look what they accomplished! Kaos defeated, the Core of Light restored, peace returned to not just Skylands, but hopefully the entire universe as well, and now…

It was time. She was going to become a true portal master!

Chihiro tugged on her vest as she knocked her knees together. She couldn't even believe this was happening! It all felt like some really, really great dream, but no, this was real life. She thought so, anyways; she was too shaky to even try pinching herself!

Across from where she stood now, the Skylanders, and all the other residents of Ancient's Peak sat in rows grouped by their elements and spread into twin aisles with all eyes fixed on the front. At the head of that front, Master Eon hovered next to a teary-eyed Hugo, and his light was faint against the striking orange sunset.

Well, Chihiro thought with a gulp, I shouldn't keep them waiting any longer.

Chihiro gulped again; she forced herself to take a step forward, and another, and another after that one, until she finally strode down the lone vacant way between the two aisles. Regal-sounding music accompanied her walk, and made her feel almost like a king, or queen, or something like that. It did ease her nerves a little, but not by much. After all, what do people even do at a portal master graduation ceremony, anyways? Would she have to make a big fancy speech? Did she have one last test that would surprise her out of nowhere? How could she prepare?

Chihiro lost herself in her thought as she strode forward, but shook her head as a bright, warm light flashed against her face. She forced her gaze up, and sure enough, Master Eon glowed before her with a kind of pride in his lighting. Well, she thought it was pride, anyways.

"Young Chihiro," Master Eon said as he gently nudged her shoulder, "turn around."

Chihiro did as told and turned around to face the audience. Just the sight of all these eyes fixed on her crept her nerves back up on her, and once again, her legs shuddered like they were gonna turn to jelly. But then, Spyro waved at her from one of the front rows, and completely dispelled her nerves! Chihiro beamed and waved back, but froze again as Master Eon cleared his throat.

"Now, kneel, if you will," Master Eon instructed as he hovered above her.

Chihiro nodded towards Master Eon, knelt down and closed her eyes.

"Over the past few months, young Chihiro has dutifully studied under Hugo and I's watchful eyes. She has faced countless challenges and perils, enemies of a massive scale, and much more…"

No kidding, Chihiro thought as she rolled her eyes beneath her eyelids, her battle with Kaos still fresh in the mind.

"But, she has bloomed quite impressively in the face of this adversity! She's proven her strengths to all of us over the course of these months, from braving the challenges presented to her, to studying and improving her own talents, and even bringing us smiles and encouragement in our worst hours."

"WOOHOO!"

"THAT'S OUR KID!"

"GO CHIHIRO!"

Chihiro giggled as the crowds resounded with cheers and affirmations. Warmth gathered in her cheeks as their praise resounded all around, but she was in no position to downplay it. This was her time, after all!

Master Eon cleared his throat yet again, and a silence fell over the crowds.

"And now that she has helped us conquer the evil that is Kaos," Master Eon continued, "I believe young Chihiro Hatsuki has proven to all of us that she is more than worthy of the title of a true portal master!"

The crowds erupted into cheers once more, but fell silent as Master Eon cleared his throat.

Chihiro stood steadfast, for her heart was so jumpy with nerves and all sorts of feelings that she felt numb everywhere else. A twinkling sound resonated not that far from her, so Chihiro opened her eyes, and sure enough, Master Eon floated right before her!

"Young Chihiro, when I took you under my wing, you made these vows to me in the privacy of our quarters." Master Eon flew a bit further out, as if to indicate the crowds before them. "Now, before I can crown you with your title, I must ask that you renew these vows once more for all to hear."

Master Eon floated back to Chihiro and hovered right before her face.

"Young Chihiro Hatsuki, do you vow to become a true portal master?" Master Eon asked, a firm kind of seriousness in his voice. "Do you vow to protect the universe from all kinds of evil, even at the cost of your own life? To use your powers for the good of all that walk these worlds? To protect the weak and the oppressed from those that wish them harm, no matter what?"

Chihiro smiled not a playful or funny kind of smile, but an earnest one. She remembered all that time ago, how she felt so conflicted and yet so decided on that decision—but now, she knew with all her heart what her answer was.

"Yes, Master Eon," Chihiro replied, and her voice rung with a surprising level of maturity and earnestness as she bowed her head, "I do."

"Very well then!" Master Eon swirled around Chihiro and shot up to the skies.

"Young Chihiro Hatsuki, kneel as an apprentice, and rise now as a true portal master!"

Chihiro's heart skipped a beat, and she pulled herself to stand at full height with the sun bright and warm against her face.

All around, everybody in the audience cheered and hollered all sorts of things as they basked in her light! A couple of them held each other tight in glee, some tossed their hats in the air… Chihiro even heard a bit of sniffling, and turned around to see Hugo wipe tears of joy from his glasses!

"You've done well, Young Chihiro." Master Eon bobbed up and down as if he nodded, but quickly shook. "No, Master Chihiro."

Chihiro's whole body turn warm with some strange mixture of pride and glee as she nodded. "Thank you, Master Eon."

Chihiro's mouth stretched into the widest smile it could without her even noticing, but she didn't mind—this was her time now! Now, she finally could taste the fruits of her labor, after everything she did since that fateful day the Skylanders crash-landed into her backyard.

Chihiro stood in admiration of Master Eon once more, but she nearly fell over as something tackled into her! She yelped in surprise as she hopped a few paces, and finally regained her balance to find that Spyro wrapped her in a tight hug with his face buried into her shoulder!

Spyro jolted his head up, let go and turned away.

"Oh, sorry, Chi," Spyro sputtered as he scratched his cheek. "I don't know what came over me, I just—"

"OH, GET OVER HERE, YOU!" Chihiro exclaimed as she laughed and pulled Spyro back into a tight hug.

The two of them laughed away all the troubles of earlier as they spun around and hugged. The two of them became three as Gill Grunt joined in the hug, followed by Trigger Happy, Terrafin, Eruptor… Soon enough, the entire crowd formed around Chihiro, all to celebrate her! Normally these kinds of crowds would freak her out, but right now, she was too happy to possibly care. So, instead, she just smiled and laughed as everybody cheered her on and congratulated her on her achievement!

It was picture perfect, and Chihiro didn't ever want it to end. But, as she basked in everyone's cheers and praise and shouts, her eyes glazed over the Core of Light and the cheer in her heart disappeared.

"That's right," Chihiro said as her smile fell, "I've gotta go back to Earth."

Chihiro looked down at her feet and tried her best to hide her disappointment, but it was hard. After such a high, her whole mood crashed, and she was about ready to fall to pieces. On one hand, she couldn't possibly go back, not right now! She finally found a place all her own, the friends she wanted so, and more importantly, she was a true portal master now! They needed her!

But on the other hand, she did have her family surely worried sick about her, and Kaos was on Earth, too. Who knows what kind of trouble he'd cause if left unchecked? Not to mention, as a portal master it was her responsibility to prevent whatever that was.

Chihiro winced and looked at Master Eon with pleading eyes, as if he'd rescind his words in the heat of the moment.

"That is true," Master Eon sighed as he floated over to Chihiro and nudged away the tears that had formed in her eyes, "but, before we part, there is one more thing we need to do."

"Really?" Chihiro asked as she tilted her head.

Master Eon floated over towards Hugo and nudged his shoulder. "Hugo, I believe it's time to present Master Chihiro with the thing we've talked about."

"That thing?" Hugo asked as he wiped his puffy eyes, and his ears twitched as his mouth gaped open. "Oh, right! That thing!"

"Huh?" Chihiro uttered as her mouth sat agape.

Her eyes trained on Hugo as he dug through his pockets, sifted through the crowds, and presented Chihiro with a humble wooden box.

"Master Chihiro, this is from Master Eon and I," Hugo explained as he pressed the box into her hands. "Think of it as a graduation present."

Chihiro gulped, nodded, and glazed over the wooden box that sat in her hands. Though it looked no different from the ordinary wooden box, something in it felt so much more… Extraordinary than a normal one. In fact, she was almost hesitant to open it! But nonetheless, Chihiro slowly pried the box open and gasped!

"It's so beautiful!" Chihiro exclaimed as she pulled out her present and held it up for all to see!

It was an absolutely striking, cyan-colored, druzy crystal pendant that shimmered in at least ten colors more as the sunset's light hit its surface! Its golden base was absolutely radiant against the sunlight, and the sparkles that radiated from it made it seem even more magical than it already was!

"Master Chihiro," Master Eon explained as he flew next to the pendant and examined it, "this pendant is imbued with a special kind of warp magic, the kind that allows you to travel not just between short locations, but between entire worlds!"

Chihiro's eyes went wide and she let out a shrill gasp. Entire worlds? Could that mean…

"I can use this to travel between Earth and Skylands?" Chihiro looked at Master Eon with an eager kind of pleading.

"Quite observant of you, Master Chihiro."

Chihiro let out another shrill gasp of glee before she clumsily dropped the pendant around her neck, and wrapped Master Eon in a tight hug.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Chihiro sobbed tears of glee as she spun Master Eon around. "THIS IS THE BEST GRADUATION PRESENT EVER!"

Master Eon chuckled, floated out of Chihiro's grasp and glowed just a bit brighter.

"Now, why don't you test it out?" Master Eon flew towards the crystal and gently rubbed it. "Just think of where you want to go with all your heart, and channel your magic into the pendant."

"Alright."

Chihiro nodded, and gazed back at the island and crowds she was about to leave behind. Hopefully this would work…

"See you later, everyone!" Chihiro waved at the crowds all around her. Her eyes fell to Spyro as she squeezed his paw with her free hand. "I'll miss you!"

Spyro made a small gasp of his own, nodded and squeezed her hand back.

"We'll…" Spyro looked aside and made a weak smile. "… I'll miss you, too."

Chihiro nodded, let go, and clasped both hands around the pendant. All the leftover emotions made her whole body tremble, but she couldn't really reflect on that at the moment.

Right now, all she had to think about was Earth. The planet that was her "true" home… How much had it changed in the time she had been gone? A lot? A little? Were her parents still around and waiting with bated breath for her to return? Did Mamoru ever notice her absence when he went to school? Would the Earth still have a place for her when she returned?

These questions, thoughts, and more resounded in Chihiro's mind as she clasped her pendant tighter.

"Warp pendant," Chihiro whispered with bated breath, "please take me to Earth."

The wind blew harder as a bright cyan swirl of magic enveloped Chihiro, and everything faded in a brightly-colored flash…