This took way too long; please excuse my absence.
Please read part 3 before reading this part. Also, if you're new to the series, I suggest reading from the start.

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Maria slipped into Hannah's room and shook her awake. "It's time to go home, sleepyhead."
"Ugh..." Hannah reluctantly sat up in the bed and hung her legs over the side.
"Here, put on these shoes," Maria instructed, holding up a pair of wooden sandals with leather straps. "I'll be waiting outside with the others."

Hannah quickly strapped on the sandals and followed Maria to the front of the clinic. The pitter-patter of the rain had developed into a roaring thunderstorm that poured rain in sheets.

Hannah stepped out to under the canopy under the clinic, where the entire staff was waiting with umbrellas in hand. There was a lot of chitchat between the nurses and doctors, creating an unusual atmosphere of casual camaraderie.

Maria locked the door to the front of the building and motioned for the group to start walking home. Hannah stood under Maria's umbrella, and the group headed down the slick, cobbled street.

This being the first time Hannah saw the world outside of the hospital, she quickly scanned her surroundings.

From her previous trips to Japan, she noted that much of the environment was like what she would expect: buildings with typical oriental roofs lining a long road parallel with a nearby river. However, as she inspected her surroundings more closely, she found some peculiarities. The road was curved such that rainwater would pool towards the edges and away from the center. As far as Hannah remembered, this style of road-building originated in Tuscany many centuries ago, but such building techniques shouldn't have made its way here yet. Also, Hannah noticed some grates that represented storm drains, which struck Hannah as an unusually modern idea.

Lightning struck a nearby building as the group walked by. Everyone flinched or jumped at the sudden sound, but nobody was hurt. After a brief intermission, the casual conversation and chitchat came back to life.
At that moment, Hannah noted that there was a lightning rod installed on the building. Benjamin Franklin hadn't invented the lightning rod yet, let alone been born.

Hannah tugged on Maria's sleeve. "Why are there so many modern inventions here?" she asked, pointing at the lightning rod.
"Mmm, well, that's the work of the Emperor, you see. When he took control, he realized that he could vastly improve the country with his modern ideas. So he made a royal decree, and, bam! there they are."

To think that Tim was responsible for this left a bitter taste in Hannah's mouth. Even though he was scum in Hannah's eyes, Hannah now had to give him credit as smart scum.

After a bit of walking, Maria turned to Hannah and asked, "Y'know, something about you was off. Only after a bit of a fit, ya just accepted your fate. It took me at least a couple o' weeks crying in bed before I could accept living without ma friends and family and brave this new world. Why didn't you cry?"

Hannah shrugged. "I dunno, I didn't really think of that..."
She spaced out as her voice trailed off, her mind mulling over Hannah's words. Why had she not thought of her family? Why would she be so accepting of this new reality? Had she become too selfish?

"It's good that you don't dwell too much on the past and what you can't control. It's something that I've always respected you for," Maria commented. Hannah looked back at her, who was looking straight ahead.
"Don'tcha worry. We'll be home any moment now."

Hannah took in her surroundings again. Amongst the pitter-patter of the rain and the chitter-chatter of the group, Hannah found solace in the strange reality she was living. Never in a million years would she have imagined that she would experience something she had only heard of from textbooks, let alone infused with modern aspects of her previous life.

Soon enough, the duo stopped at an unremarkable and small building. Maria bid the group good night as they continued walking down the street.

"Why did we walk home with them?" Hannah asked as Maria fished around in her satchel for the house key.
"Ah, we jus' walk home together every night 'cause it's safer that way. They live nearby anyway, so we ain't a nuisance for them."

Maria quickly found the key and jammed it into the keyhole of the door. After a quick twist, the door opened. "Make sure you don't get anything wet, will ya?"

Maria headed in and lit a lantern to light up the house. Hannah followed shortly after, closing and locking the door behind her.

The house was surprisingly spacious given its small external appearance, and its unusually modern and familiar furnishings gave Hannah a smidge of comfort in a place where everything seemed foreign.

Yawning, Maria mused, "We should be sleeping, huh. Follow me."

She led Hannah to the bathroom, where they took turns taking a shower, which, Hannah noted, appeared to make use of a water main. They then brushed their teeth with homemade toothbrushes and toothpaste. (Maria was very confident in how well the toothpaste and toothbrushes worked, but Hannah was rightfully doubtful.)

After finishing up her nightly routine, Maria led Hannah to the bedroom. She helped Hannah change into sleepwear before doing so herself.
On the floor were two beds: one a bamboo mat with a thin blanket, and the other a well-cushioned mat with a thick, comfortable one.

Hannah, wishing to make up for her earlier selfishness, quickly said, "Here, you can take the nice bed. I'll take the bamboo mat. You're helping others anyway, so you need to rest well."
Maria smiled but shook her head. "Now, now, dear. The bamboo mat is the better one for me since I'm just so used to it. You deserve better rest anyway; you're still young, right?"
Before Hannah would respond, Maria lifted Hannah and tucked her into the comfortable bed. "Besides, I made this just for you."

Maria laid down on her bamboo mat and let out a sigh of relief, relief that another day was over. Not only that, but Hannah was alive and well. Reaching over to the lantern, she closed off its air intake, choking the fire and filling the room with darkness until morning.

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Sorry for the late update, lads and lasses. The last week has been a really wild whirlwind for me, especially when deadlines shift. Luckily, I found the time to write out this part, and hopefully, I won't leave you guys hanging like this again! Keep your eyes out for the next part, but no guarantees on a release date. :p