"That's why I said it's a long story." She sighs, knowing there's no way to make this sound believable -- hell, sound rational. "As far as our world, as the war is concerned, we've never left. People are pulled here, and then they're sent back, and it's like they were never here. And sometimes they're here for years... but it doesn't matter. They go right back to when they left, with no memories of this place. It might as well be a dream."

A pause, a breath, and then she adds, "It happened to me. Everyone swears I was here before, but I don't remember it at all, and no one at home has ever mentioned that I disappeared for a while. And Shikamaru certainly hasn't been missing from home for years, and he's been here for that long!"