I just love these two. Hope you can enjoy this ;)

Disclaimer: Arata Kangatari belongs to Yu Watase.

The Key To Her Cage

It was said that the worst prisons were the ones without walls. For Kotoha, it seemed like she was in a cage with no bars. She couldn't even hope to find a key to escape, since there was no door to open. Her cage was her heart, or rather, her brain.

Her heart wanted to let her feelings flow right into the surface. It wanted to scream them, so the one she loved would know with all letters just how much she loved him, how important he had become to her. On the other hand, her brain told her to just shut up. So what she loved him? He might even love her back, but he wasn't from Amawakuni. One day he would go back, taking Mikusa with him, letting Arata-sama and the girl named Oribe come back home.

Kotoha dreaded such moment. When it finally happened, she was going to be completely alone. The Arata she had lived with since she was a little girl saw her only as a little sister. And the other Arata, the one who actually fell for her, would be completely out of her reach. Her life would lose all purpose, she wouldn't have anyone to live for. She would just have to retire to her clan and tend any wounded that came her way.

She loved to heal, she really did. However, for an Uneme, healing was an intimate activity, as close as a hug or a kiss. Once, her happiness was to heal Arata-sama, now it was healing Hinohara Arata. She couldn't imagine performing healing for a living.

She let a tear escape from her eyes. She didn't want to be alone until the end of her days, not with so little good memories on her mind. Thinking now, maybe she should have told him, why did she have to make that decision on her own? It would hurt anyway.

"Kotoha." His voice took her away from her teary thoughts.

"Yes, Arata?" She wanted to look strong, or he would notice she was suffering.

He sat beside her but avoided her eyes, choosing to face the bright blue sky instead.

"I'm sorry to have bothered you with that silly question. I guess... I just got too excited. I'm sure you like me as a friend, and children can't really tell the difference, can't they?"

He was so sad, his words broke her heart. It didn't really make any sense, did it? Why both of them needed to be forever trapped in their own sadness – a sadness caused by the other. But that wasn't what Kotoha believed. Her heart was certain Arata would fall for Mikusa at some point – after all, Mikusa was indeed the perfect choice for him, a girl from his own world.

"No, they can't." She answered. Albeit it was the truth, it wasn't for her.

"Do you forgive me?"

"There is nothing to be forgiven, Arata."

He still couldn't force himself to look at her, and Kotoha noticed it filled with guilt. She had really hurt him, even though it was never her intention.

"I never stopped to think about what I would do after everything was over. But after all this... Well, I guess there's no reason for me not to come back home."

"If I had told you that I love you, would you have considered staying?"

Arata finally turned her face to hers. She was so close it was excruciating. He had loved her ever since he first laid his eyes upon her, but it had certainly been her kiss that made him notice such feelings. The kiss she gave to her Arata-sama and not to him. It was never going to be him.

"Of course I would. I would consider anything that involved staying next to you, Kotoha. Actually... I still do." He stayed quiet for a minute. "Would you come with me to my world?"

"Yes." Kotoha answered way too quickly. When she noticed what she had done, she hid her mouth with her hands, willing to do anything in order to take back that ridiculously automatic answer.

Tears immediately started to fall from her dark eyes.

"Kotoha?" Arata tried to reach her, but she moved away from him the fastest she could.

"Please, just leave me alone."

"No." He said, kneeling in front of her, holding her gently but firmly by the arms. "Why was your answer 'yes', Kotoha? If you don't love me, why would you want to leave your own world?"

"Because I lied, okay? How could I not love you after all this time, Arata?" She practically screamed. However, her tone soon went down again, with her sudden anger turning into endless pain. "So, please, just leave me alone."

Instead, Arata pulled her against him, hugging her tightly.

"How can I possibly leave you after that, Kotoha? You know my feelings. You've always known. If it's my choice, I want to stay with you forever."

Inside, Kotoha tried to break those bars, she tried to forcefully open the door of the cage where she had been put. Except that cage only existed on her imagination. It wasn't Arata who placed her inside, it was herself.

"We can never be together, Arata, we are not from the same world."

"Who cares? We will find a solution, Kotoha! Knowing that you love me... I would do just about anything to make sure we would be always together."

She wished those words could set her free – but they couldn't. Nothing could. She would be haunted by the perspective of losing him until they actually found a solution for the problem.

"I can't convince myself that easily, Arata. I'm sorry, I really wish I could, but I just... can't."

"Okay." he whispered on her ear. "Just stay with me until we find a solution, okay?"

She smiled sadly at him.

"Ain't I always?"

"Yes, but that wasn't what I meant. Be with me... as my girlfriend."

Kotoha pushed him a bit, so she could look into his eyes. Arata was radiantly happy, she could see that, and it made her smile. He was happy because she loved him! That was just ridiculously wonderful. Still, there was that feeling that kept haunting her, keeping her on that self-inflicted prison.

"I'm afraid, Arata. Afraid of ending up alone."

Placing his hands on her face, Arata wiped away her tears, trying to take the fear away with them.

"I won't let it happen, okay? I won't leave you, we'll find a way. I promise. Don't you trust me?"

"I would trust my life to you, Arata."

He smiled to her. An enormous and beautiful smile.

"I love you, Kotoha."

And that was enough, wasn't it? That love, eventually, would certainly be the key to her cage, she just had to wait.