Disclaimer: *humming* Oh, sorry... What're we talking about?

I was just watching clouds this morning at the beach and the idea struck me... Kinda like the lightning that struck the ground five seconds after I went inside...

Cloud Watching:

Mai stared at the clouds outside the haunted museum they had been investigating for the past week. They'd just exorcised the spirit, causing the weight of four sleepless nights to come crashing down on Mai. She sighed, brushing her hair out of her face. Every time she closed her eyes she saw horror images from her dreams. They'd been worse this case.

Much worse than the Urado case, which surprisingly enough, had induced a worried glance or two from Naru. Well, at least that was what Ayako had said.

"Just because we're finished doesn't mean you can wander off and fall asleep in the grass." Naru snapped, standing above her. She frowned at the venomous sound of his voice and cracked one eye open.

"I'm tired." She moaned. "Besides, there's nothing here anymore."

Naru frowned, deciding whether to sit down or not. Sitting down would cause him to want to fall asleep as well. After all, he hadn't had a good night's sleep since they'd gotten here. Which had been at least five nights. Long ones at that. Deciding to risk falling asleep, he sat beside Mai, who must've gone through three shades of red and at least two confused looks.

"W-what are you doing Naru?" She asked, tentatively. "Are you okay?"

She must've noticed the weariness in his eyes. He nodded, leaning against a tree, letting the wind blow his hair back. He closed his eyes, happy that it was at least quiet.

That is, at least, until Mai started giggling. He cracked one eye open, resulting in a one eyed glare that threw her into another fit of giggles. What on earth could be so funny as to ruin his picturesque moment?

She turned her head to the sky, ignoring his glare. "See that cloud there Naru?"

He looked up to where she was pointing. "What about it?" He asked, not seeing the point. "It's a visible mass of droplets or frozen crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of the Earth or another planetary body. I don't see what's so special about it."

Mai frowned. "I know what a cloud is Naru."

He frowned as well but didn't answer.

She brightened again. "It looks like a bunny."

He rolled his eyes. So this is what it was about? A bunny shaped cloud? It wasn't even the normal cloud, it was more like a storm cloud in the making.

"It reminds me of Lin." She said, going into yet another fit of giggles.

He raised an eyebrow, taking another look at the cloud. It did, in fact, look like a bunny but Naru still didn't see how it would remind her of Lin. He narrowed his eyes. Why would she be thinking about his assistant in the first place?

"I don't see how that reminds you of Lin." He said in a clipped tone. Mai frowned.

"Lin, I think, on the inside is really sweet." Naru almost laughed at that one. If anyone really knew how Lin was, they'd be shocked to find out, that well, Mai was right. "But on the outside, he looks intimidating and scary."

Naru nodded absentmindedly, that was Lin in a nut shell.

Mai grinned again. "Look at that one!" She pointed to a cloud right next to Lin's bunny. "It looks like a dragon."

Naru frowned, that looked more like a blob of white. "Your mind really does work different from mine." He muttered, rolling his eyes again. "That looks nothing like a dragon."

Mai stuck her tongue out at him. "You're just jealous because I can use my imagination."

Naru frowned. "That's not imagination Mai, that's wishful thinking."

Mai rolled her eyes. "The dragon reminds me of Ayako." She had turned over on her side, so she didn't see the small smile on Naru's face when she said Ayako. "Ayako can breath fire when she's mad."

Naru nodded, still not seeing the dragon. He didn't even know why he was out here in the first place. Cloud watching was something Gene had done with his parents. He didn't see what the point was. He was about to get up when Mai grabbed his sleeve, pointing to yet another cloud.

"See that one?" She pointed to a small cloud on the right of Ayako's dragon. "That one looks like a cat."

He nodded, this time being able to see the resemblance to a cat. "What about it?" He asked, sitting down again, almost grudgingly.

"It reminds me of Masako." Mai muttered, almost to herself. "I think it's a mean cat."

Naru had to try very hard not to laugh. Luckily, he was used to Mai's many randomly funny comments and was able to conceal his laughter.

"What makes you say that?" He asked, looking up at the sky. "It doesn't lookmean."

Mai snorted. "It's what's on the inside that counts."

He gave her a pointed look.

Mai grinned again, pointing to another cloud. It was oddly shaped and he couldn't make out what on earth she could possibly think it was. He waited for her to continue.

"It looks like an angel fish." Mai giggled. "It reminds me of John, because he's so cute and helpless looking just like fish."

Naru almost snorted in disbelief. Now Mai was coming up with childish fantasies about clouds. And why on earth was she thinking that John Brown was cute?

He actually snorted this time. Maybe he was jealous, maybe he wasn't but he wasn't going to let his Mai go off swooning on any other guy besides him. Stupidity would not be tolerated this late in the afternoon, so he'd have to go about this a different way... He couldn't just yell at her to think John wasn't cute. She might get suspicious.

"Oh!" Mai tugged on his sleeve, jerking him out of his loathing thoughts about John. "See that one there?"

Naru looked to where she was pointing and sighed. It looked like a regular cloud.

"It looks like a puppy!" She giggled. "It reminds me of Yasu."

Naru rolled his eyes. "Mai, that looks like a blob of white. There is no way it looks like a dog."

Mai glared at him. "You have to look closely."

He bent down near her face, inducing one very pretty blush from Mai. He looked up at the sky and quickly found the same cloud. "It still looks like a blob."

She couldn't find anything to say. He was way too close.

"It reminds me of Yasu," She said, after regaining her voice. "because dogs are curious sometimes and Yasu, lets face it, is always snooping around."

Naru nodded, not really listening to her reasoning. He really shouldn't have gotten that close to Mai's face, he had had to pull himself back before he looked into her pretty brown eyes or -heaven forbid- kiss her. That had become quite the problem during this case. She'd have those awful dreams and she'd begin to cry. He hated it when she cried, it made him feel like he was responsible. Don't ask him why though, even he didn't know the reason.

"Naru?" She asked, touching his hand. "Are you even listening to me?"

He looked down at her face and his heart skipped a beat. He had to get out of here, this was not good for his health.

Unfortunately, he was rooted to the spot.

"Yes." He muttered. "Unfortunately, I can't tune you out."

Mai let go of his hand like it was on fire. Part of him was very glad she'd let go while the other half was yelling at him to grab her hand again. He could've sworn he'd gotten rid of that stupid half years ago.

She glared at him, turning back to cloud watching. "I think that one looks like a," She let out a yawn. "a- horse. It reminds me of Bou-san when he walked in the office decked out in his rocker outfit."

Naru smiled at the memory. That outfit was still ridiculous looking. He froze, his cloud was next. She'd done everyone but him. He was curious to see what animal she'd compare him to. Possibly a snake or a scorpion for his stinging remarks. Maybe a donkey because she'd called him stubborn on many accounts.

"That one," She pointed to a stray cloud in the sky. "reminds me of you."

He raised his eyebrows. The cloud didn't look like anything, it was just a strip of nothing.

"How so?" He asked, turning to see Mai's reaction.

"You act so complex." She muttered, her eyes fighting to stay open. "But you're really not that complex are you? After you left to go back to England, I completely understood you."

He cocked his head to the side. "Oh really?"

She nodded. "You were hurt because your brother died, driven with the need to get him back you created SPR and you got me as an assistant." She smiled in his direction. "You kept secrets because you wanted us to know you as Kazuya Shibuya not Oliver Davis. You figured we'd gasp in awe if we knew who you were and probably run to go tell someone so you kept it secret. That and the fact the press would be all over you if they knew who you were."

Naru nodded mutely. There was no use in correcting her, the first part was right. Not so much the second part but what did he care, that was the most anyone had ever thought about him in one day. It made his heart swell.

"So, I don't blame you for keeping the secret." Mai brushed her hair out of her face sleepily. "I just thought I'd let you know, again, that I love you still."

Naru watched her stiffen. She wasn't good at confessions, especially if she'd done it once before only to be rejected.

"You see that cloud right there?" He pointed to a rather round cloud and smiled back at Mai.

"What about it?" She asked, not meeting his eyes. There was no use confessing a third time, he obviously didn't love her.

"It looks like a heart." He looked at her softly and took her face in his hands, placing a soft kiss on her lips. "Mine's all yours."

.o0o.

"Now where'd they go?" Ayako yelled. "I don't see Naru or Mai anywhere!"

Bou-san grinned at Ayako, pointing towards a rather large tree and a field of grass outside the museum walls. "I think I've found our two love birds."

Lin looked over the side of the railing and smirked, so he'd finally done it. John and Masako joined him, watching the couple stare at the sky for another two minutes. Finally, Yasu broke the silence.

"Think it will last?" He smiled at Bou-san and Lin mischeviously.

"Always." They said at once.

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