A/N: IMPORTANT! I made a fanfiction blog on tumblr under the same as my penname (awesomerigby), so fanfics will be on there as well!

Don't Let a Moment Slip Away

The announcement shouldn't have come as a surprise, he supposed. Everyone was moving on with their lives, and it seemed right that she would move on as well. Martin's hip was doing a lot better, and his new wife, Ronee, was always there to help in case he needed it. Frasier and Roz just tied the knot nearly a year ago, and she was expecting their first child together. And Niles… Well, what was Niles doing? He was still a psychiatrist, so nothing new career-wise. He had an on again, off again romance with a woman named Mel, but he knew this current break would be permanent because he didn't get that spark when he was with her. He never had that spark with anyone other than Daphne.

And Daphne decided that she was going to move on with her life too and move back to Manchester. She said, although Manchester could be a bit boring at times, she missed it terribly, and she was hopefully getting a new job as a physical therapist with some elderly woman. She didn't say, but Niles knew she was hoping to find some romance back home, as well. Probably Clive, he expected.

When the day she was going to leave finally came, Niles couldn't bear it. He sat on Frasier's couch, looking and feeling completely sorry for himself.

"Why don't you just tell her?" Roz asked. Her stomach was beginning to protrude a bit.

"It's not that easy."

"Sure, it is. You just say, 'Daphne, I love you.' That's it." She smiled as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Like she was one to talk; she and Frasier waited nearly eleven years before getting together.

"I don't want her to feel obligated to stay."

"Bull. You want her to stay."

"Of course I do."

"So, tell her."

"I can't."

Roz groaned. "You're so annoying. If I wasn't four months pregnant, I'd kick your ass."

Niles couldn't help but laugh. "Thank god for that."

"Frasier, your brother's an idiot," Roz called to her husband who had just come into the apartment.

"Please, tell me some news, Roz," Frasier said with a smirk. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before turning on Niles. "You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. Why don't you call up that Mel?"

"No. It's over between us. I broke it off a few days ago."

"Well…" Frasier started to say, but the door opened. Martin and Ronee walked in; Martin was holding Eddie on a leash. "Dad, I thought the point of you moving out meant you couldn't walk in whenever you felt like it."

"Well, I've got a key, Mr. Smarty Pants," Martin mocked, holding it up to show him. "If you really wanted me out of here, you'd change the locks."

"I'm considering it."

"Whoa, what's wrong with Niles?" Ronee asked as she walked past the sofa. "He looks like something Eddie buried and dug up."

"Thanks for that simile," Niles said.

"He's torn up about this Daphne thing, isn't he?" Martin asked. He sat next to Niles and put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, I know it sucks, but you've got to move on."

"I know that…" Niles sighed. Move on? How was he supposed to do that? She was leaving, and she'd probably never come back. They would communicate through phone, but he'd never see her beautiful face, hold her…. Kiss her. Not like he had been doing any of that because he never told her; he was too much of a coward.

The door opened again, and Daphne came in. She looked as bad as Niles.

"Hello, all," she said. Before anyone could say anything, she spotted her luggage near the couch and broke down. "I'm going to miss you all so much!"

Roz immediately wrapped her in a huge hug. "Oh, I'm going to miss you too!"

"I'll call every day!"

"Good! But… be sure you take the time difference into account. I'd hate to get a phone call at three in the morning because it's like noon there."

"Actually, Roz, it'd be eleven," Frasier spoke up. "Eight hour time difference."

"Shut up. When's your flight, Daphne?"

"In an about two hours, so I need to leave soon." She wiped her tears and laughed. "Oh, it's so hard…"

"Do you need a ride?" Frasier asked, but he was looking at Niles, probably trying to coax him into taking her and telling her everything.

"No, it'd be much harder. I'll get a cab."

"Oh, Daphne…" Frasier joined in on the hug. "You were such a help. Most of the time."

"Oh, shush," she cried into his shoulder, and neither seemed to care that his suit was getting wet with salty tears.

Ronee and Martin were up next. When Martin hugged Daphne, it was like he was hugging his own daughter. Niles felt a twinge of guilt; if he had told her, maybe they would have been married, and she would have been part of their family.

"You better have a good time there. And don't let that new woman butter you up," Martin ordered. "Not that I care if you become friends with her. I'm not jealous."

"Right, Mr. Crane," Daphne laughed. "Ronee, you take good care of this man; he means a lot to me."

"You don't worry about a thing," Ronee assured her. "I'll only break him if he really pisses me off."

After Daphne was finished saying her goodbyes to everyone else, she turned her attention to Niles. He got up and approached her at once.

"Dr. Crane."

"Daphne."

She threw her arms around him tightly. "I'm going to miss you so much."

Niles slowly returned the hug, ignoring his aching heart. "I'm going to miss you too."

"Don't let anything get you down. You'll have that special someone…"

"Thank you, Daphne." He supposed having someone would be fine. It would be a loveless partnership, but he didn't want to be alone. But, sometimes he felt he would rather be alone if he couldn't be with her.

"Goodbye," Daphne said to them all, wiping her eyes with a tissue. She gave Eddie a big kiss on the head before grabbing her luggage and leaving.