Love was never meant to be easy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-Hime or any of its characters.

"Hey Nao, have you ever cried because of a breakup?" Natsuki asked, looking out the window.

Nao eyed her guardedly.

"I know it's not a nice topic," hurried Natsuki, "But let's just say there's this random friend who hopes to know what to do after a breakup, and maybe a few shoulders for support, and a few trees for the tissues."

Nao relaxed her shoulders.

"So.. ever cried because of a breakup?" Natsuki repeated.

"Hell yeah, who hasn't?" Nao replied, scraping her fingernails. She looked at her nails critically and dropped the scraper onto the floor. "I've even comforted a few people who broke up."

"What?" Natsuki exclaimed, looking at Nao, "Who the Hell would want you to comfort them?!"

Nao glared back. "I may be bitchy, but I can still be friendly to worthy friends."

"Of course… I just found it surprising, that's all. You, of all people, comforting others with broken relationships." Natsuki smirked. "How did you feel about people seeking you for some mushy hugs and comforting words?"

"Well, I don't really feel much about it," Nao said, "I simply feel they must be crazy to come to me for comfort."

"I concur," Natsuki grinned.

Ignoring her, Nao continued on. "Often times I tell them that this is a path they must walk alone and there is nothing I can do to help them, maybe except fill up their lonely days with my existence," She looked at her nails again and picked up a filer from the table. "My existence sometimes works though. I've even made few lifelong friends out of such encounters."

"I am overwhelmed with your existence," mocked Natsuki, putting her hands over her heart, "You fill up the blank void in my heart."

"Har, har. Very funny." Nao scowled, throwing the filer at her. Natsuki waved it away and it hit the table leg.

"What about life? I've heard couples' saying a break up feels like the end of the world."

"That's a different matter. The idea of living hasn't really been appealing over the years, but I gave up the 'life-is-not-worth-living' phase once I realized that life was never meant to be a smooth path." She sighed. "It's easier if you don't dwell on a question you can never find an answer for."

"I guess that might be true," said Natsuki. She kicked the leg of the chair across her. It almost toppled over.

"So.. " she hesitated, pausing for a second. "How did you get over the break up?"

Nao looked at her and lifted a brow up.

"What?" Natsuki said defensively, "You can keep it to yourself for all I care."

"I see," replied Nao. "Well, I remember throwing a question about relationships online and this girl answered me. Apparently she had faced similar circumstances, so her words were comforting. She had a been-there, done-that attitude, and life still goes on for her."

"Sounds realistic."

"Life isn't full of fantasies. The internet is a nice place though. I made a few lifelong cyber friends during my misery phase."

"Ah... I think if it were me, I'd stick to real life friends for now."

"Depends on you," she shrugged. "But no matter what I did, I never got over those feelings. Instead I accepted it as part of who I am and the fact that it made me wiser and stronger."

"So it's not possible to get over them?" Natsuki's face paled slightly.

"It's different for everyone," responded Nao, "I didn't get over it. But think: if I can just live through this, then I can live through any shit the future throws at me. If people expect life to be happy and awesome all the time, then they're outta their mind."

"'Life has its ups and downs.'" Natsuki quoted, "There probably wouldn't be any ups if there weren't any downs."

"Yes, see?" Nao said.

"Yeah," Natsuki replied. She looked outside where the sun was shining through the clouds. "The weather seems nice. Why don't we go outside?"

"Sure. Walk to the mall?"

"Ok. I need to get a new jacket anyways." Natsuki said as they walked towards the door. "What do you feel about my questions?"

"That you're trying to help out a friend who needs comforting with breakup issues. Am I right?"

"Partly," said Natsuki as they put on the shoes. I just see the friend every time I look into a mirror.

"They'll be fine," said Nao as she shut the door behind them.

"After all, millions of people have been through that, and life still goes on for them."