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Today is her birthday. She stands in the middle of the room; her kimono for the New Year rustles softly as she turns to each of her companions, making light conversation with them. Well wishers for the now eighteen year old girl surge forth, carrying gifts and words of advice for her future. She smiles at each of them, thanking them happily.
Natsume watches her from his pillar across the room. He swirls the wine in his cup idly as she smiles to yet another old time friend. He sips the wine while she takes the hands of a classmate.
Ruka approaches him from the snack table, his ferret curled around his neck. He holds a plate filled with many different treats, all delicious looking.
Ruka smiles invitingly at Natsume. He offers the plate of food. "Here, Natsume. I know you are hungry."
He picks up a small spring roll with his free hand. His right fingers quiver with the effort it takes to pinch the food. He devours it quickly, and returns to watching the birthday girl from across the room. Ruka follows his gaze, munching on a celery stick as he watches her too.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" He asks, still nibbling on the celery. He looks over at Natsume and their eyes lock. "Go over there. Wish her Happy Birthday."
Natsume grabs a piece of orange chicken and eats it.
Ruka sighs. Natsume feels bad; he wants to say something but won't. Can't.
Ruka rests the plate on the floor close to Natsume's feet before he stands up. He looks like he wants to say something, everything, but when their eyes lock, and he knows he doesn't have to. They are best friends, always have been, always will be. They know each other. Trust one another. Everything they want to say has been said.
Ruka holds up his fist. Natsume holds up his. They are still young, still have lives to live, but at that moment they are ageless friends forever. When their fists bump, it's almost a promise.
Ruka walks away. Natsume turns back to her.
She comes by to visit him later. Her cheeks are flushed from the alcohol, and she is…giggly. They do not do much; she talks and he listens and for a while it is just like they are back in school, before anything happened. She does not now have scars marring her shoulder: given with grace from the higher ups as she fought her way through and through and through them to the Principal, finally nullifying his alice and stopping all of the fighting.
He is still able to move his right hand and do whatever he wants to do with it.
They cling to this moment for as long as possible; time wanes on and the guests wear away, until they are the only ones left (and she is still talking, and he is still listening).
Finally they look up at the clock, and they see that it is 11:55. Mikan sighs.
"It's really over now, isn't it? That clock strikes midnight, and it will all end." Natsume looks at her, and her face looks tired. Not old, or weary, or upset, but tired. He knows she does not just mean her birthday.
In five minutes, all of her childhood problems will end. She will be of legal age and will be able to finally leave this school for good. In five minutes her whole world will change.
Mikan looks at him. Either she is tall or he is short, because really he isn't that much bigger than her.
She snorts. "You know when we first met, you stole my underwear."
He raises an eyebrow at her. He remembers is what it tells her.
"Back then, my biggest problem was getting to fit in with the class. Look at us now."
He agrees. They have overcome many hurdles through the years that few should have to deal with. But they had to, and they did. They overcame those seemingly impossible tasks, those times when there was nothing left but a scrap of hope, and now it is done. They cleared the path, now all the others have to do is walk it.
"I'm really proud of us, you know. We've done a lot. I think it's time we took a break."
She takes a breath, and he takes one with her. He feels refreshed.
She looks at him. "Hey, Natsume…"
He looks at her.
She smiles at him. "Move in with me?"
It is sudden, and abrupt (and really there could have been many better ways to word that question), but she has asked it, (and she's blushing now, possibly because of the alcohol and possibly not) and he feels like he was the one who drank it, and now he's falling…
He reaches out to steady himself, and it turns out to be on her shoulder. She shifts her weight to support his right side.
Natsume looks down (he sees the beautiful girl he fell in love with) and suddenly she's just too bright (he wants to not look at her anymore but can't).
He buries his nose into the crook of her shoulder and neck. He just breathes. He takes his left hand and circles her hip, splaying his fingers on her stomach. He can't really feel her through her clothing, but she smells nice and fresh, and her fingers are entwining with his and they are so soft.
He nods against her neck, because he doesn't want to ruin this moment with his choked up voice.
She smiles happily, because she understands him (what a blessing that is), and he understands her, and it's rather perfect that they are together.
He doesn't want to speak (the fire he swallowed during the last battle still burns). But he wants her to know, so he tries.
The first time he says it he thinks he might die. She turns to look at him, confused and mildly worried when he winces. The second time he loses his wind halfway through and it becomes incomprehensible.
The third time the pain burns and shrieks and runs claws down his throat so that his eyes sting with water. Mikan grabs his face with her hands and strokes his cheekbones, quietly assuring and comforting him.
She doesn't ask him to stop, because she knows this is important and she knows that he needs to do this.
The fourth time, he manages to get it all out slow enough to comprehend, but fast enough that he doesn't keep his mouth open for long.
He is not sure how comprehensible he was, but her face lights up like the fireworks outside earlier, and she smiles and then he's kissing her and she's kissing him and love love love.
He looks up at the clock once they stop, and it's only 11:58, which is ridiculous because it should be 12:00 like it is in those stupid cliché movies, and there is no way all of that happened in three minutes.
Mikan giggles. "I think I just stepped in that plate of food. Ew. I need to wash my feet now." And then she's laughing, and he smiles fondly, and their hands stay entwined.
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AN: Actually much shorter than I thought the final product would be, in all honesty. Most of my oneshots just go on and on, you know?
So there you have it: proof that I am NOT DEAD.
Review, don't review, it's all cool!
Savvy?
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