"I know..." Two words. Two words that encompassed her understanding, her awareness, her acceptance, her acknowledgement… Just two little words, spoken gently from an even gentler girl. "I know..."

He sobbed desperately as he tightly hugged her small frame close to him, burying his face in the crook of her neck. The tears continued to fall down his cheeks and drip onto her shoulder, but she didn't care. Her arms were wrapped around his larger self, keeping him safe and warm in the cold night. But he continued to sob and spout various 'I'm sorry's and 'please forgive me's.

"It's not your fault..." Her words were always spoken with a certain tenderness to them, and the situation at hand seemed to make them even more caring. In his eyes, she was an angel. Kind, gentle, beautiful, caring- perfect. She was perfect in every single way.

"I'm here..." That made him lightly nuzzle into her skin as he began to calm down.

He knew that she was there for him. She always had been, and always would be. She was his best friend, and to top it all off, he loved her more than anything.

"Sh-Shizuka..." He slowly pulled away from her to look at her, eyes still moist.

Her blue eyes revealed her sadness to him, letting him know that he was not alone in his mourning. Raising her hands to softly wipe away a few stray tears, she then dropped one hand to her side and kept the other on his cheek. "Yes, Itachi?"

He leaned his head into her hand, where she gently rubbed with her thumb. "Th-thank you..."

"You don't have to thank me." She smiled slightly and, using her free hand, took the blanket she had brought along, and wrapped it around him.

Before she could secure him fully in the blanket, he pulled her into another close hug, wrapping the blanket around her as well. "Don't freeze on my account."

This made her smile again, and she returned the hug by wrapping her lean arms around his neck, nuzzling up close to his collar bone and resting there. Smiling slightly, Itachi put his chin on her head and closed his eyes, calming down further. He let out a sigh of relief as he did so, giving her waist a light squeeze. They stayed that way for close to an hour, saying nothing and just enjoying their positions..

"Itachi…?" she whispered carefully, breaking the silence that had been between them.

"Hmm...?" He lifted his head and loosened his grip on her, but still kept his arms around her waist.

A tear escaped her pristine eyes and landed on his arm, making him look down at her with an expression mixed with worry and sympathy. Then she lifted her face toward him and gave him the sweetest smile she could conjure up. Getting up on her knees, she slowly moved some bangs from his face and placed a tender kiss on his cheek.

"I love you." Three little words- stolen from the lips of the very man who felt the same way about her. Three little words that meant everything to him. "Please know that none of this is your fault. I wouldn't have fallen in love with a ruthless killer."

Again Itachi felt tears well up in his eyes, but this time of happiness. A smile replaced his sorrowful expression, and slowly, as though in disbelief, he placed a hand on her cheek. Shizuka smiled and leaned into his hand, keeping her warm gaze solely him. He then smiled again and placed his other hand on her cheek, this time sliding it down to her chin and lifting it. Then he slowly leaned inward and pressed his lips against hers, moving the other hand to the back of her head, where he delicately stroked her soft hair.

She smiled softly and leaned in closer, returning the kiss and sliding her arms around his neck.

They pulled away soon after, both smiling. Itachi pressed his forehead against hers gently and lightly chuckled to himself.

"I love you, too."

As promised, I uploaded "I Know," another Itachi x OC one shot I wrote some time ago. I suppose some of you may be wondering what my OC's past was like, and how she fits into the Naruto world. Well, I'll let you all know as soon as this site lets me upload more than just an edited version of another document. (I'm still pretty stupid, and I have no idea what's wrong. I agreed to the Rules and Guidelines again, but it just doesn't let me upload anything 'new.')

Seriously, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I can't even make a DocX or anything... Maybe it's due to certain blocked sites? Does it even work that way? Ah, well. I'll figure it out.

Naruto and its characters do not belong to me. Shizuka is my over-used OC.

~ DrawMeAnEclipse