Disclaimer: My goodness, CLAMP should have spared me the trouble and written this themselves! They haven't, I have, and unlike CLAMP, I'm not making any money. I do it for love, dear ones; love.

Dedicated: To Chelle-sama, who really set me on the path to Fujitaka/Sonomi. Ah, the joy, the joy! And because she occasionally removes my children. ^.^

Notes: Takes place after 'Miidasu' but before the events of 'Kitaku'-- Valentines Day of Year Three in 'Haikei'.
Translation on the title: [jouwa] (n) conversing from the heart/love story. Awww, aren't Fujitaka and Sonomi so sweet together?

Jouwa

Kinomoto Fujitaka was not prepared for the bruising force of impact. He'd been heading for his office, head down and engrossed in several of his student's essays; therefore, he reasoned, the fault of the accident was all his. "Gomennasi." He murmured apologetically, reaching for the scattered papers. He was, again, unprepared for the bruising impact of the words he heard in return.

"I'm the one who's sorry." The voice was harsh and agitated. And familiar. But this particular voice hadn't been angry or brusque since he'd begun dating the owner nearly four months ago.

"Sonomi-kun?" It was, indeed, his girlfriend.

She slapped a pink and white package into his hands and smiled. With fangs. "Yes." There was bitterness in the word that he couldn't understand. "And now I'll be going. Goodbye, Kinomoto-sensei."

He stood in the hallway for a long moment, confused. Sonomi hadn't called him 'Kinomoto' since shortly after their first kiss and her goodbye had sounded...final. He looked at the package in his hands and at the swiftly retreating giver. "Sonomi-kun!" He darted after her, papers forgotten, and managed to grab one arm and swing her around to face him. She had tears in her eyes. "Sonomi..." He touched her check gently.

"I have an appointment, Sensei." She spat out as she jerked away from him. He refused to let her go, instead he kept firm hold on her arm and tugged her the direction she had come from, heading for his office.

"Dean Tanaka." He smiled amicably as the head of his department stared at him. Sonomi hissed and struggled. He passed several of his colleagues, three of his students and one of his teaching assistants on the short walk to his office door. The door was half open and, as he pushed Daidouji Sonomi unwillingly through it, Fujitaka could see that it was partially held open by piles of red, white, and pink packages. Somebody had tried to slam the door and been entirely unable to. When he thought about it, he could remember there being rather more than the usual number of pink or red outfits today. All of his morning classes, in fact, had been filled with an ocean of those colors. He looked at the packages overflowing his office, he looked at Sonomi's furious, hurt face and then at the package in his hands. "It's Valentines Day, isn't it?"

"Good catch, Sensei." Sonomi's voice was bitterly cold. "As I said earlier, I have other things to do. Goodbye." She began to brush past him and Fujitaka was forced to do what he'd sworn never to do. He pushed a girl.

He shoved Sonomi two steps back into the room, whirled about and shut his door. Or tried to. He kicked several boxes of chocolates into the hall. "Sorry!" He called as several of the packages hit passer-bys. "Tadashi, cancel all my afternoon classes." One of the injured had been another of his TA's. He'd have to apologize more later. He slammed the door shut and leaned back against it. "I think we need to talk, Sonomi-kun."

"That's lovely, Sensei." Sonomi's voice had not gotten any warmer. "I don't think we do."

He sighed. "I think we both know, by now, that I tend to lose track of time unless it involves my children, my work, or my..." He trailed off and cleared his throat. How, he wondered vaguely, did he tell Sonomi that he was hyper aware of the time whenever they had a date scheduled? Shrugging, he went on. "It's not as though I solicit candy from my female students." Or the male, when it came to that. "This has happened every year since I became a teacher." Including the year he had gotten married.

"I'm sure it does." She'd moved to the window that overlooked the campus parking lot.

"It does. I don't accept any of it, you know." He smiled, hoping she would smile in return. Instead she continued to gaze out his window.

Sonomi's voice was soft as she asked, "What happens to it?"

Finally, he thought, some headway. "I used to throw it away. Now I take it home for Kero-kun or Yukito-san." He released a breath of relief as Sonomi's mouth curved into a small smile. "I try to send all of the girls a small letter that thanks them for thinking of me and telling them that although I'm honored, I really can't accept their gift."

"I see. Tell me, are those letters just for your students or will I be receiving one as well?" She gestured vaguely towards his computer and he was shocked to see his form letter for the occasion open and blinking on the screen. "I suppose I shouldn't, seeing as we've talked." She shouldered her purse and walked to stand in front of him. "You're blocking the door," she said quietly. "Please excuse me."

"Sonomi-kun, it's a form letter." He didn't move. Moving would mean losing her, he was certain. "Tadashi must have called it up to print out when the candy started coming in."

Again, she agreed in a soft voice. "I'm sure. Please excuse me."

"I don't understand." He kept his own voice even, though it wanted to shake. "I don't understand what's making you so upset, Sonomi-kun."

"I'm not upset. Not upset, Fujitaka-sensei." He was shocked when she looked up at him. Her eyes were positively swimming. "It's just...I only..." She took a deep breath, as though steeling herself for what she was going to say. "I was being foolish, Sensei." Her voice was back to it's brisk, no-nonsense tone. She smiled with no real feeling. "You'll have to forgive me." He blinked at her. And blinked again. He knew Sonomi and knew her well. He looked past her and tried to focus on his computer's screen.

The words practically leapt out at him; 'still very much in love with my wife'. "Sonomi-kun," he took her arms in his hands and shook her ever so slightly. "It's a form letter. I've used it for years. And years. And years."

A tear slipped down her cheek and Fujitaka felt his heart drop as her lip trembled. "It's alright, you know." She said softly, looking past him. "I miss Nadeshiko every day, too. And I know it must be worse for you, because you could see her again. You could see her and she was back with you again before she had to go."

Fujitaka had never expected his new powers to cause so much trouble. But they were helpful, too; as he stared at Sonomi he could hear the things she wasn't saying as well as the words she spoke. "Sonomi-kun, sometimes you think too much." He muttered affectionately; reaching out he drew her against his chest, he kept her gift in his hand, holding it nearly between them. She was completely ridged and he rubbed her back soothingly. "We could sit here forever and I could think about whether or not I'd want burnt chocolate or broken chocolate today." If it were possible, Sonomi stiffened even more.

"Sensei..." She began to struggle and he tightened his arms.

"Shh. If Nadeshiko-san hadn't died, we both know that neither of us would be here, but she did." He sighed softly and ran his free hand over the short, red-hair of the woman in his arms. "If she were still alive, I'd want nothing more than her burnt, tasteless offering. Because when it's a gift from somebody you love, it doesn't matter if it isn't made perfectly."

Sonomi struggled harder. "Please, I already know I'm not Nadeshiko-san...I told you that I was behaving foolishly. We're..." her voice choked up on the words, "we're friends and I was being foolish. I wasn't thinking."

"Sonomi-kun, you're the prickliest person I know." He sighed. "I know you're not Nadeshiko-san. I don't want you to be anybody but yourself, with your pefect Valentine's Day chocolate that we probably smashed into a hundred pieces. Do you know, did I ever tell you, what Nadeshiko said when she told me she had to move on?"

"No." Her voice was muffled and he could feel her clenching her hands in his shirt.

He placed a gentle kiss on the crown of her head. "Nadeshiko-san told me that I should take some advice and listen to my poor, neglected heart which had, she said, been screaming for my attention for years. That was the day that you came here with Hiiragizawa-kun's letter clenched in your fist and ordered my assistants to get out of the room."

"I didn't 'order' them."

He smiled. "You didn't ask politely, either," he reminded her.

"I did so." She drew back and tried to glare at him but ended up catching her breath as he cupped her damp cheek.

"No, you didn't. You treated them like Daidouji Toy interns." He stroked his thumbs over her cheekbones. "But that's okay. They're getting used to you by now." He kissed her forehead and smiled. "I don't think I will ever get used to you, but that's okay too."

"Fujitaka-sensei..." She sighed and swiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry that I..."

He cut her off with a shake of his head. He didn't need an apology. "Come and sit with me." He entreated. "We'll write a new letter to use. We'll tell everybody that I am dating a beautiful, smart, creative, wonderful woman and that she is the only person I want to give me chocolates." He gestured expansively.

Sonomi smiled. "And Sakura-chan."

"True. Just yours and Sakura-san's." He paused for a moment and then continued flippantly. "And if Touya-kun or Yukito-san happened to show up on my doorstep with candy, I don't think I'd say no."

The woman in his arms giggled. "Maybe if the plushie had some to offer..."

He tapped the tip of her nose. "Kero-kun would eat all that he made, but I would appreciate the thought he put into it. Or if Mirror-san decided that this year she would give me a candy like she does Touya."

She laughed again. "You can't put that in the letter. And Mirror-san did make Valentines this year. At my house with Sakura-san, Tomoyo and me."

"That's probably why I didn't know what day it was. Normally I can smell it coming." Fujitaka linked his hand with the that of the woman he was fast falling in love with. "Come and sit with me and help me make a new letter." He was in love with her, he thought, it just wasn't the right time to say anything...not until he knew what he wanted to do about it.

"Why don't I pack up these," she gestured to the Valentines scattered around the room, "for the plushie and you can do what you like with the letter." She found one of the brown paper bags he kept in his desk drawer and snapped it open. "You don't have to change it."

But he wanted to. "No, sit down, we'll work out something new. Then we can pack these and drop them off for Kero-kun. Then I'm taking you to Tokyo for dinner. Oblong's will be pretty full, but I bet I can get us a table." That was another odd perk of his powers. Sometimes, when he really wanted something, he got it.

Like now. Sonomi smiled, sweet and warm and came to sit beside him at the computer. She took the pink and white bundle she'd shoved at him earlier and offered it to him. "I'm sorry I broke your chocolates." She apologized.

"You can break them every year." He told her solemnly, fighting another smile. Unwrapping them, he had to stop and stare. "But maybe you could tell me what these are supposed to be."

She rolled her eyes. "They looked better before I smashed them," she said ruefully. "I made cranes and geese." He nodded, cranes for longevity and geese for good tidings. Sonomi, he reflected, was always full of surprises.

"I'm sure that they were lovely." He told her. "Maybe we can rebuild some." He nudged a wing and a leg next to a body piece and frowned. They might have all been bird parts but the thing he'd made certainly didn't look like a bird.

Sonomi giggled and held out a head to him. "Maybe we shouldn't try."

Fujitaka accepted, heart full. "Sure we should." They sat, grinning and talking and eating chocolate sort-of birds, and it was a long time before the new letter got written. But that was okay. In fact, it was perfect.