Claraowl: I own neither KWMS nor the song bits I used ("Ever Ever After" and "I Still Believe"). Please enjoy and forgive any OoCness (I am working on trying to eliminate all OoCness). The /words/ indicate song lyrics. :D

"Ta…ku…mi…" she muttered, rolling over to face him.

"Yeah, Misaki?" he murmured, one hand on her face.

"…ku...mi…love…you…"

Takumi smiled gently. "I love you too, Misaki."

She snuggled closer to him, letting out a small sigh of contentment.

"The question is," he whispered, "why do you almost never tell me these things when you're awake?"

Misaki's face scrunched up - adorably, in Takumi's opinion - at these words. "…should wear ties more…"

"Ties?" Takumi blinked. "Do you like ties?"

"…tug 'em…" she muttered, burrowing into his neck.

"Come to think of it," Takumi sighed, "you tugged on my tie a lot in high school. Is that why you were so upset about me refusing to wear ties since then?"

"Mm-hmm," Misaki mumbled, her lips at his neck.

"Well," Takumi considered, biting his lip for effect, "maybe I'll just have to start wearing ties again."

This sentence was rewarded with a purr and a series of kisses from his wife of a year and three months - who was, of course, still fast asleep and completely oblivious to what was being said. Takumi hugged her closer to him and laughed; now that he thought about it, some of their clearest communication occurred through Misaki's sleep-talking - which was, of course, also one of the reasons she thought that he could read her mind.

The first time had been years ago, outside of Maid Latte. Granted, she hadn't been technically asleep - more like passed out - but she had talked to him nonetheless. After she had apologized and slipped out of the grasps of consciousness, she had hung somewhat limply in his arms for a few minutes while Satsuki-san had been informed of the situation. It was only during the little time that the phone call to Misaki's mother had taken to occur that the aforementioned unconscious girl had spoken - rather, mumbled. Regardless of details and quibbles over wording, the short word sequence had been forever emblazoned into Takumi's memory.

"Push away, pull back, push, pull, push, pull…and stay…forever…" Misaki's voice, as weak as it had been, had seemed to be the only thing he could hear. It was then, however cheesy he believed it to sound, that he realized what their future could hold… if they let it.

He often wondered, when surrounded by the darkness of night, what would have happened had Misaki not mumbled in her state of unconsciousness. Would they have ever grown close, or would they have just been two ships that passed in the night? Would they have ever learned to look after and depend on each other? Could they have even fallen in love?

Misaki's breath was warm and welcome upon his neck, dragging him back to reality from what could have been a rather dangerous line of questioning. He grinned, gently rubbing his fingers through her hair as another sleep-talking memory surfaced.

They had been lying together much like they were now - though, of course, then it had still been on his couch instead of their bed. In fact, this memory was how what had been his and hers became simply theirs.

He had been walking around with the engagement ring - a proper engagement ring, unlike the one he'd given her in high school - in his pocket for quite some time. He had been, naturally, incredibly nervous about formally proposing to Misaki, and had therefore been procrastinating. The worries of what could go wrong - many different versions of her highly possible refusal - had been playing through his mind in an unceasing loop during both his waking and sleeping hours.

"Do you really love me, Misaki?" he'd whispered, staring at her sleeping form for what he had then thought could be the final time. "Could you ever actually want to be my wife?"

To his utter surprise, she had turned to face him in her sleep and begun murmuring, "…idiot…we're…engaged…ring from high school…let's…married, finally…." The rest of her sleeping murmurs had been swallowed by a soft snore, but they had sufficiently eased his worries. A few days later, he'd successfully proposed with relatively calm nerves - relative to the nerves from which he'd been suffering prior to their midnight conversation, that is.

Takumi shifted slightly, breathing in Misaki's scent. Given how it had started, his life had - thus far - turned out to be extremely blessed. Yes, there had been a fair share of troubles, but they had all worked out in the end. He was happily married to the woman of his dreams - both literally and figuratively - they both had good jobs, and…. He beamed as Misaki hiccupped slightly in her sleep, one of her hands moving to cup her stomach. That had been another fun sleep-talking conversation, about half a year into their marriage.

"Takumi, I've… a question…" she'd whispered, curled up against him.

"A question? What is it?" he'd replied, turning his head to see that she was still asleep.

"Interrogative statement…designed… test knowledge… but not important right now…" she'd muttered, twining their fingers together.

"What's your question, Misaki?" he'd smiled, laughing slightly at her definition.

"What if…. Do you…kids?" Even in her sleep, Misaki's cheeks had turned pink.

"What?" Takumi had asked, not quite sure if he'd heard her properly.

"…you want…kids?" she had repeated in a whisper, tucking her head into the crook of his neck.

"Eventually, yes," he'd replied, "but I'm not sure when."

The next day, he had posed the question to an awake Misaki. To his utter surprise, her cheeks had flushed and she'd replied, "How about in nine months?"

He had been surprised, to say the very least, when she had showed him the results of the at-home testing kit. Naturally, he had then proceeded to be almost obnoxiously ecstatic about the news - but had fortunately managed to avoid twirling Misaki around, as that could have caused a problem, given how early in the morning it had been at the time.

Takumi put his hand next to Misaki's on her stomach, still trying to believe - after nearly a full nine months - that their child was inside of her. It all seemed a bit too good to be true; in fact, the last several years of his life seemed completely unreal to him, a page torn out of someone else's fairy tale. He was far from complaining, of course; he was simply worried about when it might all come crashing down around his ears. "How much longer do we have, Misaki?" he murmured, his lips brushing her ear. "How much longer can I enjoy having you in my life? When are you going to get sick of me and leave? How… how can I stop that from happening? Is there anything I can do to prevent that?"

Misaki, instead of murmuring an answer, merely slid closer to him, her stomach bumping against his side, and placed a small kiss on his cheek.

Takumi turned onto his side, facing her, and carefully pulled her closer to him. "I need you, Misaki," he whispered into her hair. "I always have, and always will."

In response, she slipped an arm gently over him, her eyes moving rapidly behind her eyelids. Takumi, slightly reassured from this, followed his wife into slumber.

"Hey, Ayuzawa," he'd whispered, slipping into her sleeping area during their class trip, "could I stay here with you tonight?"

He had received no answer from the figure on the bed, save a small, familiar snore.

"I'll take that as an affirmative, then," he'd grinned, closing the door gently behind him and walking over to sit on the edge of her bed.

It was then that a slight murmuring had reached his ears; a humming sound, almost. He'd leaned over her and brushed her hair away from her face, only to find an ear bud tucked into her ear, softly playing music. In her hand had been a small music device decorated with cherry blossom stickers. Slowly, carefully, Takumi had taken one of the ear buds out of Misaki's ear and put it into his own.

/Ever ever ever after/

(I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss)/

forever ever after/

"Ayuzawa?" he'd whispered as the last notes of the song had played themselves out.

"Ever…" she'd muttered, rolling over to face him, "ever after… what?" Her fingers had reached out to him and he had taken them, twining his with hers.

"Ever ever after the end of the story," he'd murmured in reply as the music began again. "Happily ever ever after everything we've been through."

"…happily?" she'd asked, her fingers locking with his. "Not… fairy tale…"

"Why not?"

"…don't know…"

"Please, Ayuzawa," he'd whispered, leaning closer to her, "let it be one. Give it the chance to be a fairy tale. I…" He'd paused then, allowing the chorus of the music to capture both of their attentions for a few moments.

/'Cause I still believe in destiny/

that you and I were meant to be/

I still wish on the stars as they fall from above/

'cause I still believe, believe in love/

"Me, too…" she'd whispered, tilting her head, almost as if she saw him in her sleep, "…me, too… Takumi."

He had stared at her for several long moments after this murmur, shocked. Takumi; she had called him Takumi, not Usui. "Misaki?" he'd asked cautiously, leaning even closer to her.

"…kumi…" she'd muttered, lifting her head and brushing her lips gently against his.

/With just one touch love can calm your fears/

turning all your tears into smiles/ Takumi had, either fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your point of view), been forced to leave not long after that by the appearance of Sakura, who had come to collect her music-playing device. He had, however, left with a rather large grin on his face - much to the bewilderment of the rest of the Seika students, of course.

"Good morning, Misaki," Takumi beamed as he entered their kitchen the next morning.

"Morning, Takumi," she replied in-between bites of cereal with pumpkin butter. "We're out of milk."

"That's a lovely note," he grinned. "How's the pumpkin butter?"

"Kind of sweet, but good with the oats," she shrugged, offering him a bite.

He politely refused the bite of the pumpkin-soaked cereal and silently wondered about her cravings. "Anything on the schedule today?"

"Nothing at all; we both have the day off" she replied, finishing her cereal and glancing up at him. "So why are you dressed up? You're even wearing a tie."

"Can't I want to look special for my Misaki?" he grinned. "After all, I know that you love it when I wear ties."

Misaki's face turned a lovely shade of cerise at his words. "What are you talking about?"

"You like tugging on them, don't you?" he grinned, helping her stand up. He knelt down and placed a kiss on her stomach, saying, "Good morning to you, too, baby."

Misaki sighed and pushed her hands through her husband's hair, smiling at his antics. "How do you read my mind?"

Standing up and wrapping his arms around her, Takumi replied, "I don't; I read your dreams."

Claraowl: The end! I hope that you enjoyed it and didn't find it overly sappy. :D Please review! :D