DISCLAIMER : I don't own anything .hack related, though I wish I did.


Tabby sighed dejectedly and looked at her gauntlets that Shino-san had given her so very long ago.

"Well, it really hasn't been that long, I guess…" she muttered to herself. And it wasn't. It was only about a month after she left The World to become a nurse so that she could help Shino-san.

She smiled. "I can't do anything, can I… I want to become a nurse, but I'm here playing The World and I don't even know why." This was just for old times sake. After today, she would put away all of the stuff relating to The World, and just stop playing, right?

The clunking of boots coming closer shook Tabby from her day dreams. The scantily clad Tribal Grappler looked up, gasped, and put her head back down. Her cheeks grew a slight shade of pink, and thought about the silver haired teen that she had just seen.

She remembered the last conversation she had had with Haseo in the church where she finally let out her secret of loving him.

Flashback…

"Umm… Never mind…" I said as Haseo kept staring at me. I could feel my heart pounding; it was always like that when I was near him.

"I'm going," he said suddenly, and turned.

"Where?"

"I don't know. But. I can't just stand still," he replied, still facing away from me. So typical Haseo. Always acting so cold and uncaring, but I knew that deep down, he held his friends close.

"Are you going to be a PKK again?" I asked, my head pointing towards that ground of the beautiful church.

He turned his head halfway. "No way." He smiled. "Doing the same thing won't help."

"I see…" I was happy for my friend, but also a bit sad. "Are you going to keep playing the game? Even though you were, um, re-initialized."

"I can't think of any other way."

"Haseo…?" He turned and looked at me. "You're the only one who can save Shino-san after all."

His small smile disappeared. "Not only me."

I blinked, and muttered, "That's right."

I closed my eyes and told him, "I think I'm going to be a nurse."

"That's good." He was never one for long replies; always short and straight to the point.

"It's what I can do. I hope I can save Shino-san in the real world."

With a doubtful look, Haseo bluntly said, "And how many years is that going to take?"

Dejectedly I replied, "Oh yeah."

"I'll have saved her by then," the silver haired Adept Rogue smugly told Tabby.

"But if you can't." This took Haseo by surprise, obvious in his angry and surprised face.

"Hey."

"-So don't overdo it yourself. If you can't do it, I will."

"What's that?"

Tabby ran up right in front of Haseo's face. "I like you Haseo." She exclaimed. I… I'll do my best and study. So, so, you do you best too."

The shock was still evident on his face as he said, "Yeah. Of course."

End Flashback…

"Do you think I'm an idiot? It's no use trying to hide," a familiar voice told the cat girl.

She noticed she was in a small ball and looked up. Her face lit up immediately when she saw the figure. "Haseo!" She cried as she jumped up. She tackled him happily.

"H-hey! Get off of me!" He tried to shake the girl off, but she saw a little smile work it's way onto his face.

Finally after about a minute of bear hugging, she got off of him. She grinned sheepishly. "Look, Haseo, sorry about that. It's just that, I kind of missed you. I hope we can still be frie-"

He interrupted before she could finish. "I thought you were training to be a nurse."

Tabby punched him lightly with a smile. "I'm on because I missed it here. I miss the Twilight Brigade, Shishou, all of my friends, but most of all, y-" She suddenly realized what she was about to say."-ythe thrill. Yeah, the thrill of fighting, and stuff. Heh heh." I kicked myself mentally for thinking of such a bad excuse.

"You're the worst liar I have ever seen in my life."

"Tha-hey! You're mean!"

She was about to slug him on the arm when Haseo caught her hand.

"Huh?" she asked.

"I know you were going to say you missed me. I already know you like me," he said to the PC's face.

Her cheeks flushed 10x redder than it was before and she averted his gaze.

"And truth be told, Tabby," She waited for the rejection, but it never came. Instead, he finished, "I kind of secretly missed you too, and I'm glad you're back." There was even a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

She was speechless. He liked her back?! She opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, then stopped after she realized she probably looked like an idiot doing that.

Haseo grinned, then put his hand on her shoulder and got close. "Thanks for supporting me, Tabby. Thank you."

"You're welcome…" she breathed. Then she remembered her words. Today would be her last day playing. She sighed. Well, maybe I can play just a little bit tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that…


A/N: I KNOW I KNOW IT'S TERRIBLE. But I love Tabby and Haseo together for some reason. xD It's so cute cuz she's all energetic and happy when he's all moody. They balance each other out. yeah. No flames please.