No...

She can only see red.

No, no, no, no, no, no!

Only feel the heat.

No! No, no, no, no, no!

Nothing else.

Her—their: Hakase's, the kids', Edogawa-kun's and Haibara Ai's—home burning, turning to smoke and then to nothing. Hakase, her professor, and Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko, her friends, nowhere.

She wishes, she prays, she runs, she searches.

Red turns to black, and as she rushes to what was once their kitchen, she sees a locket, Ayumi's, her friend's locket. Her heart soars, then sinks. That's when she recognizes bodies. That's when she hears, keep the kid out of the crime scene!

She does not cry.


A little girl with a mop of reddish brown hair sits down next to the police officer—or is it an ambulance worker? She doesn't care. All she sees is haze as she stares at the distance.

"Haibara."

She didn't know she'd been waiting for anything, but she blinks and he's crystal clear.

He takes her hand. Her body automatically responds and stands. She vaguely registers getting in a car. She holds his hand, her anchor, and closes her eyes, squeezes them tight. The world shuts down and she feels nothing except the warmth in her hands. They stay as they are a while.

She feels cool fingers in her cheeks, registers the wetness of her eyes that somehow found its way outside, and, a quiet "...Haibara, wake up, we're here."

She opens her eyes.


A/N: Please don't be mad, I uploaded happy CoAi short vids for Valentine's. (I posted on tumblr; the February 14 vid almost didn't make it 'cause tumblr kept on giving me errors!) Please check them out and hope they cheer you up! \o/

Also, I can't quite figure out how to reply to reviews (for Greeting), but every single one has made me smile!

thatamateurwritergirl: Write! Don't worry about your deleted fics, I'm sure someone who has read them will always have it in their hearts. And, think positive: you have a blank slate, and you are free to create your writer persona and portfolio again! Praying that when you do publish something, I'll be free enough to read and comment (and hoping that by then I figure out how to work this site...)

twinklechoi: I hope that's in a good way? If it isn't feel free to tell me!

GuyFreakz: A fluff and happy one huhuhuhu I don't know if I could, maybe I'll try one of these days? No promises this time! XD

PokeshipHeart: Thank you! I'm just happy you got that, I was going for it, and to know that I actually accomplished it makes me soooooo ecstatic!

Momo: YES OMG a typo, yes, yes, you are right! I kinda forgot how to edit though so *scratches my head* XD THANK YOU I can't thank you enough, your review brightened up my life that day. The fic is for you, so I am 200% over the moon that you liked it!