A/N: A rather angsty sad one-shot....came to me while I was looking at other DC fics and didn't really want to update my own. XD Faded is next on the list to update, promise! I had a hard time coming up with a title for this, as I do my stories, most of them anyway...but I think it fits.

Summary: One day ten years ago Conan's 'parents' came home and took him away from Rachel. Now, ten years later, she wonders what her little detective is up to...

Disclaimer: Gosho Aoyama is the awesome guy who owns Detective Conan/Case Closed, not me.

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A Little Lover

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Ten years.

That's how long it's been since I've last seen you. The both of you.

A now twenty-eight year old Rachel Moore stood looking out the window of her new apartment. She had moved out of her father's home a while ago, and stayed with Serena until she had enough money to afford a place of her own. Not enough for a beautiful house, but enough to pay for an apartment once a month.

She'd done it all. She graduated high school, went to college, graduated from college, became a karate champion. Even her parents had gotten back together soon after she left! But, Rachel honestly didn't know what to do with her life anymore.

All these years, she'd been waiting. Missing. Waiting. Crying. All those years, she'd never dated anyone. People asked, of course they did. She was one of the most beautiful girls in high school and then college. She had admirers, but she turned them all down. She didn't go to prom. She never had her magical night.

She sighed. One day ten long years ago that Rachel had been expecting but wasn't prepared for at all, Conan's parents came. Well, his mother came. His father supposedly was there too but he didn't come to take him home. Yes, that's what they did. Conan was who knows where now, doing who knows what, overseas with his parents. When would she see him again?

She didn't know. She hadn't even gotten a call from him in ages. Him or...

Jimmy.

It was like the guy had disappeared off the face of the earth. He didn't call anymore, hadn't for ten long years. He couldn't use the excuse that he didn't know her new number, at least call her dad and get it from him!

It made her think something horrible had happened to Jimmy for him not to call anymore. Maybe he couldn't. Or, on a brighter side, maybe he was just overseas with his parents masquerading around as Conan Edogawa.

She still hadn't given up her long suspicions of them being the same person, no matter how impossible and bizarre it sounded. She had proof. He looked identical to Jimmy, they thought the same, their deductiion, his lack of musical knowledge (the boy was just a bad singer as Jimmy), but...

Why wasn't he calling?

Sighing once more, she decided she needed to get out of the apartment for a while. She did a lot of thinking when she was alone in here, maybe if she went out and got some fresh air she'd feel better.

She didn't need her coat since it was rather warm out, so she put on her shoes, opened the door, walked outside and locked the door behind her. Walking downstairs, she opened the door and stepped out of the apartment building.

Taking in a breath of fresh air and closing her eyes, she immediately snapped them open again at feeling someone near. A little too familiar someone.

Turning around, she saw a small child was walking down the street, not too far away from where she was. He wore short grey shorts, a blue-buttoned shirt, a white shirt underneath, red and white sneakers, and a red-bow tie. His hair was the same as she remembered it, tied up in a very, very tiny ponytail.

There was one thing that made her blink several times, as if she couldn't believe it.

He was still eight years old. He was still small. But shouldn't he be....older? He should be eighteen now by her calculations.

"Conan!" she shouted, and he froze. She noticed his eyes widening, his face paling as he looked over at her. Her own eyes widened.

He wasn't wearing his glasses.

He looked so much like... like...

"Conan!" Before he could get away from her, he was scooped up into her arms in a hug, "Is that really you?"

Conan bowed his head, bangs covering his eyes. "Of course it's me...who else?"

"But...you....you're..." She wasn't sure how to put it.

"Still eight?" he asked, looking back up at her. She was surprised to see the sudden pain in his eyes, or maybe it wasn't sudden. Maybe it had always been there and she never noticed until now. "I know...can we go somewhere private? I have to tell you something I'd rather no one overheard."

She nodded and took him back into her apartment. The walk could wait.

"What on Earth are you doing here? Didn't your parents take you back overseas?" she asked, sitting down on the couch. He sat next to her, frowning.

"They did, but we decided to come back home."

"Home? No wait, I thought you were originally from-"

"I used to live here, in Tokyo," Conan said, looking up at her. "The Kudo Mansion was my home. I lived there alone."

Rachel's face went white. "But that would mean that you're...you..."

Conan stuffed his hands into his pockets and frowned as he looked right at her. The pain in his eyes surprised her. If he really was Jimmy, she'd never seen him look so sad before.

"That's right. I'm Jimmy."

Rachel went quiet. She had been silent for a few moments now.

"Rachel?" he asked, just a little bit nervous of her reaction, since she wasn't doing much of anything at the moment.

"What happened?"

"...Eh?"

"What happened, Jimmy?! I knew it was you all along! My suspicions were right, and yet you... you kept lying to me!" she was nearly shouting now, angry tears forming in her eyes, making him wince. He hated seeing her cry. "Why did you lie?"

"To protect you," he said it so quickly, and her eyes widened again.

"Jimmy, what...what...."

"That night at Tropical Land, when I followed the man in black-"

"I knew it had something to do with that night!" she exclaimed, making him jump. "It was the last night I saw you and I felt like I was never going to see you again!"

Conan bowed his head. "I was fed a poison. I saw something I shouldn't have going on between the men in black from the roller coaster. The poison was my consequence. It was supposed to kill me, but instead my body shrunk down to the size of an eight year old. My mind is still intact, I still have all my memories from eighteen and before. I took the name Conan Edogawa because if the men in black would surely come after me if they knew who I really was. That would put you in danger, and I couldn't tell you, no matter what. Dr. Agasa was the first one I told, and he's been making me all sorts of inventions to help me try and find the men in black. Harley also knows-" seeing the angry look on Rachel's face starting up again, he quickly added, "-but he found out on his own, I swear! My parents also know..."

"...Is that all?"

He slowly nodded.

"I'm nowhere closer to finding an antidote or even the men in black after all these years. But as you can see - "

"You haven't aged a bit."

Conan nodded. "And I doubt I will."

Rachel tensed. "What...?"

"Rachel, this poison was given to me in hopes of killing me. It shrunk my body instead. Both Dr. Agasa and myself thought that I would eventually grow, and age as time goes on and eventually get my body back if no antidote was found, but..."

"You haven't."

Conan shook his head. He stood up from the couch and walked behind it over to the window. Rachel turned her head to look at him.

"So you should stop waiting for me."

Rachel's eyes widened, before welling up with tears.

"W-What?"

"There's a very small chance of me ever finding an antidote, Rachel..." Conan said softly, not turning to look at her. He didn't want to see the devastation and heartbreak on her face. "You can't wait for me forever. I shouldn't ask you to. You need to move on, be happy with someone who-"

"Jimmy Kudo!" she exclaimed, making him flinch, and slowly he turned around to face her.

"How can you say that?! After all this time, you just want me to let you go?"

Conan's blue eyes widened. "But, Rachel, we can't be together like this, and I want you to be-"

He was silenced as she bent down and picked him up gently, bringing him to eye level with her. "Please don't ask me to let you go, Jimmy.... I know I won't be able to."

Rachel...

"You're the only man I've ever loved....how can I even think about letting you go?"

"But I can't be with you! Not like...not like-" He was silenced when he felt a pair of lips press against his forehead gently.

"I'll wait," she whispered. "No matter how long it takes, I'll wait for you. I believe in you, Jimmy. I know you'll find an antidote, somehow, and return to being Jimmy Kudo. You'll take down the men in black, and live a normal life."

I wish I had the confidence that you had in me, Rachel...

~ * ~

Three years later, he did find the men in black. However, they weren't alone. They were a part of a big organization called the Black Organization. It took a long time, but Jimmy Kudo managed to successfully take down the Black Organization, find an antidote to the poison he was given, and was able to return to his original life as Jimmy Kudo. He and Rachel ended up getting married one year after the fall of the organization, and both had never been happier as they were now.

Sayonara, Conan Edogawa.

You will be missed.

--TBC--

A/N: Since I started out this chapter with Rachel, the next one will be how Jimmy's day began. It won't have a lengthy take down the organization story, it'll mostly just concentrate on the couple. What do you think? This will only just be two chapters, people. ONLY two. From each of their point of views....sort of. By the way, I just have to say this: Longest one-shot/chapter for a fic I EVER wrote! Aren't you proud?