Title: Please Stay
Author: Twelf Bell
Type of Fanfic: AU. One-long-shot.
Summary: Spoilers for 185-up. Everyone's memories of Yuuko have faded. And now, something is going to happen to Watanuki. Doumeki doesn't know what to do. Happy birthday, anyjen!
---Implied Pairing: DouWata, no duh :P ...May seem like Yuuko/Watanuki at the beginning though o_O;
Disclaimer: I do not own Doumeki or Watanuki, nor do I want to. CLAMP made them, and the way they made them two are awesome ;) ~ Also, the beginning is from the manga :P

A/N: LOL another one-shot I thought of a long time ago. Credits to susan22 and her fic: Perfect Cake. Got this idea from chapter two of that story ;) Hope you enjoy! ~

..AND! ~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANYJEN-SAMA! :D

//;SEi

P.S. How about listening to Something We Call Love by Broken Heart College after this? :3 The lyrics quite match.. a bit ^^ ~

I am but a being... that a certain person wished would remain... and his wish was so strong... that I failed to disappear. I should not even exist... I should have been gone a long time ago...

"Yuuko-san..."

But... I'm afraid... before you were even born... I was already DEAD.

"Don't say that..."

Suddenly, the scenery changed. On April 1st, Watanuki... you're going to...

Watanuki woke up sweating. He sat up in his bed and tried to regulate his breathing. It didn't work; he started crying. He whispered Yuuko-san's name over and over again, even though the lady he called out to had been gone from the world for a long time... and twice, at that.

After a few minutes, his tears stopped and his breaths came out in a steady pace. He wiped the rest of the tears from his eyes with the back of his sleeve and sniffed. Yuuko-san... I'm scared... She had been gone for four years already and he still remembered her. Everyone else, however...

n_n ; n_n ; n_n ; n_n

"Watanuki-kun!"

Watanuki turned around at the call of his name, seeing a dark-haired girl run towards him. He said back, with surprise in his voice, "Himawari-chan."

"It's been such a long time!" Himawari came over and hugged the kimono-dressed man, not noticing the fact that he looked the same as she had seen him the last time he stepped outside the store.

"Yes, it has..." He gave a sad smile when she finished the hug with her usual sweet grin. "So what are you doing here...?"

"Ah. That's right! Today's Christmas! Did you forget?"

Watanuki stared blankly at her before shaking his head and laughing, "I'm sorry, I think I did forget!"

"Oh, that's not good," she said with a sad sigh. Then, she brightened up. From the bag she was holding, she took out a neatly wrapped box with a bow on top. "Merry Christmas, Watanuki-kun!~"

Watanuki took it in his hands and gave a warm smile. "I'm sorry I don't have a present for you, but... thank you so much, Himawari-chan..."

"Oh no, it's okay. And you don't have to thank me. It's normal for friends to give presents to their friends on Christmas~" she stated, giving a wide smile.

"I guess..." Watanuki's lips twisted into a sad smile and looked down at the floor. "That's what Yuuko-san would have said..."

"Yuuko-san?"

Watanuki looked up at the girl. With a serious face, she asked, "Who is Yuuko-san?"

U_U ; U_U ; U_U ; U_U

Everyone else, however, forgot. Even those who had been a customer had forgotten too. Even Himawari-chan... who had paid the price to have Watanuki live... forgot. She had forgotten the one lady that she had been friends with, the lady who didn't care about her bad luck, the one she obtained Tanpopo from. It was a sad fact.

Doumeki himself was losing his memory of her too. After Watanuki would desperately explain and tell Doumeki everything, about the past, about her... he would remember. But then, he would forget. It was like when Watanuki had been mixed between dreams and reality. Parts of his memory would fade or just stay for a while before he forgot. It was a sad fact.

At least everyone remembered him. For now...?

x o x o x

Doumeki looked at Watanuki, whose hand was in midair with chopsticks that were about to fall. "Oi."

Watanuki had his elbow on the table, his other hand holding his bowl of rice, and was looking down at the rice that stared back at him in a white haze. Now the chopsticks were really going to fall, them being on the edge of his fingertips. "Oi!" Doumeki said louder, slamming his own bowl on the table.

That woke Watanuki up from his daze and he quickly looked around before planting his eyes on Doumeki, who was frowning. "What? Did you say something?"

Doumeki inhaled deeply before saying, "No. I didn't say anything..."

And then the chopsticks fell from Watanuki's hand and onto the table. He shook his arm awake for it had been sleeping the whole time he was in his daze, and muttered, "Sheesh. You should have told me it was going to fall."

The stoic man rolled his eyes and continued eating his breakfast. When he was done, however, he noticed that Watanuki was again in outer space.

"Oi."

This time, Watanuki heard him and asked tiredly, "What?"

"Aren't you going to eat? You haven't even started."

Watanuki looked down at his bowl. The rice hadn't been touched since he had patted it down. Half of the dishes were finished by Doumeki, leaving not much for him to eat. They were all cold too, be it that he had been thinking since the beginning of their meal.

The seer sighed and put his chopsticks neatly together on top of his bowl. He said, "I'm not hungry today. Sorry..."

Why is he apologizing to me when he's the one who made it?

Doumeki watched as his long-time acquaintance sighed heavily and propped his head up with his arms, his elbows on the table. Then, he watched as Watanuki moved his head, making it so that his eyes were covered by his hands, and sighed. Again.

"What's on your mind?" It was more of a demand than a question, being that it was Doumeki after all.

Watanuki didn't bother to look up. His voice muffled a little, he replied, "Nothing..."

"..." Doumeki frowned for the second time and shook his head, saying, "Gochisosama." And he got up to leave.

"W-Wait..." Watanuki said, finally looking up, and reaching a hand out towards Doumeki who had stood up.

For the first time that morning, Doumeki looked at Watanuki's eyes and noticed that they were red. He frowned yet again, not happy with the way Watanuki was acting and living his life. Especially ever since he had tried to make him remember... whatever her name was. Just who was she... that made Watanuki so desperate for Doumeki to remember? When he tried to remember, everything was hazy. Even her appearance. Nothing came to mind. But those times that he went on some kind of mission with Watanuki... he remembered those clearly. He thought that those missions were arranged by Watanuki himself. Everything was a mess. Especially Watanuki.

Doumeki sat back down, kneeling a little, and asked, "What happened this morning?" Yet another demand.

Watanuki's hand went back to himself and he lowered his eyes. "Nothing..."

"Then why are your eyes red? Were you crying?"

"It was nothing..."

Doumeki got pissed and stood up again, saying with a voice that was louder than usual: "You always say 'nothing' this, 'nothing' that... I can never seem to understand what's on your mind." He shook his head. "You never explain anything even when I'm this worried about you."

Watanuki was a bit taken back, and looked straight up at Doumeki, who was looking back at him. He gave a forced smile and said, "But it really is nothing--"

"How long do you think I've known you for? Do you still think I can't tell lies from the truth?"

The seer lowered his head in shame, for he actually had forgotten that one little fact. Then he said, without looking at Doumeki, "Do you really want to know?

"..." It was clear what his answer was, if he was that insistent, always demanding answers for his questions.

Watanuki sighed and put a hand to his head, covering his eyes. "I had a dream... last night... about Yuuko-san..."

That woman again...

"It was a replay of what happened in the past... and then I met her again... and she told me something..."

"..." Doumeki waited.

"She had a sad face on and she... she said that on my birthday... I'm going to..."

"You're going to what?"

Watanuki looked Doumeki straight in the eyes and stated in a monotone voice, "I'm going to disappear."

o x o x o

On the days after that unpleasant dream, Watanuki had no dreams at all. Every night he went to sleep, all there was to see when he closed his eyes was darkness. A quiet and heavy darkness that made you shiver and fear that it may eat you up. He didn't want to believe that what Yuuko-san said in his dream was true. He didn't want to disappear on his birthday. Rather, he didn't want to disappear at all.

Life had turned itself around and made things a little better after Yuuko-san had gone. It's not fair that everything would end so quickly. April 1st was right around the corner. There were now only four days left to be alive. To be beside everyone's side. To be here.

Was it because he had wished that until he saw Yuuko-san again... he would stay trapped in the store forever? Was time up? Watanuki got scared. Of everything. He didn't eat... he didn't speak... and then... he didn't get out of bed. He stayed in bed all day and night, twisting and turning for the darkness became creepier than the days before, reaching out towards him, moaning in a desperate voice: Come, Come to me... You won't regret it...

And then the nightmares unexpectedly came. It was the day before the final day. Watanuki had visions of everyone he had met throughout his past life. First, the spirits. Then, after a billion more scary spirits passed by, Yuuko appeared. And then Maru and Moro. Himawari. Customers. Doumeki. Mokona and more customers, including Syaoran, Fai, Kurogane, Sakura... And then more customers. And then... the other Syaoran... Don't disappear!

For the first time since, Watanuki opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling, breathing heavily. Don't disappear... Don't disappear... Don't disappear... He sat up and asked aloud, "But how? How?!" He screamed, more annoyance building up in his heart. Tears of frustration spilled out of his eyes, his fists continuously pounding the soft mattress. Then, he stopped, for he heard a knock at the door.

Watanuki wiped his face in haste, causing a few red marks to appear here and there. He cleared his throat to make sure his voice wasn't crackly, and said to the person at the door to come in. It was Doumeki. Watanuki sighed in some kind of relief. As the other man came closer to the bed, Watanuki drew his knees closer to his chest and hugged them. "What is it?" His voice cracked when he said 'it'. He coughed and asked, "Do you need something?"

"Just checking up on you."

Watanuki looked down at his bedsheets and smiled unconsciously. He chuckled. "I'm completely fine though. There's nothing--" He paused. And then he slowly turned his head up to Doumeki, who was sitting on the side of his bed. Doumeki's face was calm and steady but his aureate irises showed hints of annoyance. Watanuki sighed and apologized. "Sorry..."

Doumeki sighed too and shook his head. "You were sleeping for four days straight. How can I not be worried, you know?" He looked at the bed-ridden seer and continued speaking, "Tomorrow's the day..."

"Yeah..." No tears came this time. He didn't want to cry in front of Doumeki, even though he had done so many times before. Death shouldn't be something to cry about...

"I'm going to find out how to change it."

"Eh?" Watanuki was surprised. "Change what?"

"Hitsuzen."

Angry, Watanuki yelled, "You can't change Fate! Things come and go as they're supposed to! You can't change it!"

Doumeki stared at Watanuki straight in the eyes and said, "Then I'll just have to find a way to make you not disappear."

And with that, he got up, said "Sleep well." and left the room. Watanuki stared at the door, trying to figure out what had just happened. Doumeki's words replayed in his head. Then I'll just have to find a way to make you not disappear... A way to make you not disappear... A way...

"A way to make me not disappear?" Watanuki laughed, wiping the tears that suddenly formed in his eyes. "If that's possible, then make it happen!" He then looked at the door again and remembered something. Doumeki's eyes were unbelievably red.

x o x o x

Doumeki turned the page of the book he held and scanned the page. Nothing... Next book. He replaced the book he held with the next book in the bookshelf of his grandfather's storage house. He looked at the cover and read the title. To See the Light. Doumeki flipped through it and then reached out to get another when he knocked into the bookshelf for he tripped on something, causing a lot of ancient books to fall off. The books mixed with the ones he thought were handy and those that he had already read through. Doumeki sighed heavily, and began to clean everything up.

Just what the hell did I trip on? Holding a few books in his arms to put back on the shelf, he turned his head and saw a huge book on the floor. He quickly stuffed the books back into some random places on the shelf and kneeled down on the floor to look at the book more clearly. It was unlike every other book. It seemed less ancient than the others, it not having a cracked cover and the such... but it was dusty. He blew on it a little, causing dust to fly and making him cough. There was still some dust left on it, making him unable to see the cover properly. He frowned and looked around. He saw a rag and took it from its place immediately. He wiped the book with the rag until the book like brand new.

He read the cover. Wishes. He looked for the author. What he read surprised him. Doumeki Haruka. His own grandfather had written this book. He flipped through it carefully, and noticed that it was not like the other books. This one was a chapter book. Doumeki couldn't believe that his grandfather had written a chapter book. He stopped at a page and read a few sentences: He couldn't do anything. His arm was heavily wounded by the sword and was bleeding continuously. He roared in frustration for his lack of strength and help for his best friend.

Weird. It actually had a plot. Doumeki flipped a few more pages and then read a few more sentences. "Be careful of what you wish for," said the witch. "I don't care. As long as he lives, then I'm fine with the price." The witch gave a sad smile and sighed. She looked at him, absorbing the bloody arm that held his best friend, the determined golden eyes... and said, "Your wish has been granted."

Doumeki stopped reading. It was not because he didn't want to stop. It was because the next page had been ripped out. That's weird... He flipped a few more pages, glancing at the contents, and then closed the book. He looked at the cover again and read the title. Wishes.

His eyes widened. Wishes. That's it! He got up, put the book on an empty shelf, silently thanked his grandfather for writing the book and ran out of the storage house. He didn't dare smile for he wanted to waste all his energy on running all the way to the store where Watanuki was.

o x o x o

Doumeki checked his watch. It was almost midnight. Almost April 1st. In only ten minutes. He swung his arms harder, boosting his speed. Only three more blocks to go! As he ran, he prayed silently to the god of time to slow time down if possible, so that by the time he reached the store, he was right beside Watanuki. When he finished running the first block, he checked his watch again. Two minutes had passed. He thanked the god of time over and over again, even if he wasn't real or listening. If he wasn't real... Doumeki thanked his fast running legs as well.

The next block took five minutes since it was longer, and he had to wait until the cars driving by passed and the street was safe to pass. Only three minutes left... He only needed to run half the next block since the store was in the middle of the block. A minute had passed when he was finally at the gate, breathing heavily from his long run. He inhaled to right his breathing and then walked hastily into the store. Two minutes... He strolled through the hallway, passing the dark kitchen and the closed doors of the store's rooms, and to Watanuki's room. He hesitated at the door, deciding whether or not to knock, but decided in three seconds that he was wasting time outside when Watanuki inside was going to disappear in a minute, and to just barge in. So he did.

Watanuki looked up from where he sat on the bed, surprised. "What are--"

Thirty seconds.

As he ran towards the bed, Doumeki said aloud, "I don't care what the price is, I just wish to be able to stay by your side forever." And just as Doumeki was right beside Watanuki, with strong arms around the frail seer, the grandfather's clock in the store struck midnight. The clock's loud rings echoed throughout the store. Ding...... ding...... ding...... And then it all stopped.

Doumeki had closed his eyes after he had said his wish. Watanuki must be here... he must be here... he must... He opened them and saw Watanuki staring up at him from below. It seemed that Doumeki had accidentally pushed Watanuki down on the bed in the haste that he was going at. Watanuki's eyes were still. They didn't blink, as if he was scared that if for that little millisecond that would pass, he would disappear then. But when his eyes couldn't resist any longer and he blinked... he was still in the safest spot he ever imagined. Right under Doumeki.

"I-I'm... I'm still... h-here...?"

Doumeki smirked. "Yeah."

"I-I... didn't d-disappear...?"

"Yeah."

"I..." Tears came to Watanuki's eyes. These tears were different from those he had shed since that bad premonition of a dream. These tears were of happiness and relief. Watanuki reached out towards Doumeki's neck with his arms, and pulled the other man close to him. "Thank you... thank you..."

"Yeah..." Doumeki hugged him back.

Watanuki continued thanking him over and over again. Doumeki, however, was not paying attention since his mind was elsewhere. What was the price? ..I don't feel any different.. nor does it feel like I'm missing anything...

"So Hitsuzen can be changed..." said Watanuki, at Doumeki's shoulder.

"Hn."

"Thank you so much."

"Yeah."

If Fate could be changed... then how is it that She knew that this would happen, and let it happen? "Don't take Fate lightly. She's always right." – Doumeki Haruka, Wishes.

END.

A/N: Hyaaa!~ x_x Finally got it done. And just in time! Fuu ~ So tired.

Had started this yesterday.. and then I was going to continue on it today (on a whim).. and then I thought of starting anyjen's birthday present.. and I wondered when her birthday was.. and so I looked at the calendar.. and saw what today was... and OMIGAWD. I freaked out. At least I decided to finish this story up just because I wanted to!

Anyway. Even though I think your reading of this story may be late... Happy Birthday anyjen-sama!!

.. Ah. BTW. I own Wishes, the book by Doumeki Haruka ;)

You: JUST WHAT WAS THE PRICE?!
Me: I DON'T KNOW!~ =__=;

Hope everyone liked it! :D

//;SEi

Singing in my head: I Sing the Body Electric ~