Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had already accepted that Haru wasn't coming back to Earth.

I had accepted that I was alone again, but not quite as much as before. Natsuki was in Florida, and Akira was probably on another exciting mission for DUCK. They were both on my Skype contact list (and would probably always be my only two contacts, unless I somehow made another friend), but time zones made it extremely difficult to stay in contact.

I had even accepted that Haru had most likely forgotten all about me by now, being back with his fellow fish aliens. We had been so busy that I had forgotten to ask questions about his planet. I don't even know what its name is!

I had managed to live with this for a while, until one day, at the beginning of my third year of high school, a familiar face was introduced as a transfer student.

JFX was standing in the front of my classroom. I wanted to stand up and yell, "Hey everyone! Remember last year, when that mind control water stuff happened? You want to know who did it? It was him! He did it!" Maybe I'd have punched him if I had one confrontational bone in my body.

Wait a second. If JF- Urara- wasn't here, then would Haru and Coco have come here in the first place? Probably not.

If they can forgive him, I think I can, too.

I ask him to go fishing with me.

The door opens again, and a small blond carrying a fishing pole walks through it. I'd recognize him anywhere.

Haru came back.

Of course, everyone wants to talk to Haru, so I have to wait my turn. I ask if he'd rather go fishing first or go visit Grandma. She's missed him as much as I have.

"Fishing! I love fishing!"

I ask about Coco along the way.

"Coco's on Earth, too. Our king's next mission for her is a study of the water on this planet. He wanted to know about the hot springs!" As far as I can tell, she's here doing research for the king's vacation. I'd rather be doing that than school any day. "Urara was supposed to go, too, but he wanted to go to school instead. We don't have schools on our planet." That would seem really inappropriate, a guy and a girl on vacation together, especially when they look like teenagers. Maybe it's better that he didn't go.

Fast forward to graduation. There is a familiar mop of black hair in the audience. Haru and I got a card sent from Australia, which could only be Akira.

We will separate again soon. Natsuki will be back in Florida at the end of the week. He graduated from an online school, and he starts at university in August. Urara is going to join Coco on her water study. Akira is still on missions. As for me? I got into a local college, so I think I'll just go there for now.

That was two years ago. A lot of things have changed in that time, but not for me. Grandma's still hanging in there. Natsuki and Akira (Kiran? Natsuki says that's his birth name) moved in together, down in Florida. Natsuki has a tournament coming up, one that he says could be his big break. Akira is studying to be a teacher, which is probably not as exciting as DUCK, but it seems like he'll be a lot happier. Coco and Urara eventually came back to Enoshima, and Coco had a seashell on a string around her neck. I thought it looked nice, but Haru got really angry about it. It seems to be some kind of fish alien courtship ritual.

College isn't really that different from high school, except I have to study a lot more. At least I still have a smartphone to help me out. Haru mostly helps Grandma around the house.

I want to apply to a university in France. Something about Japan doesn't feel right to me. It feels like France is calling to me, like Japan called to Grandma. Natsuki got into an American school, so I should be able to get into a French school. If I do go to France, I want Haru to come with me. Grandma will have the entire village to rely on if she has an emergency, but I will have no one. Even if Haru would be useless in an emergency, since he knows no French, I'll feel better if he's there. And from Paris or wherever, it'd be easy to take the train to Britain, Spain, Germany or Italy- all places that Grandma visited before meeting Grandpa and settling on Japan.

I'd have to take the Baccalauréat, but a quick Google search tells me I can take it in Tokyo. Tokyo's not that far away from here, but I've still never been there by myself before.

I don't want to do any of this behind Grandma's back, so I decide to come clean to her about my plans.

"I thought this day was coming. You know that I've been alone before, and I'd probably be okay if I was again. I'm glad you're not worrying about me anymore. Normally, I should be the one always worrying about you, but I know you'll be fine in anything you decide to do."

I ask if she's sure. I mean, what if something happens and I can't get back to Japan because I'm broke or there's a volcano eruption like that one in Iceland a few years ago with the name nobody can pronounce-

"Yuki. Stop worrying. I was fine after your grandfather died, and I was fine after your dad met your mom and they decided to go to Africa together. Granted, I was better after they brought a baby that had his father's red hair, but now that that baby's grown up and wants to go to France, I will be fine once again. Is Haru going with you?"

I say that Haru will go if he wants to.

"I think he will. He's your flower, after all."

I ask my grandmother what she's been smoking to make those crazy things come out of her mouth.

"Nothing, of course. I've thought Haru was your flower since day one. I've always thought he would be good for you. I don't think I would've let him stay otherwise. You've been so much happier since he was here, haven't you? At least, without him, you wouldn't have met Natsuki and Akira."

I reply that that would be natural, for if Haru had never come to Earth, I would have never had any desire to fish, meaning I never would have spoken to Natsuki, and Akira would never have come from Mumbai or wherever with DUCK to deal with Alien Things, and those two would certainly not be living together in Florida, doing various adult activities.

"That is true, but I think that there's something special about Haru that you don't see in anyone else. Don't give me that look, Yuki. I've been young and in love before too, you know."

Grandma thinks I'm in love with Haru? That's crazy. But then I remember how lonely it was when he was back on his planet, when I thought he wasn't coming back, and maybe it's not that crazy, after all. I have to go outside for a minute.

Which brings about my next question- how do I go about telling him this? Even if I do get up the courage to say it, who's to say that Haru will even understand what I'm saying? Sure, Coco and Urara were able to get together, but neither of them are as oblivious as Haru. There are so many things that could go wrong, but I find myself not caring about any of them. I revert to that old habit- I take out my smartphone and search for "how to confess". This is the least helpful advice I've ever seen- stay calm and be straightforward. I don't know how to do that!

I want to call Akira and Natsuki and ask them for help, but it's about 2 AM in Florida right now, and I do not want a repeat of what happened last time I accidentally called Natsuki in the middle of the night. That was frightening, and I wonder if this is what war flashbacks feel like.

Haru's usually at home, so I can confess whenever I want. He really likes Grandma's garden, so maybe I should do it back there? He likes flowers, too- maybe I should buy some flowers? But I don't know anything about flowers, no matter how hard Grandma's tried to teach me over the years. The flowers haven't really come in yet, and I can't think of any other ideas. I buy a random red flower, and go home. I don't have time to waste on this. I text Haru, telling him to meet me in the garden.

As I wait for Haru to come out to the garden, I scratch at one of several mosquito bites that have accumulated on my skin. Maybe they're as attracted to the color red as fish aliens are? That is a question for another day.

Haru looks almost unreal, even in one of my t-shirts that he stole and sweatpants. The sun shining behind him makes it look like he's glowing somehow. I have to wonder, as I have many times over, why an alien would ever come to my house and teach me how to be happy. There are a lot of movies with this concept, but they've never prepared me for any of this. Haru has his own goals, ones on a scale I could never even imagine. It wasn't his job to change my life, I did that on my own.

Can I say what I need to? Maybe I should work up to it first.

"I'm going to France." The look on his face is mostly confused. "Grandma is from there, and I want to see the place she grew up."

"Is Yuki saying goodbye?"

"I don't think so." It feels so awkward to say it like this, but it might work out better this way. "Yuki wants Haru to come with him to France, because Yuki's grandmother helped him realize that Yuki wants Haru around, no matter what. I-Yuki hopes Haru wants that, too."

Haru's response is surprising, but not in a bad way. "This sounds like one of those speeches in the movies Kate always watches! Like what the guy says to a girl before they put their mouths together." Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I'll take it. Quickly, I pick the first red flower I see and tuck it behind Haru's ear. I have to bend down a little to make sure it goes on correctly, and while I do, he presses his lips to mine. I can tell he's trying to imitate what he's seen on TV, and I have to stop him from slobbering all over my face like an over affectionate puppy.

"Haru wants that, too." We kiss again, shorter this time. "This flower is nice and all, but where's my seashell?"

"Oh, I had just assumed that was only for girls. We can go look for one if you want, but only if you stop watching those MTV shows about spoiled rich kids and imitating them. Most people don't like seeing people acting that bratty in real life." He agrees, and we go.

I'll have to start studying after this, but it'll be worth it.

Five Months Later

Ten minutes on the plane, and I know this whole trip is going to be a disaster. I don't think Haru knows how to be quiet for more than five seconds at a time. If only he'd fall asleep or something so that people would stop glaring at us. It's a twelve hour flight, we haven't taken off yet, and they've already stopped looking at us- I'm panicking, so I must have my demon face on.

It's a wonder Haru was able to get a passport in the first place, since you need a birth certificate for that, something Haru wouldn't have. Eventually he used a blank piece of paper and his water gun, I'm guessing, since Grandma refused to tell me how he actually did it.

At some point over Russia, I notice Haru has gone silent. Thinking he had fallen asleep, I ignore him, but when I notice that his hand had started wrinkling, I start freaking out. I thought I'd told Haru to go to the bathroom with one of the water bottles we'd brought, and I lecture him about it after I have to carry him there.

Over Haru's apologies, all I can hear are the other passengers, gossiping to each other in French and Japanese. Knowing both languages just makes it worse.

"How shameless. I know they're a young couple, but they could've at least waited until we were sleeping to join the mile-high club." It makes sense that the French speakers would be more tolerant, compared to…

"Disgusting. But that red-haired one has a temper." Great. The entire plane thinks we had sex in the bathroom.

As we prepare to exit, I feel someone bump into me from behind. "Sorry about that," the person says in French.

"Things like this are inevitable," I reply.

"Yuki made funny noises!"

"That was French. It's the language they speak here."

"Humans have more than one language? That sounds so inconvenient. On my planet, we just use water."

I knew Haru didn't know a lot of things about our world, but this was not something I expected. I probably should have told him more, but we did take a geography class senior year, so I assumed he'd know at least a little. I ask if he knows anything about France at all.

"It's the one with that big tower, right?"

I sigh, but continue on. "Yes, Haru. That's the Eiffel Tower. We'll go see it later."

Corsica is great. It has the same kind of atmosphere as Enoshima. Going to the beach is great, but I love the mountains and forests, too. I even like going to school. Our neighbors are from Morocco. Sometimes I make them Japanese-style fish, and in return, they make us couscous, which Haru seems to really love. At least he's stopped screaming every time he sees a bird. His French lessons are going pretty well, and he understands basic French, even if I don't think he'll ever speak it well, given that his mouth won't make half of the necessary noises.

People are more open about talking about sex over here, which has led to a lot of questions. I've tried to answer as best as I can, and direct him to Natsuki and Akira when I can't answer, which is 97% of the time. We talk a few times a week, all four of us, and sometimes Coco and Urara will join us from Enoshima. We may all go back there at some point, but nothing's been decided yet.

When that happens, though, I know it'll be great.

This isn't my favorite thing I've published, but I haven't uploaded anything in four months, and I wanted to change that. I wanted to write more about Haru's planet, but there just wasn't a good way to bring that up in the story.

I have one MidoTaka (KnB) story and one Haikyuu! story that I'm working on, too.

Thanks for reading!

~Aurora