AN: This is my first ever RitsuxMio fic. I've noticed the small number on here so I decided that I should contribute. I'm not really much of a writer so your comments/suggestions/criticisms are very much welcomed and would help me greatly. I know that there seems to be an inconsistency with the verb tenses so forgive me for that. I find that verbs and I do not go well together *sweatdrop* I am also not so familiar with Japanese customs and stuff, so please, if you see anything wrong, do point it out to me. English is not my first language.

Lastly, italicized parts are either memories/flashbacks or thoughts.

Disclaimer: I do not own K-ON! nor any or its characters. The ownership rights belong to Kakifly. Damn that lucky ba****d.

Title: Not For Long
Word Count: 3,141 words
Pairing: Ritsu x Mio; Mio x Ritsu
POV: Second person, Mio-centric; Last part is written in the third person
Summary: You know from the beginning that the two of you are meant to be together. You believe that you are two halves of one soul. What happens when death claims of of you? How do you survive? How long is the world going to keep you apart?

Not For Long

It is a Saturday evening and the clatter of plates and silverware could be heard as you wash the dishes. There is a soft smile on your face despite the ache in your arthritic joints, because of the memories that pop up in your head.

It has been four years, hasn't it? You tell yourself that it definitely has. Today was the anniversary after all, and you're sure that your memory is still sharp even in your old age.

You finish drying the last plate and carefully store it in the cabinet along with the other pristine and well-kept tableware and move to the living room to where your rocking chair is, your knitting tools and thread placed on a table beside it. You slowly sit yourself down and collect the tools and wool to start another scarf. You've just finished making a blanket for yourself so that you would be warm in the coming harsh winter season.

Before starting to knit, you glance at the old and worn out armchair that's angled in such a way, so that anyone who sits there has the perfect view of your rocking chair and the now old and outdated television set.

'Sometimes, I still wait to hear your snores, you know?' You whisper to the air, knowing that the person to whom you're directing it too hears it. You chuckle as memories so vivid resurface in your mind.

The years were visible in both of your bodies. You have a head full of gray hair and your wife has hair that is white as snow. You have a slight hunch so you're not as tall as you were in your prime. You look at your wife and see how age has softened all of her rough edges; but her eyes still amaze you, because they are still as bright and lively as the day you met her— wiser and softer yes, but still so bright like no number of years can extinguish the burning flame that is her.

You both had just retired a week ago, wanting to just spend the rest of your days with each other in your humble home. You are still capable of working, though, but you know your wife has been having a hard time with moving around lately. You blame it on her refusing to eat her vegetables when the two of you were in elementary school.

You were humming to yourself while knitting in your chair and rocking gently. You heard the quiet thumping of her cane and looked up with a soft smile on your face.

"You really should have listened to your mother and eaten your vegetables. Then you would still be energetic even in this age." You teased her as she slowly lowered herself to her favorite chair. She always said that the chair, with how soft and comfortable it is, took away the day's stress and exhaustion. You would always huff with pretend jealousy and tell her she should have married the chair instead.

"What are you talking about? I am still as energetic as I was when we first met!" She puts both of her arms out and started to pretend like she was playing a beat on an invisible drum kit with invisible sticks. You laugh. She never failed to endear herself to you no matter how long you two have been together.

You two heard a crack and she froze. She put a hand to her back and groaned. "Ah, ah, that hurts!"

You couldn't control the laughter bursting from your throat. She indeed hasn't changed. Age would never dampen her spirit, no matter how stiff her joints might get. You still saw the loud and brash eight year-old that tied her hair up to look like a pineapple to get you to calm down and boost your confidence.

A comfortable pause in conversation followed. You knew she was watching her shows intently, concentrating on remembering the storyline because her memory seems to have gotten worse recently, but you remembered that she has always had bad memory, though, even back in high school when the two of you were in the Light Music Club, when she was president and she would always forget to submit important forms.

Your train of thought was cut by a loud snore. Your wife dozed off right in the middle of her favorite show, right at the climax of the episode.

You shook your head with a smile. 'My, my…' You remembered something your dear friend Yui once said about your wife. Ritsu will always be Ritsu.

You smile again at the memory. It seems that all you've been doing the whole day is smiling, even if today is her death anniversary. That's your wife, though, still making you smile, still making you feel warm and safe, still making you feel like you're never alone, years after she's passed away.

Then you feel a tear slip down your right cheek.

'Oh?' You're surprised and you wipe it away immediately. You don't want to weep for your beloved wife anymore. You know that if she sees you crying it would break her. So you take a deep breath and focus on your knitting and on your happy memories as well. She's left you millions of those, right?

You look to your left where the glass doors that lead to the garden are. You can see the moonlight illuminate the outline of the various plants you've been tending to by yourself for the past year. It was your wife who suggested the two of you make the garden your little project together when you've both retired.

And then the memory of the two of you, in your mid-thirties, just after you've handed the last payment for this house and it was officially yours. The first thing you two did was go out in the back and sit under the lone tree in the garden.

"Hey, Mio?" You heard her voice say with a curious tone.

"Hmm?" You were on the verge of falling asleep, eyes closed and breathing softly, barely holding on to the edge of consciousness and waiting for the inevitable pull of sleep. You made sure to keep holding on, though, waiting for her to tell whatever it was that she called your name out for.

"Do you think it would be wiser for us to plant a vegetable garden instead of a flower garden when we've retired because we're too old to work? I mean, if we plant vegetables we would just be growing what we eat since we wouldn't be able to eat too much meat because of old age. But I think flowers would be—" You cut off her ramblings with a barely audible chuckle. If not for the light shaking of your shoulders and the arm around your midsection, she wouldn't have known that you found her rant humorous.

"Hey, what's so funny?" You heard the telling raise of the pitch of her voice by the end of her question and you knew that she really was serious about the whole vegetable garden/flower garden debate that went on inside of her head.

"Baka." You said lightly, without any intention of insulting her with the word, your way of showing your affection to her. "We can grow vegetables on one side and flowers on the other." You felt the grass tickle your arm when you rest it back to its original position at your side. You heard a sigh from where she sat beside you, probably bored from the lack of things to do. You don't mind not having anything to do, though; simply being close to her was enough for you.

"Hey, Mio..." You heard her again, her voice softer this time, after a stretch of content silence between the two of you – was it minutes, seconds, or has it been an hour? You really had no idea. Time spent with her passes differently.

"Hmm?" Again, you hummed, indicated for her to go on.

"I don't think…" She paused for quite a long while that you actually cracked an eye open to check if she fell asleep in the middle of her sentence. You found out that she was still awake and that she was staring at your face with such intensity but coupled with an unbelievable amount of softness as if she was caressing your face with her eyes. She slowly traced the details of your face and you felt the urge to do the same, so you did. You almost forgot that she was in the middle of saying something.

"I don't think…" She repeated and you held each other's gaze, "that there's anything in this world that I love more than you, Mio."

You look at the clock and sigh. It was late and you should probably turn in now. You still need to wake up early to water the plants.

'Ritsu, you've made my life so meaningful.' You pick up the small frame. Inside it was the photograph of you two, smiling and young, fresh graduates from the University and you both landed jobs right away. You turn to the frame next to it, bigger by a few inches, and the two of you had tears in your eyes while you held each other. It was a picture from your wedding day. You trace her smiling face with the tip of your index finger and then slowly bring it to your lips.

You have passed the stage of grieving her absence but you miss your wife dearly.

You move to the bed and settle yourself comfortably under the blankets. You whisper a good night to the air. You did not have any difficulty in finding sleep that night.

You dream. And you dream of her and the life you two had together.

You opened your eyes and the sight that greeted you automatically made you smile. You both were sleeping on your sides, your free arms wrapped around each other's midsection with your foreheads against each other's. Your wife snored lightly and she sucked on her thumb and murmured gibberish under her breath. This made your heart melt and made you snort with laughter at the same time.

Your wife stirred and moved around for a bit. You saw that her head was at the edge of the fluffy pillow you shared and she moved her thumb from her mouth and turned her head to the ceiling. She stayed that way for a while and you just watched her because you knew that every morning you woke up earlier than her turns out to be a comedic act. Your wife seems to be silliest when asleep, as weird as that may be.

Then she stirred again and when she turns her head to you, it slides off the pillow suddenly and her unmoving thumb goes into a nostril.

That was your limit. You couldn't hold the laughter in anymore. So you laughed. You hit your head on your pillow and laughed as loud as you can with tears in your eyes. Your wife was surprised into consciousness and you're not sure whether it was your laughter or her thumb that woke her.

You heard her groan and felt her weakly swatting at you.

"Mio… It's so early." She grumbled. You didn't mind her and you still laughed. You felt her turn her back to you and she roughly grabbed the pillow under your head and covered her ears. Your boisterous laughter died down to small chuckles, your face all red and you wiped at your eyes.

"Ritsu, you should see yourself when you're asleep."

"I know, I know," was the muffled reply. She turned again lied on her stomach, head under the pillow. You saw ruffled hair poking out first then you saw your wife's grinning face. "I'm gorgeous aren't I?" She winked at you and you laughed again.

"Oi! Why are you laughing?" She glared at you. She didn't know about her weird sleeping habits because every time you tried to tell her you just ended up in fits of laughter and she just changed the subject after a while.

You felt something hit your side and then you were tackled right off your bed, onto the wooden floor of your room. You made a surprised gurgling noise and Ritsu looked at you and laughed. You joined in because her laughter is infectious.

When the giggles died down, your wife turned to you and moved to hover over you, elbows rested at each of your sides. You just smiled at her and she smiled softly back. She leaned in and gave you a warm and long good morning kiss. You heart fluttered at first and then in no time, you felt it soar so high, and all too soon she pulled her lips away.

"You should see yourself sleeping." She said with a perverted grin and you hit her on the head.

"BAKA!" Your face heated up as it always did whenever your wife referred to things like that.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Ritsu rested her chin on your collarbone and touched the tender spot on her head. She didn't move away from you, though.

Her hand fell back to where it was originally after a while, and you were both just contented to stay there quietly for a while.

"But seriously, Mio…" You heard her voice say softly and felt its vibrations against your shoulder. "I have never seen anything as beautiful as you, especially when you're asleep."

You had to admit, though, that no matter how idiotic your wife acted, she always had these moments where she made you feel like the center of her universe; that in her world, nothing compared to you and nothing else mattered but you.

You open your eyes and the warm rays of sunlight greet you. 'Good morning.' You whisper to the air. You smile because the sun reminds you of her so much.

You have a little difficulty in getting out of bed, but you finally manage. You move to the kitchen and prepare a simple breakfast for yourself. You choose to have it at the garden, under that lone tree, where the two of you usually spent your weekend mornings lazing around because there is no work.

You eat silently, enjoying the sound of the birds chirping. You then hear the sound of your front door open and loud familiar footsteps echo.

'Graaandmaa!' Comes the rough voice you've come to adore. Then the tiny body of four year old Rei is airborne and she lands on her feet, stumbling a bit.

'Oh! Rei-chan! You should be more careful! You could hurt yourself, you know?' The child rubs the back of her head while moving towards her and grins.

'Grandma, you know I'm stronger than that!' You laugh at how familiar everything is and you're comforted by it all. You look at the child with sharp and lively amber eyes just like the ones of your beloved wife.

'Oh! Oh! Grandma, yesterday, me and mom passed by a store with all kinds of cool stuff in it! And there was this man hitting these things with sticks and it sounded so cool! Like this…' And she watched the kid try to imitate drum sounds and drum beats. She chuckled. 'And then I asked mom if I could do that too and then, and then, you know what she said? She'll buy me those too! She said she'll get a smaller one, but, but, but!' Rei was bouncing with excitement, literally. 'It waaaas so cool! I'm gonna be cool too because I'm gonna have one of those too and I'm gonna do what that man was doing!' You were amused by how animated the little girl was and how she seems like she won't ever run out of energy.

What a funny coincidence that Rei was born two days after Ritsu's death. Rei's mother was close to you and your wife because you often babysitted her when she was as young as Rei is now, until her preteens. Even then, Rei's mother would often come sleep over your house. She was like the daughter you never had. And Rei is the hope you need to keep on with your life, even without your beloved wife at her side.

Ten years after her wife's death, on their wedding anniversary, Tainaka Mio opens and closes her eyes for the last time. It was a quick death; like she just decided to move on to the next part of her existence.

It was a Saturday. The funeral was quick. Only a few closely related people attended. Two elderly women held hands while they wept quietly a few seats from Rei. Her mother said that they were two of the closest friends of Grandma Mio from highschool that were left. Her mother also mentioned that Grandma and her wife were once bandmates with them and another one that's also moved on.

Rei was quiet. There were tears in her eyes but they wouldn't fall. Her mother paid for all the funeral expenses and decided that it would be best to bury Grandma beside her wife's grave and had a new gravestone made for the two of them. Her mother couldn't stop crying. Rei understands, though.

Mio, looking like her 18 year old self, was wearing a white sundress and standing a few feet from the ceremony. She watched the people she held dear mourn for her. It broke her heart. There was Azusa and Yui, the only remaining ones from their tight group. She was thankful, though, to see that those two were there for each other at least.

She watched things move slowly, until the burial ceremony came to a close and people started to head on their way home. Azusa and Yui gave her and Ritsu's grave one last look and left. The small number of people present decreased until Rei and her mother were the only ones there. Rei had a hand on her mother's back gently rubbing and showing her support. She watched them until they too had to leave.

Now she was all alone and she wonders what's going to happen next.

Then she hears it.

"Mio."

She turns around and there, in all of her 18 year old arms-behind-her-head-and-grinning glory was her wife, Ritsu.

"What took you so long?" Mio scowled at Ritsu and felt a vein throb. "Baka! Only you can still be tardy even in the afterlife!"

Ritsu scratched her head and muttered "… only you can still be a dangerous queen in the afterlife."

Mio's fist immediately came in contact with Ritsu's head.

"SHUT UP!"

Nothing can separate them, not for long. They are, after all, two halves of one soul.

The END

AN: So, what do you guys think? I want to hear it! You can ask me questions if there were stuff that confused you here. I enjoyed writing this. Reviews are welcome!

PS. Don't you just think it's fitting that after years, the moment they see each other Ritsu gets a bump on her head and Mio is telling her to shut up? Eheheh.

~pineappurus