A Long Time Coming

It has been a few weeks since the world very nearly ended, thanks to Apos and the mad angelic immortal's unwillingness to give up his power as the Guardian of Yggdrasil. So many eons of trouble for the world because of one person.

Now, finally, Apos is gone from the world, Rin is the new Guardian of Yggdrasil and they have time to rest from the madness of the past few decades.

And so Mimi decided earlier that week to take the time to do something she feels both she and Rin need and let out something she has been holding in for far too long. Earlier in the evening, she asked Mishio, the Maeno family's young daughter and fellow witness to the madness of Apos, to babysit Rin's young, as yet unnamed child, destined to be the next Guardian of Yggdrasil after Rin, and took Rin out for dinner.

So here they are, sitting in a small, cosy restaurant in Shinjuku, a place that felt almost like home after all the decades they had spent there in their little detective agency. Sitting together, eating in silence, to Mimi it felt like the first time in forever that they could breathe freely, with no imminent threats like Apos lurking in the shadows or looming on the horizon.

Mimi briefly looks up at the woman she has been together with for many centuries. She knows Rin had been alive longer than that, somewhere over a thousand years at the very least. Briefly she wonders how many battles Rin had fought before they met, how many hardships Rin must have gone through in all those centuries…then she remembers the real reason she wanted to talk to Rin alone, with just the two of them. She prepares herself to say what has been written on her heart for most of several centuries, something she now desperately wishes Rin to know…

Mimi hesitantly begins to speak: "Rin…you know how Teruki Maeno wanted to adopt your child after we got back from Apos' castle?"

"Yes…that was a bit strange…what about it?"

"Well…I was wondering…would it be as strange if I…If I adopted your child?"

Rin's face lights up with something between shock and amusement. "Are you finally asking me what I think you're asking me?"

"Yes…I think I am."

"Then…why now? We've known each other for centuries…why haven't you wanted to talk about it until now?"

"Well…I guess I was just happy with things as they were for most of that time…just being around you was enough…then, all the insanity of the past 60 years began to happen and somewhere in the back of my mind, I started to feel a bit scared that that situation wouldn't last forever. Finally, when you disappeared after the plane you were fighting Ruon on exploded, I didn't know what to feel. When Teruki told me about it, after surviving the explosion with you throwing him off the plane equipped with a parachute, he said he hadn't seen you get off the plane before the explosion, nor did he see any sign of you afterwards."

Mimi lets her face drop slightly, hunching forward to conceal the tears beginning to form in her eyes as she recalls one of the darkest periods of her long life:

"We searched for you for days without finding anything, not even the smallest sign…that was when I started to feel I had lost you, even though I knew as an immortal, you couldn't possibly have died from the explosion. Even still, as the years went on and there was still no sign of you, I started to doubt myself…I became more and more convinced that that explosion had ended your existence and that you were gone forever…I felt so lost and alone. "

Tears flood into Mimi's eyes as she continues into the last part of her tale:

"And so, when you came back anyway, in spite of my doubts, right at the worst moment and straight into Apos' trap…I had just seen our precious Genta have her fruit ripped out right in front of me and I knew the same fate awaited those of our friends who had tried to help…To then see you again only for you to die in front of me yet again…I decided I had to save *you* for once, no matter what it took…and not let go once I got hold of your hand again…"

By this point Mimi is visibly shaking and sobbing, barely able to get through the last part of her tale:

"But everything I tried against Apos failed…I couldn't save you and you were taken into Yggdrasil… then, even as Apos came after me, Mishio managed to pull you out of Yggdrasil and we managed to turn the tables on Apos. You were finally back and Apos was gone."

"It was during those thirty years that you were gone that I realized how much I missed you…I realized I would've done anything to have you back with me again. I realized I never wanted to be apart from you ever again."

Rin's face turns into a compassionate smile as she jumps up out of her chair, knocking it on the floor behind her. She then rushes to Mimi's side of the table and gives her a fierce hug.

Rin finally stands up after a moment of silence. By now the few other people in the restaurant are starting to wonder just what is going on at their table.

"So…that was what finally made you say it. Then…you may ask what you really brought me here to ask. "

Mimi lifts her face up slightly to look into Rin's eyes. "Before I do, I think there's one I thing I need to ask you. …Who was he to you?"

Rin instantly understands who Mimi is talking about. The father of her child.

She takes a moment to consider her memories of Tajimamori before answering Mimi's question as honestly as she can: "He once gave me a purpose when I had none."

Rin returns to her side of the table to pick up the chair she had knocked over earlier. She faces slightly away from the table as she tells of Tajimamori and herself. "Long ago, when I had just become immortal and did not yet understand what had happened to me, he found me on a battlefield where I had been desperately hoping to find death. I was sure I had been cursed by something, to be unable to die even when I wanted to. He found me on that battlefield and told me it was my fate not to die." Her lips curl into a small, wistful smile. "I felt drawn to him instantly, but he hid his face and quickly disappeared, trying to avoid being seen by an immortal to prevent designating me as the next God's Bride and thus marking the end of his cycle as the Guardian. "

She gives a small sigh as she continues. "But despite his best efforts, he became my reason for going on. I became obsessed with trying to find him again and that was all I did for the next several hundred years. I only learned after centuries of searching, thinking I was in love, that my attraction to him was the unavoidable effect of his angelic body on my immortal one. Though I suppose by the time I realized that, I had begun to truly love him in some way. "

She turns to face back towards their table, her eyes returning to gaze directly into Mimi's. "And then, only a few short centuries ago, I met you. The one person who has never left my side, even when I left yours. Who has faced death and pain and worse, all for my sake. Even against Apos, you never wavered. Even when you knew how hard it would be to help me. After watching our precious Genta and our friends devoured right in front of you. You still came for me, even after all that." Rin smiles briefly. "Somehow, you've always been stronger than I've ever managed to be, even with all the centuries I've lived longer than you. "

Rin walks back around the table over to Mimi, who once more has tears in her eyes at Rin's words. She takes Mimi's hands in hers' and squeezes them tightly. "I suppose I couldn't help but fall in love with you sometime during our time together. What happened at Apos' castle between Tajimamori and me was just the ending of a long journey. A journey that led me to you. Does that answer your question?"

Mimi's tear-stained face lights up at Rin's words. "Yes. Yes it does." She wipes the tears off her face before getting up from her chair and getting down on one knee. A few people in the small restaurant notice her gesture and stop in their tracks, aware of what is about to happen. Mimi takes Rin's hand in hers and asks the question that has been on her mind ever since Rin's return:

"Asougi Rin…will you marry me?"

The restaurant's other clients and staff are by now staring at the pair, anticipating Rin's answer in hushed silence.

Rin looks for a moment down at the small, blue-haired woman who has been by her side for centuries, joyous tears forming in her eyes, before she answers: "Yes, I will."

The people around them erupt in congratulations for the pair, as Rin and Mimi kiss after a long separation is finally, truly ended for both of them.

A few months later, as the world prepares for a new era, still healing from the damage of Apos' final moments, Mimi and Rin are married in a rather quirky ceremony combining traditions from many different times and places. Witnessing the ceremony are Mishio, again acting as babysitter for Rin's baby, most of the living members of the Maeno family and the few acquaintances who survived Apos and his assassin Laura. They vow to stay together for as long as they live (a tall promise, as who knows how long that will be? You can never tell with immortals). They both promise to "Never let go of this hand, as long as I have a hand to hold it with. And if I don't, I will grasp it once again once I am able to".

The next morning, Rin lies in bed after the previous night's festivities. She asks Mimi to bring her some water. Mimi appears from the kitchen after a moment carrying a glass full of liquid and a bottle. Rin drinks from the glass Mimi offers her. She coughs after the burning sensation from the liquid reaches her throat. Mimi manages to breathe out "vodka means water in Russian you know", barely containing her laughter, hardly believing that Rin still has not learned her habit after being subject to it for so long. Still giggling, she suddenly finds herself pulled into the bed by Rin. Rin whispers into her ear: "Well…it looks like some things are here to stay, eh?"