Five years passed since then. Five years passed since she time leaped. Five years passed since Chiaki left. Five years and she couldn't believe how time had flown. After Chiaki left, for the longest time, she felt an unbearable ache. Realizing that she loved him made it harder to let him go. I will be waiting for you in the future, he told her. Of course he couldn't see her again. He told her that himself. It hurt. It really did. The thought of not seeing him again nearly broke her heart in two but she understood why. He broke the rule he said. That was why he wouldn't be able to see her again, he said. Then he left. And she was left standing next to the river. Alone. With a sliver of hope that she had given up on immediately. She wasn't the same for a while after that. It was as if a piece of her was taken. As time passed, she slowly got over the fact that Chiaki was gone. It actually took her one year to get come to terms with the fact that she wasn't ever going to see him again. After that, she was fine. She thought about him every once in a while, but it didn't hurt. After-all, time heals all wounds, at least that was what she heard. She still hated time though. Time waited for no one and it certainly didn't wait for her.

Makoto sighed as she put the paint brush down and then smiled. It was finally done. The restoration of the painting that Chiaki had been waiting for was now complete. It took a better part of four years to finish it but she felt that it was worth it. Not only for Chiaki, but for herself. For the feeling of accomplishment.

"You finished it, Makoto." Her Aunt Kazuko praised.

"Yeah. I'm so glad to finally be done." Makoto nodded as she stood up and removed her apron smeared with paint.

"I think that's it for today. You are free to leave for the day." Her aunt smiled.

"Oh, no I couldn't." Makoto protested.

"It's perfectly fine. You deserve it." Her aunt still had a smile all over her face. "And when you come in tomorrow, the painting shall be up."

Makoto sighed with a smile. "Oh alright." She then began walking out of the office after she gathered her things. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Auntie!"

"Alright, see you tomorrow, Makoto." Kazuko responded.

Makoto smiled and walked down the steps and through the museum. As she began exiting the entrance, she thought that she saw Chiaki's red hair so she whirled around and searched her surroundings to find no one there. Makoto huffed and laughed to herself. 'I'm just imagining things.' She then made her way out the door.

~O~o~O~o~O~

It was the next day and Makoto quickly ran down the street to the museum. She was going to be late because she slept in. Apparently her alarm clock went off at the right time, she just hit the snooze button and went back to sleep. Even though she knew that her aunt wasn't going to be angry, Makoto still didn't like to be late to the museum. She rushed by people and huffed and puffed until she got to the door. She made a sharp left and bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" She held up a hand, not bothering to take a look at who it may have been, and kept running.

Her sneakers skidded across the tile as she rushed through the halls of the museum. She finally reached the door of her aunt's office and shoved it open. As usual, her aunt was sitting with a paintbrush in hand and a painting right in front of her.

"Hello, Makoto." Kazuko turned her head and smiled kindly at her niece. "Turned your alarm clock off again?"

Makoto sheepishly nodded her head and set her things down onto the couch. "Sorry."

"Oh, no." Kazuko got up. "It's quite alright. What you can do is take over restoring this painting while I work on paper work. Then when you go on your break, you can take a look at the painting that you did such a good job on."

Makoto's face lit up. "It's up?"

"It is. I had it put up this morning before the museum opened for the day."

Makoto smiled and got to work on restoring yet another painting.

~O~o~O~o~O~

Time passed and it had been a couple of hours. It was time for Makoto's break. She was actually so caught up with work, that she didn't notice until her aunt pointed it out.

"Makoto, it's time for your lunch break." She received no response so she got up from her chair and walked over to her niece. She laid a hand on Makoto's shoulder and she jumped.

"Huh?" Makoto tilted her head and looked at her aunt.

"Makoto, I said that it's your lunch break." Her aunt repeated with a smile.

"Oh, really?" Makoto looked over at a clock to see that it was indeed her lunch break. "I didn't realize that so much time had already passed by." Makoto got up and stretched and groaned when her back cracked. She then made her way to the door. "Alright then. I'm going to go on my break. See you in an hour."

"Alright. Don't forget to look at your masterpiece." Her aunt reminded her and Makoto nodded.

Makoto made her way out of the office and through the museum. She then stopped for a second and then took a right until she stopped in front of a glass casing. There was her painting. No, it wasn't her painting. It was Chiaki's painting. Makoto smiled. She remembered when she requested to restore that specific painting. Makoto knew that there was no plans to restore it because of the state that it was in but she was adamant. She just had to restore it. So she just kept asking until her aunt smiled and told her she could try and try she did. Makoto was told that there was no hope for it but with constant work and hours being put into it, Makoto did it and she was proud of herself. Despite what she told herself, she felt that she had put a part of herself across time so Chiaki could see what she did and that she was happy. It wasn't just for Chiaki, but for herself as well.

Makoto smiled once again and turned around. What she saw though, made her stop in her tracks. Her eyes opened wide with shock and disbelief. Red hair. Green eyes. That smirk.

"Makoto." Her name escaped his lips and she shivered.

He smiled at her and opened his arms wide.

Makoto stared, wide-eyed for a while until a huge, heart warming smile broke out onto her lips and lit up her whole face. She ran forward, towards those inviting arms.

"Chiaki."

~Fin~