A/N: This is a monster of a oneshot, but please take the time and read it, as I did work pretty darn hard on it. This is my first real forray into actual Romance, so I hope I didn't botch it up terribly. Please forgive me if I have. I started this before Ch. 391 and 392 were released, so it's not totally canon. That said, read on, enjoy, and please review!
Disclaimer: I only own the kind that cleans my clothes
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The first one didn't count.
She was still young, too young, to understand what love meant outside of pretty pink hearts and Granny's warm hugs, but on one, fateful day she opened a book and she was forever changed. She was swept into a world of steamy affairs, covetous glances, fervent declarations of love, promises of faith, passionate, hot kisses- and of course, she had no idea what any of it meant.
For one thing, everyone in those books seemed to shout a lot how much they loved each other and how much they would die for them too. Dying was icky and gross. Love wasn't. Anyways, wouldn't the other person be sad if a person she loved died? And another thing, she didn't understand what it meant by "he took his lover to bed in throes of passion" either. Throes just sounded a lot like toes, and she didn't think toes were very romantic. Neither was going to bed; she didn't think sleeping was something she would want to do with someone if she loved them.
But the thing that both confused and fascinated her at the same time was the kiss.
She'd been kissed many times before (coincidently, all of them by Granny), on her knees when she skinned them, on her fingers when she cut them, on her cheek when she was being good, on her forehead just before Granny tucked her in; but never, not once had she been kissed on the lips. And her kisses never felt like they did in the book; they weren't hot or steamy (Momo wasn't quite sure how they could get that way in the first place), but they made her feel good and warm and happy inside. Still, the people in the books always seemed the happiest, most loved; most special when they were kissed…and she wanted to feel like that too.
But first, she would have to find somebody to kiss…Let's see…there was Granny and Shiro-chan and…well, she didn't know anyone else besides them. She could always kiss Granny, but all the books she read the kiss was only between girls and guys. Maybe it was just something that could only happen with girls and boys, like playing hero and princess? Well, then she'd have to go with Shiro-chan, and so she started looking for him at all his favorite hideouts.
Ah! There he was, sitting by the river, eating watermelon! "Shiro-chaaaaan!" she called out to him, "Guess what?"
"Don't call me that. What is it?" he scowled.
Momo pouted. How rude, he didn't even look up at her. But she'd forgive him once she got her kiss.
"I want you kiss me. On the lips." She was careful to enunciate every word slowly, so he'd understand. Boys didn't always get things the first time…
"GAH!" Clearly not anything he was expecting, Toshiro started to choke on watermelon juice, spraying soggy little chunks of pink fruit and black seeds everywhere. "You want me to- do what? Kiss you?"
Momo nodded eagerly, "Uh-huh!"
"No."
"But-But if you do, something really amazing and wonderful will happen!"
Toshiro eyed her suspiciously, fingering his watermelon. "What sort of thing?"
Momo looked sheepishly down at her feet. "Well, I'm not too sure either…but that's why I want to find out! See here-" and she showed him her romance novel, "-kisses make people really happy and something else too-"
He grabbed the book from her, scanned it over, picked out the words "passion", "love", "touch", and responded as any boy would: "It's stupid, I'm not doing it."
"Hmph, I bet you're just saying that because you don't know what'll happen and you're too scared to find out!" taunted Momo.
"Am not"
"Are too!"
"Am not."
"Are too!"
"AM NOT!"
"Well, oh yeah. Prove it, prove it that you aren't scared of an itty bitty thing like a ki— and Momo couldn't speak as something very soft, very warm, and extremely sticky was squashed against her lips, so she closed her eyes and waited, and waited, and waited…
And nothing. Nothing. She didn't feel anything, no warm feeling in her stomach, no fluttery butterflies, no taste of what they had in the books, no taste of love. Well, she could taste watermelon juice, but that definitely wasn't the same thing.
They broke apart, and stood there, both not knowing what to do. "Bah. Stupid Bed Wetter Momo, Nothing happened," grumbled Toshiro as he wiped face on his sleeve, staining it pink.
And Momo, thoroughly gloomy and disappointed, started to mope, but brightened as she thought of another idea.
"Hey, Shiro-chan, do you want to try sleeping together?"
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The second, he had fallen for her.
No, literally, he fell for her.
Today was the day. Momo was leaving to go the Academy, and Granny was going through a roll of tissue paper like it was candy, the way she was bawling her eyes over how "her little girl was growing up and going to Shinigami Academy"
Hmph. So what if she was going to go be a shinigami, and he wasn't? There was nothing so great about being a shinigami; all you did was run around with a stick- sword and chase down crazy souls- there wasn't anything fun in that; you die and get eaten up by hollows that way. Besides, if all shinigami, and he was betting most of them were, like the funny afro-head guy that was supposed to guard the district against any hollow attacks, but instead always got drunk at the bar…oh yes, this would be the great and wonderful organization Momo would be joining…
He couldn't believe Bed Wetter was so stupid as to leave him— and Granny— for something stupid like that. Not that he was going to miss her or anything. Pshaw, he was happy she was leaving; leaving meant that he'd never have to get involved with one of her hair-brained schemes, never had to listen to her ridiculously long and pointless stories, never have to share his watermelon—
Yeah, Good Riddance! He wasn't going to miss her at all…
Which totally explained why he was currently sulking on a dead tree stump, green eyes continually darting to the path to the village and glaring at any foolish squirrel that came into his view…
And eventually, two beings that were not squirrels, but in fact a sobbing Granny and a beaming Hinamori came down to the path and proceeded to cry and hug and say how much they were going to miss each other, as they had for the past two hours.
Fortunately, (or unfortunately, depending on who you asked) Granny noticed Toshiro sulking on his stump, and immediately called out to him:
"Toshiro, dear, don't you want to come and say good-bye to Momo? You won't be able to see her for a quite a while—"
"No"
"Oh, Shiro," Granny sighed.
"But—It's ok, Granny—Well, don't worry Shiro-chan, I'll visit you on weekends and breaks, so you don't need to say good bye," said Hinamori, trying to be happy, but obviously a little hurt at his refusal.
"Nonsense," said Granny, and in encouragement, she gave Toshiro a push, towards Momo's general direction. Unfortunately (for him), Toshiro was already moving up off the stump, was not expecting a push, and to top it all off, he had an undeveloped skill of balance, so Granny's push just made the poor kid crash into something…
…Soft? Warm?...
…This is strange; why do my lips feel?..
…?!!! I just kissed BED WETTER?????!!...
And to his ultimate horror and embarrassment, he realized that his fall had been cushioned by a now groaning and blushing Hinamori Momo, and it just happened, just happened that he, more specifically his lips, and managed to fall on her face, right over where her lips were. His heart beat pounded in his skinny little chest and his cherry-red face clashed magnificently with his jade-green eyes and snow-white hair, giving his head the appearance of a Christmas ornament created by an elf on crack (or just one with really bad artistic abilities).
As Toshiro and Momo scrambled to disengage their limbs—and mouths as soon as possible, Granny simply smiled and shook her head. "Why, I never—Kids these days, already growing up and giving goodbye kisses."
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The third was out of desperation.
He hadn't meant for it to happen.
But he couldn't help it. Days after days, weeks after weeks, Unohana taicho would exit, and he would come; every day without fail, sometimes only for brief, fleeting minutes, sometimes a little more, sometimes for hours on end, but in the end, he would always come.
Sometimes he would read her picture books, romance novels, fairytales, fantasies; they were always her favorite books. Sometimes he would talk to her about the war, recent casualties and recent deployments. Sometimes he would tell her stories about the two of them, back together in Rukongai. Sometimes he would comfort her, tell her it wasn't her fault, not in the least. And sometimes he'd tell her about Matsumoto not finishing her paperwork (again), about Abrari, Kira, Hisagi and the rest of the idiots getting drunk, about Nanao leaving a new book for her, little things like that.
Anything, he'd say anything, to hear her speaking back to him once more.
Sometimes he talks, but mostly he watches her, looking for some spark of life, something, anything — so he wouldn't have to see her, this lifeless corpse; every instinct in his body screams that it wasn't her, it's not her, it can't be her.
But it is.
And he can't take it anymore. He's tried, god knows, he's tried so hard to get her awake again, but she won't respond. All he wants is for her to get up again; he would trade anything: watermelons, his captain's cloak, being a shinigami —What good was being a Captain or being a shinigami, when he became all those things to stay with her and protect her, and now, she's slipping away, and he can't do a goddamn thing. This was the person who had stuck by him, cared for him, protected him when he was just a lonely, little kid that nobody would even look at…anyone except her…and at her now…he didn't do anything…he can't do anything…
He failed…
In that moment, he snapped. His carefully controlled fury, anger, worry, guilt, for himself, for her, for Aizen—he didn't know which it was, or if it was all three— it all broke through and tumbled out of his mouth like water gushing forth from a broken dam:
"Why? Why? Why won't you wake up, damnit? Is there nothing in the world besides Aizen, that goddamn bastard, you want to live for?" he viciously spat out. "Matsumoto, Kira, Abrari, Unohana, your subordinates, your friends, your family…me, people who love and care about you…Don't we matter at all? Goddamnit, Momo, you're not allowed to die!"
And every unkind, bitter, guilty thought that was trapped inside his brain took over and he wasn't himself anymore; he was ranting, crying, screaming at her, to get her to listen to him, to remember the little boy she had left behind all those years ago…
To get her to feel his pain. To get her to feel something…anything…
But she did not move. Wouldn't, couldn't, did it matter? The fact was that she was silent and lifeless as a stone statue, like a perfect, breathing, life-size doll.
And before he could stop, he was kissing her, not gently or on her cheek or forehead, but on her lips, attacking with a ferocity that startled him and scared him a little. But he didn't stop, didn't want to stop, and he wonders if she's able to feel the bitterness, anger, guilt, regret on his lips that she does not seem to feel. But more than that, he wonders if she's able to feel how much he needs her, loves her, something that she never seemed to hear.
After a long bout of silence, he leaves. He whispers, "I'm sorry" and heads out the door the cold, emotionless mask already back on his face.
Three days later, she wakes up.
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The fourth was asked for.
She screamed, and woke up; tears streaming down her face while she took in the familiar pale walls, large desk, soft bed clutching her sweat-drenched bed sheets, and proceeded to take deep breaths. It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream…
But she couldn't get the sight of a blood splattered—too much blood, too much blood; I think I'm going to be sick— out of her mind.
It was in times like these when she desperately wished she was back in Rukongai, with Granny. Granny always made everything better; when she would huddle in her blankets at night when there were thunderstorms, it was Granny who would always bring up a candle and some tea, and sing to her and tell her nothing bad was going to happen.
Nothing bad is going to happen, you're going to be alright, everything's alright…
But her own words felt empty to her, and she found herself standing right in front of the 10th division building door. She suddenly felt awkward standing by the door, waiting for him. What would he say when she told she came here because she had a bad dream? Would he laugh at her? No, probably not, but she didn't want him to pity her or feel bad for her; she got enough of that from other people. Maybe I should just go…
But the door swung open, and she saw piercing green eyes coolly looking over her. "Come in," he said, so she did.
Inside
"I made you some tea," he spoke quietly. "What are you doing here?"
She was expecting him to ask why she came, but still, it caught her unprepared. It shouldn't have. She'd always known he was blunt. She fingered her tea cup as she spoke, looking down away from his eyes. "How's Matsumoto doing?"
"As usual, which means drinking sake during the day, hiding paperwork until it becomes a mountain under the sofa, being generally unproductive; but you still haven't answered my question. Why are you here?"
She looked down into her teacup and saw her reflection. Her eyes had deep circles underneath them, made darker by the pale sheen of her skin. She looked terrible. Well, you were the one who decided to come here, too late to go back now…
"It's going to sound ridiculous to you… but I had another nightmare tonight, and I couldn't stay alone there by myself…" she whispered.
"What was it—Was it—him?"
She nodded and the words flowed out without volition from her mouth.
…and—and then I saw them all—and they said—said, "Traitor, traitor, traitor, you lied to us, you helped him, you helped him kill us, you killed us, you killed us…" All in the same echoing voice—it was horrible…
By this point she was shouting hysterically, tears gushing from her eyes and splattering the table with little puddles of salty water.
—and then I saw you—and you smiled and reached out to hold my hand—but—but, I sl—sli—sliced it off and then—
She was sobbing into his shoulder, hugging him as if she was back in Rukongai, apologizing to Granny for being so scared or mean, and he was pulling her closer, as if she was the little child who needed protection.
Sniff—Sniff—I b-b-became him—and I killed you
He let her cry on his shoulder as long as she needed to, staining the front of his clothes with the splotchy wet gray of tears fabric, until her cries finally subsided to muted mumblings and sniffles.
"You wouldn't ever do that."
"Wh-What?"
He spoke in a quiet, clear voice. "You wouldn't ever kill your friends like that. It wasn't your fault that he did what he did."
She laughed, a short, harsh, bitter sound, that didn't seem right, coming from her. "B-B-But I already pointed my sword at you once before, for him, what'll stop me from doing it again?"
He drew a narrow breath. "That's in the past. And I already forgave you for that anyways, a long time ago. But you know what he's really like now, and there's no way he's going to touch you ever again."
"What does that say about me though? Shiro-chan, I loved him. I'm sorry to say this to you, but I really loved him. He was strong, gentle, kind, elegant, smart— he was everything I had ever wanted in a captain, everything I wanted to be. I did everything I could for him; I worked hard so I could serve him to the very best of my ability, so he would notice me, smile at me and say good job. And even after he left Soul Society, I still loved him, still wanted to be with him. Even after he almost killed me, killed you, tried to kill my friends, I still love him."
She took a deep breath, and Hitsugaya opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off and waved her hands.
"Do you understand now? Do you hate me? I don't blame you if you do. I was so stupid, weak, and so blind…I closed my eyes to the truth and I hurt a lot of people…He was a monster, and I loved him, what does that make me? Does that make me a monster too? Even now I'm not sure. Nobody trusts me anymore; everyone looks at me with worry and pity in their eyes, and I tell them I'm better now, but they still scrutinize me as if I'm a traitor. Maybe I am one; I don't hate him. I know he's the enemy and e-e-evil, but sometimes I look at his desk and see him smiling back at me, and I cry. I don't want to be like this…"
"Do you know why I wanted to be a shinigami? I wanted to be a shinigami to be strong and be able to protect people, but I just made a huge mess of everything. I should've just stayed in Rukongai, Shiro-chan. I was so happy and I never really hurt anyone back then, and nothing too bad ever happened to me, nothing that couldn't be cured by Granny's kisses. The more I think about it, the more I want one; the power they have- just to make you believe that everything is going to be perfectly fine, the reminder that someone still loves you no matter what—look at me, I'm babbling now. I-I'm sorry for wasting your time—I'll just go now," Hinamori sighed as she hastily got up to leave.
She couldn't even raise her head for fear of looking into his eyes, and finding worry, shock, pain, pity, anger? How could she have been so stupid, so careless to yell what was going through mind? Why didn't' she have better self control? What was he going to think of her now? I have to go!
"Momo, stop making a beeline to the door. Just listen to what I have to say first, ok?" called out Hitsugaya, but Hinamori paid him no attention and bolted toward the door, grabbed the handle—and why wouldn't the door open??? Oh, no, it's locked…locked…how am I going to escape now??? She frantically looked around the room, looking for another door, a window—any means of escape—
"You're not getting out of this room until you listen to what I've got to say," said Hitsugaya casually as leaned against the door and crossed his arms. She recognized defeat, and stopped thrashing about and sat perfectly still, with the look of an animal who knows the end is near.
"So am I the only one you've told about this?" he looked over to her, but she gave him no answer. "I'll take that as a yes; it wouldn't be like you to tell people about this. You baka bed wetter, didn't you hear me when I said it wasn't your fault? He fooled all of us, from the soutaicho to the unranked shinigami—it wasn't just you —everyone, I thought he was a good captain, no one ever thought he was the cold, heartless bastard he is today," he spat out.
"Besides, it's not your fault for admiring him, loving him." He almost looked amused as he looked at her. But she knew better, saw the hard glint in his eyes, small frown lines by his lips. She almost winced. I'm sorry for hurting you…
"Really, it is. Because you don't love Aizen Sosuske. You love who you thought was Aizen. You loved a lie, and as painful as that may be, at least it's better than actually loving him. You're not useless. You're a vice-captain, Momo; even without Aizen's influence you were still good enough to pass the test. If you don't believe that than just keep working hard, so you get stronger and believe you can help people.
His face hardened. "You're not the only one who's been stupid, made big mistakes…I'm sorry Momo, he's not going to hurt you anymore…You learn from your mistakes and get stronger and keep living; that's all there is to it, stupid."
Tears started to silently trickle from her eyes, but strangely she wasn't sad. Not happy, not angry, not upset—she didn't know what to feel. She felt nothing—maybe almost something akin to peace, but emptier. Since when did Shiro-chan grow up so fast?
He sighed, and she could've sworn that he was just the tiniest bit relieved. "Typical Bed Wetter Move, crying over everything—since Granny's not here, I might as well do it or else my room will be flooded by the end of the night, and as he finished talking, he swooped down and gave her a small peck on the forehead. "That's for Granny"
And, almost hesitantly he leaned further down and gave her a light kiss on her lips, barely brushing his lips with hers. "And that one's from me; I'll see you later in the morning, you can sleep in my room for the night. Pillows and blankets are in the closet." She simply stared, too stunned to do anything, as she watched his shock of white hair disappear behind the door.
As if she were in a trance, she touched her lips. They feel soft and cold, like they were coated with snowflakes, but I feel warmer, more comfortable, more safe?… inside me, inside my chest… I feel…at peace.
She closed her eyes and dreamt of snow.
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It was a picturesque day with the sun hanging high in the sky as the clouds drifted along the wide expanse of blue sky and the wind gently rustled the leaves of the gnarled branches of the ancient tree. But such beauty went unnoticed by Hinamori Momo, Lieutenant of the 5th division, as she fidgeted with her hair ribbon for the umpteenth time, impatiently waiting for something or someone.
Soon enough though, she saw the familiar flash of white, green, and black she knew to be the 10th division captain and waved exuberantly at her childhood friend.
"Shiro-chan, you're late!"
"Sorry, I had to take care of some paperwork. Don't call me Shiro-chan either."
"Meh, you work too hard, Shiro-chan. You need to take a break once in a while, you know—get all the creative juices flowing in your head again. It's like Rangiku-san says, "All work and no play makes a shinigami as boring as hay!"
"Uh-huh, and you're listening to the advice of the woman who tries to pass sake off as water and whose paperwork I had to end up filing because she mysteriously left off for a "business meeting" at Sokinoki Fine Wine and Spirits."
"I'm sorry for her…you know, with his death and everything…things have been tough on her…"
"…She'll deal with it; she's stronger than most people give her credit for. So which restaurant do you want to go to?"
"Actually, I don't want to go to a restaurant…"
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"So this is it?" he questioned her as they reached the spot she picked out.
"Mm-hmm" she nodded as she settled down to take all the food out of the basket she had packed and let him analyze the meadow. It really was such a beautiful place with the daffodils as bright and yellow as ever while the trees kept swaying to the whim of the wind. It was so peaceful, and natural, but made her a little bit sad too. He had shown her this place, a long time ago…
She got lost in her contemplation of things past, that she never noticed the pleased smile that formed on his lips and almost missed the question he asked her.
"Your bun…you changed it."
She absentmindedly fingered the new blue ribbon she had in her hair, in lieu of the traditional white one. He gave it to her as a birthday present, one year.
"Yeah, I did. I figured it could use a change."
"It looks good"
"Thanks"
And she finished unpacking their sandwiches, so they ate together in comfortable silence, each just happy to be in the other's company.
To be honest though, she wasn't really hungry; she actually already had lunch an hour ago. She just wanted to be able to spend some time with him, since she rarely had the time to do so anymore with him running the tenth and her running the fifth. It was why she always looked forward to their monthly lunches; she wondered if he enjoyed them as much as she did.
She sneaked another peak at him, and was struck by the changes that appeared to her every time. His eyes were harder, almost colder than she remembered, his jaw was more prominent, his hair was longer, cheekbones more defined; he was taller and his body had filled out more. She blushed as she thought of it. Really, it was almost ridiculous, the way she was acting; it wasn't like she hadn't changed any at all—she had gotten older too.
But she couldn't think about him any longer, as he asked her how her day went.
How much should she tell him? She hoped he wouldn't overreact… "Well, everything went pretty well today, I didn't have a lot a paperwork today and some of the recruits I was working with showed some real improvement, and they did really well, except they didn'twanttotrainwithmeatfirst," she rapidly spoke.
He frowned. "Wait, what was that last part?"
She hesitated, but told him. "Um- they didn't want to train with me at first…"
His eyes narrowed, "Why?"
She took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Well, they said that they didn't want to train with someone that was the "pet" of the biggest traitor of Soul Society, but," she added rather hastily, as Hitsugaya was giving her death glare, '—I don't think they really meant it, and somebody already talked to them about it—"
"Who are they, so I can go and kill them," growled Hitsugaya, already unsheathing Hyorinmaru and causing the temperature to drop a few degrees.
Hinamori unconsciously shivered. "No, it's ok, Shiro-chan, you don't need to do that, they didn't mean any harm—"
He glared at her and she almost winced from the chill. "Don't give me that bullshit, Momo. It's as hurtful as hell, and they know it is. Don't they understand how painful it is to hear that? Momo—"
"It's ok, Shiro-chan. It's not like it hasn't happened before. Other people have said that sort of thing to me before, I'm used to it by now."
He snorted, and merely replied, "Doesn't make it any less painful. Doesn't make it any easier on you either. I still think the bastards should rot in hell."
She felt something in her heart beat painfully as she realized just how much she needed Shiro-chan. How he always knew what to say to make her feel better, how honest he was with her, how patient he was with her, how he could make her laugh, how well he seemed to know her—better than she did, just how easy it was to be around him. He cared for her and he loved her—
He loved her when she couldn't even love herself.
So she doesn't try to argue with him, but just gives him a slight smile and asks if he wants some watermelon. And he drops the argument, albeit reluctantly, but he still drops it. Just like she knew he would.
But before long, she's laughing her head off and coughing, choking on little bits of soggy melon—it hurts so bad that her throat is burning, but she doesn't remember feeling this happy in a long time either—and it doesn't help that she can't stop laughing.
It got so bad that Shiro-chan actually gets back and starts hitting her on the back and asking her if she's alright. She finally calms down enough to wheeze, "Can't— Breathe—Too—Funny—You—eating, cough, cough, —watermelon—so—cough,cough, —daintily, ha—ha…"
"You're laughing because I'm eating watermelon," he accuses her with a befuddled look on his face, and this sends her into another fit, looking at his normally stoic, cool face look so…priceless…
And with the hint of a smirk on his face, he stepped away from her and said, "Fine, you can choke for all I care…" which naturally caused her to laugh even more.
When she finally calmed down, she was instantly told that she was going crazy and might as well check into 4th division as soon as possible. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "I am not crazy, you would've laughed too. Do you remember when you used to chomp through that big pile of watermelon when we were younger and spit the seeds out at me? Now look at you; you're eating like a noble—I guess even you can be taught food manners—"
"EUAHHHHHH!!!!!" screamed Hinamori as she was pelted by stream of speeding bullets, or more accurately watermelon seeds, while Hitsugaya was standing triumphantly, green rind in hand and a toothy grin dripping with watermelon juice that made her ache inside—when was the last time she saw that?
But for now, he's still smiling and she wants to permanently etch that memory into her brain and hold on to it as long as she can. He tells her in the most deadpan voice he can manage that, "I wouldn't be so quick to talk, Bed Wetter" and she replies, as neutrally as possible, that "Forgive me then, Shiro-chan. You are the same disgusting slob you have always been."
And with a funny little twitch, both of their resolves collapse and they explode with laughter and roll around the ground, shaking in mirth, until they both roll into each other and lay, side by side as they watched the clouds go by, lost in thought.
"You know Shiro-chan, there's something I always wondered about," she suddenly spoke out, while nervously biting her lip.
"What?"
"About you…why you do the things you do…"
He looked at her curiously. 'Do what?"
"Shiro-chan, you remember how I was like, back awhile ago right? I was…a mess, and don't try to deny it—I was lost and hurt, and no one—everyone else thought I was crazy, that I was going to break down any second and betray Soul Society. Sometimes I would get these awful looks, as if they thought I was a traitor, but you…had the most cause to hate me, blame me, but you didn't. You stuck with me and after everything I did, you still cared about me. Better yet, you believed that I could get better, even when I didn't. Even now, you don't treat me any different than you used to, and—"
She took a deep breath. "And I—didn't do anything for you—I'm so sorry, Hitsugaya-kun, I can't give you anything really, but thank you, for everything…"
He sits up and just flicks her on the back of her head, and almost sighs, "You don't have to thank me for anything; just seeing you alive and happy is good enough for me."
She felt something warm spread from the pit of her stomach to the rest of her body, as he pierced her with those intense green eyes, giving her goose bumps and shivers as she realized yet again, how much older he had gotten.
She didn't quite understand why, but she longed to be held by his arms and drown in the deep pools of his emerald eyes, and before she knew it, she sat up in his lap and whispered, "Thank you" as she leaned up to kiss him.
"I love you," she breathed.
Gently, he takes his hands and places them on her cheek, before he leans in and gives her a long kiss on her rosy pink lips.
"Stupid Bed Wetter Momo," he murmurs.
He doesn't say anything more, and frankly, doesn't have to. Because there's no disguising the joy, passion, overwhelming love she sees in those soft green eyes, and they're telling her exactly what he's saying.
"I love you too."
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fin