My Last I O U

by Alimoe

On Allenby's birthday the harsh realization that she only has two more months before heading back hits her hard. Can she find the courage to tell Chibodee how she feels? Allenby's POV. Pure fluff. C/A, D/R - canon

Title: My Last I.O.U.

Pairings: Chibodee/Allenby (main), Rain/Domon (canon)

Description: On Allenby's birthday the harsh realization that she only has two more months before heading back hits her hard. Can she find the courage to tell Chibodee how she feels? Allenby's POV. Pure fluff.

A/N: I wrote this on a spur of the moment. I was rereading another C/A fanfic I have (I'm revising it) and this idea popped in my head. I couldn't use it in that fic since it doesn't fit in with my planed outline so I decided to write it as a one shot! I hope you enjoy.

Dedication: This fanfic is especially dedicated to my fellow author and friend Allenby. You're a wonderful friend and this fic would've never been written if it weren't for you reviving my love for G-Gundam (especially Allenby/Chibodee). Thank you! -hugs-

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My Last I.O.U.

July 24th. I never thought of it as a special day; in fact, I usually viewed it as a joke. The day I came into this world was never something I needed to, nor wanted to, celebrate until this past year.

"Here's the last dish, Rain." I say with a smile, as I hand the small plate over to her. Sticking it into the soapy water, I see her scrub and rinse the plate off before setting it on a rack to dry.

"Thanks, Allenby!" She replies while removing her gloves. "But it's your birthday! I thought I told you not to lift a finger during the clean up."

I give a small laugh, "It was only a plate, Rain." I wink while causally leaning against the counter top. "Besides, I should be the one thanking you! I never had a birthday party before. It was so much fun! I can't believe I've been missing out on this all these years." Of course, I've been missing out on more than just birthday parties over the years– real friends, family figures, love. I've been so lucky this past year to finally have a taste at these things.

I look in front of me to see the two men who introduced me to these things. The first one had ebony hair and a headband around his head - Domon. Everything that I currently have was because of my friendship with him. I smile at the thought and look over to the man next to him.

I giggle a little seeing his childlike expression of irritation, blue and pink tuffs whipping around, and bright green eyes full of life - Chibodee. He was the one that really pushed me this year.

He was a friend to me when we hardly even knew each other. We both helped the other get over heartbreak, and who would've thought our relationship would grow this much? He pushed me to get out of my comfort zone, forced me to meet and socialize with the other Shuffle Alliance members. I never felt like I had to cling to him while interacting with the other members, his bubbly spirit made me feel instantly at ease around them – if anything, we had a common topic: how ridiculous the Neo-American was being. He is a goofy man, currently complaining up the yin-yang about cleaning the living room, and I smile fondly just thinking about the year we've had together, as friends…

I glance at Rain, who seemed to immediately understand my eyes.

"You haven't told him yet?" She seemed slightly surprised. I can't say I blame her, the relationship I have with Chibodee, between the way we tease the other, to our level of comfort around the other, you would have thought we were a step above friendship. But we never got there.

"We came close, so many times… But I always pulled back; I would never let it go there. I was always too scared… of my feelings… of his feelings. It's all pretty new to me. I never felt like this before…" I look down at the tiles, "Not even with Domon… The very thought of it scared me in a way I didn't understand. My emotions were… muddled."

I feel her hand on my shoulder and I look up to see Rain give me an understanding smile. "Do you know how you feel about him now?"

I nod. I suppose that's a private victory since it seems Chibodee will never know.

"I don't care if it's your birthday! You helped make this mess!" I suddenly hear the Neo-American shout.

"Rain's orders." Domon replies calmly while taking another bite of our shared birthday cake.

Both of us laugh at the scene and I can instantly feel both guys looking at us. I open my eyes once my laughter subsides and give Chibodee a huge smile – he always knows how to make me laugh.

I can hear him mutter something quickly to Domon before continuing the task of vacuuming.

I feel a pair of hands tugging mine in encouragement to move on. "Come on, I need to give you our gift." Rain says while continuing to tug.

"But you threw the party, bought snacks, and baked a cake. I think that's plenty, Rain!" I say embarrassedly.

"Yea, but half of those were Domon's. The present is just for you."

With a smirk on my face I shake my head in disbelief. "Fine. I'm coming!" I say while moving into the only other room in their small apartment, the bedroom.

Rain goes on all fours and feels around under the bed. With an "Ah-ha!" she pulls out a box wrapped with colorful paper and ribbons. "Here you go Allenby." She says with a smile. "It's from both of us."

"Thanks Rain, but like I said, you guys really didn't have to."

"Of course we did! You're like family!"

I smile at the word: family. I also felt like we were, but it was nice to hear.

"I think I hear the vacuum stop." She says before standing up, "I think it's safe to go back in the living room now." She states with a wink as we both exit the room.

"All done Rain!" Chibodee says proudly while making a similar sweeping gesture with his hands saying 'all cleaned'.

"Thank you for the help, Chibodee."

He nods and turns to me. "You read-hey! Wow, what a nice looking gift."

I look at the box and nod. "Yeah. We figured I should open the gift out here."

The three of us sit down on the cushions (Domon was already sitting) as I begin to unwrap the paper.

"A photo album!" I say happily.

"Well look inside!" I hear Rain say while leaning into Domon, both of them sharing a knowing look.

"Oh wow! Look at it! It's all filled up!" Chibodee says while leaning into me to look at the album.

"Hey look!" I say pointing towards the picture of Chibodee teaching me how to skate. "Remember that? I must've fallen at least ten times that day."

Chibodee laughed, "More like twenty." He teases, "And, of course, Maria had to catch us with the camera the one time when you fell on top of me!"

I also start to laugh, that was pretty embarrassing, but it makes for a great picture now.

"I think you owe me at least ten I.O.U.s from our bet that day Bee."

I turn to him and raise a brow. "Oh, please! Are you really going to start this Chibodee Crocket? C'mon, you owe me way more I.O.U.s than visa-versa!"

"Really?" He asks, a cocky smirk on his face and playful eyes.

I return the smirk and flip a few pages to spot a picture of the arcade. "Yes, really! Notice my huge 'taller than me' dog I exchanged with the tickets I won." I say merrily. "Oh, wait… What prize did you win?" I hold the album close to my eyes to exaggerate my point. "Oh! There it is! A small teddy bear. Tisk, tisk. So sad. And what was the wager on that? Twenty I.O.U.s for the winner right?"

Chibodee crossed his arms, "No, fifteen. And you already spent one by me giving you that teddy bear remember?"

How can I forget? The bear sleeps in my arms every night. Although, I had always secretly wished he'd gave me the bear as a gift. But, then again, I guess I never really him an opportunity to, with all my gloating and then immediately using an I.O.U. for the bear.

We continue flipping through the pages, both of us searching for a bet each of us won. With each page I flip I remember the story and feelings behind each picture, each bet, each spent I.O.U.

"Ah-ha! Remember the skiing trip!" Chibodee pointed.

A snicker opposite from us draws us back from our banter. Our heads snapped up – deer caught in the headlights. I forgot that we were in Domon's and Rain's apartment.

"That was a great trip." Domon commented.

Rain leaned further into him and smiled contently looking towards the picture, "Yes, it was."

I also smile at the picture: me practically tripping over Chibodee while in a pair of skis.

"We had a lot of good times, but that's still one of my favorite memories." Chibodee says sincerely.

"Mine too." I say while pulling out the picture to examine it more closely.

"That's why we gave you the album, Allenby." Rain says, her tone almost motherly.

I hold the picture lower and redirect my attention to the couple.

"We're all starting our training in two months…" Domon states.

"We need to remember these good times while we're all separated, at least, until the next tournament." Rain finishes with a small, heartfelt, smile.

I slide the photo back into its slot; they were right. I'm leaving at the end of August – back to Neo-Sweden, back to people who don't care about me and only care about winning - by any means possible.

"Hey it's getting late," I hear Chibodee's voice startle me out of my daze. "We better get going Bee, it's already dark." He says while standing up, extending out a hand.

I nod and take his hand to help me up. He takes my photo album and places it soundly in a bag with my other birthday presents from the Shuffle Alliance.

I give Domon a kiss on the cheek and a hug, wishing him a happy birthday too, and follow suit with Rain, thanking her for the party.

The couple walks us to the door and wishes us a good night. And, for some reason, I could swear I see Rain cross her fingers.

It's not too far of a walk from Rain's and Domon's apartment to mine, maybe ten minutes, fifteen at the most, but Chibodee insisted after the party he should escort me to my door. I smile; in fact, it's the reason why he agreed to help clean up afterwards, just to walk me home.

"You're pretty quiet." I hear him say.

"I'm not being quiet; I'm being pensive." I say matter-of-factly, I pause for a moment before adding, "I'm just thinking about the day…" I soften, "I never had such a nice party in my honor before. It was… kinda nice." I naturally leave out the part where it really hit me that I only have two more months to spend with everyone - to spend with him.

He smiles at me. "I'm glad you had a good time."

"What about you? What's your excuse for being so quiet?" I say teasingly while nudging him slightly.

"I was also thinking."

I mock-gasp, "Wow! That is a shock!" I say playfully, trying to lighten the mood.

He raises an eyebrow at me and a 'nice cheap shot' smile spreads across his face.

"So what were you thinking about?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"Oh! I was figuring out our I.O.U.s quota."

The statement takes me by surprise and I almost trip from the sudden shock. "Really?" I ask after regaining some composure. "And what have you calculated?"

I see a smile appear on his face before he starts talking. Not his ordinary smile, but his excited one, the one he wears when we're going to his favorite restaurant, or taking me some place he knows I'll like; like a kid waking up on Christmas morning. It's a cute smile, and can only mean that I owe him more I.O.U.s than he owes me.

"I figured that we evened out." He states bluntly.

Or not… So much for my theory, but then… Why that smile?

"Except for one." Ah! There it is. 'Bee you owe me one I.O.U.' I just know it!

"And that's in your favor." He finishes.

Or not… again… I can't seem to pin him tonight.

"And how did I get that one?" I ask innocently.

"For your birthday, of course!" He says with an even bigger smile on his face.

I walk slightly ahead of him and turn around, now walking backwards, "Ah! I see! So that's your gift to me for my birthday? Don't think that your name not being on a single gift from today went unnoticed." I say with a wink, "And this is what you want to give me instead?" I say teasingly, a satisfied grin on my face.

He stops and reaches in the bag full of my presents that he insisted on carrying. 'It's still your birthday!' I believe was his reasoning behind the kind gesture.

"Well, that'd be a lousy present by itself." He says while reaching into the bag. Actually, it wouldn't be bad to me, because it's from him.

"This." Chibodee says as he pulls out a small rectangular white box with a bow on it. "This is your birthday present."

I look between the box and Chibodee several times not believing it was real, that this moment was real.

Finally, discouraged by my lack of response, he grabs my hand and places the box in my grip. "Open it!" He says excitedly.

Heh. I guess that's why he had his excited smile on before; the trickster was probably planning to give me this gift before I reached home.

I smile back at him before looking down at the small white rectangle. "Okay, okay. I'm going." I say before removing the top of the box only to see another black velvet box. My heart begins to speed up and my cheeks instantly flush at the realization that regardless of what's inside the velvet box I know Chibodee must've spent a lot of time and effort in buying this gift. Shopping for jewelry was never Chibodee's idea of a good time nor his forte for that matter… He thought the 25-tickets earrings in the arcade exchange center looked nice.

I half smile, half laugh at the memory. I look up at him once more only to find him intensely watching me. "Go on!" I hear him whisper excitedly. 'Like a kid at Christmas' I muse to myself.

I open the velvet lid to see a beautiful silver necklace with a heart pendent attached. The pendent was a simple heart outlined with silver swirl lines inside that supported a small emerald in the top center.

"Chibodee…" I say breathlessly, "It's… It's beautiful! I love it!"

He smiles at me as he removes the rest of the chain from the back of the box to fully take it out. "I figured, maybe you can wear this necklace in the future instead of your current one. Or maybe just once-and-a-while would be nice."

"I'll wear it everyday!" I say eagerly while quickly removing the long necklace I usually wear.

"I'd be extremely happy if you do." He says with a smile; he comes closer, unclasping the hook so he can put it on me. "I even had the jewelers test the chain's strength. I know for a fact it won't break, so you should be fine for training." He whispers in my ear as he re-latches the hook, securing the gift firmly around my neck.

Training… I hug him tightly before he can pull away. My arms come out from under his and my hands firmly hold his shoulder blades so I can easily pull him closer. I don't even want to think about training. About leaving. I just want to stay, with him. I bury my head into his chest.

"Bee…" I hear him coo in my ear, concern in his voice.

I shake my head, not really wanting to talk about it.

I feel his arms wrap around my figure and I feel a little better, but not by much. Two months… and I'll run of out chances. In two months, and he'll never know how I feel about him. With firm resolve I take a deep breath, breathing in his scent, before making up my mind. I have to do this.

I dangle my hands over his shoulder and lean back a little.

"You said I have one I.O.U. right?" I ask cautiously before risking a glance at him.

He rests his forehead resting on mine, securing my face to look at him. "Yeah." He says softly, and raises an eyebrow, wondering where I was taking this conversation.

I took one last deep breath before firmly looking at him. "I'm using it then. And, I want you to kiss me." I say while searching his eyes. His face drew back, and he seems a bit shocked by the demand, but I can't really say I blame him. Every almost-kiss we had was stopped by either me, or some random friend snapping us out of our trance. But not this time. We're too close and I'm not going to let anything happen to stop it.

"On the lips if you love me, on the cheek if you don't. But either way, I want a kiss from you, Chibodee Crocket." I say as I close my eyes. I feel blood rush to my face and my heart is beating so fast I feel like I might explode. The anticipation is killing me, honestly is it really that hard of a choice? This coming from the girl who took forever to realize she was in love with the man; I guess I shouldn't be one to talk, but still!

I hear a "Heh" from him and peek my eyes open to see him shaking his head in mild amusement.

I can practically feel my heart drop, why shake your head 'no'? What does that mean? No, you don't want to kiss me? No, you don't love me? I feel my eyes begin to water up. Either way, I can't see how it's good!

"Idiot." He says as he places his forehead back on mine. "How can you not know, how can you not see, how much I love you." He whispers before kissing me passionately on the lips.

A surge of energy runs through me and I smile into his kiss while a few happy tears escape my eyes. My hands stop their idleness and grab onto the back of his head – running through his blue hair while pulling him closer and closer, deepening the kiss with each pull.

A honk from a passing car snapped us out of our blissful state and we both pulled back slowly. Resting his forehead on mine again, we just stared into each other's eyes while trying to catch our breaths, huge smiles on both of our faces.

"I mean it Allenby," Chibodee says still mildly breathless, "I love you." He says with a grin while wiping my tear-trails from before away.

I pull his neck down and give him a small, chaste, kiss on the lips before looking back up at him, "I love you too."

Both of us reluctantly let the other one go, and I can feel the night air embrace my body – instantly missing his warmth. I feel his left hand take my right as he places a small kiss on it. "I guess I should get you home, huh, birthday girl?"

I smile in return and nod, "I guess so."

"Allenby?"

"Yeah?"

"Just because we're going to be separated in two months doesn't mean we're not going to see each other until the fourteenth tournament. I'm sure we'll run into each other while out training, plus we can always take Christmas off, maybe for a few days."

I smile at the thought as I guide his hand to be on my shoulder instead, enjoying the warmth of cuddling into him as we walk. "And definitely for your birthday, Chibodee." I say while looking up at him.

"My birthday? I don't think Neo-Sweden will let you." He says with doubt in his eyes as he looks down at me.

I nod, "Well, they'll just have to deal with it! After all, you made this the best birthday I've ever had." I say while looking down at the pendent I was idly playing with in my hand. "The least I can do is return the favor!" I say while planting a kiss on his cheek.

Chibodee smiles and rubs my arm a little, "Seeing you would make it the best birthday. But that would mean I'd have to come up with an even better birthday surprise for you next year."

I smile at this realization and nuzzle into his arm a little more. "Looks like we have another competition."

"Heh. I guess so."

"And you know me, Chibodee, I hate to lose." I smile.

He grins and rubs my arms again to keep me warm, "And what? I'm a push over? I guess we'll have a heated competition going before the next tournament even begins!"

I smile fondly, "I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too." I feel him kiss the top of my head, "Happy birthday, Allenby."

- End -