Kyo spent at least 10 minutes in the produce section staring at the leeks, debating buying them or pretending to forget. He hated leeks – even when she cooked them. He would always pretend she had done a great job hiding them in her dishes, but he knew they were there and could always taste them. It wasn't her fault – it was just one of his quirks.

He figured he could get away with not bringing them home. He also figured she would be happy either way – she was never upset over silly things.

He knew he shouldn't get upset over silly things either but he just couldn't help it. He was pissy by nature. It bugged him that she kept dreaming about Yuki. The one person she shouldn't dream about – or even remember.

Once he recognized he wasn't moody about getting leeks – or even that it had been rainy all day. He grabbed a bundle and headed to check out. He was with her, she was with him, they were happy. She was probably making him tea right then, worried he'd catch a cold.

He smiled.

)()()(

They collapsed back, sweating. She rolled over and clutched his sweaty torso, giving him a tight hug. Pieces of her hair sprawled across his arm, sticking too him and tickling his neck. He kissed the top of her head and she turned up at him, smiling.

She cozied herself into his side and started to slow her breathing. She was beginning to drift off when she heard him whisper, "I love you, you know."

Her breathing immediately stopped. She wasn't sure she had just heard what she'd heard. It was so quiet she thought maybe . . .

He shifted to look at her and their eyes locked for a few moments – leaving no doubt in her mind. She could tell he was suspended in that moment – full of fear and hope and longing and vulnerability.

She beamed and he breathed and they kissed. Forehead to forehead she nuzzled his nose as they fell into sleep.

Kyo was always a deep sleeper after whereas Tohru would toss and turn, or sometimes resign to getting up early.

She made herself some tea and went to the roof to have a heart-to-heart with the moon.

She hated that she could never fully be with Kyo. She always felt as if a small part of her was locked away somewhere. She could never completely feel happy. Something ate at the back of her mind. Something telling her this wasn't real, or right, or how it should be. Maybe she just didn't accept that she could have something so wonderful and was being unintentionally destructive.

But that wasn't quite it either.

She loved Kyo, but she also felt like it took a long time to get to this point. She felt as if they had come through a very long fog to emerge not to the bright sunlit future but to a hazy potential course of action. Things weren't quite clear to her, but she knew there was . . . something good there. So it must be love; love seemed like the right solution, the right thing to feel. He was safe, and he loved her.

She was being emotional.

As usual, the moon was right. She finished her tea and went back to bed. As she climbed in, Kyo rolled over to hug her and the doubt she had slipped away with her wake mind. Once again, that gnawing feeling drew back to it's dark corner of her consciousness.

)()()(

"Wake up. I need you to bleed into this cup."

His good eye opened as far as it could.

"Can't you use what's on the floor?"

Silence.

"Well I can't really bleed on command. You'll have to come get it yourself."

Silence.

He laughed, pulling himself to a half-sit. He was shaky. He made a mental note to take it easy.

"Either you pick how you bleed, or I will," the darkness said.

He considered. "That's a pretty big cup. Will Hatori be here this time at least?"

"You have 1 hour."