Author's Note: Yay it's time for NaNoWriMo! :D For those who don't know, over the course of National Novel Writing Month, there is a challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days and I've taken on that challenge with the intention of using it partly to update every single one of my unfinished stories posted here. ^_^ So I apologize in advance to those of you who have me on a watch list and are suddenly getting spammed with all of my stuff and to those of you who I'm knocking off of the front page with updates! :O I don't mean to crowd you all out, I promise!

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Chapter 2

Fuuma had met the space-time witch before. It was difficult for people in their particular trades not to cross paths actually, which at times had caused strife when the person in question did not take well to him in some way. Yuko, however, had seen him as useful and they had swiftly formed a relatively symbiotic relationship with the understanding that while they had a certain friendly chemistry, distance would always be necessary in their fields of work. It never ended well, getting too attached to someone you might never see again. He had learned that the hard way.

Still, he could not quite suppress the feeling of returning home each time he arrived in her shop.

"Eh?" A bespectacled young man poked his head out the door as Fuuma appeared in the front yard. "Ah it's you. Yuko-saaan!" he called back in the shop. "Weird glasses dude is here to see you again!"

Fuuma chuckled as stepped over the threshold, feeling a tingle of power like an electric charge as he did so. "Couldn't that refer to you?"

"Weird glasses! Weird glasses!" Maru and Moro chanted as they danced around a furious Watanuki.

"Shut up!" He barked back at them.

"Ugggh. What is all this noise so early in the morning?" Yuko slumped against the doorframe. "Ah! Fuuma-kun!" She gave him a shaky smile.

"Hung over again?"

"Well it was such good sake, it would have been a shame to waste it."

"And much better to get wasted?" Fuuma laughed.

"Exactly. Watanuki." She whined at the young man still bickering noisily with Maru and Moro. "Could you-"

"Yes, yes." The boy waved his hand dismissively. "I was about to leave for the pharmacy anyway when this guy showed up." He jerked his head in Fuuma's direction before pulling on his shoes and exiting the front yard.

"Does it ever make you jealous?" Fuuma asked softly, watching the boy disappear behind the fence that enclosed the shop's grounds and acted as a barrier between it and the rest of space and time.

Yuko hummed. "What?"

"Being able to leave the shop."

She gave him a slow, pained smile. "I was able to do so once. I have seen the world outside of this one." She rested a hand lovingly against the doorframe. "I chose this life as much as it chose me for a reason."

"Are you ever going to share that reason with me?"

"Maybe someday." She gestured for him to follow her inside. "But it's not the kind of path that would suit someone like you."

Fuuma chuckled. "No, I'm far too fond of my travels to sacrifice that, you're right."

Yuko glanced over one bare shoulder, fixing him with a penetrating stare. "That isn't what I meant."

"Oh? What did you mean then?" Fuuma sank down onto a silk cushion.

"Love is different for every person." Yuko responded vaguely. "Now while Watanuki is still out and about. What was it you wanted to see me about?"

"I have a wish that I need your help on."

Thunder rolled outside, still far away but nonetheless a distant warning.

"Maru! Moro!" Yuko called. "Bring in the items Watanuki left out on the lawn so they don't get wet!"

"A group of travelers will need aid."

Yuko stared out the window, watching the dark gray clouds gathering over the city.

"Helping them will cost a great deal." She remarked casually.

"I know."

"Why is it so important that you grant this wish?" Yuko tilted her head slightly.

"Call it obsessive compulsive." Fuuma grinned back. "You know I can't seem to resist. Besides, it's not like you're one to talk." He gave her a pointed look.

"You know my interest in Watanuki is strictly business." Yuko replied smoothly.

"Hm."

Yuko waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, about the cost." A shadow fell across her features. "As I said… it will be great."

Fuuma gave a nonchalant shrug but felt his heart pound in anticipation. "What is the price?"

"Your memories."

"What, all of them? That's going to make my work rather tricky." He joked.

"No, not all of them."

He sobered in spite of himself.

"Just the ones of him."

Fuuma stared at the table, at the swirls of white dragons snaking their way across the glass top.

"Do you still want to go through with it?"

He trailed one finger around the curve of the nearest dragon's belly, trying not to notice that it had sky-blue eyes.

"I would like time to consider it."He sighed at long last.

Yuko did not respond.

"But I don't have that kind of time." He finished.

"So the question is, once again, is it worth it?"

"I don't know, is it?"

Yuko gave him a somewhat saddened look. "I cannot decide that for you."

"What will happen if I meet him again once my memories are gone?"

Yuko gave him a look that spoke of centuries worth of sadness and loss. "You know that the feelings will never be returned, even if you fall in love all over again."

He smiled sadly at the table. "I know." He sighed heavily. "But it would be worth it anyway."

"You think so?"

It was Fuuma's turn to study Yuko carefully as she wistfully looked away.

"Watanuki… he still hasn't realized has he?"

Yuko didn't respond, staring outside at the gathering storm clouds looming in the distance.

At long last she turned to face Fuuma again with a grave, but more professional look. "Well?"

"I'll do it."

She gave him a soft smile and leaned forward, resting a hand against his cheek.

And then all went dark.

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