Just a warning I am Dyslexic so my stories will not be perfect but I now have one Beta reader to help me along the way :D

Thank you so much to Roshelle Diall for offering to work with me :D

Hello my sweeties,

Guessing my slower update reason has been seen by most people :P

so no point repeating myself, but you can see the reason on one of my other fic's if needed.

Neh xxx

I do not own Skip Beat.

Enjoy.

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"I don't think I've ever loved Yashiro more than I did that day!" Kyoko laughed at the implications of Kuon's words and he smiled at her endearingly.

"I love you, Kyoko." her heart stopped. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't say it! How could she? She had sworn off love and here was a man, a kind caring loving man telling her he loved her! Her, the one who had never been anything but thrown away. Kyoko's breath hitched as she began to speak, willing herself to say something...anything!

*Ring Ring. Ring Ring*

Kyoko's heart was still leaping somersaults as Kuon excused himself to take the call. From the sounds of the conversation it was the president. Even though her head was still resting on Kuon's chest she couldn't grasp their conversation. Her heart was pounding in her ears drowning out all other noise as she wondered would she really ever be able to hear again? It was a close won battle over her starting to hyperventilate as she pressed her head into his chest trying to control her breathing. She wondered why taking deep breaths in through her nose helped? That smell again. Kuon's smell. No matter how much she tried to convince herself it had no effect over her, at that moment she didn't dare even think of how it was calming her.

The phone call didn't last long as Kuon dropped his phone and sighed deeply, still twirling his fingers over her back as she fully controlled herself. Kuon looked at her buried face and wondered why Kyoko seemed so on edge since he had woken up? Lory had said it was simply fear and shock, but Kuon wondered about that when he felt her trembling, her breathing ragged and drawn.

"Kyoko are you OK? Have I upset you?" his words were gentle and she felt no force behind them, closing off that part of her mind that had such hatred towards the word he had used, she spoke into his chest.

"I never thought anyone would ever say that to me again." her response was simple and to the point, but in a way it was also full of multiple meanings. Kuon took it as Lory had told him, fear and shock. She had been scared of Kuon dying, she had been afraid of losing him like she had so many times before. He could remember in his mind the time after they had first got together. Her fear of being unworthy of him, her fear that he would find another better than her in every way. No matter how many times Kuon told her this was impossible, it had taken until the day he married her for her fear to almost completely disappear.

She would still have moments. If she didn't she wouldn't be the woman he loved, but maybe the accident had set her back a little with her heart. He supposed in a way dying to Kyoko would just be another way of him abandoning her, no wonder she was scared. Kuon looked down at the top of her head. Her breathing had returned to normal he was happy to feel as he traced his fingers over her slim back.

"I love you, Kyoko." he repeated and yet again her head shot up and stared at him with those fear filled golden orbs, she was about to splutter a reply when he gently laid his finger over her lips.

"You do not need to tell me you love me Kyoko. You have been through a lot because of me and I'm sorry to have caused you any pain. It was never my intention. I will never stop telling you I love you. For I could never love another woman as I do you my princess, but I don't need you to tell me. Your actions say enough Kyoko." he was tracing her lips gently with a finger as her eyes lost the violence of her fear, softening as she unfolded her arms and wrapped them around his neck. To Kyoko she was showing her grateful acceptance of his words, to Kuon she was showing her love, to both of them the feelings where a mass of crossed threads pulsing in harmony.

"As much as I would love to stay here with you in my arms forever, we need to go back to the house. The President and Doctor Benkia are waiting for a check up with me and Lory has also talked about contacting mom and dad to see Rosa." his smile was infectious even with the dropping of her heart at the mention of their supposed child's name. Kyoko couldn't help but smile when he smiled at her that way.

"OK, we had better not keep them waiting then." she stood and Kuon did too. For a few moments, Kyoko stood unmoving missing the warmth his chest had given her, the feeling of his fingers on her back and his breath tickling her hair. No. No she couldn't be thinking like this. She helped Kuon pack up the picnic and then he took her hand as they started back off down the path.

"Would you like another memory?" Kuon asked. After a few minutes of silence Kyoko looked at him and nodding, smiled. He loved the way she smiled, the way her eyes lit up and the faint dimples on her cheeks, God he really was the luckiest man in the world.

"OK then any requests." she smiled again but shook her head,

"Well as it was meant to be my turn I suppose you can pick ." he chuckled and she laughed. God, she is adorable, it's a good thing I saw her discharge papers or Ii would be struggling not to try for a little brother or sister for Rosa right now.

"OK then, so how about I tell you about my memories of the day I proposed to you?" Kyoko looked at him. If she could have chosen something this was one she would have liked to hear so she nodded and smiled.

"Well let me tell you I had the ring not long after our first kiss, can you believe that? I just couldn't see my life without you in it. We were filming in Hokkaido at the time and I finally decided it was about time that I at least asked you. I'd had the ring for so long I was scared it would wear a hole in my jacket pocket. I arranged to have the afternoon off from the shoot. Luckily they were able to fix it so they just shot your scenes without me. It took me almost two hours to get it all set up. 500 candles, 30 meters of fairy lights and a workforce of 10 men later, I wouldn't change it for all the world. I remember seeing you in your white sundress. You looked stunning, but you were not too happy when I asked to blindfold you.

You worried all the way to the elevator and I'm sure you were worried for the short trip to the beach house I had rented especially for that evening. I took you right onto the back porch. It was a full moon that night, so big and beautiful hanging there like our own personal witness above the sea. I was so nervous I think I was down on one knee at least 5 minutes before I finally got the confidence to ask you to remove the blindfold. As always you gave me that dazzling smile, your eyes were sparkling in wonder and I thought at the time that I didn't deserve you. Yet when you looked down at me and I pulled that lid back on the box holding my promises, the look in your eyes in those few moments only deepened the love I had for you and the want to never let you go again.

To my astonishment, you said yes and we danced under the moon and stars surrounded by the candles and fairy lights. You told me it was the most magical evening you had ever been fortunate enough to witness and it was even better when it was your fairy prince asking." Kuon smiled at Kyoko. At some point during his recollection, Kyoko had shut her eyes, trying in vain to imagine what that scene would look like. The candles, the lights and the moon, it truly did sound magical and Kuon had done this just for her? No, Kyoko get a grip. Kuon thinks he has done this for you, he never did...but that little voice in the back of her head that always had a wisecrack to add at the worst moments decided to speak up then,

"But if he had fantasized about it then surely that is what he would like to do for real?"

the walk back seemed to take less time. Maybe it was because it was downhill, or the fact that after Kuon's last memory they had both been silent, lost in their own thoughts with Kuon believing Kyoko needed time. He had decided these memories would make her feel better and maybe that had been the reason she had started the game in the first place? Kuon was right, Kyoko did need time to think, but her thoughts were more along the lines of what man would go to such lengths for her? The answer was already right there with her, holding her hand and striding along beside her. The answer was of course, Kuon.


It didn't take them long to get back. Lory and Doctor Benkia met them on the back porch, sitting in the porch swing sipping drinks.

"Well Kuon, I hope you did not take silly chances dying your hair to its original colour?" Kuon smiled and explained about the putty as Doctor Bankia asked Kuon to follow him inside so he could give him a full examination. Kuon nodded, leaving Kyoko on the porch with Lory alone. Lory patted the porch swing beside him that the doctor had just vacated as Lory poured Kyoko a glass of lemon water with ice from the large jug he had on the table.

"How is it going, Mogami-san?" he asked slowly as he watched the young woman sip her water. He could see already that she seemed shocked or even confused by something he just needed to find out why.

"I've made up a game for me and Kuon, we have been sharing memories." Lory nodded, intrigued as Kyoko then continued to tell Lory everything which Kuon had told her. The getting together, the proposal, even their little secret about him being her fairy prince from her childhood, it was easy to say this last one shocked Lory, but he was astounded these two really were just meant to be together. Fate keep pushing them into these situations (with his help of course in some cases). Lory grinned when she had finished.

"Well it sure does sound like Kuon, though I would have thought he would have done more for the proposal. He could've asked me!" Kyoko giggled at his fake indignation but then her posture fell and she slumped a little.

"But president he hasn't done these things!" she stated hating herself for pointing out the obvious, but it was the plain gods to honest truth! Lory sighed and put one arm around Kyoko pulling her into a one armed hug,

"Yes my dear, but what you must realise is you're living in Kuon's fantasy world. So for him to be having these kinds of thoughts at all, he has had to have thought about them an awful lot. Meaning even if he was too afraid to tell you his true feelings before this, he has thought about every step of his life that he would like to take with no other woman but you." his words hit a chord in Kyoko's heart as it seemed to swell inside its locked box, putting pressure on the lid seeking release as she realised Lory had a point.

"Now this is going to be difficult Kyoko, but I need you to listen to me." his serious tone made Kyoko sit up and pay attention as Lory pulled an envelope from beside him and pulled out the paperwork within.

"I have found Rosa. Well not me personally but your father Kuu and mother Julie have found her." Rosa? They have found Rosa? But Rosa isn't real! Kyoko's head swam as Lory passed her a picture of a baby around 5 months old. She was simply beautiful was Kyoko's first thought as she looked at the blond hair and golden eyed child in the photograph. Her heart leapt and Lory passed her three more pictures. This was her daughter? But how was it possible, she remembered how Kuon had described the child and really, the child in those pictures matched the bill entirely. Kyoko looked at the pictures for a little while. Lory tried to gauge her reaction, coming up blank as the young woman just stared at them.

"Kara or who will now be called Rosa, is an orphan Kyoko. Kuu and Julie have spent time and money tracking a baby down who is in need of a home, that meets the description Kuon gave us and this is who they have found." Lory sighed and he looked at the young girl beside him still looking at the pictures in silence. He knew this assignment was hard for her. He could see it in the way she acted, but he hoped the experience would make her come out that much stronger.

"Kyoko, I needed to speak to you today as I think we need to bring Rosa home, but we cannot do that without you and Kuon signing to say you will be her legal guardians upon arrival. This is not a normal adoption in the normal circumstances and could take months even years to sort out , but due to the circumstances they are willing to allow Rosa to fly home in two days time. That is only if you agree, of course and I know for a fact you were worried about the Rosa situation, but this is a life changing decision Kyoko. I know you said you would do anything to help get Kuon better, but can you do this?" Lory allowed his words to sink in as he watched her.

A baby. My baby. Our baby. Kyoko thought as she looked at the pictures. It was scary how true it could be that Rosa was Kuon's daughter, and it worried Kyoko how alike their eyes were. Had they had the baby genetically cloned or something?! Could she do this? She understood what Lory was asking her, he was asking her to be this child's mother could she really do that?

"What happens if Kuon wakes up from his confabulation?" Kyoko asked her voice full of the emotions she was holding back, Lory looked at her

"We would have to cross that bridge when we or if we come to it Kyoko but for now I need to know if you will sign these papers." he handed her the adoption papers for Kara Oswald, could she do this? She was about to start asking the same questions over and over before she stopped. She remembered Kuon's eyes talking about his daughter the honest and true love he felt for the child and Kyoko knew it was not a question anymore. It was something she had to do. She signed on the dotted lines.

Kyoko watched as Lory skillfully got Kuon to sign the papers too pretending they were the airport papers for Rosa to come home with, Kuon never asked questions. At the mention of his daughter he grabbed the pen and signed without any further trouble. Rosa would be back in 2 days and Kyoko knew she had done the right thing.

Though nothing could prepare her for the video call Lory set up for them. One moment it was a blank screen, the next there in front of her was Kuu, Julie and on Julie's lap Rosa. It hit Kyoko then. This was now her daughter she had signed away her heart to this little child! Without a thought of the child, what if she was like her mother? What if she was wrong? What if she couldn't love the child as she needed to? But as the small face turned to face the screen and golden eyes hit golden eyes, Kyoko suddenly felt a deep yearning inside herself as a small smile crept across the baby's face and Kyoko's world went black.

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well a lot of you have begged for it, so here she is Rosa :)

thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews and PM's i've gotten about this story

i couldn't even begin to explain how your comments keep me going.

Thank you for reading :)

Neh xxx

Comments and reviews please

Not again! Poor Kyoko, bless her heart. I'm sure it's a lot to deal with but she has to wake up soon.-RD