And here we have it. The final chapter. *Sniffle…* (By the way, sorry it's a bit late. Mom was on the computer half the night, so...)
A quick comment on the chapter title: It's meant to tie in to Meroko's final statement to Izumi (which you'll see), but I also meant to connect it to the title of the final chapter of Guns and Roses. Its last chapter was called always, and I wanted to show the opposite spectrum kind of thing with this. You see???
Anyway, here we go! Enjoy the last chapter, everyone!
Days go by, then weeks, then months. And before either of them knows it, it's been two years.
One day: right before a case, Meroko finds herself pushed against a wall (déjà vu), her yells muffled by Izumi's lips locked firmly on top of hers. She shoves against his chest with all her strength, but he's too strong.
When she finally gets her mouth free for longer than half a second, she chokes out, "S-Stop it…"
Izumi smiles. "Why?"
"Stop it already! I—I have work…"
His smile only widens at that. "Is that all?"
Meroko grits her teeth and shoves him away. "Get—off!"
Izumi shakes his head, sighing as though Meroko is being a troublesome child. "You're so stubborn."
Meroko doesn't bother answering that with anything more than a glare. She turns to fly away.
"You still love me, Meroko," he calls out as she takes off. "You know you do."
"Stupid!" she calls out scathingly, turning her head back to stick out her tongue. "I'd never go with a thing like you!"
She turns her face away before she can see the flash of hurt go through his eyes.
"So, who have we got?"
Meroko looks down at the file. "Mitsuki Koyama, age twelve. Looks like she's got a year left to live, but someone who's going to prevent her death is supposed to appear today."
"So we've just got to stop them from meeting?" Takuto stretches his arms. "That's easy enough."
"Yeah." Meroko sighs. "Is it just me, or are they dying younger?"
Takuto shrugs. "Who knows?" He takes the file from Meroko and glances it over. "So, you ready?"
-
"You love me."
-
"Yeah…"
-
"I'd never go with a thing like you!"
-
Meroko nods. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go."
From the beginning, I wanted Mitsuki-chan to make a cameo, but I wasn't sure how to manage it. And then this idea came…Ta-kun got to make an appearance as well, and that was nice; it mixed things up a little.
And…that's it. The Moments After is officially completed. Thank you so much to everyone who read and/or reviewed this story. Your attention really does mean the world to me. : )
As for the future? I plan to at least attempt to finish Some Small Part of Love, despite the lack of inspiration attached. Whispers of Love is progressing very slowly, but my ultimate goal is to finish that as well. I also have multiple ideas for AU Full Moon long-fics, but we'll have to wait and see if those go anywhere.
Once again, thanks for reading! See you all later!