A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I swear things will become a bit more cheerful eventually. Enjoy!

Seiya didn't know where we were going. She had never been to Mamo-chan's apartment, after all, and I'd never bothered to tell her where it was. I could see the curiosity written all over her face as we walked into the building and I knew she was dying to ask me questions, but to her credit she stifled the urge and just followed me, Chibi-Chibi sitting up in her arms, looking around with bright, attentive eyes. It felt good to know that the two of them were there with me as I stood in front of the elevator and pushed the button for the right floor. I'd done this a thousand times before and I knew that this would be the last time.

We stepped inside and the elevator carried us up. The doors swished open and I got out first, leading the way down to the right door. I put my key into the lock and it opened easily. A familiar sight was revealed to me: Mamo-chan had always kept his apartment neat. Out of habit I took my shoes off and slipped my feet into the pink slippers he'd bought especially for me. I spotted a child's pair of white slippers beside the dark blue ones Mamo-chan used to wear and it took everything I had to not start crying again at the sight. I looked away and found myself gazing at Seiya, who was staring down at the slippers too. I saw the look on her face and knew she'd figured out where we were.

"I'm sorry," I said roughly, brushing at my cheeks even though I hadn't let any tears escape. "I know this is probably the last place you want to be, but I had to come. I just... I needed to be here one last time. There's something that I need to get."

"It's fine, Odango. Take as long as you need," Seiya replied, her blue eyes warm and gentle.

I attempted a smile and walked into the living room. It had never seemed especially large but with Mamo-chan gone, I felt its emptiness. I wondered who would move in here now, into this place where I had imagined living with Mamo-chan after our wedding. There had been a couple of times when we were curled up on the couch together when I'd pictured raising Chibi-Usa here. We could've turned the guest bedroom into a nursery. I'd planned out the colors – pink for the walls, of course, with white furniture – and where we would put everything. Her crib would've been under the window so she'd have the morning sun to wake her up.

"It's just hard to believe how fast your plans can change," I said, hardly aware that I was going to speak until I did. I knew that Seiya would understand perfectly. She, Yaten and Taiki would've had tons of plans with Princess Kakyuu and all of those had been just as derailed as mine had. "I mean, I stand here and I keep expecting him to walk in that door with a bouquet of red roses and tell me that it was all a lie, that Galaxia didn't steal his starseed. I'd almost prefer that he had broken up with me and that he was in America living with another girl all this time over this."

"He wouldn't have done that to you," Seiya said gently, sitting down on the couch and placing Chibi-Chibi on her knee. "I didn't know him but now I know that he loved you." She hesitated a little. "I'm sorry I tried to break your confidence, Odango. I didn't realize… I thought that you were clinging to something that was never going to happen."

"Technically you were right," I replied.

She looked at me sadly. "But not for the reasons that I thought I would be."

I had to give her that. I turned and left the two of them in the living room, padding down the hall to Mamo-chan's room. It was still primarily a man's room, but here and there I could see a few touches from me and Chibi-Usa. He used to keep a picture of the three of us on his nightstand, but I noticed that it was gone. He must have taken it to America with him. I entered the room and walked over to the bed, seating myself on the edge of it gingerly. For a long moment I just looked around. Everything had a light layer of dust on it. Technically it had been months since anyone had come here. Mamo-chan had decided to rent it out to someone while he was gone, but I supposed that since he never responded to the people who were interested, no one had ever moved in.

It was hard sitting there. I'd only been in his bedroom once or twice and never by myself. It felt wrong, strange, to stand up and walk over to his closet. I felt like I was invading his privacy when I pulled the doors open. There wasn't much clothing left behind. He'd taken most of it to America with him. What were left were his summer clothes and things he didn't wear anymore, the stuff that was either too small or too out of fashion, like that atrocious green jacket he used to love so much. I touched the jacket lightly and then looked down towards the bottom of his closet. He had shoes and a couple of bags down there. I pushed them aside and felt towards the back. At first I didn't feel anything, but then my fingers brushed against the sharp edge of something and my heart flipped over.

The box I was holding was actually something like a little chest. It had a rounded top and was made from smooth, carved wood that was a deep reddish color. Someone had gone to a lot trouble to make this, I could tell. I put my hand on the lid and pushed it up. The first thing I saw, lying right on top of everything else, was a large red rose. My eyes filled with tears as I picked it up, careful not to prick my finger on one of the thorns. It was one of the few magical gifts Mamo-chan had possessed: he could make his roses live forever or fade away instantly, which is what he generally did immediately following a battle. I still had a handful kept in a safe place at home. I wondered if they would wither and die now that he was gone.

I pressed the petals to my cheek, inhaling the sweet fading fragrance, before I looked down at what else was inside the box. It was a sheaf of papers and, right on top, a ring box. My stomach turned over as I picked up the box. I thought I knew what might be inside and if I was right I couldn't bear it, not yet. I turned my attention to the papers and started flipping through them, wondering what could have been so important that Mamo-chan would keep them in a locked box at the back of his closet. I quickly found out.

It was his will.

And he'd left everything to me.

I felt dizzy. My hands were shaking. I guessed I should have been expecting it but somehow I wasn't. If I was reading it correctly, Mamo-chan had made sure that if anything ever happened to him I would be well taken care of. He'd listed everything he owned, including what he had in the bank, and I have to say it was a sizeable sum, enough for me and Chibi-Chibi to live comfortably on for more than a few years if we were careful. I couldn't read any further than that. Most of the language was very technical and I knew that I was missing important stuff. I put the papers back into the box and sat there for a moment, steeling myself, before I reached out and opened the ring box.

My finger had felt strangely empty ever since I'd woken up without my promise ring. Here was something to replace it, if I wanted. The ring was very simple and had obviously been custom-made. The band was fashioned from rose gold and had a ruby and a diamond on top. Both gems had been carved into the shape of half a heart and then placed so that together they formed a whole heart. Tears blurred my eyes again and this time I couldn't force them back. They started running down my face and dripping onto the ring. It was so beautiful. If Mamo-chan had shown this to me I would've said yes in a heartbeat. I couldn't believe he'd had it made for me and that he'd been keeping hold of it all this time. How long had he had this?

The sound of my sobs must have reached the living room, because I heard footsteps coming down the hall. My heart jumped into my throat but it was Seiya. When she saw me she sighed and came into the room, walking over to kneel next to me. I didn't say a word, just handed her the box. I watched the understanding dawn on her face, followed by something I couldn't identify. Grief, maybe. Without speaking she shifted until she was sitting beside me and then she reached out and slipped an arm around my shoulders, rocking me back and forth gently while I cried.

"I just can't believe he's really gone," I whimpered.

"He's not gone, Odango. As long as you love him he'll always be with you," Seiya replied, kissing me on the forehead. "All of your senshi will. And you'll see him again, you know that. He'll be reborn just like everyone else."

"I know," I whispered. I didn't have to say, because I knew that Seiya was thinking the same thing, that it wouldn't be the same. Mamo-chan would be a different person when he was reborn. I wasn't the exact same person that Princess Serenity had been even though we looked alike. She was a much colder girl than I could ever be. He'd be a stranger to me and though we could grow to be friends I knew I would never love him the way I'd loved Mamo-chan. My heart couldn't take that kind of pain.

We sat there for a long time until Seiya's phone beeped. She jumped in surprise and I smiled as she grabbed her phone and checked the screen. "It's from Yaten. They're leaving the memorial service and heading home," she told me.

"It's that late?" I looked around in surprise, realizing that it was. Somehow the afternoon had passed without my notice. Suddenly I wanted to leave. I wanted to go home with Seiya and change out of this dress and shower, and then I wanted to curl up on the couch with the four people left in the world that mattered the most to me. "Take me home, Seiya."

Seiya smiled at me. She stood up and then reached down, taking my hand in hers. "Come on, Odango."

We walked down the hall together. I was carrying the chest in my arms. I knew Mamo-chan wanted me to have it. I guess I should have been thinking a little more carefully about Chibi-Chibi and where she was, but my mind was too preoccupied. We soon found out, however, when we moved out into the living room and saw all of the cupboard doors in the kitchen were wide open. Chibi-Chibi was sitting on the floor and she had a box of chocolate cookies in her hands. There was chocolate everywhere. All over her face, in her hair, on her clothes. About the only clean space was the floor around her, which had miraculously escaped any trace of chocolate, like it had all gravitated towards her instead.

"Chibi-Chibi!" I groaned loudly as Seiya burst out laughing beside me. In spite of myself, I had to laugh too as Seiya gingerly picked her up. Maybe things weren't so bad after all.

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