AN: Standard disclaimers apply... minna, thank you so much for everything. Here is the last stretch... enjoy.

Getting to Love You

Chapter 25

"Thank you for everything, Yoh, Anna."

The dark haired shaman gave his friend a sad smile from the train door. "I'm sorry we couldn—"

"If you so much as think about apologizing again, I will smack you all the way back to Izumo," the Ainu smiled back.

Yoh shrugged and let his wife pass through the train's open door. Anna gave him a quick wave of the hand as she boarded the train and disappeared into the hall. Horo-Horo gave her an uncharacteristic low bow once she was out of sight.

"Take care of yourself my friend," Yoh said following suit.

He smiled and nodded simply. Tamao adjusted the pack over her shoulder and took a deep breath. She had been dreading this moment since yesterday, and still had no idea of what to do. Horo-Horo watched as she got onto the train and for a moment thought she wasn't even going to look back at him, so when she turned back and jumped into his arms, he was plenty shocked. His euphoria was short lived however, as he realized this was not a joyous embrace. He could feel her crying into his shirt.

Though it hurt, he pulled away and gave her a reassuring smile before leading her back onto the train. Not a second too soon, the whistle blew calling all passengers on board. The door shut between them rather abruptly and both were left with a sense of inconclusiveness as the train started to move.

This was the place in movies and books were the heroes were supposed to beat all odds and stay together. Horo-Horo reached into his pocket and clutched the small object inside it. Tamao silently wondered if she should have told him about what had happened to her.

"Tamao!" he called out through the glass walking alongside the train.

She looked up, scared but hopeful, placing her hand over the glass. He fisted his hand as Tamao waited for something she wanted, but could not accept. He let out a breath, unclenched his fist and stopped walking. He raised his empty hand and waved goodbye as the train slid away with his happiness on board.

She closed her eyes, setting her head against the glass as the train reached maximum speed.

"Ja," she whispered.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

"Nii-san," Pilica asked softly looking into his room.

He had been up here for a while. She had been the one to deliver the letter to him. It had been a few weeks since 'the incident' and since she and Ren had returned. It had taken her brother a whole week after she arrived to muster up enough strength to explain everything to her. After this, Ren had gone back to China and Pilica had done her best to go back to the way things used to be. The blue haired girl didn't have it in her to tell her brother about her previous plans to go and live with the Chinese Shaman. Not after all of this mess anyway. Ren understood. He even said he would wait for her. She sadly doubted it though.

Her brother had put up a strong front for Tamao and his friends from Izumo, but his sister let him mourn, knowing nothing could be better for him at a time like this. She was his sister after all, and would help him get through this. The atmosphere in the house up till now had been dreary at best, so when a letter from Tamao had arrived earlier that day she didn't know whether to be apprehensive or excited. It was addressed to her brother, so after delivering it up to his room she made sure to give him privacy, but stayed close none the less. Pilica was glad to hear from her friend, but she had a feeling that her words would do little to consol her big brother.

Horo-Horo had not looked up from the letter since his sister called out to him. She refrained from getting any closer, afraid of what his reaction might be. He had read and re-read the last sentence of the letter over and over again. As the minutes slipped by he repeated the bittersweet words in his mind with her voice. Her calligraphy was perfect. Her letter was flawless, all except that one small cross through at the end.

Just know that, if I still had my heart, it would belong to you. And that it was an honor, a pleasure, and an adventure getting to )(know)( love you.

Tamamura Tamao

He didn't know if it made him feel better or worse.

"Pilica," he said finally, not moving his eyes from the letter.

"Hai?" she perked up and went to sit beside him.

He glanced over the letter one last time before meeting his sister's concerned gaze with a smile. She looked confused.

"Go back to China."

oooooooooooooooooooo

Yomei gave her a light nod as he walked past her room.

"Oyasumi," Tamao smiled and bowed before sliding the door shut.

It had been an exhausting day. There was a lot to do at the Asakura household before Tanabata, they were helping the local temple with the festival this year. It was still half a month away, but preparations always started early. She appreciated the work though; it was easy to take her mind off things if she kept herself busy. The diviner was far from forgetting everything that had happened last year in Hokkaido, but at least she was no longer constantly bombarded with thoughts of guilt and concern for the Ainu.

Not much had changed since she returned to the Asakura mansion after the incident. Though always concerned for his well fare, she still could not muster up anything more than friendship for him. Two weeks after she left, she wrote the first letter. In it she put down her apologies for leaving, for not being able to explain what had happened to her affection for him, and then proceeded to tell him everything she remembered from the reality he had not seen. It had taken him a month to get back to her. The first letter she got had arrived on New Year's Eve. In it he wished her the best of luck for the upcoming year and let her know that Pilica had gone back with Ren, as he was a wuss that could not live without her. In exchange for his sister, Horo-Horo would have never ending taunting privileges for the loves truck Chinese. He said he was managing pretty well on his own, and told her about the koropokuru's and the fields, and dismissed her apologies as if they could still be friends. He wrote other things as well, but she preferred not to think about those.

She was deeply thankful for his response and since then, they had been in correspondence. His letters would arrive on the last day of every month and her responses would go out on the first day of the next. Technology and all, writing letters to her friend up north had seemed so much more appropriate than any phone or computer could have been. His letters were usually two or three pages long, (as opposed to her 5+) and they had become the highlight of the waning months. That's why today, the 17thof June when she saw a small parcel over her bed, she was intrigued.

The diviner picked up the small box and did not associate it with her friend up north until she saw the chicken scratch handwriting with the characteristic oddly shaped cartoon next to it. Her face twisted with glee as she started fidgeting with the wrapper. How had he even found out about her birthday?

In the small box she found a one page letter and a tiny jewelry box. She was a bit disappointed that upon opening the letter, there was only one paragraph, but still she read happily.

I didn't forget! And, I'm afraid I won't be able to give you something as kick ass as what you gave me for my birthday... it's kind of hard to beat 'Alternate reality', so go easy on me. I just thought, you would like this back.

Happy birthday Bara!

She chuckled and pulled the ribbon off the small white box. If she didn't know any better she would have thought there would be an engagement ring in it. She chuckled nervously at the thought. The box creaked open and her eyes widened.

Her hand twitched and his letter dropped to the floor. The room swayed around her and quite suddenly she was on her knees. Her heart raced as she stared down at the tiny thing nestled in white silk. Her vision blurred before big, hot tears started streaming down her cheeks. He... was an,

"Idiot..." she mouthed into the darkness.

oooooooooooooooo

Horo-Horo stood up squinting at the bright burning sun. He wiped the sweat from his brow with the towel that hung over his neck as he surveyed the fields around him. De-weeding in summer was a bitch. It was good that he at least had someone to help him now. Pilica had come back soon after Tamao left last year, but her intentions were never to stay. She hadn't told him about it, but he wasn't an idiot. Not after everything that he had gone through with Tamao. Though she loved her brother more than anything in the world, both knew where she really wanted to be. The truth was, he was very happy his sister had found the person she belonged with. In all honesty, she could have done a lot worse than the Chinese midget; though he would never admit it to either of them.

Of course, this meant that he needed to hire someone to help out with the fields, at least until he finished school this year. Tamao had offered to come back. After she had recuperated, she wrote back asking if he needed help. He had politely declined though, knowing it would make her uncomfortable to be around him all the time. And of course, he didn't have the strength to be around something he could never have either. He had finished school earlier this month and with the colossal amount of money he had gotten from Goro's settlement, there was no need to go work in the city anymore. Hell, he could even afford to hire a guy to help him out.

"Hey, Hiro," Horo-Horo called to the hunched over elderly man.

"Yes sir?" the mentioned asked. Though this had originally irked him to no end, Horo-Horo had grown used to the honorific and accepted it as part of Hiro's 'charm'.

"Did you hear that?" he asked again scanning the greenery around him.

"That?" Hiro asked as his own blue eyes looked over to where Horo-Horo was glancing. The scene appeared as unchanged and tranquil as it had ever been, yet the young man was looking rather attentively towards the empty horizon. "You know sir, hallucinations are always a good indicator of a necessary water break."

Horo-Horo scowled and turned away from the white haired man, "I'm not hallucinating you old fart, I just could have sworn I heard someone call my name."

Hiro raised a brow, scanning the scene in Horo-Horo's general direction. "The mailbox... sir?"

The Ainu glared. "Talking mailboxes Hiro? Really? Go take a break yourself, can't have you stroking out in my fields just yet now."

"Oh I have no intentions of dying before you, young master," said Hiro retreating back to the house.

Horo-Horo scowled at the smart ass elderly man before following him back to the cabin. He had to admit, Hiro kept him on his toes. The older man looked rather frail but could keep up with Horo-Horo's pace any day of the year. He was happy to have found him. Still, the Ainu could have sworn he heard something from the road just now. It almost seemed to have, a killing intent to it.

Then a few feet away from his house, he heard it again:

"—...aaaAAAAAAAAAKAAA!"

He was just vaguely beginning to recognize the crazy sounding voice before it happened. As he turned, two feet connected with his face and sent him flying across his front lawn. Hiro's eyes widened as his master and the mystery assailant disappeared behind a cloud of dust. When he said he was planning to die after the young Ainu, he assumed it assured him a little while longer than this.

"Hang in there... sir," he trembled.

When the world stopped spinning and the dust settled, Horo-Horo was well aware that there was someone sitting over his chest pinning him to the ground. Imagine his surprise though, when he was greeted by long rosy hair and big watery ruby eyes. The semi conscious Ainu blinked stupidly up at the girl as she tried to suppress her sobs. If she was real or not, he had never seen anything so beautiful in his life.

"Tamao?" he called out in shock.

"AHOU!" she called out as her fist connected with his chest.

Again and again he was assaulted with tiny, albeit, powerful fists as this whole scenario just kept getting weirder and weirder. Finally, curiosity (and pain!) prompted him to take both her wrists in his hands and look up at her questioningly. He saw that as she stood over him, with the most indignant glare he had ever seen, her crystal rose pendant slipped out over the collar of her shirt and dangled between them. She responded with a trembling lip and some large fat tears streaming down her nose.

"Tamao," he began unsure of what to expect. Oh Kami, how he loved hearing her name on his lips again. "What's—?"

Horo-Horo's eyes widened as her lips were suddenly pressed hungrily against his own. The contact seemed to raise him from the dead. He was suddenly overpowered by a sensation he had given up on ever feeling again. The contact was brief though, he hadn't even had a chance to understand it, let alone reciprocate. The next thing he knew, he was holding a rather small looking diviner, lying over his chest with her head buried in his shoulder.

"Hiro," he said breathlessly as her scent dazed him even more.

"Sir?" asked the elderly man, still watching in confusion from a few feet away.

"Is there... something beautiful on top of me?" he wondered, just making sure his sanity had not yet completely abandoned him.

The old man allowed himself a grin at the flustered young lady and the very dazed Ainu. "Yes sir."

oooooooooooooooo

The old man walked into the silent room and set the cup of tea on the table in front of the girl. She thanked the old man kindly and Hiro quickly retreated to leave the young ones to their much needed conversation. Once out of the room he looked back with youthful blue eyes and smiled. That took a lot longer than he expected it to, but at least now he knew Horo-Horo would be all right. He would no longer need Hiro's protection. The old man closed his eyes and gave a content sigh. Horo-Horo had done so much for him, and he had much enjoyed living with the Ainu as a friend as opposed to a host.

"Good bye Pup."

Back in the living room Tamao took a cautious sip of tea as Horo-Horo stared at her from the other couch. Her eyes went up to the band aid that now adorned the bridge of his nose. Maybe she had gotten a little carried away.

Neither spoke when she finally met his questioning eyes. He waited for her, and she tried her best to think of how best to explain the situation. Not a single word came to her mind, so in the end she simply reached into her shirt and pulled out the tiny rose that dangled from her silver chain.

"You had it," she said finally holding the pendent up for him to see.

He blinked.

"All this time," she continued clutching the rose to her chest, "I was afraid. I thought I'd lost it, I didn't know what had happened to it. And you had it!" she smiled.

For some reason he felt his face get hot as she curled up over the small rose. It had been with him since she left last year. His intention was to give it to her on the day she went back to Izumo, but he could not bring himself to part with it until a few days ago; for her birthday. The tiny pendant reminded him of a time when everything seemed to be as it should have been. Every time he had looked at it, he felt better. Of course, some time had passed, he was "healing" and it was rightfully hers to begin with. He never would have imagined it was so important to her though.

"Your pendant?" he asked cautiously.

She looked up at him with fire in her eyes and determination in her next words. "No you idiot," she said in a wet voice, "My heart."

His own skipped a beat, "What?"

She smiled knowingly. "I suppose it is as much my fault as it is yours."

He blinked up at her, wondering how much weirder his relationship with this girl could possibly get.

"I knew going through the flow of time could destroy a person; rip their thoughts and memories from their very souls," she explained, "I just wanted to keep my memory of you intact. It was never intentional, but I suppose at one point, before I made the jump, I locked away my feelings for you in this pendant. They had been growing for some time, which is probably why the pendant kept changing shape, but at one point most of my heart was contained in the small stone."

Tamao looked back at the blushing Ainu and almost laughed. He had those big, amazed eyes looking back at her in the most adorable way. His childlike demeanor gave her the courage to cross the living room and sit beside him. He fidgeted uncomfortably but did not pull away.

"What I don't understand or remember, was how you came to have it in the first place," she continued curiously, "I kept it with me after I shattered the charm, I'm sure I had it in the three months until I got you back. But when you came back, it was gone."

At this explanation Horo-Horo's blush deepened. There was suddenly a shameful look in his eyes as he looked down and stared at his lap. She had to be kidding! All these feelings, these last torturous months, could have been avoided if he'd simply plucked up the courage and given her her pendant back before she left?

"It was my fault," he began. The reason he had it in the first place was because, "I didn't want to let you go."

She waited a moment before taking his hand in hers and looking up at him. She offered him a smile and took a gentle hand to his forehead, where she flicked him one last time.

He winced and rubbed a finger against his 'injured' forehead, "You flicked me."

"Because you're an idiot," she said gently.

He pouted and before she could react, was suddenly flinching in pain as his own finger came up to her forehead.

"Ow!" she called out taking a hand up to her own forehead.

"Then that's only fair," he smirked.

She smiled, despite her angry demeanor and lifted her hand once again. He was not looking forward to another one of her tough love lessons though, so instead he took both her hands in his and pinned them down over his lap. She blushed when he pushed his face up over hers and stopped, looking deep into her eyes.

With his nose almost touching her own, his messy blue bangs falling around his face, and his breath rushing in calm bursts over her lips, it was hard not to revert to that blushing shy girl she had been just months before.

"Tamao," he said in a strangely tantalizing voice.

"Hmm?" she asked knowing that in her condition she could not hope to make out one coherent word.

"Thank you for being such an idiot."

She closed her eyes as he leaned in, both confident that this would not be the last, but definitely the most passionate kiss they would share. They had each other after all, from now until after eternity.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

T-T well... what to say? (sniff) thank you just wouldn't cut it with you guys. I can't seem to find words to thank my readers enough for sticking with me all these years. I appreciate your reviews, and overall your loyalty to me and this crazy couple. This, my only non canon pairing has become my favorite story, and that is mostly because of you. So... arigatou gozaimasu! Hope you enjoyed. Hope this lived up to your expectations and...

Epilogue anyone?