AN: Follows on from Shuu's ending in the marshes. Diana Moore and I both hope that you enjoyed this fic and this last lil chapter x

Secret End

"L-let's go back. I'm soaked. I'm scared. I-I just want you to hold me again."

Kino's lips thin, before he seems to realise something, eyes widening just a touch. His expression falters, and relief swamps him. "I...see. Yeah, okay," he murmurs, before lowering the gun. He smiles tiredly at her, unshed tears swimming in his eyes as he opens his arms for her. "It's okay..." he says in a thin voice.

Annie steps forward and wraps her arms around his waist.

He knew she had the knife. Of course she did, Annie never disappointed him. And he'd do anything for her. Even die.

"Kino, I'm sorry," she mumbles, and he waits- stiffening as a sharp, blinding pain soars through his back, straight into his heart. Kino tenses, his arms stilling, before going slightly slack wrapped around her. He then chokes, drawing away slightly from her, looking into her eyes. His lips slowly spread into a smile, before blood runs out of his startled, parted lips.

He leans forward, pressing those bloodied lips to hers, feather light. His breath fans over her mouth.

I love you, is all he can think.

Kino then staggers back, falling into the marshes. There's a harsh splash. He finds himself looking up at the stars as the mists draw away. The sky is clear. Murky water laps around his cheeks. His eyes haze over just as he sees a falling star.

The waters seep into his hair, soaking his clothes as Annie lets out a deafening scream. Her frantic footsteps then carry her away from him, and Kino's dim eyes remain glassy, hazed.

Until they blink once.

Then blink again.

The water ripples loudly as Kino shifts, reaching behind him to grab the knife- pulling it out with a harsh yank and gritting his teeth as he flings it away. Annie was cute. Thinking he'd hand her a real silver knife. True he'd begged to be killed, but that was a get out clause if his feelings couldn't reach her...in this world.

He lays back into the freezing water and sighs, staring up at the stars. He'd come too far, sacrificed too much to simply give up and die.

Kino raises shaking cold, wet fingers to his lips, brushing them lightly, still feeling hers. "Goodbye Annie.." he murmurs. Red wine eyes then fall shut, his body slowly becoming transparent, fading. Eventually, there was nothing left of him in the marshes.

"Son of a bitch...they RUINED my shoes!" Kino curses, walking casually through a barren landscape not two seconds later. Blue skies stretched out endlessly, both above and below him. How that worked, he didn't know.

He approaches a spinning, circular structure above his head, which looks like something grand and old. Like a remnant from a cathedral. Stained glass windows glittered around it's sides, catching the light and reflecting it out in a multitude of rainbows. Kino looks up at it as he slowly approaches a single, lone tree. There was a girl with gentle blonde hair curling around her shoulders, facing away from him as she lent against it's trunk.

"Hey, Eve." Kino mutters, shaking his marsh filled boot with disdain and marring the pristine sky floor with muddy water.

"Hello Kino…" she murmurs.

He stays where he is, only vaguely noting the man in her arms, whose head lay on her lap. He was always asleep, her Adam, though his face changed every time.

"I'm guessing that you failed then," she asks, looking over her shoulder at him.

Kino bristles and huffs, brushing at his wet hair. "I'm not giving up, I wanna turn back time again. I have a fair idea of where I went wrong."

"Kino...maybe you should let Annie g-" she bit her lip as he glowered at her darkly.

"Could say the same about you and your 'Adam.' Heh, not one for monogamy much, are you, Yui?" He sneers. It was her turn to tense. She closes her rose-pink eyes, however.

"It's not like I can remember all the other time-lines when I start another one," she murmurs, looking at the stained glass windows. Different scenes of her with the boys played out in each shard. Karl Heinz had reversed time so much, with her at the center of it all, that a part of her was doomed to remain in Eden, aware of her past mistakes, loves, sacrifices and watching as her double made more in another timeline.

She looks at him with tired, knowing eyes, "Kino, don't become like me. Don't reverse time so much that you become it's prisoner."

Kino snorts, "I've done a hell of a lot more for Annie, I can do something as poxy as that."

She looks at him as he turns to watch the stained glass windows as the cathedral remnant turned slowly in the air. Using the power he'd absorbed from Karl Heinz's corpse, not once, but twice from killing him, the images changed to reflect nothing but Annie. Always Annie.

Kino's red eyes reflected her image. "I know when I want to go back to, and what to do now. I'll make sure she falls in love with me, this time," he mutters, almost to himself.

He then glances over his shoulder to grin at her. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope I never see ya again."

She smiles. "Me too. I hope everything...works out this time."

He nods and looks back at the stained glass, closing his eyes. He then hears Yui's soft voice. "Good luck, Kino."

With that said, the stained glass windows glow brightly, the spinning structure suddenly stopping. It then turns back, spinning faster and faster, until Kino loses all sense of self, feeling unbalanced, like he'd stood up too fast.

He then stumbles into a plaza, facing a coffee shop.

Blinking, he straightens, breathing out shakily and rubbing his eyes. Time travel was a bitch on the nerves. He decides caffeine would be a great plan right now.

He goes into the coffee shop and buys himself a drink, sipping and wincing when-duh- it was too hot, burning his tongue. Kino walks out of the coffee shop absentmindedly, but staggers as a redhead bumps into him, knocking the beverage from his hand and spilling his drink onto the floor.

Her eyes widen and she freezes, paling a little. He watches, entranced as she quickly bows her head. "I'm really sorry!" She whimpers, voice wavering.

Kino stops and blinks at her. He breathes in her scent surreptitiously. It warms his insides, and his dead heart thrums.

"Woah.. You okay? No use crying over spilled milk right? Heh, get it.. Like I know it wasn't milk but.." He trails off and waves it away, forcing a natural looking smile.

She swallows as tears prick at her eyes. "Yeah," She whispers, making the desire to kiss her a thousand percent more pressing.

"Did a-any of it get on you?" She asks.

He raises a brow. "No? Come on.. You look like you could use a drink. Not hitting on you or anything, but.. yeah," he mutters, throwing his empty cup carelessly over his shoulder as he urged her over to the coffee shop.

She just swallows and nods meekly. "I'm sorry," she mumbles, roughly rubbing her eyes with shaking fists.

He looks at her and motions to a table and chairs. "Use the menu to hide if you...you know...wanna let out feels. If you cry while waiting in line with me I might have to brand this as the most depressing day ever."

She finally, finally- rewards him as she lets out a breathy laugh. And suddenly none of it mattered. He didn't care that she'd meant to kill him before, that she'd chosen someone else. He forgave her. He felt it as keenly as breathing, a certain feeling that always came with her, like that of a warm summer breeze.

"I'm not going to cry," she mumbles. She slides into a seat and looks at the menu, before glancing up at him. "I'm Annie, by the way. Sorry. You really haven't caught me at my best."

He smiles slightly, eyes glittering. He was home again.

"Nah. It's all good. I'm actually not supposed to be here. Long story. Running away from private school. So you can just call me John Doe."

End