Author's Note: Shizuo is my favorite anime character, and I hope I did him justice in this story. This is the last chapter; enjoy!

"When do you think she'll wake up?"

"Soon. The anesthesia should be worn off in a few hours." Shinra sighed heavily and smiled. "It's a good thing Shizuo didn't panic and brought her here. Any longer and-"

"Shinra," Celty cut him off. "I don't like this. Are you sure you don't know where Shizuo went?"

"No." Shinra began putting away his tools; Celty turned away as he washed off a blood stained scalpel in the sink next to where Kyoko laid under a white sheet. "He barely said anything; he just told me-what was it? 'Take care of her or else Celty will have another soul to ferry into the underworld.' Haha, that was a new one."

"Be serious."

"I am. It was pretty weird though. Shizuo didn't even seem that angry." Shinra felt a shudder go through him at the look in Shizuo's eyes as he uttered those words and left the apartment without even glancing at Kyoko. But his tone wasn't hostile; it was as flat and dull as his eyes. "Celty, where are you going?"

"I'm going to find that idiot and bring him back here. I won't be long, I think I know where he might be." Celty firmly set her helmet over her neck and walked outside.

The day had started like any other; it could've happened any time, on any regular day in their lives.

There was a car, a speeding car that ran through the red light and nearly ran right into Kyoko, who Shizuo managed to pull away just in time; the car skidded and slammed into a stop sign. The driver jumped out from the car and began pointing fingers at Shizuo and Kyoko, ranting for the whole block to here about whether they knew how much that car had costs and that somebody owed him money.

Kyoko tried to placate the situation calmly, but the driver rounded on her. His screaming escalalted and he called her names that made Shizuo's fists curl; before he could even think about it, he stomped over to the bent sign and yanked it from the ground; the driver saw Shizuo's swing and dove to the ground to dodge.

Kyoko's back was turned and Shizuo was blind with rage.

It was only in the second that she was sent slamming into a parked car on the other side of the street did the fog lift and suddenly the world was in focus.

Kyoko was knocked out cold. The side of her shirt was slashed open and seeping blood.

Without a word, Shizuo picked her up and kicked cars and people out of the way to get to Shinra and Celty's apartment.

As soon as the surgery was over and Shinra told him Kyoko was going to be okay, he left.

Shizuo took a drag from his cigarette; most people agreed that the Black Rider's motorcycle had no engine and as a result made no sound wherever it went. Even so, Shizuo could sense there was someone just a little bit behind him, and they knew him well enough to keep a little bit of distance as they approached him.

Celty rested her arms on the rooftops gate and looked out over the horizon; night had fallen and Celty was almost invisible. Shizuo wished she hadn't come there.

"Shizuo, are you okay?" the bright screen lit up his face; Celty could clearly see how red his eyes and suddenly felt embarrassed for having seen it. Shizuo just looked away and inhaled more smoke silently.

"Shinra said she should be up in a couple of hours."

"Good."

"I'm just going to ask. Why did you leave?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Shizuo reached into his shirt pocket for a plastic baggie, but when he couldn't find it, tossed the cigarette to the ground in frustration. "She doesn't like it when I smoke and now I'm doing it while she's laying in that place half dead. I'm a great fucking husband, aren't I?"

"It was an accident-"

"It's always a fucking accident!" Shizuo snapped at Celty and banged his fist into the top of the gate; the metal pole snapped right in half and Celty almost lost her balance. "I mess up and it's somebody else who pays for it; if I swung it just a bit harder-!"

"Do you think abandoning Kyoko will make it better?!" Celty typed rapidly, her fingers trembling at Shizuo's scowl. "She loves you, she'll forgive you."

"I should have never….I never should have gotten involved with her." Shizuo told Celty firmly. "I knew this would happen at some point. I knew it and I still…"

"She's your wife. Don't you think there's a better way to do this? What about what Kyoko wants?"

"She'll be okay. After a while, she'll see. She'll see how better off she is." Shizuo smiled a bit to the thought of Kyoko no longer being burdened by his fits of anger, by his shady profession; he fooled himself when it came to her, because he wanted so badly for someone to love him.

"And what about you?"

"That doesn't matter. If Kyoko can live a peaceful life, then I'll be fine."

"After five years, don't you think it would take more than this? Shizuo, at least come back with me. If this is how you want to end things, than Kyoko should hear it from you. It's the least you could do for her." Celty knew it was a cheap shot, but she knew using Shizuo's guilt was the only way she could get him to comply.

"Oh you brought him back!" Shinra nearly dropped his mug of tea in surprise. "Kyoko woke up a few minutes ago; she was asking for Shizu-"

"Shut up Shinra. I'm going."

"Celty?" Shinra whispered as the door to the guest room was closed gently. "Is he…?"

"I don't know." Celty slowly lowered her PDA to her side; all they could do was give them their privacy and see what happened.

Shizuo didn't move any more than a few inches from the door to Kyoko's room; she was awake, her eyes barely opened. Despite how tired she felt, she smiled as Shizuo locked eyes with her and waved her hand for him to come over.

Shizuo did so, dragging his feet on the floor and assuming a look of stoic acceptance. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay. Shinra said the stitches could be removed in a couple of months or so; he's going to give me some good pain medication in the meantime." Kyoko pursed her lips in thought. "Of course, that makes me a bit worried how and where he got them from…"

"This is my fault."

"Oh Shizuo, don't. It was an accident, and that guy looked like he was ready tp punch me or something; you were just trying to help." Kyoko told him sadly; she could already see where this was going. She dreaded the day Shizuo unintentionally gave her a serious injury; truthfully, she had been mentally preparing counter arguments to his arguments that he was dangerous and she should have never gotten so close to him; Kyoko already expected Shizuo's warnings that he knew this day would happen and how she deserved a better man for her husband.

"Kyoko, don't leave."

"Huh?" Kyoko rose up from the bed as far as she could with her eyebrows raised to her hairline.

"I'm sorry...I wanted to do the responsible thing so badly." Shizuo chuckled bitterly as he kneeled at your bedside. "Kyoko, I know you think highly of me, even if I don't fully see why, I'm not stupid. I knew you would forgive me and I knew you'd love me no matter what I did. I know the best thing for you in the long run would be never seeing me again, because chances are, this shit will end up happening again. But I-" he sucked in a shaky breath and chuckled again. "God I'm such a fucking coward. I'm so selfish; I can't do it Kyoko, I can't let you go. Even with this near death incident, even knowing what I'm capable of, I still can't go through with it."

"But I don't want to leave you. I never want to be without you Shizuo, it's not a bad thing to want to be with someone you love."

"It is when you know the danger you're aware of how badly you can hurt them, but even that's not enough for me to man up and let you move on." Shizuo told Kyoko; one of his hands reached out timidly for hers. "Dammit...I'm sorry Kyoko. It may have been an accident that we met or some shit, but it's not just by chance that we've stayed together. I want to believe that; even if I can't ever completely change, I want us to stay together for as long as possible."

Kyoko stared sadly and gripped his hand weakly. "I don't look at it that way at all; maybe the risks are a bit more...extreme? But there's a chance I'd be hurt no matter who I'm in a relationship with."

"I bet another guy wouldn't almost kill you."

"Maybe." Kyoko shrugged. "But still, do you honestly think I'd just let you leave me? I'm not going to give you up just like that you know. I may not have any powers or connections, but you shouldn't underestimate a woman in love."

Shizuo sighed in frustration. "Babe, you're killing me here. At least get pissed."

"Oh I'm pissed. If this ever does happen again, you better be here when I wake up!" Kyoko pouted and pulled on Shizuo's ear. "Are you going to pull this crap when I have the baby?!"

"What?"

"What?"

"You said…" Shizuo let go of her hand and felt dizzy. "Are you actually?"

"Oh yeah. I just found out last week. Don't freak out! You really only grazed my side, so the baby should be just fine."

Shizuo leaned over and kissed her quickly. "They aren't even born yet, and I almost killed them."

Kyoko petted the dry locks as tears soaked into her patient shirt. "Shizuo…"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Shizuo croaked out. "If I had known-goddammit!"

"Shizuo, you need to stop thinking of what might happen or what has happened." Kyoko cupped his face and made him look at her. "You need to think of what's going on right now. Right now I'm alive, I'll feel better soon, and I'm pregnant with our child. I need you with me right now."

Shizuo swallowed the lump in his throat. "What is it about you that makes me crazy? Heh, and when did you start sounding so cool anyhow?"

"You make me want to be more than anything I've ever been. Shizuo, because of you I've been able to know what it means to love somebody. I don't think I've ever loved or been loved by anyone before you; no matter what we've gone through, I'd like to think I'm becoming a better person thanks to you."

Kyoko kissed his forehead and put his hand against her stomach. "Now we have another reason to change for the better."

One Year Later:

"Shizuo!" Kyoko whined and put a pillow to her ear. "It's your turn."

"Alright, alright." Shizuo grumbled and got up from the bed to their baby screeching in her cradle; Kyoko was somewhat regretting her suggestion to put it right in their own room, but Shizuo was adamant about having their daughter nearby just in case.

"Keiko, stop crying, mommy needs sleep for work tomorrow." Shizuo yawned and picked up Keiko with a sleepy half smile; while Kyoko's inheritance made the option for at home childcare available, they both wanted to take care of Keiko at least until she was in preschool. Shizuo worked out a schedule with Tom, who was more than happy his kohai was spending his time doing other things besides moping or nearly killing people.

"Eh, mommy's up anyway." Kyoko yawned and rubbed her eyes and she turned to watch Shizuo rock Keiko back and forth; it was a heartwarming sight to see him be so gentle with a teeny tiny baby, but the shrieking sort of threw off the moment. "Shizuo, smell her diaper, I think that's poopy crying."

"Are you going to just keep calling it that?" Shizuo took a quick sniff and grimaced. "Yep, needs a change."

Kyoko dragged herself from the bed. "My turn for that. Oh, she's calming down a bit."

"Good girl, give mommy a second to get your diapers, okay?" Shizuo held Keiko as close as he could to his chest without squishing her; Kyoko remembered how terrified he was to hold her when she was first born and cleaned up, but the second Shizuo had her nestled in his arms, it had taken the doctors nearly half an hour to get him to let her go so they could run tests.

A few minutes later Keiko was changed and fast asleep with a little gurgle; Kyoko giggled silently and wiped off the spit with a napkin before laying back down. Shizuo pulled her to him with a sigh.

"Tired huh?"

"Not really. Hey, Kyoko?"

"Hm?" she was already falling asleep, exhausted from being woken up periodically at night. "But it's worth it...it's all been so worth it."

"Are you happy?"

"Yes." Kyoko told him softly as she listened to Keiko's soft breathing. "You two have made me so happy….thanks for giving me a family Shizuo. Are you happy?"

"Yeah." Shizuo pressed his face into Kyoko's hair; he hoped Keiko grew up to be just as beautiful and kind as she was, and hopefully she'd never feel lonely. "I hope we'll be good parents."

"We'll be okay….we love each other, so that's a pretty good start right?" Kyoko smiled as she held Shizuo's hand tightly. "Keiko will always have us, and we'll always have each other." she kissed the rough palm of his hand. "I love you Shizuo."

"I love you too. Kyoko?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks for loving me."

"Thanks for letting me."

A piercing scream started them from their brief nap.

"Your turn babe."

"Yeah, I know." Kyoko stretched and took Keiko in her arms as Shizuo watched them with a warm smile. "Still worth it."