A/N: I've been holding onto this for way too long. Might as well!

Disclaimer: Not mine. If it was, you'd have a Season 2 of Angel Beats based on Naoi and Yuri meeting in their next life. (Otherwise known as The Potter's Son, a Heartbreak Cure prequel, coming... eventually, to a fanfiction archive near you!)

Enjoy the prologue! Or, rather, the sweet, lovely calm before all hell breaks loose.


[Chapter 00]: Prologue


On a mild September evening that was anything but quiet, a young couple strolled down a dirt road underneath the light of a full silver moon.

Well, Yuri strolled. A more appropriate verb for the man beside her would be "trudged." Or even "sulked."

The leaves on the trees rustled and fought against the wind, and the cicadas screamed endlessly from within the woods, but they certainly weren't the main source of noise in these parts tonight.

"I still can't believe… Of course this had to happen tonight of all nights."

Yuri laughed. "Could be worse. The car could have gone bust closer to the restaurant. Or it could have died before we even got there. At least we had dinner."

"And now we have to walk home on full stomachs," her husband muttered, clutching the leftovers bag in his hand.

"Exactly! Gives me the chance to shed off the calories from that cake," she said with a grin. "It's almost serendipitous."

She heard him chuckle for the first time in thirteen minutes, an amused little harrumph that sounded cool and distant to those who didn't know better but musical to her. "How can you be so cheerful?" he asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as they kept their steady pace side by side.

He'd been grumbling since the car broke down and they'd started to walk, but not a word of complaint had escaped Yuri's lips, save for maybe one or two cracks about the car. And even then, those were all in good fun.

It wasn't like it was cold out. It was one of those pleasant September nights where it might not feel like summer anymore but it was at that temperature where the season had reached a comfortable, sensible middle ground. And maybe the owls hooting in the distance might be kind of eerie, but it wasn't like she was all alone.

She hadn't been alone for a long time.

"Are you really asking me that?" She took his hand in hers and gave it a quick, gentle squeeze, but didn't let go. "I'm cheerful because despite the inevitable demise of your car, I had a good time tonight. I'm cheerful because you took me to the spot where you proposed to me, and then to my favorite restaurant." Her fingers laced between his, she stopped where she was and had him turn to face her. "I'm cheerful because I've been married to you for three years today."

He dropped the leftovers bag on the side of the road and, using his newly freed hand, cupped her chin and pulled her into a kiss. His lips, having lost any trace of a frown, pressed against the corners of her mouth before claiming it again with vigor. Yuri sighed, resting her hand against the one of his that grazed her cheek while the other tangled its way into her hair.

When he pulled away, his gaze formerly fixated on her lips drifted upwards so that gold met green. "I love you. You unbearable optimist."

"I love you too," she said, deciding not to correct him on the optimism thing—it hardly counted as optimism if the pros of the day blatantly outweighed the cons, "and no amount of car trouble is going to change that. A little walk isn't the most unromantic thing in the world."

He picked up the leftover bag and followed his wife as she continued down the road, quietly admiring her from behind. Her slim-fitting purple gown flowed down to her feet and had to be meshing and mingling with the ground.

"But your dress…" He frowned as gravel and dirt crunched under their shoes. "It's going to get dirty."

"So maybe when we get home, you take it off me."

Her comment made him blink, considering her words for a moment, before it turned into an incentive for him to walk faster.

"Well," he said, smirking as he laced his arm around her waist, "now I really wish we had the car."

She quirked an eyebrow at him, returning the grin. "To get home faster or to do it in?"

A look of surprise again took over his face, but he recovered with a chuckling scoff. "I love the way your mind works."

Under a periwinkle and navy sky, the last trickle of light fading on the horizon, Yuri interlaced their fingers and pulled him along down the path, a coy smile tugging at her lips.

"C'mon," she said, as the path led them around a bend, "we're almost home anyway."

Her husband grinned wolfishly. "And then we can celebrate three years of making you Mrs. Yuri Naoi properly."

She unconsciously grazed the gold wedding band around her left ring finger. He ought to give himself a little more credit. "Properly" had been brewing coffee for her and making breakfast this morning. "Properly" had been exchanging anniversary gifts at the bridge where he'd proposed —an improved, engraved version of the watch he'd lost, and a beautiful locket encrusted with the same stones as her engagement ring. "Properly" had been eating at the restaurant they'd gone to for their first official date (or at least, the first one that his dad hadn't rudely interrupted by dragging him back to the workshop).

Sighing contentedly, she leaned against his shoulder as they walked. Just a little farther, but she didn't mind spending this time with him. She didn't regret any part of tonight.

"Happy anniversary, Ayato," she mumbled.

He wrapped his arm more securely around her frame, while every other part of him seemed to finally relax. "Happy anniversary, Yuri."

Their neighborhood was in sight; like Yuri said, they'd been incredibly lucky their car had broken down closer to home than the restaurant. In the morning they'd get someone to fetch it and work on it. Tonight, their minds would be elsewhere—Yuri would make sure of that. All that mattered tonight was him and her.

All that mattered was that seven minutes later, she was laughing in his arms, having been picked up bridal style for old time's sake, as he kicked the front door shut behind them.

"Just so you know," Yuri murmured as they headed to the stairs, and he paused on the first step to look at her, "I wouldn't change this night, or anything else, for the world."

Shifting her weight in his arms, Ayato pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Neither would I," he said, and carried her the rest of the way to their room.

That dress had gotten a little dirty, after all.


A/N: 'Wouldn't change anything for the world,' eh? Famous last words.


Preview:

"Saint. God. Whatever you want to call me."

"We could try again now."

"You have work too, you know."

"Tonight you're mine, Nakamura."

"Have you ever heard of Masami Iwasawa?"

"Why don't you give that extra ticket to Sunohara?"

"I don't know about that!"

[Chapter 01]:Invitation.