Well, here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for. Everything's here in the fourth and final chapter.

Disclaimer: Why do I even bother? You probably just skip this part in all the stories you read. I just don't wanna get sued..... =P

Two Alone

Chapter Four: A Night to Remember

By Enchanted Pink Jade

*~*~*~*~*

Takes place where last chapter left off, at night.

There were guards everywhere surrounding Jiro's home, the plan was set, and this time for sure, Saint Tail couldn't possibly escape.

"It's only a poem," Jiro said to Asuka Jr.

"Yes, that may be true, but we're here for the thief."

"Oh, well, that's just fine with me. And in any case, I don't think that she would be able to get her hands on the poem and disk. I'll have them with me."

"All right, fine." To the guards, Asuka said, "Everyone in position. Be on alert! And don't let your guards down. Not even for a second! Do everything as I planned."

"Yes sir!" Guards scrambled every which way, following his orders. Let's just see Saint Tail try to get away from this, Asuka thought.

*~*~*~*~*

Hidden in trees...

Whoa, guards everywhere. So, this Jiro guy is inside. This is too easy! Meimi thought. She slipped in unnoticed by any of the guards. Meimi laughed silently to herself. You'd think that they'd have learned by now. She spotted Jiro sitting in his living room. There were papers strewn about everywhere, and he was busy writing something. She was upstairs, so she could see the paper and disk sticking out of his breast pocket. Like I said... way too easy.

"It's show time, buddy," Meimi whispered. Then the lights went out.

Jiro then suddenly stood up. It was pitch black, and he couldn't see a thing. "What the..." He knew that she was within his household, after all of the descriptions he'd read about how Saint Tail worked.

"You don't suspect a thing. You think that you have the place well guarded, then the lights suddenly turn off, and chaos reigns. In the confusion and turmoil, Saint Tail somehow manages to get her hands on the item she said that she'd steal. Then she sneaks back into the night, as stealthily, and quiet as a cat. Then the item mysteriously appears in the hands or the home of the original owner. She........"

"I know that you're there! Come out and show yourself to me!" he said bravely. He checked to see if he still had the disk and original copy in his breast pocket, but they were gone.

"I have them now, thank you very much. I'm sorry, but this wasn't written for you. You've been of good service to me. But now I must say farewell!" she said. He could her hear her footsteps getting fainter and fainter. Then, as suddenly as the lights had gone out, they came back on, hurting his eyes in the process.

"That damn thief," he said, then he cursed.

Outside, the guards had already spotted the balloons that Saint Tail usually made her getaway on.

"She already got away when we didn't even see her get here!" she heard one guard scream in frustration. All she could do was laugh.

*~*~*~*~*

On the roof of the Yamamoto residence

"That was just too easy... And where was Asuka? I didn't see him..." Could he have given up on Saint Tail? Well, to put that aside, it doesn't seem that anyone's home tonight, and it looks as if they conveniently left a window open for me. Meimi smiled to herself. Things are going so well today, she thought, as she stepped through the window, then she closed it behind her.

"This must be her room... Hmm..." The room was simple. White walls, a bed, a desk, a bookshelf, and pictures on the wall. Meimi stepped up to the desk and placed the disk and poem on it with a note attached that read:

I think that you might want

this back. You're so lucky to

have a guy like him.

I hope that you live your

lives together in happiness.

~Saint Tail

"There! All done." Meimi slowly stepped away. Right before she turned around she felt a light tap on her back. She gasped and turned around only to find the detective looking right at her. She tried to make a run for it, but she dropped to her knees, he legs loosing all feel. What's happening? Oh my God! This can't be happening! Not now! Not after today!

"I'm sorry that I have to do this, Saint Tail."

"No, please let me go.... What did you do to me?" She looked down so that he couldn't see her face, even if it was already pitch black, she couldn't risk him seeing her face. But there was no hope of escape now.

"I tapped you in a certain part of your body that leaves you numb from the hips down for a certain amount of time," he said. She could almost feel him smiling, happy that he'd finally caught her, after all these years. He went and tied her arms behind her; her legs may by useless, but he knew that she could still have other tricks up her sleeve.

He made his way towards the lamp on the desk and turned it on, lighting up the room. "I caught you fair and square, like I said I would. It took me awhile, but I still succeeded. All I want to know is who you really are, and then I'll let you go. I'll stop chasing you. I promise." He made his way towards her. She tried to jerk away as he put his hand under her chin, and turned her face up towards him.

When he saw who it was, he let go of her, as if she had suddenly acquired the disease of leprosy, and was very contagious.

"Meimi?" he whispered, barely audibly. Tears were streaming down her cheeks freely now. "All along, it was you." All along it was you... No wonder... All of a sudden, things that Meimi had said and done in the past made sense. It all clicked into place.

Saint Tail and Meimi are one and the same.

"I wanted to tell you... But I don't know. Things just got messed up, and confusing. Please... please..." Meimi said, but she didn't know what she was pleading for. His forgiveness? To let her go? For his love? Meimi wasn't sure of herself anymore.

Asuka Jr. said nothing. He just stood there paralyzed. A stream of scenes flashed before his eyes, and all of them contained images of Meimi. All the confusing things back then that she had said, done and known... They were confusing no longer as Asuka put the last pieces together. There was only one more missing.

"Where do you get your information? What's your source?" he asked. Meimi only hung her head, debating whether or not to tell him about Seira. "Well?" Meimi winced at the tone of his voice, when only a few hours ago it was filled with kindness and compassion, and good humor. But now it was stone cold. It held no emotion at all. And neither did his face show what he was thinking. And Meimi desperately wanted to know.

Meimi looked straight at him before answering. "Seira. I get it all from Seira," Meimi said. But he said nothing still probably waiting for an explanation. "People in distress usually go to the church and pray. Seira would be there, and the person would probably tell her what was troubling them. Later on, she'd tell me what it was. I make up a plan of how to right the wrong. And you know the rest."

"I... see..." He made his way around her, and untied her hands. He turned around and walked to the door. "The numbness will disappear in a minute or so," he said.

"I love you, Asuka Jr.," she whispered. He heard it, but he kept on moving, without turning his back once. He heard Meimi break out and sob.

To watch him go without turning back... it hurt her. Words couldn't even begin to describe what she was feeling. Her emotions were so mixed. She wondered if it was even possible for one to feel so many at the same time.

Angry. Angry that things had gone this way.

Sad. Sad because, now, he would probably hate her.

Remorse. She was wishing that she had told him of her feelings sooner. Maybe things would have gone differently from then. But she'll never know now.

Love. After everything that has happened, she still loved him, with all her heart. If only...

Meimi started to feel her legs again. She tried to stand up, but she was shaking, she didn't have much control over herself. She fell back to her knees, and sobbed even more. Why? Why does it have to be this way?

*~*~*~*~*

At the park

Meimi had a little trouble finding the entrance to that small grove they had gone to earlier. It was much darker now. But nevertheless she still looked for it. She just had to. Asuka might be there...

And sure enough, he was there. Standing near the pond with his back to her. She stopped a few feet away from him.

"Asuka..." she said quietly. He knew that she was there, he just didn't acknowledge her presence. She took one step closer, then he turned around abruptly.

"Why did you even bother coming, Saint Tail?" he asked, scathingly. She came there as Saint Tail. She went straight there after she had gotten back the use of her legs. As fast as she could, she ran. Thinking that maybe if she came and talked to him sooner...

"Just give me a chance will you?" All I-"

"Change back. Take off that costume, the play is over. The scene is done. There's no more to be said."

Meimi took one step back, and willed for her own clothes to appear. She made sure that the necklace was tucked in and hidden.

Tears came then. Just when she thought she could cry no more, another ocean of tears came out. She stepped up to him, and he looked down at her, his face revealing nothing still.

"Can you forgive me? It's not like I had a choice. I never knew that things would have turned out this way," Meimi pleaded. "I care about you so much. But I had an obligation. I just didn't know what to do..."

"..........."

More tears streamed down her face. "The least you can do is say something! Talk to me!" She grabbed the front of his shirt, and she looked up at him with pitiful, pleading eyes.

"I don't care if you hate me now. Just say something! I need to know...." She hugged him then, but his arms remained limp at his sides.

"All along, it was you. All these years, I was thinking that you were two separate people. When in fact there was only one. Saint Tail was just an image. An illusion of some sort, and yet real at the same time," he said, and Meimi took one step away from him.

"I thought that I had fallen in love with a thief..."

"I'm really so sorry. You don't know how much it hurts like this. I know, that in your eyes, before this, Saint Tail was perfect, flawless. Everything you've ever dreamed of. Nothing and no one could compare. And now, that image is gone, and all you see is me... Please, forgive me?"

"......" He just stood there, saying nothing. And it killed Meimi over and over. It was as if someone was squeezing the life out of her, and in about an hour or so, she would only be a shell of a human. Eating, sleeping... going through the motions of being human, but she won't really be there, because she'd have died already

"I suppose you never ever want to see my face again..."

"......" Still nothing.

"I just want you to know, that what I said back there, before you left, I meant it." Meimi turned around and headed towards the only way out.

Idiot! What are you just standing there for? Your only love is about to walk out on you, and you're gonna do nothing about it? His mind screamed at him. He ran after her. She was still there in the grove. He jerked her around and backed her into the trunk of a tree. Then his mouth came down to claim hers in a searing kiss. He kissed her hard, passionately, and for all he was worth. She just tasted so sweet. Her lips were warm and soft, and giving. Under his unspoken demand, Meimi's lips parted, allowing him more access. All his emotions and all his love went into this kiss. It was almost bitter sweet.

Meimi was too stunned to move. In less time than it took for her to realize what was happening, his tongue was inside her mouth, exploring inquisitively. Before she knew it, Meimi's arms slid up and locked at the back of his neck, and she kissed him back, just as hard, and just as passionate.

He couldn't let her go. One hand went to the back of her head, stroking her hair, deepening the kiss, as though he'd die for want of her. His other hand encircled her tiny waist and brought her closer, for a tighter embrace.

They pulled apart simultaneously for lack of oxygen. Asuka rested his forehead on hers and groaned.

"What have you done to me, Meimi? How can you even ask me to forgive you when it should be me who's down on my knees and begging for my life?" Asuka whispered.

The soft kisses that he was pressing on the corner of her lips made it almost impossible for her to think, but she still managed to say, "I don't understand... You don't hate me?"

"Oh God, I don't hate you Meimi. I was such a jerk, a blinded idiot, to not have realized sooner that it was you whom I truly fell in love with, and not Saint Tail. You're everything that I've ever dreamed of in the perfect girl. Beautiful and flawless. No one can compare to you. It was just too late before I became conscious to the fact that it was you all along... You stole my heart years ago, and I didn't even know it."

Meimi opened her mouth so say something, but he interrupter her. He brought her into his embrace once again, holding her close and near.

"No. Don't say anything yet. Let me finish. I now only found out that I can't live without you, and that if you were to go, I'd have no other reason to live. You were the only one who kept me going, whether you were Meimi or disguised as Saint Tail. I am nothing without you. I would never have become the person I am today... I love you so much it hurts. It hurts to know that I've caused you more harm than good. It hurts to remember all those times when I mistreated you..." Asuka stopped there, because if he went on, he knew that his voice would crack. He then buried his face in her hair, breathing in her lovely scent.

"Asuka..." Meimi whispered. She brought her hands up and returned his embrace with one of her own. "Weren't you listening to me back there? Or was I talking to the wind? I told you, I love you. There's no other person out there for me. Why do you think I've never gone on a date with anyone, and refused all those other guys? I only want you. And only you. Do you hear me? You don't know how happy I am right at this moment."

She pulled back to look into his eyes only to find that he was crying. Never, in his entire life, had he ever thought that he'd cry with so much emotion, and in some other person's presence. But this wasn't just some other person. This was Meimi.

MY Meimi.

Meimi wiped away his tears with her hand. He caught her wrist and planted a soft kiss on the palm of her hand. Everything is gonna be okay now, she thought, and smiled.

"Don't leave me, ever. Say you won't" Asuka said.

"I would never."

Then a kiss followed, less urgent than the first, but a thousand times more evocative. A kiss promising that forever was theirs to have. Asuka knew that he was the most luckiest and happiest man alive. This just has to be a dream. It's too good to be true... Asuka thought. But the feel of her lithe body in his arms told him that this was reality.

There they stayed all through the night, wrapped up in each other's warmth. They didn't worry about tomorrow, or the other days to come. All they knew was the here and now, and that they had each other.

"You know, you really are a great theif."

Meimi wrinkled her nose. "Don't tell me you only realized that now, after all the things that I stole and got away with, giving it back to whom it rightfully belongs to..." she said, unsure of what he was trying to say.

"But there's one thing that you've stolen, that now and will forevermore belong to you, and only you," Asuka said.

"What is it?" Meimi said, as a thoughtful look graced her features. Asuka just chuckled as she tried to think of something that she had stolen, and it now belonged to her, but she couldn't think of one. When did it ever happen?

"My heart."

Meimi smirked. "Since when did you get such a honey-coated tongue?" Meimi said, but he only grinned down at her.

"I love you, Daiki." Asuka didn't liked to be called by his first name, but from Meimi's lips, it sounded like the sweetest melody ever played.

He tightened his arms around her. "I love you too, Meimi."

This is one night they'll never forget.

*~*~*~*~*

Author's Note: Yeah! The last chapter! And Meimi and Asuka are together! And everything's all right. =). Well, I enjoyed writing this story, even though it's rather short.

Thanks again once more to those of you who reviewed. So kind... *sniff*

I just wish that I wrote more... Oh well. Or... should I continue? It will all depend on your reviews. If I got a lot. I'll consider writing an Epilogue, full of M+A... hehehe

~Enchanted Pink Jade

E-mail: Lyricalaznangel@aol.com