A/N: This chapter is in Jyou's POV. Nothing else to say here...please read on.

Disclaimer: The disclaimer for this chapter will be at the very end for certain reasons. Please don't scroll down and check it out. Read the chapter first.

It took Matt a while to convince me to go to that party. I knew a certain person would be there, and I wasn't exactly trying to avoid him or anything, but I knew things might be awkward. I hadn't talked to him in a while, and he'd respected my silence and never asked questions, just like I knew he wouldn't.

When I saw him at the party, my eyes started feeling as if there was too much air pressure in the room and I'd had to look down and shut my eyes hard. When Matt walked into the kitchen and I saw him follow, I decided to try and wait awhile before I went after Matt. I decided I wasn't quite ready to face it yet.

I walked towards where Ken and Iori sat on barstools in a corner of the room. I grinned at them, and they grinned at me in a greeting. I sat at a third barstool, on the other side of Ken.

"How've you been, Jyou?"

"Oh, just fine. How've you two been holding out?"

"Still living." Ken smirked at me. I knew how he felt.

Iori looked me over. "Hikari and Miyako told me to look for something different about your appearance. Did you cut your hair or anything? I don't see any noticeable difference. I never was good at things like that, though."

I stiffened a bit. Damn Hikari and Miyako. It figures they'd go and tell everybody about that.

"Oh, it's nothing much, never mind."

I never should have allowed Matt to blackmail me. I so did not want to get that bellybutton piercing.

"No, tell us. The girls have gotten us so curious about it-"

"No."

"Well, if it's nothing much, as you put it, then why try to hide it so eagerly?"

I clenched my teeth in annoyance. "Promise you won't laugh."

"Yeah, sure, just show us already."

They were grinning like Cheshire cats. If I weren't older and supposed to set a good example, I would have bashed their heads against each other.

I got off of my barstool, glanced around to see if anybody was watching, and quickly flashed them a glance of my bellybutton ring. The second they saw it and it sunk in what it was, they doubled over laughing. I glared at them.

"That is so precious! Jyou with a bellybutton ring!"

My cheeks flared. "A little louder, why don't you? There's some people in America who haven't quite heard you yet."

"I'm sorry," Ken said through his laughter.

Iori was gasping for air and turning purple. I'd never seen the little demon child laugh so much in all the years I'd known him. He didn't look so much like a demon child anymore, with his dark brown hair grown out and spiked downwards around his head and his green eyes a little lighter than they used to be.

I didn't say another word; I marched off in the direction of the kitchen, figuring that I'd rather take on the people in there than stay there and continue being humiliated. Luckily, I'd entered on the side Matt was on, so I was able to sit on his other side.

I gave a quick smile around at everyone, trying not to notice who each person was, and leant back against the counter, staring at the floor intently. Matt must have noticed how tense I was in that place and he stroked my hair, which he knew always calmed me down when I was nervous.

"Jealous, Tai?" I heard Matt ask.

I glanced up at Tai and caught a flash of annoyance in a gaze directed at me, but it immediately dissolved. He turned towards Matt again.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Bullshit, I thought. I think it's obvious to just about everyone but Tai and Matt that the two have crushes on each other. Matt is fully aware of his crush on Tai, and he accepts it totally. He even acts on it, not that Tai notices. Tai probably has an idea of what he feels for Matt, but sometimes he does seem confused by it. I figured maybe he was still in the questioning-his-sexuality stage. He always was a bit slow.

"Having fun?"

I glanced up at Matt, and I must have looked how I felt, because he smirked at me. I glanced down at the floor.

"Yeah, tons of fun, sure. I'm just getting a little bored, that's all. And what about you? Having oodles of fun?"

He didn't respond. I looked up at him again. "Matt?"

He had this sort of faraway look in his eyes, and I knew he was off daydreaming again. I sighed and tugged on his sleeve. When he still didn't give a response, I said in a firm, louder voice, "Matt."

He slowly came to and stared at me awhile. I smiled at him. He looked so cute when he came back from his little dream world. His eyes got a little wider and he looked more innocent, reminding me of Takeru.

"Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts."

I smiled again, telling him I'd already guessed.

Then, he spoke. As soon as I heard his familiar, smooth, yet at the moment, dreaded voice, I froze. I willed myself not to look at him, so, of course, I did exactly that. His black-looking eyes (which, after previous very close inspection, turned out to be a very dark gray-blue) were just as I'd remembered them, from when I used to gaze into them for hours at a time. His dark red hair had grown out a bit and resembled the hair he used to have as an eleven-year-old. His pale, smooth skin, the skin I'd loved to touch before, but now made me completely nervous about accidentally brushing it, had very faint goosebumps on it, and I guessed he was a little cold. I realized it was indeed cold in the room, but the tension I felt had made me feel warmer.

I realized Matt wasn't in the room anymore. I glanced around for him, and then looked forward at Tai, who was talking to the other person in the room. (At this point I began asking myself why I was avoiding even thinking his name.)

They were talking about a college that Tai said sounded very interesting, and he was trying to see how much all of his friends knew about it, so that he could get different opinions. It was in America, but Tai said that if he continued doing awesome in sports, he should get a scholarship to help him out. The name of the college seemed vague to me - I'd probably only heard the name once or twice in my life - and then he answered Tai's questions and I listened to his soft voice.

After a while, I heard shouting coming from the living room. It sounded like Takeru, Daisuke, and Sora were arguing about something. Tai and I glanced over towards the redhead - well, I glanced over to his feet - since we knew he was the only one who'd been able to master the art of bringing peace to the younger generation of our friends. Sure enough, his feet slid down to the ground and the rest of his body followed, walking out of the kitchen and to the living room. As soon as he was out of the room I looked up, since my neck had begun hurting from staring down at the ground so long.

"Hey, ostrich-boy," Tai said, and I glared at him, "welcome back to earth."

He was grinning at me. He knew more-or-less what had gone on before the whole Sora-fiasco. He was one of the few that did. Only Matt, Hikari, and Takeru had been informed of the relationship we'd shared.

Just then I heard something coming out on the TV, and what sounded like a movie began playing. In a matter of seconds, the opening theme began playing, and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest and splattered onto the tile floor. The music filled my ears until I thought I'd go deaf, even though I knew the volume wasn't all that loud, and I began walking involuntarily towards the living room, needing proof that it was what I thought it was.

I bumped into something, or someone, as I entered, and I paused in my steps, my eyes glued to the screen. Sure enough, the familiar words played on the screen, and I wondered for a few seconds if this was some kind of sick joke. I glanced down to see what I had run into, and deep soulful eyes stared up into mine behind that red hair that looked so touchable it could drive you mad. My eyes widened in slight shock, and then half-closed as I suddenly felt my insides go soft.

"We need to talk," I heard myself say, only loud enough for him to hear over the music.

He nodded at me and looked down at the ground. I figured this was my cue to lead the way, so I did.

~ ~ ~ Four months before ~ ~ ~

We lay curled up in each other's arms on the couch, a popcorn bowl left somewhere on the floor under the blanket thrown over our bodies. We were watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which Koushirou had insisted upon renting. It was supposed to be a romantic/action type movie, so I didn't have any qualms about watching it, and as it played, I found myself getting more and more into it. It had the most beautiful music I'd ever heard played in a movie, and I wondered to myself if there was a soundtrack I could buy.

As the movie ended, and the last, heart-touching scene came out, I had tears in my eyes and I was holding Koushirou close to me in my arms, stroking his eternally soft hair and sniffling. I heard him sniffle as well, so I felt less cheesy about crying. As the scene faded out and the ending credits played, and that beautiful song came out once again, I looked down into his eyes and brushed his hair back from his face.

I reached down and slowly slid my hand down his arm, then rested my hand over his so our fingertips barely touched, and that small, yet personal contact seemed more intimate than anything we'd ever done before.

He smiled at me, and his entire appearance seemed so blissfully peaceful that I suddenly forgot my tears and stared in wonder. He slowly leant up to kiss me and pulled back again, toying with a strand of my blue hair.

"Jyou, let's make a promise to each other," he whispered, so as not to break the peaceful mood.

"Sure," I whispered back.

"Let's promise that we'll always love each other, no matter what happens, and even if we ever get separated for any reason at all, we'll keep our love close in our hearts and never forget it."

"I promise you that, Koushirou, but...why would we be separated?" That comment alone had got me on a slight edge. "Is something wrong?"

He smiled slowly, and I thought there were more tears in his eyes now than before. He leant forward and kissed me again, softly and slowly, and then pulled back, his eyes still closed. He opened them after a while and took a deep breath.

"Don't worry, love...I'll never, ever break our promise."


I was about to say that wasn't what I'd wanted to know, but he got up and walked towards the door.


"I have to go," he said over his shoulder, grabbing his coat.

I rose to my feet and shifted a bit, feeling nervous. "Wait, don't go."

He turned to me, smiling in reassurance. "Why on earth not? It's late, and I'm supposed to be home by now."

"I'll drive you."

"I brought my car."

"I'll drive your car."

"Jyou," he said quickly, coming over and sitting me down again, "I'll be fine. Geez, calm down." He laughed at me and smiled affectionately. "Everything's fine."

He'd left that night, and I'd eventually gone to sleep, once my mind was more or less at rest again. I didn't see him again for the next three months.

~ ~ ~ Present time ~ ~ ~

We sat on Takeru's bed. He, Koushirou, was leaning back against a pillow that was pressed against the headboard, and I sat in the middle of the bed, hugging a pillow to my chest. He looked into my eyes and smiled that slow, peaceful smile, and I felt my body relaxing in response.

"It's been a while."

"I saw you just last weekend, remember the picnic?"

"No, I mean..." he reached out and touched my hand, then gently slid his hand under mine so our palms faced each other, "it's been a while since we were together like this."

I felt myself blushing and I looked down, letting my hair slide forward to hide my face. I heard him laughing gently and his hand left my hand to tuck my hair behind my ear.

"Too late to hide, Jyou. I already saw it."

This made me blush even more, and he smiled at me again. He leant his head back and stared at the ceiling to save me from any further embarrassment, letting me regain my color without him watching.

"So, why did you do it?"

I knew he'd been dying to ask me that for the past month, since he'd gotten back from wherever he'd gone off to, and I was impressed by how calm he sounded asking it.

After he left, I was being driven crazy wondering where the hell he'd disappeared to, since no one else from our friends knew, and his entire family had gone with him, so I had no one to give me information. Koushirou had called me a few times to assure me he was still alive, but he would not leave a phone number or even tell me where he was, saying it would all be explained in due time. After a while, I started feeling incredibly lonely and my self-esteem was dropping lower than usual, thinking he'd run away from me because he was sick of me and needed to get away from me. My friends assured me that wasn't the case, but they couldn't help but wonder why he wouldn't tell me anything about it.

A few weeks before he came back, I'd noticed Sora was acting closer to me than usual, and even appearing to flirt with me, and Tai and Daisuke both informed me that she had had a crush on me for a very long time, and was now getting braver about it since Koushirou was gone. In a desperate attempt to restore some sort of a romantic relationship in my life, I agreed to go on a date with her, and after I let her kiss me once, she figured that we were steady boyfriend and girlfriend and insisted on continuing to date me. I was half-terrified of Koushirou finding out and half-terrified of false hope preventing me from ever having some kind of love ever again. I found a love in Sora, sure, but it was a different sort of love, and it was turning into a sisterly-type of love rather fast. After a week of forcing myself to stay with Sora, since my brain kept overpowering my heart in telling me whether or not to stick with her, I finally gave into my heart and decided I would break it off with Sora. I had it planned for the day that would be our one-week anniversary. The night before, Sora stayed over late at my house, and I decided to give in one last time and allowed myself to make out with her on the couch.

That night, Koushirou came home.

Surely enough, he walked in on us. After he ran back out of the house, I broke up with Sora right then and there, and debated running after Koushirou. Sora slapped me and stormed off to the garage, where her car was, ranting about being used by me, and I couldn't help but break down on the couch after she'd closed the door.

After that night, I tried my hardest to face Koushirou, because I knew he was probably killing himself wanting to know the truth behind my actions, but I never could. He never asked, since he never was the type to ask questions when he trusted you enough to tell him on your own.

And so now, when he asked, I felt that he must be the bravest person in the world for having held out that long, and I knew he still trusted me to tell him the absolute truth. I did tell him, and it took a while to explain every detail I could remember, and he listened in complete silence, still watching the ceiling. He listened so calmly that I wondered if maybe he was actually daydreaming and wasn't listening to me, but when I finished he looked at me again and stared into my eyes for a long time, making sure my eyes didn't flash any dishonesty. When he was sure, he smiled slowly again and took my hand in between his. He lifted it and kissed a fingertip, then lifted his hand to touch my fingertips to his. That simple gesture alone nearly brought tears to my eyes.

He was telling me that he completely forgave me.

"And I have one last thing to say to you, Koushirou," I said, forcing my voice to gain some sort of control over itself, because it was starting to break. "I never once broke my promise. I always loved you." A tear slipped down my cheek and I hurriedly wiped at it. "I loved you every second of every day you were gone...and...and even now," I finished, swallowing.

He made a small noise in the back of his throat and he swallowed also, nodding his head. He leant forward and slipped his arms around my neck, and I gently wrapped mine around his waist. He pressed his head down against my shoulder, and I felt his tears slowly soaking my shirt.

"I kept my promise too, Jyou," he said close to my ear.

I smiled at the ceiling and closed my eyes, letting the rest of the tears escape so I could see more clearly.

"I never doubted that."

He gently adjusted himself so he was sitting on my lap, and I stroked his back. We stayed like that for a few seconds, or maybe even minutes. I lost track of the time, and I wished I would never find it again. A question burned in my mind, however, and I decided that I'd better ask it now, or forever hold my peace.

"Koushirou," I began gently, lowering his guard. He slowly pulled away from me and rubbed his eyes, then stared into mine, smiling.

"Yes?"

I bit the corner of my lip, a habit he'd always thought was adorable.

"Why did you leave, and where did you go?"

~ ~ ~ ~

A/N: And you'll find that out in the next chapter. Heh. Anyways, sorry if this was too sappy for you, but what can I say...I love them. Jyoushirou is just too adorable for words. Right, so review please. And I also noticed no one ever gives constructive criticism. You don't have to if you don't want to, but it would help me a good deal. Sorry if anyone thinks that I should get back to the Taito and I'm digressing too much, but it does tie into the story somewhat, so just relax and be patient.

Note: Next chapter will be Koushirou's POV.

Disclaimer: I don't own Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or any of the music from the movie, though it is awesome. (Coco Lee sings the theme, and Yo-Yo Ma do the instrumental music, in case anyone's interested.) Also, the title of this chapter comes from the theme song, "A Love Before Time", sung by Coco Lee. I don't claim ownership of the song, I'm only using it for my own entertainment.