Disclaimer: I don't own anything, as said before. Sorry.

Well then... It took a month to figure out the chapter, and two days to write. As my sister would say... FUN! But still... hope it is fun (no pun instended!).

And now I'll start...

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Letting her talk, I just listened. I listened to her talk about what to do when he woke up- again- in the morning, I heard her say what I could do if I got bored watching TV later, I listened to her babble about what was in the kitchen, in case I was hungry. I also let her talk about what she was worried about.

"This had never would have happened if he... What if he's...? I bet that he might..." As her mouth continued babbling, her hands remained idle, moving from place to place with such an ease for such a worried person. She continuously moved the same object over and over, not knowing what to do. Her worried legs jumped up when the both of us heard the sound of a car being turned off in the direction of the driveway, and she nervously bounced from the ball of her feet to her heels. When we heard the heavy footsteps, her quiet, unfinished sentences stopped as she waited for news. Finally, when he entered the room, she let him talk, and she intently listened, waiting for what she had waited to hear for so long.

"Don't worry, he's fine..." his soft voice murmured over and over, trying to find ways to calm her nervous mind. "It's fine, he'll be ok..." His constant words, repeated over time, finally relieved the anxious aura she had, and she finally relaxed for the first time all evening.

As she hurried up to leave- the cause of why I was here- he quietly told me what was going on, enlargening the small picture I had into a bigger one. "As minor as it was, he needs to stay, and I need to be there, and I think you know Heather by now..." He trailing off, and I nodded, agreeing with him about the statement made towards his wife. "We should be back by-"

"It's no problem. I'm not dong anything tomorrow, and I'd rather do nothing with someone rather than no one- even if he is just an infant." He smiled, listening to me talk about his son, and continued with what his wife had started to do, but was too worried to finish.

Finally, they had left the house, after Heather had covered her young son in kisses. I put Boush- Brendan (as long as I live, everyone will always be known as their names from the book) to bed again (it's well after midnight by now, and he- as well as myself- needs to sleep!), and settled onto their couch, ready to fall into an instant slumber, what I had wanted to do for days- ever since I started to work as a secretary to some TV company, I had been jumping from place to place, not stopping until I dropped almost dead into my bed, then waking up what seemed seconds later to do everything again. This nap was well needed, and I intended on taking advantage of the extremely comfortable couch and sleep...

Until the day officially started when Bou- Brendan (again, Miaka?) woke up with his voice carrying out to the living room, which was quite a feat, saying for (it seemed) the whole world to hear that he was up, and we should rejoice. Smiling at how adorable he was, then frowning at the exhaustion that set in only a few seconds after I woke up, I dragged myself up and almost crawled into his room, where he put on a huge smile, and welcomed me into his room by crying out my name and holding his arms out to me, waiting for me to reach over to him and pull him out of his crib.

As the morning progressed to noon, I followed the abstract instructions I had been given for the morning to do, as Brendan followed me, babbling the entire time about nothing. I let him follow me, and he did to the point of almost tripping me a few times (unfortunately). But, other than that, our partial day together was boring... at least until Chic- ack... Hayden came over, finally allowing me to continue the nap I had woken up from earlier in the morning by taking over my job as babysitter.

"Ready to give him up?"

"Whenever you are." He smiled all the while taking Brendan from my arms as he wiggled around, trying to free himself from my grip to do who knows what. Chichi... Hayden held him tightly, continuing our conversation.

"Tired, no da?" Nodding to him, he smiling again, and continued all the while keeping a tight hold on the young child in his arms. "Go home and sleep. You need it, considering the dark bags under your eyes." Groaning, I tried to picture the state of my face in my head (I hadn't looked in a mirror at myself and inspected myself all morning), and giggled at the image my mind made.

"I'm not tired... I can stay for a bit longer." That statement would have made sense if a long yawn hadn't cut into my short speech, contradicting my every word.

"Sleep, no da! We don't want you dropping in the middle of the street!" Smiling at the remark, I relented... until I realized I had no way to get home. I finally managed to get a ride home with Chic- Hayden only moments later, and even sooner I was trying to get Boushin into his car seat all the while trying not to fall onto the ground and sleep. When I finally settled into the passenger's seat up front, I shut my eyes for a moment, then realized when they opened that I was home. Yawning again, I stared at the building, not quite ready to enter, but still wanting to sleep.

"Well, here we are... although I don't think you're ready to leave yet." I looked up at Hayden, and nodded, and he continued talking, every once in a while raising his voice so I didn't drift off again. However, he knew I wasn't asleep when I heard him mention his name. I still have no idea why it bugs me, but it does. During one of my semi-normal (due to the different of time zones and other small factors) phone conversations with Yui-chan, I mentioned him and what happened between us, but all she did was laugh and try to tell me that it's obvious. I never did understand her, but all she did say was relax and not worry, and that if something will happen, it will. Taking her advise, I pushed out all thoughts of anything that was related to him... at least until someone said his name or something related to him. Then, all my hard work to avoid thoughts of him unraveled, and I would be known for drifting off into some other world, which always happened.

"I take it that's a touchy subject no da." I nodded, and he continued again. "Seems you're a touchy subject for him too." Looking at him with disbelief, my thought raced from where they once were to now. I'm...? "I have no idea what happened between the two of you, nor do I want to know what happened. All I'm saying is that he once gave you up for the one you love, but now that he's out of the picture, I very much doubt that he's going to give you up unless you say something." He's just the same still- running after what he may not get.

"Thanks for that..." Trailing off, I tried to think of what that was. Advice? Whatever it was, I am grateful for it.

"No problem. Now go get some sleep." Taking his advice- again- I left the car, and dragged myself up to my apartment, and passed out on my couch, and I could be considered dead to the world for the next five or so hours. I finally woke up, due to the phone, unfortunately for me. Pausing for a moment, making sure I was really awake and not groggy, I waited before answering.

"Miaka?" Pause. The world turned once before I finally answered, and even that sounded strange.

"He-hey. What's up... err..." Dear god, I'm stuttering. What is going on with me?

"Nothing... just thinking." He stopped, almost shyly, as if afraid to tell me the next part. He took a breath, as if trying to say something important, but when he let it out, he stayed silent. "I was just wondering... don't take this the wrong way, but do you mind if I come over?" Huh?

"Umm... sure. just give me half an hour to wake up and get ready." After a slight pause, I continued, taking a chance at talking with him, which I hadn't done in so long like this. "I spent the morning with Bou- Brendan-" I corrected myself quickly while he laughed at my minor blunder. "- And I got home a while ago and fell asleep."

"Yeah, I heard Hayden- Chichiri to you- mention that you were exhausted earlier when over for a few hours." I nodded until realizing he couldn't see him, then stopped before giggling slightly. "So, I'll see you in... half an hour, right?" Agreeing with him, we hung up soon, and I got up from the couch, hurriedly picking up stray blankets and papers from the floor and table. From there, the kitchen was neatened to the point of being able to see my counter-tops, which were once littered with bills and letters from home. A quick glance around made me satisfied with what I saw, despite the fact that I knew I could do now, but it would take more time than I had.

After I changed my clothes and took care of my bathroom (cleaning both it and myself quickly), I flopped back down onto my couch, turning the TV on, which was currently on the old movie channel, playing Guys and Dolls, something I've heard of, but never seen. Letting Marlon Brando's (absolutely gorgeous) voice fill the air, I put a few final touches onto my living room and kitchen, all the while zoning in and out, just listening to the almost completed story the movie presented. finally, when I heard the light pounding on the door, I turned from the sink slowly, knowing that the half-hour was up. Washing my hands off, I called over to the door, making sure it was him, just in case. When he relieved my fears that it wasn't him, I told him to open the unlocked door, which he did quickly. And there he was, standing at my doorstep, saying absolutely nothing. It stayed quiet, until, finally, he spoke, and breaking the silence code we made with our eyes when he walked into the door.

"Guys and Dolls? Fun musical... movie took out too much, but it's still good." Wondering how he knew all of that, making him sound like a movie critic, he continued, his eyes never breaking contact with mine. "I was one of the gamblers when my high school did it. That was a lot fun..."

"Anyone I would know?"

"Benny." Ben- oh. I know who he is.

From there on, we just watched the movie, standing from where we greeted each other. Every once in a while, I glanced over at him, who was currently mouthing the words to one of the songs being sung on the screen, and I smiled, slightly.

"What year did you do the show?" He looked at me strangely for breaking the silence, and I repeated the question, resulting in a laugh from him before I received his answer.

"Senior year. Everyone was in it..." He murmured names, from people I didn't know to a few of the seishi, who he apparently went to school with. He murmured small memories he had from practices, to which I half listened to as the movie ended with a double wedding.

"So... You wanted to come over because..." Letting the question trail, I let him answer. He snapped out of his thoughts, and answered me with the smallest smirk on his face.

"Just wanted to talk, nothing big. Do you mind?" Shaking my head, I flourished my arms, showing him the couch, to which he laughed and sat down. I sat down next to him, waiting for him to start talking, which he did.

"Hey... before I start, do you mind going out for dinner later?" Most likely seeing my shocked look in my eyes, he hurriedly continued. "If you don't want to, it's fine. I was going out later anyways, and it's a lot better to go out with someone than yourself." Nodding to him, I agreed, knowing how lonely it can be to be alone.

"I'll do it- as long as you talk fast. I'm hungry now." seeing his smile, I knew it was all right, and I let him talk, taking in ever word he had to say.

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Call me evil. I ran out of ideas. But, you're kinda lucky I ended it there. They almost didn't go out to eat afterwards. And as for Guys and Dolls... My school did it the year before Fiddler (I didn't do it), I just saw the movie a few nights ago, and it's on the play list I'm listening to now. Yah...

ingrid: Thank you so so so much!!!! I'm going to be modest and say that there are better people here than me, but I won't stop you from saying that I'm good. Thank you again!!!!!

tamababymiko-chan: I think I may put in who it is next chapter... I may. Depends on if I can find a non-cheesy way to put it in. I know how to, it just sounds really corny. But thank you (yet again. I say that a lot, ne?). And you really do sound like me when you're confused.

Phoe-kun and Leena: I'm good at this? I just type without thought (kinda like you said you do). But I didn't stick in Moulin Rouge for once! Instead, I did another musical! Be glad it's not Chicago... the one I just saw a few days ago (if I talked about how good that was, the review would be longer than the chapter itself!). But, again, thank you.

SpaceVixon: Another person for Tasuki... huh? But thanks.. and I confused yet another person? I guess I'm good at that... didn't think I was!

Jen: Thank you!!!! I might tell you next chapter- all depends... But thank you yet again!!!

Thank you to all who read this, have a fun Easter, and may every new baby get chocolate éclair!! Haha... I love listening to music. But thank you again, have fun with whatever, and... oh well. Love ya all!

~Frenchie