Calmer of the Storm: Hey! I'm back!

Cody: No really…

Calmer of the Storm: *ignores Cody* Sorry It's taken so long…but there's so much to be done! Ugh! I think homework should be illegal…I swear, it's a federal offence… Anyways, thanks SOOOOOOOOO much to you guys who've reviewed. I love you! Really!

Cody: And for that, you'll never get another one…

Calmer of the Storm: *shoves Cody in closet and locks the door* Hehe…here's the next chapter!

My last words seem to have hurt him, because after I said this, he became suddenly quiet and looked at the ground. I was confused, and suddenly the anger that had built up inside of me disappeared. I had never seen anyone so broken before, or maybe I have, but I've just been too swallowed in my own grief to notice.

There was a moment of silence between us, until he finally said something.

"My mother died six months ago."

I could have fallen dead there on the spot. It took me a while until I noticed that my mouth was hanging agape. I had a sudden, and horrible, revelation. I'd been so mean to him, so selfish and conceded. Come to think of it, that's all I'd been for the past year. I had ignored my friends, and dwelled on the things of the past. No wonder people started drifting farther and farther away from me…it's because I was pushing them away.

This realisation only made me sob harder. I couldn't face him, I couldn't face anything anymore. So, I did the first thing that came to mind, I bolted. I ran as far and as fast as I could, which isn't really all that fast. With tears streaming down my face, I blindly ran across the park.

I ended up at the far side, where the cliff over looks the bay. I just stared out over the water, not caring what the people thought of me…I've done that for too long. All I hoped was that Takeru hated me at the moment, and he didn't want to talk to me. I sat, or rather, collapsed, to the ground and hugged my knees to my chest. I rested my forehead on them, still sniffling.

To my dismay, he did follow me once again. I could hear his footsteps stop just beside me.

I took one last sniffle, and decided that the best I could do was suck it up and hear him out. I was tired of being selfish. I finally gathered enough courage to turn my head ever so slightly, just so I could see him out of the corner of my eye. The blonde- haired boy was standing beside me. He wasn't looking in my direction, but he was also looking out across the water. He seemed to be lost in thought. There was more awkward silence.

"It's a nice night tonight", he commented.

I was confused by his sudden change in topics, but accepted it gratefully. "Yeah…" came my weak reply.

Yet another moment of awkward silence followed. He wasn't saying anything, and I had no clue what to say.

I wanted to know what he was thinking. He was probably mad at me, and was just covering it up. From being around him so often, I concluded that he was the quiet type. Not the silent kind of quiet, but quiet in a sense that he didn't talk about himself much, and really only spoke when he felt he needed to. Actually, he never talked about himself. He was always concerned about others, and never complained.

"I-I'm sorry for the way I acted…I can be a bit of a jerk sometimes…", I managed to come up with. It was a lousy excuse, but I really had no other way to put it.

"Don't feel bad, it's alright." He told me.

I only felt worse because he was so kind about it. I find things better to deal with when they blow up in your face. It's oddly easier that way.

"So, what...what happened?" I ventured. I wasn't sure how he would react to this, but I figured I was already on his bad list, and it wouldn't hurt my relationship (if that's what you want to call it) with him if I said anything more.

He was silent a moment before he said anything. I regretted saying anything

"She had cancer, and it took it's toll on her. We knew it was coming, so it wasn't really a surprise to us." Takeru explained.

He seemed rather calm about telling me this, and I wondered why. I don't think that I would have been so calm.

"What was she like?" I asked, though I caught myself for that one. I hated when people asked me about Lance, and figured he'd be that same way.

Again, I was wrong.

Takeru looked at me and smiled. This surprised me.

"She was the best. I couldn't have asked for a better Mom. Really sweet, but she was a little over protective. I didn't mind it too much though. My parents were divorced, and I lived with her. I have an older brother, too. We lived in Tokyo, while my father and my brother lived here. When she died, I moved here with them. I was allowed to finish the semester before I switched schools."

I nodded. I finally turned my head to look at him, though he had turned back out over the bay. There was a light smile on his face.

As I was watching him, I noticed something I hadn't before. He looked different. For the first time, I saw him as all the other girls did. My eyes widened as I realized what I was thinking. I quickly turned away, and hoped he hadn't noticed the red tinge to my cheeks. Luckily, he hadn't.

He sighed, and sat down beside me.

It was a nice night that night. There was a gentle breeze, and the sky was clear. The only noise was waves crashing on the rocks below. We sat there for a few minutes, not saying anything. I found myself feeling the way I vowed I never would again. He was right, I needed to move on.

"Well, I'd better go", he said, breaking the silence. "I can walk you home if you want."

I smiled a small smile, "Sure."

With that, we walked home. He knew where I lived, because sometimes we would practice together. As we got to the apartment, I turned to leave.

"Ready for tomorrow?" he asked

I smiled, "Yeah, I guess."

He nodded. "See you then!"

"Yeah…" I said, as I watched him go. I must have stood there for a while, because it took my brother pulling me in the house to bring me from my trance.

That night, I laid in bed, thinking. I seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

I sighed. My life had been fine until he came along. I had my emotions all straitened out, and I knew that I never really wanted to get involved with anyone, in a romantic sense, at least for a long while.

But now, this boy came charging into my life, and screwed it all up! He made me feel things towards him that I never wanted to feel again. They weren't bad feelings, but I guess after Lance, I became afraid. I became afraid of getting too close to someone, because I didn't want to lose them. I didn't want to suffer through that pain again. That's why I had vowed to not let myself fall for anyone again. Now, it seemed that that vow was on the verge of being broken.

Maybe, I thought, that I should forget what I had said, and let this guy into my life. But then, what if he didn't want to be there? That thought had never occurred to me before. Maybe he was this nice to everyone, I didn't know.

I was pulled from my thoughts as my brother entered the room. I saw his huge mass of hair poke thought the door, and his big, goofy trademark grin on his face.

"G'night," he said.

I could only smile back and respond. "Goodnight, Taichi."

Without another word, he pulled out of my room, and left.

Soon, I found myself in a deep sleep.

Calmer of the Storm: Sorry if that seems relatively short…but I had to stop it there! The next chapter will be the last one…so ya. Please review! =)