Calmer of the Storm: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack!

Cody: *mumbles to self*

Calmer of the Storm: I'm sorry Cody, I didn't hear that.

Cody: Good, you weren't supposed to.

Calmer of the Storm: Oh……hey! I can evict you from my stories you know!

Cody: That's fine; I'm not in any of them. Now get on with the fic!

Calmer of the Storm: Alright, fine, I'm going…. This will be the last chapter of this fic…sad, yes I know, but I've got an idea for an epilogue, if you guys want it. I'll only write it if you want me to!

I also have another story idea…it's a takari, (no duh) and it isn't AU, though it seems to be. The DD's are transported back in time to the time of….Robin Hood! Ahahahaha! They have to get out, or die! Eheh….yeah, I know it's stupid, it sounds better in my head! So, tell me what you think of that one…it would be a HUGE help. Thanks!

I woke up the next morning, or should I say, afternoon, at 12:30. It was a Saturday, so there really wasn't that much to do anyways. My brother was still asleep…he never got up before at lease two.

The play started at six, but the cast members had to be there at four-thirty. This was to get everything ready, make-up, costumes, props, that sort of thing.

Placing a bagel in the toaster, I proceeded to get the cream cheese. When it popped, I lazily spread the cream cheese over it, and placed myself on the couch in front of the television. Channel surfing time.

~*~

The day proceeded much like that, until I found that the 4:15 mark had come up far too quickly. I have to say that I was nervous, but I tried not to think about it. Tai was supposed to drive me over, but he had disappeared during the afternoon (when he actually woke up). My suspicion was that he was with Sora.

I glanced at the clock. Twenty after four. I sighed. Walking wouldn't kill me, but it was raining and there were no umbrella's left. Locking my apartment door, I decided that a little rain water never killed anyone. At least, not to my knowledge.

Just as I entered the foyer, there was Tai, and just as I thought, he was with Sora. As soon as he saw me, he smiled.

"What? Did you think I'd actually forget you?" he said.

I only smiled, and shook my head.

"He was just too lazy to go up there and get you." Sora added. He punched her playfully in the arm.

"I thought so." I replied.

"Alright, alright, enough talk. We'd better get going." Tai said, then turned to go outside. The car was just out front, so we didn't get wet.

During the car ride, a certain blonde boy plagued my thoughts. He was more of a parasite than anything else, I thought. He just kept popping up everywhere I went, and was beginning to invade my thoughts and dreams. Although, I had to admit, it could have been worse…

Taichi pulled me from my thoughts as we stopped at the front doors of the school. Actually, he didn't have to say anything; it was his inability to stop the car properly. Sometimes I wonder why I even let him drive me places.

I said goodbye to the pair, although I don't think they were too sad to see me go. They'd come in later, as would my parents.

Turning around, I entered the school.

The cast of the play had all gathered in a room backstage. It was our temporary greenroom (1). There were about ten to fifteen people in the main cast, though not all of them had major speaking parts.

You could feel the excitement in the air as the actors chattered and ran around the room. I mean literally running around the room. I think this was a combination of nerves and excitement.

Ms. Seymour came in, and by the look on her face, I assumed that she was appalled by the way we were acting…no pun intended. She gave us 'the talk', and we were all paraded into the make-up room.

My costume was simple; just a pair of jeans and a blouse. They pulled my hair back into a messy ponytail, and plastered my face with make-up, so that I wouldn't look like a ghost on stage. I had to stifle a laugh as I watched the boys (Takeru in particular) go through the same treatment. It's not everyday that you get to watch a guy suffer through the pains of eyeliner, mascara and lipstick.

I had to admit, the play was going to be pretty good. We actually had good actors this year, and everyone stayed committed, unlike other years.

Poor Ms. Seymour was going nuts trying to get everything together. We ran through the play once, then placed out props. The play wasn't terribly long, but it also wasn't all that short.

I was back in the greenroom, when Sakura came up behind me.

"Ready?" She asked me.

"Sure am!" I replied.

She rolled her eyes, "Not just about the play itself, but about, you know..."

I looked up at her "What?"

Sakura gave me a look, and I figured out what she meant.

"It'll be fine, really." I replied.

"Hikari…"She persisted.

"I'm serious! It's just acting. It won't ruin my life in any way" If anything, it'll make it better…My eyes widened at the thought, how could I even think those things! Although, Sakura caught this.

"What's that look for?" she asked

"N-nothing, I just remembered something."

She finally gave in when she realized that I wasn't going to elaborate. "Alright, if you say so..."

"I do, now go. I have to finish here, and I'm sure you're not done either." I shoved her over back to her stuff. At this point, both of us broke out in giggles.

Max, one of the A.V. crew members, came in and informed us that we could be heard throughout the auditorium. That just made us laugh harder.

~*~

It finally came time to start the play. I wasn't in the opening scene, which I was thankful for. I took one small peek out onto the crowd. There sure were a lot of people. I noticed my mother and my father, along with my brother and Sora. Takeru later came along and pointed out his father and brother, Yamato. It was amazing, the resemblance between those two. They both had that strikingly blonde hair (which, I might add, is extremely rare in these parts), and those beautiful blue…Again, I caught myself. Taking a deep breath, I turned to face none other than, yeah you guessed it, Takeru! I smiled politely to him, and kept walking. I could feel my cheeks flushing out, and I'm sure they were a very deep red.

They play proceeded, with almost no problems. We weren't professionals, so you can expect us to make mistakes. At one point, someone came into early, but that was easily covered. However, someone forgot to place one of the props, and it was an important one. A member of the stage crew had to run out and hand it to Sakura, who was the one that needed it. The audience got a good laugh out of that one.

Other than those two slip-ups, everything was fine. We were drawing close to the final scene, and the closer it got, the less and less I wanted it to come.

The scene finally came. I dreaded it, yet waited for it to happen. Takeru and I had tried to 'practice' this part, but I always shied away when it actually came time, with an expert excuse, I might add.

This scene not only made me nervous, but everyone else as well. They all knew my story, (most of them did) and if they didn't they knew something at least, and they knew how awkward it would be for me.

We were never allowed to kiss during rehearsal, only during performance or on our own time. I didn't mind this one bit.

Before I knew it, I was saying my lines. It was different, and I couldn't put my finger on it. The whole mood between us was different, and I didn't know why. Well, it came. He wrapped his arms around me, lifted my chin, and gently placed his lips on mine. I kept telling myself it was only acting, but I somehow couldn't bring myself to believe it. The curtains closed, end of act 3. One more act to go. He broke it off as the curtains fully closed. I felt my cheeks flood with red, and I couldn't look at him.

~*~

After the performance, I went out back to get some air. It was just as nice out as the night before. I stood alone; at least, I was until he came up behind me.

"You did real well." He commented.

"Ya, you too." I told him. A thick silence hung in the air, and it wasn't a pleasant one. I hadn't felt this way in a while, the feeling that you want to say something, but it'll come out stupid. He felt it too, I could tell.

Then next thing I knew, he had his arm around me. My first reaction was to slap him and run, but I didn't. In fact, I didn't do anything. Next, he did what I feared. He turned me so that I was facing him, and lifted my head so that I had to look him right in the eye. I hated doing that. My face started to burn; I could feel it. As I stared into his sapphire eyes, I got lost in a fantasy. I felt my face drawing closer to his, but I resisted. He saw the look in my eyes, I'm guessing, and didn't press me any further. That was one thing about Lance I could have survived without; he always pushed things too far.

Instead of him doing what I wanted him, yet feared he would, he let go of me, and backed away. There was a smile on his face, and I couldn't help but smile back. I had mixed emotions at the moment. Part of me wanted to collapse into his arms, and kiss him, and the other part wanted me to stay and watch from afar.

But there was one thing I knew for sure. For the first time in this past year, I felt truly happy.

"So, do you think that maybe we could, uh…"

I knew what he was doing, but I wanted him to suffer through it.

He swallowed hard, "Uh, are you busy tomorrow night? 'Cause I was just wondering if uh, you see, there's this movie, and I uh…"

I laughed. I couldn't put him through any more torture. He grinned at me sheepishly.

"I'd love to go with you." I replied.

His eyes lit up, and I swear he would have jumped six feet in the air, if he were not holding himself back.

He cleared his throat, "Alright then…I'll uh, call you."

I smiled, then placed my hand in his. We walked the rest of the way home in silence, although this time, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.


I learned something through all this. Maybe love isn't all that bad, maybe just because you've had a bad experience, doesn't mean it all bad. I'm sure that this can be applied to many things in life, not just this.

~*END*~