Disclaimer:

I do not own anything from Love Hina or any copyrighted material. Any other characters used in this fic are mine, however.

Chapter 10 – Dreams and Promises

The sounds of drawers opening and shutting rang in the late-morning afternoon. Inside her room, Kitsune was busy gathering some clothes and other things on her bed. The young woman ran through her mental checklist once more as she examined the contents that were thrown haphazardly on her bed.

"Looks like I have everything," she said to herself, taking a seat.

Kitsune yawned – the fox girl had a restless night to say the least…fatigue began to set in faster than she had anticipated earlier that morning. Reaching over to her checkbook, she flipped it open to check the amount once again.

"Well…looks like I'm all set."

It pained her slightly to say those words. Later that day she'd be on the next flight out of the country – where to she wasn't sure. Getting up she picked up her rucksack and opened it. Immediately, her attention was fixated on the dried bouquet of flowers. Taking it out of her bag, Kitsune sighed.

"Looks like it's not meant to be," she said with a sad smile.

Setting on her desk, Kitsune stuffed her things inside and hefted onto her shoulder. As she stepped out into the hallway she nearly knocks over Naru, who at that moment was too busy reading one of her study guides to be paying attention.

"Oh – sorry 'bout that Naru."

"That's alright Kitsune," she replied, then noticed Kitsune's rucksack. "Hey…are you going somewhere?"

"Umm…yeah," answered Kitsune. "Nothing's happening and I finally have enough…so I figured that now would be a good time for some personal R and R."

"When do you plan on coming back?" asked Naru.

"I…really don't know for sure," replied Kitsune. "Whenever, I guess."

Naru was slightly surprised at her best friend's response. Sighing, she formed a small smile on her face and gently placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Well, just don't take too long, alright?"

"No problem," Kitsune answered. "Before I go…could you do me a small favor?"

"Um…sure," answered a puzzled Naru.

"There's a couple of things in my room," Kitsune said, hoisting her rucksack on her shoulder, "that I want you to take care of."

"Okay…anything else you'd like to add?"

"Oh don't worry Naru," she answered. "I'm sure you'll know what to do."

With that, Kitsune stepped around her and continued her way to the front door. Soon enough, Kitsune found herself outside of the Hinata Sou. Clouds began to gather, blocking out the sun and sky that she was so accustom to seeing. Gradually, drops of rain began to fall, signaling the beginning of an oncoming storm. Turning her gaze back on her home, she felt a little guilty leaving live this.

'I'm sorry…but it's for the best,' she thought.

After checking one last time that she has everything, Kitsune made her way down the steps and into the street below. Her form soon vanished behind the veil of rain.

Darkness – that was all that Keitaro could see all around him. The sounds of his footsteps echoed in the air as he walked to his unknown destination. Slowly, light began to unveil his surroundings and he realized where he was at that moment – the same place where he has always been in his dreams.

'This…this place is…'

Keitaro knew where he was…the classroom where he would meet his promised girl. Squinting his eyes, he scanned the room trying to find her. A heartbeat later, he sees her form behind the soft glow of the room. Moving toward her he finally comes face to face with her.

"I knew you'd come," she said. "I knew you'd keep our promise…"

"Yes…I'm grateful we're now together," he replied.

Despite being only a few feet away, the girl's hair draped over her eyes making it difficult to see her true emotions – this made it somewhat disconcerting. The tone in her voice was neither joyful nor terse, but its impact still had an air of importance.

"Tell me Kei," she said. "Have you found happiness?"

"What?"

"Have you found happiness for yourself?"

Keitaro rubbed the back of his head "Yes – now that I'm finally here, we can fulfill our promise."

The girl nodded. "But you did found happiness…didn't you?"

Keitaro stepped back. "W-What do you mean?"

"Think Keitaro," she said calmly. "Didn't you find happiness with another?"

"What 'other'?" he inquired. "What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, their surroundings faded and were replaced with faint images that hung in the air. Keitaro studied them, and realized that each image was that of him and Kitsune. Scenes from their time in the park that one afternoon, the rooftop, the bar…and that night on the park bench – all made the young man stand in silent awe. As quickly as it came, the room returned to its original state.

"Why…why are you showing me this?" asked Keitaro.

"You know why Kei."

Keitaro sighed and turned his gaze toward the floor. He couldn't lie to himself, but his promise compelled him to bury his feelings. Although he hadn't seen his promised girl for nearly fifteen years…he felt ashamed.

"I know what you are thinking," she said with a sad smile. "You feel as if you have broken our promise."

Keitaro solemnly nodded. "I…I just feel that I've let you down. We promised that once we get into Toudai…"

"We would find happiness," she finished, and moved closer. "But…didn't you already find happiness?"

"…yes," he replied.

"Kei…life isn't always predictable," the girl said, "nor is it simple. All we can do is go along for the ride and meet what fate will bring."

"But what about us? Our promise?" Keitaro asked, turned his gaze back to her. "What about you?"

The girl head turned down slightly. "We made a promise to find happiness. You've found yours…I'll find mine."

Silence passed between them, Keitaro contemplating what his feelings are trying to tell him. Gradually the light began to fade until he and the girl were all that remained. An unseen light seemed to illuminate all around them, seemingly keeping the darkness from enveloping them.

"I…I'm sorry that things…"Keitaro trailed off.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," she replied, smiling warmly. "Promise that you'll be happy."

"I will."

The young ronin slowly raised his head from his desk, rubbing the back of his neck in an effort to soothe the dull pain that radiated from it. Yawning, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Oh man," he said. "No more late-night cram sessions. Ever."

As he slowly regained the use of his body, he realizes that his blanket was still wrapped around his body. Taking it off, the ronin raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

"Hmm…I don't remember putting this on last night."

Turning his gaze to one side, his eyes were fixated on he picture of everyone at the Hinata Sou – all their faces smiling brightly. Slowly, his dream began to manifest itself in the back of his mind. His eyes fixated on Kitsune in the photo, and slowly he traced his finger around her face.

"Kitsune…"

Feelings began to pool in the back of his head, struggling to break free from denial. It did not take long for him to come to grips with his true feelings. Setting the photo aside, he got up to his feet.

'I know what I have to do now…'

Getting dressed as quickly as he could, Keitaro took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Making his way to the door he paused for a moment.

'I hope that I'm not making a mistake.'

Naru stepped into Kitsune's room and slid the door shut behind her. Taking a few steps inside, she began scanning her best friend's room. From the looks of things, everything seemed normal for the most part.

"Hmm…there doesn't seem to be anything here," Naru said to herself. "What's Kitsune up to I wonder."

The wind began to pick up and swirl the air all around from a nearby open window. A faint rustling sound coming from the fox girl's desk immediately caught Naru's attention. Curious, she lowly walked toward it and found what has been causing that sound.

"Is…is this what I think it is?"

Naru was surprised as she picked up the dried wedding bouquet, remarkably retaining its splendor. Immediately as she did, a folded piece of paper fell from it, landing on top of the desk. It was addressed to her. Picking it up, Naru unfolded the letter and recognized her best friend's handwriting:

I wish you the best of luck between you and Keitaro. I hope that this bouquet will bring you happiness – seems like it wasn't the case for me.

'Is…is that why Kitsune has been acting so strangely?' she thought.

At that moment, Keitaro madehis way to Kitsune's room, took a deep breath and knocked on her door. After a minute ticked by, he knocked on her door again, this time a little louder than before. Immediately, the door slid open…revealing a very surprised Naru. Thinking the worst, Keitaro began to panic.

"Naru!" he exclaimed. "I-I-I wasn't…I didn't…let me explain…"

"What are you doing here Keitaro?"

"Um…I just wanted to talk to Kitsune," he answered, calming down slightly. "It's…kinda important."

"Oh," said Naru. "Sorry, but you just missed her."

"W-What?"

"Yeah…she decided to take a trip earlier today," she said, and then handed the letter to Keitaro. "And…I think I know why."

Keitaro took the letter and read it. Shaking his head, his gaze met Naru's once more. "Naru, do you know where she's heading?"

"I honestly don't know," said Naru.

Moving back into his room, Keitaro grabbed his coat and wallet and proceeded to head downstairs with Naru in tow. Before he stepped out into the rain, Naru stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I need to find her," Keitaro simply stated. "I can't let her go without talking to her first."

Naru sighed and let go of his arm. "Well…I hope you do."

Keitaro gave a small smile of thanks and made his way out into the rain. As he made his way down the steps toward the street below, a million thoughts ran through his head. His only hope now is that somehow he'd be able to catch Kitsune before she left. Keitaro pace quickened – he was afraid that if he didn't find her…she'd be gone from his life for good.

A/N – Finally chapter 10 is done! I'm really sorry for the long wait you guys, but things kept coming up that prevented me from working on my story. It got to a point where I nearly ran out of ideas to pick up where chapter 9 left off. I know I promised that I would update sooner…but if this happens again, please pop me an e-mail to get me going. The good news is, however, is that this story is nearing completion! If I stay committed I'd probably have it completed by the end of this month.

Just FYI, since fanfiction.net isn't letting me use characters to show breaks between different scenes, I'm going to use a horizontal rule instead.

Well, you all know the drill! Please, by all means, leave me a review and I'll get chapter 11 up ASAP!